Plans for 2014

31^st December 2013

Ran my last few miles of the year today. 8 miles with 7 miles at marathon pace. I had notions of running a tempo run but was feeling rather chesty and the legs were heavy. Instead I decided to a first warm up mile (uphill) and then run 7 miles at 7.45 average pace. Not too hard but providing enough stimulus for the legs.

Mile 1 of the warm up was up Love Lane in 8mins30 seconds pace. After that I got lashed on for the entire duration. Up Smiths rd, down Smiths road, through the park, onto Newline turning left onto the Cork road, up and down the railway road and the last mile through town and back home. That was 8 miles on a flat course. Splits were as follows -7.32,7.48,7.53,7.39,7.49,7.50,7.45. That was the best I could do – 7.45 average.

Plans for next year? I have entered the Dungarvan 10 and the Ballycotton 10. The Dungarvan 10 on the 26^th January will probably be the first race I have run since the end of July.  It’s unlikely at the moment given my tempo training splits that I will be anywhere near sub 70 pace. I usually find that a few races usually helps me find my feet in that regard – adaptation. Therefore I would be happy just to improve on my last couple of poor showings there, somewhere in the 1hr13minutes to 1hr16minutes range. Hopefully i will then be able to bring a bit of form into the Spring races.

Last year was a disappointment. Things got off to a slow start in Dungarvan 10 but from then until June I hit PB’s in every race I ran. The big peaks were the Mallow 10 (1hr09mins53seconds), Limerick 13.1 (1hr34mins16secs), Midleton 5 (33mins10secs) amongst other good races in Wexford, Ballycotton and Ballintotis. Things went pear shaped during the Cork marathon , for reasons I never understood (3.59.58) which was followed by a 3 month period of general fatigue and muscle and groin pain. I ran 3 races in July (Donoughamore, Churchtown and Carrigtwohill) but lets just say I was far from my best and simply took August and early September off running. It has taken me since then to get where I am now. I even got a exhaustive number of medical checks which all showed up fine but the doctor did say I had burned by body out. I do know now as much as I hate to admit it that I will never be the sub 3 marathon runner  that we all dream to be. Instead I will play to my own strengths.

The big race in April will be the Connemara marathon. Note the marathon not the ultra marathon. A pity as I hoped to do the ultra in 2014 but the training involved (back to back long runs) would have proved too taxing on my time and other peoples time too. A friend once told me you have to be a bit selfish to be a marathon runner but I don’t think it would be fair on other people to be expected to be picking up the pieces all the time. Running can never be the number one priority.

So there you are- the Connemara marathon it is. Will I predict a time? Sub 3.30? Sub 3.45? Sub 4 hours? Lets just say for the moment I will be happy to get to the starting line and will see from there.

Below is a bit of a guilty pleasure...Dan Fogelburg "Same old Lang Syne"

The extra bit.........

Didn’t do any running Friday and Saturday. Nothing unusual in that as I usually take a day off Friday. I had planned the time off well in advance as myself and Aoiffe were due to head out for dinner in Cork with my mum. Her birthday is on Stephens Day and can sometimes get forgotten in the exchange of Xmas gifts. Anyway we had a lovely meal in the Electric in the South Mall. I was a bit concerned heading out as the stomach didn’t feel at all good but thankfully had improved by the first course. Avoided dessert this time drinking nothing stronger than mineral water. Aoiffe and Mum drank happily and ate merrily. I had planned to run the Togher 5k at 11 am Saturday morning but it didn’t seem right to leave Mum in the lurch  after spending the night there so we hung around till 1 in the afternoon. Aoiffe decided to have a “look” in the shops while she was up and at this stage my feet were feeling a bit antsy (gotta run, gotta run, gotta run). By the time we got home to Charleville after 3 the stomach was acting up again and I was afraid I had picked up the dreaded vomiting bug. I wasn’t feeling great at all and simply spent the next 3 hours asleep on the couch before sleeping a further 10 hours in bed.

Sunday morning at 8 am the ice outside the drive was pretty bad and the car couldn’t even get up the passage. It meant not heading to Mallow to take part in the club long run and spending another few hours in bed. Thankfully the stomach was a lot better (I will spare readers further details) and I headed out myself at 11 am for a planned 130 minute/15 mile jog. The plan was simply to stay on my feet as long as possible. No heroics required here. Nevertheless I was pleasantly surprised to see I had run 7 miles in a hour (8.33 pace). I felt i was jogging really slowly but the pace was better than I thought. I hoped I could run the next 7 miles in a hour as well but to be fair that wasn’t really the purpose of the run. Anyway to cut a long story short I didn’t (the next 7 miles took 62 minutes) By mile 12 the pace had dropped to 9 minute pace with the agonies really coming over me at mile 15. The last miles were completed in 9.05 pace and I was glad to be finished. 15 miles in 2hrs11minutes30 seconds (8.45 pace).

Monday 30th December was a more relaxed affair. 4 miles at a walk run pace of around 9.50 a mile.

The Christmas "run in"!!!!

Week beginning 23^rd December

The “run –in” to Christmas (bad pun). Had to awake Monday morning at 6.30 am and run once again in the lashings of rain. Getting up at 6.30am is my problem as is running in the rain however the poverty of street lighting and number of potholes certainly wasn’t. Maybe the Council and / or the ESB can get off their butts and sort it out. It can be really dicey out there and considering I was running in the town rather than country roads you would expect a lot better. Run was solid enough run at a easy pace. I spent the rest of the day up in Cork shopping with my wife doing the xmas shopping thing. All very non eventful (bar the expensive purchase in Keanes jewellers...) but I did call into Mahers sports to support and gave a few quid to Joanne Feron. She is a ultra runner of note and was on day 11 of running 12 marathons in 12 days on a treadmill. Some runner to be sure and very helpful with passing on a few words of advice to me as well. In case anyone is interested in contributing a few more euro to this great cause (neo natal ward in CUH) please do. (5.5 miles at 8.29 pace)

Xmas eve was more of the usual driving around Cork. This time I collected my Dad and we headed up to my sister’s in Watergrasshill to exchange pressies and get a sight of her new born daughter Phillippa and catch up with her older sister (by 18 months) Charlotte. I dropped Dad home and then back up to my mums for more exchange of presents and then back to Charleville to meet up with my in laws for a few xmas drinks. Before the drinks I headed out for a 7 mile run (in the pitch dark again!!!) with a 4 mile tempo portion. Splits were a improvement on the last tempo workout – 7.27, 7.27, 7.26, 7.22. I probably might have run faster but running in a totally darkened road lead me to hold back somewhat. (7 miles with 4 mile tempo at 7.25 pace)

