Now that the Dublin marathon has come and gone it's time to get blogging a bit more regularly these days. I flogged the race number and it seemingly passed through 3 different sets of hands with the eventual recipient getting a time similar to what i would have got had I trained well and raced it. But that's all bollix conjecture really as I didn't did I ? That won't be happening again. No more headblocks. By the way if anyone thinks I broke some moral code by passing on my race number, too bad. It happens all the time. Anyway I still lost money on it.
All in the past now. Time to see where I am at now. Since late September and October the running has taken on a certain pattern. 40 minute recovery jog on Monday or walk depending on my routine for that evening. Tuesday I have been getting up at 6.30 am and heading out the door at 6.45 am running either a tempo run (25minutes ) or 5 X 4 minute repeats on alternate weeks. Wednesday I head up to Mayfield after work and run what I call a a "door to door " effort . Currently on a hilly course my time stands at 51mins 50 secs. A couple of months ago it was taking 55 mins so that's something. Thursday is a run when I get home on my favoured Cooleens route covering the hour. Friday and Saturday no running for the moment but i am working to improve on that . On Sunday I with the Mallow club doing the long run on Sunday (13 to 16 miles) . Pace is modest 8.40 per mile but the running is enjoyable.
I haven't used a Garmin in a age. The strap came off it in August and rather than carrying it around in my pocket I simply left in the drawer and used a bog standard wristwatch instead. That will do for the moment. Truth be known ever since the old Forerunner 205 bit the dust in December and came apart in my hands I haven't had a good relationship with the newer model so it will stay in the drawer a while yet.
Mileage wise it is between 30 to 35 miles. Let's kick on. The marathon number stands at a rather low 13 marathons.
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Monday, 1 October 2018
leaving it go but looking beyond...
....the Dublin marathon. I have simply decided to leave it go. That's two marathons I have abandoned this year - Manchester and Dublin plus a 10 mile race in Dungarvan. I reclaimed the money back on them. In 2014 I gave Sixmilebridge a miss on account of a groin strain (which took 4 weeks to sort out) and Galway Bay in 2016 (on account of breaking my arm in the summer) but these no shows were simply not down to having the heart to do it.This is simply a case of not being boovered.
What that means for future marathons I don't know but thankfully I am still back running and enjoying it. The mileage is quite low - 25 to 30 miles with no speedwork and no Garmin either. I did run the half marathon in Tullamore (August) and Charleville (September).Neither run was great and it was painful in parts but I did enjoy it running 1.56 and 1.47 respectively. Last year I was running 1.33 to 1.35 for half marathons which gives a idea how things have changed this year.
I have a couple of races to enter this year but I won't be saying too much about those for a while yet.
What that means for future marathons I don't know but thankfully I am still back running and enjoying it. The mileage is quite low - 25 to 30 miles with no speedwork and no Garmin either. I did run the half marathon in Tullamore (August) and Charleville (September).Neither run was great and it was painful in parts but I did enjoy it running 1.56 and 1.47 respectively. Last year I was running 1.33 to 1.35 for half marathons which gives a idea how things have changed this year.
I have a couple of races to enter this year but I won't be saying too much about those for a while yet.
Thursday, 13 September 2018
Still ploughing on
The good news is that I haven't completely ruled out running the DCM, the bad news is that I am not exactly ramping up the long runs either. I am doing 40 minutes on Monday, 1 hour in Charleville on Tuesday,6mls in 52 minutes in Mayfield on Wednesday, 40 minutes on Saturday and the long run on Sunday. It's pretty poor compared to what I used to do in days of yore (2010 - 2017) but I am enjoying it.
I am happy to be back doing long runs in Mallow but the distance hasn't gone much more than 14 - 15 miles. The legs don't have it in them to do much more. It may have a lot to do with the weight (14 stone) and general lack of conditioning.
So yeah that's about it. If I make Dublin and get to the start line it will be a struggle and it could compromise my recovery over the months up to Christmas. One has to wonder then is it really worth going there at all and maybe it's better to just keep building up the base for future events. Then again it may mean another marathon medal up on the wall
Sure we will see but all good in it's own way.
I am happy to be back doing long runs in Mallow but the distance hasn't gone much more than 14 - 15 miles. The legs don't have it in them to do much more. It may have a lot to do with the weight (14 stone) and general lack of conditioning.
So yeah that's about it. If I make Dublin and get to the start line it will be a struggle and it could compromise my recovery over the months up to Christmas. One has to wonder then is it really worth going there at all and maybe it's better to just keep building up the base for future events. Then again it may mean another marathon medal up on the wall
Sure we will see but all good in it's own way.
