The end of the year... And a final run before the bell tolls...

The last couple of weeks have seen little activity due to a couple of things. After my session in mid-month with a form of interval training, I suffered a reaction which I feared might have been a re-occurence of the problem I had earlier in the year - the dreaded Gout! Thankfully, I think this was more a simple stress injury in the tendon in my left foot, but I felt it best to lay off the running for a week, so as not to cause any more damage, and to ensure that it wasn't gout again.

So, this week I ventured to the gym on Tuesday, and managed an easy 3km, and followed this up tonight with the final run of the year, an easy 3.25Km run in 16:56, on a familiar route, which felt easy, and with no niggles as I ran. I conclude a roller-coaster year with very little to shout about, but a determination to put the problems behind me in 2012, and have a great running year.

Looking back on 2011, there were very few running highs to write about, with the exception of actually filling in the entry form, and paying for, the Santiago Marathon next year. But the obvious highlight of the year was the arrival of little Maisie, my first grand-child, and being there when she was just a few hours old - a new life entering the world - Let's hope she grows up to see a better place than the present state.

It's usual for people to make resolutions today, that last a week, if they are lucky, and every year we sit down as runners, and plan that the next year will be better, our training more structured, our goals set out, and by March we have forgotten everything. By way of getting myself motivated I have a plan in my my head, which will involve a number of Marathons, which mean a lot of training, hard work, and an ability to overcome the Hot Summer weather here, at least twice a week, for a long run, which I cannot complete in the gym.

I'm starting the year by signing up for Jantastic, a wonderful motivational bit of fun from the guys at Marathon Talk, a wonderful, weekly, Podcast which I thoroughly recommend you listen to if you haven't already tuned in - Their interviews each week are brilliant, none more so than the recent one with Steve Jones, who was my motivation back in the 80's when I started running seriously. Make yourself a resolution to listen in each week - well worth it....

The final note from me to the two people left who read this - Have a Very Happy New Year, don't celebrate too much, get a run in on New Years Day to Kickstart the year, and may you reach your goals for 2012, as I aim to reach my own.

Those darn legs

As I said in earlier posts this week, my legs have been feeling tired, and added to that where some events that I couldn't avoid (not that I wanted to!), and so, I decided to let the legs rest for a couple of days, hoping that all would be well.

Today, I went to the gym after classes, and decided to try a tempo based progression interval session, just to see what I may be capable off. I warmed up with 2 Km at an easy pace, then ran 5 x 400m, with 1 minute intervals, progressing from 12 Kph, 12.2. 12.6, 12.8 and finally 13 Kph, before finishing with an easy Km warm down. Have to say that while I didn't find these easy, nor where they too hard. At no point did I feel incapable of achieving the goal, and I was actually quite pleased with the workout. I appreciate these are not super fast, but another stepping stone to building up the legs and the cardio fitness.

We will have to see how the legs feel in the morning.......

Tired Legs

An interesting weekend in my latest quest to regain fitness, and listened to some good advice.

After the race on Thursday, I felt good, encouraged by it, despite the relative slow time, and on Friday evening I attended the Despedida Hash here in BA for the imminent departure of our long serving GM. The run was around 6Km, in three stages, and I actually enjoyed the full run, no great pace, but consistently running along.

I had planned to race on Sunday morning, again over 10Km, but listening to experienced heads over at Kickrunners, and listening to my own body, I felt that it was a bit much to be asking the body at this stage, to run another 10Km at race pace so soon after Thursday. so, discretion took place and I didn't go to the race.

Am I glad I passed. I went for a morning run, intending to run an easy 7Km, but within 100 meters of the house, my legs felt like lead. Obviously the 10Km, followed by the 6Km had left their mark, and I was struggling. I hoped that they would loosen up after a few more minutes of running, but they didn't, so I decided to cut short the run, and completed a 4.2 km run in just over 22 minutes. Not a bad pace, given how I felt, but a wake up call to say how much work is still needed before I can expect to have great runs every day.

