A chip off the 90- Mallow 10 2014

Week starting 17^th March.

I kept forgetting this was the first week of my taper. 56 miles last week would normally mean a 20% cutback this week but as the Mallow 10 was on the Sunday the cutback was a small bit more pronounced. I don’t think this will be a problem.

Monday was the usual 4 mile jog in the company of my wife. Tuesday was a planned tempo run. As the weather was improving and the evenings getting longer I wanted to run  my favourite route – my house to Pikes Cross and back up again. I warmed up with a 2.2 mile run and then proceeded  to run a 5 mile tempo with a 1 mile cooldown and 4 X 1 mile sprints and 1 minute recoveries. The tempo was very positive – all done just under 7 minute pace. My fastest tempo in a year. I considered running a extra mile in the tempo but thought better of it. Wednesday was the usual 11 mile run in Mayfield but slower than normal 1hr33mins (8.25 pace). Thursday was a rest day enforced by work commitments more than anything else. I made up for this by running 6 miles on the Friday at 7.53 pace. A satisfying run with the last mile at 7.30 pace.

Saturday was time spent with the couch to 5k group – 2 relaxed miles. It’s great to see new runners starting with the club.

The big day was of course the Mallow 10 on the Sunday. I was down for pacing duties (90 minute group). Of course I would have loved to have race it and I really fancied my chances to get under 68 minutes but not this year. I was looking forward to the job in hand. Myself and Dick Riordan were pacing the 90 minute group together and it went very well. While we were both very comfortable the heat at mile 7 played havoc with many of the runners. I would have loved to have slowed down to help them but the clock is our master so on we pressed. By the time we finished we had a small enough group. As usual the reception at the finishing line was top class. I timed my run as 1.29.55 but my chip time was out again (1.30.35). While I got the Ballycotton time sorted I was a small miffed at this latest breakdown - no fault of the club, more that of the timing company. Dick finished just behind me and his chip was correct 1.29.57. No more technological breakdowns not with Connemara in two weeks!!!

Mileage for the week 42 miles

Where's me bottle?

Week starting 10^th March

As my Ballycotton time was given as 1.10.13 on their website I had to email the people responsible for the chip timing. They are also doing the chip timing for the upcoming Mallow 10. Obviously my chip had malfunctioned as the time given was my gun time not my chip time. This meant a difference of somewhere between 30 and 35 seconds and the official difference between a sub 70 or not. Hopefully all will be resolved. Having to re explain your time to people ends up making one sound like you are making excuses.

This week also marks the last full week of training before the taper for Connemara begins so the emphasis was on high mileage.  To be honest I would be lying if I said my training has been high intensity – it hasn’t but it has been consistent. I still hope to get around Connemara in under 3hrs50mins but I don’t expect  anything in the 3hr30 range. It could be one those days where one will be glad to just get around. Main thing is to “enjoy it” and recover quickly. Best to get the” sandbagging” in early.

The training week from Monday to Friday went very well. 4 miles recovery on Monday, 10 miles at 7.37 pace on Tuesday, 11 miles at 8.10 pace on Wednesday and 10 miles at 7.47 pace on Thursday. The legs on the whole were feeling good leaving me with a 22 mile run up in Cork on Saturday in the company of my old buddy Aidan. He’s in training for the Limerick marathon in May and this was his first 20 miler of his training. I did a one mile warm up on my own in Mayfield thinking running around 3hrs20 on my feet would be enough of a long run with the hills providing a reasonable Connemara like profile.  The first 7 miles  went well but the pace was slow. My legs were heavy and Aidan was feeling the effects of a long working week and a long drive down. The water bottles I put the day before in the Commons rd, Mardyke and the Cooperage were meant to offer us some relief  especially as the sun was coming out by 12 pm. There fore i couldn’t believe when I saw they were missing, amazingly enough this was a pattern that was to be repeated at all our aid stations. I was well pissed off- I hope the morons that took them get a mild dose of the you-know-whats. Serve them right.

Thankfully Aidan had the sense to bring some coins to enable us buy some bottles at the garage. However the stopping at garages every 7 miles of so disrupted our rhythm and this combined with the heat, the traffic (crossing roads) and latterly the hills (Ballyvolane) made life awkward.

