You spin me right round baby

Practice Loops

Its November, Eddie Murphy run time when Sixmilebridge gets invaded by runners all hell bent on getting dizzy running around the same 1 Mile loop of the village. For the members of BMOH this is a normal experience as we use this circuit and the hill mostly for our Thursday night speed sessions. I hadn't been down in a while but as I had to pick up essentials for Friday and Saturdays Directors run’s, I decided to get the feel of the loop again. Session was 2 loops @ 5K pace. Coming to the end of my second loop, a car pulls along side, a wee Cavan girl is hanging out the window trying to hold a conversation with me. Believe me it was one traffic. Brenda O’Keeffe was the first of the lunatics to arrive in Sixmilebridge. Between now and Sunday evening a few more would drop by. Finished the session in 13:30. Happy enough not to be doing 26 at anywhere near this pace on Sunday.

Directors Runs

This year to accommodate Gerry Forde we ran the directors run on the 10 in 10 course as it would be madness to have him going around the village all day on open roads. It wasn't long before the early starters arrived. Brenda came filled in her registration form, I handed her a number, 100. The significance of this I at the time was totally unaware of. Soon all runners where on the course and the only issue this morning was a flood at of 6-8 inches deep and 50M long but was dealt with before the later starters got to it.

Saturdays race was to say the least a different experience. We had two participants miss turns and ended up getting lost. After finding both them and getting them back on the course the rest of the day passed without incident. We may need to invest in GPS tracking devices for runners next year. Once the day was over I was now free to run the race tomorrow. My 25th Marathon on home turf and I was really looking forward to this. I got home with ever intention of a quick 3 miles to clear the pipes and get an hour or two’s kip, but herself indoors was sick so that idea went out the window. Off to a gig and home by 3 AM herself still sick, finally she settled down and I got to sleep somewhere between 5 and 6.

Dalmatian Day

I woke a 9 with a sore throat dry lips and my own stomach doing flips. If it wasn't for the fact it was my 25th I would have smashed the alarm and gone back to sleep. I got up everything was ready from the night before logged on to Facebook for any updates on the Double, then saw that Don Hannon had let Brenda's cat out of the bag and that she was half way through her hundredth marathon. Got to the start just before the 30 miler start still not feeling great. Decided this was going to be a long slow burner with the objective of just finishing it. Eamon Dargan was present with his 100th Marathon Medal and Singlet just before the start. Pretty soon we where starting and I was with Eamon and Paul for the first few miles. Meet Brenda at the water station, I was scolding her about keeping her 100th quiet when she informed me I gave her the 100 number on Friday morning much to her amusement. Eamon had crowned this his Dalmatian Day Marathon but unfortunately it was not to be. He was struggling for his breathe on the hill the fifth time around and pulled up shortly afterwards. No doubt he will get to run the Dalmatian Day again. Paul had pulled ahead a bit and I was started to catch him but he was heading for pit stop when I caught him. I hooked up with Fozzy for a fast lap or two just to help clear the pipes. And boy did they clear I hope no poor unfortunate soul had to use that toilet for the day. Once I returned to the course I really felt good and started to run about 8 Minute pace very comfortably. Hit 10 Miles with 1:32 on the clock meaning I was on 4 hour pace. Didn't even bother to slow back down I was in a zone, it doesn't happen often but the faster I ran the more comfortable I felt. Passed half way 1:57 on the clock and just kept going passing runners along the way. Only Mick Curley Cunningham had passed me in that period.

The difference in a year

Running improvements are not things that happen overnight, but over a long period of time. Last year I was struggling at the tail of the race when my Friend Thomas passed me cruising at the start of his. Today I rounded the start finish and there was Thomas in the distance, but I was catching him fast. Thought to myself he must be really struggling. I caught him at the bottom of the hill and said Hi and bombed up the hill leaving him in my wake to the tune of “A whole lotta a rosie”. I don't know who was the more shocked him or me at the time. While Thomas appeared to be going slow he still knocked out a 7:05:11 for the double Marathon. This time would have been good enough to win any of the previous running's but again there was a faster runner ahead. Maybe next year he will get that elusive title.

