Thursday 22 May 2014

Transition week

When making my plan for the track season the 3 races that I wanted to focus on were:
Munster Championships (5K) 15th of June
Cork County Championships (5K)  3rd of July
National Championships (10K) 19th of July
I have no goals in terms of position but I would really like to break 16minutes for the 5K and 33minutes in the 10K. Whilst my 5K PB is 16.09 my best 10K is 34.03 so it's a pretty big ask. But I'm hoping that the mileage from the marathon will stand to me.
As time is ticking I'm in the position now where I need to resume training but at the same time be aware that I'm still recovering from the marathon. There's a saying that you need a day for every mile which is a bit convenient (a Danish guy informed me that it was a day for every kilometre!) so I'm just going to go with how I feel day to day BUT no using "ah sher I'm still recovering" every time things start to get a little tough.
With this in mind I said I'd better start the week well so did an hour after work. I was happy enough with this as I was up at 3.45 to catch a flight back to Denmark.
Tuesday brought a session and it was a bit of a voyage into the unknown after Sunday's abysmal performance. When I got to the track there was a football match about to start so I had a bit of an audience. I had sub 80's in my head and said if the going got tough I'd extend my recovery from 200m to 400m. They started well, with a 76 followed by a barrage of 77's with about 66 recovery. Wasn't really looking at my watch during the session, due to having to keep my eyes peeled for bolddrengen (ball boys) but as I'm constantly finding running on feel is best and there's time enough for counting when the dealings done!
Eventually the times dropped to 78 but was still having the odd 77. The recoveries slipped out to the 70's and then 80's but never felt the need to go to 400m. Ended up doing 16 in total which was very pleasing, the last 4 or 5 were tough but I was holding back that little bit, perhaps out of fear of humiliating myself in front of the masses!
Was pretty sore on Wednesday so although I had planned a "long" but slow run, i only managed the latter part. Took it easy today and will take it very easy tomorrow. I think for now the best thing is to do the sessions and maximise recovery between them. I would think my times should improve quickly if I'm recovery but I know there has been quite a lag in the past after a marathon training cycle & seeing the benefits (and that was without actually doing the marathon!)
Monday: 8miles @7.22 HR142
Tuesday: 16x400mm in 77 with 69 recovery (10miles total)
Wednesday: 10.9miles @7.36 HR135
Thursday:7miles @7.23 HR140

Wednesday 21 May 2014

Master of none

With Aalborg BK winning the Cup final on Thursday celebrating consisted of drinking until the wee hours and then having *ahem* some soakage afterwards. Amazingly managed to get out for a run Friday morning, mostly due to the blue sky that greeted me when I looked out the window.
As I was heading home & had lots of time to kill in Amsterdam airport, combined with being hungover I ended up in the KLM lounge eating comfort food and drinking copious amounts of coffee. By the time I touched down in Cork I was shattered. Not ideal preparation for the county masters track championships on Sunday. Of course I consoled myself with the notion that there'd be most likely very little competition.
To add to my woes my rental car started spewing smoke within a few minutes of leaving the airport & I had to wait an hour for the AA to arrive. So it was well after midnight before I got to bed.
Took Saturday off and headed to CIT not exactly full of enthusiasm on Sunday morning. After warming (and indeed catching) up with my seldom seen clubmates I made it to the startline. I asked how many O35's there were and the girl at checkin said 3. Well that's a medal sorted anyway I replied, so long as I finish. Oh how the words nearly returned to haunt me! After eyeing up the competition I determined unless the marathon miraculously disappeared from my legs I would have to settle for second.
Sure enough the guy I feared took off, I managed to stay with him for about 150m before admitting it was a lost cause. I still managed the first 800m in 2.30 though which was OK. After another lap or two, of the 3K race (7.5laps) I started really suffering. After being passed by 1 or 2 runners, one of whom was the other O35 I was at a crawl. I had forgotten what pain was like! I decided there and then that it was marathons all the way!! I eventually made it home in 10.30 which I think was only slightly quicker than the last 3K in Limerick!!
Anyway not to worry, as my Mother said afterwards, I knew you weren't taking it too seriously when you had steak and chips for dinner Saturday night. Hmm she might have a point!

Thursday 15 May 2014

Back on track

So a week and a half has passed since Limerick. My pre marathon post marathon plan was to ensure as speedy a recovery as possible. This would be achieved by:
Nutrition - lots of lean protein and general good diet to avoid piling on the pounds
Stretching/Foam rolling - Stretch regularly to prevent stiffness
Rest - lots of rest and some light runs.

Who was I fooling? From Sunday night I started stuffing myself with all sorts. It started off with chicken sandwiches (good) but as the week progressed it descended to burgers, pizzas, pastries, icecream, chocolate - I just about stopped short of eating lard!
Similarly the stretching etc. went out the window, although I did manage a 3 mile run last friday. It felt like I was carrying a rucksack!

