A early 20 miler

Week starting 21^st July

Another good running week but I would have liked to have got a better 5 mile time in Churchtown South on Thursday. This was the third race of four of the Ballycotton series.They are proper tough races and the ultimate aim is to finish in the top 50. That was never really on the cards but I had hoped to be comfortably in the top 100 at this stage.I ran the same race last year and ended injuring myself and taking a enforced break from running. My finishing time today was 34.31, not a bad time probably a solid one but well removed from a a sub 34 time and miles away from a PB. A lot of my clubmates were flying it and have made significant ground in the last 12 months. That said it’s the  Amsterdam marathon  that is my number one race and I am currently number 100 in the standings so hopefully with one race to go I can make up some ground. Mind you if I want to improve on the 3-6 mile distance different training is called for.

Monday was marked by a relaxed 4 mile recovery jog as was Friday. Sandwiched in between  was a 7 mile run on Tuesday with a 30 minute tempo insert at 7.25 pace (last mile 7.18) and 11 miles in 91 minutes on Wednesday (Hr 141). Thursday was the race in Churchtown South (2 mile warm up).

Sunday was the morning of the long run. I had planned to get 10k in on the Saturday but mindful of how leg weary  I felt the previous week I thought it best to give it a miss. Just as well really as I ended up running 20 miles on the Sunday with the club group. My original plan was to do 18 miles meeting up with Dermot at 8.15 for a 4.5 mile run and then do the remaining 13-14 miles with the main group at 9am. The problem was though that the route we took was over 16 miles. The terrain was varied and challenging.. It was a enjoyable route made all the more sweeter by a fine spread at various rest points. At mile 16 Caroline had a bagful of goodies for us – water, bananas, croissants, lucozade, chocolate and so on. Barry commented that we end up heavier after a long run rather than lighter.

Despite my 4.5 miles before hand I was feeling very relaxed tipping away at a handy pace. The Hr was averaging out as 140 and I never felt troubled. With less than 1.5 miles to the car park I had accumulated 20 miles up on the legs and I was happy to stop and walk the remaining distance to the car with Jim for a pleasant chat. I had spent 2hrs53mins on my feet which while unexpected will stand me later on.

This time next week I won’t be running on Irish soil so it will be interesting to see what of mileage I can get done. The next 5 days I do hope to continue the good work, the holidays will be more relaxed. The remaining 10 weeks after that will be pretty full on.

Mileage for the week 53 miles. Monday 4 miles, Tuesday 7 miles, Wednesday 11 miles, Thursday 7 miles with 5 mile race, Friday 4 miles, Sunday 20 miles. Picture by Paudie Birmingham, taken at Churchtown South.