Nevertheless we had a good natter. Another point of concern was the fact that the Garmin froze twice out on the run so I was losing track of my mileage and time on the feet but by the time we headed back to Mayfield, I reckon I had 21miles to 21.5 miles spending around 3hrs13mins(9.27 pace) on my feet. It was all I had left at that stage. Aidan stopped at 20 miles.

Afterwards a big gang of the lads met up in Cissie Youngs to watch the rugby. I dined on Lucozade and chips and burgers from the local chipper. The food of kings....

Now whatever happened to those water bottles.....

Mileage for the week 56 miles

 

Ballycotton race report (sort of....)

Ballycotton 10 race report , 9^th March 2013.

In 2001 a few months after meeting the lady who would be my future wife I decided to take up jogging. I was 27 years old but was overweight and very unfit. My first ever run consisted of 3 laps of the local soccer pitch in Beaumont Dublin. I nearly passed out after my second lap and puked up after the third lap. I put it down to the beers I had the night before. I was working in IBM at the time and in the canteen over a full Irish breakfast I was asking one of the I.T guys about running and tips for training. He gave me the usual tips about taking it at my own pace and just enjoying it. He also remarked that he was heading down to Ballycotton to do “the race there”. I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. He was incredulous that a Corkman never heard of “the Ballycotton 10”. He suggested I should try it some time. When I mentioned it to my house mate and  buddy Aidan he said “Yeah it’s a pretty big deal”. He added “My brother ran it in 52 minutes”.


" Is that fast” I enquired? He started laughing.

9 years later and pretty bored of jogging 3 times a week  by myself I decided to give it a shot. It was my first ever road race and another step on the journey that has become a integral part of my life. My finishing time was 1.20.16. it was very modest but I was hooked and I decided there and then to run a marathon. My wife, friends and family thought I was mad but I was made up. Since then I took part in the Ballycotton 10 in 2011 (1.14.14), 2013 (1.11.11) and 2014. I will never be a sub 60 runner or a sub 3 marathon runner. Like most mid pack runners one can always hope for incremental improvements. For me getting under 70 minutes in Ballycotton was a important part of that process creating a continuity that went all the way back to 2001.

 

Without going into too much detail about the race and while there was a muck up with my chip time I am glad to say the finishing time was 1.09.40. Mission achieved. My second sub 70 time in a 10 mile race. For the record Aidan ran in 1.08.30.

The story continues........................

 

The Daddy

Friday 7^th March.

It’s been a while since a update. The day after the Adare 10k the legs were feeling heavy, a feeling that lasted well into Wednesday. Accordingly I took it easy in terms of pace running 4 miles, 8 miles and 11 miles over the 3 days.All were run at a solid enough pace somewhere between 8.15 and 8.30 pace. It was pleasing to get the 11 mile run completed in Cork City. It’s something i would like to maintain over the next few weeks. Thursday was a shorter session – a mere 6 miles or so with 3 X 1 miles at 6.50 pace. These I ran with the club leaving Friday as a rest day.

Saturday was the day of the long run. A planned 22 miles in Charleville. I had to do this on my own rather than with the club as I had a work function to attend on the Sunday. It went reasonably well. I took it very handy with the first couple of miles at around 9.15 pace. I picked it up after that stopping for water at miles 7, 15 and 18. As usual I ran without a breakfast in me and didn’t carry any gels. The last 4 miles from Ballyhea were uphill but i was happy to see I ran these at around 8.15 pace. It was funny bumping into different people on the way – Judy, Ger, Fiona, Aoiffe. The little bit of encouragement helped a lot and I felt very fresh when I got to the front door of my house in 3hrs13mins39seconds (8.39 pace). It was even nicer having the couch to myself as my wife was out for the day. Nothing like a good veg on the couch watching a good film (A Prophet) after a long run. 51 miles for the week.

The following Monday was the usual recovery run in the company of my wife. She is training for a planned charity 6 mile jog in Limerick in May so I am volunteering my services as coach and “running expert”. Her pace while slow is steady and I am delighted with the progress she is making. Running isn’t her thing (more of a swimmer and circuits person) so all good so far.

However by Tuesday I had hit a bit of a brick wall. Didn’t sleep well the night before and had no interest of motivation to run. I have been in this place before and the best approach for me is to take a day off  running and get to bed early. That did the trick because by Wednesday I completed another 11 mile run up in Mayfield at 8.14 pace. The rest of the evening was a busy one but I had bags of energy afterwards.

