Out with the old and in with the new...

(Hear Jimi play in the new year from 1:00 into this video!)

Monday, 30th December 2013 - 14.0km with Intervals: 3 x 2km @ 10km pace (4:13/km)

Nice lie-in this morning meant that it was early afternoon before I got out for this run. With my intention to do the 5km race on Wednesday I decided to move the Interval session for the week forward to today, so I drove to the Phoenix Park. After a 3km warm-up I decided to do these intervals along the roads of Wednesday's race for a little extra familiarity. I really love this loop as it's pretty much flat and at about 2.6km it's not too long.

The first 2km interval was probably a little tougher than I'd expected. I'd planned on 4:15/km as my target pace (10km PB is 42:22 = 4:14/km) and found the little bit of wind to be making the run just that extra bit tough. Managed to claim paces of 4:18/4:11 for these 2km. At this stage I ran back towards my car to dispatch my cap and jacket.

This seemed to do the trick as my next Interval was a little more manageable with splits of 4:08/4:13/km. I was meant to take 3 mins between reps but on the first rest period I ended up taking a little extra as I had to reach my car and throw my stuff into it, so that this was more like 4mins. The second rest period was kept to 3 mins however. The final interval began well with a 4:15 first km, but the second split was fading a way a little before I had to rally somewhat towards the end to grab a 4:14 split. For one of the first times in a long, long time I had to slow to a walk for 45 seconds just to regain breath. A final 3.5km meant I tagged on 14km for the day with a very satisfying session in the middle.

Tuesday, 31st December 2013 - 11.9km Distance run (5:01/km)

Another very relaxed day of hols meant that it was early evening before I got out for this Distance run. The perfect run for recovery from yesterday's session and the race tomorrow, I kept things easy and did the 11.9km route at a comfortable enough 5:01/km. With 3k to go I eased off to 5:25/km in order to avoid weariness for tomorrow, before picking it up again over the last 800m.

Under pressure for a few pints tonight with it being NYE and all but will hopefully be reasonably good with tomorrow's race on the horizon. I've dodged a couple of short races already over the holiday season but really intend running this regardless as it could be a real marker for me for the new year.

Week 52 Summary (so far):

RTW: 2 from 2 days

DTW: 25.9km

DTY: 3,835.8km

St Anne's Parkrun is launched... and it's very flat!

Wednesday, 25th September, 2013 – 7.4km Recovery Run (5:46/km)

Yesterday’s run appears to have taken a lot out of me. Not sure if it was the distance (just realised it’s only my 3rd 20 miler and I have not gone any further since Belfast!) or the two progression segments in the middle but I found myself with a tight left hammy and the by-now usual abdomen strain. Thankfully this was just to be a recovery run and boy did I need it. The first few kms were coming in around the 5:50’s when I thought they were around 5:30’s. Glad to get it over in the end and did a bit of foam rolling afterwards. Planned to get to bed early too but that fell by the wayside with TV and a few chores to blame!

Thursday, 26th September, 2013 – 7.4km Recovery Run (5:16/km)

Again it was later than planned by the time I got out for this run. Legs felt a fair bit better and after a relaxed first km I upped the effort to around 5:1x/km pace. Probably slightly tougher than it should have been but close to normal.

It was during this run that I had a moment of clarity in relation to my bad runs this year. All of Rotterdam marathon, Portumna marathon, Athlone HM and Dublin HM were in warm conditions. It was probably at least 21-22 degrees for them all so I think the underlying issue is that I perform poorly in warm weather. Certainly the elevated temperatures could well be responsible for an extra 3-5bpm which would be enough to scupper a long distance run. There were probably other mitigating circumstances (like the blisters in Rotterdam and poor nutrition choices for the HMs) but the heat is the one common denominator. Even last year in Valencia in similar temps I faded in the final 10km, albeit I still got my PB there but according to my Athlone ¾ marathon a few weeks before I should have been on for 3:20 or thereabouts. Definitely something to think about for the future!

Friday, 27th September, 2013 – 7.4km Easy Run (5:00/km)

I got up early this morning to fit in an easy run before work. This went well and feel I’m almost back to normal now.

7.4km Recovery Run (5:33/km)

Got back out for another recovery paced run in the evening. Was gonna do a 12km loop but decided to just keep it to 7.4km to prevent and lag in the legs.

Saturday, 28th September, 2013 – 8.1km including 5km St. Anne’s Parkrun (4:10/km)

I ventured down to St. Anne’s Park in Raheny for their first Parkrun. It consisted of a 2 lap course on an extremely flat course with the only thing to slow you down being a couple of tight corners. After a 2km warmup I ran into Mick K. at the starting area and had a bit of a chat. Within a few minutes we were walked to the start and were away.

St Annes Parkrun - two laps, very flat!

