Starting over

Week beginning 21^st April

Decided to do a bit of running this week. “Bit” in this case means as many non running days as running days. Monday morning saw my wife choking with one hell of a chest infection which as I write this is only clearing up now. It means her plans to run a 6 mile run in Limerick over the May weekend will probably come to nought. As her self appointed coach I can’t but help feel disappointed for her. She hadn’t missed a single training session up to this point but chest infections are not to be messed with especially when it comes to running. A clubmate of mine had to cancel a planned marathon because of something similar.

I ran 8 miles on the Monday morning and I think it was around 8.20 pace. The first few miles were around 8.55 pace but it dropped and finished around 8.05 pace. A promising run and a nice start to the week. Headed to Mallow for a all too rare appearance by me to a evening training session. There was a small enough turnout but it was a good session. 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down. The workout consisted of a 20 minute tempo, a  10 minute tempo and 6 x 30 second sprints. My speed wasn’t great but I was happy enough to take it easy and glad to get a few miles up on the legs. Shane our trainer arrived late and assumed we also had carried out our planned 2 X 30 seconds press ups. Darragh fessed up and we ended up doing those as well. A interesting way to end a session. Hopefully we can get away with it next time!!!!

The workout on Wednesday was a planned 5 mile easy jog. Problem was I hardly slept a wink in the last 3 days as Aoiffe’s cough was bad enough to keep her awake all night and me with her – running up and down the stairs for various medications and boxes of cough sweets. Other times I was simply worried she hack her lungs up – it was that bad. Anyway the run was a deliberately slow affair. I had no garmin but I ran for 46 minutes doing around 5.5 -5.7 miles.

There was no running Thursday as the blood bank were around and I donated my pint of claret. I have done 6 of these and apparently the milestone number is measured in 25, 50, 75 and 100 donations. Something worth aiming for- certainly easier than 50 marathons anyway!!!!! Friday was a non running day simply because I was concerned having done 21 miles this week and only 16 miles the week before and with  a planned long run at the weekend it was better to have a few days off. I prefer to ease rather than to rush headlong into a training schedule. Also it is less than 3 weeks since the Connemara marathon so there is nothing to be gained than too intense a exposure to high mileage.

My last run of the week was a 10 mile in the company of the gang from Mallow Ac. I did 7 miles with the lads and lassies at a solid enough pace before running the last 3 miles myself at 8 minute pace. Felt fine afterwards heading up to Cork to meet some of the lads and watch the Liverpool-Chelsea game and the tailend of the Munster game. Easter holidays finish tomorrow so back to the blackboard jungle!!!!!!

Miles for the week 33 miles (Monday 8 miles, Tuesday 7 miles, Wednesday 5.5 miles, Saturday 2 miles with couch to 5k group, Sunday 10 miles)

11 days later.....

Week beginning 17^th April

 

It’s been 11 days since the marathon in Connemara and at this stage it’s time to move on. It’s the period after a marathon that is always the strangest time. All the training is over culminating into a satisfying race. Time to move on- but not quite yet. That said having had a bit of time to mull over the race I was wondering where I could have improved. I still think losing 2 minutes at mile 5 (the time where my bib started to come off) and 2 minutes in the last 2 downhill miles (the legs were thrashed at that stage – didn’t expect that) was unfortunate but I was no closer to getting a sub 3.30 either way. Connemara is a tough course but I wouldn’t rule out a return. As stated before hand I was happy with getting my second fastest time of 3.37.23.

The big plan for the summer is get a bit of speed up on the legs. Essentially that means running a number of shorter races over the summer – 5 mile and 4 mile races and hopefully having some personal success in those. This all in turn is to play it’s part in getting me a PB in the Dublin marathon in October 2015. My dream time would be a sub 3hrs20mins but we will start with the basics for the moment.  There’s many a slip between cup and lip.

I headed for a 40 minute jog on Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday. The latter run was in the company of my buddy Dermot and we were happy to do more talking than running. Anyway the legs felt fine. I covered 4.6 miles, 4.8 miles and 4 miles. All very easy and relaxed and no obvious physical or mental reaction. The only annoying aspect was the sore throat I picked up last Sunday in Fota attending a garden expo with my wife.  All the symptoms were above the throat but it has left me feeling a bit crocked nevertheless. Guess I will stick with the easy stuff for a while yet before moving onto any kind of speed work.

