It's Been a While...

For once, my absence from posting has not been due to a lack of running, more my idleness in blogging. In the first four months of the year, I have been running, training and racing too. These few months have all been about relaxing and enjoying my running, without any real pressure. All this has been about the lull before the storm, as my next post will explain..... (Cryptic here!)...

So, after my return from my holidays back home in Argentina, it was back to the winter blues and a build up to the Rock n Roll Half Marathon at the end of April, in Madrid. January saw my training around 67 Km, not a huge build up, but I was working on my speed a little, after some slower races in South America, so my runs tended to be short, but sharper. Two "races" were run, with a parkrun at Hartstown, completed in 25:51, with the Raheny 5 Miler at the end of the month rounding things off. February saw a few blips as I had a bout of plantar fasciitis (not sure how to spell that correctly), but I did manage to improve on my parkrun time at Hartstown to 25:28, but only 42 km run, due to the niggles.

March saw a better distance covered, with over 100 Km for the month, and a further improvement at Hartstown to 25:05, actually ran this on my 58th birthday. A few 15 Km runs in there too, as the Madrid build up continued.

April sees the real start of the spring to summer races, with the start of the BHAA series. Two BHAA races this month, the first the 4 Miler at St Annes in Raheny, where I improved by over a minute and a half on last years effort, with a 32:29 clocking, with the following week bring the 10K BHAA race out at the K Club in Straffan. This race was a little disappointing, as the reverse happened as I was around a minute and a half slower than last year, hitting 53:13 this time, not really sure why, but it was still an enjoyable day out in Kildare.

This brings me up to Madrid. This was never a time targetted race, but having run two under-performing halves in Dublin last year, I was certainly aiming for a more consistent run, and a much better time than the two 2:25ish runs last year. Paula and I headed off to Madrid early on the Friday morning, with a small bunch of #RSP runners also heading over, Rachel Hyland, Hayley Morris, Jennifer McAteer, Michele Mowlds, Karen Kelly and a few more to boot. We were staying with an old friend from Buenos Aires, and after popping early to the expo and collecting our numbers, we caught up with our friend Melanie, before she flew off to Birmingham for the weekend - must have been something we said :)...

Saturday was spent sightseeing, and we were up bright and early on Sunday morning for the race. Parque Retiro was the location for the start and we caught up with the #RSP gang in the corals, and my plan was to try and run around 6 minute pace for the entire race, keeping that consistency I tend to lack. Hayle, Rachel and myself started together, and before too long, Hayley had disappeared, as she was in great form and able to push faster right from the off. Rachel and myself kept in sight until around 10Km when I lost her as I walked through a drinks station, not to be seen again until the finish chutes. My plan was working, for the main, with the first 5Km in 30:22, followed by the next in 28:32, where the course flattened out, after a long drag of the first 8km - The hills weren't steep, just long and gradual. Slowed a little in the third quarter, clocking 31:07, and the last quarter almost saw me face planting the Madrid streets, as I tripped on an uneven surface around 18Km, doing a wonderful Bambi impression, but thankfully keeping upright, just.... I actually thought I had pulled a hamstring, and walked for a couple of minutes to ease off the strain, but thankfully all was OK, and I picked it up again, hitting that last quarter in 31:47, which included another couple of hills, these being a tad steeper, if shorter, than the first half. Back into the parque for the finish and given the way the temperatures had crept up, I didn't really kick out too hard for the line, finishing comfortably in 2:08:34, an average pace of 6:06 per Km, which, if I hadn't done my Bambi impression, would probably have been a minute or so faster - Just the consistent race I wanted to run.

Back home to Dublin on Monday night, with Paula heading down to South America for a couple of weeks, and a recovery week, as things will start to get serious from now on in. But before April was out, I had another parkrun to complete, and on Saturday last, I headed over to Waterstown, the one with the gentle inclines, and ran a nice steady training run in 27:47, as Sunday, MayDay, I was heading over to Boyne and the 10 Km race there, with THAT hill, I remember well from last year.

The Boyne 10K was not my best run, struggling a little, as I went off too fast, clocking 5:15 pace for the first 4 Km, and my legs feeling like lead. I eased right back, and when I came to THE Hill at 7km, I simply walked up the hill - There was no need to push as I wasn't looking for a fast time, but I have to confess it was a struggle, and although I managed to kick hard on the finishing straight, it was a relatively poor time of 55:50, some three minutes slower than last year, but the craic was great, and a few beers afterwards with the #RSP gang soon had me forgetting the poverty of the run.

So, that brings everything up to date, and the next post will map out where I am going.... Stay tuned.......