Heavy legs

Week beginning 26^th June,

A good running week diminished somewhat by a poor half marathon in Waterford on Saturday. I ran 8 mls on Tuesday at 5 am with a 5 mile tempo insert. The pace was down on previous efforts but still a good effort when you consider the heat that morning (18 degrees) and a few baby led trips into Mallow- 7.10 pace with splits coming in at 7.15, 7.13, 7.13,7.09 and 7.00. I was happy enough with the effort but I was feeling somewhat crappy the rest of the day and I didn’t sleep a wink that night getting up at 5am next day to get the run out of the way.. I jogged 7 miles in a hour but the legs were heavy enough. I had a busy day with Iseult that day and headed to Cork city that night with Aoiffe to see Elbow play in the Marquee. A excellent gig but I was standing for 2 hours that night before I was up again at 6 am in order to get organised to bring Iseult up to Cork City  to see Nana. I ran 8 miles at a good solid pace (8 mins) up in the city but curiously enough I struggled at the hill by the Montenotte hotel before motoring on. Then it was home again that evening before another early start on Friday morning before driving down to Waterford on Friday night.

Writing this now it was obvious I was shattered from lack of rest and decent sleep. Even heading down Friday night to the hotel I knew if I didn’t take it handy I would suffer on the Saturday. I wasn’t sleeping a lot that week having had appointments of one kind or another every day. I was - simply put – shagged.

I planned to run rather than race the Waterford half marathon. I was thinking to come in around 1.40-1.42 pace but there was little enthusiasm in my legs or head for it. I capitulated by mile 7 walking up the Mount Cosgrave hill and then walked / ran at various points around the course. I was miserable for most of it and eventually was glad to come in at 1.47.17. To be honest I was glad to get back home and stay off the roads for a few days. Sunday morning my resting heart rate was 55 beats , always a bad sign as it is normally 50 beats or under. Cue further rest days. 3 weeks ago I was able to run a half marathon in under 1.36 on a tougher course.

We will take it handy for a while.

A frustrating end to what has been a frustrating few weeks. The quality of training has been mixed.

Week ending 25^th June, 40 miles

S.A.H.D.T (Stay at home Dad thing)

Week beginning 19^th June

New job for the summer. Stay at home Dad.

 Aoiffe is back in work and as I am off for the summer, it’s my job to pick up the reins and be daddy day care. I have only been at it 2 weeks and I think I am getting the hang of it, Iseult is patient enough with me anyway. I tell you thing though if more men did the whole say at home Dad thing (S.A.H.D.T) I reckon the world’s population would half in a hundred years, so slow would the rush be to have kids. Even the simple notions of getting to the shops to get a bottle or bread is like a planned military expedition never mind making the journey to see public health nurses, physio’s, chemist’s, Nana, Granny and so on. I have had to postpone a number of social outings (baby free) with friends as I am wrecked.  Iseult is a pet though, she still has a few hurdles to surmount but she’s getting there.

The day itself is pretty regimented. Iseult wakes at 7.15 am, breakfast, change clothes, tummytime, nap, snack, play time, buggy time, nap, lunch, playtime, nap, snack, reading time and bed time 12 hours later. That doesn’t include the prepping of dinners, breakfast, lunches, changing nappies, changing bins, making dinner for myself and Aoiffe, errands around town, cleaning the house etc. The days of vegging on the couch watching boxsets is gone for a long time. Ok ok I know women have been doing the baby thing  for thousands of year but it’s a hard job. On top of that you are always wondering , am I doing this right? Iseult as I say is a very tolerant baby. Hopefully she will continue to offer me plenty of smiles.

So how does running fit into all this? The answer is that at the moment the routine is a bit all over the place. I am logging 40 miles a week and I try to get the running done early in the morning rather than leaving it too late. That has meant a couple of 5 am rises during the week and also a couple of skipped  workouts due to appointments for Iseult but hopefully once Aoiffe settles into a more regular work routine I can plan a more sensible  schedule. I also started  joining Mallow ac for the long runs on the Sunday (15.7 miles last Sunday), there was only so much running solo around Charleville I could take. The club sessions on a Tuesday have taken a hit though caught between Iseult duties and early AM scheduled workouts. One such workout was this morning was a 8 mile run with a 5 mile tempo at 7.10 pace.  I was up at 5 am in order to avoid the heat and also because I knew I wouldnt get down to the club in time tonight. That’s a shame as I do enjoy running with the club in Mallow. I do try to support the club sessions by doing the Doneraile workouts on a Saturday and now the Sunday long runs.

