2015 review

30^th December 2015

It’s been a age since I bothered to write a blog update so I better get on with it.

On a running front I had a reasonable if not a spectacular year. A steady 2015 in keeping with a steady 2014. I was delighted to say I completed 2 marathons and my first ultra, even if on the day I ran or walked into very tough places for the last 10 miles. I do intend to give  the Connemara ultra, 39.3 miles, another  bash in 2017. I  enjoyed and was happy to get another sub 3.30 in the Frankfurt marathon and while not a PB I can say I gave it my all having nothing left to give in the last 5k. Yeah it’s a race I hope to return to next year with hopefully me getting a better training cycle in this time.

I haven’t been doing a whole lot of mileage in the 8 weeks since. I can’t  really explain why but the fire isn’t really there at the moment and for the last few weeks I was focusing on one tempo and one interval session a week with a long run no longer than 10 miles. Rather than aim for a long term goal like a marathon, for the moment I am training in 4 week cycles aiming for a target race at the end of each cycle. The idea is to increase my speed in shorter distances and hopefully pick up a few pb’s between now and June. This approach paid off with me getting a PB in the Newmarket 5k, 20.22, two weeks ago. It's a modest time but a good one for me especially I was running 20.48 for the last couple of years in the same race. The next race I will try to aim for will be the Dungarvan 10 in 4 weeks time. While I may not get a PB I will be aiming for a course PB , hopefully under 1.12.53. 

Other possible races include Adare 10k, Ballycotton 10 and so on but we will try to get the hunger back for running first. At the moment I sometimes feel I am a step away from not running anymore. It doesn’t feature very high on the list of my priorities at the moment and hasn’t in a while. That is the way it goes.

I ran a total of 1940 miles this year, which works out as a average of 37 miles a week

Throwing ideas out there

Week ending 8^th November

It’s been 2 weeks since the marathon and up until yesterday I haven’t been running at all. I was determined to keep the trainers in the cupboard after Frankfurt and give some time to eating, sleeping and generally arsing around. There was no interest or appetite for running and I really have to say I enjoyed not running. Then yesterday morning like some sort of reflex action I went for a easy 4 mile jog and a 10K jog today. I didn’t even wear a garmin for either jog so I had no idea what pace I was doing but the feeling was one of comfort and I enjoyed it all the more for it.

In terms of future plans I do intend running a marathon next year – probably Dublin or maybe Frankfurt again. I’m not sure if I will be running a marathon before then. There is the consideration of doing Tralee marathon in March, Manchester and Connemara in April or Limerick in May but for various differing reasons I won’t be making a decision until January. Ideally it would be great if there was a flat marathon in April in Ireland as the cost of hotels in Manchester is pretty saucy and Tralee comes too soon after the Ballycotton 10 while Limerick despite falling on the May weekend seems the best and most affordable option, but I am worried it take me a few weeks to recover so I may miss some good local races. Then again I might be better off just racing shorter distances until next year and get some PB’s under my belt. Sure we will see (I really am throwing considerations around here). For the moment I will just do some jogging. Even though I didn’t PB in Frankfurt I feel it’s time to aim for something a bit more ambitious between now and next year. There will be no Connemara ultra though.

4 miles on Saturday. 10k on Sunday.

Frankfurt marathon 2015 3hrs27mins59seconds

Week ending 25^th October 2015

The evening of the Frankfurt marathon. 

I didn’t PB coming in at 3.27.59 , a mere 45 seconds from a PB but this feels like a victory for me. I started training for the Frankfurt marathon on June 1^st but issues in the background made running very difficult and stressful. Some of my family members were going through hard times and running was not my priority. 

Nevertheless I was able to get the miles in and by the end of July I was in very good shape before I went on my holidays. I had targeted a sub 3.20 time and a sub 3.22 as a B time , all eminently achievable. I also hoped to get close to a 1hr30minutes for a half marathon and was scheduled to run a variety of 10k and 5mile races. Then the stomach bug hit me on the last day of my holidays and I missed 3 good weeks of proper training , DNFing the Tullamore half marathon. My confidence was dented and my fitness was compromised by September. Motivation was low and I doubted if I would even get on the start line.

