What a difference a week makes.

After last weeks performance in the Road Relays I was given  a dose of reality in the Intercounty cross country championships where I finished an abysmal 91st. In hindsight it's no less than I deserved, having had a pretty bad week in terms of commitment (sleep,diet,strectching etc.) On the day my only excuse, although possibly a valid one was my hydration level. I drank a bottle of water on the bus up but was finished it by 11:30. With my race at 15:15 I went through the rest of the time including warm up without drinking anything which was foolish & I knew it.
When the gun I went I knew after a hundred metres I was in for a bad day, with my hamstrings already feeling like they were after doing a hill session. I struggled around the course & just could n't get the legs going, and could n't suffer as much as usual either. All in all a big dissappointment but not a waste of time as the experience of racing against such a large (and talented) field will not doubt stand to me down the road (or field!)
Got back on the horse on monday by doing 85 minutes as the weather was pretty good for a change. Did 50 minutes on tuesday in the pouring rain followed by a talk given by a dietician. She emphasised the importantance of hydration (why couldn't it have been a week earlier?) but surprised me in saying that water is n't really enough when training really hard. She also reiterated the importance of timing and especially the first 20 minutes post exercise so I will try and make a concious effort now to make sure I've food/drink in the kit bag for after training. A final point of note she made was the importance of protein with each meal & highlighted that it's usually missing from brekkie so I've substituted the marmalade with peanut butter. We'll see how it goes!
Onto yesterday and it was time to see how the legs were in a session. The weather was awful but thankfully I had two lads with me to make things easier. Did 8x400's in 71 (last 2 were 72) and then managed 4x800's on my own in 2.30,2.32/2.34 & 2.31. Very pleased with how it went as it was definitely my hardest track session ever. In the back of my mind it helped to know that it was 10 days out from the National novice cross country. The last hard sesssion I did (14x400's) was 10 days before the intervarsities so hopefully there's something in that...
Sunday: Warmup: 3miles Race:5.6miles Warmdown:2miles
Monday: 12 miles @ 7.07 HR 142
Tuesday: 7.6miles @ 7.15 HR 145
Wednesday: Warmup: 1.5miles + 8x400 in 71-72/ 4x800 in 2.30-2.34 Warmdown: 1.5miles
 

Clean Runners

Went out in the dark last night for an hour. Wasn't really in the form but as I neared home actually started looking forward to it. It was n't raining but I passed through the route I was planning on taking & as it was flooded I made other plans. Unfortunately the water was unavoidable as all roads in the area were under water at some point. Of course as luck would have it the worst occurred at the furthest point from home with a 200m strech under 6" of water making for some cold feet but some clean runners!
Did a session earlier today: 2x800's followed by 6x400's. The 800's were grand with a 2.30 & a 2.29 but the 400's were a bit slower at 74secs's. Wasn't exactly flogging myself with the national intercounty XC championships on Sunday so no complaints.
Monday:8miles @ 6.58/mile HR144
Tues: Warmup:3.5miles 2x800 + 6x400 Cooldown:2.5miles

Athletes Diet??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiQMwfNHmB0
Steak & Chips, followed by 6 jaffa cakes & a snack before bed of 2 jumbo sausage rolls. What does this lead to? Arguably my best ever race performance!Had a bad week running wise picking up some bug that had me in bed shivering at 8.30 last Sunday night. Had managed 3rd place in the Lisgoold 5K earlier in the day and decided to do another 7 miles that evening for good measure. Shortly after coming home however started feeling off so decided to try and sleep it off. Took monday off & did the 2nd midleton 3K on tuesday evening recording a time 9.45 which was 8 secs off last time despite perfect conditions. Did n't feel physically or mentally up to it, and during the warm down had some terrible stomach cramps. Took it easy for the rest of the week & found it hard to motivate myself for the IUAA road relays which were being held in Maynooth on Saturday. Decided to head to my parents place friday night to break up the journey & that's why I decided not to bother with my usual pre race meal of wholegrain pasta and chicken.
The relay consisted of legs of 1-2-3-2-1 miles of which I was doing the 3 mile. I was very nervous of not letting the side down & hoped that the stomach cramps would  n't return. Settled into a nice pace on the first lap and managed to hang on to a guy from UCC as he went past & just stuck on his shoulder. Knew he was faster than me so said I'd hang on as long as I could. Went through the first mile in 5.02 but felt  ok so carried on. Struggled a little on the 2nd lap but still managed to stay on the other guy's shoulder. Around half way around the 3rd lap I was ready to let him off but suddenly I found myself ahead and drove for home. The last few hundred metres were tough but there was great support which helped.Managed to cross the line in 15.27 which I think equates to a sub 16 5K so was absolutley chuffed with that.
Took a day off today & will go easy again this week. National Intercounties are next weekend so will do that & then start back training hard for the munster cross country champs in January. Or thats the plan at least!

County Cross Country Championships

Woke Sunday & felt like turning over & going back to sleep. Not good. I shook it off & got up & went through my usual raceday routine of some light stretching followed by breakfast of a large bowl of porridge with banana mashed in & about 6 slices of wholemeal toast washed down with coffee & water. It certainly didn't feel like the day for which I'd been waiting for the last six months. Was a bit late setting off for Clonakilty but made pretty good time so was there about 90minutes before the off. After exchanging pleasantries with some of my clubmates & other people I knew we set off to walk a lap of the course. The 30mm of rain that had been forecast to fall overnight was evident & just in case this didn't make things wet enough there was a stream that had to be traversed twice per lap. The course climbed gradually to high point before losing all the elevation in a steepish downhill. I liked it as a course and was glad I had gone with the long spikes.
So onto the race: as we started on a slope situated on a bend I positioned myself at the outside effectively giving me a more gradual climb than the very inside. Started fast & found myself in 3rd postition after 100m or so. I relaxed a little and settled in around 6th for the first lap. With 2 clubmates ahead of me & a 3rd & 4th to pass me as we entered the 2nd lap I found myself in 5th place (8th overall) and with 4 to score out of the medals should we win. I hung in for the next lap or so but found the gap opening as the race wore on. As the laps progressed I was passed by 4 other runners but I managed to stay on the shoulder of the last guy to pass & got away from him on the last lap. Ended up in 11th and bitterly dissappointed not to medal but on the day it was a bridge too far.
Went out & got Royally p!ssed Sunday night as I felt I needed to blow off some steam afterwards. When looking back at the stats for the race on my Garmin afterwards I noticed my Avg. HR was quite low (170) for the race. Maybe this was because negotiating the mud was tricker than the effort available but I don't think so.
Managed to drag myself out for 8 miles monday even though I felt awful. Was planning a session on tuesday but still fet a bit crappy but as soon as I got going I managed 14x400m in around 72 which was grand. Just an easy 7 on wednesday.

Break out the 12mm Spikes!

As I type this it is pouring rain outside as it has been for the last few days. It seems to be constantly dark with not even a glimmer of Sunshine breaking through the gloom - perfect cross country weather then!
No more can be done other than recovery & fuel up. Got a massage yesterday & just went for an easy 50minute run in the evening. Will take today off completely (first since 21st of September) & just do a 3 mile jog in the morning to stay loose. Think I've prepared pretty well, but at the same time I don't have the 'mad to get out of the blocks' feeling that I've experienced after tapering for a marathon. Only time (or finishing position rather)will tell how well it's worked I suppose...

Total mileage for week: 39.5miles

Last session

Into the home stretch now so for a session last night I did 8x400's instead of the usual 12. The times were n't great 72-73secs & I felt pretty crappy doing them. That said the track was very wet & there was a fairly stiff wind on the back straight. I remember last year on my last session before the counties my first 400 was in 67secs & I ran terribly so maybe the opposite will happen this time. Really clutching at straws now am n't I??

