humph

 Last week just 2 runs. feeling the effects of that 24 mile run. V groggy all week. Some stomach issues too. 7 mls wednesday and 10 miles Sunday. I was glad of the cutback. My buddy aidan ran 26.6 miles on his own and just ran a 10 mile race in 72 minutes today. On fire he is.

This week. 6 mls Monday at lunch time/ 7.2 miles up in mayfield. a good hard workout and a very good 7.6 miles at 7.54 pace on Thursday. I was cruising for that one.

Today (Sunday) I had hoped for a big long run. Ideally somewhere in the region of 27 miles, 4.20 on the feet. I was doing ok for first 18 miles. There was a few personal issues going on over weekend and that was certainly playing on my mind. Felt unsettled and being honest was becoming very bored with the run, not tuned in, not happy, bothered. Ankle flared up at 17 miles and I came to a shuddering halt at 18 miles. I just had enough and wanted to get back home. 38 miles for the week. A lot lower than what I hoped for.

Very disappointed, Less than 3 weeks to Donadea and probably just getting to the start line might be as good as I can hope for. Finishing even under 5hrs30mins, (nevermind 5 hours) or even finishing at all would be a achievement.

This week will consist of smaller easier runs. Being the eejit I am I have booked in for a more interesting run on Saturday.

24 miles - hard run hard fought

 The week started off well enough. Monday 7 miles at around 9 minute pace or so. Wednesday I picked up the pace a bit going for a run at 12.30 pm covering 8 miles at 7.45 pace. Back to work on Thursday and felt a bit zonked reverting back to a 6.40 am wake up call and a 2 hour out and back commute. I can only speak for myself when I say I was glad to get back to work, it is only right and proper we attempt to keep the schools open. . . . 

Anyway as usual no running on Friday and I was pretty wrecked by Friday evening. The head wasn't up for running at all and the thoughts of a impending long run was filling me with dread. I was putting myself through mental torture at this point. I will run long Sunday? I won't !!! I will!!! I'll just do 7 miles and do it on Wednesday instead or I will do it on Sunday week. It was begining to hang over me like a dark cloud.

My poor wife was showing great patience with me but after a 7 mile run on Saturday I was feeling a lot better. I put out the water bottles that night in the usual spots and slept well. A good sleep always helps.

Sunday morning I just decided to go running, as simple as that and see what happened. A good plan in the circumstances. By mile 7 and water break one I was warmed up to the task and got as far as Ballyhea and decided to progress to Churchtown railway crossing. That took me to mile 11 and I was enjoying myself. Then it was back up to Charleville via Ballyhea (14 miles , water break two). By the Amber service station (17 miles) the left knee was tightening up and I was beginning to feel the pressure. A bit of stretching did the trick and then it was back down to the Railway road. By mile 18 I stopped and walked. It was getting tough now but I resolved to keep moving. Running resumed again and I ran up towards Broomscourt and down in my old house in Manor Hill. It's up hill and steep on the way up and simply walked up the hills and went back running on the flat. I hit mile 20 in 2hrs 56mins.

At this stage I decided to keep moving and at this stage I running a bit and walking a bit. The pace had dropped from 8.50 per mile to around 10.30 per mile but I kept moving and sometimes that's all you can do. I ran back down town and cut cut through Holycross and back up to the Park. That took me to 22 miles and it was getting very hard now. I then stumbled through a awkward running patch from there out on Smiths Road and back before coming into my estate and hitting 24 miles in 3hrs38minutes. I walked for 2 more minutes to simply round it up to 3hrs40minutes on the feet. 

Again like 2 weeks ago when I ran 23 miles I was out on my feet at the end but if needed I know I could have kept going for another 2 miles but it would have involved a lot more walking and very labored running. What stopped me was I had reached the limits of what running routes the town had to offer. Anyway plenty of training left and long runs ahead of me ....

In terms of Donadea I know I can run up to 26 miles maybe 27 miles and while there may be a bit of walking-running from 23 onwards I am pretty sure I can stick it out. It's how I deal with the last 4 miles is the thing. I am not bothering with the sub 5 hour thing, it creates unnecessary pressure and realistically I am probably a bit off it. The race organiser can do what he wants - I don't give a jot. To quote him "Fook off".

What's next?

This week will involve a shorter long run but hopefully better mid week efforts.

The next big long run will be in a few weeks. Hopefully I can stretch it to a bit over 4 hours so I might adopt a slightly different approach next time.

new post 2022 and 10 years in review

 The blog is 10 years old this year. I started writing it as a way to record my plan to get a sub 3.30 marathon. The title of the blog was orginally called getunderthat210minutes and attracted a nice little following at the time. 2012 was a big running year for me. I joined Mallow AC running club at a time when the running boom in this country was at it's peak (I have not rejoined in over a year). Joining the club was the biggest reason why I did manage to acheive my sub 3.30 goal in the Dublin marathon that year. It also happened to be my marathon PB. The running thing was a intregal part of my life from 2010 to 2017. It occupied my life to such a degree that I now look back on it wondering - why was I so taken up with running long distances at the age of 37 years in a life where I showed no enthusiam for participation in sport at all?

That enthusiam dimmed some what alarmingly after 2017. I for what ever reason just went into a DECLINE failing to make 4 marathons from 2018 to 2019 and my speed and endurance just melted away. I did complete a 50k race in 2020 but ran very poorly on the day and in Autumn of that year I had to pull out of a virtual marathon after 20 miles. Ever since then I have still managed to clock up a average of 20 miles a week and completed a few half marathons but the hunger of those "glory years" has never returned and probably never will. Maybe it's a age thing or a burn out thing or maybe it's part of the natural cycle of things. 

At times I think I have made my peace with it and have accepted it and just move on.  Sometimes I get a return of that old hunger and drive and I am back in action. It goes in cycles. I think it's better to operate in between both worlds than on either end of the sprectrum.

Thankfully the last number of weeks has seen the hunger. return I logged 53/54 miles last week. 23 miles Monday 7.3 miles on Tuesday 7.2 miles  Friday 7.3 miles Saturday and 10.2 miles Sunday.  This week I logged another 7 miles on Monday and a decent 8 miles today (7.45 pace with a number of 7.30 splits). I think the lie in bed over the holidays and the rich food has helped me. Not driving 2 hours a day is always a positive.

Back to work tomorrow. We will see how it goes.