Setbacks

Haven't been blogging lately so below is a rough summary

So on the Friday following Ballycotton, it was the run that has been on my mind ever since I realised I had 7 hours to kill in Schiphol airport and decided to get my long run out of the way here. I was fretting about the logistics, Even though I've been through Schiphol over 200 times over and have used the lockers etc. before. I was more nervous about finding a route that

A) wouldn't get me lost, and

B) wouldn't have me stopping for traffic 

The reason b was important because it was my second fast finish long run. I think this is the main reason I was so nervous as it would be a good indicator of whether I was on track for my marathon goal which is getting ever closer. 

I read back over my post for my first FFLR which had gone really well and I noted I had had a terrible week leading up to it. I've felt ok this week so it should go even better right ? The plan was 10 miles at 140 HR followed by 5miles @ 6.10 followed by another 5 as fast as possible. 

 I was well fueled having had pancakes with 50/50 flour and porridge for dinner and a large bowl of porridge for breakfast at 8.30 and topped up at Copenhagen airport with some rugbrød. Felt grand for the first 4 or 5 miles but fairly rubbish heading towards 10. Not to worry , almost a carbon copy of the last day. 

However as soon as I tried to get going I knew it was going to be a tough day. I was struggling to get below 6.20 pace. After a mile or so I was tempted just to make it a regular long run, I'm sure if I was closer to the airport I'd have said to Hell with it! But I decided it would be a long walk of shame and despite not wearing stilettos I would have felt eyes looking at me and bowing and shaking their heads. Anyway I soldiered on and even though I expected the wind to be at my back I hadn't counted on some canals not being straight but the breeze wasn't too strong in any case. I kept thinking I'd reevaluate after each mile and now I had a slight pain in my left calf. I just about got through it but was knackered.

20 miles including 10miles @ 6.50 + 9miles (6.16/6.15/6.28/6.30/6.23/6.31/6.18/6.35/6.54) + 1 mile HR 137.

Got out for 6 miles on Saturday and calf was a bit sore but nothing major. I had tinkered with the idea of a second run that evening but as all my problems started almost to the day last year I decided to not bother with it. Little did I know it would be my last run for 6 days.

Weekly total: 83 miles

I wasn't really in the mood to run Sunday and with my calf the way it was easy to convince myself to give it a miss. I woke up on Monday (I was n't flying back until Tuesday morning) with a bad cold and feeling miserable. Now normally I'd run away with a cold but I was completely lacking in energy. It didnt abate for the week and I attempted a run on Thursday but had to give in after less than a mile and just go to bed.

By Saturday I was finally feeling some way normal so I attempted to run again and let off some pent up energy - felt Ok thankfully and managed 9.1 miles @6.33 HR 139.

I realised I really needed to get a long run in, so managed to restrict myself to water while watching Ireland retain their 6 nations title and got up early on Sunday morning. 4 weeks out from Manchester and at this stage last year I managed 24 miles. As always I aim for 20 & see what happens. Things went well for the first 13 miles or, I was cruising along at around 6.40 pace. It did get tricky then very quickly and by 16 miles I was knackerered. Held it together until 18miles after which my pace really dropped off and my hamstrings were suffering. Kept going until 22.4 miles or 2hrs35 minutes in absolute bits.

22.4miles @ 6.55 HR 137 Weekly Total: 32 miles

Was still wrecked on Monday, ran to and from work. The run in was bad but the run home was one of my toughest ever.

AM 4miles @ 7:54 HR 121

PM 4.3miles @ 8:17 HR115

Tired today (tuesday) but managed a slightly longer run in. Plan was to run home but screw it!

AM 7.3miles @ 7:33 HR 129

 

Ballycotton 10

On getting in to Cork I settled on Midleton as a venue for my run. Just managed an easy 6miles and I couldn't wait to get it done and dusted. Felt similarly on Saturday morning, 3 miles never felt so long!!

Friday 6 @ 7.18 HR 127

Sat 3miles @ 7.47 HR 125

And then the big day arrived, the 38th Ballycotton 10. The conditions were nigh on perfect with the light breeze due to push us home. I was nervous, I had 55 minutes in my head but knew it would be a pretty tall order. My weight had dropped to 62.1kg - you might n't be able to fatten the pig the day before the Mart but you can slim down the runner thankfully! I had some work to do Sunday morning so unlike other races I didn't go prerun the race in my head which I don't think made a difference either way – the plan usually goes out the window anyway!! 