East Cork Cross Country Chmpionships

No I'm not running the marathon. If I had to say this once over the weekend I had to say it 100 times. Went out for a few drinks (well Ballygowan) with some buddies on Saturday night & they were asking was it the marathon I was doing & when I said it was a 6k cross country race the inevitable 'shur I could do that' was the reply.
Anyway enough whingeing, did a brief 4 miles at the beach on saturday morning. Had planned on having a dip afterwards but the water was seriously choppy & I would have had to walk through a tonne of seaweed to get to it so I wimped out. Onto Sunday, a total of 11 men toed the line for the East Cork CC champs, we were the only club with a team (4) so we were always going to retain the trophy. This was one of the strangest races I ever did. Two of my clubmates who are undeniably much faster than me went to the front but the pace was easy enough to stay with them. We mustn't have been going too slow though as everyone else got burned off within a lap or two. By the the 3rd lap it still felt a bit easy so I took it out, don't know why - I suppose I knew I wasn't going to win so might as well get a decent workout. I dropped back again after this but the pace was still very manageable. Finally just starting out on the 6th & final lap one of the lads took off, I tried in vain to give chase. The other guy came around me with half a lap to go & even though I stayed with him for a few strides I decided that resistance was futile so let him on his way. With about 150m's to go he was however still in reach so I decided to give one last effort & as the line hurtled towards me I thought for a split second I had him but he copped me coming and put on a little burst himself. Still, was happy enough with my run & my first senior medal. A good preparation for next week.
Did a handy 8 yesterday morning - was home before 25,000 feet hit the streets of Dublin.
Last week: 53 miles total

Did I mention I forgot to do some hills?

As I mentioned in the last post I hadn't really done any hill work recently (which wasn't strictly true as I had done 4 x 1200's at some stage in the last month or so). Anyway I decided to put this to rights yesterday & decided to go to Walshtown wood where we do our club hill sessions. I couldn't remember what times I had been getting last year so just went by effort. The session consists of 3 x 0.3mile which gets gradually steeper, followed by 0.2 mile all out sprint on the flat followed by 4 x 0.2mile up a gradual slope & finishing off with 3 x 0.28 mile up a slope that's gentle at the beginning tough in the middle & not too bad at the end. It felt like I was putting in a decent enough effort although in truth I probably was n't pushing as hard as if I was chasing one of my faster club mates. This might come back to haunt me Sunday week as it was exactly 10days away so was supposed to be my hardest session before tapering for the county champ's. Still it's done now so there's no point in mulling it over too much.
Just did 8miles easy this morning as I woke early - nice to have it out of the way!. The East Cork XC champs are on this sunday so will do another easy run in the morning & then relax...

East Cork 3K series:Race 1

After a hiatus of nearly a month from blogging, I can thankfully say I've been a bit more consistant with my training. It is now less than 2 weeks to go to the county cross country championships which is my main race of the winter. My training has gone pretty much to plan (so far) with my endurance phase leading up to the Cork half Marathon. Since then I have been trying to build stamina (using 800's,1000's & long 7 mile tempo runs).Over the last week or two I have started doing 400's & shorter faster 5 mile Tempo runs & also cut my mileage back from 70 to 55ish to enable the quality work to be done. The one thing I have lacked really is hill work but hopefully this won't count against me too much. I managed to squeeze in a XC race 10 days ago & it went well, without being spectacular.
So onto last night & the first race (of 7) in the East Cork 3K series. I love these races, they were my real introduction to racing and as it's over the same course your time really lets you know where you are. My best time from last year was 9.52 but I was confident of bettering it. I had it in my head to try and do 3.10 per lap which would give me 9.30. I felt like I was flying when I was doing my strides beforehand - better than I've ever felt before so went to the line brimming with confidence. On the first lap I found myself a few seconds down on the leading 2 after the first 600m. Then amazingly without any extra effort they started coming back to me & I actually caught them coming down the hill which ends the lap and first Kilometre. Our time was called as 3.06. As we rounded the corner I left the two lads to their own race & just concentrated on holding my pace. Even though I still felt ok I had slowed down a bit over the second half of the 2nd K & my time was 6.21 at the end of the lap, a second behind schedule. The last lap was a struggle (as it always is!) but even though I was really tiring my time was almost as fast as the second lap so I ended up with 9.37 (3rd place) which I was happy enough with. Conditions were n't ideal so hopefully the 9.30 barrier is achievable before the winter is over...

Slowly does it...

Did an easy 65minutes on Wednesday, mostly on grass. On the advice of a clubmate I decided not to a session yesterday on the basis that I would still not be recovered after Sunday's efforts. I ended up doing 6miles fairly easy in Ballyannon wood, was going to do a few more but my knee became a little sore so I'm definitely glad I did n't do a session. Did 4 miles very easy this morning & will hopefully get another few in this afternoon.

Cork Half Marathon Championships

I had made a rough raceplan after seeing the course in my attempt to break 77minutes, which I felt was an ambitious but achievable target. This plan entailed getting to 6 miles in 36minutes (6min/mile pace)and running 5.45's for the the remaining 7 & a bit miles. In the back of my mind the 5.45's were a bit worrying so I was thinking maybe a tad under 36minutes would be needed.
The first few miles were fairly undulating and I felt reasonably comfortable doing 5.45s. I was in a group of 5 or 6 and we shared the lead with about 12 runners in a line ahead of us. This group was whittled down to 4 by the start of the hill & at this point I let the other guys go as I wanted to go up the hill at my own pace. By the top two of the lads came back to me and we caught another guy on the downhill. The downhill was murder on the quads but I was relieved to see a split time of 5.40 at the 7 mile mark. From here on for the next few miles was a gradual down hill and I was delighted to see my splits were hitting 5.30's. At this stage I knew I was on for a pretty good time as long as I could hold it together. I managed to do just that and even passed 3 or 4 people who had obviously put in too much effort over the hill. I took on some energy drink at around mile 10 & forced down half a cereal bar (and I really mean forced - it took me three full miles to eat it - sustained energy release or what!) I didn't want to repeat the fading off that had occured in Qatar.
I crossed the line in 76.10 knackered but delighted!!

Warmup:1.78 Race13.1miles 10th 76.10(5.40,5.43,5.44,5.46,6.06,6.24,5.40,5.30,5.35,5.39,5.45,5.45,5.43,1.06)Warmdown:1mile

Knee was a bit sore on monday so just did 50 minutes easy. Had planned on doing a session of 1000's yesterday but after the first one taking 3.32 I had to admit to myself that Sunday had taken more out of me so only did 3.
Will take it easy again this evening and try and do some quality work tomorrow.

Build up to Cork Half Marathon

As I mentioned Sunday is the Cork (and Munster) Half marathon championships so I have eased back a bit for the remainder of the week. Did easy hour on Wednesday & 4x800 yesterday evening. Decided to get to do todays run early just to maximise recovery time so did just under an hour as the sun rose, which was nice.Took a spin out to Blarney at lunchtime to check out the course and it looks pretty tough. The first half is around 70% uphill (as in the quantity not the gradient!) and a lot of this gain is lost in a sharp quad busting downhill. It's the same for everyone though so I won't complain.
Wed: 8miles 7.18 HR143
Thur: Warmup:2.5 4x800(2.29/2.31/2.32/2.33)with 400 recovery Warmdown:1.9
Fri:7miles 7.46 HR136
Total:52miles

Fun in the Mud

Did a 'half' session yesterday or 4x1000's. Had planned on doing 6 but a stomach cramp put paid to that idea. They ranged from 3.27 to 3.23 but as it was quite muddy I won't more too much. Running the Cork half Marathon on Sunday so maybe it's not a bad idea to have take it a bit easier.
Warmup:2miles 4x1000 with 2min recovery, warmdown 2miles

That 70's Show

Finished off the week with an easy 9miles on friday & Tempo run on Saturday. Struggled through the first few miles on Friday but was grand by the end. This still left me a little apprehensive about doing the tempo as I was planning on doing 7 miles which is longer then I had ever done before. After warming up I got into a nice rhythm, the wind was n't as strong as last week (although it was in the same direction). I felt comfortable untill the 6 mile mark and had to push myself through the last mile, both physically and mentally. No mile was slower than 5.58 which was very satisfying with an avg. pace of 5.56/mile. Was tired afterwards and could only manage 9min/mile pace on trip home albeit up hill. Was a nice way to break 70 miles for the first time in around 6 months.
Only managed an hour yesterday, had planned 1.45hours but decided to listen to the body, knee and hip were quite sore and just felt flat so called it a day. Did lots of icing and stretching for the rest of the day so hopefully that'll sort it. Weather was absolutely horrendous aswell so it was an easy decision to make!
Did an hour this morning in glorious sunshine with only very slight discomfort so hopefully on the mend.
Friday:9miles @7.18HR140
Saturday: 1.6warmup 7miles @5.56/mile HR169 Cooldown 1.8
Total for week:70.8miles
Sunday:8.2miles @ 7.31HR137
MondayAM:8miles @ 7.17HR137
PM:5.5miles 7.26HR142

1000's

Managed another session last night - 1000's and they felt a lot easier than the 800's of tuesday evening and for good reason. Even though it's only an extra 200m they were taking an extra 50seconds or so, partly due to hillier and rougher surface than the track but also due to less intensity of effort. Did six ranging from 3.27 down to 3.21 by the end and felt reasonably comfortable throughout. This is fine for the moment but in a few weeks I will up the intensity for the XC season.
Thursday: 10.7miles incl 6x1000m with 2.30minutes recovery.

