Post holiday

 It was fair hot in Las Palmas Gran Canaria. I managed to get 14 miles in on the Monday before we left but plans too do a bit of running over there just didn't happen. Too hot (35 degrees), too hilly (the apartment was outside the main centre on a series of hills) and I was enjoying my holiday too much (beers and good food every night). By the end of the week I gathered enough gumption to do a 4 mile run Sunday and the Monday. The hills , the heat and the food made movement rather slow but I got the job done. Wednesday back in blighty I managed 5.5 miles, Thursday 5 miles and Friday 5 miles in Dublin. On Sunday I ran 16 miles in the usual Charleville route but the tank was empty at mile 10. Nevertheless I was happy in that I kept tipping away and didn't fall too far over the 9 minute pace. Total run was complete in 2hrs23mins. Around 8.53 pace. That night I popped up to Cork to see Peter Hook and his band play. A good set it was too around 29 songs. Standing 3 hours for that. 35 miles for the week.

Monday 21st very easy recovery walk jog. Around 3 miles at 12 minute pace. Tuesday 5.2 miles at 9.05 pace on Treadmill. Hopefully a few more runs at the end of the week. Back to work on Thursday.

August note. The flu before we fly.

 My last post was all very triumphal and then as is the way of these things ...... bang!!!! Well more of a sound of a squeaky balloon with the air being slowly driven out of it. A kind of a farty , squeaky sound.

I had a 3 mile recovery jog on Monday last fully intending to rack up a good mileage week up to the Sunday.

Anyway it never happened. I felt quite ill on the Tuesday morning, the kind of feeling where your body feels it skin wants to peel away from it bones and your head is undergoing some sort of trepanning process. Essentially a type of flu virus. I get this every year and have done for years. Feels like a type of flu - achey bones, sweats, nausea and all that. It usually coincides when I start upping the intensity of mileage for marathon training. It was never a issue when I was only up to 35 miles as that was quite easy in the past but not so the last 5 years . For example when I got food poisoning in Malaga in 2015 I was still able to knock out 45 mile weeks despite being ill for 3 weeks after it. (It's amazing when you never realize in the moment how fit you once were)

Anyway nothing for it but keep to the bed and to the back of the living room when the family are around. 

It meant no running this week so that was another hopeful training week gone to pieces.

Sunday I felt a bit better and ran a easy slow 5 miles at 10 minute pace (HR 127). The rest of the day I was still feeling crappy but at dinner time I had a massive craving for salad, peppers, steak and beetroot!!! It seemed to do the trick and I slept well. The tummy was a lot healthy the bank holiday Monday too.

I decided to head out for a slow 1 hour jog but my mile 4 I was feeling a lot better and kept going until mile 14 and 2hrs05mins later. (HR 152 - high) Had I brought a gel or two I might have kept going up to 16 miles but i was still mindful that I was a wee bit virus ridden. The HR was high enough. Even at 14 miles I am still in a solid position with 12 weeks to DCM.

The rest of the day I felt fine packing for the holiday abroad our first in 8 years. I obviously will be bringing the running stuff but now that I got some sort of log run done the mindset is more optimistic with a few to the next 4 weeks.

Running week

 Monday 31st July 3 miles recovery

Tuesday 6th August 5 miles at 9.53 minute pace . HR 127

 Monday 7th August 14 miles at 8.56 pace. 2hrs05mins. HR 151