Daft I know.....

April 23^rd

I was mulling over the race in Edenderry and I suppose in some ways I did well. I was able to keep with the 7 minute pace for longer than I expected but I wasn’t able to keept going as a good runner might have hoped.

Tuesday I took a day off from the running, busy calling up to my sisters and taking my 6^th years in for a bit of extra work. Wednesday I was minding Iseult all day and that kept me on my toes. I was feeling weary from the race at this stage and running was the last thing I felt like doing. Minding a baby (even it is your own daughter) is surprisingly both boring and hard work at the same time. Iseult didn’t seem to mind and seemed happy enough with how her disorganised Dad was lurching around the place looking for bibs, nappies or plastic spoons. She’s a lovely baby !!!

Thursday was the day to get back into running, running the standard 8 miles at 7.55 pace. The effort was easier than I thought and I followed this up with a 8 mile marathon pace run at 7.34 pace on the Friday. I had a 3 meal the night before but thankfully it had digested well enough. Saturday morning was a 7 mile run with Doneraile with 4 X 5 minutes at 7.04 pace with the club. I opted out of the fifth repeat, all in good time.

Sunday , the morning of the London marathon and the Connemara marathon, I jogged 2 X7 mile loops around the town. The pace was easy so much so I got to thinking about maybe running the Cork marathon in 5 weeks as a training run. Daft I know…..

Miles for the week – 47 miles, Monday 10 miles, Thursday 8 miles, Friday 8 miles, Saturday 7 miles, Sunday 14 miles

A weeks training and the Edenderry 10 mile race

April 18^th

Tuesday evening. In the excitement of Easter Sunday and paying visits to in laws not to mention the usual baby and gardening stuff I had given the blog a complete miss. The running week had gone very well coming close to a 40 mile week. It did help of course having 2 weeks off work which of course makes training very easy indeed even with the distraction of a 6 month year old baby. Aoiffe is on maternity leave until June so I was determined to make the most of the time off. Monday morning was a relaxed 8 mile effort around town but the pace was still very promising (7.55) with the last 3 miles coming in around the 7.40’s. Tuesday was another excellent session with the club – 6 miles with 7 X 3 minutes. The pace was good here though I was some way down behind the leading pack. I was running at 6.35 pace, nothing hectic but hopefully some day that might improve.

Wednesday we headed up to Cork and I was happy to avail of the day off. Thursday morning was a tough session 3 mile warm up with 4 X 1 miles and 1 mile cooldown. The repeats were in the 6.45 to 6.53 range but I was struggling in the last repeat and was right to wrap it up. The session was tough but I suppose the idea to emulate race pace means it is always going to be tough. 

Friday morning was a lot more mellow but rewarding nevertheless – 10 miles around town at 7.50, the splits were kept even. Again very solid but I do have ambitions to get faster and more comfortable in time. Saturday morning was the club run in Doneraile. I last ran one of these sessions around 12 months and so it was back to the future. I was happy to run down the back with John (he was in taper mode for the Limerick marathon) and unlike last year I was comfortable and happy to run at the slower pace (8.30 pace). I don’t see the point in racing all the time in training.

Sunday was a rest day as mentioned above as Monday I was making the trip to Edenderry, Co Offaly for a 10 miler. It’s a surprisingly involved journey once you come off the M7 to Dublin at junction 14 taking around 35 minutes taking you through Monasterevin, Rathdangan and through various little villages and secondary roads. I got there around 10.45 parked outside the HQ strolled up to the desk and collected my number in around 2 minutes. I was told there would be little more than 240 runners and I was enjoying the low key feel (but friendly) to the whole thing. It was a totally different set up to the Ballycotton/Mallow/Dungarvan races whose numbers are in the 1000 to 2000 range which at times can be a bit overpowering. A fast sub 55 minute runner would clean up in terms of prize money if they were so inclined. My ambitions were a lot more modest. I was thinking a sub 70 would be great but I would taken a sub 72 minute time too.