Stupid Computer

Haven't been able to post lately as my laptop keyboard has decided to give up the ghost with a lot of the keys after dying. I'm typing this from work so hopefully my boss doesn't stumble accross it although in fairness he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer so I'm safe enough!

Anyway since last post I spent a wonderful week in Berlin seeing the best in the world strut their stuff and seeing some brilliant (and some not so brilliant) irish performances to boot, including Olive Loughnane's (pictured) superb silver medal in the 20k walk. Managed about 30 odd miles over, all at easy pace.
On my return I knuckled down and managed 67miles last week including a 15mile long run,a 7x600's session, a 5mile race (8th in 27.41) and a 6mile tempo run (5.57pace).
This week has involved another 15miler, and did 5x800's on tuesday in between 2.31 & 2.36. My knee has been sore since sunday but hopefully it won't develope into anything nasty...

Cry before Dawn

Found myself awake at 4.30am on monday morning due the youngest resident of my household waking up. By the time I got him back to sleep it was only an hour until my 5.45 alarm. Had to choose between getting another hours kip and hoping I'd have sufficient motivation to get out of bed and run or else bite the bullet and head straight out. I choose the latter due to being of the opinion that once is enough in any morning to have to drag myself out of bed. Managed to get an hour in and was still at work by 6.50. The days are definitely getting shorter as I was home before the sun had risen.
Managed another 30minutes monday evening on grass but was knackered but glad I did it as it seemed to help the legs. Did a session yesterday: 6x600's, had n't done 600's before so just followed the other guys for the first few in about 1.56 to 2.00's. Once I got into the rhythm I got the last three in 1.50 to 1.53.
Have a 3k track race tomorrow evening so got my run in this morning to maximise recovery time.
Mon:am:8mile @7.20 HR141
pm:4mile @7.20 HR138
Tue:2.5warmup 6x600 with 200m recovery. 2 mile warmdown
Wed:8.5mile @7.18 HR140

Back in business

My running has been almost as irregular as my posting lately so i unintentially took a few easyish weeks.I did manage to squeeze a few races in since churchtown south and not surprisingly there were no Pb's. Ran 4.47 in a track mile at CIT for second place during rising sun AC's open sports day. Managed a 16.42 for 3rd place in the Shanagarry festival 5k. Think I got myself someway back on track this weekend as I managed to do 6x1000's yesterday at the Cbs, all in around 3.23 although the first one was lunacy at 3.13 but I had a 3.29 to compensate for it. Did 14 today at the farm so am quite tired now as a result.
Saturday: 2mile 6x1000m with 400 recovery. Cooldown:3miles
Total for week:38.7miles
Sunday:14miles @ 6.56 HR147

Churchtown South

Haven't posted for a while so will give a quick summary:
Mon: AM:7.6 @ 7.16 HR137
PM:4 @ 7.03 HR139
Tues: Warmup: 2 6x400 in 73/74 with 200 recovery. Warmdown:2
Wed: Rest
Thursday: Churchtown South 5mile, Didn't go great - race started very slowly with first 0.5mile in around 2.50. Pace really picked up then & I made the mistake of staying in the lead pack, covering the next mile and a half at roughly 5.10 pace. Paid the price as I really slowed down after this & only got back on track in the last half mile as I managed to hang on to a guy who went past me. Splits were (5.22/5.13/5.50/5.43/5.28) giving me 27.42 & 8th place (again!) Very dissappointed as I was reasonably confident going into the race of running 27.15 or better.
Fri:8.15 @ 7.16 HR139
Sat: Did some hills down in my home place, and by God were they brutal! 1200m with around 100m of climbing, maybe the Tour finishing at the summit of Mount Ventoux inspired me!
Warmup 2mile: 4x1200hills (5.02/5.06/5.15/5.17) warmdown:2miles
Total for week: 53miles
Sunday: Rest
Monday:6.8 @ 7.18 HR138

Banteer 5K

Had a sort of mixed end to last week. Did a double on Wednesday with 50 minutes in the morning & 40 in the evening. As a result of this I was going into my tempo run on thursday with legs more tired than usual. And as a result my pace suffered. Managed to hold 5.56 avg pace which was 8 secs a mile slower than last week, but at the same time was still quicker than my first tempo run around a month ago. Had a wedding on friday so got up early to get some miles in but as soon as I started I felt a few niggles so decided to turn right around. Getting soft or getting sense - I haven't decided yet. Was in no state to run on Saturday so decided to head to Banteer for a 5K race on Sunday so that my two days of rest would n't go to waste. Was still not feeling the best after the wedding and was even drifting off in the car on the way down( thankfully I was a passenger). Still though I knew my rested legs would lead to a respectable time but as it panned out they led to a PB. Went through the first mile in 5.09 and felt comfortable - was leading a group with 3 guys in front of us. On one of the sharp turns on the course I lost a bit of concentration and allowed a few lads to get away from me. From here on I was pretty much on my own but managed to reel in one guy in the last 1000m or so. My splits were (5.09/5.13/5.22 & 35secs) giving me a time of 16.19 & 5th place.

Weds: AM:6.8miles @ 7.18 HR137
PM:5.2miles @ 7.52 HR131
Thurs: Warmup: 1.6 5miles tempo @ 5.56 HR166 Cooldown:2.5
Fri: 0.4miles
Total for week:52miles
Sunday: Warmup:2miles 5K Race. Cooldown:1.75

Speed Thrills

The ice bath and pretty good nights sleep must have done the trick as I managed to get around the mile in 4.45 which I was delighted with. I had been hoping for 4.50 or quicker so to get to 4.45 was a nice bonus. Not sure where I came but the winner ran 4.26 which is 5 seconds a lap quicker than me but not to worry. Ran fairly smoothly, covering the first lap in about 68 seconds. Settled into a nice pace and started making ground on two lads in front of me. Caught them at the start of the 3rd lap and overtook them after another 100 metres. Had no idea what my splits were at this stage but I'd say I covered the final 400 in just under 70 seconds.
After a short jog we did a session of 8x400's with 400 recovery. I'm not sure if it was the extra 200 recovery or possibly the leftover adrenaline after the race but the first 4 at a shade under 69secs felt very comfortable. I led out the 5th and unintentially registered 66secs. This set the tone for the final 3 which were 65,67 & 65. The last two were pretty difficult but all in all a very satisfying night.
Warmup:2.5 miles Race 1 mile. Jog 1mile 8x400 in 65-68 with 400 recovery Cooldown:1.8

In other news booked my flights to Deutschland for the World Athletic championships next Month - Can't wait!!!

Tired legs

Did the now almost routine 12mile long run in Welshtown woods Sunday morning. I had planned on going to 'the farm' as my body was pretty sore after last Sunday's effort in Welshtown but after the amount of rain that fell on Saturday the farm would have been sodden to say the least. We generally do 3 laps which comes to just under 12 miles & the first one was done very slowly with more energy expended in discussing the (athletic) issues of the week than actually running. About half way through the second lap the pace picked up and it continued increasing untill the finish. I felt comfortably tired & did a few strides at the end to bring me over the 12 mile mark. After the race in Churchtown South thursday week I plan to start making these runs longer as base training for the cross country season. I haven't decided whether or not to take a break first but I'm leaning towards not seeing as I only really started back in serious training at the end of May.
I went out before work this morning to save having to run this evening with the track race tomorrow night and I didn't feel great at all. The pace of the finish of yesterdays run must have taken its toll, with my legs feeling very tired. As soon as I've published this post I'm going to have an ice bath & hopefully a good nights sleep & dreams of 72seconds (or quicker) laps...
Sun: 12.1miles @ 7.16 HR141
Mon: 8.2miles @ 7.09 HR141

