Raheny Shamrock 5

Sunday afternoon in January - Slightly milder than it has been for the last few days, and a lot better than last year, when I recall almost freezing at this race. The race is a very well organised event, hosted by the Raheny Shamrock Club, and this was the 23rd time the event has been run, although only the second time I have run it. Last year I ran a good 36 minutes, but this year, my training is 5 weeks behind last year due to Xmas and illness, so my expectations were nowhere near 36, I was looking to be under 45, realistically maybe around 42 minutes.

A good friend of mine from England, Andy, had flown over on Saturday to run the race, and enjoy a weekend in Dublin, and Saturday did see us out for a few hours, but not a late night, and as I am tee-total until April, there was plenty of Diet Coke flowing, but little alcohol! Andy was hoping to be around the 36:30 mark, after a disappointing half marathon last weekend in Helsby, England, and as this was the first time he had ever raced 5 miles, he was certain of a PR.

I let Andy move nearer the start than my pace warranted, and dropped back. We had a minutes silence for Pat Quinn a stalwart of the Raheny club who was a key figure in the organisation of this race, and the Raheny club, who had recently passed away at the youthful age of 54, and then the race was off. There were over a 1000 taking part I believe, and whilst the start was a little crowded we were off and running smoothly.

The course is relatively flat with a couple of gentle down hill slopes towards the coast, with a gentle, but testing climb around the 4 mile mark when we came of the coast road to head towards the finish. I eased into a rhythm, running alongside two young women from the Clonliffe Harriers Club who seemed to be running at a good pace, and one that I hoped I could live with. A fair bit of dodging and weaving in the first mile saw a 8:19 clocking, and subconsciously the pace felt good, even if a little faster than I had envisaged I was capable off.

The race was uneventful for most of the time as I was relaxed and feeling good. Mile 2 was 8 minutes dead, and thoughts were beginning to wander with regard to my hoped for time, maybe I was in 40 minute shape - amazingly! Mile 3 had the downhill to the coast road, and was run in 7:53. so maybe I was up for it - a long way from the 45, or 42 I was hoping for - on the plus side!

Running along the coast road did see a little breeze and as we turned to start the climb and homeward bound, I was beginning to feel a little tired, proven by my Mile 4 time of 8:07, so quick maths made me realised that 40 minutes was not on, but sub 41 was a definite, despite the gentle climb, which would obviously slow me down. I dug in, ran the 400m of climb, relaxed at the top, and started to look ahead and see who I could pick off. Two guys wearing Soccer shirts with the numbers 16 and 5 printed on their backs were my targets - Number 16 was some 10 yards ahead, and Number 5 was another 10 further away - I dug in, pushed a little more, digging on those reserves and number 16 was hauled in and passed with less than 200 to go. I heard the announcer calling off the 40 minute mark, and I was about to turn for the last 50 yards - missed it, but boy was I a lot closer than I had imagined possible - I kept my head down, heard Andy shout from the crowd, and focussed on Number 5 - He was only about 20, but this old man was having him, 5 yards from the finish line, I got him, and lunged for the line - Sprint finish and dipping - I must be mad.

My time was 40:09, the last mile, including the climb was 7:50, maybe a little more at teh beginning and that 40 mark would have been bridged. Amazing, I was hoping I could run under 45, maybe 42 if really good, and here I am moaning I was just outside 40 - Can't please me can you!

Andy ran 35:55 and loved the race. We received nice little plaques to go with our goody bags and this was a perfect start to the season for me - Onward and Upward.

Brrrr - It's gone cold

Well, after wallowing in the mild winter, this week has seen a cold snap, and whilst we don't get the snow that affects others, it's still nippy enough for us warm-blooded souls.

So, in defference to the weather, I went and joined the local gym at long last. I have been putting it off for a while, waiting for the January Resolutioners to get things out of their system, but it was either gyn or freeze this week, so along I went and paid my money. Club Vitae is the name of the place, and it's well equipped and I managed a couple of sessions this week, including a 5K run in 26:07 - OK, not brilliant , but a start.

I have my first race of the season on Sunday. It's a 5 Miler, the Raheny Shamrock 5, and last year (when I was fit), I ran it in 36 minutes. This time I'll be happy with 45 minutes - that's how bad things are - but it is a great little race, and I have a pal flying over from England for the run, so something to look forward to.

Days Like These

You know the days when somehow the run just doesn't seem to work - Well that was me this morning.

Now I confess I am only slowly getting back into my running, and hence my fitness level is at the bottom of the scale, but I ran twice earlier in the week and those runs felt good, starting to feel I was getting somewhere. The weather has been bad the last couple of days, and lazzilly avoided running, but this morning, despite the radio telling me that storms were busy lashing the country, the day was relatively calm, sunny, and perfect for a run.

I laced up, gloved up (it was a little chilly), and out I went for a planned easy run along the quay - It's only 2.25 miles, a warm-up in the past for a long run, but at the moment, an easy "get back into it" kind of run for a Saturday morning. I felt terrible from the first strides. I can't put my finger on it - I was home watching TV last night, ate early, nothing too heavy, haven't touched alcohol for three weeks, and had a good nights sleep. Why was I running with lead weights attached to my legs?