Running on xmas day was a non event. Icey footpaths saw to that. I ended up jogging the first mile but nearly fell on my rear more than once and simply walked home. Than onto xmas dinner in the in-laws surrounded by lots of hyper kids pulling apart Christmas paper and hitting grown adults with plastic toys. To be fair it was great fun. The evening was spent with adults then behaving like children as they attempted to play Cluedo and Monopoly.  My wife being the most competitive of the lot!!! (2.5 mile walk)

St Stephens day I headed up to Caherdavin to take part in their annual 10 mile road race. I figured I would use this as a training run but was disappointed  to see it was called up because of ice on the course. Cue much grumbling on the way home. However I pulled myself together  by the time I got home  to do the 10 miles around town. I ran the first mile in 8.29 uphill but ran the rest at 7.43 pace. In a race situation I may have at most taken 2/3 minutes off my training time but it was a very satisfying run. It did require a bit of concentration for the last mile and I also noted I covered 7.70 miles in the first 60 minutes. This is far from my best form in training but is a step in the right direction. (10 miles at 7.47 pace).

We will see what awaits the rest of the week..

Monday 5.5 miles, Tuesday 7 miles with 4 miles tempo, Wednesday 2.5 fast walk, Thursday 10 miles

A long week

Week beginning 16^th December 2013

Heading into Xmas. Always a good time of year for running. Actually not entirely true, the weather is not always great. Freezing cold and snow two years running and wet weather last year, the new trend this year is windy weather and strong gusts. Possibly a consequence of global warming? I leave such debates to failed acid popping presidential candidates. Just me call me Al..

Anyway Monday I reverted back to the traditional walk. I had intended to walk for 4 miles at a reasonably faster pace. That plan went out the window when the wife starting filling me on the latest news and drama- so much so I forgot about my original plan. 2.5 miles covered, it helped the legs feel a little less achey.

Tuesday was more familiar fare. 7 miles with 6 miles at a fast though not a tempo pace.  I would hope to build these marathon pace runs up to 10/11 miles. I was happy with how it went. Mile one was the uphill run up Love lane at 8.20. Mile 2 and mile 3 the pace was still slowish enough 7.30 and 7.34- possibly down to the gust i was running into. By mile 4 I had picked it up to 7.18 pace. I ran the last 3 miles at around 7.35 pace or faster. A satisfying run with the marathon pace portion completed in 7.35 average pace. I contemplated running another fast mile to get a hour up on my legs but thought better of it. Perhaps next time.

The Wednesday  run up in Mayfield was meant to be run at a casual easy pace. As usual I didn’t look at the garmin- I just ran at a pace that felt comfortable. To my delight and surprise i saw that the first 3 miles were run in 24 minutes (took a sneaky look). It felt all very effortless. The harder 4 mile section up hill (and it is hard) was run at a slower pace but the overall time was 56minutes56seconds. I was happy with this. The last mile was tough but the effort didn’t feel as hard as the same workout last month at a slower pace. Again the weather conditions were awkward enough.

Thursday was even better. Weather was brutal, so much for a mild winter. Came home after work spending the first 40 minutes running in sleet and wind. Funnily enough i didn’t mind. My legs felt fresh running at a relaxed un planned pace. Again I didn’t look at the garmin but after doing the usual 7 mile route around town i was fresh enough to tack another 2.3 miles. Maybe I should have tacked on a bit more to get the 10 done. 9.3 miles in 1.18.30.

Friday marked the last day of school before holidays. It’s a pretty hectic time in the school- a couple hours of meetings before playing my part in the school mass, As it was i had a few jobs to do in Cork city afterwards and I was awaiting confirmation from the buddies if we were meeting up for drinkies or not. Anyway rather than hang around waiting for a phone call I headed up to Mayfield to do my planned long run. Last nights effort counted as the first half of planned sandwich. The main filling was today. I was quite apprehensive about it- 2 X 7 miles around my traditional Mayfield route. Facing into the run at 3 in the evening was bad enough but the weather had denigrated pretty badly. Rain, cold with the element i hate most of all – driving wind. I knew this wasn’t going to be a quick one butIfigured mentally it would stand to me. Running in bad weather in loops facing a lot of up and down hills was as tough as it would get. I ran the first loop (7.07 miles) in 1 hour. That was the easy part, it was the other part that was going to be hard. I walked for a few minutes swigging water before trotting off again. The weather had worsened again (think Cork marathon 2010). As I jogged past the bus shelter I was thinking the passengers were a bit crazy waiting for a bus in the rain but then again the y thought the same about me. I finished the second loop (7 miles) in 1hr03mins- a disappointing second 7 miles but still a reasonable 9 minute pace considering the course and the conditions. As it transpired the meet up with the lads was postponed until Saturday night so hopefully a good nights sleep awaits. No chance of making the 5k race in Newmarket on Sunday though.

14 miles in 2hr3mins (8mins45second pace)

Rounded off the week with a 4.2 mile recovery jog around Charleville at 9.22 pace. Total mileage for week 44 miles (2.5 walk, Tuesday 7 miles, Wednesday 7 miles, Thursday 9.3 miles, Friday 14 miles, Saturday 4.2miles)

A bit gusty...

Saturday 14th December

Friday was my day off running and by the time I got home from Cork City I was happy to rest on the couch, catch up on a few Sky plussed shows and hit the bed at 10.30 pm. I woke up at 8.30 am to the sound of a almighty blowing outside the bedroom window.

  

Ah Jesus I don't have to run in this - ah really come on!!! As Aoiffe wasn't around I had no excuses in terms of household chores so I headed to the Saturday session in Doneraile park. I normally don't do these but I was surprised to see there was only 3 other runners there. Two of them - George and Aidan are savage runners with marathon PB's of 2hr35minutes and 2hrs55mins respectively. As you can imagine I found the prospect of tagging along with these guys terrifying. In fairness they are sound blokes and were happy to go the pace of myself and Sean. George was as entertaining as ever with great tips too. We completed 7 miles in a hour running up and down some tricky hills mostly running on dirt track. The wind was pretty bad though. At one stage a couple of branches blew off and smacked me on the head. Anyway myself and Sean did a extra mile to make it eight miles in 68minutes35seconds. I contemplated another 2 miles but Brudairs café awaited for a feed of soup, sandwiches, milk and cake.

