A good week. Rest Monday. Tuesday 5 miles in Cork during a free class. I got a bit of a wetting at the end and having no showers in our school plus not having a proper towel was not a good idea. That said I was delighted to get the run done.Wednesday 6 miles back home after work on my fast route. 8.05 pace on average with a tough pull on the last mile. Thursday a hill run up in Mayfield Cork City. Another soaking on the last two miles. Some tough climbs. 8.30 pace overall. Nothing on Friday- too much on, in work until 7. Too tired to do anything on Saturday and besides I had to put the small one's new bed together (flatpack !!!!). Sunday drag my sorry self out of bed for a laboured 90 minute run. Probably covered 10 miles maybe more. I suspect 10.4 as the pace felt solid. No Garmin for that one either.
Monday 30th September. Hanging tired and fair grouchy. In work until 8 tonight so that means not home until after 9 pm. We will see what the rest of the week holds.
Monday, 30 September 2019
Saturday, 20 April 2019
Connemara half marathon and Club 4 mile race
2 races this week. In fact my first 2 races of the year. The Connemara was run in atrocious weather conditions even by normal standards- wind, rain, cold and windy. I was glad I was doing the half and not the full or the ultra. I had planned to run it a relaxed steady pace and despite the first mile (uphill on the Devils Mother) taking 9.30 I settled into a steady 8.15 to 8.20 pace. As expected the tricky parts at mile 10 and 11 were always going to slow me down but I didn't falter and that pleased me . The last mile did go on for ever but crossed the line in reasonable shape for a modest 1.51.30. Job well done and a good weekend meet up with my buddy Aidan McGee. He ran the full and was glad to get around. Later on reflection I actually enjoyed the weekend away doing the half. If you are doing Connemara you get more bang for your buck doing the full or the ultra but the whole thing gave me a source of internal satisfaction despite my time being slower than 2011 (1.44.37)
I rested on Monday (Easter holidays) and ran a 4.5 mile run on Tuesday afternoon at a relaxed effort.
Rest day Wednesday and a club 4 mile race on Thursday in Doneraile park. This would have been my first short race since August 2017 but it was about time I started to face up to proper racing again. This was a unusual event as it was hosted by Mallow Ac runners for Mallow Ac runners and considering it was free to club members it would have been a shame not to take part. The course is tough and while coming slightly shorter than 4 miles (3.93 miles) I was hopeful of coming in around 30 minutes. This was a challenging goal for me at the moment and considering the field of runners that were taking part I was content to do "my best". The first mile is a fast one (7.15) and I knew I was out of practice when I was struggling for breath at mile two. I pushed on past a good few runners but by mile 2.5 I was toasted. Denis, Steve and Neil zipped past me and Rachel was persistently un catchable. The last mile took us down the opposite of Garlic Hill and then a lung breaking run up the hill behind the Big House and a downhill run for the finish. I clocked in at 29.40 but when adjusted for 4 miles it was probably closer to 30 minutes. My splits for the mile 2 to mile 4 was around 7.30 to 7.35.
I sat down on the grass with the other club members having a good natter with the rest of the crew. My time wasn't very good but as a exercise in getting out there and getting racing again I was delighted. I really enjoyed myself this week and it felt nice to be racing. Hope fully the bug will start biting again. Progress will take time but maybe just maybe.......
P.s I ran a very stiff 10k around Charleville on Saturday.
I rested on Monday (Easter holidays) and ran a 4.5 mile run on Tuesday afternoon at a relaxed effort.