Connemara 26.2 - race report

6^th April 2014 – Connemara 26.2

I postponed the running of this last year so rather than lose my place this year and put the disappointment of last year behind me I decided to get training for this marathon around November. Confidence is a fragile thing especially in marathon running so I started from scratch. Training had gone well and I entered a few races the highlight of which was a sub 70 in the Ballycotton 10. What really made me happy was the long runs. I managed 4 X 20-22 milers in Charleville, Mallow and Cork and i didn’t have much problem with these. The tempo workouts went well too. While the peak mileage wasn’t particularly high (56 miles) I logged on average 40 miles a week. In otherwords all solid stuff. Were I running Rotterdam or a similar flat course i would have targeted a PB but this was Connemara – famous for it’s hills, crosswinds and the “Hell of the West”. I targeted a 3.45 if anything another 3.50.XX run would have disappointed me but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

The bus dropped us off in Lough Ineagh (I think) at 9.30 and just like Craggy island there wasn’t a whole lot to keep people occupied. The trip to the portaloo was as eventful as it got but it was handy jumping on the coach to keep warm before the whistle blew.I bumped into clubmate Ger Buckley. He went off a handy pace. The first mile went in 8.06 so I started to dial it back. This was the case for the subsequent miles 8.19, 8.13, 8.19. This was a bit faster than 8.30 pace but the course and terrain was quite flat. The only worry was my friggin bib number. I made shit of putting it on the night before and the wind was threatening to blow it off. I should have let Aoiffe do it for me or more to the point have taken more care. One of the pins finally came loose at mile 5 and I had to stop. This meant mile 5 was clocked in at 10.15 as i spent two minutes readjusting the pin. Thankfully I picked up the pace at mile 6 (7.44). Thomas Bubendorfer – the original “rubbish” marathon runner sped past us. He was doing yet another ultra and looked to be flying it. Mile 7 was comfortable at 8.05. I had ran 7.3 miles in a hour.

At this stage I decided to press on. I was only 3 minutes off a sub 3.30 and I reckoned I could make up some time. Mile 8/9/10/11 passed in 7.48, 7.55, 7.57, 7.46. I was feeling very good and the gap was reduced to 2mins45seconds. I reckoned I was overtaking plenty of runners at this stage and was sensible taking a gel on every 5 miles. The marathon here is a race of 2 halves. Miles 1 -13 are flat and downhill. Miles 13 to 26.2 are a different matter altogether.  A couple of fellow marathon runners commented on how fresh I looked. Coming in Leenane village it was cool to get a nice claps. I clocked the halfway  13.1 in 1hr.47min and I was gaining ground. I knew though that the next few miles were noted as being hilly but i didn’t feel to put out by them. Mile 14 passed in 7.55 and mile 15 in 8.04. Good going considering the climb involved. A lot of runners were struggling and I sensed blood. Mile 16 in 7.40 and mile 17 in 7.42. Mile 18 in 7.48. The gap was narrowed to 2hrs26mins. I was two minutes of so off a sub 3.30.

The leading female lady ultra runner was running beside us and she was really motoring. In fairness the rest of us gave her a great ovation but the slower 13.1 runners were really slowing things up. This involved lots of bobbing and weaving. The winds were really picking up and I was definitely beginning to feel it. I still felt a sub 3.40 was on the cards which would for me would be a very good time – my second fastest marathon time.Mile 20 passed in 8 mins flat giving me a course time of 2.43. That said I didn’t feel under too much pressure and mentally I was very positive. Mile 21 and 22 passed in 7.47 and 8.03. At the 3 hour mark I had covered 22.3 miles which was where I hoped I would be when planning the race. I turned off the stopwatch face of the garmin as ahead of me lay the Hell of the West.

I was philosophical enough about this part of the course. It snakes along and twists and turns like a corkscrew- you see every foot that is ahead of you and it never actually seems to end. What made it even tougher was the crosswinds that blew me and the rest of us around the place. Two people actually fell over on the way up. My attitude was that I would probably lose time but the main thing was not to stop and try to make up time on the 2 mile downhill. As we ascended two other marathon runners ran beside me. We all grinned at each other and battled on. Mile 23 uphill in 8.32 and mile 24 in a pretty slow time in 9.36 giving me a acceptable average of 9 minutes going up the Hell.