 

 

Sunday morning I had planned to meet the Mallow lads for a long run in the town but after putting up the usual notice up on facebook there didn’t seem a huge amount of willing runners. A couple of lads were planning to do 13-16 miles in Doneraile park butI didn’t fancy the idea of doing more loops there again. Therefore I stayed in bed a extra hour and trotted off for a 2 hour run around Charleville involving 2 X 6.5 mile laps. By running for time as distinct for distance I hope I wouldn't run too fast and simply get time up on the feet. I reasoned that the body responds not to mileage but in fact to effort and time spent running. I did the first loop in a hour and the second in under a hour (probably 58mins) running another 0.25 miles in 2 mins. The weather conditions were kinder too. The run while slow was necessary as I need the reinforcement of being able to jog for 2 hours and being able to cover 13 miles on my own. If I am to run longer distances then it’s all about learning to stay on my feet for a long time. Hopefully i can mix the long runs up with a bit of speedwork too.2 hour run at 9.03 pace-13.25 miles

 

A end to a very good week. I don’t need to look at my records to know this is my best week of training since May.

 8 miles on Saturday and 13.25 miles on Sunday. Total mileage 46 miles

 

Working for the man

Week starting 9^th December

Monday 9^th December. 2.5 mile warm up with 3 mile tempo in pretty gusty conditions. Splits were 7.30, 7.31, 7.31 with 1 mile cooldown at around 9 minute pace.

Tuesday 10^th December  One mile warm up at 8.16 pace with 6 miles at planned sub 8 minute pace. Went better than I expected 7.30, 7.39,7.39,7.36,7.42. Very satisfying. Ideally I would be happier to run 8.5 miles in the hour but plenty of time for that. Certainly my best medium length workout in a long time. Were I able to get the tempo runs down to a faster pace I hope this would follow on in medium length workouts.

Wednesday was something different. A couple of teachers in work were organising a 7k charity run around Blackrock for 1^st and 2^nd year students. I decided to lead the group so I used this as a ideal opportunity to get some recovery miles up on the legs. Parking the car in the grounds of Blackrock castle I jogged to the start line near Pairc Ui Choimh and lead the kids off down the old railway line. We were in fact tracing the last 3 miles of the marathon that is to say -miles 13, 12 and 11 of the Cork marathon . I’d be lying if two thoughts didn’t enter my mind. First thought was a cold shudder as it was at mile 13 where things started to go wrong for me last June (it still sours me). The second thought is that I was determined to gain revenge some time in the future . (not a necessarily a sub 3.30 just a personally satisfying time)The kids I was  jogging with were amazingly active – playing or participating in rowing, swimming, hockey, karate and/or GAA. In fact I suspected a few of them if they got into cross country or track running could be very useful indeed. They were very comfortable even jogging at 8.30 pace. Anyway I felt happy getting the thing done at a relaxed pace.In total 5 miles at around 9.30 pace. After that back working for the man.....................

Thursday

With Aoiffe working late and then going out to dinner with a friend i decided to take advantage of the “sitting around time” to head out for a interval workout. Normally (well at least in the last few weeks) I have headed out to Clyda Rovers GAA pitch to run with the gang from Mallow. However this wasn’t possible either as my normal after work resting point up in Mayfield wasn’t open to me. Mum was carrying a chest infection and was up to ninety waiting for my sister to give birth to her second child. Therefore  rather than make a long journey even longer I replicated  the scheduled workout planned by the club trainer Shane in my stomping ground of Charleville. It was a case of jogging 2.5 miles at a easy pace of 8.50 pace. I then reached the railway road and ran 10 X 2 sprints with around 60 to 90 seconds recovery. The railway road is ideal for this type of thing. Traffic is non existent and lighting is reasonably good. Each 2 minute sprint covered a distance of 0.29 to 0.31 of a mile. First mile of sprints passed in6.49 minutes with the second mile passing in 6.48. I went 33 seconds over the allotted 20 minutes to complete a third mile in 6.52 running into a strong headwind.I finished the workout with a one mile plod home in 9.24.

Congrats to my sister Niamh and her partner Paul on the birth of a new baby girl – Philippa

Monday 6.5 miles with 3 miles at 7.31 pace, Tuesday 7 miles with 6 miles at 7.34 pace, Wednesday 5 mile recovery jog, Thursday 6.5 miles with 10 X 2 minute sprints

 

The back to back 10 milers

Week beginning 2^nd December

Ah the best laid plans......... Running wise the week was for the most part a write off. I went for my customary 2.5 mile walk with my wife. By Tuesday and Wednesday I didn’t get a chance to even put the trainers on. I know some smartarse coaches say you should always find the time to run but not a hope this week given that I was busy in work not just on the regular 9-4 shift but when I came home as well. Ideally I would if I could do all my running in the morning but as that would mean a 5 am start it hardly seems practical. I was all set to go out Thursday evening but after giving blood that evening going out for a run would have been daft. I nearly fainted the last time I tried it.  I am about as precious as it gets.

I resolved to do back to back runs over the Saturday and Sunday. I had planned to do 2 hours on Saturday and 1 hour on Sunday but decided to change it to do two 90 minutes back to back.  I reasoned The legs would be properly tired for Sunday. My poor wife had to listen to me moaning all week about not running so by the time I managed to get out in the afternoon she was more relived than I was. The legs were very leaden for most of the run but I was happy to hit 7 miles in the first hour. By mile 8 the wheels were coming off slightly so I stopped and power walked for 2 minutes before cutting the workout at 10 miles and 90 minutes. Then it was off to Jimmy Carr that night – very offensive and very funny.

Sunday morning I headed to Doneraile park. The lads in Mallow were doing 8 miles of hills but having got down there a half hour early I decided to get moving myself. The reality was I didn’t know how this would go for me so I was glad not to be holding anyone up. Doneraile is a deceptively difficult course with plenty of hills and drags. There is one particularly awful ½ mile climb which offers amazing views of the areas. I did the first 3.5 miles in around 31 minutes – certainly slow but understandable when you take the route into account. The next 3.5 miles was 33 minutes. I didn’t take the dreaded hill a third time. To be honest I was shagged. At mile 8.8 the mind tuned out and I stopped and walked for a minute before headed off again. The last mile was a real struggle, 10 minute pace but I was glad to get the workout done. 10 miles in around 1hr34minutes.

This was my first time running back to back 10 milers since April and it gave me plenty to ponder.I was happy to get the time and the mileage up on my legs. I wasn’t too bothered with the slow pace but I was disappointed to have not being able to have done the 10 mile runs in a smoother fashion.