Rest day Wednesday and a club 4 mile race on Thursday in Doneraile park. This would have been my first short race since August 2017 but it was about time I started to face up to proper racing again. This was a unusual event as it was hosted by Mallow Ac runners for Mallow Ac runners and considering it was free to club members it would have been a shame not to take part. The course is tough and while coming slightly shorter than 4 miles (3.93 miles) I was hopeful of coming in around 30 minutes. This was a challenging goal for me at the moment and considering the field of runners that were taking part I was content to do "my best". The first mile is a fast one (7.15) and I knew I was out of practice when I was struggling for breath at mile two. I pushed on past a good few runners but by mile 2.5 I was toasted. Denis, Steve and Neil zipped past me and Rachel was persistently un catchable. The last mile took us down the opposite of Garlic Hill and then a lung breaking run up the hill behind the Big House and a downhill run for the finish. I clocked in at 29.40 but when adjusted for 4 miles it was probably closer to 30 minutes. My splits for the mile 2 to mile 4 was around 7.30 to 7.35.
I sat down on the grass with the other club members having a good natter with the rest of the crew. My time wasn't very good but as a exercise in getting out there and getting racing again I was delighted. I really enjoyed myself this week and it felt nice to be racing. Hope fully the bug will start biting again. Progress will take time but maybe just maybe.......
P.s I ran a very stiff 10k around Charleville on Saturday.
Monday, 1 April 2019
a hour forward
It's the end of March so that means the clocks go forward and it marks brighter evenings and the beginning of summer sport in this country - GAA cycling soccer and road running.
I had a lot of early running starts this morning. Tuesday up at 6.30 am for a 4 mile easy jog. Wednesday at 6.20 am for a 6 mile run with a 3 mle tempo portion in the middle. The tempo wasn't very good but that was to be expected but job done (7.23, 7.35 and 7.45). Thursday I was up at a ridiculous time of 6 am (parent teacher meeting that evening) for a 1 hour jog on my favoured cooleens route. It's a fast route but the early start didn't suit the legs too much but the run was solid enough - 7.3 miles/ 8.13 pace.
Friday and Saturday made running impossible as Aoiffe was away up in Dublin on a course so the long run was on Sunday. I still don't know where I am going with these but did 13.2 miles at a good solid pace - 8.25 with 1 hour 51 minutes on the clock. I spotted club colleague Paudie runnng 20 miles at a wicked 7.30 pace. Monday (today) was a 45 minute walk to stretch out the legs around 3 miles of so in the company of a work colleague.
Around 33 miles for the week. I enjoyed the running week. I am running Connemara 13.1 in a few weeks. Looking forward to it. I will treat it as a meet up with a friend.
I had a lot of early running starts this morning. Tuesday up at 6.30 am for a 4 mile easy jog. Wednesday at 6.20 am for a 6 mile run with a 3 mle tempo portion in the middle. The tempo wasn't very good but that was to be expected but job done (7.23, 7.35 and 7.45). Thursday I was up at a ridiculous time of 6 am (parent teacher meeting that evening) for a 1 hour jog on my favoured cooleens route. It's a fast route but the early start didn't suit the legs too much but the run was solid enough - 7.3 miles/ 8.13 pace.
Friday and Saturday made running impossible as Aoiffe was away up in Dublin on a course so the long run was on Sunday. I still don't know where I am going with these but did 13.2 miles at a good solid pace - 8.25 with 1 hour 51 minutes on the clock. I spotted club colleague Paudie runnng 20 miles at a wicked 7.30 pace. Monday (today) was a 45 minute walk to stretch out the legs around 3 miles of so in the company of a work colleague.
Around 33 miles for the week. I enjoyed the running week. I am running Connemara 13.1 in a few weeks. Looking forward to it. I will treat it as a meet up with a friend.
Sunday, 24 March 2019
on it drags
I ran 7.5 miles at around 8 minute pace on the Thursday evening and it was pretty good. The breathing wasn't too bad but I was paying for it that night and most of Friday. The tightness in the chest wasn't too bad but i was pretty nackered by Friday. I knew realistically there was little point in resting another day and it was better to give the long run a shot and see how I got on. A case of Tokyo or bust. I decided to jog around Charleville in what is probably the most boring long route in the history of long routes. I had planned to do a number of 6 mile loops and see could I make it up to 3 X 6 mile loops and throw in a few miles at the end.. If I had to pull the plug , at least i would only be a few miles from the house. The other advantage was that I was always in range of a water stop and there was number of hills to make it a bit testing.
