Starting over

Week beginning 21^st April

Decided to do a bit of running this week. “Bit” in this case means as many non running days as running days. Monday morning saw my wife choking with one hell of a chest infection which as I write this is only clearing up now. It means her plans to run a 6 mile run in Limerick over the May weekend will probably come to nought. As her self appointed coach I can’t but help feel disappointed for her. She hadn’t missed a single training session up to this point but chest infections are not to be messed with especially when it comes to running. A clubmate of mine had to cancel a planned marathon because of something similar.

I ran 8 miles on the Monday morning and I think it was around 8.20 pace. The first few miles were around 8.55 pace but it dropped and finished around 8.05 pace. A promising run and a nice start to the week. Headed to Mallow for a all too rare appearance by me to a evening training session. There was a small enough turnout but it was a good session. 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down. The workout consisted of a 20 minute tempo, a  10 minute tempo and 6 x 30 second sprints. My speed wasn’t great but I was happy enough to take it easy and glad to get a few miles up on the legs. Shane our trainer arrived late and assumed we also had carried out our planned 2 X 30 seconds press ups. Darragh fessed up and we ended up doing those as well. A interesting way to end a session. Hopefully we can get away with it next time!!!!

The workout on Wednesday was a planned 5 mile easy jog. Problem was I hardly slept a wink in the last 3 days as Aoiffe’s cough was bad enough to keep her awake all night and me with her – running up and down the stairs for various medications and boxes of cough sweets. Other times I was simply worried she hack her lungs up – it was that bad. Anyway the run was a deliberately slow affair. I had no garmin but I ran for 46 minutes doing around 5.5 -5.7 miles.

There was no running Thursday as the blood bank were around and I donated my pint of claret. I have done 6 of these and apparently the milestone number is measured in 25, 50, 75 and 100 donations. Something worth aiming for- certainly easier than 50 marathons anyway!!!!! Friday was a non running day simply because I was concerned having done 21 miles this week and only 16 miles the week before and with  a planned long run at the weekend it was better to have a few days off. I prefer to ease rather than to rush headlong into a training schedule. Also it is less than 3 weeks since the Connemara marathon so there is nothing to be gained than too intense a exposure to high mileage.

My last run of the week was a 10 mile in the company of the gang from Mallow Ac. I did 7 miles with the lads and lassies at a solid enough pace before running the last 3 miles myself at 8 minute pace. Felt fine afterwards heading up to Cork to meet some of the lads and watch the Liverpool-Chelsea game and the tailend of the Munster game. Easter holidays finish tomorrow so back to the blackboard jungle!!!!!!

Miles for the week 33 miles (Monday 8 miles, Tuesday 7 miles, Wednesday 5.5 miles, Saturday 2 miles with couch to 5k group, Sunday 10 miles)

11 days later.....

Week beginning 17^th April

 

It’s been 11 days since the marathon in Connemara and at this stage it’s time to move on. It’s the period after a marathon that is always the strangest time. All the training is over culminating into a satisfying race. Time to move on- but not quite yet. That said having had a bit of time to mull over the race I was wondering where I could have improved. I still think losing 2 minutes at mile 5 (the time where my bib started to come off) and 2 minutes in the last 2 downhill miles (the legs were thrashed at that stage – didn’t expect that) was unfortunate but I was no closer to getting a sub 3.30 either way. Connemara is a tough course but I wouldn’t rule out a return. As stated before hand I was happy with getting my second fastest time of 3.37.23.

The big plan for the summer is get a bit of speed up on the legs. Essentially that means running a number of shorter races over the summer – 5 mile and 4 mile races and hopefully having some personal success in those. This all in turn is to play it’s part in getting me a PB in the Dublin marathon in October 2015. My dream time would be a sub 3hrs20mins but we will start with the basics for the moment.  There’s many a slip between cup and lip.

I headed for a 40 minute jog on Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday. The latter run was in the company of my buddy Dermot and we were happy to do more talking than running. Anyway the legs felt fine. I covered 4.6 miles, 4.8 miles and 4 miles. All very easy and relaxed and no obvious physical or mental reaction. The only annoying aspect was the sore throat I picked up last Sunday in Fota attending a garden expo with my wife.  All the symptoms were above the throat but it has left me feeling a bit crocked nevertheless. Guess I will stick with the easy stuff for a while yet before moving onto any kind of speed work.