Monday 2.5 mile walk with 10 miles on Saturday and Sunday at 9 minute and 9.30 pace respectively

A tentative dip

Week starting 26^th November

Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning i was lucky enough to be able to start work late so I took advantage to get the running done in the morning in the daylight as distinct from running in the dark pathways of Charleville. Street lighting is pretty crap so happy to get my tempo  run started on Tuesday. I begin with a 2 mile warm up and launched my 3 mile roacket down the railway road. Ok, ok I am exaggerating here. At best it was a modest effort with splits working out as 7.26, 7.30 and 7.34 followed by a 1.5 mile cooldown. I was reasonably happy with the workout in so far as it was done and dusted and I hope to see a gradual improvement over the next few months.

Wednesday morning I opted for a somewhat slower but still a testing workout. 6.2 miles at sub 8 pace. Again these types of workouts were never a problem in the past but this time it was necessary to force the pace. Running on 8.20 pace is all very well but the legs have to be moved into a new notion of what was “normal”. First mile up Love Lane was slow – 8.40 but the rest of the splits worked out reasonably well – 7.57, 7.55, 7.40,7.37 (or so), 7,34 and the last bit 1.31. I normally run in the city up in Mayfield on Wednesday for a hill workout but was happy to swap it around. I have pretty much figured out Monday as  arrest or recovery day, Tuesday – tempo or marathon pace run, Wednesday – hill run at varying pace and Thursday – interval session with Mallow. The weekend will be long run territory.

Thursday’s session with Mallow went well enough. Intervals on Clyda pitch. Tried to maintain the pace but struggled in the 10^th and 12^th intervals. Started with a 2.5 mile warm up, some drills, 12 X 90 seconds intervals with 90 second recoveries and a mile or so cooldown. Job done

Saturday morning I was up in Mayfield having spent the night up in Cork. I was at a work do the night before but if anyone was expecting me to be the life and soul of the party, they were to be disappointed. Three Lucozades and I was in bed by 11.45, yeah I know pretty boring. I was glad to see the back of the moustache too it being the end of Movember. This workout marked by first tentative dip into back to back territory all be it on very low mileage. 7 miles up and down the usual hilly route was completed in around 1hr02mins16 minutes.i felt very relaxed all the way through a far cry from the way the way i was a couple of months previously when I had to walk run a 3 mile run around the estate. It was a lovely day for it too – hard cold and dry weather. Then back home to Charleville and spending the day doing the food shopping. The wife and mother  in law were off doing the xmas shopping – running 7 miles is way more preferable. Sunday was a meet up with the mallow lads for a 12 mile run around a lovely route around Dromahane. The first 6 miles were v hilly but we were flying up it. Considering this was meant to be a slow run i took it easier for the last 6 flatter miles. Total time was 1hour42minutes53seconds/8.35 pace. Next week I will probably run the long run on Saturday and rather than run by distance I will run by time. Ideally i will hope to do 2 hours with another hour on Sunday. As to where all this will take me by the New Year who knows?

A satisfying weeks running though the faster pace is not coming as readily as I hoped. Currently I reckon if I had to run the Dungarvan 10 I would probably be doing well to finish in 1hr17minutes.

Tuesday 6.5 miles with 3 miles tempo, Wednesday 6.2 miles, Thursday 6.7 miles, Saturday 7 miles, Sunday 12 miles. Total 38.4 miles

Ever so slighly delicate....

Week ending 25^th November

Monday evening as I am writing this. Obviously not venturing out for a jog or a recovery walk as I was out every day last week and sometimes the couch is the best place to be. I have pretty much figured out (and inadvertently  leaked) my plans for next year.  More about that in a few weeks

Started the week off with the now routine 3 mile recovery walk with my wife. On Tuesday headed up to the local soccer pitch in Mayfield. Its at the back of the mother’s house and a was a regular refuge for us young lads back in the 1980’s where many a great soccer match was played. Roughly half a mile in diameter it’s flat enough but with a nice hilly kick on the return leg. Did 2 miles warm up at around 8.45 pace and then 3 X 1 miles with 3 minute recoveries with a one mile cooldown. Splits were 7.02, 6.59 and tired 7.15. All in all very happy as I didn’t know what to expect. On Wednesday revisted Mayfield for the usual 3 mile downhill and 3 mile uphill run. Legs were feeling nice and limber but was cautious enough running the route in 8min15 pace. There is a definite improvement all the same but running a casual sub 8 pace has yet to happen.

Thursday evening met up with the Mallow lads in Clyda GAA pitch on a freezing night for a interval session. 2 mile warm up with 12 X90 seconds sprints with a 2 mile or  so cooldown. I took this very seriously and was happy with my finish on each interval staying in the top of the middle third group.

Friday  in Charleville decided to jog 6 miles walking for one minute after each mile. Pace was faster than I expected and the walk saw my pulse drop quite quickly. Saturday rounded off the running week with another hill run up in Mayfield. I was a lot faster again for this one running at a pace of 8.06 with the last hilly mile completed in 7.50 pace. Rest of the day was spent in the company of the lads watching Everton giving Liverpool a fright in a cracking 3-3 draw with the rest of the night enjoying a few social beers. Sunday involved another 3 mile walk, had hoped to wak this at pace but I was as you say feeling “delicate”.

Monday 2.5 mile walk, Tuesday 6 miles with 3 X 1 mile intervals, Wednesday 6.2 miles, Thursday 6 miles with 12 X 90 minute sprints, Friday 6 miles with one minute walking breaks, Saturday 7 mile hill run in Mayfield, Sunday ever so slightly hung over 3 miles

Pa Buckley takes a bite out of the Big Apple - New York marathon 2013

Patrick "Pa" Buckley is a marathon veteran of over a 12 marathons and is a stalwart of Mallow AC. Only recently he completed the New York marathon in a PB time of 3hr32mins. Acknowledged to be a tough course Pa ran a excellent race despite suffering with a injury in the weeks leading up to the race. Here is his story!!!!

 

 

The New York Marathon November 2013

 

The New York marathon was held on Sunday 3rd of November 2013. It was the 43rd year of the race and is one of the 6 major world marathons. It runs through the 5 boroughs of New York and is one of the largest footraces  in the world.

 

The race starts out in Staten Island at 9:40am and finishes inside in Central Park. The position of the start means you have an early start to get out to Staten Island before the bridge closes at 7am from all traffic. You will need to keep well wrapped up before the start of the race as it can be chilly and there is a bit of a wait before the start.

 

9:40am The start of the race Staten island and the first of the boroughs.  Right before the start the national anthem is sung followed by the firing of the canon's and Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York to signal the start of the race.

 

 The first mile is all up hill onto the Verrazano bridge where you will find NYPD helicopters circling all around the bridge and a boat in the water underneath spraying water up into the air like a fountain. You won’t take much notice of the hill as you will be taking in the view and be in the midst of a load of other runners. The second mile is a very fast mile as you run down the other side of the bridge and into the second borough Brooklyn.

