Making the best of a bad session

The plan for today was to repeat last Wednesday's pyramid session. I felt that it should in theory be easier considering I didn't have the fast finish long run in my legs as I had last week. I was wrong. Actually as I type this, it has occurred to me that the fast finish was done in the morning whereas Monday's long run took place in the evening. Conversely I was doing the session in the morning whereas last week it was the evening, so I guess I had almost an extra 24 hours recovery in total. Or maybe I was just going better last week!
I had planned on going to the track but it would have meant renting a bike & trying to find the bloody thing! I decided it wasn't worth the hassle as I wanted to get the session in before it got too hot. Besides there's a lovely cycle path running along the seafront in Palma which would do nicely. After warming up and causing a cyclist to crash (just before I got onto the cycle path so there shouldn't be a lawsuit!) I set about the first mile. While I was holding 5.30 pace as planned it felt anything but comfortable. Not to worry I thought, just getting warmed up. Onto the 2mile section and things were definitely not going well. Was digging deep enough to maintain the pace and only managed 11.05. Knew at this stage my lofty hopes of doing the entire session at 5.30 pace was beyond me so I headed into to 3 mile section with an open mind. After a bit I looked down and the pace was around 5.45 and I was under serious pressure. And next thing I knew I had hit the lap button at 0.4miles and was jogging. As I contemplated the jog home and pondered if what I had done justified the chocolate milkshake waiting in the fridge as my recovery drink, I had a bit of a brain wave - Ok so I can't maintain 5.30pace so why not knock out a few miles at target marathon pace. Sher why not? Started off nice and relaxed, at what felt like marathon pace. When I looked down I was doing 5.50 miling. Hmm, it felt so much easier that just a few seconds a mile quicker, obviously being more relaxed helped. Although I thought I was at a pace I could maintain for 30 minutes or so, I had slowed to 6 minute miling by the time I hit 3 miles and by 5 miles I had to push on a bit to maintain this pace. Ok so I was going a little faster than my planned marathon pace but I think I still gave myself a timely reminder that even though a pace might feel comfortable it doesn't mean it's not too fast!
Not the toughest session I've ever done,  10 days out might be a good time to kill yourself before a 5 or 10K but I think for what I would have gained by really burying myself, wouldn't have been worth it. As I neared the end of the warm down it dawned on me - it's done! The training's done, happy days!! I'll do some sort of speed work next week just to break up the inevitable tedium but I won't even bring the watch (who am I kidding?) but nothing too hectic. Ok I guess there's just the small matter of the 26.2 miles to go...
Thursday: 2 mile warmup, 1mile (5.30) 2min recovery, 2mile (5.33) 3.5min recovery. 0.4mile (5.44) 2min recovery, 5mile (6.00), 2 mile warm down. 13.3miles total

Taper Time, well kind of

So in to the home straight now at last. I know there's often a lot of debate about how long the marathon taper should be, with 2 to 3 weeks often considered the optimum duration. As my training had been disrupted I feel that my situation is slightly different. Traditionally one should begin the taper after coming off the hardest training in terms of intensity and mileage & while I got some good quality workouts in, my weekly mileage had been hit or miss. Since Ballycotton (i.e. the recovery week of 57 miles) I had mileage of 77, 67, 23, 41, 57, 77. While I'm hopeful the lack of mileage won't come against me Sunday week, it means at the moment I feel quite fresh, whereas I should be on my hands & knees by this stage.
With this in mind even though I had always planned on doing my last 20 miler 2 weeks out I postponed it by a day as there was no way I was doing it the day after the 10K race. It turned out to be my hardest long run so far, not because of the intensity - it was my slowest one and on dead flat roads, as I've moved to Palma for the last few days. The hangover from the Easter celebrations meant it was mentally tough to keep going. Maybe subconsciously having the few beers was a good idea as I hadn't really suffered mentally on any of the long runs so far, so I needed a bit of "wanting to throw in the towel and just keep the head down". Even after 19 miles I wanted to call it quits but I'm glad I stuck it out. The pace was slow, but that's perfect as it was all about getting time on my feet. I think anyone that knows me well can well understand how I could fully integrate a night on the lash as an essential component of my training plan!
Did a 30 minute recovery run tuesday morning & felt a little stiff. Did another hour in the PM and felt a bit better but still not fully recovered.
Got up this morning with an easy hour in mind but it felt anything but easy. The old familiar big race coming up feeling of lethargy is starting to creep in but I kept the head down in the knowledge I could just relax for the rest of the day.
Tomorrow is 10 days out which means last session and then the taper proper can begin.
Monday: 20 miles @6.58 HR141
Tuesday:AM 4miles @ 7.47
PM 8miles @7.02 HR132
Wednesday: 8miles @ 7.23 HR125