I started again early in September and concentrated on running a  LSR on Thursdays and MP runs over the weekend.Everything else was rest or easy jogs. By October I was back in some sort of shape and was hopeful of getting a PB, maybe not a sub 3.20 but sub 3.27 at least. Either way I had to get some measure of satisfaction as I resolved to stop running marathons for the foreseeable future if I didn’t run a good race.

Myself and Aoiffe drove down to Farranfore airport meeting up with the rest of the Mallow runners catching a flight to Frankfurt/Hahn and a 2 hour bus journey into Frankfurt town itself. We settled into a solid enough hotel, even if the area was a bit on the seedy side but only a 10 minute walk from the start line. I was glad to say I slept very well on both nights and upon checking my resting heart rate I was glad it was well under 50 beats – always a good sign. Saturday we spent relaxing- going to the expo, mooching along to a art gallery and sitting on my rear for most of the day drinking tea, water and eating food. I felt good and was happy to be here with my wife and clubmates.

Sunday morning I was feeling in very good form meeting up with a large group of club mates and feeling pretty confident. I was wearing a 3hr27minutes pace band which was enough to aim for a small PB. I also had my garmin working off kilometres rather than miles, a issue which cost me a sub 3.30 last year in Amsterdam. The organisation of the marathon was pretty impressive and close to 10 am local time  our race started.

I wasn’t too far behind the pacers for the first 8 km but the pace was a lot faster than 4.55 km pace/ 7.57 mile pace. The first 5 miles involve a series of what seemed a bewildering series of loops around the city and I was boxed in for the first 40 minutes or so. However what served to bother me was that the sweat was running off me in gallons. I was finding the heat/humidity a real issue. Temperatures wise it was only 10 degrees but the combined heat of the runners as well the tall skyscrapers ensured there wasn’t a puff of air anywhere. Every other runner looked to be coping well enough which made me feel even more anxious, so maybe it was a Irish thing. Paudie and Denis later said they had similar issues as well. It also meant by around 10km I had drunk the entire contents of my water bottle and had used my gel a tad early. That said though once we got outside the central business district and into more open areas I felt a lot better. After 10km I had also caught up with the pacers and was getting into my stride.

After that I was in good running form and was running shoulder to shoulder with the pacers up until the halfway mark. I ran according to the km markers and my pace band rather than the splits on the garmin as the watch was around 2 minutes out per each mile or 45 seconds per kilometre. It was however practically impossible to follow the blue line as the crowding was still a issue so it was easier to run behind the pacers instead. That said there was the usual argy bargy at the water cup stations with one guy giving me a handoff at around 20k that Richie McCaw would be proud of. One of the other runners asked was I ok I nodded in the affirmative and plodded on. It’s the way it goes, no harm done.

I reached the halfway mark in 1hr 43 minutes and at this point I had two choices. 1)Stick with pacers for a further two miles or2) push on for the second half. I was feeling very relaxed and I was enjoying my race so I thought it was time to opt for the latter approach.

The people of Frankfurt seemed to be coming in large enough numbers to support the event and there was good craic from the various bands along the route. I was feeling very solid and by 30km I was around 10 seconds ahead of my 3hr27min target. By 32km I was around 15 seconds ahead of schedule and didn’t feel in the least bit troubled. At this stage it was time to push on a bit further and see what did I have left. While there was one or two small pulls the course was indeed flat and straight with a nice few downhills. I spotted Denis Cronin gave him a thumbs him and he responded in kind. He looked in good shape.

The crowd around me begin to thin out a bit and there was a lot more walking wounded making their presence felt. The legs were beginning to felt sore but I felt mentally positive and with less than 6 miles left or 48 minutes running I was pretty sure I was going to finish on the upward curve. This was confirmed to me at mile 23 which came in at 3hrs which gave me a 3/4 minute advantage ahead of the 3hr30min time. I was also running down Mainzerstrasse , the place where our hotel was situated and where Aoiffe was on hand to cheer me on.

Yeah I was feeling cocky…

…..then the car crash happened.

 It felt like the air was deflating out of my body and the energy levels begin to drop. I was also feeling a bit lightheaded with one spectator shouting at me to keep at it. (At least I think that’s what they said- no Deutsch). I was resolved to keep running or shuffling along as long as I could but I was feeling fckud. 

