Well, I have been running, unfortunately, since March, I have been carrying a couple of injuries, which have meant I haven't been able to reach the same levels that I was able to reach last year. But, as this is the last full year I will be running on my home island, at least for a while, I have continued through, where better judgement may well have suggested that I should ease up, rest for a few weeks, and allow the body to recover - But, I'm way not doing that....
March started well, running Ballycotton Ten Miler, one of my favourite races in Ireland. I was reasonably happy with my time of 86:50, and very happy to pick up my Mug and T-Shirt, which will both see great use in Argentina next year.
It was just after Ballycotton that the first of my niggles started. I was getting a pain in my groin area, but only when I ran, and so it was off to the physio, who suggested rest, a strain on the muscles that connect around the pubic bone. His remedy was to rest and not to run for around 4 to 6 weeks, but he knows me well, like that would happen! What he did say was that it wouldn't get any worse if I continued to run - so I listened to the second piece of advice, and have kept on running. To be honest, it might have been wiser to rest up for a couple of weeks at that time, as the races were not as frequent as at this time of the year, but I kept plodding through, and April saw a couple of parkruns, including a new one for me at Bushy Park, here in Terenure, almost on my doorstep, along with the first of the Summer League BHAA Races in St Ann's Raheny, and a decent run of 31:21 for the 4 miler, in much better conditions to last years windy day.
And so we rolled into May, and the running season really picking up. First up was a new race on the agenda for me, and a trip to Navan on a Friday night for a 6K race, and also saw me later in the month heading up home for the Banbridge 10K, and a lovely warm evening for a race on home turf.
June started with a change of scenery and a Trail Race for me, the first of the Born2Run series in Dublin, over at Malahide Castle, and an interesting, wet night, on grass, trail, and occassional tarmac. It was around then that the second niggle started (the first one still present), and a heel injury, some call it a heel spur. Right at the base of the heel, it's painful after a run, and when I get up in the morning, but generally I can run on it, as it eases off as it gets warm, but I do suffer aftrwards. Again, the treatment is to take anti-inflams, and rest up for a few weeks - Yep, you guessed it, not going to happen......
What the two niggles have resulted in, is that I haven't been able to put any hard training sessions in. Obviously this means I am ticking over, rather than improving dramatically, but I'll keep trying, and I'm not falling back too much, just aiming to run within my level of fitness, and where necessary, taking walk breaks in my races to keep things under control.
Finished off June with two more trail races, the first being at Bohernabreena, the last of the Born2Run series (which I highly recommend by the way), and I never knew that a 10K reservoir run could have so many hills, but it was certainly up and down, with 177m of elevation gain, and slighly less lost as it didn't start and finish at the same place, but with a downhill finish, I finished with a hard kick home.
Nearly up to date, if you're still awake - ........
July started off at the venue of my first "RSP" race back in Ireland in 2014, at Clontarf, and the 5 Miler along the seafront. An out and back course, followed by lunch in the Yacht with some great running friends, made for a fun day, and despite the niggles, a time of 42:25 was very pleasing. A couple of 5Km races followed swiftly, the first in the Docklands, with the second being the BHAA DCC race at Irishtown, and decent runs of 24:25 for the Docks Race, followed by a 12 second faster run a week later in Irishtown.
Last week, it was the SPAR FitLive 10K run, and a small gang of us from my Wednesday night Run & Beers Group took part, for a couple of them on the day, it was their first race, and they all ran superbly. I was more than happy with my 52:02 time, hopefully the sign of things to come, as I work through the niggles.
Only this weekend to go now, don't panic, and Saturday I was up North, and decided to head to Rostrevor for #parkrun, and a relatively new addition to the #parkrun family. What a beautiful location for a run. On one side, Carlingford Lough, with the other side of the park surrounded by the foothills of the Mountains of Mourne. What I hadn't realised was that the parkrun utilized the mountains, rather than the coast, and a very challenging two lap course, with a really stiff, long, climb on each lap, a total of 140m of climb, although, despite struggling up the hill, twice, the last Km, being virtually all down hill, saw me fly home in a Km split of 3:56 - if only I could keep that up for longer, on the flat!!!!
That brings us to this morning and the 10K start to the Dublin Race Series, the Fingal 10K. I certainly felt those hills from yesterday in the legs, and although I finished with a reasonably OK time of 53:57, it was a disjointed run, with a few walk breaks making the splits look very uneven, and the time only reasonable as I kicked like mad over the last 200m to come in under 54 minutes...
So, where do we go from here...
The weekend diary is pretty full, with races every weekend, BHAA, DLR Bay 10K, then the Rock n Roll in Dublin, all in consecutive weeks. Looking forward to the Dingle Half Marathon at the beginning of September, and if I can clear these niggles (the muscle injury is nearly gone now, while the heel is still very sore), I can work towards completing the Dublin Marathon come the end of October.
The #FarewellTour still has a bit to go, and I've not quite decided on which run will be my last leg, but The Gingerbread Run in late November is looking strong as the final Race, but I can predict that it will be #parkrun that will be my final event before we fly off in the weeks before Xmas, and i really hope that many friends can join me on the day. My last race of the year will be in Buenos Aires, on New Years Eve, an 8K, the San Silvestre... It may be a tad warmer than New Years Eve in Dublin - I ran the same race in 2015, it was 40 degrees at the finish, and YES, I do mean Celsius!
I promise to update a wee bit more frequently in the next few months - For both my readers.... :) - A few pics from the past few months........
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