One and One is Three

Doing sums while you are running and even going well just does not add up. Coming to the end of 20th lap, I looked at the clock 2:53:xx so to get home in sub 3:45 in needed to run 10K in 48 Minutes that's six 8 minute miles, so Lewis its Hammer Time. That's the silly conversation I had in my head the reality was 1) I had only 6 miles to go not 10K and 2) I had 51 Minutes to cover them. Lesson you cannot add and run at the same time. I set off for the next 2 laps at under 8 minute pace only to realise my error on the beginning of the third. I slowed up the pace but in doing so for some reason it was the first time today the wee hill was tough. I set about not letting it beat me and I was determined not to walk one inch of the course. Job done and got home in 3:44:02. My third fastest time ever and only my third time under 3:45 so all things considered I was extremely happy.

Medals

The one downer of the whole weekend was when Richie informed me on Friday night that there was an issue with the finishers medals, which would not be resolved in time for the event. This meant runners completing on Sunday would not receive their finishers medal on the day. With respect to everyone not one person was put out by it. I did not have that issue as I would receive my 25th Marathon Medal. On my arrival that morning I had one important job to do, ask Tom if he would do me the honour of presenting me with my 25th Marathon Medal. In my mind there never was going to be anyone else for this job. Tom has always be a source of support both as a mentor, friend and competitor in recent years and someone I always like to bounce ideas off every now and then. Tom did the honours and Derek Mackessy also picked up his 50th Medal. The bold Dennis however out did us all and got the cake.

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

Better Every Day

Running up that Hill

Had Not been to club training in quite a while so decided I had better show my face. Thursday nights is Interval/Speed workouts so I have decided to do as many sessions as possible between now and Dublin. So where does a club with no track run its 400/800 intervals ? You got it up heartbreak hill. Last week also saw the added benefit of some typical Sixmilebridge Whether  We were treated to a typical torrential downpour. By the time Eddie Murphy comes round I will either be sick to death with it or maybe I might not even notice it's there.

WOI Galway

An unplanned excursion mainly due to Man Flu saw me line up at the start of the WOI Marathon in Galway. I only decided to run it 3 days prior so the plan was to take this extremely easy and do some miles at the pace I will be pacing Dublin at. Meet up with the usual MCI heads before hand where we witnessed the warm up routine that the 10K runners were vigorously going through. It was quite intense, not what I would call a gentle warm-up by any stretch, some people were actually pretty spent after it. We started with the 10K runners for the first loop and settled in to a group of three Myself, Caroline and Paul at about 9:30 pace. Caroline was saying this was her fourth marathon, it was only later that we realised she also ran the 24 hour in Belfast and the 50 mile in Dingle so it kinda but this my 10th Marathon back into its box. We pretty much kept this pace for the first half and I will admit that when I got to 14 miles I was happy to doing the next 7 miles at 11 minute pace. The heat and humidity where really knocking the stuffing out of me and I let Caroline go on at this point. Ran a bit with Gerard Fay and a few more so its great to be able to have a brief chat with people to pass the miles away. Got to mile 21 and had promised myself a Ice Cream cone so on the last Lap I got one, I must have looked a sight jogging up the prom in Salthill like a big child with his face covered in Ice-Cream. Ran a few miles with Valerie who kinda half convinced me to run in Craughwell in December  With 5K to go I decided to pick up the pace but after about a mile my legs started to cramp a small bit so I eased into a run walk for the last 2-3 km. Interval sessions on the Thursday prior probably didn't help me here. Overall considering I have been sick for the previous 2-3 weeks and the heat of the day 4:21 was a decent enough result.

Recovery

The same as my previous Marathon. A dip in the sea afterwards followed by watching Clare in the hurling followed by several pints of the black stuff. This time I managed to find my way home. I am still unsure why this works because I was not sore the next day and was back running on Monday Evening. I had left the decision to Pace the Human Race in Limerick until Monday so when the boss rang I was able to give him a positive answer. I declined the chance to pace 4 hours as I felt that it was a little outside my comfort zone for 30K and left whether I did 4:15 or 4:30 up to him. This was a more appealing option then racing 6K Cross Country trying not to finish last.