Went for beer Friday night (complete with obligatory kebab and chips to end the night), and off to Copenhagen on Saturday to catch up with friends who I had been avoiding for fear they'd lead me to lead myself astray during the marathon buildup. Sure enough there was a food festival on next door to their apartment. After a pølse (huge sausage) I spotted an Italian dessert stand - (Censored)

 As the Eurovision con songtest was on in Copenhagen that evening, my original plan was to head into the city to check out the buzz. But in the end I just had dinner with a friend who's running the Copenhagen Marathon this coming Sunday. He broke 3.30 for the first time last year so is hopeful of knocking a few minutes off this year.

The one area I have been diligent however has been rest, thankfully my sleeping pattern has returned to normal. It's clear (to me at least) that it was partly the knowledge of needing more sleep was preventing me getting any. I also think that when my body weight get's below a certain level it affects me in terms of mood and sleep. So while it's OK (I think) to do it short term, I'll be trying to stay close to but above 60kg for the rest of the summer. Besides I've also come to the conclusion it doesn't make as much difference as I think. Especially if other areas suffer as a result!

I drew a line in the sand on Sunday as I ate my last snegl (rolled pastry snail with icing). From Monday I was getting back down to it, not back into full training but back into the mindset at least.
One week & 6kilo's later!

So with this in mind I went for a light run Monday evening. Even though my pace was 8.30min/mile, it still felt better than Friday's effort. On Tuesday I was moving apartment (again) and decided that I needed to collect my bike, which I had abandoned at work months previously. I ran from the new place and the tailwind inspired me to 20minutes at 7.40pace, wow!

The Cork Masters T&F championships are on Sunday so I knew I needed to do something "fast" this week to see if I was up to it and also to loosen out the legs. Decided that Wednesday was the best day to give it a go and despite motivation being pretty low I managed to drag myself to the track (which happens to be 500m from my new gaff).

After a brief warm up, basically a jog over I got going. The plan was to do 8x400m with 400m recovery. This was n't a proper session hence the long recovery.
Started off with an 86second, which isn't a whole pile quicker than Marathon pace! The next one was 80 flat followed by 79,78 with the remainder all 77's. To me this suggested the session had had the desired effect of loosening out the legs some bit. I originally had lofty ambitions of a PB (9.16) in Sunday's 3K but now I think anything under 10 minutes will be fine. Besides it's a race so I'll be racing the other oul' fellas rather than the clock.

This evening I'm heading back to Copenhagen for the Danish Cup Final and to catch up with a buddy. 'My' Danish team won the league on Sunday last so are aiming for the double. No doubt I'll be having a slight relapse as I'm sure there'll be a pølse or two and maybe a few beers consumed!    

Monday 5 May 2014

Limerick,you're a Lady

So race weekend finally arrived and began with a huge bowl of Havregryn which translates roughly into english as "I can't believe it's not porridge". Got a final rub down from the work physio, spent a reasonably productive day at work and hit the road for home. Made good time and was in my own bed for 10.30pm. Slept OK and threw on the running shoes one last time. After feeling desperate during a 10 minute warm up I did 3 longish strides, the purpose of which was to get the muscles ready to receive glycogen, and by crikey did they receive some amount of glycogen! Pretty much spent the day stuffing myself with porridge, bread, pasta, rice cakes etc. I worked it out that I took in about 450g of carbs which according to the 8g per kg bodyweight recommendation was about right but to be honest I think I may have slightly overdone it. Hit the hay around 9.45pm and slept for a while but it was a fitful sleep & I only dozed from around 1.30am onwards. Had planned on getting up at 5 but decided to make it a little earlier, had another super sized bowl of porridge followed by 2 weetabix and some bread before going back to bed and miraculously getting about 45minutes sleep. 

At 6.15 I was just getting out of bed for the second time when my mother came to check on me thinking I had slept it out, fair play!! Headed down to my brothers place as he was looking after giving me my bottles & gels. Topped up the carbs in the car on the way down.

