Recovery - "Love the way you lie"

Recovery Run

"Just gonna stand there and watch me burn
But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts"
My alarm ringtone the lovely Rihanna has interrupted my sleep again @ 6:30 A.M. This morning is one of those many recovery runs, the ones that you do after doing 20 miles the day before. Why in gods name would you want to even attempt to run when you are going down the stairs like someone twice your age. Simple it may hurt but I like the way it hurts and afterwards you will have a spring in your step again.
For the last year I have reduced the length of these runs from 5 to 3 miles but added in 20 lengths (25m) of the pool with the emphasis been on my kick rather the time and pull. This has had a very positive effect on recovery of my legs while at the same time reducing the impact from the extra miles.
Now I have never been a morning person but due to herself been out of action recently I have reverted my runs to early morning as its the only time I realistically can get them in. So it was with dread I took to the pool for the first time earlier this month after a 3 mile run in bright frosty conditions. Well I needn't have worried, it was like getting into a Jacuzzi it was that warm. I really enjoyed the swim and the legs felt really invigorated after it. I now really look forward to my early morning recovery runs.

Marathon Paced Run with spice added

Came across this recently on the interweb and decided to give it a blast to see its effect. Basically Run the first 1 minute of the mile at 10K pace and the drop back to Marathon Pace. Rinse and repeat for each mile. I pencilled in 8 miles of this last week but six was more than enough as it felt quite hard even to maintain Marathon Pace for miles five and six. Repeated this again today and while not as hard as last week, the last 2 miles (after the 10K segment) felt like the effort in the 3rd quarter of a marathon without having to run 13 miles before hand. The aim of this is to trick the body into conserving energy at a higher HR when we drop back the pace after the initial burst at the start of each mile. Its hard to gauge if this is having an effect at this early stage but as they say if i doesn't kill you it makes you stronger.

Boston Madness

Like many runners I was shocked and horrified at  the scenes at the finish of this years marathon. This has only heightened our resolve to be at the start next year's race. For this I need a GFA sub 3:25 but I suspect that may not even be enough as last weeks events will ensure that next years race will be over subscribed. With this in mind I will most likely need sub 3:20. Currently my pace would be 3:22 based on my Adare 10K. This was run in ideal conditions so I am sitting on 2 options here. Get the 3:25 first and have a shot @ 3:20 in August/September or just go for it in Portumna.

Club Run

Next week is the clubs annual 10K run. Details can be found here. I will not be running or even pacing this as I am in on a recovery week next week so Hi-vis vest for me and give a hand at the start and finish.

April 1st
          15 Miles  Long Run 13 Miles 1:46:12 @ 8:11 pace,  HR 154 with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 4th
          10 Miles Tempo 8 Miles 1:00:15, @ 7:32 pace, HR 157 with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 7th
           6.2 Miles 5*1000M off 400M Recovery @ 4:04 pace (4:01 to 4:05) with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 10th
          18 Miles Long run 2:42:51 @  9:02 pace, HR 139 (last mile @ 7:40 pace)

April 13th
          12 Miles,Tempo 10 miles 1:19:18 @ 7:56 pace, HR Malfunction with 1 Mile WU/WD

April 17th
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 45:10 @ 7:33 (10K pace + PMP) with 1 Mile WUWD

April 20th
          20 Mile Long run 2:53:05 @  8:36 pace, HR Malfunction (2 * 3 Mile PMP included)

April 23rd
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 44:58 @ 7:30 (10K pace + PMP) with 1 Mile WUWD

No Smoking Campus

Head Banging

Advised by Lorraine Consultant to apply for a Medical Card for her after he episode last year. Filled out the forms and sent away with Doctors Letter. Some head banger in Finglas decides that I do not meet the financial criteria so refuses it but also cancels Christines Medical Card two weeks before her Breast Reconstruction Surgery. Trying to get the the plonker who signed off on it to reverse it immediately was next to near impossible. Could not even get to talk to him/her on the phone and spent nearly a week ringing up and each day been asked to produce letters from surgeons, doctor etc regarding her condition. So a trip to Pat Breen T.D. was required and in fairness to him he got it resolved within 24 hours but should our elected TD's really have to deal with issues like this. The public service need's a major revamp, if I took this long to acknowledge and rectify a mistake I made with a customer I would quickly go out of business. As for the complaints procedure its a joke, its like another tribunal with the amount of information they want to furnish.

