2,000 miles per annum and a 5k race

18^th December

 

A bit of confusion about whether a club training session was going ahead or not. In the event it went ahead but Paudie texted wondering if i fancied a workout in Charleville instead. I agreed. 3 mile warm up followed by six sprint workouts and 90 second recovery. The idea was to cover the same distance (0.65 miles –around 6.40 mile pace) in around 4 minutes. Sprint 1 -4 minutes, sprint 2 -4.08, sprint 3-4.26, sprint 4-4.04, sprint 5 -4.30,sprint 6 -4.12. A tough workout with some variance between sprint 3 and sprint 5 and the rest but overall happy enough. Spent most of the workout chasing after Paudie who kept his times very tight.  Mile jog home.

 

8 miles in total

 

19^th December

 

Jogged 6 miles at slow medium pace roughly around 9 minute pace. Nice crisp evening for it. Legs felt heavy for first 3 miles , no doubt due to last night’s efforts but loosen up a bit for the last couple of miles.  Was happy doing this run but hopefully the pace will pick up.

 

6 miles – 8.53 pace -53mins15seconds

 

20^th December

 

Headed down to Quatertown industrial estate, Mallow with the guys and girls from Mallow AC. The estate is half a mile in diameter so it was perfect for to-nights workout. Mile and half warm up with a half mile of drills, strides and jogging. Then onto the tempo run. Shane, our trainer, said we would be doing a 25 minute tempo run at your favoured 10 mile pace. As I am hoping to do a sub 70 minute in Dungarvan 10 mile, it made sense to run at sub 7 pace. Mile 1 felt easy and passed in 7minutes07 seconds, mile 2 easy again in 7.00 pace and mile 3 again in 7.00 pace. Felt very comfortable. Funny how running in a group can make the effort seem easier. Decided to lift the pace for mile 4. The 25 minute run finished but I decided to do another 3 minutes to see if I could get 4 miles done under the 28 minutes. Stopped the watch when the garmin signalled 4 miles. Last mile completed in 6.46 but again I felt very comfortable. Finished with a half mile cooldown. A very satisfying workout- the hard part was driving home in the fog.

 

6.5 miles with 4 mile tempo in 27.53

 

22^nd December

 

Out of bed for what used to be a once regular routine – the long run. Did 10 solid miles. First 5 miles were completed in 44 minutes, last 5 miles in around 41 minutes something. As I said solid stuff. Racked up 2,000 miles this year which is another cause for quiet satisfaction.

 

10 miles 1.25.22, 8.34 average

 

23^rd December- Newmarket 5k

 

This was my first meaningful race since the Dublin marathon. The Mount Oval 6 mile was a charity jog with buddies, Clonakilty was a mess and the Doneraile 5k was another charity speed run. No I was looking forward to this one and while I knew I wasn’t going to get under the magical 20 minutes yet I had hoped to get under 21 minutes. Spotted the usual faces- a lot of whom were getting back in shape post Dublin or post Clonakilty marathons. At the top end of the field it was told to me the standard was very high indeed. I guess the prospect of the winner claiming a  300 euro prize fund for what was in effect a 15 minute race was enticing indeed. Did the obligatory 1 mile warm up and a couple of 2 minute sprints and took my place at the start line. The first ½ mile was downhill and I was careful to keep the pace at 6.40. By mile 1 I was feeling very relaxed and passed the first mile in 6.33. At 1.75 miles I was overtaking runners by the dozen and rounded the traffic cones for the turnaround back to the town. I spotted a number of runners who were ahead of me and resolved to catch up with them. By mile 2 a large gap had opened up between me and the runners behind me but i wasn’t strong enough to make up any ground. Looking at my watch the second mile passed in 6.38 and the chest was beginning to feel wheezy. It was after all my third speed session this week. Nevertheless I reckoned a 20.30 was well on the cards but the pull up through the town proved too much for me and mile 3 passed in 6.45. On the downhill stretch I caught a few stragglers and stopped my watch in 20.45. Overall I had mixed feelings about my performance. I was glad to get under 21 minutes but I should have pushed harder on the last mile rather than losing 10-15 seconds. In terms of where I stand in terms of traning for Dungarvan 10 I am on the right track. The next few races will give me further idea as to where I stand.It also concludes a very good weeks running.

