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.

A Busy Week

From a running point of view I got a lot in last week. From my training side I did my biggest week ever in 75 Miles and not all where easy miles. Tuesday was interval session of 6*1K @ 5K pace off 75% recovery. Aimed for 4:02 for each but the last one my legs where gone ended up been 4:05 even with me pushing it. The next day was a 12 mile run which I sometimes do in lees road. Anyone who runs or has ran in there will know the undulating nature of the trails. Again another very tough session on the legs. This followed with a 2-3 miles with the C25K group that evening. Recovery day on Friday and Saturday started with the inaugural lees road parkrun which I was acting as one of the timekeepers and was followed later that evening by a 8 mile General Aerobic Run. I have started to make this a fartlek in Ballybeg Woods with and one minute get up as fast as I can climb on a slope of over 45°. Overall the session is not hard but the hills add the reminder of what it is like to be flat out without battering the legs to death. Sunday saw me finish the week with the small job of pacing the Tralee Marathon for the 5 hour bus.

parkrun comes to Ennis

I had been asked to have a look at a suitable course for the parkrun in Lee’s road Ennis. The run was to take place as much as possible in the wooded section and we could not use the cross country track as it crossed the entrance road. This would mean the course would be very undulating and no mater what way it went would have some tough short climbs. The finalised course had some reservations regarding the finish area so on Friday Night we changed it to allow it finish and start in a wide area but this meant 2 loops up a very steep hill. On the day we had 130 runners which was very good considering the 2 largest Primary schools had Confirmation that morning. No major issues on the day and I was well impressed by the concept, and hopefully this will go from strength to strength in the future. The course lived up to its billing only one runner under 20 minutes.

In Kerry again

My second year to pace this at 5 hours. Between 50 miles in the legs and only 3 hours sleep on Saturday as I was gigging to say the least I was not fresh. Recently with the C25K group if I don't wear 2 pairs of gloves my hands get numb. Several times when getting ready one of our pacing team tried to relive me of a pair but I was having none of it. The wind factor today would mean I was in for a long cold day. Got to the start and noted numbers where down on last year. My starting group consisted of 5-6 Kerry Crusaders ladies and a few lads willing to take a risk running with them. Soon we where off and moving along nicely. Mile One no marker not to worry, Mile two none again by the time I heard Garmin's beeping around me for the third time there still was no sign of a marker. Final saw the three mile marker but it was way out, now starting to worry as 11:25 pace is not anywhere near a natural pace for me. The fourth Mile marker appeared to be correct but we where now close to a minute up. Group was going along nicely plenty of chat. Got to the turn in Banna a nice section but on the day the wind was now in our face so I gave back the minute hear and in the climb back up to Ardfert. At this point I had noticed my group of Crusaders had got noticeable quieter and over the next 2-3 miles they fell away. Coming out of Ardfert there now was only two left in the group. Paul and Donie, Donie was chatting away but Paul had got noticeably quieter. The pull up to Chruch Hill would see him fall off the back. At this point we had caught a cork native with plenty of support. Even managed to snag me a Cork flag as they passed cheering in the car. The two guys where going well and picked up a bit as we entered Fenit. This left me on my own. From here to Tralee it was a lonesome run with a cold headwind and I was now glad my fellow pacer didn't snag my gloves as at least my hands where warm. Passed Donie at 23 his race was done. He had mentioned several time that he always fades at this point. Again proves if you believe its going to happen you will always be correct. I was at this point the most hated runner on the course. There was maybe 7-8 runners ahead of me dreading my approach, stealing the odd glance behind to see if I was catching them. For some reason all but one stayed ahead. I caught 4 of them but three passed me again on the way into Tralee determined not to let me catch them again. Pretty soon the finish was there and I crossed 4:59:20. The lack of a 26 Mile marker had me in a bit of a panic but Once I saw the finish I knew my pace was okay. Thought I was good snagging myself 2 chocolate Santa’s only to discover later some intrepid young lad got his hands on Ten of them.