Warm weather training

So on Monday I had the luxury of heading off to Mallorca for some warm weather training. Not specifically because of the marathon (although if it is an unseasonably hot day it may help!) I had initially booked a week off work due to the 3 Danish bank holidays at Easter, but I was encouraged to take an extra & didn't need too much convincing!
Following Sunday's hard long run, the first 2 days were spent recovering, an easy hour on the treadmill monday, and 2 easy 40ish minute runs on Tuesday (one on the treadmill). On Wednesday I had a session planned. As I said in a previous post I was planning on doing 4x2mile on the road, but due to the hilliness of the area (Porto Cristo) & due to there being a track only 15 minutes away I decided to make the most of it. Rather than the tedium of 4x2 miles I said I'd give a pyramid session a go, 1-2-3-2-1 miles with 2-3-4-4 minutes recovery.
As the day was spent shopping & generally messing about I was in no real form for it and was dreading it by the time I made it to the track. Still I said I hadn't come all this way not to make the most of the weather & facilities!
Found it a bit tougher than I expected to keep the pace (5.30) on the first, but loosened out on the 2 mile and managed 10.58. Decided to decrease the effort for the 3 mile but was still on 5.30 pace after 7 laps. The pace did drop off a bit but not too badly so I ended with 16.50 (5.37 pace). I suffered on the next 2 mile and only managed 11.33 (5.47 pace) and told myself that anything under 6 minutes would be fine for the last mile. Surprised myself with a 5.33 which was very pleasing on tired legs!
Needless to say I was tired the next morning so did an hour easy, or as easy as one can go on the hilly Mallorcan roads. Did another easy 30 minutes that evening.
As I had found a 10K race for Saturday I just did 50 minutes very easy on friday. Although I had Wednesdays session (and Sundays long run) in my legs I was hoping to see how I could go in the 10K but it turned out to be a humbling experience. For some reason I was exceptionally nervous before hand. Almost as soon as we got going I knew I wasn't in the right frame of mind, and that was even before the course started going up & up & up. It was a mix of trails and road so it was very difficult to get into any kind of rhythm. I just hung in and said it's training and ended up in 8th place in just over 38minutes (I know!).
Did 30 minutes easy on Sunday Morning & actually felt better than after the session. Goes to show the effort wasn't there, but probably no harm not to kill myself just over 2 weeks to my A race. Did an easy hour Sunday Evening before treating myself to the nicest steak I've had in years and a few pints. Well it was the end of my last hard week of training & Lent was over after all!
Monday:8miles @7.30
Tuesday:AM 5miles @
PM: 5.6miles @7.30
Wednesday Session: 1-2-3-2-1 miles total :14miles
Thursday: AM 8miles
PM: 5miles
Friday: 6.8miles
Saturday: 10K Race
Sunday: AM: 4.5miles
PM: 8miles
Total for week: 77miles

For Thursday’s session I had planned on best case scenario doing 4x2 mile or else start with 2 miles & drop down to one if necessary. My latest niggle (seems to be touring my body!) was on the tendon that runs just below the ankle on the inside of my foot & I was aware of it during my warm up but hoped once I got up to speed on the track it would disappear. Unfortunately this was n’t to be the case & after getting through the first repeat @5.26 pace (comfortably difficult) I decided to call it at day. Had what I considered my make or break fast finish long run planned for Sunday so didn't want to jeopardise it. Considering how I felt during the repeat I did manage I think I went a little quick, so all going well I will aim to do it this week, maybe start around 5.35pace and also I think I’d be better off doing it away from the track. 8 laps at high pace is mentally quite difficult I discovered!!

I travelled home on friday and was up early enough to get a run in before heading for the airport but decided that running cold was a recipe for disaster. As a result I squeezed in 40minutes when I got home. As I was caught for time I found myself running a little faster than usual, not consciously - I find the difference in time saved between running fast and slow is precious little. But it was nice to see the pace well below 7 minute miling and still feeling comfortable. Managed to do another hour on Saturday, again below 7 minute miling. Both hip and tendon below ankle were quite sore so I gave a good session on the foam roller/boule. Also in the hopes of some devine intervention, my mam lit a candle for my various ailments after mass!

After a really bad nights sleep I was quite nervous heading for my long run. Decided to do a fairly flat loop of about 5 miles in Cork, so I could pick up drinks and bail out if it came to it. The reason for the flat course was so I could practice putting in a consistant effort, but there was two shortish sharp hills just to ensure it wouldn't be too easy :)

The plan was to take it easy for the first 8 miles or so & then pick it up goal marathon pace (6.10) for the next 7 miles before just running as fast as I could for another 5. Sounds straightforward eh?

Started off at around 7.15 pace but as it turned out that was pretty much the slowest part of the loop. By the time I had hit the first mile it had dropped to 6.55 and my HR still below 130bpm, good start! By the time I hit the end of part one at 8 miles I had dropped down to around 6.45 pace with only the odd foray into the 140's. I picked it up towards the end, as per last time in order not to shock the system . When I started at the 6.10 pace section it actually felt a little harder than I expected - I thought to myself 12 miles at this will be a challenge (not to mind 26.2!) but again it started on a tough part. After a few toughish miles, got back into my comfort zone. My HR had gone to 160's but came back to high 150's and started cruising at around 6.07 pace and felt (almost) like I could go like that all day. When I got to my transition point after 7 miles I had half thought of staying at that pace for another 2miles but instinct kicked in & I picked things up. Things started getting tough now but managed to get down to an average of about 6.02. I hit the last mile just at the beginning of the only real hill & by the time I crested it I was at 6.30 for that mile, managed to dig pretty deep to get it back to 6.14 by the end of it. Finished shattered but a different shattered than after say a track session. Met a buddy on the warm down which was nice. Felt I could have ran another 10 miles handy enough, just not very quickly!!

Thursday: 4miles incl. 2miles in 10.54
Friday: 5.5miles @ 6.42 HR 138
Saturday: 8miles @ 6.57 HR 137
Sunday: 22.3miles @ 6.33 HR 149 (8 @6.45, 7 @ 6.07, 5 @ 6.02)

Despite feeling Ok after Sunday's long run, I was pretty sore on Monday. Thankfully it was a tired muscles sore as opposed to an injury sore. The run Sunday had 248m of ascent and obviously the same in descent, some of the decent's being quite steep. As a result my quads were pretty sore. I understand now why people find the Boston marathon tough! Just got out for 30 minutes or so monday evening. Was happy to note no pain in my hamstring although my hip was a bit sore (as it had been after the 22miler).
Did 75 minutes yesterday and had recovered a bit more but was still a bit tired. Hip still sore but was able to run through it. Did the run on some playing pitches to give the body & the quads in particular a bit of a break. Definitely want to do a session this week, the thought had crossed my mind to do it today, but I think I will just go easy again this evening & hopefully will be fit for fight tomorrow.
Monday: 3.8miles @7.55Min/mile HR118bpm
Tuesday: 10.3miles @7.17Min/mile HR138bpm

