Whats another Decade

Its the big one Year 50. If I teleported back Ten years to life approaching my 40th Birthday I could not have even dreamt up some of the things I have done since. A lot of stuff changed and for the better I may add. It all stemed from running up a hill one day getting to the top knackered and out of breath, deciding that turning back was not an option. So whats ahead for the next Ten (if I get that far) who knows but I am really looking forward to pushing out the boundaries on this.

Christmas Pudding

Yes that little thing that sits just below your stomach and appears every year without fail in the New Year. Had dreaded the stand on the scale on Monday morning and even threattent the scales with the bold corner if it did not behave. Well the scales are in the bold corner, up 10lbs since Frankfurt and I honestly cannot think of how that happened. Anyway its a good incentive to start the year on.

Goals for the Year

Before I can go about setting some I will need to get back to where I was last summer before a few niggles set me back. Currently my easy running pace is slow, the extra pudding is not helping. How would it. I have decided to complete the my 50th Marathon a bit quicker then planned, just get them done ASAP, and during this time I will try and get weekly mileage up a bit more so that I have a good solid base to come off. This means not racing a spring marathon or for that matter anything longer then 10K.

parkrun

As many now know Operation Transformation has joined up with parkrun this year. Well last week they where to film in Lees Road. We had heard they where coming but at 9:15 got a phone call with a request to delay the star until after 10. This didnt happen. parkrubn starts at 9:30 and changes for nobody. They duelly arrived at 10:15 when most of the runners had gone home. Spent the next hour filming and getting the poor remaining souls to shout “Operation Transformartion” and jump up and down. Roll on next week and we had our record attendance of 249, hopefully we can get these people to come back in March and April. Clearly the advantage of getting some national TV airtime outweigh the disadvantage of having to spend a morning in the cold with a film crew.

Windy Wednesday

I have switched my training block from 3 Sessions every Ten days to 2 sessions every week. This suits better as I intend to do more races at weekends this makes more sense to me. This means that the other session is mid week on a Wednesday. I am alternating between long tempos and 5K/10K paced interval sessions every second week. Track in Ennis at the Fairgreen is very open and the last 3 nights I have visited it there has been a gale blowing. This makes it very hard to judge what my actual pace is. I would like to believe it is sub 20 Minute for 5K but I have not hit that pace in any of the recent sessions. Last Wednesday was no exception only adding to the fun was hail showers that where hitting you like a machine gun. Those things are seriously sore. I did a shorter session as in 6 * 300 @ 5K 3 times. So of the earlier paces did hit the magic figure but I doubt I could hold this for a full race. I would not need to wait that long to answer the question.

Resolution 5K

Opened the door at 7 AM on Saturday morning to l et the cat out, she promptly changed her mind as quick as I noted not ideal racing conditions. One of those hail showers with a nasty northerly breeze would make life difficult today. Run in Clare the brain child of Jason Moloney is a new race series combining of a new 5K with three other races in Clare. A new Five mile in Quilty, Kilnaboy 10 and Eamon Maloney 10K, this hopefully will increase the numbers in Quilty and Kilnaboy races. Judging by the numbers that ran on Saturday it has got off to a good start. Over 700 people turned up to run this including yours truly. I had C25K group in the morning so was under time pressure to make the start. Had packed a backpack, ready to go when I got home. After a very cold C25K session I got back to Ennis earlier then expected and had time for a quick cup of coffee and banana. Jogged to the start at the gates of Lees road and dropped my bag over the wall.

Race

The start was bedlam. 700 runners on the road and cars still coming both ways. Learnt later the Gardaí refused the request to close the road for any period prior to the start. A lot of first time runners ended up liming up totally in the wrong spot. Soon we where off and suddenly I had to jump over a young lad (9 or 10) who had fallen at the start, luckily he escaped injury but I dare say it wasn't a pleasant experience for him. After that the race was perfect, I soon settled into a group who seemed to be ticking nicely along at my pace and provided some shelter from the cold North Breeze in our faces. Just as we approached 2K mark and the turn off to the main road I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pass Jason under the watchful eye of Gerry Hayes. Probably took a bit out of me as the group dropped me shortly afterwards. Wasn't really bothered as we now had a tailwind and there job was done so things where getting serious now. Held off a bit for the 3K mark, course Downhill/Flat from here, hit the afterburners but only lasted till the turn back to the finish. Was totally gone at this point and with 800M to go, plenty of runners where starting to pass me. Finally saw the finish and decided that no more people where to pass me. Slogged it out with Rita Kierce (2nd Lady) over the last 200M and just held her off. Over the finish side of the road and now regretted my snack of an hour ago as up it came.

