Eddie Murphy 2013

Clon comes to Clare

Myself and Paul wanted to run the Eddie Murphy on Sunday so we were duly handed the responsibility of looking after the Directors Run on Saturday. After a few doubts whether we would have enough to run the marathon race we eventually had Thirteen starters as well as Seven from the club in the half. Looking at the lineup for the start it appears a certain Mr Hillard must have been giving out free tech tops again. I thought we had travelled forward in time by three weeks and were actually in Clonakilty judging by the attire most runners had on. There was however one proud 10 in 10 finisher top on display. The rest of the day was looking after our small group with water, jaffas and support. The other job was counting laps, which just drove me scatty and thank god we were going to have chip timing tomorrow. There was a brief discussion afterward about tomorrow pending runs, my contribution was along the lines that if I was ever to do an ultra which I didn't see happening any time soon, I would go the whole hog and do a 100 Mile race. Famous last words.

Less than 100 but over 26.2

After about three hours sleep due to a gig the night before,  I have a small Breakfast and make my way to Sixmilebridge.In the darkness there are only a few lonely souls setting up the course for the day and registering the brave Double Marathon Runners. I have an early start so that I would be available for giving a hand later. Its not long before we start and there are about nine of us doing the marathon with the Double Marathon runners. During the week I had one very good session where I did 13 miles @ 8:30 pace and felt really strong but then I followed that up with a five miler and 9:30 pace my legs where like lead weights. I decided the plan was to go at 9:30 or 4:10 pace. Well best laid plans. First lap was just over nine minutes so I took it easier on the next lap or so I tought same again a little over nine minutes. This went on for several laps so I finally conceded that this seemed to be the most comfortable pace for me. The miles laps moved along very quickly as they always do in this race. The thing I like and many others like about the one mile loop is you are always passing or been passed by someone. Even though I at no stage ran with anyone it never felt lonely. Got to mile 19/20 and I just felt like I was only after starting the run, it was then that a mad idea entered my head. I suddenly realised that no one from the club was running the 30 miler or the Double Marathon. Well you can't host a run in Eddie Murphy's memory and have no club member at least have a go at an Ultra. I was going so well at this point that I decided there and then to do another four miles and go for it. I let Richie and John on the clock know what I was doing and off I went with a new plan. Cross the marathon in sub 4 and run on feel after that for another four laps. Finished the marathon in 3:58:09 and set off again, laps 27 & 28 were indeed a new experience. At the start I asked Jim McNiece why he had a selection of shoes in his box. His answer was dry feet make comfortable feet. I now knew what he meant, at the start of lap 27 my feet were sliding around in a pair of shoes that were soaked through at this stage. I tried some running repairs but it didn't really sort it out. Luckily I remembered on the next lap I had a dry pair in the car which was parked near the start. New dry shoes I set about upping the pace for the last two laps. On the last lap going as hard as I can the 30 mile leaders cruise past me, my one bad moment of the day was here, Thoms greets me and I bitch about how easily he just passed me and I was flat to the boards. Anyway finished in 4:33:35. Another great thing about this race is you get a split for every mile, the results showed two very positive things to me. My first 25 miles had 5 mile splits of 45:30,45:17,45:28,45:27,45:27 which showed that I consistently knocked out sub Four hour marathon pace for most of the race. My last five mile split was 44:26 but that was because of the shoe pitstop and knocking out mile 29 and 30 in 8:03 and 7:51 respectfully. Putting in those times on that course after 28 miles has really given me the confidence to kick on and get a sub 3:25 next year for Boston.

The Aftermath

My day didn't finish there, spent the rest of the day doing a mixture of tasks. Surprisingly I was able to move with some degree of efficiency and was able to contribute to the proceedings just as things started to get busy with Half Marathon runners starting to register. The banter was good and some new faces were adding their own mark to the race. Some even managed to render our MC speechless for a while, which was the greatest achievement of the day. From a racing point of view the Half Marathon was the race to produce this year with the front three been pretty close throughout and it was only decided on the last lap. The day flew by, the weather obliged slightly and it wasnt long until all that was left was the few lonely souls doing the cleanup and putting the village back together in the darkness and rain.

Sixmilebridge would wake up on Monday morning as if nothing at all had changed, but those of us who were there on Sunday experienced something unique and have a special piece of Tipperary Bling to show for our efforts

The Big One

Pacer Stand/Expo

Picking up numbers at the expo was extremely efficient so hats off to all the volunteers  Pacer stand was mayhem not really helped by its size or location. Really busy handing out pace bands, explaining the role of pacers etc. It still really surprises me how some people can have goal times in their head the day before a race that differs by 30 or more minutes.

Post Race Knees up

Not really what's on the horizon for the other 14,600 runners, but the pacer meal was a great social event. Meet up with many old friends and even some new ones. The sport at our table was especially good when you have two corkonians trading punches across the table. We retired to the lounge where we finished off the vino. There were suggestions of a trip to the residents bar but that idea didn't float so we all got to bed at a civilised hour and everyone was ready for the job ahead tomorrow.