3.1 mile race in 20.45 with 1 mile warm up.

 

Mileage for week 34 miles

 

 

Two contrasting tempo runs and meeting all sorts ....

Wednesday 12 th December

 

Depending on who you believe today or the 21^st December marks the end of the world – my 3^rd years informed me of this in class. Anyway my version of world's end was looming in front when I stood outside my house trying pitifully to look all fit and runner like by doing a few strides and drills. Yes it was time for my  tempo run. To be honest if I want to get under 70 minutes for Dungarvan I need to concentrate on temp runs and long runs. Anyway did 1 mile warm up to graveyard and then a mile down to the railway station, another mile back up to the graveyard and another mile on the Cork road turning off at the old Cork road by the council offices. I finished off with a 1 minute cooldown and a 1.5 mile jog home. Happy with the results. I kept the mlle temp under 21 minutes (20.48) but the mile splits did vary a bit with the last one over 7 minutes. That can be explained by having to slow down crossing the road and a strong headwind on the Cork road.

 

Mile 1 warmup (8.10) 3 mile tempo (6.48, 6.57, 7.03) and 1.5 mile cooldown 12.10

 

Thursday/Friday were total non running days. Came down with a cold and having to breathe through my mouth meant sleeping, nevermind running, was a issue.  Headed to Clon for the second week in a row to catch up with Doyler latest incursion into writing plays. This time I had Timmy for company and while I was on a strict diet of water and lemsips, a good night was had by all. In fact great kudos must be given to the boys and girls of the taigh na Astna company down in Clon. They are putting in great work with a lot of their players having no experience in acting. By Saturday morning i was doubting weather I would be taking part in the planned 5K dash in Doneraile park. I had planned to simply contribute to the cause by giving a donation and watching the race but as soon I received my number and spotted Sean Og O’hAilpin milling around I decided “What the hell”!!! warmed with Liam Murphy and Denis Cronin spotting a few familiar faces at the start line. My 5K history is pretty poor. My last experience of a 5K race was in Ovens last summer and any readers to the blog (is there any?) might remember it was a chastening experience. This time I was determined to improve my time and ideally run in around sub 21 minute pace. Of course after the first mile my plan to run a even pace went out the window. Ran the first mile in 6.16 and then the slow motion torture kicked in. Mile 2 passed in around 7.19 as did Sean og, Liam and Denis and a host of others. Glad to finish at the end. My third mile passed in 7.31 with the extra bit completed in 26 seconds. I timed my finishing time as 21mins 35seconds which if i had held my head and started slower should have been closer to 21 minutes. Still though a good workout and a good tune up race for the Newmarket 5K next Sunday week.  A bit more cop on required next time though.

 

1.5 mile warm up – 5k (ish) race @ 21.35 -1/2 mile cooldown.

 

Sunday

 

A welcome end to a long week was to be marked by a solo long run. Long is this case meaning 10 miles at 9 minute pace. It was obvious by mile 4 at the Charleville Hotel that it was going to be very long and very slow. My heart strap is out of action at the moment but I figured I was running too fast  as the cold was making breathing difficult. Dropped the pace to 9.30 pace and tipped away. Bumped into John Brady  of North Cork AC, ultra marathon warrior and Aidan Buckley who happened to be passing through town. John Brady was running sub 60 at ten miles and sub 3 marathons  in the days when runners were real hard nuts. Aidan is a bit of a icon in Mallow AC famous for high mileage, sub 3 marathons and a love for death, speed and gothic metal music. By 9 mile I had enough and was happy to go home. Next week will be looking for 10 miles. Steady as she goes.................. 9 miles in 1Hr23mins. Total Mileage for the week 29 miles

 

Below is a photo of myself and a true Cork sporting icon. I loved following the great Cork hurling team of 2003 to 2006 of which Sean , Donal Og Cusack and Brian Corcoran were my favourites. Will we see their like again?

Losing keys, drunks on the road and finding keys - a Christmas tale.

11^th December. Tuesday night. Still very irritated after the debacle that was” Run Clonakilty” but despite that a excellent if a very weird weekend. My wife who was heading to her grandmother’s 90^th birthday party rang me when I was in Clon to tell me she couldn’t find her car keys. I had the other set but was in Clon and she was due to head down to Kerry. Cue panic stations!!!

