The Biggest Smile - Part 1

So here I was a little disappointed but relived as I approached the finish line. Marathon number 50 done, my first official Ultra but the wheels had come off big time over the final 6K that I missed my secondary target of 4:10 which I felt was well within my scope. This feeling didn’t last long as once I crossed the line it turned to sheer joy, I suddenly had as Seb put it “the Biggest Smile in Portumna”

The night before

On receipt of an Email prior to the event I soon realised that we could pitch tents the night before the event. This appealed to me as there would be less stress involved in trying to get to the 7AM start if I went the night before. Went to Limerick on Thursday and picked up on of these pop-up tents. As not to look stupid I did a trial run on setting it up. Popup tent does what it says on the tin, but getting it back into the bag took an half an hour to figure out. Arrived in Portumna on Friday evening to see several hotels already pitched there. So I set my minion tent besides Finns minion tent in the shadow of Hotel MacKessy fitted with its own elevator and en suite bathrooms. What a way to relax the night before an event burgers, wine both red and yellow, Mo produced a guitar so a sing-song started. Only downside was the midgets where having a field day on us. Pretty soon we all retired to our respective abodes for the night. Didn’t sleep to well but never do before a goal race any way.

Race Time

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

Up at 5 am got my number, breakfast. Alan Gorski joined me at the table and he was bemused that I could eat so close to a race. Luckily that has always been the case my issues seem to be on other side of that particular equation. Vincent Gutherie had the kettle on and I got a coffee which moved the necessary, a quick warm up and off to the start.
I had initial after a strong finish in The Burren thought that sub 4 was a possibility but the recent heat/humidity had raised doubts on this. I decided not to wear a GPS watch and wear a HRM for the first few laps to ensure I didn’t overdo the effort early. Took off at the start and found myself a bit to close to the front HR showed the effort to be a bit too high ignored it for 1K. It was however still rising so I dropped the pace back. This left me running comfortably with Mark who I meet in Ballyvaughan for the first two laps. Both came in over 25 minutes so I decided that 4:10 would be more likely time. Discarded the HR Strap and picked up the pace from here and try and hold the effort till the end.
My original plan was to bring my Son Christopher with me to act as crew, he neither had the inclination of getting up at 3 AM or coming camping with me for the pleasure of watching his dad run around in circles for the day. So on Lap 3 as I rummaged through my supplies under the MCI table Brenda Barrett Dunphy immediately volunteered to take over the roll. Nutrition for the day was going to be a mix of Jaffa’s and Pringles every second lap. It worked very well, I would tell Brenda what I needed for the next lap and it was available on arrival.

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

Not much to say about the race, laps flew by, the half marathoners soon joined us and the course was now busy. As they passed me it didn’t bother me as I was well in tune with my pace and moving nicely. Briefly spoke with CM from boards where we discussed which was worse been dead or injured, I think we concurred that death was the better option. At around 38K I passed Alan Gorski he was struggling, I was motoring. Passed the 40K mark and I was about a minute up on 4:10 pace but from here on things started to get difficult. Once we passed the 2K marker I really had to grind. My legs were starting to feel dead as doorknobs. Antos friend gave me a lift after this which got me going again until I hit 44K. The cool breeze we had in the morning on the long last kilometre of the loop had suddenly turned into a Calima. This knocked the stuffing out of me. Kept running, I was not going to walk just keep in moving. Hit 45K 3:45:xx on the clock, this meant I needed a sub 25 final 5K, spurred on by the crowd I lifted the pace but once I hit the climb at 1K the pace dropped again to I kept going but the pace was gone from my legs 4:10 was gone at this point. Got to the turnaround looking for coke or anything to lift me. No coke took an orange instead. Started to walk for a bit. Saw Alan coming against me and decided there and then right he is not passing me out so I started running again. Combination of the Orange and the downhill I got up to a reasonable pace but once we hit the 4K again it was a death march to the finish. In my head just keep running while trying to listen for footsteps behind, they never came I crossed the line in 4:12:24.

You can’t be serious

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

I then heard Seb announce over the microphone 3rd place finisher in the 50K. What I initially thought there is a mistake here, but then slowly remembered who was doing the timing. My God the sensation of going from the dejection of missing a target to finishing 3rd from 100 runners in the race was some buzz. Immediately returned to the MCI table and gave my stand-in crew a massive hug. Sheer joy Seb was right I had the biggest smile on my face. Cracked open a can of 95.7% water for rehydration and took my rightful place on the Podium.