Sunday, 12 August 2018
we will plough on
Aug 12th
2018
Last blog
entry I left with me running a sluggish 6 mile jog. Things picked up the rest
of the week running another 2 X 7 miles and a encouraging 14 miles in 2 hours
on Sunday replete with new trainers and a more enjoyable running vibe. I was
having a bowl of fresh soup nearly every day that week so that might have
helped. I don’t know.
The running
slump is a hard one to figure out but I reasoned if I can run 14 miles I probably
should be ok to get enough training done to get to the start line in October 28th. That would be a massive achievement for the moment. I am running off my original sub 4 plan I used in 2010 but it isn't inspiring me too much.
This week
was another poor one – 40 minute recovery jog on the Monday with 8 miles at
8.15 pace on Wednesday followed by 2 days of no running with 40 minutes on Saturday and aborted 8 mile
jog on Sunday turning into 4 miles around town. One of the local runners in the
town asked me if I had blown a gasket. I wasn’t too sure myself. The reason for
the non running days was that I had no motivation at all. Nada, zero. I was
shattered on those days barely able to get around Killarney national park and
Ballyheigue beach with Aoiffe and Iseult.
We will plough on
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
Where have you been?
July 31st 2018
It's been a while since I posted. The last post was Dublin marathon 2017. In the meantime I had planned to enter the Dungarvan 10 mile and the Manchester marathon (April 2018). Neither races happened flogging one race entry and deferring the other.
Quite simply put I fell out with running and I'm not completely sure if I am have made up with my old friend. I have entered the Dublin marathon but that was out of a sense of panic last May as it was selling out.
The period November to February saw one aborted comeback after the other. I might run 5 miles on Monday, run a dreadful 5 miles on Wednesday, 8 miles on Saturday and then do nothing for 2/3 weeks forcing me to start from scratch all over again, hating every mile I took. Eating and drinking and lounging around became a lot more attractive proposition.The other situation was that I was picking up chest infections (3 to 4 in the space of 10 weeks), numerous headcolds and some sort of nasty flu virus (that hit me like a train in March). I was probably either run down from the poor diet, wrecked from the previous years training or picking up bugs in the doctors surgery from the little one. She was there quite a lot from November to March. There was other issues, on a work level, that were taking up quite amount of time too. No point in making a big drama about the whole thing, it was a case of real life intruding on the insular runners bubble.
Currently as things stand I am still finding it hard to make inroads in the Dublin training plan. The ambition is very basic this time. Simply get the training done and get to the start line. and run a sub 4 time. After that recover and make running a more sustainable prospect over the winter and spring.
My end of July idea was to run as easy as possible and ideally get up to 3 X 7 mile runs midweek with a 4 mile recovery on Monday and a 15 mile LSR on Saturday/ Sunday.
Currently where it stands is 3 X 7 miles with a at best a flaky 10 mile long run under my belt. I have no plans to enter any races and I haven't renewed my Mallow Ac membership (I simply couldn't get the time or find the motivation to get down there). Truth be known I was a bit embarrassed as to how unfit I had got. Hopefully I will get back down to them again.They are a great club.
At least the blog is back and the bubbins is well fed !!!!
Miles last week Monday 4 mile recovery jog, Wednesday 7.3 miles, Thursday 7 miles with 5k tempo, Saturday 9 miles in 90 minutes. Completely wrecked Sunday and Monday. 6 miles this Tuesday.
It's been a while since I posted. The last post was Dublin marathon 2017. In the meantime I had planned to enter the Dungarvan 10 mile and the Manchester marathon (April 2018). Neither races happened flogging one race entry and deferring the other.
Quite simply put I fell out with running and I'm not completely sure if I am have made up with my old friend. I have entered the Dublin marathon but that was out of a sense of panic last May as it was selling out.
The period November to February saw one aborted comeback after the other. I might run 5 miles on Monday, run a dreadful 5 miles on Wednesday, 8 miles on Saturday and then do nothing for 2/3 weeks forcing me to start from scratch all over again, hating every mile I took. Eating and drinking and lounging around became a lot more attractive proposition.The other situation was that I was picking up chest infections (3 to 4 in the space of 10 weeks), numerous headcolds and some sort of nasty flu virus (that hit me like a train in March). I was probably either run down from the poor diet, wrecked from the previous years training or picking up bugs in the doctors surgery from the little one. She was there quite a lot from November to March. There was other issues, on a work level, that were taking up quite amount of time too. No point in making a big drama about the whole thing, it was a case of real life intruding on the insular runners bubble.