I plodded down one side of the Liffey, dragged myself across the Sean O'Casey bridge and turned with trepidation for the long crawl along the North Wall to the East Link Bridge (It's no more than 2/3 of a mile, but seemed like the last 5 miles of a marathon today!).

Across the East link, and down the lane into Ringsend Village, over the short stiff bridge over the Dodder, today it was Everest, and even the down side of the bridge felt uncomfortable - what was wrong with me. Turning the corner I can see where I finish my run, my apartment block glistening in the reflected sun, but why was it 10 miles away, instead of 200 yards? - Who moved it when I wasn't looking?

I tried, I really did, but it was awful - My body was feeling like it had run Death Valley and back, and finally it was over, I stopped, my hands on my knees, catching my breath as it escaped in wheezes - Remind me, why do we run? I checked my watch, 19:59, only around 8:50 pace, not exactly racing along - Why had it been so excruitiating?

Maybe I'll never know why today was "One of Those Days" - but I do know something, I'll be out there tomorrow to try and find out. Oh yes, THATS why we do it!

Another week fly's past

Did you realise that we are already 4%+ into the New Year, and that it's only 49 weeks to Xmas :) -

There that made you smile -

Or Panic!!!!!!

So, a little running done this evening. Just a short run of some 2.25 miles at around 8:40 pace, but a nice little evening run all the same. I'm not clock watching at this stage, but I do still record my times, just to get an indication of pace for each run, and tonight's run was 2 seconds quicker than last weeks effort on this route, and it felt easier - so progress is there.

I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of my apartment, and the view from outside across the water. The top picture shows the view from the quayside outside the apartment across the dock, and the shot below shows my block on the left hand side - Gallery Quay - hope you like them, I love it here, and can't wait for the summer.

2006 Revisted and 2007 To Come

Reflecting on 2006, it was a year of two halves, with early promise turning into late decline. Whilst I can make some reasonable excuses for some of what set me back in the fall, most of my troubles were down to laziness and a poor attitude. Whilst the spirit may have been willing at times, and I can talk a good race plan and training regime, I'm afraid I need to be more disciplined in 2007 if I am to reach my goals.

2006 What went Right
The year started well with the Raheny 5(miles) completed in 36 minutes in January, followed by a 75:50 10 miler in Ballycotton. Then came Connemara and the Marathon, ran on a cold, wet day, and completed in 4 hours and 20 minutes, the first leg of what I had hoped to be a grand slam of the Irish Marathons. Sadly that was stopped before any further progress when I had to drop out of the Belfast Marathon after 6 miles - Oh well - Maybe the sign of things to come. The Prague Marathon followed in May and a much improved 4:07:57 was recorded and things looked good for the summer.

2006 What went Wrong
Hard to pin down really. I came back from Prague feeling confident of getting under 4 hours in my next marathon, but somewhere along the line my dedication seemed to wane. Looking back at my diary, the training in June was infrequent, with only 37 miles for the whole month. July was little different, and a vacation to the US in August really was the nail in the coffin.

OK, when I came back from the US I had a new job offer, and so I was busy closing my old job, and then starting my new one. At the same time I went through a relationship breakdown, and then moved into a new apartment - Added to all that my mum took seriously ill and everything seemed to happen at the same time. My year ended with an extremely heavy cold, lethargy and xmas parties, and no running.

2007 - Here I Come
I'm over the colds, settled in the new job, love the new apartment, and am back in a relationship, so I have no more excuses. Mum is still in hospital, but I am able to deal with that, and so I am ready to give my running the priority it deserves if I am to achieve what I hope for.

My over-riding aim is to qualify for Boston for 2008. In order to achieve this I need to run 3:35:59 this year, so everything will be geared to that end. I'll start with the Raheny race at the end of this month again, then onto Ballycotton again in March, and the Connemara Marathon on April 1st. Next step will be the inaugral Cork Marathon on June 4th, and then I will build on these races with summer training with the aim for the Philadelphia Marathon in November as my attempt to run the qualifying time for Boston.

There will be highs and lows along the way I'm sure. Hopefully I can write more fluently on here and help myself keep my motivation. At the moment I am sitting at 195 lbs, and need to get below 180 to be running-fit, so a lot of work, but with help and support, I will be lining up in Hopkinton in April 2008, and hope to meet a lot of my fellow bloggers in New England next April.

I am still alive - And Ready to Run

Apologies for my failure to keep my blog up to date in recent weeks, mainly due to laziness, Christmas Parties, A lot of travelling, bad health, and did I mention laziness?

Well, I'm back, Christmas has passed, the decorations taken down, and work is back to normal - so I thought I should get back into my blog, see what the rest of the world is doing, and start to plan properly for my running in 2007.

I'll post a proper "Goals for 2007" in the next few days, but I thought I'd start by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year, and hope that all your dreams come true in the New Year, be they running dreams, personal ones, or work related. I have two out of three buttoned down, all I have to work on is my running.

Hopefully the blog has a picture of my daughter and son from New Years Eve. Liam Og works at one of Dublin's Top Nightclubs, and we managed to wangle tickets to their New Years Eve Party, so cocktails and champagne were enjoyed as Midnight Chimed, and the old year was seen off with a bang - Catch you soon.....