The Human Race

First running of this event and I can say that the experience was a good one. The whole event was ran very well, plenty of Marshals, Water and KM markers spot on. With these things in place it is very easy to pace or race such an event. The combination of Dooneen AC and the Management of GLR was a good one and they should take credit where its due. Hopefully this race will stay on the Calendar for next year.

courtesy of Munster Images

I had a smalish group and there was some confusion at the start with the half marathon runners a bit bemused that there was no 2 hour pacer. Maybe something to look into for next year and possibly start the 3 races separately rather than the 30K and Half both starting together. Had an initial group of 8-10 runners and most seemed to be going at a comfortable enough pace. Three ladies took off shortly after 3-4 K. I would catch two of them on the last lap but both where able to stay in touch and pass me again in the last KM. Again I lost my balloon when it got ensnared on the bridge just coming up to the end of the first lap. This kinda leaves you anonymous for the race but luckily I had an idea of the faces that started with me and the group was still pretty much intact.
After 15K we lost 2 out the back and 3 pulled away ahead not to be seen again. This left me and Mike who was actually going easier than I was, without my balloon it was hard to tell which one of us was the pacer. I had a quick toilet break but was back with the group again within 1K, it was good to stretch the legs out a bit. Caught up with some of the stragglers who were starting to suffer. One girl who was pretty much going at marathon pace was telling me she did 20 the previous week and had planned 22 next week. Dublin was to be her first so I told her that 22 miles next week would just be too much for her that close to the race, I really hope she takes my advice on board. Meet with Rebecca who had been with me in Limerick and Killarney where she got a Sub 2 hour on both days. She struggled over the last 5K but stuck with it even though I dropped her in the last 2K she had started far enough behind me to make the time on her chip. Came home in 3:01:15 3 secs under pace, and pretty much all that started with me that went ahead or where still there after 15K got home with the time they were aiming for.
The combination of the last two weeks races have giving me my first 50 mile weeks in over two years with thankfully no ill effects afterwards.  With this in mind I will easy back this week and keep myself intact for Dublin.

This is a man's ???

Man Flu

Having resigned myself to not getting near 3:25 this year or in time for Boston 2014, I have entered a spring marathon in Seville for early next year. This may be a better option than trying to deal with the the unpredictable Irish weather. Anyone targeting times this year during the summer months had to contend with unusually high temperatures which for us Vitamin D lacking redheads really impairs on our performances. I have gone back to base training and with no major injury issues this year have managed 35-40 miles a week, I am going to try and get back slowly to 6-7 days a week and bring the mileage up 50+ miles a week. So first two weeks of September went very well with 40 and 45 miles respectfully, then the dreaded Man Flu hits me. I have not suffered this from with 2 years so herself indoors is not quite up to speed as to what is required in this situation.
It also has made a mess of my plans to get Marathon number ten done in September. Struck me down the day before Athlone and still suffering so that ruled out Carlow to Kilkenny yesterday. My symptoms are getting better and hopefully I can make the start line in Galway on Saturday Morning.

On the Horizon

In the not so distant future I will be pacing Dublin City Marathon again at 4:50. Pacers are every ten minutes this year for the first time and the gap between 4:30 and 5:00 is filled. It will be interesting to see if it splits up the bigger groups and what the uptake will be in the 4:40 and 4:50 groups. Previously there was a lot of enquiries at the expo for a 4:45 band so I am hopeful we will have some company early on. Three weeks later the annual Eddie Murphy Memorial Run takes place on that famous 1 Mile loop of Sixmilebridge. Online entries are now available on eventmaster and it is for a very worthy cause.

Looking Back

Red sky at morning, sailor take warning

Got up at 7 AM on Sunday. Had promised a mate I would look at his PC before the race, but the race time was moved forward so this was the reason for my early rise. I ventured outside to a glorious bright morning and a red sky. A perfect day for running I thought to myself, grabbed my running gear, did not bother to bring anything warm as today I would be racing and that would keep me plenty warm enough. It turns out that those ancient sailors where indeed very clever fellows after all.

