the harder they fall

10th June.

I had originally targeted the Cork city half marathon as a goal race to end off what was a decent training block which started with the 4 mile Boherbue race. The plan was then to focus on a possible marathon in August or October. I had run a good race in the Killarney half marathon and a solid time in the Ballindreen 5 mile in May (34.32) so I was hopeful. However things were a bit of a disaster on a number of fronts. Runners were misdirected at the very start of the race and ending up running a half mile extra before they reached the first official mile marker. This meant there was no chance of anyone getting a proper PB. I ended up running the first 3 miles at what was in effect too fast a pace and by mile 7 I was beginning to wilt. It was very hot but my mindset was all over the place knowing I wouldn't get any where near a PB or a course best. I decided to pull the plug before the official 8 mile marker(8.7 miles on my watch) deciding there was little point in wearing myself out running a 13.5 mile plus race. My buddy Aidan and my Mallow clubmates all finished the race in what was a hopelessly organised event. I don't know if I will be back doing next year. It was my own decision to drop out though and I should have adopted a more sensible pacing strategy. Having run close to 20 half marathons and DNF'ed 2 I think I made the correct decision. I won't be dropping out of races  again though unless I am injured or sick.

Tuesday I ran 4.5 miles at a slow 9 minute pace with a HR reading of 135 and I was happy with that.

Thursday was a hell of a day. 4 miles into a routine 8 mile run I took a tumble near Harrison's place and landed heavily on my shoulder. I got a bit of a shock and I had a terrible time getting back to my house. I feared I dislocated my shoulder and broke a bone in my ankle (it was quite swollen), Thnakfully the local park keeper spotted my distress and dropped me back home lecturing me on the dangers of running !!!!!

 Thankfuly the ankle was only swollen and the shoulder while sore , battered and bruised wasn't broken or dislocated. This was confirmed by the good people at Mallow general hospital in the disgracefully downgraded A and E department , now called the local injury unit. I can't drive a car for at least a week and general mobility is at 50 %, Running is out of the question for a similar period of time, maybe longer. As the pictures show the grazing is light enough but the ankle is swollen.

I did enter the Galway Bay marathon set to be held on the 1st October, That will be the focus of my training when I do get back running.The course consists of 4 X 10km loops plus 2.2 km. To be honest I don't know whether it will be a well organised low key event or a badly organised one. Time will tell, lets get the training done first.