The race

As I had no salt tablets my plan was to eat a good auld Full Irish for Breakfast, unfortunately I had to make do with the more carb/healthy option as the fry did not materialise until after Seven. I did however seek out a banana or two for my mid run snack. I was really surprised that the backpacks which held the pacer flags/sails were quite lightweight and easy to secure. At first fitting they came across the nipple area but a little adjustment moved them away. Large quantities of vaseline applied to prevent chaffing and down to the lobby to meet up with the others. We set off at a little before Eight for the start for a quick photo shot and dropped off my bag with towel and dry top for the finish. Weather was a bit nippy at this point but at least it was dry. We took up our positions at the start and slowly but surely a large enough group started to assemble around us. Plenty of questions about pace and other things, loads of banter. Tom even had to show one runner how to operate her Garmin. At 9:20 we got the off, for some reason my GPS watch failed to pick up a satellite  so it ended up been a dumb stopwatch for the day. No worries as I had a foot-pod polar as backup and two other able bodies with me in the shape of Tom and Dipak. Turns out we had well in excess of 200 marathons ran between us and as my tally only accounted for Ten so I and our pacees were in safe hands.
The first few miles we found that the mile markers were a little longer so we ended up been down about 30 seconds  Once we got into the park we were back on target though. Certain ladies in the group who had difficulties in the bladder department found that there was queues at the first set portaloos we met at mile Three. My suggestion of what they should do did not go down too well, it certainly got a reaction from some of the ladies.  At this stage we had got to know some of our group, there was a good gang with us from West Waterford AC and 4-5 ladies from Dunleer running for Team Carrie of whom some had made an early request for a fag break, turns out they were still 20 a day smokers. There was even one lady looking for a date for some social event or another around mile 8. I will not forget the lady from New Zealand who took a shine to me especially in the finish area. Once we left the park things start to get that little bit harder for those around us as we hit the climbs around Inchicore, South Circular Road and the Crumlin Road. We hit half-way with 2:24:46 on the watches very much on target. Over the next few miles it was pretty difficult to keep the pace as it was downhill and with a tail wind. The time gained allowed us to give back some time on the climb out of Miltown and Roebuck Hill itself. It was just a matter of getting people up the two climbs without stopping. Once that was done most of the group still with us where with us till the end. We picked up other runners dropping back from the 4:40 pacers, who we just kept encouraging them to get a move on and start running with us. At Grand Canal Street we told the fresher runners around us to hit for home. From here to the finish we pretty much hit every mile on time but the congestion on Mile 25 cost us about 20 Seconds so we just had to pick it up a bit around Trinity College  Great support around the finish and three of the West Waterford Girls and the smokers from Dunleer were still there with us at the end as we crossed the line.

The aftermath

Walked back to the hotel with Tom for a quick shower, and then to McGrattan's for the usual post race recovery drink, pints of the Black Stuff. Meet up with some fellow pacers  and boardies, but as per usual at the end of the night putting names to handles was a bit beyond me. A great buzz about as Orna not only broke but destroyed sub 3 hour to finish 9th Lady. It showed with a lot of work it can be done, I was really delighted for her as were many others. The photo call with an ex RTE newsreader was probably the best bit of fun for the night. Rolled back to the hotel slightly after midnight happy in the knowledge that another one done. Following morning was a different matter, could not talk and had the usual post marathon pains, one especially in the head but as herself says self inflicted so just get on with it.

The Drought

Take it easy

After the exertions of the 10 in 10 I had decided to take a break from running for a few weeks. Legs had felt really zapped over the last number of easy runs. Then I get a text message from Tom with a requirement to fill a pacer gap in Killarney for the half marathon. After much toing and froing I eventually get the call up on Friday morning to do the 2 hour slot. Traveled to Killarney with Paul who was on the 4 Hour slot and arrived to register pick up gear and acquaint ourselves with the other guys. Meet up with several of the 10 in 10 legends that evening for a few sociables before hitting for the bed. I was rooming with John Desmond and we ended talking about the lack of club run races in Clare and Limerick. Rose next morning to the magnificent view of the National Park outside the window. Ireland is the best place in the world when we get weather like this, more is the pity it only happens every twenty or so years. Quick breakfast, collect balloons get the pacer brief from John and bus to the start. Decided to join the portaloo queue in case of any movement from down below. It was quite long but passed the time chatting with some fellow runners of which two would be starting with me. Plenty of males and females jumping the wall to do paula radcliffe's. Could really have done with some more portaloos at the start. Not long before the start and we line up just behind the four hour guys Brian and Paul. My partner in Crime for today was Roger O'Mahony so with introductions done we set about our task. We had a big group at the start but even though the course is nett downhill there are 2 climbs in the first Three miles which broke up the group pretty quickly. First water station not a sign of a water bottle empty or full or even a volunteer. This was as cause for concern as temperatures were starting to rise. Pace wise it was difficult to hold the pace on the downhill sections and we had built up a cushion of 40 seconds. At mile 4 a support vehicle past us and I asked if they could get more water up to the stations as no one from here back had got any water since the start. He said he would, whether it materialised or not is another thing. When we got to the second station they had just ran out of water. As we passed some irate runner was giving  the guy at the water table a right earful, I left at this point before I blew my top with the wally. Picked up as many half empties as I could hold and gave them out amongst our ever dwindling group.

Courtesy of Kerry through a lens

Finally between Mile 9 and 10 we came across water and sponges, a welcome relief for us all, but in these temperatures for runners that are not used to running in this heat or distance it was really too little too late and they were already feeling the effects both physically and mentally. From here to the finish we kept a group of 6 to 8 runners going, my watch for some unknown reason reset itself shortly after at mile ten. I had a backup standard watch and Roger did a good job in keeping an eye on the average pace to the finish. We hit Miles 10 through 12 bang on bang time according to the pace bands. Finished 1:59:35 job done but a lot to ponder on with regard to the race itself. Post race atmosphere at the finish was quite good, and I availed of the leisure centre for a wind down. Paul wanted to get get home quickly after finishing his run so we didn't hang around but it looked like the party was getting into full swing. From a personal point of view I was royally treated on Friday and Saturday but I cannot ignore the fact that the paying runners around me were left with no water for 3/4 of the race when running in temperatures in the mid Twenties.