Mind over matter

Took Monday and Tuesday off completely, in order to give my various ailments time to recover. I was starting to worry that the wheels had come off my marathon hopes as this is the crucial time for getting in the mileage/quality really before the taper starts. On Wednesday I did 30 minutes easy and while the tendon was grand during, it was a little sore after. As a result I took Thursday off and had a physio appointment Friday morning. By now I had pretty much said to myself the marathon was a non runner. I even started planning my track season (well googling race dates so I could plan my trips) to take my mind off it.
But towards the end of the massage the physio said something that surprised me - "Are you sure it's as bad as you say it is?" The reason she asked was, because she was able to work on it without causing too much discomfort. Hmm, could she have had a point? I remembered reading another runners blog who developed a problem at a similar point in training for a marathon (I won't mention his ailment in case he ever happened upon this blog, as it was quite a specific and unusual problem) and my immediate thought was that it was at least partly psychological. You get so far in training and everything is looking good, but the fear of failure makes you subconsciously seek an out.
As if by chance I was listening to a marathon talk podcast that afternoon and an interview with a runner who was racing across America. He mentioned how he'd go from one injury to the next and that one of the other competitors told him that running is able to fix most of the problems it causes (a bit like alcohol!) I took this as a sign & also remember that my Achilles managed to right itself not through rest, but by running sensibly (i.e. no killer sessions) and it'll go away of it's own accord.
So with that in mind I decided to HTFU and went out for 5 miles friday evening. I had bought a support but after a mile I realised it was the wrong size and was aggravating the problem but once I took it off I was fine. Managed 8 miles on Saturday, after about 5 felt a pinch in the tendon but once I slowed down it was ok again, it came at me again towards the end so slowed to a crawl.
So with today being 4 weeks to Limerick I had a decision to make, was I going to keep the dream alive? If so there was no doubt in my mind that I simply had to do a long run. I would prefer to quit here than hit the wall at mile 20 due to lack of preparation.
So I got up early and hit the road, into the unknown. I consoled myself in that if I had to turn back I'd be able to see Bekele's marathon debut in Paris.
Of course when I say unknown I'm talking about my body, I had driven a route near my house during the week (just in case) A hillyish 8.5mile loop http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/385461518 with 95m of ascent. This would give me an out if required. The forecast had been for about 3 degrees and light wind but it was foggy, wet and a bit breezy. It was strange but I wasn't overly concerned with would I survive the distance from a stamina point of view and was totally focused on the legs. First few miles went grand, pace was quite fast, around 6.45min/mile but had the breeze with me and a lot of downhill. HR was low 140's which was grand. Typically the hilliest part was directly into the wind but just went steady up it, leg was fine thankfully. On the road back in I started motoring for a bit and the pace dropped as low as 6.41 but was back to 6.46 by the time I was back at the house. Everything was still hunky dory, passed 10miles not a bother with pace still at 6.46. Breeze had picked up a bit. When I got to 15 feeling fine I was thinking how far should I go. As my longest run in time was 2.30 I decided I would do whichever came first of the following:
1. Exhaustion
2. 2hrs45min
3. 24 miles
Still felt grand as the miles passed on, although my HR was creeping up to high 140's with the odd foray into the 150's. Got to 20 miles , pace hovering between 6.46,6.47, still grand. Around 22 miles it finally started to get tough and my pace dropped to 6.48. I decided to increase the effort ever so slightly just to know I could stay strong until the end. Finished off with the pace back at 6.47. Delighted to get through it and satisfied with how it went but won't get too carried away as I've almost had a 2 week taper leading into it. Still it was nice to get it in. The next thing is to see how I recover. I know I'm far from out of the woods, but at least I know I'm still in the game.
Weds: 4.2miles @ 7.39min/mile
Friday: 5miles @ 7.27min/mile
Saturday:8miles @ 7.18min/mile
Sunday: 24miles @ 6.47min/mile HR146bpm