We shot off at 12 on the button and I noted there was probably 8 of us running with the sub 70 minute pacer, now that’s what I call nice. My buddy Aidan shot off aiming for a 66 minute time with large gaps appearing in the field after a mile. I didn’t have my garmin on me but the pacer was doing a bang on job of keeping time. The course was pretty flat with on tricky stone bridge at 5.5 miles and I was still right on top of the pacer. By mile 6.5 I could feel the legs start to wobble a bit so I had to pull back a bit leaving the sub 70 crew push on ahead of me. Nevertheless I had made up some ground and by mile 7 I was only 7 seconds off the pace. Unfortunately I was losing more ground and my mile 8 I had to call time on my sub 70 ambitions hitting a tough climb by a industrial estate ( 7.33  mile). This was a mistake on my part as mile 8.5 to mile 9 was a steep downhill with the last mile into town and into a lap of the running track, a flat fast mile. I didn’t run a particularly fast mile here either (7.13) but it was enough to let me sneak under 71 minutes (1.10.53).

To be honest I was a bit annoyed after the race, this was a great opportunity to PB but my lack of racing at sub 7 minute pace told against me here. On the positive side my 10 mile times have improved since last year (1.22, 1.16, 1.12.45, 1.10.53) so that is something to take away and focus on. I never will make big leaps in time anymore. My friend Aidan ran a great time coming under 66 minutes with something to spare. He was understandably chuffed.

So what is the plan now?  Probably run a few 5 milers over the next few weeks and then figure out a plan for Berlin. At the moment I am enjoying the training but I want to avoid the temptation of overdoing it and losing the freshness before Berlin training even begins.

the eternal pessimist

Week ending 9^th April

A genuinely good weeks training up on the legs. Monday morning was the AM run at 6.55. I was short for time this time as I had to head to Mayfield before work to collect two lovely plates of chicken curry for my Mum (spoiled I know). As a result I capped off the running at 7 miles at a good snappy 7.37 pace. Again the effort was easy – I really hope these become a more regular occurrence. Tuesday night I showed my face up at the town park in Mallow for my first midweek session there since July 2015.Pretty hopeless appearance record but it was a very well run session (they always are) but a lot of old familiar faces no longer seem to be going to them. I can’t talk obviously given my poor apperance record but I have treasured memories of training sessions when I first joined the club when runners of all abilities would train and run together. Anyway we covered 6 miles with 5 X 4 minutes in the middle. I was running on grass in to a headwind but the middle speeds were only run at 7.05 to 7.10 pace. The first and last were a lot better 6.53 and 6.46 pace. I enjoyed the session and it was good to be there. Aoiffe, my wife did a great job in cajoling me to go. Hopefully over due course I can start making one or two appearances a week with the club. The standard has really picked up there and the benefits of training with a group are obvious but hopefully (unlike the previous 2 years) I can stick with it (Parent, husband and job responsibilities come first though).

I took a day off Wednesday as I was feeling a bit stale so rather than crash and burn I decided to rest up and focus on a few well needed jobs around work and at home. Thursday morning was another AM run at 6am and this was a workout I was most looking forward to. It was a 2 mile warm up and a 1 mile cooldown with a 5 mile tempo insert. The sunrise came up at around 6.25 just as I was getting into the tempo portion. It was the same old route I always use. The legs felt good and the last two miles were run at 7.05 and 6.57 pace giving me a overall pace of 7.10. I felt energised during the cooldown and was in good form for the rest of the day. Aoiffe headed to yoga that day and I felt no more tired than I would feel had I ran in the evening. As usual with Iseult gone to bed at 7 I took a hour nap on the couch before giving Bubbins her bottle at 11pm and settling down for the night.