After a big feed of carbs I hit the road but between the jigs and the reels I found myself quite late getting to the start line. I barely had time for a 2mile warm up which was done quickly and didn't even manage any strides. 

Maybe because of this when the gun went I struggled with the pace a little. Usually running down through the village is the easiest thing in the world. I reassured myself with how bad I felt for the first mile of the half marathon last year which turned out a PB so early days yet. I was struggling to stay with a group so let them go. I then got sucked in and spat out my Maria McCambidge's group and as I assumed she'd be 55 minutes plus so this worried me - as it turned out she smashed the course record with 54 minutes!

As we got to mile 2 I felt I had lost my head , I just wanted the damn thing to be over and was already thinking just get it over with and enjoy the social aspect of the day. As my pace dropped below 5.30 I realized I would probably end up outside 57 minutes. Things hadn't improved by mile 3 but I got good encouragement from an injured clubmate who was spectating and that sort of shook me up a bit. He has since told me that I looked determined but up to that point I was anything but!

I started to focus on the runner in front. My pace had drifted to 5.36 but as I approached mile 4 runners were definitely coming back to me. The next mile and a half were directly into the breeze so my pace drifted to 5.38. I knew I'd lose time on the hill to the finish so after the turn I focused on pulling back some time and other runners. I was conscious of dying from mile 7 last year and indeed in the 15k last month so was careful not to overcook it. The pace did come back to 5.36 though so a PB was starting to look a possibility now, with the tailwind. At this stage I had it in my head that every metre that passed before the sufferfest began was a bonus. 

Approaching mile 7, & taking every step feeling OK as a bonus (pic Gearóid Ó Laoi)

I passed 8 miles in 45 minutes - the exact same time as last year. 

I was behind a Leevale athlete now and my focus was to stay with him up the dreaded hill. Not alone did I achieve this but I passed and dropped him. I was really suffering now but still catching runners and more importantly my pace still read 5.36. C'mon Frankie !! With about 1200 to go I caught another runner and considered attempting to pass but he seemed to pick things up. Grand job I thought and I latched on and let him pull me to the finish. I was in agony now but I managed to see the clock tick through 56 minutes I gave one final push to get through in 56.13 a PB of 35 seconds and one place down on last year with 33rd. Whilst a long way off my goal time I would deffo have taken it at the 5 mile Mark!!

Inside the last 400m - being dragged along (photo Joe Murphy)

After a minute of catching my breath, the next race began - down to the pub to watch the European indoor 800ms final. I walked in with 2 club mates declared we had no money but asked the bemused bar maid could we watch it. For some reason I thought telling her that it would literally take less than two minutes would help our argument! She kindly switched on the telly, just in time to see Mark English claim a brilliant silver.

Managed a very slow warm down with some clubmates before heading home for some refueling and a shower. Finished the day out with some pleasant pints and even more pleasant food before hitting the hay quite content before midnight.

Warm up 2miles 10miles (5.23,5.30,5.44,5.39,5.48,5.36,5.32,5.31,5.42,5.29,5.06 pace for last bit) warm down 1.3 miles. Weekly total: 54.6 miles

 Was woken early by a howling gale and rain. Managed to get back to sleep but just after 7am I decided to hit the road. Thankfully I had left my car in Ballycotton so had no option than to brave the elements. I took an extended route for a 5mile trot, covering some of the course from the day before. Didn't feel terrible but not incredible either. Managed to get a more enjoyable hour in at noon before having lunch and heading for the airport 

AM: 5miles @ 7.40 HR 131

PM: 8.3miles @ 7.00 HR 133

After remembering how knackered I was the last time I did a double the day after a late flight I set my alarm for 7.30 to give a bit of a lie in. Woke just before 7 so went out and did my most enjoyable morning run down by a lake, as it was daylight and running to work wasn’t an option due to needing to bring my PC in. Felt OK during the day but as soon as I laced up my shoes to head home I realized I was knackered and the hour was quite a struggle.

AM: 8.6miles @ 7.15 HR 132

PM: 8.4miles @ 7.10 HR 132

Was up a little earlier this morning but it was still reasonably bright so managed to run to work via some lakeside trails. Nice to get off the tarmac for at least part of the run. Felt pretty tired and even now a few hours later the stairs are proving a bit of a challenge. I’m conscious of not killing myself this week after getting injured the week after Ballycotton last year, so even though the miles are high they are pretty low intensity.