Ballycotton, Ballylanders & now the World

Had a really nice breakfast, followed by my first cup of coffee since Tuesday before doing the last few bits and pieces and heading for the metro into town. Managed to get 120ml of energy gel/liquid into the Ron Hill thingie and discover I could fit this into the pocket on the back of my shorts, brilliant. As I had to do a bag drop I couldn't bring my coat so had to just put on every other layer I had. It was a perfect day for running, which meant it was a tad cool for walking around with no jacket on!
To try and get a decent starting position I did my bag drop about 2 hours before the start, thankfully they had plastic poncho's available so I put one on over my long sleeved top which I would discard - so far so good. Had no problem making my way up to the front but the next thing was trying to figure how the hell I was going to warm up. There was still over an hour to go but I decided an early warmup would be better than none at all. Made my way into a courtyard at the houses of parliament where some others were also doing some extremely small laps so I joined in. Conscious of not getting back to where I was I only did about 10 minutes and sure enough it was quite crowded when I got back but  still managed to make my way towards the front.
Ended up standing around for almost an hour, but everyone was in the same boat, well except for the elites. Heard, but didn't quite see the elite women starting and didn't find out until after that the sole Irish woman didn't manage to make to the first bend due to a pulled hamstring. My own felt ok thankfully.
Finally we were ready to go and off we went to huge cheers from the crowd. After things settled down a quick glance at my watch said I was doing 5.40 pace, perfect I thought as I was optimistically shooting for 75 minutes. After another few hundred meters though it had dropped to 5.45 and my legs  felt heavy. My HR was in the  170's and I just thought "it's going to be a long day". It felt really hot and my throat felt dry. Went through the first mile in 5.39 though and my HR was back to low 160's. I think the sensor had just dried out during the long wait for the start. With last Sunday's session in mind I decided to forget about the watch for a while and just run. And then things began to change, I felt more comfortable and my legs loosened out. Just goes to show the importance of warming up. When I eventually glanced down my pace had dropped to 5.30 but I felt really comfortable so didn't panic. My second mile split was 5.21 and my breathing was easy. Mile 3 was even quicker at 5.15 so I backed off a little. Despite the crowds I was really focused so just kept it going, can't quite remember when but I joined another runner and we started picking off little groups at a time. Pace dropped back a little which was fine. Still felt comfortable at this stage.
Went through 10K in 34.45,  which was my fastest 10K in a while and shortly after starting taking on fuel. The Ronhill jobbie was excellent, really easy to drink from but I didn't risk trying to put it back in my pocket. We were still motoring with the garmin reading between 5.27 and 5.29. It was nice that it was fluctuating as normally it only goes in one direction!Got to 10miles in a shade under 55 minutes, over 100seconds quicker than my PB! I know no race would be exactly (only) 10 miles but still it was nice. Now the real fun started. I was struggling to stay with my friend but said I'd hold on as long as I could.  I knew we were heading to Fredriksberg so I was looking forward to the turnaround point so that the psychological effect of heading for home could kick in. I was really starting to suffer now and had a bad patch coming up to 11 miles. Looking at my splits after my garmin said I had a 6.04 for  mile 11 but I didn't think I had slowed that much. I managed to pull it together a bit now though and when we turned a corner onto a large boulevard with Danish flags on either side I got another lease of life and passed some of the runners that had passed me. Assuming they were Danish, I'm surprised the flags had had a bigger effect on me. As we approached the city centre I was struggling again, I think I was considering how far it seemed we still had to go, as we were on familiar territory, on streets where I would normally be travelling at a more sedate pace.
I was on planet pain now and my pace had gone to 5.33. I didn't even attempt the mental arithmetic, I didn't care about time I just wanted to stop. I had thought the Start line was also the finish line even though we had passed the 20k marker what seemed like miles ago. When I rounded a bend and saw a clock, I was never so happy to be wrong! I just gritted my teeth.I had no kick really but could see a 13, a beautiful glorious 13. Passed the line and stopped my watch 1.13.36 (chip time 1.13.35) Yesssss boy!!!!
After catching my breath I jogged slowly back to the baggage area grinning like a Chesire cat, not before thanking my accomplice for much of the race. He hadn't broken 1.13 which surprised me a little. Looking at my 5k splits they are pretty even, I hadn't slowed as much as I had thought. I definitely have some mental work to do though, as I think it is mental - I felt really bad with the same distance to go as Ballycotton, not with the same distance covered. Overall a very good day though and to knock over 2.5 minutes off my PB was pretty satisfying.
It was n't without some price though, although my calf came through unscathed my tendon problem, though fine during was pretty sore after. Would have loved to go for a run yesterday as it was glorious but decided to stand in the icy water of the Kattegat instead. Will take some time to let it recover. It loosened out today a bit but it was still not worth the risk of running on it. Looked in shops yesterday for an aqua jogging belt for an alternative for maintaining my fitness but to no avail.

Follow the blue line

Just killing some time before breakfast, before getting ready to toe the line with Zersenay Tadese et al. I'm both nervous and excited and didn't sleep too well as a result, although I've been sleeping reasonably well all week so hopefully it should n't be an issue. Did a mile and a bit on thursday and hamstring tendon felt ok, but not great. Calf was still very tight which was disappointing.
Got a massage yesterday which hopefully helped, felt good afterwards but I won't know until I test it.
The other reason for my nerves is due to the fact the guy I bought the number from had predicted his time would be 2.30+ so I am down to start at the back & have to drop my bag there. I really hope I can make it back towards the front, but I guess at the very least I need to get there earlier than I would have liked.
Conditions are predicted to be nigh on perfect, 10-12 degrees C with a windspeed of 2 m/s. Course is flat, albeit with some tight corners but it should be suitable for fast times.
When I went to the expo last evening I picked up some caffeinated gels and a Ron Hill gizmo for housing them. You still need to hold it in your hand but hopefully won't be as messy as normal. Was following the blue race line at times on my way to the expo, it really set my heart beating, hopefully I'll get the opportunity to follow it to the end!

T-Winge

So my twinge was n't just a twinge at all unfortunately. It was sore all the day Monday but nonetheless after taking Saturday off I decided I needed to do a few miles Monday. Big mistake, even though it wasn't too bad during but when I stopped it got worse. When I iced it, it actually made it worse. I thought back to the last time I experienced this and it was when I had Achilles tendinitis. Oh No!!! I have been resting it completely since and it has improved slightly. I may try a short, and I mean short run this evening to see how it's progressing. I haven't given up on the half marathon on Saturday but at this moment my confidence is quite low.
Running can be so cruel, I'm pretty sure if I had wimped out after the 6th repeat on Sunday I wouldn't be in this situation. And especially since my worrisome hip had cleared up so quickly. Anyway not point in feeling sorry for myself. Just do what I can and keep the fingers crossed.
Monday: 7.54miles @7.48 HR126