16 Weeks to Santiago and a heck of a journey of Hard Work over this period....

Finally - The race post - Hispano argentina maraton 10K - Dec 8th

Don't get alarmed, they call every race here a "Maraton" you get used to it after a couple of years. Well, today was the day, my venture into 10Km races in this latest attempt to rekindle my running life. The lead up had not gone well, as we had a power cut from 11pm last night until 2:15 this morning, which with temps in the high 20's overnight, and no air con, was not the best way to get a good nights sleep.

Waking up at 6.30, with temps already around the 20C mark, and the sun cracking the flags at least meant that it would be a dry race.... I took the bus and the subte to Plaza Italia, and down to Plaza Espana, (We have a lot of Plaza's named for countries here - we were to run around Plaza Croatia in the race as well!), and met up with my pal John, wearing his County Mayo GAA shirt, rather than the Race Shirt. We had said we would wear Irish Shirts, but as mine are Rugby Shirts and heavy duty, there was no way I was tempting that today.

The build up was well organised, no queues for Chip Collection, or Baggage drop, and with quite a lot of runners milling around, I have no idea of the overall number, we waited in teh shade until the last minute before heading over to the start line. John was aiming for sub 50, while I was being more patient and seeking around 55 minutes, so we wished wach other luck, and right on time, (very unusual for Argentina.....OUCH!!!) the race was off, with temps probably around 28C by now.

STOP PRESS>>>>> Just as I was typing this, we had yet another power cut - This one lasted six hours, in which I drank a few glasses of wine over lunch with an old friend, and talked running.

So - view of the race. Here are my splits - 26:59 for first 5K (5:37 - 5:15 - 5:24 - 5:16 - 5:27). It was hot, heading towards 28C by the end, but I only needed to take a break after 7K, so my splits followed at 5:25, to 5:34, before the walk break resulted in a 5:59 eigth Km, but I persevered and managed am incredible 5:08 (fastest Km) at the ninth, maybe it was short, as my final Km was 5:42, and I know I was running hard over the last Km, as I passed quite a few people in the last 250 metres.

Completed the task, with a finishing time of 54:47, which works out at an age graded performance of 57.77% - Not great, but within my target and a good sign of keeping the progress going....

The shirt (and medal) from today....

I know I promised more....

But we have exams this week, and things have been a little hectic. Plus at the weekend we had some power outages, and I was organising the Hash run for Sunday. Now, I have mentioned before in this blog, that not every runner appreciates that Hashers actually run - they see us as a bunch of drinkers, who walk or jog a little. well, some Hashes may be little more than a pub crawl, but I can assure you that the Hashes I have been running in the last two years, here in Buenos Aires, in Santiago, and in Sheffield, England, have been quite serious in the running part. So, this Sunday, I was laying trail, and laid a course of 10Km, starting at 8 in the morning. By the time the gang arrived to run, I then ran part of the course again - Probably, all in all getting an 8Km run under my belt - Not too bad....

Yesterday, I was tied up with things, and the planned rest day was just that. But this morning I decided to lace up the shoes at 9am, to try and replicate the conditions for my race on Thursday, the Hispano Argentina 10K. I decided on a flat course (round here, that is pretty much every run!), out and back to the Parque Dominico - with a lap of the park thrown in, and a run of around 7.3 Km. Clocked an easy 40:30 run, with a couple of delays for crossing busy junctions. I had no problems with the heat, which was around 23 celsius, but know that as summer bites, it will be tougher to run at this time.

The running season here comes to an end at the end of the year - ironically, given where I come from, the summers are too hot for regular races. But with Santiago on April 1st, these few races now will stand me in good stead for the build up to, what will be, my first Marathon (despite the fact that every race from 3Km upwards is called a Maraton here) in 4 years, with my last being Surf City back in 2008.

Here's a picture from after the Hash on Sunday, so you can see the need I have to reduce the weight.... :)