Annoying Announcement

Herself indoors finally got the call up for her reconstruction Surgery in Galway in the middle of March. This would mean 7-10 days in Hospital. After about 3 days I was sick of hearing that rather annoying speaker announcement at the entrance to every hospital which is repeated every 30 seconds. You know, the one about this is a non smoking campus. Well I think it would drive you to taking up smoking again. When Christine was released early I was delighted to hopefully not be seeing any Hospital Campus for another while. Unfortunately this was short lived as a bad reaction to Pain Relieving Medication that Christine was sent home with landed her back in A&E unable to hold down food or water in Limerick two days later, (missed Pakie Ryan 10 miler as a result) where she had the pleasure of been in the company Twenty other patients on trolleys. I dread to think how A&E staff would have coped with a major emergency that weekend because you could not swing a cat in there. Another week in Limerick which didn't really resolve the situation. She was discharged on Friday but is looking likely to be readmitted again as her GP is still not happy that she is unable to hold down solids. If she does go in I will be forced to bring a pair of snips and rectify that Announcement.
As a result of all this my training schedule is all over the place. I am getting the major sessions in but my Recovery sessions are hit and miss. I need to address this as my left hip/adductor is acting up a bit again.

Long Runs without Sucrá

After the last two long runs where I came very close to bonking I reviewed my HR stats for both runs. After Two hours of running I had noticed that HR was going up to over 155 bpm. With this in mind I decided to run the next 18 Miler at 9:15 pace and see what happened  Well it went swimmingly well and I really enjoyed it. All done on 500 ml of Electrolyte (Zym tab in Water). Upped the pace to 9:00 mile for next 20 miler and carried a gel just in case. This went just as well and was ironically faster than my first 20 Miler which goes to show going out too fast just burns up Glycogen too quickly.

Eamon Maloney Memorial Run

I remember Eamon not for running but dancing, would regularly meet him and his better half around the pubs in Ennis and he was a bit of a character to say the least, slightly mad but aren't we all especially those of us who tackle the Marathon Distance. Eamon ran several Marathons in his day and given this race was to raise funds for Clare Cancer Center in Kilnamona it was a no brainer to run this. Better still Jason was looking for some pacing balloon carriers so I volunteered for the 60 Minute Slot.
A nice bright day but a crisp easterly breeze kept it on the chilly side. Got my number and balloon and headed for the start. A group had assembled around me which include some ladies who were with me on the Five Hour bus in Dublin 2 years ago. They didn't stay on the bus that day but today would prove more fruitful. Not much of a delay at the start and we were on our way. Course is uphill until about 7-8K and then down hill with the wind at the back from there. I didn't mind tipping along at 6:05 pace for the first half and this kept the group together  There is a climb from 3 to 5 where some of the group fell away but to their credit they kept me in sight and managed to catch back up on the run for home. Once we hit the 7K mark those around me kicked on. One lady stayed with me while the group behind started to reel us in. Got over the line in 59:49 but the chip mat at the start did not work so competitors only got their gun time. Shame really as four ladies who bust a gut to catch me before the line were definitely under 60 nett time as they started with me but all got accredited like myself with 1:00:09.
 The tea ladies laid on a super spread for us all afterwards which means a nett gain in calories even after an hour's running.  Congrats to Jason for putting it together and will no doubt be on the calendar again next year.


March 13th
          10 Miles  8 Miles 1:04:12 @ 8:02 pace,  HR 152 with 1 Mile WU/WD

March 16th  
          18 Miles Long Run 2:46:30, @ 9:15, HR 135. 

March 20th 
          9 Miles 7 Miles 52:45 @ 7:33, HR 156 with 1 Mile WU/WD

March 24th
          12 Miles,10 miles 1:17:09 @ 7:43 pace, HR 154 with 1 Mile WU/WD


March 27th
          20 Miles Long run 2:59:43 @  8:59 pace, HR 141