Getting the basics right

It is sad to say again another all sing and all dance race with scenic views, medals, goodie bags, burgers, bands, pacers and crack, fails to get the basics of a race correct. The lack of or no water in the early parts of the race for the majority of runners is unforgivable regardless of how much I personally enjoyed this event. All too often basic mistakes are been made in Marshalling, course measurement and delivery of promised facilities during these events. Afterwards we get an apology and reassured it will be better next year. While some people are of the view that voting with our feet will make these races sit up at do things right, I think this is not the case. There is sufficient numbers of non club runners who prefer these events to club races which will ensure their survival until they figure things out. This is something that clubs will have to address, why do these runners feel that they don't belong at the start line of many club races. Maybe Johns views on the lack of club races in certain areas of Munster is contributing to this. By getting more casual runners into the club running scene then maybe we can show them what is the difference between a good quality race ran for runners and razmataz event that loses sight of the basics. Its time for clubs to step up and take running  to the next level.

Bright Side of the Road

Always take the weather with you

Sixmilebridge delivered again. If running 10 Marathons in Ten days was going to be hard enough, the weather as usual made it a true test of stamina. Not since the summer of 95 when Clare finally kicked Biddy Earlys curse to touch have we seen temperatures in the high 20's and low 30's. As I have said before I don't think GOD likes us marathon runners too much or maybe he had an alternate motive for inflicting such conditions on the 23 or so lunatics about to attempt this challenge. Short story 23 legends were born over that week, they inspired a community and showed that faced with the adversity what the human spirit and body can endure. Eighteen of those got home on the final day but the five that fell had the hardest choice to make in pulling out. They had brought themselves as close to the cliff both mentally and physically before making the correct choice to let it go for another time. The motto on the back of the finishers t-shirt got this spot on. So many memories and emotions were experienced over the ten days, watching the joy on the their faces as we approached with Mr Freezes and Ice Lollies. Sharing their smiles each evening as they ran,jumped, walked or crawled under the finish gauntry to step closer to their ultimate goal. 

Some of the finishers

They say you get out what you put in, well I can honestly say I came away with much more then I gave.
As special mention must go to Tom and Richie, the success or failure of this event lay at their door. If it failed they would carry the can, well it didn't and was there ever any doubt in that. That been the case they fully deserve the credit for its success.

Dark Side of the moon

I could not pass up the opportunity to run at least one marathon last week. I had originally pencilled in Thursday but had to switch to Wednesday instead due to my own incompetence in looking at my calendar.  I know the course pretty well and had ran it on Saturday in the low 20's for a very uncomfortable and hard Two hour half marathon. How I was going to fare in the high 20's was another matter. Wednesday or Day Seven was the warmest so far but not as humid as other days well thats what I was telling myself. We gathered at the start with everyone trying to get under the small bit of shade that was been offered by one small tree. A quick loop of the town and we are on our way. I went along at about four hour pace with Denzil leading us out and two other day trippers James and Ed in close attendance. James kicked on shortly after the mart and I lost Denzil and Ed at the first water station. Fumbling trying to get a zym tablet out of the tube only to realise they had all stuck together with the heat. Got some into the bottle and another bottle to cool myself down. I was surprised that I caught up with Ed so quickly before Kilmurry but he was struggling with an injury and pulled up shortly afterwards. Got to mile 6, had planned on taking on some of my homemade gel drink spent more time looking for it to realise that it must still be in one of the cars circling the course. No worries as I have another at 12 and sure I get it from whoever has it soon enough. Heat was intense but I was feeling okay and still going around four hour pace, I was down time wise due to the delays at the two water stops, but wasn't bothered really as this was not a day for a PB. Tom said todays PB is getting around in one piece which was pretty sound advice. Ran into Paddy at Mile 7 or 8 so I tagged along with him for a bit. Finally got to meet Jennifer dishing out the ice pops, and the like at mile Eight stayed and chatted with Paddy until mile 12 where he was feeling the pace( he was on number two of a back to back in these conditions). I tipped on while he took a breather. Brian or Dave as I called him flew passed me here, thought about tagging on but his pace was a little too hot. Meet Thomas on the way out and he commented I was looking good, and I felt good at this point. Passed half way 2:01:23 on the clock told Sandra I'll get water off her on the way back. Got my gel at the finish and headed out on the second loop. The climb back out of the town broke me. In less than a mile I went from comfortable running to absolutely no energy in my legs. The (eddies) hill sucked me up and spat me out. From here to Kilmurry was a real struggle, I had to stop several times and walk, I was absolutely drained from the heat. Water at the stations was warm and was not helping me. Meet with Siobhan who had a chilled bottle which help a bit but I was still struggling. I was expecting it to cool down in the evening as the sun went down but this was not the case. Just after Kilmurry cross I came down a hill and in front of me was an angel. Bowl of ice cold water and a sponge. I drowned myself, relief,I was so happy I could have kissed her, I think I did too. From here on I was back, picked back up the pace to four hour pace again. Pretty soon I caught up with Gino who was running his 100th today and then I saw in the distance John who took off earlier in the race. He was my next goal so I set about trying to reel him in. It took the mind of the heat and gave me something to focus on. Finally caught and passed him at mile 22. Got halfway up the Bitch as Thomas calls it when again the legs gave out and had no energy. Walked about half a mile to the next station refuelled and once I got over the climb felt good again. I passed the mart(25) just on Four hours and set 4:10 as a goal. Ran from here to the finish but thought I was going to be outside the time. Mike (of Clare FM fame) came along side on the bike and pushed me out to the finish 4:09:50 and it was over. Tom then of course asked probably the most obvious question of the week. "Do you want a can Ger ?". To which I reply as I fell to the ground "Can a duck swim!". Okay there may have been a four letter word in there somewhere. As I skulled my can in the cold tub I was satisfied that today I completed my eighth Marathon in brutal conditions, and it had taken me nearly 47 years to accomplish. I pondered, tomorrow night 18 of these guys/gals would equal that in the same amount of days. This really brought home to me the enormity of this challenge, and what is required to complete it. 

