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