20 up

So yeah I was feeling like a bit of a crock by the end of the week. Sore knee, throbbing ankle and the PF on the right foot were all saying hello to me. Nevertheless after a trip to the physio (John O Sullivan, Mallow) I felt in great shape. The stiffness in my hips and the back was alleviated and it seemed to do the trick, Saturday morning i did a easy 6 miles and met up with Mallow members to run 20 miles on Sunday. I won't deny that the 20 mile run was hanging over me especially the night before and I was humming and hawing about weather to just stay local and solo instead. That would have been a bad idea as the Mallow long runs on Sunday always bring me on and the company is good too.

Fergal Murphy met up with me at 7.30 am a to do 6 miles out to the racecourse and back. He was good company and his youthful enthusiasm rubbed off on me. We then met up with the main group at 8.30 where I continued my adventure. They ran 13 miles along a testing route (plenty of hills). I was slow but was reluctant to take too many rest breaks. I was overtaken by the posse at mile 17 and my pace which was in the 8.30's dropped to a bit over 9 minute pace. The last 3 miles were a real mental struggle but I was damned if I was going to give in. I mightn't be fit at the moment but this was all about getting the miles up on the legs. At mile 18 I turned off towards the healthcare centre and I was glad to face down the last mile by the town park. I won't deny I was glad to see the Garmin beep at mile 20. I was on my feet for 2hr58mins, roughly 8.52 pace. Job done. The rest of the day was spent doing very little, watching the Irish rugby team huff and puff against Italy. Today was all about huff and puff for me too.

In terms of a body N.C.T I was ok enough , the knee was a bit sore but nothing too major. I guess I will know better when I get back out running during the week.

The mileage this week was 38 miles , very low compared to what I used to do but I am happy to play it careful for this cycle. Hopefully the weeks of 60 miles a week won't be too long in coming back this year.

Running in and running out

The last three weeks have gone ok enough. 3 mid week runs on average during the week, around 1 hour each, 7 to 7.5 miles each time and long runs of 13 miles, 18 miles and 10 miles retrospectively. Coming into March will mean long runs in the region of 20 - 22 miles or at least I hope so. These will have to be done on my own more likely so I hope it goes well.

This is where the focus has to be good. It was never a problem before so hopefully it won't be this time either.

P.S Issues with the left knee, ankle and PF are sufracing lately

spun out

Great intentions this week after a good solid week last week. Took the Monday off as per usual as there is no real opportunity to get a run in given work/ family/ creche collection obligations. I did my usual Tuesday morning run at 6.30 using (as usual)the stopwatch. I covered 7 mls in what I felt was a modest effort. The rest of the day went fine but by Wednesday evening after the snow cleared up I had nothing in the tank - I just came home and slept for a hour before I headed down to collect Iseult from the creche and that was pretty much the window closed. Thursday evening was a productive effort but the legs felt gammy for the first 3 miles before picking up the pace and running 7.5 miles at a comfortable 8 minute pace. I was happy with the workout and looked forward to a productive weekend.

Friday was a odd day. No chance of running given the usual work/ iseult collection cycle. Again on Saturday I had no interest in running in the morning (too cold.... too dark.... too soft) before heading up to Cork with the gang for a dinner up in the Montenotte hotel and meeting the lads for the rugby game in the Crawford. I was hanging coming home (tired not drunk) and I knew I was in trouble for the Dungarvan 10 on Sunday. Iseult was up again at 6.30 am (the pet) and my wife had other stuff on (work) and I frankly didn't have a ounce of energy mentally or physically for the drive down, a race and a drive back. I simply stayed at home and grabbed 40 winks when possible.

I was in my own words "spun out". I have had this before but looking back I should have done a few things differently in the week. I'm happily rested now but better care and attention required in particular with diet, rest and hydration. Too much running (pardon the pun) doing stuff during the week and in particular Saturday allied with a very poor sugar laden diet did the damage.