Reflection

I ran this again without the worry of a watch and finished with a time of 20:25. Two seconds outside a PB, I was hoping to get closer to 20 and I have to accept that's where I am at the moment. Legs really felt strong throughout, but I just wasn't comfortable once I tried to push on for the last 2K. Maybe some hill sprints/sessions might get me over that hump, or just do more races this year between 5K and 10 Miles.

The niggles

Pretty much has summed up my running since after Eiddie Murphy. I had hoped to add one more achievement to this years tally in getting a sub 20 5K. Duhallow AC 5K in Newmarket was pencilled in late last October as the target race. Started to do 5K endurance work with some hill and faster intervals from about mid October. Thrown in the middle of this was Eddie Murphy Marathon my 25th for the year. I conceded that a weeks of very easy running would be need after this, an post midnight urge to use the little mans room settled this in no doubt both adductors seized up to such an extend I had to bum shuffle downstairs to relieve myself. At that point a week off was set in stone.

Return again, again and again

Always seems to happen, you take a week off running and every niggle ache seems to get magnified. Each time I tried a session which entailed me running fast the aftermath was some thing giving me grief from my right Achilles, left glutes or both adductors. This had the result in starting to miss/reduce some of the key 5K workouts and faster intervals.

2000 Miles

Along the way somewhere towards the start of the month I passed the 2000th Mile of running for the year. My first time to reach this which shows how consistent my running has been and this year I got through it without having to lay  up due to an injury. What was the difference this year ? When my body said I’m sore or tender I listened and adjusted my goals rather then blindly ploughing ahead with whatever training plan I was following at the time. Unfortunately recently this was becoming a bit too frequent.

Bad, worse and prospective

With the race fast approaching I planned a 6*1K 5K effort on a local track. It was a bit windy when I got there and squally showers where not helping matters. First was 4:06, feck that’s under target, pushed a bit harder on the next 4:11, crap pushed harder again to an extent that it felt unsustainable for 5K 4:16, feck this for a game of cowboys and canned the session. So a crap session 4 days before the race, maybe on race day it would come together. The following few days I got my prospective, My Uncle had a massive heart attack and passed away. He had a good innings and while it was sudden it wasn't unexpected. The day of his burial while bring him into the cemetery I lost my footing while carrying the coffin, in an effort to not drop the coffin I pulled something in my left glutes/hamstring/adductors. This effectively put paid to any thoughts of racing in Cork last Sunday. Having completely rested for the last week I ran 4 miles easy on Christmas eve without any major side effects so I will try and get a few miles in Thursday/Friday and if all goes well I may well give 26.2 a lash in Portumna on Saturday

Running is Mental

30th Anniversary Sonny Murphy 10 Mile hosted by Kilnaboy AC was on this Sunday. One of the old four Munster Spring 10 Mile races. However since the series has stopped this race has had a reduced number of entries mainly because of the time of year its ran and the nature of the course. While the course is your usual scenic route its is undulating and hard. A lot of runners avoid it because of this and that its not PB material.  Another low set of numbers again for the run must have the organisers scratching their heads. There was 107 entries on the day and the vast majority of these where club runners, so for some reason this race is not appealing to the non club runner. If the race is to continue then Kilnaboy AC need to address this as I like many other club runners would hate to see its demise.