No rest for the wicked on Friday morning with a slower AM run at 6 am covering 7.3 miles with a few light strides thrown in. That evening I managed to finish off Iseult’s room and move her cot and bits and pieces into her new room. For the first time in six months our bedroom was our own. Happy days.  Unfortunately I didn’t sleep a wink that night and was sweating a lot confirmed by the fact I had a stuffed nose the next day. The cold was caused by two things – not having a hot shower when coming in from training on Tuesday and also having a cold shower Friday morning (I never turned the hot water on- Doofus).

We were busy Saturday dropping Iseult to Aoiffe’s mum (Granny as distinct from Nana) and then driving to Ballygarvan to collect 300 euro’s worth of flowers in a garden centre. Aoiffe won the prize in a gardening magazine – interview and photo opportunity and the whole lot. Still though the cold wasn’t going away so going for a long run the day after on Sunday morning wasn’t probably the brightest thing. Iseult was up the previous 2 nights with the teeth so there wasn’t much sleep either. I set off at  9am thinking that I felt like crap after a hour I was coming back. What do you know – I ran my best long run in a long time – covering 13 miles in 1.44.30 with the last 7 miles at 7.50 pace. I wasn’t forcing the pace either. It felt very relaxed. I suppose if it were a planned marathon pace run I would hope for something faster but it was enough to be getting on with. The cold lifted too. The rest of the day was good too – Iseult’s bottom teeth cam down and Everton beat Leicester 4.2.

Now I am waiting for it to all go horribly wrong pretty soon.

41 miles for the week. Monday 7 miles, Tuesday 6 miles, Thursday 8 miles, Friday 7.3 miles, Saturday 13 miles.

Nibbins

Week ending 2th April

A poor running week but 3 useful workouts and one abandoned race entry. Very disrupted and disruptive. The 3 workouts I completed were in their own way very good but there wasn’t as much  running this week. Monday I was determined to catch up on some rest given the systems failure of the previous Saturday so no run there. Tuesday I had planned to do a few AM miles but didn’t set the alarm and slept out the 5.40 am call and was lucky to make into work at all. By the time I got out Wednesday the legs were getting cranky not having had any leg movement in a while. I ran 8 miles and what do you know it was the best workout I had a in a while. The first 4 miles were run in 7.45 pace but the next 4 were run at 7.15 pace giving me 8.04 miles for the hour. If I could manage such running while maintaining a relaxed exertion I would be delighted. There was no effort in it at all. This was underlined by the fact when I did get up at 5.40 AM on Thursday I was able to knock a easy paced 11 miles  8.32 pace without any effort. Friday was a non running day as I wasn’t home till 7.15 pm. That’s the norm though.

On Saturday I ran 8 miles (bumping into Ger Vowles at the train station). Again the effort felt easy but the pace was good -7.45. Only 2 months ago I was lucky to manage a 9 minute pace. The big run this week however was the UCC 10k on Sunday. I ran this last year and wanted to improve on last year’s patchy 45mins09seconds. I reckoned I could pull off a sub 44 minutes but I never made it to the start line. I had to turn around by Mallow and go back home. Iseult was in car with me ready to go up to Nana’s in Mayfield for the drop off before she got sick all over the car (both ends) and was obviously not happy about it. I wasn’t too chuffed myself but the poor mite was very upset. Anyway it meant a return trip home with a disgruntled baby and a disgruntled middle aged runner and a non too pleased mother/wife waiting for us. We cleaned Iseult up and she then proceeded to sleep the whole thing off after around 3 hours. She seems ok enough now, no fever and smiling away. These things happen probably caused by getting up a small too early (even though she awoke at 6) and a full breakfast (baby rice and 180 mls of formula milk), teething and a touch of the reflux. A car journey didn’t help.

Anyway lesson learned but a case of the race that got away. I didn’t go out running that evening either keeping a eye on nibbins and allowing my good wife the rest of the time in the garden- a greenfingers if there ever was one. I was annoyed with the whole drama but it was just one of those things. Learning about parenthood on the job.

I stuck to more mundane tasks for the rest of the day like making dinner , changing bins and doing the laundry. Making tea and having some brioche helped too.

