Some Mug !!!!

Week ending 8^th March

It wasn’t a easy decision I had to make during the week when I decided not to run the Ballycotton 10. It’s probably the most iconic road race in the country and from a personal point of view it would have marked 5 years since I first ran my first ever road race. However the Connemara ultra is my  prime target and I felt I hadn’t enough speed work in my legs to nearly do my race justice. It was a long coach journey to end up jogging 10 miles down the back for a mug . That said best of luck to all runners who ran today.

 It was also  nearly 3 weeks since my last tempo (5 miles at 6.52 pace) but I haven’t had the where with all to do one since. I was told speed and ultra’s (especially ultra novices) don’t mix too well and that has seemed to be the case. The back to back long runs mean that the rest of the running week is about recovery running or at very best running long medium distances at most marathon or slow 13.1 pace. Ah well maybe next year for the 10 mile race, it’s going no where fast whereas I’m not sure if I will be doing another ultra any time soon.

Since Tuesday I expected there would be only small mileage to be completed for the rest of the week and so it proved. A few real life responsibilities intruded on Wednesday and Thursday and I really didn’t feel like running at all Friday ( I rarely do). At least it meant I was getting plenty of rest in and I felt pretty fresh on the Saturday for a routine 10.2 mile run around Cooleens and Pike’s Cross. I had toyed with the idea of doing a tempo but again the legs weren't up for it (or maybe it was the head?) so I ran at a solid enough steady pace of 7.50 per mile doing another 10.5 miles on the Sunday morning at a pace of 7.54. I do seem to be harbouring  a slight cough and the tummy has been a bit unhappy since Friday but nothing to stop me in my tracks. I won’t talk too much about feeling light headed going to work on Thursday. I blame dehydration.

So that’s the update for the week. I was happy enough to take it easier this week nothing wrong with a cutback week. 2 weeks of training left and then the 3 week taper.

Total mileage for week ended 8^th March. 40.7 miles. Monday 15.3 miles, Tuesday 4.7 miles, Saturday 10.2 miles, Sunday 10.5 miles.