Change of Plan

Was planning on doing another tempo run saturday morning so dragged myself out of bed friday morning to ensure enough recovery time. Managed to get 5 very slow miles done & was definitely feeling the effect of thursday nights exertions. The one good thing was that the weather was nice as the rest of the day turned out to be pure misery with non stop drizzle.
Decided later in the day that I would n't do a tempo run, as I am doing an unofficial 1 mile track race on Tuesday so thought I would be better off with some 400's and do a tempo next thursday instead.
Just as I was getting ready to go I got a text from one of the lads saying that there was a few of them going to the CBS & one of them was planning on doing 1000's. I thought I might give a few of them a lash & end the session with 400's just to get a bit of speed into the legs. In the end I ended up doing 5x1000m and no 400's. We started off at 3.30 & brought them down to 3.23 for the last two. The McMillian Calculator suggests I should be doing them at 3.15 to 3.23, we did them on a pretty rough surface with a few little hills but I guess I could have pushed it a bit more.
Friday: 5Miles @ 7.48 HR132
Sat: Warmup- 2.75 5x1000 with 400recovery Cooldown:1.5miles
Total for week:48miles

Corkbeg 5 mile

After my reluctant easy week, I expected to be rearing to go for tonights race in east Cork. But to be honest I was n't looking forward to it all. After warming up I was kinda of half hoping I had forgotton my racing shoes so I could cop out. I took solace from the fact that I sometimes get this feeling before my best performances and that it's just down to nerves.
Sure enough as soon as the gun went off I felt grand and got into a nice rhythm and was in the lead group of 9 or 10. As the first mile was pretty much downhill I was n't surprised when my split time was 5.11. At this point I got dropped from the group & was out on my own although there was no wind so this was no problem. after about 1.5 miles the course took off up a steepish hill but I felt fine so I started making inroads on the guy in front who had also lost touch with the breakaway group (sorry Le Tour is on at the moment!) After a sharp down hill we were back on the flat heading back to meet the road we had ran out on. I was making steady ground on the guy in front and passed him at the 4 mile mark. I put a bit of road between us but I could sense him coming back so really had to dig deep up the hill we had ran down at the start up to the finish. In the end he died off so another 8th place. Thought I had done enough to break 27.30 as my pace read 5.28/mile but had to settle for 27.34 as I clocked the distance at 5.04 miles. Still a PB by 15secs so I can't complain!
Splits were 5.11/5.40/5.27/5.34/5.30 & 10secs for not apexing the corners.
Thursday: Warmup:3 Race 5 miles Warmdown 2miles

Easy week

Planned another Tempo run for saturday morning so to ensure I was fresh I did my friday run in the morning. Only did a little more than 30 minutes seeing as I did a little extra on my 'commute' on friday. Tempo run went well although I find I'm trying to beat my previous time which is n't the idea but I guess I would n't be at this lark if I did n't have a competitive streak! I was quicker incidentally & my splits were 5.46/5.40/6.00/5.55/5.43 - around 4 sec's quicker per mile than last time out.
Fri: 4.5 @ 7.24 HR135
Sat: Warmup: 1.6miles 5 miles Tempo @ 5.48 HR172 Cooldown:1.45
Total for week: 60 miles
Did a 12 mile run in the woods with the club on Sunday. Was going to do a session monday with a race on thursday in mind but then decided that I needed an easy week so I just did 40 minutes and another easy 50 minutes on tuesday. I then realised that I actually hate easy weeks! Why? cos the name is deceiving. Sitting down on the couch with a cup of coffee & a snickers is easy. Going out for a run is not. I haven't quite copped this untill now. I always expect that an easy week is going to be great fun but then find it really difficult to motivate myself to get out at all. At least when you're on a normal week the runs all have a specific purpose eg. the day before a session is nice an easy in preparation for the session. Then the session with it's own objectives. The day after is a recovery run and so on. Easy week, it's just running so yeah you've guessed it - I took Wednesday off!!

A happy Anniversary

On the 5th of July 2006 I entered my first ever road race, the Stryker 4 mile in Carrigtohill. I was training for the Dublin Marathon and as the race was on my doorstep I decided to give it a lash. My aim was to break 30 minutes and with a late surge I managed to run 29.39 which was good enough for 152nd place. Little did I know at the time that this whim was going to become an addiction of sorts!!
So back to the present - conditions were pretty muggy but it still was n't too bad a night for a race. They changed the start and finish slightly, for the better as it turned out. A lot of the usual speed merchants were missing so before the start I was reasonably confident that I could maintain my run of top tens (John Buckley 5K excluded). Was right in the mix for the first mile which was slightly uphill but when we got to the first real hill 3 guys got away so I stayed on the shoulder of the guy in fourth and was happy to let him lead the way. Then for some reason I found myself at the front of a group, not sure of how many but four or five from the cacophony of footfalls. I managed to get away a bit on the next downhill section but as the road rose again I could feel someone right on my shoulder. I pushed on as I could see my pace was at 5.29/mile and I was determined to break 22 minutes for the first time. As we entered the last mile my accomplice was still by my side and I was sure that he was going to come round me in the sprint so with 300 metres to go I gave it everything and a clubmate spectating told me I had 5 yards. I kept the head down as I could see by the clock I was on for a good time and in the end managed 21.48 and 4th place, another new PB & my best ever finish in a BHAA race.Was happy again with the splits (5.20/5.33/5.33/5.22) on what is a fairly hilly course.
Did a 10.6 mile point to point run today as my car is sick and I got a lift from work as far as Midleton. As luck would have it the wind was in my face but at least it was n't too strong I suppose. Was a bit tired after yesterday but not too bad...
Wed:Warmup:3.5 Race 4mile Cooldown:2miles
Thurs: 10.6 miles @ 7.01 HR144

The Early Bird

Despite the weather not being nearly as nice as last monday I still managed to struggle out of bed yesterday morning to run, I hummed and hawed a bit before deciding that the best time to decide whether or not to run was afterwards in the shower. I did the same route as last monday morning but this time even though I could hear the water down at the beach the fog was so thick that I could n't see it. It kinda reminded me of running in the dark in Winter which thankfully is still a few months away. Did 5 miles on grass in the CBS after work which went very well, was banging out 6.45 minute miles without too much effort which was nice. With the Stryker 4 mile on Wednesday, hopefully it'll translate into a good result. Just did a very easy 3 miles this morning in the slight drizzle in the field I used last week (the farmer incidentally had the sense to take in his hay before the rain came) It was nice to see a rather watery sun breaking through the clouds as it rose over Knockadoon head but that was as good as it got on a very dreary 'summers' day! Hadn't ran the day before the last two races but I'm not sure if it makes a difference either way...
Monday: AM:7.6miles @ 6.57 HR141
PM: 5miles @6.46 HR145
Tues: 3miles @ 7.33 HR134

To Race or not to Race

After thursday night I was in two minds whether or not to do the 10K on Saturday evening in west cork. On the pro side ,there aren't too many 10k's around these parts so to get one in would be nice & the numbers would probably be small so a good result would be a possibility. On the against side a 10K two days after a tough 5 miler would be difficult and would also probably impact on my 4 mile performance next wednesday. Also it would mean not getting much training done over the weekend. Either way I decided to run early on friday to allow maximum recovery either for the race or a session on saturday. The fact that I was doing a run around 10 hours after I finished my post race cooldown meant it was going to be tough, but I didn't realise how tough! I noticed a field with a gate open close to my house so I just popped in there to save the joints and meaning I could bail out (pun intended, field was full of bales) if I was knackered. Sure enough I didn't even manage 4 miles and the pace was just under 8 minute miling so I decided there and then not to race after all!
Did go ahead with a session at the Mardyke on Saturday and even though I was n't feeling the best while warming up I managed to get 12 x 400's in an average of 71sec's. Hard going but I'm glad I got through it.
Friday:3.9miles @ 7.57 HR135
Saturday: Warmup:2.5miles 12x400m in 71 with 200 recover. Cooldown:2 miles
Total:56 miles
Did a 85 minute run today in Welshtown woods, found it tough enough after yesterday:
Sun: 12 miles @ 7.07 HR145