Not racing the watch

I didn't really have the appetite for a crack at sub 70 as Connemara was still a bit in the legs but I was going to race this. A local runner who I have a history with beat me narrowly in this race 2 years ago so today was about extracting a victory. Plan stay with him until mile 8 and the go for home at the water station by running through it. Even with so little runners at the start my target lined up at  the very front with me 3-4 rows back, he took off like a bat out of hell and I got caught in traffic. After a mile he had opened a 200 meter gap but it wasn't getting bigger anymore, the only issue was we were going under 7 minute pace. With the breeze behind us this wasn’t too difficult so I was quite happy to be able to hold the gap but I was now on my own which was a worry with the head wind breeze that we would encounter soon. Once we turned right after mile 4 he was starting to open the gap mainly because I was easing back the pace slightly. I was now starting to worry that maybe I was not going to be in a position to challenge him later in the race. I kept going at race effort and if he beat me then fair dues. Passed halfway in 35:05 and the pace was starting to become a real effort when suddenly my foe was coming back to me big time as in he was walking. Flew by him and he ended up with a DNF. So game over what do I do now, well I decided to keep up the race effort but the combination of a stitch (glupped down 2 cups of water too quick) and the long drag up to Corofin with the stiffing breeze saw the pace drop that through mile 7 I was 50:24. On the climb up I was passed by a runner from Galway, so I put the head down and I stayed with him. There after we had a mile of passing each other out, I surged on the downhill section through Corofin, he caught me on the flat, I skipped the water station and kicked on but he again closed the gap and passed me once more. As I had ran the last 2 miles in the warm-up I made the plan to stay behind up the hill before the 9 mile marker, switch to left hand side as we crested and kick open a gap. He was better on the hills so I needed to end this before the final climb to the finish. Executed to perfection as I finally managed to open the gap which he could not close. Kept the pedal down until I could no longer hear his footsteps behind and then dropped the pace to 7:30 for the final climb to the finish. Crossed the line in 1:12:20 slower then Dungarvan but very happy with how the race transpired. My foe for the last 2 miles was Brendan Kennelly from GCH who shook my hand after he came through the finish line. I have no doubt that should we meet again I will be in his sights. That's racing for you, sometimes you don't have to beat the watch to have a good one.

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

Taper Madness

Rest and Recovery

Mainly all easy runs last week, but a new issue has emerged. Prior to herself release from Hospital I had to clean the eve shoots as there were trees growing in them at this stage. Out with the ladder and and cleaned them down. Day after walking downstairs is causing me pain in my Right knee. Taper has truly began I thought to myself and put it to the back of my mind.

Sneak Preview

Paid a visit to Portumna on saturday to check out the 5K loop course for the Marathon. I had originally planned to do 4 laps at marathon pace and Warm up and Warm down section from Aldi Car Park. With last week's disaster of a run and my clicking knees from the ladder on Thursday, I decided to do an Easy 5K first and if everything held up do 2 laps at Marathon pace followed by a 5k cool down lap. From the outset I was very impressed with the running surface in the park, hats off to OPW and Coillte it is perfect, but as for the public road section from the Marina to the turnaround, its littered with potholes, not massive ones but they must be avoided at all costs. The course itself is for the most part very flat. There are two sections up and down, after the start its downhill for most of the First Kilometer and then uphill to the Second Kilometer mark, and from the Marina to the turnaround is uphill and down again back to the Marina. They are not major drags by any stretch but enough to make you work a bit harder. One section I found to be the toughest is the last Kilometer, it is one of those long stretches of road that never seems to be getting any closer, while it appears flat it is the only open section of road and on saturday it was into a stiff enough breeze. Only note of concern with this course is if its a fine/dry day like last saturday there will be a lot of visitors on the trails walking with dogs on leads and young children on bikes. This will causes congestion at times in some sections of the course during the race.

The madness begins

Set off first loop nice and easy then two loops at marathon pace where 24:42 and 24:36 respectively, while this is outside my goal pace the weather conditions (warm sunny evening) meant any faster would be too fast.
Warm down loop was cut short just hit the public road and knee went click and that was that. I could walk on it but running was causing pain. Walked back to the start not knowing for sure if I will even make the start in two weeks time. I had a pre booked visit to a PT for tomorrow and have been RICEing since Saturday so we'll just see what happens.

June 2nd 
        18K Marathon Pace 10K 49:43.2 @ 8:00 HR 157 with 5KWU 3K WD and 2K walk

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 

Recovery - "Love the way you lie"

Recovery Run

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

Marathon Paced Run with spice added

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

Boston Madness

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

Club Run

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rebuilding Again

Peel back the layers

Was only expecting a rub down on Monday but Leon just could not get Glutes to release, so I got another dose of the needles. This time there was to be no running and a varied single leg bridge was to be done. Went back again on Thursday for a rub down of Glutes and Hamstrings. He also gave the IT a good workout as well. Plan is to gradually increase workout distance and intensity and continue with  the single leg bridge.

