It's all about the long runs, really.

Week ending 22^nd February 2015.

And on the running goes……. I had targeted this week as being a high mileage week on the account of having the week off work and so it proved. It also meant a extra couple of hours in bed every morning which doesn’t do any harm at all and no 2 hour commute every day either. Accordingly I ran 70 miles this week which amounts to a weekly record for me and still allowed myself the Thursday off running. The only niggle or downside was today’s long run in Mallow. I went out not really mentally geared up for it, always a bad sign and was conflicted as to what mileage I was going to do – 15, 21 or 24 miles (a sure sign of mental fatigue). In the end I opted for the 21 miles. It was tough going evidenced by the fact I hardly said a word to my clubmates on the run. I was feeling the pressure at mile 18 and walked for 3 minutes before setting off again stopping to a halt after 3 hours and 21 miles, a mile away from the car park. I had enough at this stage. Next week I intend to be a lot more clued in as to what has to be done and may actually take the Saturday off before hand in order to give myself a bit of rest. I have 4 weeks of proper training left before the taper.It's all about the long runs really.

In terms of the actual ultra itself I am beginning to get slightly worried. I had hoped to be fresh enough to run 4 hours plus (approx. covering last 26 – 28 miles) before the inevitable struggle kicks for the last 10 -13 miles. Now I am not too sure, what if I completely seize up before mile 26 and find myself to be a walking dead man long before the real challenge kicks in? I suppose the solution will be running slower, taking some walking breaks and stocking up early on the nutrition side of things. Maybe the taper and the race adrenaline will be enough to help me on the day.

They say ultra's are 30 % physical, 70% mental or maybe that's just the profile of the people who undertake them.

As I said though it was nevertheless a good running work being particularly happy with Monday’s and Wednesday’s workout.

Next week’s mileage won’t be as high as I won’t be running on Tuesday and / or Saturday.

Monday 14 miles at 8.33 pace, Tuesday 4 miles recovery at 9.15 pace, Wednesday 10.2 miles at 7.30 pace, Friday 10.5 miles at 7.57 pace, Saturday 10.3 miles at 8.05 pace, Sunday 21 miles at 8.33 pace. Total mileage 70 miles.

P.S - the photo is of me pacing the Mallow Ten last year. All a bit manic...

A lot of miles and a lot of words

Week ending 15^th February and week starting 16^th February

In the interests of neatness and consistency it would probably would have been better to get the blog report completed last night but as the Monday run is the crucial second half of the long run it seems better to wait until now. Last week I wrote that the running is getting more serious, the mileage has certainly increased. Unfortunately so has the risk of injury so I better be careful. (Sore hip again and a queasy stomach)

Nevertheless I would rate this training week as being on the very good scale- hitting a new high for mileage and also my fastest ever tempo run. As reported last time I ran 13 miles at 8.36 pace on the Monday early in the morning before heading to work. By the time I got home that evening I was beginning to have notions of pulling the car in off the road for a power nap. Thankfully though I got home in time to power nap on the couch instead for the hour. These regular power naps are ideal for getting that bit more rest and recovery in. It’s the hunger thing that is harder to deal with.

It certainly paid off as I was able to tag on 10 miles up in Cork at a tasty enough pace of 8.09. I felt very comfortable varying the route for the last 3 miles, it helped freshen the mind up and had I wanted to I could have ran well under sub 8 minute pace.

By Wednesday I wanted to run a 60 minute time trial. Very simple idea- run the first mile at a handy steady pace and see how many more miles could I cover in a single hour. The answer as it turned out happened to be 8.20 miles. I would have liked to have reached say 8.40 or ideally 8.5 miles but not a bad workout all the same.I ran a handy 7 minutes to cooldown. Were I racing in a 10 mile race I probably might have covered close to 8.5 miles (7 minute pace) but we might see about that in due course. Thursday was a more mundane affair running around the town for 7 miles at 8.20 pace.

Friday – my favourite running part of the week – as it is a rest day allowed me the space and strength to run a 5 mile tempo on the Saturday. I warmed up with a mile jog and then covered the 5 mile distance at 6.52 average pace. These tempos while tough are very instructive as I ran the same route all the time. It was also my fastest ever tempo run, in fact it was faster than some 5 mile races I have run over the years. I was helped by the flat(ish) nature of the course.

However as I am training for a ultra run it is the Sunday and Monday training runs that are the number one workouts in the training cycle. Sunday I ran in Mallow. I got down to the car park at 7.55 am running a hour pretty much on my own, covering 7.16 miles  before meeting up with the main gang at 9 am. Their plan was to cover 15 miles which suited me perfectly as I hoped to spend around 190 minutes on my feet.

The starting portion of the run was pretty tough – a uphill mile that lasted probably 1.5 miles but it was pretty flat after that. I found myself up the front with Sharon, Tadgh and Mike and at one stage the pace was hitting close to 7.15 per mile before I got sense slowed down and joined the more “sensible group” down the back. After all the object of the exercise was time on my feet, no point in flogging myself into the ground having run 22 miles in under 3 hours and facing into another 15 minutes of running. Ultra’s are all about time on your feet.