What was really beginning to cause the damage was having to run the last 4k in the same route as the first 4 k which meant looking at those horrible skyscrapers. I also had to  deal with the small path of cobblestones and a mentally draining out and back portion where all the faster runners were belting it.

I stopped and walked for around 20 seconds at mile 24 and shuffled on again at mile 25 before I walked for a another 20 seconds. I really thought I was going to drop down, the brain had gone into a freeze and the legs were really throbbing. However as they say “Pain is only temporary”, and I knew I was well able to finish out the last mile.

Perhaps my breakaway at mile 13 was a bit early or maybe my band aid training methods in September were catching up on me. The last half a mile seemed to go for ever ending in a straight run  up towards the Egbert (sic) strasse taking a sharp left towards the Festhalle. The run in into the hall is pretty cool alright. I managed a half token arms up in the air gesture crossing the line in 3hrs27mins59seconds. No repeat of Amsterdam 2014, this time the clock was on my side.

I was shattered. I had left it all out there. It wasn’t a PB but it was a personally satisfying time. It was also my 10^th marathon and my second sub 210 minutes. Next time I hope to set my heights higher.

The rest of the clubmates ran some cracking times, in particular Noel who came in at 2hrs49minutes35seconds while Sharon ran a brilliant 3hrs10minutes54seconds. 

My time was a lot more humbler. It was probably the poorest training cycle I ever undertook but in many ways my best ever marathon.It was also the best course I ever ran on.

When's the next one ? I don't know.

Happy days.

Post race drinks and chats in O'Reilly's, Frankfurt.

The morning of the race

One week to Frankfurt, one year since Amsterdam

Week ending 18^th October,

The last week of the taper starts tomorrow, a situation I have found myself in for the last 5 years now. It doesn’t get any easier, phantom pains, nerves, visualization , tactics and so on. 

What is different is that this is the probably the poorest trained marathon I have ever entered in that there are probably at least half a dozen things I would have liked to remedied for this one. In previous marathons (the good and the bad) I always felt I couldn’t have done anything differently in terms of training but this time I would have liked to done a lot more races/tempos/intervals and mileage. The stomach bug in August left me feeling pretty hopeless for most of August leaving me with the month of September to rebuild up my fitness and get into some sort of shape.

 I broke my training done to two key workouts- long runs on a Thursday and a marathon pace shorter “long run” on the Saturday or Sunday. I managed to complete 4 X 20 mile long runs (21,21,22,20.5). These went okish enough but the marathon pace runs went quite well – running the Charleville 13.1 half marathon in 1hr39min16seconds and 15 miles on my own at 7.40 pace. I also ran a number of 10 mile runs at similar pace every other weekend. The rest of my running was distilled to easy paced runs.

On the upside I do feel a lot more rested as I was only running 4 times a week so maybe that will prove beneficial to me. I can only do my best at this stage and hope the race goes well and post race recovery goes ok. I have two races in mind for the New Year and haven’t completely given up at a crack at another marathon in the first half of 2016.

3 runs this week. I had a cold and didn’t run from Monday to Wednesday. Thursday I ran 9 miles at around 7.55 pace and Saturday I ran 9 miles (14.5 km) at 7.40 pace. Today’s run was a easier 10 mile run with 7 miles run near the riverbank in Mallow in the company of Adrian, Caroline, Sharon and Peadar and the remaining few miles on my own.

Last two weeks

October 11th

It’s only 2 weeks to the Frankfurt marathon so the training is done and dusted now. The next few weeks are all about essential maintence and avoid anything daft. I finished this week with a mere 38 miles getting in two ten mile efforts on Thursday and Saturday, one slow and one at marathon pace (7.40 pace) with a 18 mile run at 8.30 pace in the rare company of Mallow ac. It was my first run with the club in 13 weeks and it was good to get out with them. A good number of the club are running in Frankfurt, all hoping to PB in the sub 3 hour to sub 3.25 range. I had hoped to get some running completed during the Monday to Wednesday period but work commitments and family commitments made it impossible.