When I got to his place a pretty foggy head greeted me from the upstairs window. Hmm, is he up to the task? was my first reaction!! Once we (or I rather) had the bike loaded up and he assured me he had “just the few” the night before, we set off. I was feeling pretty good, seems all my nerves had been vented on Saturday and now I was relatively  calm. I was also enjoying the buzz from my first cup of coffee in a week since I found abstinence had worked quite well at the Copenhagen half. 
I had taken a few minutes to write down my objectives while he was scoffing breakfast:
- Feel really comfortable until at least 10 miles
- Don’t look at my watch too much
- At 16 miles, there’s only 10 miles to go
- Don’t count down miles, just focus on the now.
Thankfully he knows Limerick city pretty well so we parked up close to the baggage area and went over the course map and where I wanted bottles, and where I wanted gels. 
We were in plenty of time as I wasn’t planning on doing much of a warm up, the weather was grand so I disrobed and just threw on an old long sleeved T-shirt over my singlet. I left Paul on his way to the first drink station at 4 miles and made my way to the start area. Thankfully it was pretty quiet near the front and there were even toilets easily accessible virtually on the start line. 
So on to the plan: I had in my head 3 times. Sub 2.45 - acceptable, Sub 2.40 - my goal time. Sub 2.38 - an absolute dream. One way or another I wanted to pass half way no quicker than 80 minutes (6.06minute miling). 
Just as we were about to line up I spotted irish Olympian Pauline Curley, I seized the opportunity to ask her what time she was planning on and she said she hadn’t a clue. Damn, as I knew if she was doing 2.40 she’d be like a metronome. She asked me what I was going for, eh 2.40 to 2.45 I said and she said belt away (incidentally she ran 2.44 for first lady). I hoped she wouldn’t be passing by at mile 20 with me in a heap!! 
At this point I noticed Gary O’Hanlon, Phillip Harty and an Athenry AC athlete who appeared to be of East African extraction. Hmm, 2.44 was good for 3rd place last year but I knew this wouldn’t be the case with these guys in town! In one sense I decided it was a good thing as it meant I could concentrate solely on the clock.
After the strangest countdown ever (10,9,8,7 - go!) we were on our way & I found myself settling into around 10th place following a relay runner. I felt nice and relaxed (he was breathing heavily, which was oddly reassuring) and my pace settled around 6 minute milling . So far so good. As we made our way through the city centre, there were one or two drags which I took very handily and my pace dropped to around 6.10 or so. Grand job, for now. I passed the relay guy and another runner on a downhill so was inside the top 10. 

Early days (courtesy Doonen AC)

We headed out towards the university on a combination of roads, footpaths and cycle paths. I was feeling OK, not incredible but was just doing my best to relax. Before we entered the campus I managed to pick off another guy. I passed marathon legend Jerry Kiernan (spectating) at one stage which gave me a lift. Through the University was  a little tricky as the route wasn’t 100% clear and I was wasting some energy asking for directions. I passed the 10k point in 38:14 which was just behind schedule. My HR was remaining around 150 though so there was no reason to panic. At one point I thought I was gone off course as it wasn’t very clear where I should be going. I was pretty relieved when I finally saw a marshall!
Thankfully I was back onto roads now and on an out and back section of the course. Got another drink from my trusty brother at this stage, who was doing his job to a T so far. At about 8 miles the trio who I had seen at the start came hurtling towards me in tight formation. Another few guys came past and I could see I was in 8th place. As I reached the turn around point and went from being hunter to hunted I could see I had maybe 3 or 4 (including Pauline) spread out within a minute or so behind me. Behind them there were a few groups and it crossed my mind how easily it would be to lose 20 places if they were to pass. 
I got back to work, still feeling OK, my pace was 6.08 but I managed to bring it to 6.07 on the way back towards the the city centre. I was still a little behind schedule at 10 miles, I had picked up the effort ever so slightly but was still holding back just a little bit. My plan had been to take a gel at 11 miles but as my stomach was a tiny bit dodgy I decided I just wanted a drink which Paul got to me seamlessly. 
Around 12 miles in there was a number of French people (or French speaking at least) and with a few Allez Frank (my name was on my number which is a nice touch). I managed a merci! but stopped short of adding a beaucoup. There was some nice downhill sections before we got to halfway (as we had done a lot more climbing that I had anticipated) and my pace was now bang on 6.06. Passed half way in 79.58. Good man! 
The course began to climb again though putting me straight into positive split territory but thankfully once over it there was a nice decent so I made back the ground. We were heading into the countryside and I could see Mike Curley Cunningham up ahead. As we were gradually climbing I was able to use his purple singlet and ponytail as a beacon. I spent about a mile giving chase before finally catching and passing him around the 15 or 16 mile mark. I was soon alone again and after a toughish mile or two I was on my way back into town with the wind at my back. Was feeling relatively comfortable now but resisted the urge to push too hard. I concentrated on my form and sure enough, more due to the course than anything else my pace dropped to 6.05, brilliant stuff I thought. My brother was still handling his task very well, I can’t remember exactly what I took on where but it was doing the job!
At around mile 19 or thereabouts the road began to pull up for a while and I struggled a bit for the first time. I had a short crisis of confidence but thankfully it didn’t last too long. We were back into the city now and my pace was down to 6.03. I had strung together my fastest miles of the race now with a few 5.48’s so hoped I’d banked some time for later on as I knew there was a few hills on the other side of the Shannon. At this stage I was so sick of the lack of direction from the marshals I asked Paul to go ahead and recce the course which was very helpful. Once we got across the bridge the course did indeed get tough, although on one particular climb I could see in Thomond Park which was both a welcome distraction and inspiration not to give up.
After negotiating some tricky housing estates we rounded the Gaelic grounds. I was tiring now but was pretty much sticking to the task. I wasn’t suffering like I was in the Copenhagen half, but didn’t feel I had the wherewithal to push on faster. I could have risked it, but I really didn’t want it to come back and bite me. As we headed in the Ennis road, a road I know quite well from going to GAA matches I knew I had one last loop to do before the final trek back to the city centre. We turned sharp right down a short avenue and I was never so happy to feel the full force of the breeze in my face. I knew this meant that  once I got past the next corner it would be blowing across for the rest of the race. I took one last gel at around 23.5 miles and just focused, focused, focused. 
My pace had gone back to 6.04 & then 6.05 and I was now doing my slowest miles of the race but I think I was still pretty confident of breaking 2.40. My brain was active enough to note my garmin read 25.05 as I passed the 25 mile marker so I checked my time once I got to 25.30 and it read 2.33.30. OK so I needed to run at least a 6.30 last mile. As I had had a few 6.17’s I knew I couldn’t afford to drop off the pace at all. 
And then as if from nowhere, an angel appeared in the form of a yellow singlet up ahead. Straight away I zoned in on it like a heat seeking missile. To be honest I didn’t really care if I caught him or not I just had a target. I could see he was struggling as I focused on his back and nothing else. He kept coming closer to me and the city was coming closer to us both. I could hear the cackle from the announcer but I was in a tunnel, with a yellow light at the end of it, drawing me ever closer. Now I was getting greedy, I knew he was within range. News had filtered through to me a few miles back that one of the guys up ahead had dropped out so I knew 5th place was within reach. Finishing time became immaterial. As we reached the bank of Shannon I finally passed my friend and he didn’t react. I was on the bridge now and could see a gantry and for a second thought it was the finish line. It wasn’t however so I just drove on as hard as I could. I just decided to give it everything and when I finally rounded the last corner and searched desperately for the clock, afraid to look at my wrist in case it lied. 2.39.13 with a few meters to go. I made one final push and crossed the line in 2.39.26. YESSSSSS!!!!! 
What followed is a bit of a blur, the emotion caught up with me and it was as if every mile I did since the first of January flooded through me. A steward could see this and she sort of said,you’re happy, aren’t you? I smiled and starting talking what was most likely gibberish.
To cut a long story a little shorter, after a quick rub down, I met Paul and hugged him for probably the first time in my life - sober anyway!! We went for a nice lunch and a few beers and then some of the nice tea and sandwiches I ever had.
The course was definitely harder than I expected so was more than happy to break 2.40. Still pinching myself really!