I had planned to do a 7 mile tempo run on Thursday run at around 7.05 pace but with Ballycotton looming i felt it was better to run the tempo at slightly under 7.30 pace. Starting with a 1 mile warm up and a two mile cooldown  the 7 mile tempo was sandwiched in between at around 7.25 pace. It was a solid effort but there was definitely a small bit of zip missing from the legs.

As stated Ballycotton is looming on Sunday. I don’t really know what to expect. A sub 70 would be nice (sounding like a broken record now) but a course PB would be ok too (sub 71). Hell as I write this I would take a improvement on my last 10 mile adventure. Nevertheless the priority has to be Connemarathon. That is the Daddy. 25 miles for the week so far.

 

Good running and a 10k race

Week starting 17^th February

In terms of mileage this was a lower mileage week than the previous week. 40 miles instead of 55 miles. However the workouts were intense and on the whole successful. Monday was nothing special – the usual 4 mile recovery jog. On Tuesday I met up with my friend Don Golden. He drove out from Donoughmore to go for a run around the Ballyhoura mountains. It’s only 5 miles from my house but i have never ran up there. A shame really so this was a chance to put the record straight and to ctach up with Don. We ran around 10 miles at a handy enough easy recovery pace – around 1hr34minutes. It was slow enough but the route at times was quite challenging. We both enjoyed it.

Wednesday was a different affair. Time for the dreaded tempo run. As I was off school for the week I was able to get a lie in bed and still get my workout completed in the daylight. I ran my favourite 9 mile loop from my house down to Pikes Cross and up Cooleens back to the house. I ran 2 mile warm up with 6 miles at 7.10 pace and a 1.4 mile cooldown. The splits were very positive -1) 7.13 2) 7.10 3) 7.09 4) 7.12 5) 7.09 6) 7.04 – encountering two hills at mile 3 and mile 4. My best tempo since last year.

Thursday I ran up in Mayfield. I was out for a few hours the night before with Derm and Tim watching the Arsenal game against Bayern Munich. I haven’t seen the lads in a while and it was a chance to go out and have a few beers but I was conscious of the workout and a few longstanding appointments i had planned for the day after. Ah well...... Anyway I ran 9 miles in 1hr10mins18mins. This was the fastest run I have run up in Mayfield on what is a hilly course. Things are looking up.

This brings to me to the 10k race in Adare. I took 2 days off running and I was feeling fresh if a little apprehensive. The course was supposed to be hilly and so it was. One hill was followed by another and another and another. I didn’t have a watch with me so I simply ran as i felt. By the time I finished I ran the distance in 43.42- not a PB but a good workout at around 7 minute pace. It was probably the toughest route i have run in a while and hopefully it will stand me in good stead.

Miles for the week 40 miles

Pinning colours to the mast

Week ending  16^th February

The week of the big storm. Thankfully the hurricane like conditions of last Wednesday didn’t upset my running plans too much. The first couple of days had gone well fitting in my usual Monday recovery jog (4 miles) with a 2 X 3 mile tempo session on Tuesday. The time for each session was 21.10 and 21.27 respectively. The splits for each mile were steadily slower too, going from sub 7 pace to around 7.25 pace. It wasn’t as bad as it looked really as the last 1.5 miles were running into a pretty savage headwind. That said though caution is required for any future workouts.

The big storm on Wednesday required a stay over in Mayfield so i passed the time with a routine 7 mile jog at a handy pace (8.25 pace). The legs were feeling heavy but the winds had calmed down by the evening and it actually made for a nice evening. The situation back all the way to North Cork was pretty dire with fallen trees, loose slates and power cuts a plenty.

I also realised  I haven’t attended a Mallow mid week training session in a few weeks either. The only times i can manage to go are Thursdays and they were either postponed or moved to indoors making it either impossible or un palatable to go. Not knowing if the session was going ahead this time either I ran 10 miles in Charleville running the last 3 miles in under 7.50 pace and covering the whole distance 1hr18mins20secs. A very positive run. Hopefully i will see more of these over the year.

Saturday was a easier day jogging 5 easy miles at a sub 10 minute pace, 3 miles of these were in my wife’s company. It was a good leg stretcher and certainly beats walking.