On the way Up

Thursday I did 4 miles very easy and all went well. Friday I did 5 miles including 3 * 1600 repeats at 7:20 per mile, got some small pinching in the butt when the pace went under 7:00 and towards the end of the third. I had planned 4 but I sided with caution and didn't do the last one.  Saturday I took a rest day which is a pity because it was the only day recently that you could look forward to doing a run. Sunday another 4 mile easy pace.

A damp run

This evening I was going to step it up to a 6 miler with 4 miles @ 8:00 pace. It was an horrible evening for it, wind, rain and hail. As I had left it late it was also dark so I decided to go to the fairgreen which has a little over a half mile circuit. Some of this is a bit uneven but I would be somewhat sheltered from the elements and have some light while not having to contend with traffic. The run went very well and I had managed to time it that I encountered no showers until I was on the way home. With about half a mile to go some stupid plonker of a driver ploughed through a flood and in the space of 1 second I was saturated from head to toe. I was not a happy bunny for the last 5 minutes of this run. I am really looking forward to the next couple of months when the stretch comes back in the evenings and I can get away from these idiots of drivers around the town of Ennis.

Feburary 1st
          5.5 Miles Interval Run 3 * 1600 @ 7:20 pace w 400m Rec (7:16,7:22,7:15) with 1 Mile
          WU/WD

Feburary 4th  
          6.2 Miles 4.2 Miles Tempo  33:44 @ 8:03 pace, HR 153 with 1 Mile WU/WD

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.

Puppy Fat

In reverse

Over the last two weeks I noticed that the effort to sustain training paces was on the rise. This I was putting down to the race in Sixmilebridge still been in my legs. Yes there was something in my legs an extra 4 lbs. I stood on the scale at the start of the month only to jump of it in horror and start checking it for damage. It registered 173 lbs. On again with my eyes closed and praying it will be better this time, as we all know it never is. This is not good as trying to maintain ones weight over the festive season is hard enough but having to shed a few pounds is rather daunting.

Racing Weight

A subject I have never really looked at. According to Dr Stillman's guide a long distance male runner of my height averages at 136 lbs. That's a mad figure but his average non active male is 160 lbs really had me baffled. I am a fatty considering the amount of running that I do. Between now and next spring I will aim to get my racing weight down to 156-160 lbs. This should help in getting that Boston Qualification time next year.

Realism

To undertake Marathon training for a 3:20-3:25 marathon it is important to be near that in terms of fitness and speed endurance before starting. Some research suggest that I need to be sub 44 for a 10 Km or sub 1:38 for a half marathon. My aim is Portumna in Mid June so I will run a race in mid January to determine if I am in shape for the training. The upside is that at this point in time I am not that far away. My recent 1:40:47 in Sixmilebridge was in very tough conditions and Friday I ran an 7 Mile Tempo which had a measured 10 Km  in it, which was clocked at 45:45. Times in question are possible but its another matter going out and doing them.

Downtime

Normally I take the month of December off from running to give the body a break as its my busiest time of the year with work and gigging at night. This year however I will train through but work commitments are going to have an effect on the amount and quality of training I get in.


November 30th
         16.8 Miles Long Run 2:30:47 @ 8:58 pace, HR 145 

December 4th  
       11 Miles 9 Miles 1:11:58 @ 7:59 pace, HR 158 with 1 Mile WU/WD

December 7th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 51:45 @ 7:24 pace, HR 163 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Easy and Slow

Recovery and Racing

Took all of last week to recover from my efforts in Sixmilebridge, but on Saturday Morning there was a charity 5K to be ran. Only about 30 showed mostly ladies from various meet and train groups around the area and it looked at one stage that I was odds on for the win until one of the hares from Ennis Track appeared. I had to settle for a gallant second but was made to work for it all the way. Course was a bit long 5.3K but 8 min mile pace was enough to take it. It felt tough so clearly the Sixmilebridge race was still in my legs. I also meet with a pacee from Dingle who thanked me for helping her to the finish under the 2 hour mark.