A Belgian guy said to me “Jesus Christ this is crazy”. I guess not many hills in the low countries. At mile 24 I walked for a 20 seconds, took my last gel and headed down. The problem was that the quads were completely packed in. I had hoped to run these two miles at sub 8 pace thinking I could push closer to a  even faster time but not a hope. Mile 25 went in 9.19 and the headwinds were playing havoc with me at this stage. I knew a sub 3.40 was in the bag so on I on  running the last mile in 9.11. The remaining 0.2 of the course was a nice little gallop and I checked the garmin reading- 3.37.23. The clock above me showed 3.36.23 so i will see what the outcome is. It was not a very impressive finish to be fair and while a couple of minutes might not have got me under 3.30 it would have made the what –ifs more interesting. That said not losing 2 minutes at mile 5 and losing 2 minutes at the end would have made things interesting.

I crossed the line feeling really happy. I didn’t hang around though. To be honest the finishing area was a bit of a mess and the t shirt and medal wasn’t up to a lot either. Small gripes on what was a satisfying day. I jumped on the bus and headed back to Galway texting every poor sod I knew with my time.

Connemara is no place for a PB unless it’s your first marathon but it is a enjoyable marathon. For me it was my second fastest marathon and my fastest non Dublin marathon. The ghosts of the Cork marathon are put to bed once and for all.

Future plans – rest!!!!

Connemara marathon 3.37.23. Miles for the week 34.

 

 

 

26 weeks training for 26.2 miles -7 days to go

Monday 24^th March,

Heading into the second week of the taper I was thinking about doing 30-33 miles this week. Dispensed with the recovery run on the Monday and concentrated on a good workout for Tuesday. Plan was to a 1 hour time trail and see how far and fast I would go. The end result was very positive, in keeping with how the fast stuff has been going since October. The first mile was solid clocking in around 8.13 pace and after that I got faster and faster without actually feeling under pressure at any stage. Miles 6 and 7 came in at 6.57 and 6.53 with the last mile around 7.19 or so. In all I covered 8.31 miles at 7.13 average pace on a lovely spring evening. I did allow myself a little piece of self pity – in this case had I raced the mallow 10 I suspect I might crept in under 1.09 maybe even closer to 78 minutes. It’s all immaterial now – i enjoyed the pacing but next year hopefully I will get a crack at another 10 mile PB. Maybe if I trained specially for the 10 mile distance but this is unlikely as marathons are the only races I have actually prepared for.

Wednesday was another day off. This is my 7^th marathon I have trained for and I rarely feel entirely sure about the tapering side of things. However science is science and the experts seem to know what they saying – in this reduce mileage but maintain intensity. What hasn’t reduced is my appetite – need to keep a eye on that.

Thursday was a evening of running by myself. I tend to avoid the club sessions as they are out of kilter of where I am now. This time I ran 8.5 miles or so with 5 x 2 minute sprints (1 minute rest between sets). I had no garmin this time but i reckon 8.5 miles in 65 minutes was about right. Again the pace and sprints felt very relaxed. Friday I finished up with a overly long recovery run of 65 minutes (6 miles) in the company of my wife. It was her long run, my recovery run. The pace was about right for recovery (11 minute pace) but perhaps i stayed out 20 minutes more than what was required.  Aoiffe was happy with her run but  is getting annoyed she isn’t getting any faster. It’s to be expected considering she is only running 7 weeks and we have done no speedwork. We will probably work on that in May after her work based charity run is over. I don’t think she need not worry about getting through the distance.

Another rest day Saturday this time spent up in Cork city doing the mother’s day thing with mum. I couldn’t make it up Sunday. That day was reserved for my last long run. The plan was to run 90 minutes with 1 mile slow/ 8 at sub 3.30 marathon pace and the last two miles on heavy legs. I hit mile 9 in 70 minutes with mile 8 and 9 in 7.25 and 7.20. I jogged the last two miles on tired legs at 8.25 and 8.15 pace feeling quite comfortable. A satisfying workout. 11.3 miles in 90 minutes

Mileage for  the week. 34 miles (Tuesday 8.3 miles, Thursday 8.5 miles, Friday 6 miles, Sunday 11.3 miles).

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........................