Currently as things stand I am still finding it hard to make inroads in the Dublin training plan. The ambition is very basic this time. Simply get the training done and get to the start line. and run a sub 4 time. After that recover and make running a more sustainable prospect over the winter and spring.
My end of July idea was to run as easy as possible and ideally get up to 3 X 7 mile runs midweek with a 4 mile recovery on Monday and a 15 mile LSR on Saturday/ Sunday.
Currently where it stands is 3 X 7 miles with a at best a flaky 10 mile long run under my belt. I have no plans to enter any races and I haven't renewed my Mallow Ac membership (I simply couldn't get the time or find the motivation to get down there). Truth be known I was a bit embarrassed as to how unfit I had got. Hopefully I will get back down to them again.They are a great club.
At least the blog is back and the bubbins is well fed !!!!
Miles last week Monday 4 mile recovery jog, Wednesday 7.3 miles, Thursday 7 miles with 5k tempo, Saturday 9 miles in 90 minutes. Completely wrecked Sunday and Monday. 6 miles this Tuesday.
Monday, 30 October 2017
Dublin marathon 3.28.23- Go figure
Go figure.... 5 weeks ago I ran the Berlin marathon, flat course, big occasion, months of great training, on target at mile 20 for a sub 3.20 time only to blow up and scrape in at 3.31.22. I ran the Dublin marathon yesterday...hilly course..crowded field...very little decent training...slow pace and I came in at 3.28.23.
I'm still trying to get my head around it. Obviously I am chuffed. The search for a PB goes on (and on and on) but to get a sub 3.30 (third time with two close calls) is a feeling of immense satisfaction. The difference lay in simply selecting the correct pace. I went into Dublin with a very relaxed attitude. I had no notions of running even close to a 3.28. When asked I simply told people a sub 4 marathon was the plan and that was the truth. Even during the preliminaries I met a number of club runners - John Collins, Darragh Wiley, John Paul Buckley and so on, and it was the same answer every time "A sub 4 finish, relaxed run".
The first couple of miles I didn't even look at the watch. I just kind of sauntered along with the crowd. By 10k we were well into the Phoenix Park and about to enter Castleknock and I looked at my watch for the first time. It read around 50.25 and I suddenly realized I was doing pretty alright. The pacer ballons weren't all that far in front of me, around 30 seconds or so. At that stage I resolved to just tip away, dont force the pace and see what happens after that, the complete opposite to Berlin.
Mile 7/8/9/10 all continued in the same vein.7.45/7.28 (rapid downhill)/7.35/7.50. Time at that stage was 1hr20mins (course time) which meant I was on the shoulder of the pacer balloons as were John Collins, Dan Collins, Jim O'Mahony. Jim said his calf was giving him a bit of gip and figured he would be doing well to hang on for a few miles. John and Dan were in good fettle as was Barry O'Callaghan who wasn't too far behind. I felt pretty good but was anxious not to get over excited and kept it all very lowkey.
I pushed on a bit after Portobello ,namely to get near the water station and before I knew it I was creeping ahead of the pacers, a mirror image of previous Dublin marathons in 2010, 2011, 2012. My splits at mile 11 were 7.58/ mile 12 7.47 and the half way point in Walkinstown was around 7.45. I was around 30 seconds ahead of the pacers and while I would hardly say I was confident I was happy with my form.
And so it went - slow but steady, not fast, not too slow, all even pace running. I was thinking if I kept it around 7.50 - 7.55 I might have enough to keep me going for a while yet. A couple of seconds faster and I could have been cooked. My endurance from Berlin and the two long runs I did in the previous weeks (fast MP 17 miles and a slow LSR 18 miles) were also helping. By mile 16 I was pretty determined to give the sub 3.30 a shot. However it was this very point that I started to get into trouble.
The breathing was getting laboured and the tiredness started to kick in. 10 miles was a hell of a long way to go. Time really started to drag and the head began to go through the mental agonies. Again I kept telling myself, keep at it, you have nothing to lose here. I also poured the entire contents of a water bottle over the head, arms and legs. The cooling effect helped dramatically. I was obviously suffering from heat loss. The other factor was I was also started to run with two young runners from the Brothers Pearse club. They both looked as if they knew what they were doing. One guy was pacing the other guy and they were keeping a excellent beat. I just kept abreast or behind them and followed their lead. It was that simple. No heroics this time. By mile 17 I was feeling good and with the two lads doing all the hard work in front of me I was happier. At mile 18 I timed myself at 2hrs22mins30seconds, a full 90 seconds ahead of the pacers. Less than 8 miles to go. Down to single digits.