Session on

So after Friday’s bad hippy experience and Saturday’s day off, I was a little tentative about my planned track session today. Although the calf was still at me, the pain in my hip had been quite severe so it was this that scared me. I had visions of not making the start in Limerick as a result of it so I was looking forward to getting the verdict on the track. I spoke with a friend as well who is running the Rotterdam marathon in 3 weeks time. The poor lad is suffering from shin splints and so was in a pretty unhappy state. I tried consoling him by saying he has the work done, and just consider a fairly dramatic taper, but also mentioned maybe do it via aqua jogging as I had used this fairly successfully in the run up to Ballycotton in 2012 when my achilles was making regular running all but impossible.
Was running a little tight for time as I was flying at 21.55 I parked up on the Western and jogged down to the Mardyke so I could make a quick getaway after. Calf was quite tight but the hip was thankfully pain free. God bless you boule! Had it in mind again to shoot for 5.30’s (for mile repeats) after my easy 2 days and also had it in my mind if at all possible to do 8 reps. After the first lap I was at 5.22 pace but I can’t say it felt easy. Pace dropped to 5.29 before settling down and finishing in 5.26. Jogged the lap in just over 2 minutes and started to suffer on the second. Just about managed to break 5.30 so decided on the recovery lap to take it a little easier to ensure I got through the session. Put it down to Thursday’s long run, or maybe I’m just delusional:)Did the 3rd in 5.36 but half considered calling it a day. After a brief bathroom break something brilliant happened - it got dark! So instead of looking at my watch I just went on feel. I took a sneaky peak around 2.5laps in on the 4th rep as I passed a light and it said 5.32pace. Happy days and ended finishing up with 5.27. Ran the  5th and 6th without glancing at the watch at all, just focused on staying smooth  and keeping my form. I looked at my silhouette whenever it appeared and things looked ok. Knocked out a 5.31 & a 5.32 which was grand considering how I felt after the 3rd rep.
At this point I had to decide what to do next. I was OK for time so said I’d definitely do 1more and see after that. It went ok, legs were starting to feel heavy and tight but just kept the focus. 5.36, grand. So on the last recovery lap I said I’d have one last shot.I mightn’t get near a decent track till who knows when and it is a marathon I’m training for, not a 10K! Also said not to try and kill it though, save something for next Saturday but laughed as I was about to start in case I ended up in a heap after 200m. Got through the first lap, felt smooth, 2nd 3rd,started to suffer. 600 to go, really starting to suffer but managed to hold it together and finished in 5.34. Happy days. Legs were in bits so warm down was extra slow. Even had a twinge in my “good” leg.
The cramped ryanair flight isn’t helping but at least I’m staying in a hotel at Stansted tonight so should get a reasonable rest before heading on in the morning. Hopefully no new or worsening injuries to report tomorrow.
Sunday:warmup 8x1mile (5.26/2.04,5.29/2.04,5.36/3:30,5.27/3.30,5.31/3.25,5.32/2.36,5.36/2.36,5.34)
cooldown. 14.6miles
Total for week:67.7miles
Edit, only getting to bed now :( 1am

Planned an easy run of 60-80 minutes after work. Started very slowly but knew within a minute or two I was in trouble. Calf was no worse than usual but hip was as sore as its been in a long time. Gave it a chance to loosen out before deciding discretion was the better part of valour and called it a day before I had even 30 minutes done. Was also really tired after the long run so it wasn't too difficult a decision to make.

 Had planned on going home and icing it but first needed to pick up some stuff I had left at a colleague's place. Hadn't really spoken to anyone outside of work all week so when he said he was going for grub I decided to join him. Find it very hard to order a salad when out (even though on the rare occasion I have, I've usually ended up enjoying it), resisted having a burger thinking the chicken nachos might be slightly healthier. When the plate arrived out it was absolutely smothered with cheese and there was enough to feed a small family. Aagh!! Of course I didn't need to finish but of course I did and washed it down with two beers. But it was nice to unwind and chat so won't complain and I can always make up for it over the weekend. It was around 10PM when I got home but I did manage to do some trigger point massage on my hip with my trusty boule before setting my alarm for 3.20 as I had a flight home at 6am and its over an hour and a bit to the airport. 

 Made it in good time and popped into lounge for a coffee. Was still fairly stuffed and knew I'd get fed on the flight as I was going via Amsterdam. 

 Got a bit of a shock in Amsterdam as I dawdled in the lounge there I noticed at 9AM that my flight was already boarding despite the departure time being 9.40. I was a 15minute walk to the gate and hadn't been through passport control or security yet. As I jogged towards the gate whilst panicking a little (I was pretty sure I wouldn't miss the flight but I was more concerned as I was sitting in row 1 and had a shopping bag so would suffer the dirty looks that I would normally dish out from the less tardy passengers) I took comfort in the fact that I was relatively pain free, even if it was a short trot. 

Didn't manage to get out for a run today and about to hit the hay despite it only being 20:00. But I will do some stretching first, honest. 

Friday: 3.4miles @ 7:50 HR 128bpm

Un jour sans et un jour avec

My plan for wednesday was a 10 mile steady state run @ 6min/miling based on the 8 miles I did at similar pace about a week and a half before Ballycotton. I felt it would set me up nicely for the half marathon next weekend. Unfortunately it just didn't come off. I managed the first mile in around 5.56 before turning into a 19mph wind. I tried to comfort myself in that it would be at my back for the last few miles, but to no avail. Added to the wind my stomach was a little dicky so in the space of about 3 metres I abandoned.
This gave me a conundrum, do I attempt it again on Thursday or do I do a long run instead? Now I had to get a long run in anyway before Saturday (as I'm heading home) so could attempt the steady state and risk not managing a decent long run Friday either because of my leg and/or excess fatigue. I decided to go for the long run as I know on Sunday evening I will have some time to kill as I'm not flying until 10pm so all going well will get to the track. So even if it went ok by leaving the long run until Friday the chances are it would have lessened the quality of the session. Or maybe I just over plan things!
So onto the long run. As I got my gear on I prayed to the leg gods that my calf would hold up and got going. The plan was to go for at least 20 miles and a little more all going well. It was the warmest day of the year (around 13deg C) so far but due to a wardrobe malfunction I had to wear my jacket so I was a little hot under the collar. Yet again I had neglected bring liquids which to be honest is just plain stupid when going out for 2.5hours plus. None the less I was quickly down to 7min/miling and even though I felt the effort was slightly higher than usual, still felt comfortable. The wind had abated somewhat so it was all quite pleasant. Felt the miles passed quickly and my pace had quickened to about 6:52per mile. Still felt very comfortable. My HR was a little higher, stuck in the mid 140's but I didn't really see too much harm in that. It was only when I got to a hill at mile 17 that my legs felt a little tired but they recovered again on the downhill. Going by my pace, which I was maintaining at 6.52 I would need to run 22 miles to go over 2.5 hours so said sher why not? Stupid Garmin acted up just before hitting 21miles so it said I had passed a mile when I had only covered about 0.75 & it repeated this on the next mile before seeming to settle back. Other than this minor inconvenience a very satisfying run. Well my hip/calf leg in general started to hurt after about 15 miles but hopefully it'll loosen out with an easy run this evening. Went to the physio this morning & whilst it felt great after, it has stiffened up again during the day. Weight back to 62kg this morning after last weekends excesses!
Wednesday: 6.3 miles (abandoned steady state run)
Thursday: 22.2miles @ 6.54 HR145
  