Shanagarry 5 mile

Another Race close to home tonight - the Shanagarry 5 mile, second race in the Ballycotton Summer series. And no prizes for guessing where I finished, yip 8th again! Managed to beat a few of the guys who beat me in Ballyandreen but as the overall standings are based on cumulative time rather than finishing position I don't think I made enough time to move up too much on the leader board for the series. Race went well - the pace was quite handy for the first 2 miles which were flat so there was a big bunch of us together. Soon after the marker the leaders put down the boot a bit as we started climbing, I just kept going steady maintaining my effort and was with two other guys who like me were cast off from the leading group. We stayed together untill about 3.25 miles where the course dropped down a steep hill and were passed by two guys, one of whom was my mate who I raced shoulder to shoulder with in the 5K last week. He does a lot of hill running so descending quickly was always going to be his forte. As soon as the course went up again I managed to get onto his shoulder and I was back in a group of three having dropped one of the original posse on the descent, the other guy who had passed had kept the hammer down and got away from us. As we crested the last hill with about 3/4 of a mile to go Donie Walsh told us that we were in 8th, 9th and 10th, & at that stage I was just hanging on so was settling for 10th place. I managed to get some air into my lungs on the slight downhill into the finish and with 300m to go I manoveured myself to the side of the 2 lads and just gave it everything and just about managed to get over the line before them. Legs had felt a bit dead on the last climb and I was wondering why but it was only afterward it dawned on me that I probably was n't fully recovered after the session tuesday night so I won't worry too much about it.
Splits were n't too bad considering the hilliness of the last 3 miles (5.19/5.31/5.52/5.36/5.30). 27.49 total (PB!)
Wed: Rest
Thur: Warmup:3miles Race:5miles Cooldown:1.8miles

Double the fun

Did a double yesterday, it really was n't difficult to motivate myself to get some miles in before work as even from my bed I could tell it was a glorious morning. Ran down as far as the beach and did a little in the dunes before running home a different road purely for the sake of variety. It was brilliant having the beach to myself although a guy was just getting out to walk his dog as I was leaving. Stopped off again on the way home from work & just did 30 minutes. Am front loading a bit this week so I can rest up for the Shanagarry 5 mile on thursday.
Did "2/3's" of a session on the grass track today - or 8 x 400m. Was happy with how they went as all bar 2 were 72secs or quicker.
Mon:AM:7.6miles @ 7.09 HR140
PM:3.6miles @ 7.07 HR142
Tue: Warmup:2.5miles 8x400m Cooldown:2.8miles

Heading for the Hills.

Went down to my folks place yesterday afternoon and made arrangements to run with a neighbour of theirs who I race against regularly on the local scene. He swears by a 2 to 2.5hour run he does in the Galtee Mountains most Sunday Mornings. I had joined him once before so I knew what to expect - long,long climbs and a few fairly hairy downhills. I must say I enjoyed it, we managed to stay out for just over 1Hr 50 but it seemed a lot shorter due to the variety of the route. Usually you get some panoramic views of counties Limerick, Cork and Tipperary from the highest point but today it was so foggy you could barely see 100m ahead.Needless to say the pace was pretty slow but according to the Garmin we climbed around 2800ft in total (although I find it's not very accurate at reading altitude) Felt pretty tired at the end but not exhausted, will see how the legs are tomorrow...
Sun:14.33 @ 7.51 HR139

Tempo, Tempo

Planned on doing a session on thursday but had only 4x400's done when my stomach came at me so I decided to pack it in. I was n't exactly flying it so maybe it wasn't a great idea to push it anyway. Didn't get out at all yesterday as to be honest I had a few sherberts on Thursday night so was feeling a bit under the weather to say the least! Managed to rectify things today with a very satisfactory tempo run. The conditions were almost exactly the same as my last one so to be 5 sec's quicker per mile at the exact same HR was great. Splits were (5.40/5.46/6.12/5.52/5.53). That 3rd mile is still my downfall but as I said before it's almost all uphill and into the wind.
Thursday: Warmup:2miles 4x400 in 75secs
Friday:"rest"
Saturday: 1.6warmup 5miles tempo @ 5.52 HR171 Cooldown: 1.4
Total for week:40miles

The perfect Race

Finally I managed to race according to the plan. And thankfully it had the desired effect, a new PB by a whopping 28 seconds. The only dampener was I didn't manage to get a Top 20 t-shirt (23rd) but if someone had offered me beforehand a T-shirt or a 16:29 there was only going to be one winner! After a chaotic start got into a nice rhythm, I think the fact that the leaders took off so quick made it easier to hold back as I was never going to stay with them. Ended up running with a friend who always has the edge on me in the longer races but I seem to get the upper hand on distances of 4 miles and shorter. As we ran shoulder to shoulder we managed to pick of a few of the eager beavers who took off a bit quickly and we were gaining on some more all the way to the finish.Felt very comfortable untill the 2mile mark and pulled away in the last quarter mile and even managed to cover the last 0.1 of mile in under 25 seconds which was especially pleasing. In fairness conditions were perfect on this superflat course so I'd imagine there were PB's all round but I'm not going to let that steal my thunder! My splits were (5.17/5.23/5.23/<25) which is as close to by the book as you can get.
Just did an easy 60 minutes today, calf on right leg a little sore but nothing to worry about hopefully.
Sun:Am:5.4miles @ 7.10 HR143 (road)
PM: 5miles @ 7.20 HR141 (beach)
Mon: Rest
Tues:Warmup:3miles 5K Race Cooldown:3miles
Wed: 8.9miles @ 7.01 HR143 (woods/road)

Glanmire 5

Ran the 5 miler in Glanmire on Wednesday, was interested to see how it would go after doing the mini session just over 24 hours earlier. And it went exactly how I would have expected - 28.23 which is a bit slower than I reckon I should be running at the moment. It would have been even slower only that I was caught by a group of 4 with about 1000m to go when in 8th place and really did n't want to break my run of top 10 finishes so managed to hold them off just as they went to come by me and got away from them as soon as I saw the clock at the finish. The fact that I was able to do this meant that I probably was n't pushing hard enough to begin with!! Splits - again terrible (5.10/5.42/5.58/5.48/5.40) the first mile was slightly downhill and mile 3 had a tough but shortish climb. Nobody past me so I guess it was the nature of the course to a certain extent. Only managed 38minutes on grass on thursday, was pretty tired from getting home late from the race and a bit stiff also. Managed a session on the track (tartan not grass)on friday and it went pretty good. It was really windy so pacing was quite difficult but after the first one in 67secs I settled into low 70's before ending with mid 70's as the fatigue took it's toll. It was quite warm and I wasn't wearing racing shoes so I'll take that. Managed a very easy 11 miles today - felt quite tired and stiff but am better after it. Will take it easy now from here untill tuesday before one of my big aims for the summer the John Buckley 5K where a PB & a top 20 T-shirt would be nice...
Wednesday:warmup 3.1 Race 5miles Cooldown:1.5
Thursday: 5miles @ 7.38 HR:132bpm
Friday: warmup 2.6, 10x400m(200m recovery) 1.75 cooldown
Saturday: 11miles @ 7.40 HR:138bpm

Session, sort of...

Did an easy 40 minutes yesterday although it was quite breezy at times which made it a bit difficult at times. Today was planning a session but am also planning on doing the Glanmire 5 mile tomorrow evening so didn't want to kill myself. Decided to get there early ahead of my clubmates who do a regular session on a tuesday so's that I wouldn't be tempted to just go with the flow as my personality tends me to do.
Anyway after warmup got through 4 in roughly 75secs before they started feeling tough so just did two more so I don't know if 6x400m actually qualifies as a session (especially since some of my more illustrious clubmates would be doing 16x400 in around 67secs or therabouts!) Anyway hopefully it won't slow me down too much tomorrow although I think my SB from Ballyandreen won't be broken even though it's probably an easier course.
Mon: 5.6miles @ 7.14 HR142bpm
Tue: Warmup:2.6 6x400 Cooldown:1.5

Down on the farm

Got my longest run since I came back to Ireland in today and it felt good. Could n't decide between going to Welshtown wood which is north of Midleton or 'the Farm' out near the greyhound track. In the end I went for the farm for no particular reason. Had planned on doing 12 miles or 1.5hours, whichever came second. After the first few miles it became obvious that it was going to be the latter as the miles were flying along at sub 7min pace. It's amazing how much easier a long run is when the pace is quick at modest effort. Went through 8.7 miles in the first hour, it is a little training goal of mine to manage 9 miles in hour at a HR148 average and even though I'm still a bit off it it's nice to think I'm going in that direction hopefully.
One bad thing about today was it rained thoughout which was fine from a cooling perspective but I made the rookie mistake of not putting Vaseline on the nipples and although I didn't draw blood they're pretty red raw at the moment (TMI!)
Sunday: 13miles @ 6.54 HR148bpm