Connemara 26.2 - race report

6^th April 2014 – Connemara 26.2

I postponed the running of this last year so rather than lose my place this year and put the disappointment of last year behind me I decided to get training for this marathon around November. Confidence is a fragile thing especially in marathon running so I started from scratch. Training had gone well and I entered a few races the highlight of which was a sub 70 in the Ballycotton 10. What really made me happy was the long runs. I managed 4 X 20-22 milers in Charleville, Mallow and Cork and i didn’t have much problem with these. The tempo workouts went well too. While the peak mileage wasn’t particularly high (56 miles) I logged on average 40 miles a week. In otherwords all solid stuff. Were I running Rotterdam or a similar flat course i would have targeted a PB but this was Connemara – famous for it’s hills, crosswinds and the “Hell of the West”. I targeted a 3.45 if anything another 3.50.XX run would have disappointed me but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

The bus dropped us off in Lough Ineagh (I think) at 9.30 and just like Craggy island there wasn’t a whole lot to keep people occupied. The trip to the portaloo was as eventful as it got but it was handy jumping on the coach to keep warm before the whistle blew.I bumped into clubmate Ger Buckley. He went off a handy pace. The first mile went in 8.06 so I started to dial it back. This was the case for the subsequent miles 8.19, 8.13, 8.19. This was a bit faster than 8.30 pace but the course and terrain was quite flat. The only worry was my friggin bib number. I made shit of putting it on the night before and the wind was threatening to blow it off. I should have let Aoiffe do it for me or more to the point have taken more care. One of the pins finally came loose at mile 5 and I had to stop. This meant mile 5 was clocked in at 10.15 as i spent two minutes readjusting the pin. Thankfully I picked up the pace at mile 6 (7.44). Thomas Bubendorfer – the original “rubbish” marathon runner sped past us. He was doing yet another ultra and looked to be flying it. Mile 7 was comfortable at 8.05. I had ran 7.3 miles in a hour.

At this stage I decided to press on. I was only 3 minutes off a sub 3.30 and I reckoned I could make up some time. Mile 8/9/10/11 passed in 7.48, 7.55, 7.57, 7.46. I was feeling very good and the gap was reduced to 2mins45seconds. I reckoned I was overtaking plenty of runners at this stage and was sensible taking a gel on every 5 miles. The marathon here is a race of 2 halves. Miles 1 -13 are flat and downhill. Miles 13 to 26.2 are a different matter altogether.  A couple of fellow marathon runners commented on how fresh I looked. Coming in Leenane village it was cool to get a nice claps. I clocked the halfway  13.1 in 1hr.47min and I was gaining ground. I knew though that the next few miles were noted as being hilly but i didn’t feel to put out by them. Mile 14 passed in 7.55 and mile 15 in 8.04. Good going considering the climb involved. A lot of runners were struggling and I sensed blood. Mile 16 in 7.40 and mile 17 in 7.42. Mile 18 in 7.48. The gap was narrowed to 2hrs26mins. I was two minutes of so off a sub 3.30.

The leading female lady ultra runner was running beside us and she was really motoring. In fairness the rest of us gave her a great ovation but the slower 13.1 runners were really slowing things up. This involved lots of bobbing and weaving. The winds were really picking up and I was definitely beginning to feel it. I still felt a sub 3.40 was on the cards which would for me would be a very good time – my second fastest marathon time.Mile 20 passed in 8 mins flat giving me a course time of 2.43. That said I didn’t feel under too much pressure and mentally I was very positive. Mile 21 and 22 passed in 7.47 and 8.03. At the 3 hour mark I had covered 22.3 miles which was where I hoped I would be when planning the race. I turned off the stopwatch face of the garmin as ahead of me lay the Hell of the West.

I was philosophical enough about this part of the course. It snakes along and twists and turns like a corkscrew- you see every foot that is ahead of you and it never actually seems to end. What made it even tougher was the crosswinds that blew me and the rest of us around the place. Two people actually fell over on the way up. My attitude was that I would probably lose time but the main thing was not to stop and try to make up time on the 2 mile downhill. As we ascended two other marathon runners ran beside me. We all grinned at each other and battled on. Mile 23 uphill in 8.32 and mile 24 in a pretty slow time in 9.36 giving me a acceptable average of 9 minutes going up the Hell.

A Belgian guy said to me “Jesus Christ this is crazy”. I guess not many hills in the low countries. At mile 24 I walked for a 20 seconds, took my last gel and headed down. The problem was that the quads were completely packed in. I had hoped to run these two miles at sub 8 pace thinking I could push closer to a  even faster time but not a hope. Mile 25 went in 9.19 and the headwinds were playing havoc with me at this stage. I knew a sub 3.40 was in the bag so on I on  running the last mile in 9.11. The remaining 0.2 of the course was a nice little gallop and I checked the garmin reading- 3.37.23. The clock above me showed 3.36.23 so i will see what the outcome is. It was not a very impressive finish to be fair and while a couple of minutes might not have got me under 3.30 it would have made the what –ifs more interesting. That said not losing 2 minutes at mile 5 and losing 2 minutes at the end would have made things interesting.

I crossed the line feeling really happy. I didn’t hang around though. To be honest the finishing area was a bit of a mess and the t shirt and medal wasn’t up to a lot either. Small gripes on what was a satisfying day. I jumped on the bus and headed back to Galway texting every poor sod I knew with my time.

Connemara is no place for a PB unless it’s your first marathon but it is a enjoyable marathon. For me it was my second fastest marathon and my fastest non Dublin marathon. The ghosts of the Cork marathon are put to bed once and for all.

Future plans – rest!!!!

Connemara marathon 3.37.23. Miles for the week 34.