Back to the grindstone

Managed to drag myself out for 10 miles on Monday evening, once I got going it actually didn't seem so bad. It's quite windy here at the moment so on Tuesday when I was even less enthused I decided the only option was to run 5 miles into the wind & turn so at least I'd have it on my back for the way home. This meant that I felt like I was only doing 5 miles even though they were 5 miserable miles!
My calf is still sore, & my hamstring on the same leg was also quite tight. I'm tempted to rest it but not sure if it'll make a difference. There's a physio on site (yes we are spoiled) so I have booked a session. Hopefully I'll survive till then!
Monday: 10.4miles @ 7:23min/mile HR133
Tuesday: 10.2miles @ 7:23min/mile HR132

The hangover part 4

After Friday's wedding, I had a much tougher social engagement on Saturday involving meeting up with some old friends to watch Ireland give Brian O'Driscoll the send off he deserved by winning the 6 nations rugby championship in Paris. After resisting the fry up in the hotel I knew the chances of ending the day in such a fashion would be slim & sure enough once the snacks started being brought out I tucked in with gusto. After a truckload of beer (well we were celebrating!) a trip to the local fast food joint ensued, bringing my calorie count for the day to at least 6000, but hey who was counting?

Woke up nursing an almighty hangover & of course there was only one logical course of action - run a 10k road race! My calf was still sore and I was considering the idea of taking another day off but in the end I decided that I wouldn't be in the form to do anything fast on Monday & as there was a road race on in a local village I decided to give it a lash. I also knew that the chances of there being a quality field present were slim so could maybe get a sneaky win all going well.

Did a brief warm up and leg wasn't too bad. There was only a few others warming up, which was a sign of how low key it was - there were plenty of people (maybe 70-100) just not really running types. Met some lads I knew, but was fairly confident they wouldn't cause me too much trouble. 

Once the race started I moved straight into the lead but had some company. Felt comfortable & decided to be patient rather than try & kill the opposition. Went through the first mile in 5.40 & then found myself alone. Was feeling good now & thought I could put in a good time. And then the wheels started to come off -  Bigtime!

The effects of the night before (indeed the previous two days) really started to kick in & I just wanted to stop. Got through mile 2 in 5.50 but then the stupid road started to climb. My stomach was doing somersaults and I remember passing the 4K mark and thinking how in the hell was I going to keep going? Just before the 3 mile mark there was a sharp corner & I was able to see two chasers who were a fair bit back. This made me feel a tiny bit better, in my head at least if not my belly! Had 6.27 for the 3rd mile but had completed a fair amount of climbing. Thankfully what goes up must go down & managed 5.30 for the next mile. Although by now I feared being caught I was at least thinking there's no way anyone could have ran much faster than that, downhill or not. By now it was just try & dig in & survive. The road was flat at this stage, a long straight run to the line. The pain was different than than usual, it was a miserable "I want to die" pain rather than the more usual "I want to stop". Had 5.58 for both miles 5 & 6 and when I came around the corner & saw the finish I couldn't even pick up the pace. There was no point in even looking around to see if anyone was bearing down on me as there's no way I have been able to muster a sprint. Thankfully there was n't & I crossed the line in 36.45 to a rapturous applause from the assembled masses. Or rather 3 guys standing there, one of whom informed me there was tea and sandwiches in the day care centre. 

Alas as I had to attend my 1 year God daughter's birthday party (where yet again I succumbed to lure of junk food) I wasn't able to make it to the presentation, if there even was one. Leg was a bit sore so curtailed my warm down. 

Back in Denmark now after a 3.45am start. Absolutely shattered but suppose I'd better try and do something to keep ticking over. Have decided to try and stay off the booze from now until after the marathon. Not so much because of the booze itself but more-so the indiscipline that inevitably follows the day after. We'll see how that goes!

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Warmup, 10K race 1st in 36:45, Warm down

Total for week: 77.6miles

The consequences of not sleeping

My sleeping troubles returned on Wednesday night, waking at 3am and staring at the ceiling until 5.30 when I finally decided it was an acceptable hour to hit the road. Everything was grand until after about 3 miles when my calf felt a bit of a twinge. I stopped to stretch it but it got gradually worse until I could barely run when I got home after covering 8 miles.
I went straight into icing mode and also put a compression sock on. I took Ibrufen and finished the day with a bath with Epsom salts. I had my first fast finish long run planned for Friday morning and I wanted to give myself every chance of being able to do it. Got a decent enough night's sleep and leg felt OK getting up. Agonised over whether or not to go before deciding to postpone it but in typical fashion did a Uturn when I thought about how nice refueling afterwards would be:-)

Today was also my first attempt at mid run fueling. I had bought some high 5 isogels with caffeine, the advantage of these was that you don't need water to wash them down as they were quite watery in themselves. My plan was to run my normal long run effort (HR around 140) for 10 miles and then speed up to planned marathon pace (6.15min/mile) for 6 miles. As I wouldn't know how fast I was going, due to my garmin being set to average pace it would be based on effort and HR which was probably not a bad thing. Regarding the gels I was planning on taking them at 9,12 and 15miles.