Tempo run

Finished off the week with an easy 5 and a bit yesterday, was planning on doing 8 but was still a bit tired after thursdays session and I knew I was planning a tempo run today so I decided to use the old 'listen to the body' philosophy. My calves were quite sore as well but I think this might be due to running on the bone dry grass track with XC spikes. If it's still dry next week I think I will wear my road racing shoes instead.
So onto the tempo run, I must say it went quite well, especially as I felt a bit empty during the warmup, but then again that was uphill. Had planned on doing 5 miles @ 6min miling and just about managed it clocking 5.57/mile or 29.49minutes in total. I used the same course that is used for the Churchtown South 5 miler and was only 9secs slower than last years race time. Took off a bit quickly but I knew that the third mile was going to be uphill & into the wind so I said I'd better bank a bit of time to ensure an even effort. My splits were (5.45/5.54/6.12/5.52/6.05), was pleased with the last mile as the last 400m were up the same hill and right into the headwind. Will hope to this once a week and see how it goes. Mileage for the week was quite low but with a race, a session and a tempo maybe quality and not quantity will bring the desired results...
Friday: 5.4miles @ 7.12 HR140bpm
Sat: Warmup: 1.6 Tempo: 5mile @ 5.57 HR171 Cooldown: 1.4
Total for week: 50.85miles

On the right track

Things seem to be coming back nicely - did 11 miles on wednesday, again mostly on grass albeit at a slow enough pace. Did a session today: 11x400m with 200m recovery & was very happy with how they went, especially as my legs felt quite stiff during the warmup. Started off in the mid 70's but by the end was hitting 71/72. Noticed when looking on the garmin afterward that the track is ever so slightly shorter than 400m but I guess this can be countered by the fact that it is on grass and is uneven enough in places. As I type this I can feel my legs are quite stiff now so will go for a nice leisurely run tomorrow again.
Wednesday: 11miles @ 7.32 HR
Thursday: 1.8warmup 11x400 cooldown 1.7

It's not a long way from Tipperary...

Finished off the week with a very easy 7.2miles on grass @ 7.51 pace and HR136 on Saturday. Had a wedding to go to Saturday afternoon so decided in advance that Sunday would be a rest day. Indeed it was as I balmed out on the couch for the afternoon and managed to fall asleep and miss the 2nd half of the Cork Tipp hurling match! Total for week:53miles
So onto to monday, which was supposed to be D-Day ie the date for the Cork City Marathon, once I got into the city I was immiediately pissed off that I was n't running. The buzz before a marathon is simply different than any other distance, even for a pretty low key one like Cork. The worrying thing for the runners however was that even at 8.45 it was already starting to heat up and like the previous two years the day was set to be a scorcher. I can imagine how frustrating this would be for someone aiming for a certain time, I saw some guys who I've seen run 57 minutes for 10 miles not even managing to break 3.15 so I wonder where that would have left me?
I did manage to get a race in Monday evening although it was rather shorter than the 26.2miles originally planned. There was a 5K on in Waterford village called Touraneena which allegedly was half an hour from East Cork. After driving for 70 minutes we finally arrived in the village which is pretty much just outside Clonmel, well almost. Anyway after warming up we made our way up to the start line which was worryingly about 200m up a hill and led into a blind cambered corner. As it turned out it did n't cause any problems and I got into a nice rhythm for the first 2K which were pretty much up a slight hill. Was shoulder to shoulder with a club mate when the course levelled out and we managed to reel a guy in front but I could see by his shadow that he stuck with us as we passed. Clocked my 3K time at 10.50 which I thought was very slow as I had been going through the 3K during the track races in about 10 flat. The last 2K were pretty much downhill and although the guy we passed got away I held off my Clubmate for 7th place and a new road PB of 16.57. Happy with that but would like to take another chunk off that before the summer is over... splits were(5.35/5.37/5.21/0.23)
Managed an easy 10 today in beautiful sunshine. Long may it continue!!
Monday: Warmup 2.5 Race:5K Cooldown 3.1
Tuesday: 10miles @ 7.37 pace HR138 was holding 7.10 pace for the first few miles very comfortably for the first time in a while.

Another Race, Another 8th Place

Very happy with the way last night's race went, 8th place in 28.18 which funnily enough is exactly what the mcmillan predictor gave me when I put in my Fota time of 22.20 ( I only did this afterwards so it was n't a psychological thing). The race started fairly slowly so was right in the mix for the first half mile or so but when the pace picked up I consciously decided to let them off so's not too repeat the fading off of the last few races. Very quickly there was two groups of four ahead of me and I was exchanging places with a rising sun runner for 9th & 10th. Things stayed like this, with my companion putting in little surges until just after 3 mile when we came to the first real hill. I could see a guy in front fading and decided to up the pace so when we past him he wouldn't latch on. This also had the effect of shaking off the fella who was with me. After the brow of the hill I relaxed a little and could here someone closing on me but they didn't pass. Not taking any chances as soon as we hit 'the beast of Ballyandreen' I upped the pace again to burn them off. After the hill leveled off a spectator told me I had about 20metres, this was with about 3/4 mile to go. The rest of the race was pretty much downhill, I could see 2 guys in front of me but even though I was pretty sure I couldn't catch then I felt if I could close the gap a little it would mean there was less chance of anyone catching me. Whoever said running down hill was easy!! the last half mile was agony, trying to keep the legs turning over quickly but it was worth it as always. 20 seconds slower than my PB but on a much more difficult course so can't complain. My Splits were ( 5.35/5.24/5.43/6.18/5.15)
Felt tired when I ran this morning, knee was a little sore at the beginning but loosened out a bit as I went on.
Thursday: Warmup 2.4 Race Cooldown 2.2
Friday: 7.3miles @ 7.34 HR143

Build up to Ballyandreen

My 'home' Race takes place tomorrow night so even though getting into top shape is my number one priority I still want to put up a reasonable performance, not exactly for a crowd that will be roaring me on (there won't be) but just because I suppose if a race passes your front door (twice) one should at least put in a little extra effort. So for this reason the week so far has n't been as tough as I could have made it which is possibly a good thing rather than building back up the miles too quickly. Did an easy run on Monday on grass made more difficult by the gallon of Heineken I had on Sunday night (belated birthday party, kind of), followed by a session last night. Did 300's again and even though they were faster than last week, I could definitely feel Sundays 10K still in the legs so only managed eight in an average of 48secs. Did a very pedestrian 5 miles this morning at the beach followed by 5 minutes up to my waist in the sea afterwards - bracing to say the least. That'll be it now untill tomorrow night, just a bit of stretching to stay loose. Knee seems to be on the mend which is a good thing considering the up and down nature of the course.
Monday: 7.5miles @ 7.29 HR147
Tues: 1.4 warmup 8x300 2 cooldown
Wed: 5miles @ 7.37 HR145

Youghal 10K

Finished off the week with an easy 8 on grass of friday evening. Took Saturday of as I spent the day rotavating the back 'garden' so that was training in itself. Also had the Emer Casey 10K on Sunday so it was no harm to take the day off.
So onto the race: Had hoped to at least break 35.30 due to my performance thursday night on what I had heard was a fast course. Turned out I got 35.45 (8th) which was exactly a minute off my previous best. Again my splits were shocking (5.23/5.13/5.42/5.51/6.03/6.13/1.19) Didn't think I took off too fast but the second mile was downhill mostly so I made the best of it and caught a group of four in front of me. As soon as we hit level ground I left them go as I knew I'd blow up if I tried to stick with them. Was joined by two other runners but they quickly burned me off aswell. Managed to maintain the distance to these guys and didn't see anyone else for the remainder of the race. This seems strage seeing as I was so slow over miles 5 & 6. There was only a slight hill so I don't know what the explanation is for slowing down so much. I guess I'm used to racing up to 5 miles so this may have something to do with it.
Olympic silver medalist Sonia O'Sullivan also ran today, it was cool to toe the line with one of Ireland's greatest ever sportspeople.
Friday:8miles @7.29 HR145 Total for week: 39
Sunday:2.6warmup 10k race 2 warmdown

No PB but Close Enough...