Berlin training doesn’t officially start till the end of May but I would like to see a bit more consistency. The general idea is to be able to manage close to 40 miles a week made up of a long run of 2 hours (13-14 miles), 3 X 8 mile runs (with a couple of 5 mile tempos, 7 X 800 metres, marathon paced runs thrown in), one recovery run (4 miles) plus a couple of races (5 miles, 10k, 10 mile, maybe a 13,1 mile). I got there sometimes but this week didn’t quite hit the mark.

Miles for the week 27 miles. Wednesday 8 miles, Thursday 11 miles, Saturday 8 miles

Need that sleep

Week ending 26^th March

Continuing where I left off on Monday , I went back running on Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday all early in the morning with a disappointed aborted effort on Saturday. Wednesday I ran 7.5 miles with 8 X 3 minute efforts in the middle. I ran using the stopwatch so all distances were approximate. This was run at 5.50 am back home by 7.05 and then into work for a pretty straightforward day. Thursday morning was a strong effort, 8 miles again with the last 4 miles run at 7.45, 7.28, 7.27 and 7.35 pace. I felt good in work and when I came home to my Daddy role I was feeling fresh. It appeared the morning runs were working well for me. However by Friday evenings I was beginning to feel the effort practically nodding off during supervised study that evening. The students thought this was hilarious.

 I then met Derm and Tim for the Ireland – Wales soccer game and drove home that night at 11. 30 pm. The plan was then to drive back up to Cork the next day after minding Iseult during the night (Aoiffe’s night off) and give Nana Chris a bit of time with her while I went for a 13 mile run. This was a foolish plan ignoring the rule that you can’t without a decent amount of sleep. I had painted myself into a corner and I was shattered Saturday when I got up to Cork. I simply handed Iseult to Nana and went upstairs for a 2 hour snoozefest. I still wasn’t great all day with my stomach rebelling against me a few times in the day too. (eating too much chocolate lately ).Sunday morning I was a lot better , not withstanding Iseult’s new sleep transition and managed a 8.5 mile jog at 7 am before heading down to Mallow to help with their plans for the 10 mile race. As I say I would have preferred a longer effort but it was the best I could manage.

32 miles for the week. Monday 8.5 miles with strides. Tuesday 7.5 miles, Thursday 8miles, Sunday 8.5 miles.

Below a photo receiving stewarding instructions from club chairman Ger Buckley. I actually hadn’t a clue where I was supposed to be going !!!! Thankfully all figured out in the end.

Early morning running

March 20^th

Monday evening. Last week started off pretty slow but ended pretty well. I didn’t run the day after Ballycotton as I was pretty much squeezed for time when I got in the door, It was evident the rest of the week was going to be the same so I decided to try a few early morning runs instead. I have run a few 5.50 am runs in the past but they could be a more regular feature in the future. The Tuesday morning was a case in point. I was up at 5.35 am and was out the front door by 5.55 am.I planned to run a hour, anymore and I would have been cutting it tight for work. I didn’t use the garmin (takes too long to get a signal) but ran using a stopwatch. I ran deliberately conservatively as the legs and head were pretty foggy and rather than risk something silly, slow and steady was order of the day. The pace was roughly 8.30 pace with maybe 7.3 miles covered. Then it was straight into the shower, change of clothes and a be line out the door and into the car. I had the car parked by 8.15 am with the 15 minute walk to work on Wellington Road, a bowl of porridge in work and into class by 8.40.  Essentially I don’t have a minute to spare in the morning but the rest of the day went fine. I was home by 5pm that evening giving me plenty of time to get dinner ready, lunch made and what ever was required to help out Aoiffe and Iseult.  As I don’t get to bed until 12 pm most nights any lost sleep is made up on the couch form 8pm to 12 pm that evening. Iseult is in bed at that stage and I forfeit television rights to Aoiffe.