 

 Having to take her fathers car and driving her relatives all around the wilds of Ballyheigue didn’t do much for her mood. I, of course , couldn’t let it rest at that and drove from Clonakilty  up to Charleville to look for the keys and make sure everything was ok in the house. No sign of the keys and I went back up to Cork for beers. I was only a couple of minutes up the road when I spotted a guy sprawled right out in the middle of the road. Got out and of course he was as drunk as a skunk, reeking of vodka and brandy sporting a nasty cut on his head. I called the Gardai and they did the rest. Guy was lucky I didn’t drive over him.

 

 On Sunday myself and Aoiffe spent the day looking for the keys around the house and still no sign. Didn’t even get a chance to put the tree we  were in such a tizzy, that and my hangover.My poor wife blamed herself for the keys loss and I had visions of forking out 400 euros for a new set of two car keys. When i went into work next day they were on my desk winking at me and my stupidity. My mistake –oops!!!! I obviously brought  the extra set in by accidenton Friday morning . Needless to say I am still on the receiving end of a slagging.

 

By way of compensation jogged a slow 4 miles on Monday night with Aoiffe at 12 minute pace. Lovely evening for it. On Tuesday I didn’t do the usual club run in Mallow much preferring to do a solid 6 miles up on the legs at 8.20 pace. I haven’t much base running done and it’s no harm to get more focused in this regard. Also the Tuesday hill sessions were leaving me with some very pulled calves and I needed a rest to-night from it. Quite where my running plans are taking me these days I have no idea though I hope to a race a week until the end of Janruary 2013. It looks also as if marathon plans will take a back seat for a while - Connemara is deferred until 2014.

 

Monday 4 miles recovery and Tuesday 6 miles.

Clonakilty 10K race report

3^rd December 2012

Monday – rest day. Being honest it was too wet to go out.Lazy I know...

 

Tuesday 4^th December

 

Hill session with the club.  .1.5 mile warm up. 8 X 2 mins hill session. Getting better at these. Covered 0.29 miles, 0.30 miles,0.29 miles, 0.29 miles,0.30 miles,0.31 miles, 0.30 miles, 0.31 miles in each session with equal jog back. Definitely making more progress each week. In the last couple of repeats I was running very strong. Hope to maintain 0.31 distance next week. 1.5 mile jog back to the car in bucketing rain.

 

7 miles with 8X2mins hill session.

 

Wednesday 5^th December

 

Did 3.5 miles at 7.42 average pace. Then another 3.5 miles fun run with 1^st year students where the girls met and spoke to Olive Loughnane, 4 times Olympic race walker.

 

Thursday 6^th December

 

1 mile warm up with 3 X 1 mile repeats – 6.54,6.56,7.08. Was getting slower and slower with each mile but I didn’t feel I was getting slower. A disappointing set of splits but that “banged up feeling” around the legs still persists. I think this may be due to the hill repeats on Tuesday,

 

5 miles with 1 mile warm up and mile repeats at 6.58 average and 1 mile cooldown.

 

Friday –rest

 

Saturday – Ran the Clonakilty waterfront 10K. Did the half marathon last year and enjoyed it. This year entered the 10K race with Dermot and Aidan. Great to met my buddies and despite the early start the craic was good in the car. After the race met up for lunch in Ballincollig and then for beers in Cork city. Great night with a big gang of us out – Derm, Aidan, Doyler, Timmy, Don, Annette, Riobard, Ger Condon. Suffering next day...

 

Oh yeah I  almost forgot to write about the race itself. A right mess. The organisers did a cute one alright charging 25 euro for a what was essentially a slow jog down the back. See the comments on Cork Running Blog. Did the 6.0 mile course (it wasn’t 6.2 miles) in 48 minutes. Last couple of miles were in sub 7 pace. I won’t be going to it next year and I hope they sort it out next year. It’s obvious the organisers were looking to make a few bob without looking after the punters. Sort it out guys and don't be taking the mick like this again and besmirching the name of a great place like Clonakilty.

 

Total mileage. 25 miles for week

 

A sense of perspective

Monday 26^th November,

 This evening jogged 3.5 miles with my wife at 11.30 pace. HR was screwy tho 153.