As I say the marathon was a slow steady crawl. It was wasn't very dramatic, fast or much different in terms of pace from mile 8 to mile 26. At mile 20 I was beginning to figure this was going to be my day jogging past a number of familar faces, including my buddy Aidan McGee. He was having a rare rough day at the office and I was disappointed to see him struggle.
I had banked nearly 2 minutes at this stage and I was wondering could I push the pace a bit more but when I tried at mile 21 the legs didn't like it at all. It was back to the conservative, park the bus style after that.
The hill at mile 22 didn't provide much problems at all. It never does. In fact it is the downhill afterwards all the way to the Stillorgan flyover that does the most damage to the legs. It's those miles 22 - 24 that are the toughest. Nearly there but plenty of work, I only had 70-90 seconds in the bank at this stage.A couple of bad miles where I am forced to stop or walk and I was done for. I was hanging in here at this stage even getting cranky at some clown who ran across the route with his bike.
Mile 25 took me past the RDS. I checked my watch, the time was around 3hr19mins maybe slightly faster...Just one mile to go running down Lower Mount street. The legs were beginning to buckle at this stage and it was a mile that dragged on for ever. 800 metres to go and everyone started to pick up the pace. I was going a bit mental at this stage determined to milk it for all it was worth. I knew it wasn't a PB but it was probably the best marathon I have run in many years. 26 miles were up and the clock read 3.26.45. The last 200 metres seemed to go for another mile and the legs were completely packing in before I crossed under the clock at 3.28.23. After that it was completely overwhelming...a mixture of delight, exhaustion, emotion and disbelief. Where the hell did that run come from? I hadn't even backed myself.
Thankfully I managed to compose myself bumping into Aoife Caroll on the way to get my medal before meeting with my clubmates and my friend Aidan. We hung around for a few hours around Dublin with Emer (Aidans wife) and their son Declan before I drove back to Cork via Portarlington.
A great day. No need to think much more beyond that. Lets soak it up.
Comparison of my Garmin splits between the Berlin and Dublin marathons. Amazing how a slow steady pace can yield a 3 minute faster finish despite a 5 minute difference at mile 20 between Berlin and Dublin.
Berlin Dublin
Mile 1 8.28 Mile 1 8.32
Mile 5 38.30 Mile 5 40.34
Mile 10 1.15.42 Mile 10 1.19.00
Mile 15 1.53.10 Mile 15 1.58.16
Mile 20 2.32.38 Mile 20 2.37.20
Mile 25 3.18.43 Mile 25 3.17.21
Mile 26.2 3.31.22 Mile 26.2 3.28.23
I'm still trying to get my head around it. Obviously I am chuffed. The search for a PB goes on (and on and on) but to get a sub 3.30 (third time with two close calls) is a feeling of immense satisfaction. The difference lay in simply selecting the correct pace. I went into Dublin with a very relaxed attitude. I had no notions of running even close to a 3.28. When asked I simply told people a sub 4 marathon was the plan and that was the truth. Even during the preliminaries I met a number of club runners - John Collins, Darragh Wiley, John Paul Buckley and so on, and it was the same answer every time "A sub 4 finish, relaxed run".
The first couple of miles I didn't even look at the watch. I just kind of sauntered along with the crowd. By 10k we were well into the Phoenix Park and about to enter Castleknock and I looked at my watch for the first time. It read around 50.25 and I suddenly realized I was doing pretty alright. The pacer ballons weren't all that far in front of me, around 30 seconds or so. At that stage I resolved to just tip away, dont force the pace and see what happens after that, the complete opposite to Berlin.
Mile 7/8/9/10 all continued in the same vein.7.45/7.28 (rapid downhill)/7.35/7.50. Time at that stage was 1hr20mins (course time) which meant I was on the shoulder of the pacer balloons as were John Collins, Dan Collins, Jim O'Mahony. Jim said his calf was giving him a bit of gip and figured he would be doing well to hang on for a few miles. John and Dan were in good fettle as was Barry O'Callaghan who wasn't too far behind. I felt pretty good but was anxious not to get over excited and kept it all very lowkey.
I pushed on a bit after Portobello ,namely to get near the water station and before I knew it I was creeping ahead of the pacers, a mirror image of previous Dublin marathons in 2010, 2011, 2012. My splits at mile 11 were 7.58/ mile 12 7.47 and the half way point in Walkinstown was around 7.45. I was around 30 seconds ahead of the pacers and while I would hardly say I was confident I was happy with my form.