June 29th  
          16 Miles Long 2:28:24 @ 9:14 HR 144

July 2nd         
          10 Miles Tempo 7 miles 54:37 @ 7:49 HR 163 with 1.5 Mile WUWD

July 6th
           13.1 Miles Easy 1:58:14 @ 9:02 NO HR  

July 10th
           26.2 Miles Long 4:09:50 @  9:33 pace, NO HR

Shiny Happy People Laughing

The good the bad and the ugly

Thats what The Forest Marathon in Portumna was on saturday. The good being the spirit and comradeship of the Ultrarunning Community, volunteers, friends and family that had gathered for this event. The bad is despite all the training when something goes wrong on the day it goes very wrong. The ugly (for me anyway) was the cramps I experienced for the last 3 laps.

Race Day

Woke up Saturday Morning raring to go. First stop toilet see if I can pass, no go so some strong coffee followed by a large bowl of porridge. Check everything's pack followed by an hour's drive back. Picked up my number at registration. My bib number is seven, which as this is my seventh marathon is a good omen I tell myself. Urge to use the potty comes so coffee has done its job again. This prep is identical to prep used in all my marathons to date. Set off to the Start which is near the car park in Aldi to get ready. Getting changed in the car park it occurred to me that local housewives were probably getting more than they bargained for with all these athletic bodies togging out before their very eyes. Sun is shining a perfect day lay ahead.

The Start

Courtesy of Peter Mooney

God hates Marathon runners, today convinced me more of this. No sooner had we left the aldi car park to line up for the start but the heavens opened. You would think that maybe some of the ladies would have brought an umbrella for us to stand under no not on your nellie.
Off course there has to be a holdup and just as we get under way the rain subsides. We must run 2.2K from here until the start of the 5K loop. I pick up with the 3:30 pacer into the park and we are all running nicely and the pace is easy enough.
Start to 2.2K 11:00 (8:03/mile)

Early Laps 

Courtesy of Peter Mooney

My plan was to run this at marathon effort and see what splits I could get. I would need 24:15 to contemplate a shot at sub 3:25. First lap was 24:27 so I eased off to 3:30 pace. Was going along quite nicely at this stage until the end of the second lap. Picked up my first bottle of Electrolyte drink 250ml of water with half a Zym tablet. I have used this for the last 3-4 years in racing and training, hits my stomach and straight away my gut just contracts, like there is a fist trying to get out of there. I hold it down but its several minutes before I can get back on pace. After the issue with the Electrolyte I tried to take water at the turnaround on lap 3 but was only able to take a sip when the stomach again tightened up. This pretty much made my mind up as regards taking a gel at the end of this lap. The 3:30 pacer caught me here as well which really surprised me as I thought I had a little more time up on him. End of lap 3 pace is okay but again a small sip of water is all I can really manage.
Lap 1:  24:27(7:52/mile) Lap 2: 24:52(8:00/mile) Lap 3: 24:58(8:02/mile)

Making your Mind up

I now had a dilemma, stick with the 3:30 pacer and hope that the stomach issue resolves. The risk here is if it does not I will hammer the wall pretty hard and probably not finish. Or just easy back into a easy run pace for the remainder of the race. At best I may get some electrolyte on board but I really doubt I would be able to take on a gel at this pace. I decide to ease back about 2K into the fourth lap.  From here on I vary the pace and have a chat with some of the 100K guys along the way. Some can chat, some are facing their own demons and cant, others are walking and suffering but in true ultra fashion are still moving forward. This is the most enjoyable part of the race for me.
Lap 4: 26:08 (8:25/mile) Lap 5: 27:34 (8:52/Mile)

The Living End

Courtesy of Peter Mooney

Possible the toughest time I have every put down running. I have had bad runs and races before but nothing as hard as this. Still on my sips of water and 2K into Lap 6 bang left calf cramps. Stop try to stretch it (bad move) hamstring goes into spasm. So I start to walk and it dies down. A few minutes later I start running, if tightens up a bit again, but I find the faster I run the better it gets. So I now do an alternate walk/run strategy, 2 mins walk and then run at about 7:30 to 8:00 min pace to the next Km marker. This does not last long as the right hammer brings me to a halt just short of the end of the sixth lap. At the same time whatever ball of gas is in my stomach releases as well, thankfully in the upward direction. I hobble into the finish area contemplating stopping, I go over to my drink stash and I am finally able to take on board electrolyte, probably to little to late. A lady sitting beside my drinks offers me her seat, I was seriously going to go for it when I spot Martin from the Clare Crusaders go through. He is in as bad a shape as me and probably had 10 or 11 more laps to do in the 100K but he wasn't stopping, it spurs me on, I decline the offer and continue. She replied 'I'll mind your drinks for you'. Lap 7 was more of the same walk/run but the run was now dramatically getting slower and slower. At the tail end of the lap, the 4 hour pacers where entering the turnaround section as I was leaving it. The boss gave me a shout, there was no way they where going to pass me. Did the maths as rough as possible and I reckoned 7 min/Km would get me home in front of them. Last lap was pretty much that, kept plugging away and praying not to hear the bosses voice in the background. Finally got to the finish and over the line. Unfortunately I forgot that other runners were still coming through and I think I came close to taking out one of the leading 100K guys when I stopped up too quick at the finish. I hobble to my drinks stash and do take the offer of the chair from the nice lady this time. Her husband is doing his first Marathon and was with the 4 hour guys. Unfortunately he didn't make his time and faded badly on the final lap.
Lap 6: 28:43(9:15) Lap 7: 30:06(9:41) Lap 8: 34:12(11:00/Mile)
Overall Time: 3:52:01 (8:51/Mile)

Taking Positives

On the way back to collect my car in the Aldi car park, I said to the boss would you believe it my knee was never an issue in the race. He retorted 'At least thats a positive from the race'. There was in fact much more positives to be got from this race, the ever helpful volunteers and marshall's, the encouraging waves and words between runners as they meet each other on the course, the mooney clan taking photos and prizes, the lady in the chair, that now famous leap of faith (which I witnessed live for the first time), and the lovely home cooking in the ultra tent. I will take what lessons I need to learn from the last three laps and quickly put the experience to the back of my mind, but the other memories will stay with me for a long time to come.