Baby Steps

Another Evaluation done in perfect conditions on Tuesday Evening. I was a bit worried about this because of how the legs felt on Saturday Morning. Results showed a slight improvement but again after three laps @ 180 I was hyperventilating badly and pulled up. This clearly shows that I will need to do some serious track workouts if I am to get 5K times improved. Its is probably my biggest weakness and I will have to bite the bullet and join a club if I want to improve the fast end of my running. The main target is still sub 3:25 in Portumna next June. So I will continue with another cycle of Long,LT and Steady runs before I go into a more specific plan for the Marathon.

Date	Temp	Weight	140	150	160	170	180
17-Sept-2012	12°	169 lbs	8:43 (0:44)	8:10 (1:00)	7:36 (1:30)	6:56 (2:12)	6:40 (N/A)
27-Nov-2012	6°	170 lbs	8:42 (0:39)	8:06 (0:56)	7:29 (1:15)	6:51 (1:47)	6:37 (N/A)

Rookie Mistakes and the Runs

Prelude

Arrived home on Friday night after a gig to find Christopher doubled over the big white telephone getting sick. He also informs me he has got the runs as well. Felt sorry for the poor mite and helped him as best I could until there was nothing left to come out and he was so knackered all he wanted to do was sleep.

Still Making Them

Rookie mistakes that is. Saturday was down for my first 8 mile run just below marathon pace effort (155 HR). I have been extending the length of this run for the last month or so and this was to be the longest. Looked out the window from my warm house sun was shining sure no need to put on the ballet tights or compression top it looks like a nice warm day out with no breeze. Eager to get out and run in such a beautiful day I jumped into my shorts and tech top strapped on my watch and chest strap and off I went. Who needs vaseline or nice warm compression gear anyway. As I set about my run  felt a little bit nippy but I'll warm up. Meet two girls one who shouted "Hope we get the wheather you're expecting." Took no notice. Run I have marked for this is an out and back so I  have a gentle tailwind on the out. Everything is going to plan until I get to the turn around. The sunny skyline line has been replaced by a massive Black Cloud of Hail heading straight for me and of course the breeze has also stiffened, also I am getting rather sensitive in between the legs and on my moobs. The return leg was very difficult as one could imagine. It had to be done it hurt and was as tough as hell but when I got home I was delighted I finished it as planned. So I doubt I'll forget the vaseline for a while and bought another set of compression gear it is now winter or did we even get a summer.

The Runs

Sunday recovery run did not happen. I was curled up in a ball all day struck by the same little nastie that Christopher had on Friday Night.  Attempted again on Monday and this lasted about a Mile before my Stomach and Bowel decided to move in two completely different directions. Decided to skip Tuesday as well, so I was nervous about the outcome of today's Seven mile LT pace run. Finished it okay, but the stomach was not great after taking on some water halfway so bottle of water was quickly discarded. I rarely have issues with what/when I can eat before or during events but the last few days have shown me that getting it wrong in a race and you can forget about trying run let alone at race pace. 


October 30th
         13.51 Miles Long Run 1:57:05 @ 8:40 pace, HR 143 

November 3rd
         10 Miles 8 Miles 1:04:14 @ 8:02 pace, HR 156 with 1 Mile WU/WD

November 7th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 53:49 @ 7:41 pace, HR 160 with 1 Mile WU/WD

If life was predictable it would be boring

Tempting Faith

Mid September, herself indoors has a check up in the cancer centre in Limerick Regional Hospital. I am not one for hanging around in waiting rooms so I park the car and have brought my running gear. Plan was a 4 mile tempo run with 1 Mile warm up and warm down. Got back to the car just as herself was coming out of the clinic. As I am changing and towelling down I gaze across to the rear of the Children’s ark to where the Sunshine ward is located I said to herself thankfully we should never see the inside of that place again.

 A month to forget

One day after her 15th Birthday my daughter had a seizure after been fours years free from seizures and about to be taken off her Epilepsy medication. This seizure was different from all the others, which is why on the day I immediately ran the Ambulance. It ended up been some form of Autoimmune Encephalitis and she spent a week in Intensive Care and another two weeks on the Sunshine Ward recovering. Ironically she stayed in the room which is being renovated with funds from the Bridge Milers 10K run this year. Lorraine was released from Hospital last Friday and while not fully 100% she is well on the road to recovery.