And so it went - slow but steady, not fast, not too slow, all even pace running. I was thinking if I kept it around 7.50 - 7.55 I might have enough to keep me going for a while yet. A couple of seconds faster and I could have been cooked. My endurance from Berlin and the two long runs I did in the previous weeks (fast MP 17 miles and a slow LSR 18 miles) were also helping. By mile 16 I was pretty determined to give the sub 3.30 a shot. However it was this very point that I started to get into trouble.
The breathing was getting laboured and the tiredness started to kick in. 10 miles was a hell of a long way to go. Time really started to drag and the head began to go through the mental agonies. Again I kept telling myself, keep at it, you have nothing to lose here. I also poured the entire contents of a water bottle over the head, arms and legs. The cooling effect helped dramatically. I was obviously suffering from heat loss. The other factor was I was also started to run with two young runners from the Brothers Pearse club. They both looked as if they knew what they were doing. One guy was pacing the other guy and they were keeping a excellent beat. I just kept abreast or behind them and followed their lead. It was that simple. No heroics this time. By mile 17 I was feeling good and with the two lads doing all the hard work in front of me I was happier. At mile 18 I timed myself at 2hrs22mins30seconds, a full 90 seconds ahead of the pacers. Less than 8 miles to go. Down to single digits.
As I say the marathon was a slow steady crawl. It was wasn't very dramatic, fast or much different in terms of pace from mile 8 to mile 26. At mile 20 I was beginning to figure this was going to be my day jogging past a number of familar faces, including my buddy Aidan McGee. He was having a rare rough day at the office and I was disappointed to see him struggle.
I had banked nearly 2 minutes at this stage and I was wondering could I push the pace a bit more but when I tried at mile 21 the legs didn't like it at all. It was back to the conservative, park the bus style after that.
The hill at mile 22 didn't provide much problems at all. It never does. In fact it is the downhill afterwards all the way to the Stillorgan flyover that does the most damage to the legs. It's those miles 22 - 24 that are the toughest. Nearly there but plenty of work, I only had 70-90 seconds in the bank at this stage.A couple of bad miles where I am forced to stop or walk and I was done for. I was hanging in here at this stage even getting cranky at some clown who ran across the route with his bike.
Mile 25 took me past the RDS. I checked my watch, the time was around 3hr19mins maybe slightly faster...Just one mile to go running down Lower Mount street. The legs were beginning to buckle at this stage and it was a mile that dragged on for ever. 800 metres to go and everyone started to pick up the pace. I was going a bit mental at this stage determined to milk it for all it was worth. I knew it wasn't a PB but it was probably the best marathon I have run in many years. 26 miles were up and the clock read 3.26.45. The last 200 metres seemed to go for another mile and the legs were completely packing in before I crossed under the clock at 3.28.23. After that it was completely overwhelming...a mixture of delight, exhaustion, emotion and disbelief. Where the hell did that run come from? I hadn't even backed myself.
Thankfully I managed to compose myself bumping into Aoife Caroll on the way to get my medal before meeting with my clubmates and my friend Aidan. We hung around for a few hours around Dublin with Emer (Aidans wife) and their son Declan before I drove back to Cork via Portarlington.
A great day. No need to think much more beyond that. Lets soak it up.
Comparison of my Garmin splits between the Berlin and Dublin marathons. Amazing how a slow steady pace can yield a 3 minute faster finish despite a 5 minute difference at mile 20 between Berlin and Dublin.
Berlin Dublin
Mile 1 8.28 Mile 1 8.32
Mile 5 38.30 Mile 5 40.34
Mile 10 1.15.42 Mile 10 1.19.00
Mile 15 1.53.10 Mile 15 1.58.16
Mile 20 2.32.38 Mile 20 2.37.20
Mile 25 3.18.43 Mile 25 3.17.21
Mile 26.2 3.31.22 Mile 26.2 3.28.23
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Treading carefully
Week ended 22nd October
I got a lucky break on Tuesday when I was informed my place of employment would be closed on Tuesday but the creche was reopening. That allowed me to drop Iseult into the creche and me to run 18 miles without worrying about getting the time to do so. The run itself was pretty average, 8.35 pace and the legs felt heavy for all of it. I considered tacking on another 2 miles but at this stage it may do me little good. On Wednesday I tacked on another 4 miles (recovery pace), resting Thursday and running 7 miles with a 5 mile tempo at 7.10 pace on Friday.
The latter run reaffirmed my faith that my legs weren't totally dead. I ran during my lunch break going out towards the Straight road and back. That run felt great. Rest day Saturday and a 13 mile run on Sunday in Charleville (8.25 pace). The legs were still finding it tough going.
Thats pretty much it now. A couple of short snappier runs during the week and then its up to Dublin for the marathon on Sunday week. No expectations.
Miles for the week 42 miles
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