My personal form since last Wednesday has been poor enough. Donating a pint of blood really saps the legs for a while and is especially noticeable on the hills,. Last Friday evening was a case in point where I struggled to run 8 miles at what should have been a manageable 7.40 pace and again on the hill repeats session on the Saturday in Doneraile. Outside of all that I can see that despite what ever extra speedwork or new sessions I do the pace isn't improving a lot, perhaps it's a case of enjoying it for what it is,

Hopefully the legs will start picking up now again this week. In terms of schedules I am sticking as much as possible to the old Pftzinger 18 week/55 mile plan, it generally works for me. As to what “works out” will actually mean in terms of hours:minutes:seconds, time will tell……

Mileage for week ended June 11^th and June 18th– 40 miles each. Long runs 13 miles and 15.7 miles.

Cork city half marathon 2017

Week ending 4^th June

Well actually it’s the bank holiday Monday and I jogged 4 easy miles this morning but the big run of the week was on Sunday – the Cork city half marathon. The week leading up to was ok recovery run on Monday (4 miles) , tough hill session in Doneraile with Eamonn and Helena ( 8miles), too busy with correcting to do anything on Wednesday or Thursday and 9 miles at a laboured pace (7.57) on Friday. Jogged a few easy miles Saturday and then down to Cork city on Sunday.

I was hopeful of getting at least a course PB (under1.36.05 in 2012) and I felt confident of getting a PB (under 1.34.15 limerick 2013) but as is the way these days I had to make do with a course PB coming in at 1.35.43. This was my first half marathon in over 12 months and I suppose if nothing else it serves as a starting off point (my wife’s words) for the next few months. Either way it’s definitely a improvement on last years DNF effort.

Looking at the splits I was cooked myself in the first few miles. Mile one was my fastest mile of the lot (6.51) which probably was a bit thick but by mile 8 I was running at a good solid 7.10 pace. My splits were up and down 7.07 – 7.17 -7.27 -7.10 but that was probably due to the nature of the course. Flat as far as mile 4 and then a series of ups and downs until a hell of a climb from mile 8 to 9 and a gradual drop down to mile 10 before a flat 3 miles towards the finish. The course was tough in parts (Tory Top road and Farranlea park) but it is a exciting race what with the marathon runners, relay runners and the good sprinkling of locals out along the course.  I never felt wrecked or tired at any stage along the race but the legs just weren’t able to push any harder than I hoped. That was probably the disappointing aspect of my run where I thought I was doing well at mile 11 and mile 12 the splits would say other otherwise – 7.27 and 7.28.  The finish up North Main Street was a excellent idea and as always the finishing straight up Pana was a great buzz. My good friend Aidan McGee had a very good marathon coming in comfortably at 3.29.11, he didn’t look in the least bit troubled post race as we chatted over a bit of food in Perry Street Café. I would have been panned out - he probably didn't run hard enough ;-)

I headed home afterwards a bit tired out and having to drink plenty of water for the rest of the evening - I was a bit dehydrated. As I say a solid effort but not exactly progressive either. It is what it is and let’s be honest in light of what happened in London and Manchester and Kabul it ain’t worth a breath….

Miles for the week

Monday 4 miles, Tuesday 8 miles, Friday 9 miles, Saturday 2 miles, Sunday 13 miles.

36 miles

Up the Rebels.

Week ending 28^th May

The last Sunday of May. Another overdue blog update. It’s also 18 weeks to the Berlin marathon so this week marks the beginning of marathon training. I’ll ease into it but I have noticed there isn’t much time to hang around either. I have a few ideas regarding training. Monday recovery run/easy run. Tuesday solo tempo session/Mallow training session. Wednesday easy run. Thursday faster, longish, marathon pace type run. Saturday Doneraile, club session where I can fit it in. Sunday long run.  Hopefully I can get a few races in there as well.