The long run on Sunday with the Mallow gang was a  smaller affair than usual. Just me and Clive covered the planned 20 miles. The first 7 miles we ran with Siobhan and the rest we ran with Tim and Barry. The latter part of the run took in Ballyclough- a nice route with a fast 4 mile downhill finish. I felt reasonably comfortable for the run pushing on a bit for the second half of the run. I finished in around 2hrs52ins (8.39 pace). In hindsight I should have ran for 3 hours and possibly at a slower pace. That will be the plan for the next long run – 21-22 miles or 3hrs10mins on my feet.

Now I that have pinned my colours to the mast and have decided I am doing the Connemara marathon in April, it would be beneficial to see my plans for the next few weeks.  Next week I hope to run the 10 k in Adare, week after that a 21-22 mile long run, Ballycotton 10 after that, 22 mile run over Patricks weekend, 10 mile pacing gig in Mallow and a two week taper. In terms of setting myself time goals for the races I don’t actually know. Ideally set PB’s in all of them but that may have to wait until later in the year- Adare and Ballycotton are tough courses. The Connemara marathon is the “A” race. It’s a very tough course but I would like at least to get under 3hrs50minutes or close to 3hrs45minutes. Some might say a modest target but it would set me up for the rest of the year. The Dublin/Amsterdam marathon in October is where I ideally would love to get under 210minutes once more. It may be my last shot at a marathon. These few months are all about getting the mileage and confidence up again.

Miles for the week 55 miles.

Catching up

Week starting 27th January

Monday was a 4 mile recovery effort – 12 minute pace type of thing. I jogged 2 miles with my wife doing the other two under my own steam. Tuesday was 9 miles around Charleville at 8.16 pace, nothing extraordinary. A faster 8.2 mile effort in Mayfield on Wednesday on the hillier route at a good pace-8 minutes.  Thursday was 2 miles warm up with a planned 5 mile tempo and a one mile cooldown. The two mile warm up ended up being fast with a faster 5 mile tempo (7.10,7.06, 7.10, 7.14, 7.13) at 7.11 pace. I was feeling good at that stage and ran the warm up in 7.30 running 8.25 miles in total in a hour.  Saturday morning i jogged 2.5 miles with my wife and did 20 miles with the Mallow gang. I ran the 20 miles in 2hr54minutes @ 8.42 pace. Apart from the first 6 miles I was comfortable enough in that long run plodding kind of way. I would hope to cover the long runs at a faster pace in future.

Total mileage for the week – 52 miles

 

Week starting 3^rd February

Same as every other Monday, that is the usual 4 mile recovery jog in the company of my wife. Tuesday was a no show as the weather was pretty brutal – high gales and lashing rain. Wednesday I did 9 miles up in Mayfield at a solid enough pace – 8.17 per mile. Thursday was a pretty brutal/tough workout – 2 mile warm up with 5 X 1 miles repeats. Splits as follows were 6.38, 6.40, 6.41. By the 4^th mile the effort was beginning to tell with the split covered in 6.50. I should have quit at that stage but decided to do a 5^th repeat. The legs were very heavy and I ambled home in 6.58 per mile. I finished up with 5 X 0.20 mile sprints completed the mile total in 6.50. I finished off with a easy jog home. I probably should have run the tempos at 6.50 pace- next time.

Took the usual Friday off and had hoped to get a few easy miles up on the legs on Saturday but real life events made it impossible. At least by Sunday I had fresh enough legs for the long run with the club. The by now familiar storms had their presence felt along the route- flooded roads, lakes where fields once stood. I had it my head to run 13-15 miles at a marathon pace ideally sub 8 minute average. Started off well enough covering miles 1 to 11 in 1hr 29mins, not bad considering the first few miles were run in 8.10 pace. By mile 13 the legs were feeling the effort and I was happy to cut it short at 13.1 miles, a good half marathon workout. It was a good meeting with the lads. I covered the route in1hr.47mins or 8.10 pace. I walked the last mile to the car. It probably means in terms of a marathon running at a pace of around 8.30 per mile would be more sensible than running at a faster pace.

Mileage for the week 35 miles. Lower than last week but I missed a possible 9 mile workout because of the weather. That said Thursday’s and Saturday’s workout were very beneficial.