So did the 'Cheetah Run' Last night and I must admit I was reasonably happy but not delighted with my Performance. Managed an official time of 22:20 although I clocked it as 22:18 which was good enough for 10th place. What a crowd though - 650 runners in total so the start was pretty much pandemonium. Was on the second row of the grid and nearly came a cropper a few times in the first few hundred metres, but once the crowd spread out it was actually really nice racing on closed narrow roads. My race plan beforehand was not to go out too hard as I had done in the track races and was adamant that I would hit the first mile marker in around 5.30. Looked at the Garmin after around half a mile and was right on target but the next half mile was downhill quite a bit so ended up going through in 5.15. I also had speeded up a bit to get into a group with four others and stayed with them for the next half mile or so. At this point two of them got away and we dropped another so I was on my own with a guy from leevale who finished a bit behind me in the county 5K two weeks ago so I felt if I stuck with him he would fade in the end as I was going almost flat out at this stage. I seemed to be getting ahead on the hills which were numerous in the second half but all were quite short but as soon as we were back on the flat he was overtaking each time. Alas with about 3/4 of a mile to go he got away - I thought I might of caught him on the last and steepest hill but he had too much time on me at this stage. Instead I had the familiar sight of being past by a certain runner from Youghal AC who always seems to pass me in the last mile of races. Managed to keep a decent enough clip over the last few hundred metres though as I felt there was a few more guys bearing down on me and of course I knew I was on for a pretty decent time. Overall not bad considering the lack of training recently, hopefully if I can knuckle down to some decent injury free weeks of training the PB's will follow...
Splits as always don't make for pretty reading, although in my defence all the hills were in the second half (5.15/5.26/5.43/5.46 and 8secs for the last bit)
Incidentally during the warm down got similar stomach cramps as after the session on tuesday so it mustn't have been the cake after all. Started taking a multivitamin with iron in it so maybe thats the cause, next time out I'll try not taking the tablet untill after any high intensity work.
Warmup: 2miles @8.08
Race: 4miles
Warmdown:1.8miles @8.20

Session on

Finally managed to get broadband down in the depths of Ballycotton so no excuse for not posting regularly from now on, we'll see how long it lasts!
Have started back regular training now even though my knee is still giving me trouble. It's not sore enough to not run on it so hopefully if I keep doing the exercises given by the physio it'll sort itself out. Did 6 miles on monday at probably too fast a pace, due to seeing my pic in the 'Echo' (Cork rag) and got a bit excited, ah the vanity! Don't know exactly what pace I was doing though as the Garmin was misbehaving due to heavy tree cover in the woods I was in.
Did a session on tuesday on a grass track in Midleton with a few from the club. Did 12x300m in about 50sec avg. which is nothing to write home about but it was always going to be slower than the track. Had two slices of Cake (it was my birthday, only 3 years to go to Masters!!) at lunchtime and cramped really badly at end and was n't able to do a proper warm down.
What I must say though is there was a 14 year old girl doing 250's with us & she was keeping pace with the best guys there (one of whom broke 15mins for 5K on Sunday) Is this the next Sonia O'Sullivan I wonder...
Was very stiff yesterday so just did 3.9miles at probably the slowest pace I've run in 2 years. Doing the Eagle AC Cheetah run this evening so it was probably no harm in taking it easy...
Interesting to see how it goes, I won't even bother making a prediction but I'd say my PB of 22:04 is pretty safe!
Mon: 6miles @7.19(wrong!) 153bpm
Tue: 12x300m with 150 recovery. 7miles total
Wed:3.9miles @8.04 133bpm

Have a break...

Ran the County 5K last Sunday & managed to shave 2 seconds off the previous weeks time giving me 16.57. My 1mile splits were shockingly inconsistant though (5.13/5.24/5.44), although I kinda have an excuse as the masters 3k was run in conjunction with our race so I went with a group of them for shelter but as soon as they finished I died a death. Really had to push it at the end but glad I did as I suppose there won't be another track race untill next year. Came 5th out of 8.
During the warm down my left knee which has been at me pretty much since I came home got really sore, so much so that I had to slow to a walk going up some steps. Went for physio on Monday & she did some work on it & strapped it and gave me some exercises. I told her about my ongoing IT band problems & she suggested that my Glutes were weak so gave me some exercises to strenghten them as well. She also said to take some time off so I didn't do anything untill today.
I guess I should have taken it easy today & gone for a light jog but there was a 1 mile race in Ballinhassig so it was too tempting an opportunity for a PB to pass up. Sure enough I managed to knock 16 seconds off (5.13 set on the track) with a 4.57 getting second place into the bargain. Really had to push it to hold off the 3rd place guy and I'd say another 50metres and he'd have had me. The course was downhill in places but we had a stiff headwind to deal with.
Will hopefully start back proper training tomorrow. Marathon dreams are well shattered at this stage, starting to think it's not worth it if it i keep getting injured...

Munster 5K track championships

Finished 11th (last!) in the Munster 5000m track championships this afternoon. To be honest though I was quite pleased with my performance as I managed to break 17minutes (16.59.75!) for the first time. Was my 2nd track 5k since I came home & managed to knock 17 seconds since the IUAA championships last weekend. Have been running very badly since I came home so hopefully I'm heading in the right direction. The county 5k is on next Sunday so hopefully can shave another few seconds off...

Farewell Qatar!

Well last run in Qatar this evening, my flight got sorted for tomorrow, or so I'm told as I still haven't received a ticket. It's going to quite a trek though: Doha-Dubai-Amsterdam-Cork, I don't mind though as long as it gets me there! Found out today that the East Cork Road Championships are on thursday night - around 9 hours after I am scheduled to get in, but I will probably give it a go & skip the 10k on the track & do the 5k on saturday instead. Sounds good in theory but the logistics of doing it might be a bit more complicated as my car tax is out but sher we'll see. Anyway back to the running - Hip was very sorry after yesterday so considered taking today off. Thankfully decided to go out for half an hour on grass but hip was fine so ended up doing an hour. Was joined for a few laps by some Nepalese lads which made it pass quickly as they never stopped laughing and messing!
Mon:8.38miles 7.24@ 152bpm
Tue: 8.17miles 7.22@ 152bpm

Trying to get back on the horse...

Managed my first 10 miler in what seems like an age this evening and it felt good. My HR was through the roof, but in my defence it was really warm when the run started so that probably played a part in it. More importantly my hip which has been driving me crazy for the last week and a bit didn't come at me. I decided to run along the middle of the road as much as possible to avoid the camber and it seemed to do the trick. Up in the air about when I'm out the gap. Was hoping to go wednesday night but apparently there was no seat on the plane & the next available flight is the 27th. My visa expires on the 26th so they're gonna have to get me home somehow! Hope to be home by thursday as the irish intervarsities (http://www.iuaa.org/) T&F champs are on friday & saturday & I'd love a crack off the 10k as I've never raced on the track before. I qualify to run as I'm doing a part time course although I haven't done anything this semester for obvious reasons!)
Summary of past week (pitiful, I know...)
Tue:6mile 7.20 @ 148bpm
Fri:8mile 7.14 @ 154bpm
Sun: 10.3 7.03 @ 159bpm

Running on empty

Did n't bother rounding off to 80, ended up going to Doha to get a new Garmin but the shop was closed D'oh(a)! Ended up going down again on Sunday which meant I didn't get a run in again. Expected to be full of beans on Monday but I wasn't. Had debated not using this week as an easy week but decided after todays going that it HAD to be an easy week. Just had no energy. The weather wasn't helping as it has got decidedly hot & sticky since Sunday - I'd say the days of mid teens temperatures are finished unfortunately. My hip has been at me as well so I ran tuesday & wednesday on grass - much easier on the body but it's like running on a mattress so it's tough going. Overall a very bad week, hopefully next week will be better...
Mon:6mile 7.11/mi @ 141bpm
Tue:6.7mile 7.26/mi @ 140bpm
Wed:7mile 7.21/mi @ 145bpm

miles & miles

A pretty uneventful week really, was planning on doing some speedwork on tuesday or wednesday but it was really dust so I didn't bother. Was going to find it tough to motivate myself to run fast anyway as I still have no Garmin or any other means of measuring time accurately. Just ended up doing fairly high mileage instead: Sunday: 14 miles Monday:10miles Tuesday:13.2miles Wednesday:13.2miles Thursday:6.8miles Friday:19.6miles. Decided to do my long run friday morning, the weather forecast was for rain & a high of 20degC so I said why not get it out of the way? I also took the decision to forego food beforehand to maximise my dependence on fats as my energy source as advised by Greg McMillian in this article. Big mistake: I normally don't eat anything during my long runs but starting hungry was a bridge too far. By mile ten I was already feeling a bit woozy but still managed to get three laps of the camp which came to 19.6miles. There was no way I could do the extra 0.4 for 20 I was so wrecked. Maybe this is the purpose of the run but even now, almost 12hours later I'm still shagged!! My hip is a little sore aswell so hopefully it's not a case of history repeating. Debating runnimg 3.2miles tomorrow to break 80miles...