Things started well, my pace for the first 9 miles was 7min/mile with my HR well below 140 for most of it. As I would be repeating the same loop when things got faster it was a good opportunity to know what was in store. Basically the first two miles would be slightly downhill , the second two mostly up hill and the last two flat or ever so slightly downhill. My calf was OK, I was conscious of it but it wasn't sore. I decided to make the mile between 9 and 10 a transition so that the increase in pace wouldn't be too much of a shock. When this was done in 6.24 I knew I was going well! Felt a bit of a twinge when the pace hotted up but thankfully it passed. Went through the next mile in 5.44, holy shit! I thought despite it being virtually all downhill, still very fast. The next mile was a good but not quite as impressive 5.59 before moving on to the hilly section where I had 6.26 and 6.06. Was very happy with this although my effort was similar to tempo run effort. By now my HR had gone from 150's on the first 2miles to mid 160's. Perfect. It remained high when back on the flat but this was fully understandable as the next mile was 5.48. Finished off with 6 minutes on the button, shattered but very satisfied. Leg was pretty sore now and almost hobbled the two miles home.
Had an ice bath and spent the rest of the day trying to forget about it which was made easier by going to a wedding in Kilkenny. Had a few beers but was in bed by 1am. Leg still sore so taking today off,ventured in my slightly hungover state to the leisure centre in the hotel where I happily discovered a plunge pool.  Alternated between the sauna and the pool, but not sure if it made any difference. Hopefully the day off will have the desired effect.
 Thurs:8.2miles @ 7:47 HR 126
Friday: 17.8 miles, 9miles @ 7:00min/mile, 1mile @ 6:24, 6miles at 6:00, 2 miles warm down.

Back on track

The plan for today was for a track session. I had it in my head that I would do mile repeats and had 5:30 as my target time. If this felt easy I might bring them down to 5:25 but only if it still allowed me to do 8 of them. Seemingly my head had forgotten about Sunday's efforts but my body gave it a quick reminder!
There was a lot of people on and around the track at CIT, as there were groups training for the special Olympics. Thankfully I was able to stay out of their way and they mine, track etiquette is far better observed in Ireland compared with Denmark.
But I was a little distracted and was a little confused when I glanced at my watch on the first lap of the first mile and saw 5:38 pace. As the reality sat in and I admitted to myself I'm not Galen Rupp I quickly decided that I'd get through the first and reevaluate. I ended up with 5:37 so said that if I could be under 5:40 for all (I also decided 6 was a more realistic quantity) of them it would be a good session and used my mantra about it being about effort and not pace.
Never really got into a rhythm, I guess partly due to not having time for a proper warmup. I had miscalculated my time (should have taken it as a sign) so had to have the entire session done in 70 minutes. I struggled through and despite a 5.45 blip they were all OK. I kept all the recoveries around 2.20)
The physio session was a tale of two halves, I was fine on the backs of my legs, (which was a first) but my quads, IT bands and glutes were a different story. He gave me some exercises to do to strengthen them, Bulgarian squats and I promised to do them diligently, as always :-)
Finished the day with an easy 30 minutes and bumped into the 3rd place finisher from Sunday and also a 4 time former winner, so was in good company.
Session: 6x1mile
5:37,2:17,5:32,2:17,5:35,2:21,5:45,2:23,5:39,2:24,5:40)
PM: 4.5miles @ 7:18 HR132

Gold in dem there hills

If there was any negative to take from Sunday, other than where I could have found 5 seconds, it has to be my fade over the last 2 miles. I had felt so comfortable for so much of the race I really didn't think I would die so badly, especially since I've been doing so much endurance work of late.
My personal theory is that it was the hill at 1.5miles that done it. This was the first winter ever I did absolutely no hill work and most of my runs are done on fairly flat ground. My theory gained some weight this morning as I did a hilly hour pre breakfast. I wasn't pushing it but I was still as slow as I've ever been which doesn't add up as my normal runs have become gradually quicker at the same heart rate in the last few weeks. So I guess the solution is easy - do some hills. I don't think I'll do any actual hill sessions but I will try to find hillier routes for at least some of my runs and hopefully it'll have the desired effect.
Finally stepped on the scales this morning and was happy to see 62.1kg. Curious to know what I was Sunday morning, didn't eat too much yesterday and had bagged 30miles in the two days since, but I'm still glad I resisted.
I was surprisingly fresh yesterday morning as I headed out for a dawn run, with at least a small drop of alcohol in my system, although definitely not enough to upset Al or Kay Guy in the unlikely event they should have swung by. I think part of it was the absolutely beautiful morning it was and heading down ballinamona beach for the first time in an age.
Had some power washing to do for the day and this took infinitely more out of me so was fit for bed in the after but as soon as I laced up my runners again I was in flying form again.
Went for the aforementioned hill run this morning and followed this with an ice bath. Always found once the first cold sensation was overcome ice baths are grand, and wondered was the (disputed) benefit diminished. I discovered today that by moving around in the bath made it impossible to get comfortable. Really noticed the difference when I got out so think this is the way forward - no pain, no gain! Went for a recovery run in the evening and felt drained. Psychological perhaps but looking forward to hitting the hay.
Monday AM: 8.2miles @7.21 HR 134
PM: 7.1miles @7 .06 HR 132
Tuesday AM: 8.5miles @7.37 HR 133
PM: 4.8miles @ 7:40 HR 120