Forest is a Go

Fingers Toes and everything else crossed

The last week has been hell on earth. A taper without running is not a very nice experience. After going for my pre booked rub down, PT reckoned that the knee was an old injury, Funny It never gave me grief before. Plan was to keep RICE for another few days. So we get the most fabulous weather for running that has not been seen in these fair isle for near on 2 years, what am I doing 7 days before a goal marathon, sitting on my arse with an Ice Pack on my knee. Finally the pain was subsiding and on weekend I hit for Spanish point and several dips in the Atlantic really helped not only with knee but other areas that had got a bit of attention from the PT.

The Test

I could defer Portumna to next year If I wished, but I was really looking forward to this. I also had to give Seb a few days notice, it would be unfair to leave it to the very last minute. Plan was Tuesday 20 lengths with the kickboard and 5 miler on Wednesday with 3 miles at marathon effort. As expected the Tuesday session was not going to be the one to stress the knee and went as expected. Wednesday evenings run was to be a different matter. Started off by weighing myself, up 5 lbs since last time I stood on the scales (24th May before 20 miler), checked my RHR which is normally around 49 to 53 but this was 57 to 62. Aphersivelily I start to run, knee was feeling a little bit funny for the first mile or so. Once I got into the MP pace I kinda forgot about it but with a mile down the other knee starts to feel tight across the top of the thigh. I up the pace and throw in a few butt kicks which thankfully sorts it out. I was ignoring the watch for pace and HR and just concentrating on running at a controlled pace both effort and breathing wise. With the RHR been up and more importantly the extra few pounds I pretty much expected the pace to be around 8 min/mile. When I got home I checked it and as expected 8:03 pace @ 157 HR, unfortunately this is not near 3:25 goal pace and there ain't much I can do other the pray for it to improve between now and Saturday. Final call was this morning to make sure that I got not adverse swelling or soreness from yesterday's blowout. Thankfully all is okay.

The Plan

Pondering last nights figures 3:25 looks beyond me, I have not totally given up on it as sometimes miracles can happen. So I will go out with the 3:30 guys from the start until we get to the start of the first loop. If its easy enough I will see if I can get to and hold 7:45-7:50 pace (24:15/lap) without having to push. If I can't then try and remain with the 3:30 guys. If this becomes an effort before the end of the 5th lap, I will just ease up and let the field gobble me up. The last thing I want to do is put a hard race in my legs just to improve my pb to 3:3x:xx. I will still have enough time to get sub 3:25 before September if I keep the legs fresh. If a sub 3:30 is there however I will take that and leave Boston qualifier till Dublin (3:20 pacers this year), this however would leave me out of the 2014 race. Thankfully the only certain thing I know about saturday is that I will be outside Aldi @ 12:00, so much good and bad can happen after that but thats what makes running Marathons so alluring and what I have missed in the last 18 months.

June 2nd 
        5 Miles M3 Miles Marathon Pace 24:09.2 @ 8:03 HR 157 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Kaboom

Pressure is only for tyres

Stress and loads of it is where my life unfortunately is at the moment. After Limerick Tom had asked me to pace 1:45 half in Killarney. I had 15 miles at this pace pencilled in that weekend so it was a no brainer. However herself indoors got extremely sick and ended up in Limerick A&E again and is still in Hospital with no resolve to her issue. Adding to this I am very busy at work with a job that is physically demanding for 2-3 weeks. Lorraine is coming towards her Junior cert Exams and has had a few teenage freak outs about them as well. Unfortunately I had to pull out of Killarney as there was just too much other stuff going on. I still managed to do the 15 mile run that weekend but the last three miles felt tough and I had to push just to hold the pace.

Then the tyre final blows

Training had been tough since and that's expected as its the last couple of sessions before the dreaded taper. Last Friday I had taken the day off to complete my 5th and last 20 mile run. Dropped of my water along the route beforehand and set out my plan. Two miles warm up followed by 16 miles of a progression run 2 Miles @ 8:02, 6 Miles @ 7:55, 6 Miles@ 7:49 and 2 Miles @ 7:42 with 2 miles Warm down. Gels at miles 6,12 and 18. Started off well for the first 6 miles until I took my first Gel. Shortly after this I was struggling to hold the pace. By the time I had got to the 7:49 section I was not making the pace, reluctantly took another Gel at 12 with the same result and my pace was going backwards and the effort level was going up. I decided to not bother with the remaining 2 miles @ 7:42. At this point I just stopped and sat on the side of the road for 2-3 minutes just to get my breath back and try and straighten my head for the remaining 6 mile slog home. While friday was a beautiful sunny day for running, there were times in that 6 miles where I really was in a dark place and questioned my sanity and WTF was I doing this for anyway.

Fixing the tyre

Hindsight is great. Well at least I can use it to try and prevent what happened last friday from happening in Portumna. After looking at the HR data my Heart Rate spiked both times after taking the Gel, this is unusual as I had used this Gel in training but I suppose this was the first time they were consumed at race pace. A return to the GU may be on the cards. Ran a recovery run yesterday and the HR numbers were higher but this was expected. Thankfully work has eased off a small bit so I will take the next week and possibly the whole of the taper very easy and just let the body recover. I have planned a trip to Portumna for 13 miles at race pace, I will still go there but do the run at a very easy pace instead.