And now? Well at the risk of being self indulgent, to borrow some lines from Denis Allen (well I was on a 6am flight)
"While waking in the arms of distant waters
a new day finds me far away from home
and L
imerick You're My Lady
the one true love that I have ever known"

Thursday 1 May 2014

Time to rest

While still on my exile from carbohydrates I planned on doing one last run yesterday evening. I was still pretty much listless but I said to myself if I can't do 45-50 minutes, how would I survive when the going inevitably gets tough on Sunday?
With this in mind I started off in a positive frame of mind. Once I started off I realised I was feeling a fair bit better than the previous day (admittedly I had a small amount of beetroot & kidney beans at lunch so there was some glycogen in my system!). So after a mile I decided to knock out a bit at marathon pace just to get myself in the mood for running fast on empty. Once I got going the pace dropped to 5.55per mile, it wasn't easy - but it was manageable. After a mile I decided to keep going, it was definitely a good mental exercise and kept it up for another mile which I completed in 6.01. I was pretty spent and shuddered (briefly) at the thought of doing 26.2 miles at not THAT much slower pace!! But then I reassured myself with fueling, rest etc. etc.
Once I slowed down I actually felt pretty good and did another 5 miles.
Wasn't as tired as I had been previously and even today I feel OK. Not sure what that means, I don't think the body can switch to relying on fats so quickly, maybe it's just the knowledge that the carbs are just around the corner :)

Regarding the second reason for the dearth of carbs, weight maintenance, I've actually lost a bit of weight since I started and was at an all time low this morning of 57.5kg. I don't think too much of this was fat loss though and more to do with the lack of carbs meaning less water retention (3g water for ever gramme of glycogen). This will no doubt revert back to normal over the next 2.5 days but this was always part of the plan.

I will now take today and tomorrow off, do a little stretching etc. My shoulder and general right hand side is still a little sore since Monday's bathroom malfunction, but it didn't affect my running. Maybe it's good to have something to worry about!
Wednesday: 8miles @ 6.59 HR 143 including 2miles @5.55,6.01