Two half's (halve's) on the table

I got over the whole fall thing pretty quickly taking part in a half marathon in Portarlington on the Sunday week after. I  met very briefly with Aidan before and after. It was a beautiful day for it which was just as well as the course was pretty tough and I found it a struggle at times. The course was a mix of country roads with a fair few pulls taking us up and around Emo forest. My finishing time was another modest 1.48.25 but  was happy with the resilience I showed in some pretty tough sections. I think if training goes well over the next few months such races will stand to be. The rest of the week consisted of 3 X 1 hour runs around Charleville, Mayfield and the Mardyke opting for a 25 minute (7.15 pace) tempo run on the Sunday instead of the more usual long run. The only concern I have at the moment is the tight hamstring that is a issue since the half marathon. I am due to run another half marathon on the following Saturday in Waterford. I have to be realistic as to where I am but on the plus side I feel I am making positive strides. I just have to be patient.

Going for another tumble and fall. Jesus!!!!

In June 2016 I took a tumble, breaking my right arm and doing a serious job on my left ankle to such a degree I wasn't able to walk properly for 3 months and not being able to take up light jogging until October of that year. Full mobility in the arm took a while longer. The distraction of having a bouncing baby daughter was enough to take my mind off the worse of it. In terms of running it meant no marathons until the following year.

Anyway the curse of the Newline/Harrison place junction struck again falling again close to the spot where I tumbled the last time. This time it was a Thursday evening a little after 4pm trying to get a hour of running in before collecting Bubbins from Granny. Around 15 minutes into my mind just went blank before I hit the ground like a sack of spuds. I suspect it was simply a case of catching my foot rising onto the pavement rather than anything else. Most of the force of the fall was on my chest with some impact on my hands, left arm and the knees.  A 14 stone  middle aged man hitting the concrete creates a right thud but thankfully I knew straight away nothing was broken this time. I got up wiped away the blood on my knee, checked the left arm, walked for 5 minutes and continued the rest of the jog for the remaining 45 minutes. Probably a stupid idea but there didn't seem anything else to do so on I went. I got home , cleaned up and collected Dolly from Granny.

Running had gone well up to that point easy recovery jog walk on Monday covering 3 miles. Tuesday a 26 minute tempo (plus 20 mins warm up and 15 cooldown) in some very strong wind before I went to work and a hour run up in Mayfield on Wednesday morning before I headed into work .  Then the fall and recovery on Thursday. I couldn't go running on Friday and Saturday as Aoiffe was away and Iseult obviously needed total attention. That said by Saturday the left side of the ribs was beginning i to get sore with some discoloration becoming apparent, I had hoped to get down to Mallow on the Sunday to run with the club but sleeping proved difficult with the sore side and the throb in the right knee so i had reluctantly had to jog local instead. Truth be known I was wrecked. I jogged around 4 miles, the original plan had altered from 14 miles, to 8 miles and then to whatever I could bare. The throbbing in the knee didn't effect the running but the side of the chest was sore at times during the short jog. There's nothing seriously wrong with me or with my body and the banged up knee is easing with anti inflamm's and ice. It's the confidence that gets the biggest bruising.

In terms of upcoming races I am going to a half marathon in Portarlington on Sunday week. It won't be much more than a extended long anyway and it is a opportunity to catch with Aidan, In terms of plans next year I am following pretty much the plan of races that I hopelessly failed to follow this year , that is Dungarvan 10, Manchester marathon, Dublin marathon. In terms of club training i will try to get for the occasional Sunday long run and with a rough hope I might make another Saturday or Thursday session but that may never happen either. Who knows?

Not my knee but I couldn't be arsed uploading and transferring the real picture from my phone to the laptop. It's worse in the real picture.

onward

Nothing worth saying, 2 mile walk on Monday with the small one in tow. It's amazing how slow you can walk with a 2 year old holding your hand. I was off work for the week running 5 X 4 minutes in the town park with the obligatory warm and cool down. The whole thing lasted a hour running another hour Wednesday morning around town. I donated blood Wednesday evening which was enough to rule out running until 6.30 am Friday morning which consisted of another hour. No running Saturday with 90 minutes on Sunday (Charleville to Ballyhea and back). The whole week clocked up to 33 miles. A couple of things I noted , I really need to get the Garmin fixed and perhaps it's time to tack on another training day. Monday and Saturday look like the most likely days but I have to figure out how to pencil it in.