Loopy Loopers

The annual gathering of crazy runners to honour the spirit of Eddie Murphy happened again this year in Sixmilebridge. One hundred or so lunatics took to the streets of the Bridge in various shapes and sizes and all had different goals from 13 to 52 miles. My  goal was to beat my PB for the half marathon, which while I did achieve this, not by the margin I had in mind. Our sanity or rather lack of it was future enhanced by the fact that no one willingly left the course even with the abnormal Baltic whether conditions that arrived mid morning and gradually worsened as the day progressed.

Racing Again

On arrival @ 11 just before the marathon start the course was already busy with the double marathon and 30 milers. Picked up my chip and number and got changed, it was a this point I began to realize that we where in for a wet and windy race. However on my warm-up lap I suddenly hit me it was going to be damn cold as well. I went to my car and the only warm piece of clothing I had was a old hat belonging to my daughter. As ridiculous as I looked I still did not win the prize for most ridiculous headgear. My race plan to start out @ 7:30 lasted for about 2 miles. After that I managed to hold 1:40 pace up until Mile 9. At this point my arms where frozen solid and I found it extremely hard to push the pace on the downhill section into the wind and rain. From here to the end of the race I managed 7:50-7:55 mile pace at a struggle.

Photo by Jason Fahy

On reflection my lack of recent races cost me the sub 1:40, the whether conditions did not help but I was badly prepared, and had I revised my pace to suit the conditions I might not have fallen apart from mile 10 on. On a positive note I got two new personal bests. An improvement of over four minutes in my Half Marathon time to 1:40:47, and my Ten mile chip split was 1:16:16 which is an improvement of over one minute on my previous best. I survived the race in one piece and with the exception of some muscle soreness have recovered well. So back to base training and I might tackle my 10K PB over Christmas.

The real Hero's

All the volunteers on the day that made it possible for us to participate in this race. Given the conditions there where presented they excelled in every department. Kept traffic under control given the circumstances of Clare GAA, ignoring the fact that there was a race planned and proceeded to arrange the Clare Cup final in Sixmilebridge that afternoon  The conditions for running where horrible but also not to forget the cheering and support for the marshals along the route. Clare Civil Defense did an excellent work on ensuring the health and well being of any runner who required attention. Again top marks to Tom and the B.M.O.H for putting on this event but been able to ensure it was completed successfully  safely and without major incident  given the many hurdles they faced in the lead up to and on the day itself.


November 18th
         13.1 Miles Race 1:40:47 @ 7:41 pace, HR 163 

Looking Forward

Eddies Run

When Tom had let me know that there would be a half marathon in this years Eddie Murphy's Memorial Run   I was extremely happy. It allowed me to run and complete this without getting a DNF in the Full. Last September I penciled this in as a long run where I would just go out and jog around and have a bit of fun. However with Lorraine's illness my training plan got skewed slightly and is such that on the weekend I should be doing a LT Run of 8 miles. So I have now decided to race this and try and take a chunk off my Half Marathon PB of 1:44:52.

What pace to go out at ?

My last attempt at dropping this PB ended in disaster in Charleville Half 2011. Went out too fast (trying to catch a fast pacer ) at 7:30 pace and ended up crawling home for a time of 1:49:12. Currently based on my last 3 hard runs my VDOT according to online calculators gives me a 1:35:00 half marathon time. I always taken these online calculators with a pinch of salt. This is even more true when other factors are considered

• I have no race specific training done.
• My colitis is acting up again which will most likely mean a pit stop at some point.
• That hill that we have to climb 13 times can mentally get you in the end.

With this in mind plan A is to go out at 7:30 pace and see where it gets me. This will leave me in 1:37 country so I am hoping to have a sub 1:40 PB on Sunday Evening barring a complete disaster during the race.


November 11th
         15.57 Miles Long Run 2:15:15 @ 8:42 pace, HR 143 

November 14th
         11 Miles 9 Miles 1:11:04 @ 7:54 pace, HR 155 with 1 Mile WU/WD