 Tuesday 27^th November,

Session with Mallow AC. 2 mile warm up with assorted drills. Then the fun begins.8 x 2 mins of hills with jog down for recovery. Last week I overdid it big time and suffered for the next two days. This time (and for the next few weeks) I ran at a more conservative pace. I covered around 0.26 of a mile on each hill run – that is around 7.42 mile pace with the last one the fastest 0.30 of a mile at 7.09 mile pace. Eventually I will bbe hoping to increase the distance covered close to 0.40 of a mile. Finished up with a 1.30 mile jog to the car for a total workout of around 7 miles plus or so. The HR for each hill sprint was in the 158 to 169 range which suggests it’s a while before I can say I am back to full fitness.

 

Wednesday 28^th November

Wanted to see how would I get on myself on a short 4 mile run. I was gasping for air all the day, a sure sign that building a solid base of running and getting mileage on the legs is the name of the game for the next few weeks. Anyway did 4 miles at 8.20 pace. HR 150

Thursday 29^th November

 

4 mile run up in Mayfield, Body reacted better than yesterday though pace and HR was virtually identical. A lot less flatter than yesterday. Hr 150. Pace 8.18

 

Friday –rest day

Saturday- Didn’t charge the Garmin so that threw me a bit as I planned to do a 3 mile tempo effort. Anyway had to revise plans and ran using my stopwatch instead. Did a one mile warm up in around 8 minutes or so and did ran as fast as I could 21 minutes at tempo speed. I reckon I ran around 3miles or so and it felt like a 7.00 to 7.05 pace. Of course i could have been a lot slower than that but when i finished it was hands –on –knees time and a 2 minute walk before i was able to jog the remaining 13 minutes back to the house. Anyway it’s a start and the beginning of my Dungarvan 10 training cycle.

8 minute warm up – 21 minute tempo run – 13 minute cooldown jog .Roughly 5.3 miles. No Hr information.

Sunday 2^nd December

 

Met up with a smaller than normal group this morning at the roundabout in Mallow. A lot of the regulars are running in the Munster cross country championships or else spectating. Anyway most of the gang this morning opted for a 10 mile run. I had hoped to do 8 miles so myself and Tony Murphy decided to do our own thing. After 1.5 miles Tony’s knee problem forced him to head back to the car so i went off on my own. Ended up jogging around 6 miles of the Mallow Ten route so it was a useful scouting exercise as well as nice easy run. Spotted a couple of lads firing off shotguns bagging some game which was a welcome distraction as it starting pouring down from mile two to the end. When I finished I couldn’t believe my HR average was 87 BPM. That must mean I am morphing into a elite runner or that it really was that cold. I assume the latter was the case...alas!!! Did 2 more miles around the town and was glad to get home.

 

8 miles – 8.20 pace- 1hr06mins46seconds – Av Hr 87 !!!

 

Total miles for the week 32

Special mention must go to a young guy who worked in Charleville for a while as a physio in the local hotel here – Robert Savage. When I first started training for my first marathon in 2010 I suffered with a number of injury issues – knee problems, PF in the foot., sore back etc. Robert was the guy who put me right and while I only went to him probably 4-5 times in two years he really struck me as being a great guy. I was also interested in his other work with a football team I followed for many years – Cork City FC and found his stories of his time working with Reading FC to be a source of his great amusement. His girl friend Lisa Nybo was also working with him and my wife found her to be a excellent physical trainer where she specialised in circuit training classes.More importantly they were nice and good people. Anyway they went  back to Lisa’s home country of Norway this year to pursue new opportunities and I really have never found a physio team as good (or as nice) as them. It was therefore a terrible shock to hear of Rob’s untimely passing during the week. Very sad to hear about it and I hope Lisa and Robert’s family get through the worst of things in the time ahead.

Burn out and a dodgy 'tache

Sunday 25^th Movember

 

Here’s the raw data for the last 4 weeks since Dublin marathon. Time to move on and all that but being honest I am hardly doing high mileage am I?. Probably the toughest workout of the lot was the club workout on Tuesday, week 4. Ran 1.5 mile warm up with the club, did various drills and strides, 8 X 2 minutes of hills with another 1.5 mile cooldown. I probably over do the last couple of hill repeats and the back of the legs have been feeling it ever since so much so I had to take 2 days off running. Having entered the Connemara marathon (April 7^th 2013) I am now wondering have I bit off a bit more than I can currently chew. It’s not the distance nor the course that bothers me it’s the lack of appetite for running that bothers me. The appetite for everything else has continued unabated ;-). This was confirmed to me today (Sunday) when I slept out and missed out on the club run and spent the day reacquainting myself with “Big Time” and “Macaroon” bars. Sleeping out is always a bad sign as I rarely need alarm to wake me up at the weekend. The photos below are from the Mt Oval 6 mile Movember run held last Sunday. I'm on the left, Derm is wearing the orange, Don (my marathon running buddy) is wearing the hat and Timmy is the second photo wearing shades and a blue tracksuit top.