We are lucky to have her

Words uttered to me by nurses and consultants alike during Lorraine’s stay. They were referring to Dr O'Mahony who is the paediatric neurologist in Limerick Regional Hospital and I would agree with those sentiments entirely. She is one of the most honest, hard working professional people that I have every had the pleasure to meet.  Also Dr Murphy and her team were excellent especially Johannes who was as elated as I when Lorraine come around in Intensive Care and recognised me. I would like to thank the Nurses in Intensive Care in taking care of Lorraine especially Mairead and Siobhan who dealt with her when she was woken up. They did not have an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. The same is true of Polette and the other nurses who had the difficult task of trying to help her in Accident and Emergency on the night of her Admission.

Lace them up

What I have got from this horrible experience is that it may be raining or freezing or just plain laziness that I might contemplate skipping a run. Not any more "lace them up and run because tomorrow you may not be able to do it" is my new motto.   

What Day is it ??

My running  swimming and gym work have not happened since the day Lorraine got struck down with some mysterious virus. Her condition is no longer critical and her recognition of people and recollection of events prior to last Monday is intact. She is however both confused and delusional since Monday and has no concept of time or reality at the moment. As a result of her current state of health either me or her mother have to be in the Hospital with her at all times. We are taking two day shifts which as one would expect will limit the amount of running I will get to do over the coming weeks.
I did however get two Tempo runs of 7 miles in since last weekend, the pace was slower then previous runs for the same Heart Rate but this is to be expected considering the circumstances and stress of the last 2 weeks. On the upside I have recovered quicker from these runs and found that I was able to hold the pace particularly on the last mile with little or no drift upwards in Heart Rate.

October 14th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 54:42 @ 7:48 pace, HR 161 with 1 Mile WU/WD

October 17th
         9 Miles 7 Miles 56:31 @ 8:04 pace, HR 155 with 1 Mile WU/WD

Why do I run ?

If you asked me that question last week you would have got answer like to get a qualifying time for Boston 2014 sometime next year. Well on Monday evening that and a lot of other plans have been blown out the window. Short story is Lorraine my Daughter had a seizure on Monday at 18:10. After briefly regaining conscious to state that she could not see, she has been unconscious whilst battling an unknown viral infection. As her mam was in hospital until yesterday, I had to deal with all the stuff in Limerick. Short story is we are none the wiser and her condition thankfully has not worsened but has not got better either. I will add that she is been cared for by a wonderful Team of Nurses, Doctors and Consultants in Limerick Regional ICU at the moment and would like to thank all those that have supported us with actions, thoughts and prays over the last week
So today was the first time I got to do a run. Put on my shoes, Hi Vis jacket, light and set out. No planned route or watch to monitor HR/Pace (sick of looking at monitors at this stage), just out my gate turned left and ran.
This run allowed me to get a lot things straight in my head. I would swap in a heartbeat with Lorraine at this moment but that will never happen. Could I have spotted or done something to pick this up earlier ? Probably but that won't change anything now. All I can do is stay positive and be there for her, my wife and son as we face the challenges, high and lows that are ahead of us over the next few hours,days and weeks.

11th Oct 2012 
          About 10.5 miles in a hour and a half or a bit more, at a pace that varied with my mood.

The racing Gods hate me

Will I wont I

That was my dilemma all week. I felt my fitness level have really improved since I have got my mileage back up to 40 mpw region. So I should go for sub 45 on Saturday but the 10K specific runs have been curtailed or pace cut back due to tight Hammer was it worth the risk. Friday put paid to that, Thursday evening Resting HR was 65, early warning sign something was amiss. Friday sore throat when I woke up, after work that evening felt like shit so I do what always works for me. Throw on extra duvets on the bed a large hot whiskey with honey and cloves and stay there for the next 24 hours. Arose Saturday evening feeling a lot better.