Back to normality

Just a plain ould boring 10 mile run this evening. It was n't too warm but the humidity was unreal. I was taking it fairly handy but I was still absolutely saturated after 5 miles. In other news I rang the local Garmin dealer about getting a new Forerunner. They had them in stock for 950Riyals (aorund 200euro). I can probably get one from the states for about 135euro but will have to wait about a month for it so will probably bite the bullet as I feel lost without it (how sad am I?!) 10 miles @7.15min/miles (Approx)
Total for week: 67miles

15 minutes of fame!

Got my first win under my belt today in The Ras Laffan Pearl Village Half Marathon. But I must admit I didn't beat too much. My time of 79.09 (for 21k, which I think is just under 100m short of official distance) was ok. Was on for 78 minutes untill the last 3 or 4 K where I faded a good bit which was to be expected as I hadn't eaten much (2 bananas!) beforehand and only took on water during. The next competitor was 10-15 minutes behind so it was pretty much a race against the clock. I must say it was a very enjoyable experience. I can remember getting the usual race feeling of 'I can't wait untill this is over' but then I thought hey when am I ever going to be leading a race again so I just savoured it. The crowds were great as it was around the camp so there was plenty of support. Was a bit aprehensive before hand, more nervous than I've ever been as all my colleagues were saying I'd run (literally) away with it but there's always the fear that there's someone better around. At the gun 5 guys took off fairly quickly, but there was only one that looked dangerous as he appeared to be doing 5min/mile pace. I need n't have worried as after about 600m he slowed considerably & I passed him before the 1K mark. Before the 2K mark the photographer in the lead car told me I had a 7 lampost lead (about 100m) and it was at that point I was fairly confident it was in the bag. The photographer obviously felt likewise as he got out of the car!! Kept the pace up as it felt comfortable and just concentrated on picking off the K's after that. Felt like a mini celebrity at the end as loads of guys were asking for their photo's to be taken, although when I went for a run in the evening only one or two guy's waved so I don't think I'm gonna be hounded for autograph's or anything.

Anyway Tuesday: 6.5miles easy
Wednesday: 6.5miles easy
Friday: am 14.5 miles (0.75warmup 13mile Race 0.75warmdown)
pm: 6.5miles easy

Custer's last Stand!

I'm pissed off. I homesick, tired and have an insect or arachnid bite on the side of my leg that swelled up to the diameter of a fried egg. Added to that my Garmin stopped working yesterday. Sunday was long run day but I decided to 'only' do 14 as there's a half marathon here on friday next. Managed the 14 alright but it has to go down as one of my must unenjoyable runs ever. Just couldn't get into a rhythm. This was partly due to the fact that the roads around the camp are literally overrun with 'newbies' with the race coming up (there's a 3k and 6k on aswell). Now this is great as the more people running in the world the better, but some of the guys from India have an annoying habit of 'latching on' when you pass them. They spend the next half mile or so panting like maniacs and pretty much in your back pocket. This causes me to subconciously speed up untill I drop them but there always seems to be a replacement around the next corner. Hopefully after friday they'll sink back into retirement!! A buddy of mine suggested to use it as a Fartlek session but the name of that particular training method gave me an even better idea!!
Sunday: 14miles @7.17min/miles
Monday: 9miles (approx)

Upping the Tempo

My runs for the rest of the week were:
Thurs: 7miles @7min/mile (147bpm)
Fri: am: 8.25miles @7.30 (145bpm) It was roasting!!
pm: 6.25 @7.10 (149bpm)
Onto Saturday - we debated going to Doha to watch Ireland play Wales knowing a win would give Ireland their first grand slam in 61 years, but alas we decided to stay in the camp and listen to it on the internet untill the stupid thing went down with 20minutes to go. (we won 17-15, good man RO'G!) But anyway, not going to Doha meant I could get a run in so decided to do a tempo as it had gone pretty well two weeks ago. Did a 10minute warm & 5miles at 5.54pace which I was happy with, although my splits were getting progressively slower. 5.50/5.50/5.56/5.56/5.59) which is something I need to work on. It was quite warm & by the end my HR hit 182bpm. Finished off with a 2mile warm down.
Total for week 72.5miles

Session

So I was a bit apprehensive about doing a session yesterday, afterall I had 7 or 8 bottles of Corona (that's a lot for me!) Paddy's night & didn't get to bed untill 1.30am or so, but I needn't have worried. The evening was nice and cool so I said there was no point in putting it off.
Managed to do 4x1mile in 5.14/5.27/5.27/5.31 . I really pushed to get under 5.30 for the last but there was nothing left in the tank. I have to admit I had a tailwind for the 1st one and for more than half of the rest of them, but the way I see it is that speedwork is hard enough so there's no point in doing it into a headwind.
My times did get slower which is not ideal, but pacing on the road is a lot tougher than on the track (especially when you're on your own) so I can live with that. Overall a very satisfactory session. (12 miles total)

Hot n' Steamy

No I haven't decided to make the blog more 'adult themed', it's merely a comment on the weather these last few days, since sunday the temperatures have been hitting the mid 30's during the day and the humidity is quite high also. Humidity is the last thing I would have expected in the desert but I guess we are on a small peninsula sticking into a rather large gulf so maybe that explains it. So onto the running, finished off the easy week last week with 8.5,8 & 5.5. Decided not to do 8 on saturday as I felt tired on friday and thats not what easy weeks are about. Total for the week 47.3miles.

Started this week with my first 20 miler on Sunday and was reasonably pleased with the way it went. Started off at 7.15 pace and gradually brought it down to the low 7's and my last mile was 6.57. My Heart Rate was quite high however - it was into the high 150's by the end but I guess this may have been due to the heat & humidity. I took on water ever 4 miles or so but I guess the heat is still going to have an affect.

Managed 10 on Monday at 7.10 pace @ 147bpm on an even stickier evening so was glad to just get through it. Took yesterday off to celebrate St. Patricks day (see photo, I'm the guy with the beard!) and thankfully today is a bit cooler so should get a decent run in hopefully this evening...

Down to Business

Ok s'pose I'll start with a summary of last weeks training:
Sunday 18miles -7min/mile Avg HR 147bpm
Monday 9miles - 7min/mile 149bpm
Tuesday: Session 11.2miles incl: 3xmiles (5.20/5.29/5.28) with 1/2mile recovery. Tough going!
Wednesday 7.2miles - 7min/mile 146bpm
Thursday 8.8miles - 7min/mile 147bpm
Friday 9.25miles - 7.09min/mile 147bpm
Saturday: Tempo run 4miles @ 5.54min/mile with 0.6mile cool down. Reason for this lunacy (ie no warm up & pretty much no cool down) was I was caught for time.
So a good enough week. My pace was a little slower than I would have liked as I had been knocking out 6.45min/miles without much difficulty in recent times. I guess it could be a combination of things. The food here is n't the most nutritious, not sleeping the best or maybe it's just the increase in mileage. Anyway there's nothing wrong with 7 minute miling OK!!!

This week (recovery week!!)
Sunday: Rest (went for Burgers off site)
Monday 8.36 miles - 7min/mile 144bpm
Tuesday 8.11 miles -6.58min/mile 147bpm
Wednesday 8.7miles - 6.58min/mile 147bpm

Ok stat's out of the way - next post will show a little more imagination...

What's another year?

As Johnny Logan said! Yes it's almost exactly a year since I had an entry to this blog, shame on me. My excuse? Well they are numerous: 1. I was pissed off 'cos I did n't break the hour in BallyC. 2. Shortly after my last post I got injured (IT band syndrome) and was unable to train and race the marathon which was the whole point of the blog & 3. I moved back home and did n't have as much free time on my hands. Anyway enough of the excuses, onwards and upwards: A quick summary of the past 12 months:

March - got injured, struggled to get back

June/July - Finally got over my injury and started getting the mileage up

August - starting to get back in shape, managed a new PB for the half marathon

Sep-Dec - Form started to come good, then went, then came good again.

Jan- Unemployed so started training full time, paid off with a team gold at the Munster Senior X-country championships (needless to say I was last scorer)

Feb- Got Job - in Qatar so away from the wind and rain for a while!!

So I pretty much find myself in exactly the same position as last year - away from home and training for a marathon. I think I'm a little stronger than this time last year, but my most important mission is to stay injury free. Longest run has been 18 miles so far. On an easy week this week so that means a handy 8 miles each night with one day off (already taken on Sunday)