 

The race runs along 4th avenue and as soon as you come off the bridge there are good crowds of support cheering on the runners. The race goes along 4th avenue for about 6miles which has good wide streets so no need to be pushing your way through crowds of runners and wasting energy. You may find a couple of small inclines in pieces of this section but nothing to slow you down. The crowds will keep you going anyway.

 

 After 8 miles the race comes into Williamsburgh and onto Bedford avenue. Here you will find a few hills and around the 9 or 10 mile mark will pass through the Jewish quarter of the city. Once you leave this area you will find local bands blasting out the music and songs and may help you get rid of any negative thoughts you might of had if you were starting to struggle in any way.

 

There will be a good atmosphere from here all the way to the Pulaski bridge where you will come to the half way point and also enter into the 3rd of the borough's Queen's.

 

At this stage you will have half of the race done and shortly after crossing over the Pulaski bridge you will start to see the daunting task that is the Queensboro bridge. Here you will come shortly to the 14 mile mark and it is roughly 2 miles long. This is where a lot of people will really start to get tired especially if you try to keep going at the same pace you were doing all along so maybe pull back things a small bit until you get to the other side of the bridge. Also from just before the bridge all the way to the other side there is no support or bands  to keep you going as the bridge is only opened to runners. There is a long hard climb up through the bridge so try to think positive as it can feel like it never ends. Once you get to the other side of the bridge you enter the 4th of the borough's for the first time Manhattan. Here you will be hit with a massive wall of sound from the spectators and the crowds seem to be bigger already. The race takes a left turn and onto 1st avenue. Here you have done 16.5 miles and your down to the last 10 miles.

 

 In front of you, you can see for at least 3 miles dead straight in front of you with lots of small rolling hills up and down and a massive crowd of support on both sides of the road cheering you on. At 19.5 miles the race crosses over the Willis avenve bridge and into the 5th borough the Bronx where it only stays for about 1.5 miles before it crosses over the Madison avenue bridge and back into Manhattan for the second and last time.

 

Here you will come onto 5th avenue and are starting to head towards the finish. Miles 21 to 23 aren't too bad nothing to worry about apart from tired legs but mile 23 to 24 is all up hill and is a struggle. The only thing is  that the crowds are getting bigger and bigger as you get closer to the finish and if you can get over this mile the worst of it is over.

 

Mile 24 to 25 is in through Central park  where you will find 1 or 2 hills but you will also get 1 or 2 nice down hills to help you recover. Shortly after this you will exit Central park and come onto Central park south road where you will be onto the streets for the last time before the finish where you will find the crowds cheering you on to the finish.

 

With about 200 meters before the 26 mile mark you come back into Central park and you know you are nearly done. You then see the sign for the last 400 meters to go. All you have left is one small incline and a bit of a left turn where you will see the grandstands on both sides of the finish area and of course the finish line.

 

 You will get a great feeling as you cross the finish line knowing you have just completed one of the biggest marathons in the world in a city like New York with 51,000 other runners.

 

 Mission accomplished.Time was just over 3hrs 30 minutes. A new personal best. Chuffed.

 

My thoughts on the race are very positive. Having completed a few marathons now it is very much one of the best . This is definitely a race any enthusiastic runner should consider. It may cost a bit but is well worth it. The weather was good for it was only a little chilly at the start mainly because of where the start is but the rest of the day was perfect for running. As for the course you will get a bit of  everything some hills, up some down hills, some bridge's and a lot of flat straight roads. What else could you ask for. You will also get a lovely medal and a nice goody bag after the race and a lovely warm wrap around poncho. The only thing against it is you will have a bit of a wait before the start so be sure to bring old throw away clothes to keep you warm and it takes a long time to get out of Central park after you finish  so if your meeting family make sure to give yourself plenty of time. However even after you get out of the park and walk down the street to wherever you are going you will always find locals congratulating you and make you feel good about yourself and your achievement. 

 

The rest of the evening was spent in the evening of the other Mallow runners who also ran the marathon. Well done to Paudie and Ger, a mighty day indeed.

Another solid week

Week starting 11^th November

As part of my Movember bit, i decided to repeat the experiment of last year and throw a “ronnie”. Growth has been slow enough. At this stage last year I had sprouted a lovely tache that made me look like some 1970’s Irish- American gangster from South Boston. Anyway back to the running.

Monday I ventured out for a run in Mayfield, Cork for my favoured route around the northside. I had a few things on in Cork that evening so I took advantage of the chance to jog a deliberately slow 6.3 mile jog at a pace of 8.44. Tuesday I was back in Charleville for another 2.5 walk with my wife and on Wednesday ran another slowish 6.4 mile run at 8.54 pace. No doubt about it I was feeling tired and happy to finish the run. Thursday was another speed session with the Mallow lads in the GAA complex at Mourneabbey. It’s a shame Mallow AC considering their large membership and excellent enthusiasm of their organisers and members don’t have a more permanent base like a training field and clubhouse. It’s just too expensive to even get started hence the use of the GAA facilities. Running falls very low in the list of government priorities.

Anyway the training session went well enough for me but I was struggling at the middle end and dead on my feet at the end. It was a straightforward enough session – 2 mile warm up with 20 minutes of sprints and jogs and 2 mile cooldown but I found it hard. Better start getting used to it- next week promises to be a tough one for me in terms of workout.I'm not expecting overnight miracles though I am beginning to formulate a plan as to how I want the next 12 months to go.

Day off Friday with Saturday spent gardening. Sunday was a 10 mile slow run with the lads and ladies of Mallow up around hills, road and trails. A tough route but a enjoyable run. I was comfortable enough apart from the last half mile but that may have been a case of white line fever more than anything else.Ran 10.12 miles in around 1hr30mins12seconds. Delighted to get another 10 mile run up on my legs, happy again to get around comfortably. I will enjoy it while it lasts as things promise to get tougher in the new year.Last couple of miles were run in under 8.30 pace so all good.

I haven’t wore the HR strap in a while and at the moment happy enough not to do so. Next week promises a similar mileage week but with some faster workouts.One of these will be a tempo run so here’s hoping....