Last Friday week I raced in Killmallock Limerick. I have been attending 1 to 2 club sessions a week and the pace and stamina has improved. My time was 33mins57 seconds. The course is a fast one but I lost a bit of time around the 4^th mile and I was disappointed to be struggling to get under the 34 minutes but the last mile was a strong one (6.45 mins). I’ll probably be running mostly local races given my new found family commitments but the quality of races in North Cork and South Limerick are very good so no fear on that score.

The week past was a good running week. I had hoped to get out 5 days a week but could only manage 4 runs this week but from a personal point of view the quality was good. Tuesday was a 8 mile run with 4 miles at a tempo pace of 7 minutes. Thursday was 9 miles at 7.27 pace. Friday was a 8 mile run up in Mayfield (rare enough these days) at 7.50 pace. Sunday was a 17.5 mile jog towards Churchtown and back at a relaxed pace of 8.23 per mile spending around 2hrs25minutes on my feet. All good stuff.

Being honest I know a lot can happen between now and September. Breaking my arm last year and getting a stomach bug in the lead up to Frankfurt in 2015 has taught me that but lets keep it positive.

Iseult thinks so. Up the Rebels !!!!

Bweeng and back

Week ending 14^th May

The first blog update in 2 weeks. Just back from a kids birthday party (Aoiffe’s niece Phoebe) so apologies for the fuzzy headed update.  I ran 45 miles this week and a 10k race last Sunday in Bweeng. I did solid enough in the race (that’s code for a slow time and a non PB) coming in around 43:32, mind you ninety second faster than Adare 10k in early March. It was a unusual course 3 miles downhill and 2 miles up hill and 1.2 miles on a flat fast section. I kept it restrained enough for the downhill section which actually paid dividends as I passed around 7/8 runners on the uphill part. I hit 5 miles in around 35.05, I would have preferred quicker but I was happy with my finish taking out 2 runners on the finish line.

The race was in my legs for Monday and Tuesday, slow 6 miles and 7 miles at around 8.30 and 8.04 pace respectively.  Wednesday was the now regular trip up to my Mums’s with Iseult (she is making strange these days – crying at strangers and the not so familiar) and on Thursday I ran 9 miles around town at 7.53 pace. I should have probably gone quicker and probably have been more focused but lesson learned. Saturday I met up in Doneraile running that ‘orrible 6 mile hilly route around the park. No idea what pace I was doing but I well down the pack. Still though it’s always a excellent workout, I’m too bothered about the pace more about the effort I expend in getting around. At the moment it’s still high.

Today was more about time on the feet than anything else. 2hrs 16mins on the feet covering a ok ish distance of 16 miles. I really need to start injecting the odd pace workout into these longruns but perhaps later in the summer. I also need to vary my route in the future. It those get boring.

Anyway around 45 miles this week and 36 miles last week. Hopefully next week will get one speed session and one race in with a cutback long run.

Changing Dynamics?

Week ending 30^th April

Another week up on the legs but marked by a tummy bug on Wednesday which side lined me that day and the Thursday. Not such a big thing but I had hoped to grab 40 miles this week and had to settle for a 33 mile week. Tuesday was a tough workout with the club 6 miles with 6 X 1k loop repeats in Doneraile park. It was a small enough turnout but Mick, Eamonn, Tony and Colman were flying it. Me less so but I enjoyed the workout despite being nearly locked in the park by the caretaker. The tummy wasn’t great that morning but I had hoped to a few miles on the Wednesday but I was not in great shape when I come home that evening – heavy sweats, cramps etc etc. Iseult had a tummy bug during the start of the week so maybe it was one of those things, she’s fine now. I went to bed at 7.30 and sleep straight through till 7.15 the next day. As a result I couldn’t make my A.M run as Aoiffe was busy Thursday night leaving me with having to make do with 6 miles on Friday morning. The legs were wobbly enough probably a lot to do with the fact I had only run once during the week at this stage. Saturday morning was the 10k run in Doneraile run with Tony, Paudie and Catherine. 

This is a tough early workout but I able to pick up the pace the last two miles.

Sunday I ran 15 miles at a relaxed 8.30 pace on Sunday morning but being honest it was a dog of a run. I didn’t enjoy it at all, just didn’t feel comfortable at all. It was also another solo run in Charleville, maybe I need to change the dynamic a bit.

33 miles Tuesday 6 miles, Friday 6 miles, Saturday 6 miles, Sunday 15 miles.

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