Results

Courtesy of Trish Carey

On looking at the results I gained places troughout the race. My last lap was not as slow as I thought on the course and everyone seemed to to suffer to the same degree. I was only 2 minutes outside 2nd place but those 2 minutes where outside my reach. The winner Rory Mooney was of course a country mile ahead and the closest I got to him all day was on the podium.
 
 

 

 

 

Splits for the nerds
0:25:54,0:25:43,0:24:45,0:24:28,0:23:57,0:24:33,0:24:28,0:24:58,0:25:37,0:28:02 4:12:24 3/97

Womans Flu

April so far has been as wash out as regards running or training. I got the female version of the Man Flu and was thrown down for the best part of a week. Never in my life have I been so sick and for the first time in I don’t know how long did not run for a full week. After several rants on Face book I got some replies that made me feel much better.
This had an adverse effect on whatever chance I had off getting some faster work done in preparation for the Kilnaboy Ten Mile. I think the Friday before I managed to do 2 * 2 Mile at 10 Mile Pace. Could have done a third but as per usual the after effects of been sick was still somewhat in my chest

Sonny Murphy

courtesy of John O Neill

The morning of the race the chest was still a bit tight, so I decided I would do this at an easy pace. Maybe I would have been best advised not to do it but I just love this race, so I headed to Kilnaboy with best intentions. Got to the start late so I found myself well up the front. Yeah run it easy went straight out the window. As there was a severe headwind for the first 3 miles I found myself in a big group going @ ~ 7:15 pace. Options leave the group and have to work just as hard or stay in it, took the second option. After half a mile I noticed only Mary Cahill (Ennis Track) and a young lad from Fergus AC were the only ones in the group cutting out the pace or doing any work. I made my way to the front and pulled it along for 2-3 minutes, damn hard, however none of the others where even bothered to help out. Really made my blood boil so this just left the three of us cutting out the pace. Once we turned into the tail wind the group fragmented and I eased off. I was not near race fitness and my early endeavours where coming back in spades. Finished with 72:50, over 3 minutes slower than last year in similar conditions. The result has left me in no doubt that I have a lot of work to do to get back to where I was last year. Now even 4:15 for 50K is doubtful in June. Following this I have put together a plan to be in better shape for Portuma and I may throw a race or two in between.

Curragh of Kildare

Courtesy of Stephen Mooney

Marathon number 45 and after last week I decided that there would be some structure to this. I reckon my 50K pace is a little over 8 minute pace. So I decided to do 3 * 5 miles at that pace off 5 min recovery during the race. The Curragh Plains was the destination and been an ex Solider I knew from experience that it was not flat. A lot of the runners on the day where quite surprised at how undulating the course was but I knew better. It was a return to the Curragh Rugby club, last time I was there as a young Apprentice trying to chat up some young Kildare bird in the 80’s. How things have changed. Easy First lap followed by the prescribed session’s over the next 3 laps. For the last lap I discarded the shoes and socks and ran barefoot. It’s a thing I have be doing lately 4-5 miles barefoot around St Flannan’s once or twice a week. It is something I have started to enjoy and tend to run much easier as a result. On Saturday it got some funny remarks from other runners but it felt really good.

My new trustee Stead

The start of the month was a sad affair. Drove my every reliable 99 Ford Focus to Corofin Dismantlers where it had a short retirement before finally been placed in a crusher. IT just needed too much minor work to get it through the NCT so after Nine years in which it never let me down it was time to say goodbye. In selecting the dismantlers I choose one that would allow me to run home and get a long run of 14 miles in. Two dismantlers fitted that bill, but storm Imogen was brewing so I chose the one where she would assist me on the way home. Well after two weeks of searching I finally got my new Trustee stead. While it is not an ever reliable ford it does have the same engine as the new Ford Focus and C-Maxa 06 Peugeot 307 1.6 HDI. If my new stead gives me half of what I got from its predecessor then I will be more than happy.

4 in a Row

That is what lies ahead. Four weekends, and four more marathons to get me closer to my 50th Marathon. So on tomorrow morning it begins as I travel to Killeigh Co Offaly for four loops of a tough enough course. Judging by the promised whether, swimming goggles will be required. Going to take this very easy as I never have done Four on the bounce. I have previously done Three so I have no doubt if I mind the body I should manage to complete the task in hand. The plan is Marathon Day in Ballina on the 26th, followed by either Saturday or Sunday in UL culminating in a pacing gig in Tralee on the 12th of March.