Anyway Iwas feeling pretty good by mile 12 but at around 13.5 miles of two hours the legs began to buckle and the stiffness started to kick in. I stopped and stretched at mile 14 but by mile 15 the splits began to slip to over 9 minute despite the increasing effort. By mile 16 I had done enough. I was a mile from home and tried jogging it home but that proved beyond me. The sweat was running out of me (even more than normal) and I felt a bit ill. Lots of coughing and phlegm sort of thing.
I was paying the price for missing on long runs two weeks in a run and that's not something you can skip on. Chest infection or not you can't skimp on the basics of training. I have often completed marathons battling one thing or another.
I had given the training the best shot I had in me but for the 3rd time in a year I failed to get the to the start line. That is something I would have found unthinkable a number of years ago but it just isn't there in me and no amount of rest, core work or self cajoling won't change anything until I get the head game right.
In contrast my friend Aidan ran 24 miles in training today. Now that is crazy (in a completely admirable way
I deferred to run the half marathon in Connemara instead.Let's see what happens.
Best of luck to all those involved in the Mallow 10 today.
I made a list of all the marathons I have entered but have failed to make.
Sixmilebridge 2014 (puled quad muscle, wrecked after Amsterdam 2014)
Galway Bay marathon 2016 (broken arm, twisted ankle)
Manchester 2018 (completely fed up with running post Dublin 2017, work and family issues)
Dublin marathon 2018 ( personal burn out and fed up with running)
Connemara 2019 ( appetite a lot better for running but skipped a number of long runs, chest infection)
Postscript - Dublin 2019 ( PF and ankle issues but I paid too much notice to the Physio. I should have listened to myself and got to the start line and have just completed it)
Anyway Iwas feeling pretty good by mile 12 but at around 13.5 miles of two hours the legs began to buckle and the stiffness started to kick in. I stopped and stretched at mile 14 but by mile 15 the splits began to slip to over 9 minute despite the increasing effort. By mile 16 I had done enough. I was a mile from home and tried jogging it home but that proved beyond me. The sweat was running out of me (even more than normal) and I felt a bit ill. Lots of coughing and phlegm sort of thing.
I was paying the price for missing on long runs two weeks in a run and that's not something you can skip on. Chest infection or not you can't skimp on the basics of training. I have often completed marathons battling one thing or another.
I had given the training the best shot I had in me but for the 3rd time in a year I failed to get the to the start line. That is something I would have found unthinkable a number of years ago but it just isn't there in me and no amount of rest, core work or self cajoling won't change anything until I get the head game right.
In contrast my friend Aidan ran 24 miles in training today. Now that is crazy (in a completely admirable way
I deferred to run the half marathon in Connemara instead.Let's see what happens.
Best of luck to all those involved in the Mallow 10 today.
I made a list of all the marathons I have entered but have failed to make.
Sixmilebridge 2014 (puled quad muscle, wrecked after Amsterdam 2014)
Galway Bay marathon 2016 (broken arm, twisted ankle)
Manchester 2018 (completely fed up with running post Dublin 2017, work and family issues)
Dublin marathon 2018 ( personal burn out and fed up with running)
Connemara 2019 ( appetite a lot better for running but skipped a number of long runs, chest infection)
Postscript - Dublin 2019 ( PF and ankle issues but I paid too much notice to the Physio. I should have listened to myself and got to the start line and have just completed it)
Wednesday, 20 March 2019
stop start and all that
the same old thing the last 18 months....no consistency....no long run on that Sunday...no chance of run on the Monday.....7.3 miles on the Tuesday....3 mile fun jog with the pupils on Wednesday and then headcold, stuffed right up...took no notice went for a 3 mile jog on Thursday....headcold got worse and that was me done for the rest of the week...plenty of Lemsip and paracetamol ......no running of any description.....cough kicked in on Patricks Day...attempted a 4 mile run on the Bank Holiday Monday....cough got worse...attempted another few miles on Wednesday morning and went to the doctor that evening for a course of antibiotics...so that's it really...3 weeks next Sunday to the marathon...will rest up for weekend and see where it stands...