May 13th         
          12 Miles Tempo 10 miles 1:17:13 @ 7:44 HR 161 with 1 Mile WUWD

May 16th         
          8 Miles Tempo 6 miles 44:36 @ 7:27 (10K pace + PMP) ,HR 160 with 1 Mile WUWD

May 19th

          15 Miles Long run 2:00:04 @  8:01 pace, HR 155

May 22nd

           10 Miles, 8 Miles Marathon Effort 1:01:13 @ 7:40 pace, HR 159 with 1 Mile WUWD 

May 24th

          20 Miles, Long 2:46:27 @ 8:20 pace, HR 161 

Cool Runnings Not

Prelude

Normal activity on day before race pacing is to man the pacing stand at the Expo. As I live local it is only fitting that we do it and allow the out of town guys to get their bearings around Limerick. Arrived mid afternoon so that I could have a quick stroll around and pick up a few bits and pieces  A lot of the stands were of no interest to me so I picked up some Zym tubes and headed into the registration area. Meet with Tom who was none the best for wear and tear after his special Birthday Celebrations the night before. Stand was very quiet but we were kept busy sorting out the pacers goodie bags and running gear. There was some errors which we thought we had rectified. Other pacers arrived around five and collected stuff, general bit of chit chat and my duties were finished for the day.

Race Day

Hit in to Limerick early to get parking close to baggage drop area and give Paul his pacing gear. All the other pacers were decked out in their gear except one of the ladies ended up with a male medium  while the vest will make a nice dress for her I don't think she will ever have use for shin length running shorts. Mathew one of my fellow pacers showed his artistic flare on the Pacer balloons but was not so good in holding on to them. He had already lost two and we had not even left the building. 

After a precise pacing strategy briefing from Brianderunner Niall a quick warm up run to the start to take up our allocated positions. Meet three locals at the start Cathy who was borderline 2 Hour, Rosie and her husband Michael.  Rosie should have been with the 1:50 group and this was Michael's first run and I felt he should have dropped back. They all decided that they were going to get on our bus. With a few minutes to go Karen the third member of our team got the the portaloo feeling. Luckily she was able to pull rank and get to the top of the queue. 
All set and we were off, first two miles where not that congested so Nialls work on getting us in the right spot seemed to have worked. By mile two we are bang on pace and the mile markers are 2 for 2 in being where they should be. The run through the Raheen roundabout allowed us to meet the 1:50 group on the way in and the mad 2:15 er's on the way out.
It got a bit tight on the section from St Nessans Church to Raheen and back into town. We lost time here about 40 secs or so and Myself and Matthew were shouting out instruction to watch out for bollards and parked cars and the 5 hour marathon pacers which were on our racing line. Then for the second year running I went flying out over one of them, our third member was uncannyingly less vocal, but still there encouraging people along at the tail of the group. Conditions had got quite humid at this stage which was probably going to catch a lot of our group later on.

Another point where we meet other runners is on Sarsfield Bridge, we cheer on some of the marathon finishers when I notice James Liddane from B.M.O.H flying past on his way to a 74 min 3rd place finish in the half. Quite a good day for the club in that respect as we had three top ten finishers in the race, Keith Lynch in 5th and John Hannon 10th overall.   
We had picked back up the time lost earlier as the crowds in the city gave everyone a bit of a lift. At this stage I noticed I had a shadow on my shoulder, Eugene was motoring along very nicely and was still able to talk. We hit the first climbs around Thomond when I noticed Cathy up ahead, kept her and as many as possible going here but the heat and hills were starting to reduce or group very quickly and we dropped her at Mile 11 or so. Got a nice shout out from menoscemo Brian and Joanna on their way into town here and Conor and family at the back of the GAA Grounds. Nice to see fellow runners out to support us along the way. Once we got turn onto the North Circular Road section we had maybe half a dozen left and were starting to pick up some 1:50 runners. I felt sorry for the Marshall trying to get runners to stay on the left of the cones when clearly it was a lot quicker to cut the corner. When you have 11/24 miles under you in a race you are not going to run the long line. The best section of the race is along the North Circular its flat/downhill for the most part. The locals were out in force and a family had rigged a hose for us at the turn about,which was very welcome and much appreciated by all. From here on in it was a matter of trying to keep people going, me and Matthew vocally encouraging others while Karen seemed to have the hand of God. She would place her hand on a runners back as she past and they would immediately start running with us again. Once we hit the bridge those that were still with us went on ahead.
Even my shadow Eugene flew past us on the Bridge as well as Two Clare Crusaders, Finola and her partner. Once we hit O'Connell Street we were alone all our group where well on the way to the finish so we crossed the line in 1:59:28 happy our job was done. We encouraged a few more runners to put in the effort for another 30 seconds. Got our goodie bags, tin foil and mingled with the crowd afterwards. A lot of thank you's and photo opportunities  Cathy came in about 2 minutes later, even though she didn't get her sub 2 time she was still very happy with her days work.

Aftermath

No Chocolate in the goodie bag. Plenty of healthy bars disguising themselves as Chocolate but not the real thing. There was a banana so that's as near a sugar rush as I got. Hung around with Karen and Matthew until the 2:15 pacers came back and we made our way back to the baggage drop off. From there do to the Clarion for some grub and a quick chat with the rest of the crew. Good to see that the 3:30 Marathon Pacers went beyond the call of duty and got one of the gang over as Fourth Lady. 

The Main Man Himself

courtesy of Rory Mooney

Unfortunately I Had to hit away early and didn't even get to meet up with Mr Pat O'Keeffe to congratulate him on his epic achievement of running 100 Marathons. Pat is an inspiration to us all and if we can do a small portion of what he has achieved we will be all the better for it.