Ballycotton 10

So the big day finally arrived, was wide awake at 6.30 - not because of nerves but just because I'm quite often awake at this hour. Had stuffed myself Saturday but with all good stuff at least, but was still starved. As I wanted to eat breakfast at 9 in order to to be finished 4 hours before the off I said I'd better stay in bed until at least 8. Spent some time visualising the race. Decided no matter how good I felt I wasn't going to pass the first mile marker in under 5.45. On setting my PB of 56.49 I had passed the first mile in 5.30.
Resisted the urge to weigh myself as I knew it couldn't help but could potentially play on my mind later.
So on arriving in Ballycotton, I parked up at my old place and after a minor dilemma of a snapped quick release skewer, I cycled down to the village. Met up with some club mates and warmed up. Felt good.
As soon as the gun went felt nice and relaxed and even saluted a few people as we made our way through the village. A quick glance at my watch 5.20 pace, shit! Felt absolutely grand but backed off a little. The course started going downhill at this point and passed the first mile in 5.18. Still felt comfortable so kept going, passed mile 2 and was in a nice group, mostly leading it. Passed mile 3 in 16.30, a nice round figure and got some nice encouragement from the guy calling times as he is an old friend from my cycling days. At this point we turned a corner and even though we had a slight drag to negotiate the light breeze was at our backs so it felt good. I was away from the group now but was joined by a Galway city harriers runner (or at least a guy wearing one of their singlets) and we exchanged positions regularly. Once we turned the next corner things started to get a little tougher. We had passed a few lads who appeared to be dying on their feet. Just tried to stay relaxed as we approached halfway (can't remember my split). The next mile I always found tough when I did tempos on the course and it was even worse today as the admittedly light breeze was against us. By now I knew I was on for good time, it was just a matter of how good. As we passed the 6 mile mark I was breathing heavily but still going well with my GCH friend still by my side. We were joined by another guy at 10k which we passed in 34.58, nice. Went to the front of the little group once more in order to apex a bend but as we came to a little drag I finally bid farewell to the two guys as I felt if I tried to stick with them I'd have died altogether later on. Got through mile 7 and just focused on the 2 lads as they got away - they were really powering on (relatively at least) Got to the 8 mile mark in 45 minutes (another round figure!) and said all I need is two 6 minute miles for 57 minutes. I'll surely be quicker that I thought. My garmin still read 5.35avg pace with 1.5 miles to go. But then comes THE hill. Did my best to pump my arms and got up it OK but as the road leveled off my legs were gone. Had to do very best to just keep the legs going. Hit the one mile to go and noticed my last mile had been 5.56 - not good. Was amazed that no one was passing me. Had a brief moment of delight when I passed 1000m to go as I was expecting 1200m. Not that it really makes a difference as I know exactly where the finish line is. I could hear the finishing announcer by now and just wanted the line. Really was struggling now but as I passed 200m to go I could tell there was someone coming behind me. As I was pipped close to the line last year, I was just about able to summon the strength to put in a short sprint. Crossed the line in bits but amazed with my time of 56.53, just 4 seconds off my best. Knew training was going well but really was nt expecting it to come good so soon. Found out later I was 32nd which was a nice bonus with my previous best being 40th. 25% of the top 32 were East Cork AC athletes which really shows the strength in depth of the club.
Went for a few beers with the club that evening and everyone seemed to be planning a few easy days. As I have this week off I want to make the most of it though so was happy enough to be in bed by 12.45am... with a huge smile on my face :-)
Sat: 3miles @ 7:47 HR 123
Sun: warmup 2.5 Race 56:53 HR 167 splits (5:17,5:26,5:41,5:35,5:42,5:44,5:36,5:41,5:56,5:54,19secs)
Warm down:2.5
Weekly total :57miles

Almost there...

Well only one run left before toeing the line at Ballycotton. Did an easy run yesterday afternoon with 10 x 100m strides thrown in. Motivation was seriously lacking & felt like going home after 20 minutes. It's strange considering how on the previous 2 Thursdays I ran 20 milers. So much of running is in the mind I guess, as I've quite often felt like this in the build up to a big race. Have a little niggle in my hip as well, so did some foam rolling after & again this morning.
Did an easy 40 minutes this morning & felt ever so slightly more motivated. Was moving out of my house this morning too, so had the thoughts of squeezing everything into boxes playing on my mind.
Looking forward to hitting the road this evening & just getting home.
Weather for Sunday is looking OK at the moment, the wind appears as if it will be across us for a lot of it but doesn't seem to be too strong. Could change yet though! Have times in my head but don't want to make any predictions, but I will be disappointed if I don't at least make the top 100.
Was exactly 64kg this morning, not much else I can do at this stage. Managed to resist the nice bread & cheese someone had left near the coffee machine though & settled for a mandarin.
Thursday: 6.2miles @ 7:41 HR131
Friday: 5.6miles @ 7:36 HR130

Cheated a bit again last evening by not exactly following my traditional recovery week of no runs longer than an hour. Decided to make it a bit longer so I could make friday's run a bit shorter and still average 8miles/day from Monday to Friday. Had planned on around 9.5 but miscalculated my route & ended up doing just over 10.5. But what harm, still 4 days out from Ballycotton. Weight coming back slowly but surely  - 64.4kg this morning. Wednesday is Cake day (Onsdag kage) at work and I planned on resisting but they were the most beautiful custard filled pastries with chocolate on top. I thought I did well to stop at one!!

Bit the bullet & took the offer of the Half Marathon entry. Must say I'm excited about it now, I wonder is there a chance of a PB? It would be about time (obviously) with my 76.10 being nearly 5 years old, although I did run 76.18 about 18 months ago in a brief spell of form.

Wednesday: 10.65miles @ 7:16 HR 135BPM