I wasn’t exactly clear-minded about how I was going to run this. My thoughts veered between trying for a sub 20 before pushing that out of my mind and deciding to take it at 4:10/min pace instead. Without having my mind firmly made up I spent the first km taking it handy and avoiding racing too many about me. As we got to the playing pitches I started to move up a few places as some people began to fade/ease off already. There were some kids training on the corner of the football pitch where we were due to turn the corner so we had no choice but to cut the apex a little. Before long we were out on the main avenue which runs all the way to the finish on the second lap. Things were going well still and while I am pretty sure I’d have struggled with 4:00/km pace if I had gone for it, the first 2km both came in at 4:10/km and I felt I was putting in a very decent effort without redlining it too much.

As we started the second lap we went through/under a load of trees and so I wasn’t too surprised when the garmin started to suggest my pace was slipping to 4:17 for the 3rd km. I just maintained position as those ahead of me were about 50m down the road at this stage. The next 1,500m were a tad boring for me as it was simply more of the same. The final km began just as we turned back out onto the main avenue for the second time and being able to see the finish in front of you makes for a long kilometre! About 600m to go a local runner called Jim went past me but I was happy to simply maintain pace than try to enter a race with him… perhaps on another day! 

Eventually I reached the finishing chute and stopped the watch in 20:47 which I was neither happy or disappointed with. It just is what it is! Time wasn’t the target today, more a good VO2 session while holding back a little for the 10 miler tomorrow. During today’s run though I made up my mind to run that at marathon pace instead of racing for a 10 mile PB time. Therefore I’ll be aiming to carry a steady 4:40/km (Which I failed at after 8 miles last week!!) all the way to the finish and if the opportunity arises I will allow myself to race the final 2-3 km but not before that. Well, that’s the theory anyways!!

Week 39 Summary (so far):

RTW: 6 from 6 days

DTW: 69.7 km

DTY: 3,103.5 km

Chicago - 15 days (3 weeks, 1 day)

Grant Thornton 5k

It was himself that brought up the word 'sack'!

Monday, 9th September, 2013 – 7.4km Recovery Run (5:30/km)

Another very easy recovery run yesterday evening after the LSR yesterday. Actually surprised how slow the first couple of kms were, but around midway I threw in 11 sets of strides to get the legs prepared for the Grant Thornton 5km race this evening in the city centre. Would like a time beginning with a ‘1’ but given the lack of any VO2 training that may have to wait another while.

Tuesday, 10th September, 2013 – 7.5km Including Grant Thornton 5k race (3:58/km)

As suspected, the 1x:xx wasn’t in the legs this evening but seeing as the GPS measured 5.12km for the race can’t help but feel I was sub 20 for 5km (going by the Garmin I passed through 5km in 19:55 but can't really lay claim to that for PB purposes!). In the end I was 20:19 and the effort was nice and consistent the whole way around so all in all very happy with the way I ran just not so much with the time I ran! The time wasn’t hugely important though as it was more a chance of a very fast training run more than anything else. The race was very well organised but given the numbers and the high speeds it would be better to avoid the Talbot Bridge so early in the run. Far better off starting at the other side of the bridge and allowing a straight 2km of road before any turns.

Steady HR.

Managed to nab an extra 2.5km between warm-up and cool down to bring the total up to 7.5km. Would have liked to have done more but was in a rush home to watch Trap activate his self-execution. Arrivederci Giovanni Manuela! Best of luck to Thomas’ Osterreich for the remainder of qualifying! (Hope that eases the pain for the Kerry comments!)

Wednesday, 11th September, 2013 – 10.0km Run with 8km @ MP (MP ave: 4:31//km)

I got caught in a bit of no-man’s land this evening where I wanted to avoid anything too taxing in advance of the HM on Saturday. In the end I decided on hitting the seafront in Clontarf for a few MP miles. An easy first kilometre was followed by 8km at an average of 4:31/km. Starting my final MP km it was becoming evident that my right heel was cut from the shoe/sock combination. This helped me decide to slow down before pushing things too far and was a blessing in disguise really. I jogged the final kilometre, at first with the intention of adding another 5km or thereabouts but as I got closer to the car sensibility won the day and I limited any heal damage before it got too bad. A nice little session squeezed in also, which should be of benefit. The run itself was reasonably tough though given it was following on from the 5km race last night.

Easy running now ‘til Saturday!

Week 37 Summary:

RTW: 3 from 3 days

DTW: 24.9 km

DTY: 2,929.6 km

Chicago - 32 days (4 weeks, 4 days)

Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail...Take 2!

Friday, 28th June, 2013 – 7.5km St Coca's 5km race + 2.5km wu/cd (3:59/km)
I had planned to do this all week but after feeling a bit knackered yesterday I changed my mind and thought I’d give it a miss. Then on Friday morning an email from Philip suggested that the €12 was great value and that I’d probably have that value in food and goodies afterwards! Also, the race was en route to the West so I once more changed my mind and booked the race. For only €12 it really was a great value race. I arrived by 7:30 and after a quick regsitration, short chat with Niall and brief warm up with Philip we went to the start line. Niall had offered to pace me to sub 20mins but I wasn’t too bothered so told him to run his own race, rather than waste his time on mine.