Under 45 at last

Running on empty

This happened by pure accident but it is one thing I do every so often just to remind myself how the end of a marathon can feel if you get nutrition wrong on the day. It also gives the fat burning system a good workout. I had planned a 15 mile run for Friday night. Plan was big breakfast finish work early @ 4 and have a lunch then start the run 2 hours after that. However herself had said something to me that obviously did not register She was going out to some male stripper show at 8. This meant either abandonment of the run or going straight out on empty. Of course I chose the later option. Glass of water and half a banana stuck the other half in the pocket for emergency purposes, brought 330 ml of water and ditched it at mile 2 to collect later in the run. Run was extremely easy and straight forward for the first 10 miles. Things as expected started to get tough for the next five. I managed to complete the run without having to go for the second half of banana, but  the last mile was really tough to run and is as close as I have ever come to bonking.

Preparation

Switched the focus to tempo runs this week and had in the back of my mind ideas of going for a sub 45 minute 10K in Adare on Sunday. This  is one of the first races in the year and I placed it in the training plan as a tempo run or race. Mondays 5 mile tempo run was done at 7:30 pace and it left me wondering whether I was even near that shape and I was contemplating maybe not running Adare on Sunday. Thursday was a trip to the bridge for another tempo run with the club. Rushing that morning meant I forget essential bits of clothing such as skins, gloves and warm woolly hat. There was as per usual a bit of extreme elements to deal with and tonight it was a southerly breeze that would cut you in three. Then to top it off coach informs us its 5 * 1 mile loops of the town, the loop that goes up that hill, at least tonight there was only 5 to navigate. Had planned to do these easier then Monday but for some reason 7:30 pace felt easy. After 4 miles I decided to see what I could do at what felt like 10K pace. Result was mile 5 in 6:55. Anyway a lot happier with this that I decided to race Adare after all on Sunday and go out @ 7:00 pace and see what happens.

Race Day

Perfect day. For a change running conditions where ideal. Sunny but not warm and not a puff of a breeze. There would be no excuses today for a bad run. Collected my number changed and went for 2 mile slow warm up jog. I noticed that the numbers where going to be big and the start area was not clear of parked cars so congestion was probably going to present problems at the start. I lined up in the 3rd or 4th  row with the faster runners, in an effort to get away as cleanly as possible. There was a five or ten minute wait for the start but it didn't bother me. Once we got going the pace was a bit slower then I was aiming for as there was plenty of people passing me and I was having to pass other slower runners who started ahead of me. I was planning to manually run splits on the watch every 2 KM's. Say the first marker and took no notice to it passed the second and hit the lap button. Looked down 14:09 what ??, it took me 2 seconds to realise the markers where in miles and not km's. This was a bonus as now I was nearly a third through the race and not 2k. Next 2 miles where uphill and passed without incident except avoiding bottles on the road as I skipped passed the water station. Watch split @ 14:05 and well on target. Next two miles where horrible, while it was net downhill I just could not push on here. It hurt and I did not like this place at all. I would push to stay with someone hurt easy back push gain hurt then again wimp out and easy back. This was pretty much how I remember miles 4-6. Watch split for miles 4-6 was 14:16. A quick look at the overall time (brain too addled for sums) was 42:3x (cant remember x.). From here I can hear and see the finish and quickly think 1:30 to there and I would make sub 44. So I push again it hurts, I don't like it but I push through to the finish. As I approached the clock i see 44:54 and I just but the hammer down cross @ 44:58 wrecked and breakfast is on the way up but I manage to hold on to it.

Aftermath

On getting over the line briefly met some club mates turned out Jason Fahy had taken the win. Went for a quick cup of tea and the usual host of sambos and cakes. Had to hit home early so I missed the prize giving where it turned out we took the team title as well. So a good day for B.M.O.H. in Adare. My own performance while I broke sub 45 for the first time and bagged a PB by of over 2 minutes I was a bit disappointed with how I dealt with miles 4 to 6. I am hoping that this was down to lack of races over the last year and I still think there is more improvement there. I have no races penciled in between now and June but I may do some 5K's  a bit nearer June just to get some more speed into the legs.


February 15th
          15 Miles Long run @ 8:47 pace, HR 149

February 18th  
          7.25 Miles 5.25 Miles Tempo 39:41 @ 7:33 pace, HR 160 with 1 Mile WU/WD

February 21st  
          9 Miles 5 Miles Tempo 36:55 @ 7:23 pace, HR 164 with 2 Miles WU/WD

February 24th  
          10K Race 43:56 @ 7:04 pace, HR 174

Signed Up

Committed

Entered Portumna Forest Marathon last week. There is nothing like actually paying for something to focus the mind on training. Once I had done this I quickly set about drawing my training/racing schedule between now and then. Now all that is left is to complete it and avoid any major injuries

It never rains but it pours

When I started running 6 years ago, local races where sparse enough on the ground. This year there is a race on locally every weekend between now and Great Limerick Run in May. At the present moment I have only plans to race Adare 10K and pace both Eamon Moloney Memorial 10K (60 minutes) and Great Limerick Run Half Marathon (2 Hours). My main objective is Portumna and getting my Boston Qualifying time which means I may have to bypass a crack at my Ten Mile PB in either Kilnaboy or Pakie Ryan Memorial Run in Newmarket-on-Fergus.  

Running with a crowd

Normally I am rarely out of the bed at this hour of a Saturday let alone running @ 8 A.M. This was the case last week when I had my first run with B.M.O.H. Meet up the crew in the square where 3 hardy boys already had a 6 mile warm up run done. Tipped along at 8:45 pace for the first 5 miles when we split into two groups. The pace picked up a bit from here so I dropped off for a few miles and meet up with them again later in the run as they took a little detour. Finished 13.5 miles in under 2 hours and just usual stiffness in the legs. Good to run in a group like this but my training cycle is 9 days so I will still be doing some long runs solo.