The previous week saw me clock my highest number of miles yet – 60 miles. The two most notable workouts were a 20.5 mile long run on Thursday evening and a 15 mile long run on Saturday. The first long run was patchy enough. The route was flat – Glanmire to Blackrock and back again but I started stitching at mile 19 and was forced to call it a day after 3 hours. I had hoped to do 23 miles so that wasn’t great. I had to walk the 2 miles back to the car in a certain amount of discomfort for 15 minutes. It wasn’t a great workout. Saturday was a lot better running the 15 miles in a very snappy 7.42 fashion. A good speed session. It’s hard to know what to make of it to be honest but I suspect the differing quality of the workouts had more to do with getting a good nights sleep and running on a empty stomach. The 20.5 mile run was a tired run and having a rushed lunch didn't help.

In regard to setting a goal for Frankfurt a PB would be a tall ask, yet.......

Something is better than nothing

Week ended 26^th September

Well I’m back running anyway so that’s something. The mileage isn’t much higher than 40 -50 miles a week with faster workouts confined to a  Sunday race and the bread and butter long runs completed on Thursday evenings. Last week my two significant workouts were a long run in Mayfield after work- I enjoyed that run, running 2 miles in Mayfield going out as far as the Model Farm road and looping around back onto the Mardyke. I finished on Summerhill North grabbing the bus at St Lukes. I had racked up 21 miles/ 3hrs05mins and that was plenty. Then it was shower and change up in my mums and heading up to the hospital to see my Dad. It was my best run up there in a long time.

The other good workout was the Charleville half marathon on the following Sunday. I had planned to run this at marathon pace with a view to pushing on for the last 3.1 miles. All in all it worked pretty well starting off with the 1.45 pacers and catching up with the 1.40 pacers at mile 12 getting in at 1.39.16. It was a good confidence boost if nothing else as I felt I could push on for a another hour at least.I had originally targeted this race last June as a PB race but sometimes you have to make do with what you got.

This week consisted of two good workouts on Wednesday with 9 miles at 7.32 pace and 22.35 miles on Thursday evening. I didn’t enjoy the long run as much despite the longer distance and faster pace stopping in McCurtain St for the now obligatory bus ride home and the trip to see Dad on the other side of the city. Friday was a rest day with a handy 5.5 jog on the Saturday morning. There was no run on Sunday morning as I was pretty wrecked. I was disappointed in that but the energy was not there to go out again.

While it has been a solid two weeks running I have to be realistic regarding Frankfurt.

Week ended 20^th September 50 miles

Week ended 27^th September 40 miles

Start...stop...start...stop

A quick review of the last few weeks. It has been tough that’s for sure. After the stomach bug I dropped around 8 pounds of weight, normally not something I complain about but it reflected the fact that even the most basic workouts proved difficult. As a result I had to start from scratch again. By the end of August I had clocked up around 46 miles that week which on the face of it didn’t look too bad at all but the lowpoint was a DNF in the Tullamore half marathon. This was my first DNF, I have struggled in some races before but always some way or another managed to crawl to the finish – most notably the Rome and Cork marathons in 2012 and 2013 and the sufferfest that was the Connemara ultra this year. This time after 8 miles I had nothing left in the tank and jogged gingerly for a further 2 more miles before calling it a day. I ran a slow hour beforehand covering 7 miles. The plan was use the race as a marathon pace run with 7 miles slow and 13 miles at marathon pace, in this case 7.50 pace. I have done this kind of workout before and it has always proved beneficial but this time I just felt drained after the hour warm up jog. Last year I managed a respectable 1.34.41 on the course last year but this year it was to be a tough afternoon. Maybe I was just out of fitness or still recovering but it was a disappointing setback. My buddy Aidan ran a cracking time in 1.30.33- great going.

I recovered well enough the following week to clock some good workouts running 45 miles with a 8.3 mile tempo run at 7.15 pace on Thursday and a long run of 21 miles on the Sunday. However by the end of this week a planned 50 miles this week had come to a abrupt halt after 3 days and 21 miles. I don’t know why I stopped running but I just did. I simply didn’t have the hunger or zest for it. In fact I was happier not running rather than running, a activity that was supposed to be fun had now turned into a crushing overwhelming drudge. Even doing the marathon in Frankfurt is turning into a type of overwhelming dread. Hence I rested since Thursday but aside from that had a excellent weekend meeting with friends, family and being with my wife. When I get back to wanting to run you will be the first to know but it may not be for a while.