Monday 6.3 mile, Tuesday 2.5 mile walk, Wednesday 6.4 mile , Thursday 5 mile, Sunday 10.11 miles. Total mileage 27.8 miles plus 2.5 mile walk

Fingers crossed

Week ending 10^th November

Racked up over 28 miles this week plus a recovery walk of 2.5 miles. Very happy with how things have gone this week and generally satisfied with the direction of my running since September. At this stage I don’t think much more will be served by concentrating solely on base building to the exclusion of speedwork. Therefore after this weeks workouts I will be adding a (modest) amount of speedwork to the workouts. I also hope by December to increase the frequency of the workouts to 6 days a week (5 running and 1 walking recovery workout). Currently  I’m running 4 days a week plus one walking recovery workout. Speedwork will increase intensity. Upping the weekly mileage will increase duration

Monday I headed out in the dark winter afternoon to do 6 miles or so in Charleville. As the street lighting here is pretty poor and the town even smaller, much of my normal day time routes (country lanes, motor way and road and park) are off limits so it means a number of loops with a bit of out and back running. The garmin was on the blink so i went out with no watch on me meaning i had no idea what distance or pace i was doing but I reckon it was roughly 6.5 miles. I threw in  six sprints using the telegraph poles as guides. I ran 7 at a time resting for the following 3. These were all out efforts and the last mile jog home was a effort.

Tuesday was my recovery walk with my wife. All very social and relaxed around 2.5 miles. Helps those achey legs freshen up. Wednesday did my 10K run up in the hillier parts of Cork City. Pace was solid enough (8.30) but the last 2 miles are v tough but again very happy with my recovery afterwards.

Thursday evening meant hooking up with the Mallow Ac training group for the first time in three and half months. This was the start of my dip into speed work. 2 mile warm up with 6X 3 minutes sprints with a 2 mile cooldown in the most appalling weather. I was down the back for the speedwork with each sprint averaging out at around 7.30 pace. I was happy enough with the way things went. It was all about getting out there and losing the fear. The workout was on grass which was of great help . 6 miles in total.

I took two days off on Friday and Saturday meeting up with the Mallow gang for a planned 10 mile long run. I use the word gang advisedly as there was only 5 of us – Kevina, Barry, Dermot, Denis and myself. I hung down the back with Kavina for the first 6 miles before pushing on for the last 4 miles. I was curious to see what pace i could manage in the last few miles. I caught and went past the lads at mile 7.5, to be fair they were only just after the Dublin marathon and were happy to take it easy. When I finished the rain was coming down pretty heavily but i was very happy. This was my first double digit workout since the power drain of last July and a good solid attempt at a MP run.My pace for the marathon pace portion felt faster than the actual times posted. A similar effort would have produced a 7.30 pace last April but I was happy with the 8.10 average. I had no Hr strap but i was delighted with how things  had gone. 10 in 88 minutes with last 4 miles at 8.10 pace. I don’t see much point in increasing the long runs to any more than 10 miles for the next 3 or 4 weeks.

Fingers crossed for the next few months and lets hope the "Ronnie" starts sprouting at a quicker pace!!!!

Give out but don't give up.....(especially if you are a Mormon)

3^rd November

Just spent most of my Sunday afternoon tracking the fortunes of Mallow club runners and my cousin who took part in the New York marathon. Well done to all.

Running wise was a quiet one for me. Bank Holiday Monday  I ran 6 miles with 5 X 1 minute sprints in the middle. This was my first attempt in a small way at speedwork since last July. Sprints went fine and the loosening of the legs help me run the last mile in a seemingly effortless pace of 7.40. Did 10k up in Mayfield the next day in my more traditional Cork city route. As any readers will know by now this involves a heavy climb for the last 3 miles from Leitrim street to Montenotte and again up to Iona Green before a sudden drop down to the local church before another steep pull up Boherboy road. Run went very well, running it in 8.25 pace.

Headed off to London for the rest of the week for a bit of R and R doing the touristy thing with my wife, Aoiffe. Good fun had by all including taking in the excellent “Book of Mormon” musical and a comedy gig in the Hammersmith Appollo. The Primal Scream gig in the Opera House in Cork on Monday night was a good start as was bumping into the band in the airport the next day. The guitarist seemed like a decent guy though I didn’t talk to Bobby Gillespie.Still though I was spending so much looking over at the man himself the wife was beginning to worry for me.

I had planned to do a couple of 4 mile runs over in London but the busy itinerary and the ominous stuffed nose forced me to rethink my plans. This wasn’t a problem as I had reckoned a cutback week was probably called for. Nevertheless when I went back running in Charleville on the Sunday the legs were feeling very sluggish. Rather than force the pace i was happy to jog at a easy 8.55 pace for 8.41 miles staying on my feet for 75 minutes. I have to say I did find the last mile quite difficult. Next week I hope to get a bit more speedwork up on my legs, ideally running at least one speed session a week between now and the new year.This will be done in the company of the Mallow runners.

Mileage for week 20.61miles

 

A message to Mr. McGee

Sunday 27^th October

 On Thursday I headed out in Mayfield the second day in the row, the weather conditions were a bit hostile to say the least. However given the fact  that running is bad weather is the best mental  training possible I took my chances. Legs were heavy so i decided to run 5 miles as a recovery run. Essentially run each mile slow and walk for a minute. The idea was to loosen the legs up and lower the heart rate down to 140. Anyway fighting htrough the gales and rain splatter from cars I did the job.5 miles at 9.46 pace. Hr was 140 so happy enough.

 

That evening headed to Mallow to sit in on a very instructive talk by Steve Macklin, AAI instructor, on endurance running and  training. Excellent seminar and I was happy to get a lot of tips from it as well act as a excellent motivational tool for me. Frday evening did a 5 miler in Charleville running at 8.30 average. In fact the splits didn’t vary a lot between 8.33 and 8.27. I felt very relaxed and very happy. Even more when i saw that the HR was 144. HR on the whole is looking very positive these days but the desire to run is also very strong. As November to January is a quiet time on the road racing front I hope these months will prove a excellent base to future improvements later next year.

Saturday morning was more of the same – a relaxed 8 miler. Again I didn’t look at the garmin until after the run and I was delighted to the see pace drop from a 8.50 down to a 8.25 for the last mile. I didn’t have the HR strap on for this one but I felt very relaxed all the way through. I was amused to see a nanny goat run around the estate I was jogging through. Average pace for the run was 8.37. As a result I reckon I will be starting any future MP runs at probably 8.20 pace hoping of course to get that pace down over the next few months. Easy steps though. Sunday was rounded off with a relaxed 2.5 mile walk with Aoiffe.

It was only when I added up the mileage accumulated this week did I realise how well I had got on.30 miles running with 5 miles of recovery walking – a sizeable jump on last week. I have now increased frequency and distance. Eventually I hope to increase speed. Delighted with that but I will be careful all the same. That said I will be away for most of next week so I mightn’t get the same amount of mileage up on my legs. At the very worst next week will be a cut back week.