 By mile 18 coming back into Mallow I was finding the “squeeze” was threatening to hit me – you know that horrible feeling when the legs and back start to feel the pressure – but it passed after a few minutes of chat and finished off the run in reasonably comfortable fashion. I did find myself having to make up the mileage by running a few outs and backs on the Killarney run (always a pain) but job done. My garmin said I ran 3hrs 10 mins covering 22.39 miles. However after the water stop at mile mile 15 I failed to restart the watch for around 3- 4 minutes so I may covered close to another half a mile on top of that.

By the time I got back to the car park at the finish the feeling was one of tremendous relief and anticipation that the rest of the day would be spent lying the couch recovering and watching TV. The Sunday run also marked my highest mileage in any one week – 68.84 miles.

The recovery always helps as the next day I ran the 14 miles around Charleville in a very relaxed fashion. I started off running 9 minute miles but the legs and head started to wake up by mile 4 and I was well under 8.20 pace for the finish. Of course the mid term week off work should aid my training schedule even further.

Well done also to club mate Adrian Ryder for completing the Donadea 50 K in a very relaxed time of under 4hrs30minutes. Adrian is also training for the Connemara ultra but having run it before (in a time of under 5hrs50minutes) his expectations will be a lot more pronounced than mine.It’s a shame there is no 50K races closer to the taper. That said the Tralee marathon (while pricey) does look tempting.

Mileage for the week 68.84  miles

Monday 13 miles, Tuesday 10 miles at 8.06 pace, Wednesday 9 miles with 8.2 miles in 60 minutes, Thursday 7 miles at 8.20 pace, Saturday 7 miles with 5 miles at 6.52 pace, Sunday 22.84 miles at 8.30 pace. 

Things are getting serious

Week starting 9^th February

After running Dungarvan last Sunday week I deliberately didn’t set foot on the pavement until the Thursday. This week was a designated cutback week but rather than lose out on the weekend run I decided to cutback on the normal Monday Tuesday and Wednesday runs. I ran a nice comfy 10 miles on the Thursday. The pace was  8.11 but I felt like I could have kept running for 20 miles. Friday was the evening of my wife’s birthday dinner so no running there and I ran a snappy 6.2 miler at 7.47 pace on the Saturday.

On Sunday I met up with the Mallow lads for the early morning run. I ran 2.5 miles with Colm before meeting up with a large group at 8.20 am and a even larger group at 9 am. It was a tough run with a serious climb at Dromahane and later on a back road home. In all I covered 21 miles at 8.40 pace with a few water breaks thrown in. Monday morning I ran 13 miles in Charleville at 8.36 pace before heading to work so that meant a really early start. The legs were tired all evening but in a good way.

A back to back long run of 21:13 and 9 weeks to go. Things are getting serious.

Mileage for the training week :50.2 miles. Thursday 10 mls, Saturday 6.2 miles, Sunday 21 miles, Monday 13 miles

Last week of January 2015

Week ending 1^st February

A bit concerned about the long run. I had hoped to get 3 hours/20-21 miles up on the legs but I didn’t get beyond 2hrs55mins and even that was punctuated by 2 X 4 minute walks on the trickier hillier areas on the way home. I didn’t have a garmin with me so I estimated the distance ran, so it may been 19.5-19.7 miles. It’s probably better to opt for a flatter route next time in order to get time up on the legs and confidence in the head. Considering a 20 mile run is only slighter more than half the distance of the race I would need to be comfortable running 20 miles in the same way you need to be comfortable running 13 miles when training for a marathon.

The week day’s running was solid enough – 4 miles on Monday, 9.5 miles on Tuesday (7.40 pace), 9 miles up in Cork on Wednesday (7.53 pace) and most encouragingly of all a 7 mile run with a 5 mile tempo at 7 minute pace with a rest day Friday.

I ran in Dungarvan today using the 10 mile race as a back to back run. Driving down with Tony and Clive we all had different targets. Tony looking for a sub 70 minute time, Clive for a PB and me looking for a marathon pace run. I ran a two mile warm up and then ran the first mile in 8.20 or so. I picked up the pace after that but the legs were certainly heavy for the first 3 miles. The weather was fabulous certainly a improvement on last years deluge. It was nice running in a race not being under pressure. I ran the first half in 42 minutes, the second half in under 38 minutes, the last mile coming in under 7 minutes. All in all a very good workout making some amends for Saturdays laboured effort.Tony got under 70 minutes, Clive under 72 minutes. They were happy and so was I. It was good to run in company and meet up with some clubmates.

Next week will be a easier week in terms of mileage. I have a few things on so it suits me.

Mileage for the week 60.5 miles. Monday 4 mls, Tuesday 9.5 mls, Wednesday 9 mls, Thursday 7 mls, Saturday 19mls, Sunday 12mls with 10mls at 8 minute pace.