Feburary 6th
          6 Miles 4 mile Tempo @ 7:38 pace, HR 158 with 1 Mile WU/WD

February 9th  
          13.4 Miles Long Run  1:57:12 @ 8:45 pace, HR 145


February 12th  
          7 Miles 5 Miles Tempo 38:51 @ 7:43 pace, HR 152 with 1 Mile WU/WD

To the needleman again

If it aint right fix it

After my track work last week it was 2 days before the soreness and stiffness seemed to get out of my legs. On Friday I did a 5 mile tempo run @ 8 min Mile pace with one mile warm up and down. This is normally on the easier end of my tempo runs but the last mile was anything but. My Left hamstring/glutes where not willing to work with me at all. Clearly they had not recovered fully from the exertions of the track work. A couple of days easy running/swimming and plenty of cold and hot baths for the next few days.
This seemed to work wonders and by Tuesday evening I decided to try a long easy run of 15 miles. Run went without indecent until about 12 miles when again the left hamstring/glutes decide we are going no further. Luckily I had planned a 3 mile loop for this run and was able to bale out shortly afterwards. Clearly this niggle was not going to go away to easy so a trip to Leon and his needles.

Dry Needling

Third time getting this done and it does not get any easier or less painful  One of the advantages of this treatment is that for the next two days your muscles will be that sore it prevents one from doing anything that will stress them. This obviously improves or aids greatly in the recovery process. I have a return visit for a revaluation next Monday.

Taking the plunge

After many years of solo running I have finally decided to take the plunge and join a club. Yesterday evening I joined B.M.O.H. Even though there are 2 clubs in Ennis and I will have a 30 minute spin to any training sessions or activities, I still fell that there are a better fit for me. Hopefully it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement.


January 18th  
          7 Miles 5 Miles Tempo 40:08 @ 8:02 pace, HR 160 with 1 Mile WU/WD

January 22nd
         12.1 Miles Long Run 1:45:53 @ 8:45 pace, HR 149 (cut short 15 Miles Planned) 

Glad to be back

There is nothing like running

After some easy runs over the early days of the month I decided to add some stress. Started with a 2 Mile Tempo Run @ 7:14 pace. I initially thought this should not be too taxing as I had ran one of these in early November where I just about got up to threshold. After a couple of weeks off running its surprising how quick you lose the ability to cruise. I struggled for the first mile and I was 7:25 at the turnabout. It was slightly uphill so I upped the pace to try and peg back some time for the second mile. It really felt like 5K pace and the average HR reading of 177 had me well above the 163 averaged last November. The one positive I got was that I got into a rhythm for the last half mile and it felt easier even though I was touching 6:50 pace at times.

Perfect Day

My first long run in ages and I turned out to the best run ever. I decided to do 13 mile with a bit of extra speed rather then plod along for 16-18 miles. Went for 8:30 pace as I reckon my MP is around 3:30 mark at the moment. Saturday afternoon was an ideal day for it, dry no breeze and a little nip in the air. I really enjoyed every step of it and upped the pace to 8 min miles for the last 2 miles.

What a plonker

Intervals penciled in for last night. Plan was 3*1600 @ 6:40-6:50 pace. Miserable evening to be doing these, cold wet and windy a completely different day to Saturday, and a complete balls up of a session. Basically I went out way too fast on the first one that by the time I passed 400M mark I was inside the pace for 400M intervals. I decided there and then to hit the lap button and switch to 12*400 with 75 second recovery. The next 2 followed the same pattern going out too quick for the early part and dying for the last 100M. After this Ennis track where also doing their interval session and I found it much easier to slot in behind the guys doing 90 sec laps and just let them slowly drift away. They where doing 1600 reps so if I had stuck to my original plan I would have made life a lot easier for myself. Running intervals in a group is a hell of a lot easier then doing it solo but as I will be doing a 9 day cycle the times that they will coincide will be few and far apart.
Even though I made a complete hash of the session, I was well stiff and sore this morning. I have not done any track work in over a year and it showed with my waddle like a duck walk as I went about my daily chores today. Anyway 2 days of recovery and Cross train should allow my body to recover for the next session a Tempo run of some description.



January 8th
          8.25 Miles Easy Run 1:12:53 @ 8:51 pace, HR 142 

January 10th  
          6 Miles 2 Miles Fast Tempo 14:25 @ 7:13 pace, HR 177 with 2 Mile WU/WD

January 13th
         13 Miles Long Run 1:49:41 @ 8:25 pace, HR 151 

January 16th
         4.4 Miles 12*400M of 75 sec Recovery @ 1:34 (1:30 to 1:36) with  WU/WD

Fish a not am I

If you cant run,you bike or row, otherwise you swim like a brick

After my little run in with stupid driver I knew straight away that running was out of the question for the foreseeable. Christmas eve was the first day that I did not notice any tenderness in the Achilles when walking so I decided a trip to the gym too see if it could hold up to some spinning. Five minutes in and it was starting to ache. Switched to the rower ditto. So shortest gym session ever (15 minutes). Left Gym into the pool did 20 lengths pain free. Rest of the holidays where daily trips to the pool where I have eventually got up to 50 to 60 lengths. If you think my run times are slow well swim pace is worse. Overheard some Tri heads talking about a girl who was lapping me with easy saying "She would be brilliant if she could only improve her swim". With my 2:20 100's there is really no chance of me turning to the dark side.

Goal for 2013

There is only one goal and it is the same as it was in 2011 & 2012 a Boston Qualifying time of sub 3:25 for the marathon. I am more confident that this will be got this year on the third attempt. I am smarter then I was in 2011 and know now that the body needs time to recover between sessions, and does not always follow a 7 Day training plan. I am physically in better shape this year off a smaller but smarter mileage in 2012.

Rest does work

By new years eve I felt a whole lot better so I again tried another Gym session. This time got through a 20 minute bike and 20 minute rower session without any aggravation on the Achilles.
New years day decide to chance a easy run on grass, 4 miles no problem. Yesterday went for 6 miles on grass again okay. I will chance 8 miles easy on the road on Tuesday evening and if that goes well I will go back to regular training again.