In regard to speed I did toy with starting with mile intervals but I could be risking injury again. Maybe 1 minute intervals for the first few weeks and then build up to a tempo workout.

Anyway all the best to everyone running the Dublin marathon. Aidan McGee you know that will be us next year!!!!!

Back to the future

21^st October 2013

Thankfully in another week the Dublin marathon will be a thing of history so at least I will be on some sort of level playing pitch as everybody else. Regarding upcoming plans for races the truth is I have no plans. I have entered the Dungarvan 10 and might enter the Ballycotton simply on the principle if you are not in you can’t take part. In regard to Connemara I am totally undecided – the half, the full or the ultra? Currently I’m not anyway near any sort of racing shape but I will weigh things up in January. I do definitely want to have a crack off the 26.2 distance next year, most likely Dublin. This may be my last chance at another PB.

For the moment the same theme is repeating itself – run, don’t worry about speed or pace and build up some base mileage. Monday was a case in point 6 miles at 8.23 pace with a HR of 147. I hadn’t expected to do 6 miles in Charleville but the route meant if I wanted to get back to my front door I had to cover the complete distance.I had no intentions of walking the last half mile. I was lucky to miss the heavy showers which erupted as I soon I stuck my sweaty head into the kitchen. Tuesday was my usual walk with Aoiffe -2.5 miles. She was keen to get out and get fresh air, I less so but after a mile or so I was getting in better form for it.

What is interesting that in terms of work and household chores I have bags more energy these days than i had for the last 3 years. Unfortunately I have no marathon excuses to get out of stuff anymore. Take the bins out? No problem!!! Dig flower beds? No problem!!! Go shopping in Cork? No problem!!! Take the 3^rd years to a excursion? No problem!!!!  Organise a  school sports project? No problemClean the windows? I’m sure you get the idea.  Sometimes it easier to say no!!!!!

Wednesday I took advantage of a gap in my working day to get the bus from Cork city centre on McCurtain St up to my Mums house in Mayfield. These Wednesday runas at 10.15 am are a real godsend. It means I am at my freshest for a workout and I still can get back to work by 12.00 am. I have a few extra  bits and pieces going on which means the working day really doesn’t finish until 7.30 pm. Missing workouts isn’t a option anymore. Anyway for this one I decided against the normal hill run around the Glen and did 6 miles of laps around the soccer pitch behind the house. Anyway 12 laps later at 8.37 pace the workout was completed and i was never any further than a 5 minute walk from my house. Grass running is great for the legs. The pace was slow for the first mile (8.55) but was down to 8.20 for the last few miles. HR was quite high 157 but I felt very comfortable all the way through. The high Hr has me perplexed, i changed the battery in the strap so I assume that it is now correct but it is way higher than Mondays effort. Perhaps the change of terrain might account for it or maybe I am doing something wrong. Time to consider speed work in a few weeks.  3 mile tempos or maybe start with something easier?

The heart of the matter

October 20^th 2013

First up to issue offer congrats to the Mallow AC runners who were running in the Amsterdam marathon. A couple of notable PB’s were achieved including another sub 3 hour run by club captain Aidan Buckley and a excellent 3hr36minute run by Darragh Wiley. This was Darragh's 3^rd marathon this year and his second marathon PB in the same period .Hard not to feel wistful all the same, especially with the Dublin marathon coming up. My wife on the other hand is quite glad I am not training for any marathons at the moment able as she is to get me to do as many jobs as possible.

My running this week was compressed into the last 5 days of the week. Not ideal for me but it was the way iit worked out. Did my usual recovery walk on Tuesday (2.5 miles) before heading up to Mayfield on Wednesday for a hilly run. This was my best run up there in a while, running 5.8 miles at 8.50 pace. The last 2 miles are pretty tough but felt strong enough to nearly tack another mile on to it. I followed this up with my fastest run in a while also. 5.5 miles at 8.04 pace. The last 4.5 miles were all sub 8 minute miles. The only annoying aspect was that the HR strap was giving daft readings – 119 HR for example.

On Friday I had a half day in work and repeated the route of my Thursday run but the Garmin died after one mile. No idea what pace I did so I will err on the conservative side and call it as a nine minute pace though I suspect it was much faster.

Saturday was a non running day preoccupied as I was with my wife’s on going gardening project. 4 hours digging out beds is enough cross training for anyone. Still though it meant I scored quite highly in the brownie points ledger.

That meant I under took my weekend run on Sunday. 7.5 miles at 8.40 pace. I was a bit tired for the last 1.5 miles and once again the Hr readings were a bit daft. Previously in August and September the readings were too  high, well into the 160’s now they are totally low less than 120. Obviously the problem lies with the strap and will need a clean and / or a new battery. Hopefully no fear of the symptom’s of Bradycardia – abnormally low heart rate. Nevertheless it does annoy me. Anyway a period of further investigation awaits me. I will update in due course.

 

Tuesday 2.5 mile walk, Wednesday 5.8 run, Thursday 5.5 run, Friday 5.5 mile, Sunday 2.5 walk followed by 7.5 mile run. Total mileage 24 miles running and 5 mile walk.

Ongoing................................

October 7^th to October 13^th

Last week marked a cycle of training which lasted about seven weeks. The point of which was simply to get back running at a reasonably acceptable slow pace and rediscover my interest in running. The first couple of weeks started v slowly. I could be barely jog out of the house and up the passage before I had to stop for a walk and run jog for 3 miles at around 10 to 11 minute pace. The Hr varied between 132 and 160 with a longstanding pain in in my groin and quad. Each period of walk running was very difficult marked by 15 minute sessions with the foam roller. These weeks were v tough wondering if i would ever recover to run at a normal pace. Running up hills or inclines was out of the question.

Never the less by the 4^th week I could see a improvement. The walking had stopped replaced by a slower paced jog. My plans for a Maffetone style approach was still proving elusive so i resolved to simply jog at a reasonably slow jog pace and evaluate the Hr later. At the end of the 4^th week I was “up” to 11 miles a week and jogging 3 times a week. Humble stuff I grant you but i was feeling happier.

On  a personal front I resolved a few issues and this also helped things along. At the end of week 6^th a definite plan was taking shape in regard to the rest of the year and this filled me with renewed hope. So far I have deliberately ignored speedwork and running with clubmates. I think at times in training for Cork marathon i overdid it on both counts so it will be still a while before I will do either. Anyway by week 6 I was running 4 times a week each run about 4 miles or so with a pace between 8.30 and 9.30. The Hr at times was still veering over 160 which tells its own story. However since that week the HR has remained under 160 as the average pace now is between 8.20 and 9.00. Slow improvements but important ones nevertheless. Injuries have cleared up but still have a niggle underneath my left foot with a slight degree of stiffness in my right hip on the odd occasion. My weight is still hefty enough probably close to 14stone so will need to take care of that too.