 

I am sure good running and shaving habits will reassert itself soon. Anyway I will have a better idea of my form in a few weeks in the Clonakilty 10K. I had hoped to do the half marathon but the price (50 yo’s) was way too prohibitive so I hope the organisers take note. My buddies Aidan and Dermot are entering it too so if nothing else it will be a chance to catch up with friends. Will see what my racing strategy will be closer to the date but a chance of a improvement on 10K PB (41mins40secs) is unlikely.

 

While I'm at it I just want to mention a 5K Santa dash that is taking place on the 15th December in the lovely setting of Doneraile Park. Organised by clubmate Ger Vowles it's in aid of a number of charities to aid sick children. Check facebook for details.

 

Anyway here’s to Movember..................

 

 

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Marathon	Rest	Rest	Rest	Rest	3ml141	3ml146Hr
3ml139HR	Rest	3ml153HR	Rest	Rest	3ml139HR	7mls140HR
Rest	4.3ml150HR	4ml129HR12minpace	4.3ml159HR	Rest	4ml166HR	6mls151HR
3ml139HR	8X2minshills	4 ml75HR	Rest	Rest	6.5ml130Hr	Rest

 

What's up pussycat?

Two Questions - what's next and what have I learned?

It’s time to reflect on my Dublin marathon experience in particular for future marathons. Firstly what marathons will I be doing in the future?

I toyed with a number of ideas. Straight up my big target in 2013 is to get under 3hrs15mins in the Dublin marathon next year. Frankfurt or Amsterdam are tempting races and if nothing else a bit of variety is a good thing. Then again if it ain’t broke why fix it? On so many levels Dublin hits the spot everytime.

Next target race will be the Dungarvan 10 mile in January. I have never  run under 70 minutes in a 10 mile race so this challenge will be a good one. Also 10 mile races and 13.1 mile races are excellent tempo workouts in preparing me for marathons. I also hope to attempt the Ballycotton 10, Mallow 10, Kilnaboy 10 and Cobh 10 over the first 4 months of next  year . On top of that I will attempt a number of 5 mile and 4 mile races over April and May with possibly a view to completing all 4 races of the Ballycotton series.

Anyway back to my original point- what have I learned from the Dublin marathon?

1)       I can, if i work hard enough, get my marathon times down. In 2 years I have taken 31 minutes off my marathon times. A case of hard work triumphing over talent. Just how fast can I go?

2)       I need to be running 6 days a week and each run must serve a particular purpose. Recovery runs, tempo runs, LT sessions, long midweek medium runs, short medium runs, long runs and marathon pace long runs. Running miles for the sake of it serves no purpose except perhaps in the base building stage. These training runs allow to me to successfully assess what pace to run in races.

3)       Join a running club. I was lucky in that running with Mallow AC worked out so well. I’m not a “club joiner type” by nature but running the long runs in company and the benefit of structured speed sessions really helped me. Also talking and running with club members provides excellent focus and motivation.

4)       Enter races!!! Ideally try to enter a race every two weeks. Physically it allows the body to adapt to running under stress and mentally gives one that bit of strength over the last few miles. When training for Dublin I entered 3 half marathons and a 15 mile race. The benefits were immense

5)       Keep the weight down. I dropped nearly 10 pounds by the time the taper came around. Running 50 to 60 miles a week probably was the reason why the weight fell off me but cutting out or cutting down the beer, sweets, tea and cakes played a huge part as well.

6)       Finally have a realistic plan when racing the marathon and stick with it. Treat bad patches and good spells with respective respect and caution. The blog was a great aid in allowing me to record my thoughts and ideas and to plan a sensible strategy. It was also nice to get comments, feedback and compliments on it. I might stick with it!!