More of the same

So I reached the end of January and more of the same will do nicely thank you very much. Started the month with the view of shedding some weight before considering starting a training cycle for ay kind of a race. Dug out my copy of Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight and had a quick reread. One thing that stands out for me in this book is that you cannot train on a restricted diet, so the loss comes through a change in the type of foods one puts in the mouth. While I have not gone totally mad I have made some in roads with a few small changes with regard to my food intake. We where also treated at the time to Dr Eva ranting about one,two, three spoons of sugar. Didn't like the program but the Aussie guy brought home the reality that I should and do know, You cannot out run a bad diet. Result has been a gradual loss of 3 lbs. over the month with runs getting easier as the month progressed with a Marathon in Lilliput been the total polar opposite to Portumna’s slog fest.

Trails, Friends and Sausages

Marathon Number 40 23rd Of January Lilliput Adventure Centre. I wasn't expecting much as most of my long runs in the new year had been a continuation of Portumna. Start out at 9 Min pace and just gradually get slower and slower, like the pace my mood would also do same, go south. This I put down to my recent change in diet, trying not to restricted calories but changing where they came from most likely was the root cause. The results where showing on the scales/waist but runs where tough and miserable. On this today however it was the reverse, started out slowly enough and enjoyed the company with Leslie, Jimmy, Charlotte and later Patrick. Got a shout from Mr Race Director himself Vincent that we where going too slow on the first big lap Patrick stopped for a chart with his better half and I found myself alone and the pace from here gradually picked up on each lap. Ended up clocking a relatively comfortable 3:51 just before the rain came. Really felt strong and good for the whole race and don't you just love days when running is easy and you can pick it up at will. The reward for my exertions was a sausage butty and soup. Okay white bread but you have to breakout every now and then.

This olde house

This olde house enters its 50th year next August and some items are beginning to show signs of wear. Got me my brand new OnePlusTwo phone. A long awaited Birthday treat to myself. It can do everything a smartphone can do. Only issue is it has highlighted my eyesight is not what it used to be. So off to the Specsavers for a pair of yokes that will hopefully allow me to read the screen properly.

One thing after another

Doc finally cleared my proctitis, but as a result my joint bursa are getting inflamed. At the moment both elbows and particular my right knee which of course is causing a pull on my IT. The solution is good old Diefene. This however aggravates the proctitis so at the moment I am awaiting MRI’s and a colonoscopy and on a very reduce mileage. Basically run when I am able and all easy nothing hard. The week before Christmas I stupidly (several units of Alcohol involved) went over badly on My ankle so another missed week of running. Leading up to Christmas my biggest week was 27 miles and two single figure weeks. This has also given rise to a probably rise in my weight. I haven't stood on the scales since before Frankfurt when I was pretty much close to 11st 4lbs my race weight. I have no intention of doing so until the New Year, I have no doubt that the result may not be nice but for now I will enjoy the Festive period and worry about such things in 2016.

Slowest one to Date

Courtesy of Mary Mockett

When all of the above was taken into consideration being at the start in Portumna for the final MCI race of the year was an achievement in itself. I knew I was not in good shape and was nursing the ankle, knee and extra little belly that had appeared out of nowhere. Arrived to be told there was a change in the course which was now going to be longer to ensure correct distance as part of it would be on trails. More like XC conditions so of we set 16 laps of 1.6 Miles, Ray mentioned Km’s but i cant compute those things. Started of with Cezary and Dari at around a 9 minute clip. Even after 2 loops I was starting to feel the pace so I was glad when my bowel rumbled and I said my goodbyes as I headed for the toilets. In contrast to last year where I was the bear in the woods several times, this year I made the White Throne and only had to stop once. Continued on after this comfortably between 9 and 9:30 pace. Meet and ran with loads which always make the miles easier. Even got a hug from Aaron of team Kerr, had to hug all of the team before been released to continue on my way. Eventually got over the line in 4:21:15, nothing spectacular but I loved every minute of it. With over 100 runners on the day all credit must go to Ray, Vincent and Brian with his crew of helpers in the mobile kitchen. Its a pleasure to get a warm drink and a sandwich into you after a marathon.

2015 a year in numbers

So to wrap up the year 2,486.4 miles (4001.4K) ran, 13 Marathons completed, 5 PB’s ran  19:45 (5K) 25:47 (4 Mile) 41:11 (10K) & 3:18:12 (Marathon). I am extremely happy with this even if the last 4 months have been a write off. Next year I hope to complete my 50th Marathon before my 50th Birthday on 4th August