Sunday, 10 March 2019
going well up to a point.....
The week had gone very well. Tuesday I ran around 7.7 miles in a hour. Wednesday I did a "Mayfield" run covering around 7.5 miles in over a hour, around 8.17 pace and Thursday I covered 8 miles a hour. This was my best running in a long time and I followed it up with a 4 mile recovery run on Saturday. Everything should have been set up for a 21 mile long run on the Sunday. I had planned to meet up with Aidan up in Cork on Saturday but the journey down for Aidan from Portarlington was probably asking a bit much. I didn't fancy the journey down to Mallow as I knew a large number were racing in Newmarket later that day. That left me with the solo option in Charleville and to be honest I didn't fancy it.....
So there you are....
So there you are....
Monday, 25 February 2019
20 up
So yeah I was feeling like a bit of a crock by the end of the week. Sore knee, throbbing ankle and the PF on the right foot were all saying hello to me. Nevertheless after a trip to the physio (John O Sullivan, Mallow) I felt in great shape. The stiffness in my hips and the back was alleviated and it seemed to do the trick, Saturday morning i did a easy 6 miles and met up with Mallow members to run 20 miles on Sunday. I won't deny that the 20 mile run was hanging over me especially the night before and I was humming and hawing about weather to just stay local and solo instead. That would have been a bad idea as the Mallow long runs on Sunday always bring me on and the company is good too.
Fergal Murphy met up with me at 7.30 am a to do 6 miles out to the racecourse and back. He was good company and his youthful enthusiasm rubbed off on me. We then met up with the main group at 8.30 where I continued my adventure. They ran 13 miles along a testing route (plenty of hills). I was slow but was reluctant to take too many rest breaks. I was overtaken by the posse at mile 17 and my pace which was in the 8.30's dropped to a bit over 9 minute pace. The last 3 miles were a real mental struggle but I was damned if I was going to give in. I mightn't be fit at the moment but this was all about getting the miles up on the legs. At mile 18 I turned off towards the healthcare centre and I was glad to face down the last mile by the town park. I won't deny I was glad to see the Garmin beep at mile 20. I was on my feet for 2hr58mins, roughly 8.52 pace. Job done. The rest of the day was spent doing very little, watching the Irish rugby team huff and puff against Italy. Today was all about huff and puff for me too.
In terms of a body N.C.T I was ok enough , the knee was a bit sore but nothing too major. I guess I will know better when I get back out running during the week.
The mileage this week was 38 miles , very low compared to what I used to do but I am happy to play it careful for this cycle. Hopefully the weeks of 60 miles a week won't be too long in coming back this year.
Fergal Murphy met up with me at 7.30 am a to do 6 miles out to the racecourse and back. He was good company and his youthful enthusiasm rubbed off on me. We then met up with the main group at 8.30 where I continued my adventure. They ran 13 miles along a testing route (plenty of hills). I was slow but was reluctant to take too many rest breaks. I was overtaken by the posse at mile 17 and my pace which was in the 8.30's dropped to a bit over 9 minute pace. The last 3 miles were a real mental struggle but I was damned if I was going to give in. I mightn't be fit at the moment but this was all about getting the miles up on the legs. At mile 18 I turned off towards the healthcare centre and I was glad to face down the last mile by the town park. I won't deny I was glad to see the Garmin beep at mile 20. I was on my feet for 2hr58mins, roughly 8.52 pace. Job done. The rest of the day was spent doing very little, watching the Irish rugby team huff and puff against Italy. Today was all about huff and puff for me too.
In terms of a body N.C.T I was ok enough , the knee was a bit sore but nothing too major. I guess I will know better when I get back out running during the week.
The mileage this week was 38 miles , very low compared to what I used to do but I am happy to play it careful for this cycle. Hopefully the weeks of 60 miles a week won't be too long in coming back this year.
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