Anyway now that I can run 22 miles a week 4 times a week with one recovery walk, things are getting better.Nothing will change much over the next month, no speed work and no group running. Ideally i would love to get the running done in the morning and get out 5 times a week but even thinking such thoughts bodes well doesn’t it? Ongoing............................

Week ending 13^th October

Monday 3 mile walk, Tuesday 3 mile walk, Wednesday 5.3 mile at 8.27 pace Hr 160, Thursday 5.2 miles at 8.50 pace Hr 152, Friday rest, Saturday 7 miles at 8.57 pace Hr 157, Sunday 5 miles at 8.19 pace. Total miles 22 plus 5.5 mile walk.

HOK - Hands on knees but a smile on the face

September 30^th to October 6^th

More of the same really but happier each time I review my weeks running. I seem to be able to complete each of my targeted workouts at a more acceptable slower pace (between 8.30 and 9 minute pace). The Hr still remains unacceptably high in that I would prefer it to be under 150 rather than under 160 but then again at the start of September it was well into the high 160’s for nightmare jogs of 10 minute pace. Looking back on that entire period of June to September is like revisiting some sort of waking nightmare. It’s a place i am not happy to revisit ever again. Simply put i had burnt my mind and body out. I reacted very bad mentally to the disappointment of the Cork marathon and then made the mistake of not simply concentrating on rest, recovery and base building.My sub 3.30 last year  and the training involved took a lot of time and effort and I probably stupidly assumed it be easily repeated again. Anyway i won’t be in a position (for various reasons) to tackle another marathon PB attempt for 12 months so best to put it aside. All the same I am happy i have showed the guts to slowly pick myself up.

As i said I will be concentrating on building base, leg strength and a good solid base of medium slow “long runs”. I wont be doing any speed work either, at least not until after the marathon mayhem of October and November dies down. By then I hope I will be in a decent place to able to hold my own with the medium pace runners in the club.

Monday was a 2.5 recovery walk with my wife. Tuesday was a 5 mile run up the hills of Mayfield. This was done at 9 minute pace with a average pace of 9 minutes. It’s a tough run with a hefty 2 mile hilly at the finish. I repeated the same run on Wednesday. I was a bit quicker this time with a average pace of 8.47 but the effort was still high 159 Hr.Thursday was a snappier 4.3 run around Charleville. Average pace was 8.17 with the fastest mile being the last mile clocked in around 8.05 pace. No Hr reading for this one but the sweat on my t shirt and the *HOK at the finish was enough to tell me all I needed to know. Rest day on Friday and a one hour slow jog around Charleville on Saturday. I wanted to run this on the acceptable side of slow which ended up being 8.57 pace and a distance of 6.7 miles covered in the hour. Hr was 156 which is high but again in the context of the last few months is reasonable. Last year running at that pace would have produced a HR of `140.

In terms of race i don’t plan to enter any races for the foreseeable year but I did send off my entry for the Dungarvan 10 mile race on at the end of January. A long way away but it’s a race I really want to get even with after the trouble of previous years doing it.  It’s funny how runners develop a dislike of some races and a love of others. Dungarvan falls into the previous category while  say the the Mallow 10 and Midleton 5 falls into the latter.

Any readers of this blog would know I entered the Connemara marathon for April last year but deferred it because I had no proper training done for it. I don’t know if I will end up racing it but maybe that could be a plan when I set myself some new years goals later on in the year. It isn’t a PB course but it could be a different sort of challenge (second fastest marathon perhaps or maybe just get around and use it as a sort of long run). My head is also being turned by the Rotterdam marathon a week after the scheduled 2014 Connemarathon but it isn’t really practical to expect to be able to do both. All ideas just floating about in my head. I have a definite plan worked out for the period April to December 2014 but i won’t be revealing that to anyone. Lets just get some consistency  done there....

Mileage for the week 24.4 miles. Monday 2.5 mile walk, Tuesday 5 miles, Wednesday 5 miles, Thursday 4.3 miles, Saturday 6.7 miles.

*HOK – Hands on Knees

First step on the ladder ....

Sunday 22^nd September to Saturday 28^th September

On Sunday I ambled down the street to Bakers Road to watch the finishers coming in at the Charleville half marathon. It was very hot and it affected the leading runners times by a couple of minutes with the according knock on for the rest of the field. September is when the half marathon season is in full swing all geared towards the Dublin marathon. I had visions of getting under 90 minutes in this particular race assuming I would pick up the momentum I created last year. No chance this year.

Nevertheless it was good to talk to some local runners and Mallow clubmates. Headed out for my usual 4.3 mile run that evening. On Monday decided to cool things down a bit with a snappy-ish 2.5 mile walk with Aoiffe and on Tuesday did a 45 recovery run around the grass pitches of Mayfield GAA club. The last two runs/walks were designed to get the heart rate down. By Wednesday I did a hilly 5 mile jog up in Cork with another snappier 4.3 mile effort in Charleville on Thursday. Friday was a rest day.

That left me facing into a 5.7 mile “LSR” on Saturday. The legs were feeling it that stage and the pace was very slow around 9.45 pace.

I have been running my back to basics strategy for a month now. There was been some progress but it has been all rather slow. That said I am now running 4/5 times a week. When I started 4 weeks ago the longest run I could manage was 3 miles in 34 minutes with a HR of 145 to 152. Currently I can run 4.3 miles at a 8.15 pace but I suspect the HR was probably in the 160’s. A lot of people have said to me to not wear or ignore the HR strap but the heart rate is what determines how fast or far you can run. It is the true arbiter of performance. My Hr readings last year would have been proof of this. I only hope that prolonged running at different paces over 4/5 days a week over the next 3 months will lead to a improvement in my aerobic capacity. I obviously burned myself out last summer, here’s hoping a long base running period will  see me through. Phil Maffetone's method on the other hand calls for keeping all runs under 135 to 140 Hr which means a pace (in my case) of probably 12minute pace.

The idea behind this is that my heart will strengthen and that I will be able  to maintain this Hr level at a faster pace leading to a greater improvement in my running..  This of course could mean 3-4 months of slow walk/jog/running.In previous posts I spoke about possibly using the Maffetone method . Now I am not too sure. That kind of patient running would see me go a bit crazy. Further investigation awaits but now I am thinking running  most days will have the same effect I do agree though that speedwork would be a error. At least I am out running now and have been doing the last 4 weeks.

Mileage this week – 22.3 miles.