Racing (in inverted commas) Again!

Well, I half did it! I woke up on Saturday morning with a terrible head cold. I don't know where it came from, but I was sneezing and bunged up, so I decided to pass on my first of the two races I had planned this weekend. I know it sounds like a cop out, but this was genuine, and there was no way I could do myself any level of justice on Saturday. I saved myself for Sunday.

Saturday evening saw me still sneezing and I have to confess that running was the last thing on my mind when I went to bed. But, miracles do happen, and when I woke up on Sunday morning, the cold had vanished as quickly as it had arrived, so off I went to the Phoenix Park for the Great Ireland Run. For those of you unfamiliar with the Great Run series, these are a series of races around the UK and Ireland organised by former Olympian Brendan Foster, and the Irish version is a 10K with some 9,000 entrants.

Given my current level of unfitness, I had arranged to run with my Italian friend Monica, who is running the Lochaber Marathon next weekend, and wanted to break the hour for this run but was unsure of pacing. So we met up, took our places in the throngs and set off slowly with the crowd. Normal bug-bear of walkers four a breast having started too far near the front (Why?), so the first Km was a bobbing and weaving 1000 metres plus, but eventually we settled into a rhythm and were running around 5:50 pace (per Km that is). Half way was steady and reached in 29:22, but with the second half being a known roller coaster it would be tougher than the first.

It was a very warm sunny day, and the sweat was pouring off me as I ran down the Kyber Pass and through the S Bends, the Furry Glen, and we progressed along smoothly, the hills being worked and things were looking good. Monica was feeling strong, although talking was down to a few simple "Are you OK's?", and the last climb was up to the 9 Km mark, and then a flat last 900 to the finish. This last climb took it's toll on me, this was the longest run for me in a long while, and as we passed that last marker, I told Monica to push on as she was on for a sub 58 at this point, a new PR for her, I needed to recover from that last climb and ease along to the finish. She moved ahead, 5, 10, 15 metres, I could see her and kept her in sight. With around 400 to go, I had recovered my breath and started to close the gap. There were lots of other runners around me, and there was nothing to gain from pushing too hard to finish, but in the end I had closed to around 5 metres by the time I crossed the line, no sprint finish, but a pleasing run given the level I am at - 58:01 was my time, a time I would have been disgusted with only 6 months ago, but one I was quite happy to record today - It's a start.........

Moderating Comments

It feels good to be back, and great to hear from a couple of old blogging friends straight away. I promise to at least "try" and be more active, both in the blog and on the run.

Just to let everyone know that I have had to turn on the "Moderating Comments" button, much to my own dismay. Whilst I was in hibernation the blog got hit by some commercial spammers, and also some comments were posted that were attacking me on a personal front - nothing to do with my blog, running, etc., and in order to ensure that this kind of spam and commentary is excluded, I have switched on the protection. So apologies if you respond and wonder why it hasn't appeared - hopefully I can switch it off in the near future.

I was on a training course today, and with two races this weekend, I decided not to push things and run today, so an easy lazy afternoon, and preparation for the 4 Miler tomorrow, and the Bupa 10K on Sunday - I promise to report to all....

Remember me?

Not sure I do, it's been so long since I tied up my laces and ran "properly", and even longer since I put my fingers into operation and wrote up my blog. It's easy to make excuses, so I won't! Something had to give in recent months, and running was the easy one, and so it followed that as I wasn't running, there wasn't a lot to write about.

But now the Good News! I've actually been running. It wasn't far, it wasn't quick, but it was running. Last week, on Wednesday, I got out to the Phoenix Park and ran 2 1/2 miles with Kieran, my erstwhile running buddy from last year. It was little more than a jog, as Kieran has had surgery himself and is just getting back into it gently - a right pair!

Tuesday evening I was in the gym and managed 3Km in 16:28, slow and not without a little effort, but then again I have seen my waistline increase in size, and my weight has reached an unprecedented 202 lbs, so to complete the run was an achievement.

Tonight I broke through. I have an Italian friend, Monica, who recently ran the Connemara Half Marathon, and will be running the marathon in Lochaber, Scotland, in 10 days. We met up for a run this evening and ran together for 45 minutes. Easy conversational pace on a pleasant evening along the Grand Canal. So many others out running, it reminded me what I have been missing. We probably ran around 4.5 miles, but who cares - It was a solid run and worth every inch.

I'm not going to set any targets, no real goals. I have a few in my head, I know what I still want to do, but there's little point in jotting them down, only to disappoint, so I'll share when I'm feeling in better shape, and the weight drops below 190 - until then, I'll just say - I'm back..........(ish!)