As I said it will take a while to get used to it but the benefits outweigh the negatives. I was back out for a A.M run again on Thursday morning and I was happy with the effort this time. I ran 4 miles slow with another 4 miles at a reasonably faster pace (around 7.50 pace). I really would like the pace of these longer aerobic runs to come down without me having to force it. For me it’s a ideal way of measuring my fitness as hopefully it will be the pace I hope to run a marathon at.  Saturday morning was a later 10 am run running 8 miles with a 5 mile tempo insert of 7.20 pace. It wasn’t a especially fast tempo but a solid run nevertheless. The wind was strong in parts and it gave my legs food for thought. Sunday morning was a solid 13 mile run, my longest long run in quite a while. The pace was 8.30 but the last mile was tough going. Getting there though….

This morning consisted of another 5.50 am run. I probably ran longer than I should have – 8.5 miles at 8.15 pace with 6 or 7  X 45 second strides. However getting into work was matter of being very efficient with my time but again I was happy with how the day went. As much as I am enjoying these early morning runs I am careful at the moment to use them sparingly. If I can get out running 4 times a week by May covering around 40 miles a week then I am doing ok. That’s plenty for the moment. After that I need to work on the pace.

Mileage to end of 19^th May – 36 miles. Tuesday 7.3 miles, Thursday 8 miles, Saturday 8 miles with 5 mile tempo, Sunday 13.1 miles.

20^th May 8.5 miles with 7 X 45 second strides.

Ballycotton 10 2017

Week ending 12^th March

If it’s the second Sunday of March then it means the Ballycotton 10 is the race to do so. I entered this last year right in the middle of recovery with the broken arm and damaged ankle and during tough times when Iseult’s reflux was causing her a lot of pain and us a lot of distress. The plan back then was to hopefully get back running and run under 75 minutes. I’m not sure if I will ever see PB’s that often these days. In fact they are very rare these days so I look for other motivation when running. The week leading up to the race was very hectic on a home and work front and in the greater scheme of things running is a very poor third behind family and work. I had Iseult for the usual night feeds Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and she was as good as gold but it does make proper rest difficult. We had a very good day Saturday as Aoiffe was at a course so I was doing the home alone with baby thing and as I pushed the buggy around town it appeared the weather looked promising for the race the next day. My Mum kindly agreed to mind Iseult on the day of the race but it was a panic driving Iseult and all her paraphernalia up so early in the morning and getting things straight before I headed down to East Cork. All part and parcel of parenthood.

I met my good friend Aidan in Ballycotton and saluted a few familiar faces. For the first two miles the legs felt very dead but I was running at around 7.05 pace. That effort was proving too much so I dialled it back and tried to run a comfortable but strong pace. I was doing ok enough hitting mile 5 in 36 minutes but a way off sub 7 minute pace. Mile 6 was solid too and I hit the 10k in the same time I ran Adare 10k two weeks ago. By mile 8 things were proving a bit more difficult and the arse was falling out of things a bit. I reckoned I was barely hitting 7.30 pace at this stage and when I hit the hill at  mile 8.5 it was real slog running at that stage. It was heartening to see John, Shane and Ray with the Mallow Ac banner giving good support. The last 1000 metres is in some ways the toughest part of the race as the end never appears in sight. It’s made all the harder as you are going through the village up the hill and never actually see what’s around the corner. Anyway I got there in the end putting in a little kick to finish in 1.12.47.

While not a great time I would have gladly taken it last November, hell I would have taken it on the way down. I think I finished 729 out of 2300 and around halfway out of Mallow AC runners. It is what is but glad nevertheless to be walking to the car with my souvenir mug in my hand. Not bad so I suppose.

Week miles 32 miles. Monday 7.5 miles at 8.20, Wednesday 7.5 miles with 6 X 800 at 3.15 -3.20, Thursday 5.5 miles at 6 am, Saturday 2 mile walk and Sunday Ballycotton 10 at 7.16 pace.