There were lots of fast looking people at the race start and I found myself about 1/3rd of the way back the field. The race started without much congestion and after 200m I found myself on the shoulder of Niall! Eased back from this unsustainable pace and made it over the first bridge without major difficulty. Things settled down pretty quickly and before we knew it we were flying past the ‘kms to go’ signs. The course was very flat with the only two inclines being slight enough. With 1.5km to go things started to get a little tough. My legs weren’t moving at the required rate and the high mileage was catching up with me. I kept the effort up regardless and soon found myself passing the ‘1km to go’ sign. I was running on fumes at this stage and a few people started going past me in the final 500m but I managed to rally to stem the bleeding somewhat. I heard Niall shouting out as I was approaching the line with the countdown to 20mins ticking away. 20:00 as I passed through! This time I didn’t ‘split’ my watch at the real start line so I only have the gun time to go by. Probably the same time in reality as Enfield 6 weeks ago but without any faster training since, so happy enough all things considered. At some stage I will focus on the shorter stuff and aim to make serious inroads on the 5km/10km times but that will all have to wait for the moment! 

Approaching the finish line. Photo courtesy of Peter Mooney.

Saturday, 29th June, 2013 – 62.9km Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail
Back in February I attempted this trail run but called it short at 42km in Aghagower. Unfinished business meant I returned for another attempt on Saturday. The PB equalling 5km run last night probably didn’t help matters but I reckoned it was short enough and that the trail run would be nice and easy paced so there should be little enough overlap of tired muscles.

I started at 8:45am on Saturday morning from Balla Square. The weather was overcast and showery. The wind was pretty weak but I knew it was to get a bit stronger later on. The first 42km to Aghagower was quite similar as last time. Some sections were drier which was a help but then other fields were full of meadow so that took a little longer. It all balanced out to mean that I arrived in Aghagower in approximately the same time (4hrs55mins) as last time but I was definitely in a much better state - the hill just before Aghagower felt nowhere near as tough as last time out.

After a refuelling break in Aghagower I continued onwards past the ruins and the graveyard. Here I was looking for a turn to the left but knew it would be a bit difficult to find. After missing it initially and then asking a farmer in the field next to it I eventually discovered the track. This section was very overgrown and close to unrunnable with briars and nettles and low hanging branches to contend with. After about 800m I emerged out onto the main road again. This I was to later find out was the beginning of the second major hill on the trail. There was a walking group around here so it was good to have some company for a brief while. After a little longer than I’d expected I arrived at the top of the hill. Still I couldn’t view the Reek though as there was quite a bit of low hanging cloud around. 

By this stage my feet were getting sore, especially my little toes. They had been taking the slack for all the uneven off-road terrain to help keep me balanced. By now they were well blistered on top of lots of grit aggravating them. The average pace was beginning to fall back around now as I took a couple of wallking breaks for the uphills. Soon, I was on the downhill section to the Westport-Leenane road. As I crossed over to Brackloon Woods I really felt the worst was behind me and that I was definitely less than 10km from the finish. The next two kms were up through the woods on a nice tree-covered path. It was good to be sheltered from the wind as it had been quite exposed on parts of the last 5 miles and the wind was now quite strong. A couple of kms of back roads followed Brackloon Woods and soon I was at the base of the Skelp. This is where the beginning of the end occurred.

The first 1.5 miles are uphill with an elevation gain of over 150m along laneways and mountain trail. The next mile was further uphill but also had very thick heather which had to be negotiated. This section really broke me and when I eventually got to the end of this section I had to have a sit-down and clean out my shoes and socks! I figured the rest should be easy as it meant dropping height and then contouring around the mountain. The reality however meant the descent was too steep to run and then when contouring there was no trail at all. Instead a few waymarkers dotted along the mountainside gave you the general direction to follow but there was now a very strong wind in my face and the terrain brought an endless amount of downhill streams which made the ground saturated all the way to the end of the trail 2 miles away! 

Eventually I reached the terminal sign, just 100m above St. Patrick’s statue and a further 500m to the main road. 7hrs 55mins after starting out in Balla I reached Campbell’s bar. Happy to be sitting down and no longer having to deal with the unreasonable mountain terrain I ordered and savoured one of the tastiest pints of Guinness I’ve ever experienced!

Sunday, 30th June, 2013 – Rest Day
Small toes on both feet still very tender so no point in going out for a run to compound the matter – rest day instead.

Week 26 Summary:
RTW: 4 from 7 days
DTW: 88.8km
DTY: 2092.5km

Sub 20min 5k at last!

Tuesday 21st May 2013 – 10.0km Bob Heffernan 5km.

Back into the swing of things this evening with a 5km race that comes very highly recommended by anyone I know that’s ever ran it. I was a bit apprehensive about this as I hadn’t even managed a slow recovery run since the 29km of fast running on Saturday. So it was that on my warm-up I realised just how sore and tight my quads were. This really left me half thinking about should I really run or not but given that I very rarely pull muscles I figured I should be ok for this.