What might have been

On Monday I decided to do some sort of a test where I can evaluate my progress over the coming months in the winter. Having read a bit on this over the year I have opted to loosely follow a Hadd type training program. He has a test where the runner runs 2.4K at various heart rates with 90 sec recovery intervals. I adjusted this slightly as it was based on a runner who was capable of 5 min miles. So I reckon that this test requires the runner to at least run 8 minutes at any given effort. This meant I would use a 2K interval instead. For the rest I was going to use another pointer which may be useful, recovery time. So I will record the time it takes for heart rate to return to 120 bpm.
My current stats are as follows. Max Hr is 191 and Resting Hr is 47-54. Based on Hadd my marathon HR/LT Heart rate should be between 170-175 (15-20 bpm below Max HR). Something tells me if I did 26.2 at this effort I would no longer be on this earth. Test will run 2K intervals for 140,150,160,170 & 180 b. After each interval I will record the time it takes for HR to return to 120BPM. Results of my test are below with comments on how the effort felt.

Date	Temp	Weight	140	150	160	170	180
17-Sept-2012	12°	169lbs	8:43 (0:44)	8:10 (1:00)	7:36 (1:30)	6:56 (2:12)	6:40 (N/A)

 This was a bit of a mixed bag.

• I was very happy with my 140 through to 160 paces. Felt like I could hold these quite easily and never felt under any pressure to finish them.
• I have in the past run 10K with 175-180 average but I was very glad to see the end of the 2K @ 170.I do not think I could have held this effort for too much longer. 
• The 180 just did not happen got to the start of the 3rd lap where HR was not above 178 and when I pushed it my running form just fell apart and hammer started to feel tight and I was sucking air in like it was no tomorrow.

Typical plodder that I am can suffer through miles 20 to 26. of a Marathon but ask me to go all out for 2K and I wimp out like a pussy. Looking at the numbers and how I felt I reckon the last 12 months my LT threshold has dropped under 160 so over the winter concentration is on getting this back up to 170 region.

To infinity and beyond

Training going forward will be as follows with 3 Key sessions.

• One long run of 2-2.5 Hours @ 140-150 effort/pace.
• Tempo run of 75 Minutes @ 155 effort 
• LT Run of 60 Minutes @ 160 effort.

Currently I have only got the Tempo and LT runs to 4 miles so over the next 5 cycles I will build them up to the required level. Each session will be separated by 2 easy days of swim/easy running and some aerobic cross training. I may or may not take day 10 as a complete rest day. This has been working well for me so far since end of June and I do need the extra recovery time as I am an old fellow.

Sept 20 
           7 Miles 5 Miles 38:35 7:43 pace , HR 155 with 1 Mile WU/WD 

7 Day declaration

To Race 

Recovered extremely well from Dingle, that I turned my mind to doing a 3 * 2 mile @ 10K Pace session. Decided to keep the pace as close to 7:15 as possible but easy off if Hammer started to stretch. From the warm up it never felt 100% so was going to abandon ship. Once I upped the pace strangely it seemed to easy up for the first 2 intervals. Only really started to tighten in the last 100/200 m of the second interval. So I went for the third but could not maintain the pace without feeling a tightness in the hammer. Drop the pace but even with the dropped pace it still felt like the toughest of the three. Afterwards I felt okay and was deciding to aim for 45:30 in East Clare 10K in 2 weeks. 

or not to Race

Then I woke up the next morning, right hammer and glutes where as tight as hell. Took 3 days of light running, stretching foam rolling and swim to get any bit of mobility back into them. Even on 8 mile Easy Run on Saturday the still felt tender and sore. Is it really going to be worth the risk of a bad injury just to knock 1 min of a PB ? Also I now have a double gig the evening of the race, so horsing gear and standing for the guts of 6 hours is not what you want post race. I think I will park the sub 45 10K until the spring and just concentrate on building back my strength and mileage over the winter.

Interval	HR	HR%	Time
2 Mile	162	83%	14:31
2 Mile	170	88%	14:34
2 Mile	177	93%	14:38

5 Minute recovery Jog in between.

There is no wall

Post Race

Off to Dingle on Friday to pace the Dingle Half Marathon for the 2 hour slot. After receiving various emails from the Bosses new PA we found out that our accommodation would be in Dingle fairly close to the start line. This however meant an extra half an hours drive for me which meant It would be a very quick shower before returning to Annascual for pre arranged pizzas and pastas. Meet the rest of the crew, grub and banter was good. A couple of quick pints later and it was off to bed for the night.