AM: 8.4miles @ 7.05 HR 132

Running late

So my recovery week didn't get off to the most auspicious start. After the hard week of training, I let the hair down a little on Sunday afternoon and had a few beers while watching Ireland put in a stellar performance against England in the 6 nations rugby. Ended up pigging out foodwise for the evening after being pretty disciplined all week, but I guess there's no major crime in that. It did come as a bit of a shock to my system though and as a result I hardly slept. At least this meant I was up in plenty of time for the flight back to Denmark. After getting to the airport in plenty of time I needed to find a petrol station and from there everything fell apart. I located a filling station but alas finding my way back to the airport proved elusive due to my terrible navigational skills.

By the time I got there my flight was closed and I nearly cried with frustration. Now I've missed plenty of flights in my time but it's usually been because of an epic night on the lash but for half a tank of sans plomb, give me a break! 

Thankfully I managed to get another flight departing about 4 hours later. I contemplated getting a run in but my stomach felt like it contained a shot putt, and not the ladies one at that. I trudged like a condemned man through security but miraculously I resisted the urge to go on a junk food binge which was sorely tempting, but the shot putt called foul at least.

 Almost went for a run when I got back to my apartment that evening but decided against it, said I might as well let the body recover from the week it had just endured. This has been an idea I had been toying with, so decided to execute it. Rather than a full low key week I was thinking why not break it two, ie recover a bit, build up a bit and then recover again. My logic is that rather than a week where there's no progress at all, by having a mini peak in the middle of the week I might make some gains but as the overall mileage is still down the body should hopefully recover just as much as if I did low mileage all week. 

I had sort of done this in the build up to Ballycotton last year but hadn't taken the Monday off, but I also had had a quiet weekend running wise at least in the lead up to it, so a Monday off wouldn't have made sense.

On Tuesday I did a session of 400s. I didn't even bother with the track, just found a flat stretch of road on my commute from work. Felt terrible and had times in the low to mid 80's. Yuk.

Ran to work Tuesday morning, taking the most direct route for once and also conscious of not arriving at the same time as the chefs (i use their locker room) I put the hammer down and ended up averaging 6.38 per mile.

Did a more sedate run on the way home but exchanged quality for quantity and did just over 10 miles. Ran in again Thursday morning but took a long route this time. Was up early this morning for a flight home and will do a run once I hit terra firma.

As a side note my weight has been frustrating me this week. I know I did the dog Sunday night but I had been good all week, and although as I hadn't weighed myself I definitely felt leaner. My weight was 65 kg on Tuesday morning but I expected it was just bloating from salt etc. I thought I'd be back to normal by today but as I stepped on the scale this morning I was still 63.8kg. I know my mileage has been down but I've reduced my intake to match. Anyway was in a similar situation last year and it didn't seem to figure against me so we'll see how it goes. 

Tuesday: 8x400m 8.7 miles total

Wed AM 4miles @ 6:38 HR140

PM 10.3miles @ 7:16 HR 131

Thursday 8.8mile @ 7:31 HR 125 

Fin de siècle

Today brought a bit of a milestone, my first ever imperial century or 100 miles in a week. Hopefully not the last one but a good week for the first considering that I'm off work. Was awake quite late last night - stayed up to watch the Carl Frampton boxing match and ended up just surfing the net for a few  hours after so it was about 3am before I finally shut my eyes. Was awake around 8.30am but didn't head out for a run until around 10. Had stuffed myself after the long run yesterday so wasn't that hungry so just ate some mango before hitting the road.
Wasn't sure where I'd go so headed off up a dirt road I had found a few days ago. This brought me up into the hills behind the hotel and I found the hippodrome which housed a 400m track which I had originally planned on using . In hindsight I'm glad I didn't as it was very exposed and I can imagine quite windswept so I was probably better off with the one in Fuengirola which has served me well.
Once I got up to higher ground I was keen to stay up there as long as possible to make the last few miles easier, so I ended up doing a few over and backs before finally heading back down to sea level. Felt quite nice once I knew I was into the last couple of miles with a hearty breakfast calling to me and knowing I am heading into a recovery week leading up to Ballycotton.
10.2miles @ 7.25 HR 130

Weekly total: 101miles