Race Day

Surprisingly I got a great nights sleep, normally I don't before these races, it might have been the grub, quick pints or the comfy bed but my one lingering doubt is that I fear my room mate may have slipped me some Rohypnol, the conversation the next morning involved my ability to use a certain item of cutlery. Up and dressed, breakfast supplied by our chef was porridge, we also had some very nice homemade brown bread but I steered clear of this for fear of getting struck by a bowel movement somewhere before the finish. We get the race brief from the Boss. Photo shoot and a quick run down to the start to warmup

99 Red Balloons

Yes the pacer's nightmare the dreaded balloons. It's late when we get them and they are all knotted together, takes 5 minutes to untangle. Proceed to attach balloons with pin, now my record is dismissal as regards getting these bloody things across the finish Line. I'm one from four so aim is to get this one home. Starter gun @ 9 and 2 minutes later we are passing under the start line while I try to get my two watches to start on time I feel a thug on my shoulder, damn balloon has snagged on the start and is fluttering away behind no longer attached. I also notice another balloon floating up in the air as well so at least I am not alone. Anyway I am paired with Keith and the plan is to keep up with the 4 hour pacers for the first 6 miles or so, this will give us a bit of time which we will us on the drag from 7 to 9. We did not have a big group to start with but a lot of people seemed to join us after mile 2. The miles ticked along nicely and support was very good along the route considering it's a country race, Local's are out in good numbers. When we got to the first of the drags the wind which was in our face was quite strong. Advised people to tuck in behind us, this section was tough so no doubt anyone who was with us was suffering a bit. I dropped off Keith by about 20 seconds to try and keep people who where dropping off the back to start again. We held the most of the group together and our time was spot on at mile 10. We picked it up again a small bit on the downhill sections as there is a small but killer of a drag at 11. Around this time an ambulance could be heard approaching in the distance, most runners heard except one headphone wearing Muppet who was still on the same side as the approach Ambulance. I managed to alert him of it but he didn't seem too impressed with me giving him a dig to get his attention. Can't understand why people wear headphones in races, they completely miss the whole atmosphere as well as putting themselves in harms way. Meet Ken Beggs who ran a mile with us at this stage and we arrange some after race pints in the Marina Bar. Again I dropped back 20-30 seconds behind Keith to try and encourage as many as possible to stay with the climb and not walk. There was a bigger attrition on this hill but one girl stuck with it only to stop up at the top. As we approached mile 12 we had a few with us which where sent on there way as we where not sure if they had started ahead of us or not. Kept pace to the finish, we picked up Oliver Claire at this point who was doing the Full and had a quick chat about his exploits in Connemara recently. Plenty of people had got second wind coming down the hill towards the finish and passed us out. When we got there we where bang on 1:59:49 so no time for hanging about but straight over the line, the lady who stopped at the top @ mile 11 crossed about 30 seconds after us but I hope she started behind us and got her time. Several thank you's afterwards from runners so we must have been some help to them. Pick up my bag quick stretch meet with other pacers to catch the bus back to Dingle. Must add big fail on my part, sent a bag out to the finish, (beside a pub) without leaving the price of a pint in my pocket.

Ultra Race

While waiting for the bus Keith Whyte came through as graceful and easy as usual. He looked like someone just starting a race and the fact he was after running the guts of 30 odd miles into the wind and up the Conor pass did not show. In the time it took us to get bussed back to Dingle, short walk back to our accommodation, shower and stroll to the finish he passed us again (still looking fresh) to finish with a sub 6 (5:59:25). This was a brilliant performance and I was thrilled for him considering the disappointments he had last year. It's great to see a really nice guy get the just rewards for his efforts. Normally no one remembers second but Ray Lanigan's 2nd was just as equal a run and I am sure his day will come.

Post Race

The post race barbecue was a nice touch as it allows everyone to meet up afterwards and keeps people around to give much needed support as they cross the line after Full/Ultra. We cheered on the remaining pacers as well as a few old friends at the finish. After getting some grub it was of to the Pub for a Pint of the black stuff which was arranged around mile 10 with Ken.
As I was playing for a wedding that night, I had to leave early that evening, boss needed a lift back and I was glad of the company for the journey home. Would love to have stayed on, as no doubt the crack and atmosphere around the town afterwards would have been brilliant. It's a definite race for me sometime in the future, if I get back to doing the marathon distance.