Injuries - Injuries - Injuries

Suffice to say the posts have been blank as I have done little running of late. My PF flared up again, and as such I had to withdraw from the Half I had planned and the Connemara Marathon. Not a great start to my M50 career :( -

Hopefully things are improving, and whilst I won't be super fit - I will be in Cincy next month, so maybe something to write about :)

Happy St Patricks Day

Well, it was a day early, and after the hectic last three weeks of studying, exams and school, it was a relief to be back running without thinking about Taxation! And as an added bonus the Dublin St Patrick's Festival Race was back in the City Centre, having been run in the Phoenix Park over 4 miles in recent times. Thankfully the City Council and the Race Organisers were able to recreate a City Centre 5K and the numbers were clearly up as there was a good turn out, with more than one fancy dressed St Patrick on show.

For me, I was guaranteed a new PR as a M50, as this was my first race since my birthday last Wednesday, but I was unsure of how I would run as I have to confess to a few pints on Saturday watching the Rugby - but the least said about that sport the better, at least this week!

The race was off around 10 am, and the weather was pleasant enough for March, with a little chill in the air, but dry and only a light wind. I am never too sure about how to run a 5K, as I am used to starting slowly and getting quicker during a longer race. You can't really do that over 5K, so I was unsure of myself. Although there were a lot of participants, as soon as we turned onto St Stephen's Green the race thinned out and there was no problem with other runners, and I heard the 1K time called at 4:45 - which seemed about right.

I didn't think I was speeding up but the 2K mark came around in 9:05 which meant I had run 4:20 for this Km, and as we ran along the Grand Canal I was feeling the effects of the beer from yesterday a little, so just tried to keep the pace going, checking my breathing and running easily hard - if you know what I mean. Obviously, 5K is fast for me as I train for Connemara and the Pig. so with 3 and 4 coming along in 4:55 and 4:50, I was happy enough and could try and see if I could run harder over the last 1000 metres.

Being in the City, it was a flat course, and I knew that the last 600 or so would be a long straight on the Green followed by a 200m run down Dawson Street to the finish outside the Mansion House, so as soon as we turned onto the straight I tried to pick up the pace and catch a few of my fellow runners. We passed the Shelbourne Hotel and as we did, Superwoman flew past - She must have been on her second lap, or had been sand-bagging, as she left me for dead and even though I was running past a fair few others myself, she probably finished 100m ahead of me! Back to me, and as we turned onto Dawson St, I kept up the accelerated pace, and kicked home to record a 4:20 last Km and a total time of 23:10 - A PR for M50 :) - and an age grade run of 63.67%, which is actually my best over 5K since 2003 - so not a bad day out.

After the race and a welcome cup of tea, managed to catch a few words with Eamonn Coghlan, whose father had been the inaugural Race Director of the St Patrick's Race back in the 70's, and he still looks as fit as in his days as the Chairman of The Boards - A true gent and a great athlete.

Next for me will be a Half Marathon up in Omagh in two weeks - probably different tactics - and definitely no beer the day before :)

Ballycotton 10

Life has been hectic in the last few weeks with Work commitments taking over from anything else as I had to prepare for my exams which took place last week. A week of studying and a week of exams, five in five days, meant that training was not top of my agenda. But Friday saw the last exam and relief allowing me to travel down to Ballycotton in East Cork, for the Classic 10 Mile road race. This is a race I have run three times previously, and it takes place from a remote fishing village about 20 miles from Cork City in the South East of Ireland. I have no idea why, but this race attracts 3000 entries for a race where the weather can be suspect, and the roads are tight.

This year, we were expecting the worst as a major storm front was forecast to blow in on Sunday evening, but incredibly, upon arrival in Ballycotton, we we welcomes by a dry, still day with teh sun shining brightly - it was chilly, but not cold, almost a perfect day for running.

As I knew I wasn't in the best shape with, effectively, the last two weeks off, I hung back fom my Athenry Team mates and was looking to run around my marathon pace, and see how I felt. The first mile from the start is down hill, so I hung back with the pack, which wasn't that difficult given the numbers trying to traverse the narrow village streets at the start, and eased into my running. That first mile was completed in 8:39, nice and steady, and we left the village and out into the country. The view as you run this race are great on a day like today, with the headlands of the bay glimmering in the sunlit afternoon, and the green fields showing the best of Ireland off.

Mile two was a quick 7:59, again a little downhill here, and I checked back to ensure that I was within my 8:25 average pace goal, and Mile 3 was am 8:18. The first three miles and the last three, in reverse, are the same in this race, and just after Mile 3 the loop into the country takes place which is relatively flat and amongst the fileds. I look around at my running partners here and take stock of the various shapes and styles of runners around me. I realise what a diverse range of folk we are that run, and how anyone can do this if they put a mind to it. Mile 4 soon came along, at 8:24, and Mile 5, the halfway point was an 8:13.

It was just after halfway that the wheels nearly came off. My right leg started to go to sleep! I can't explain this sensation, it happens from time to time when I run. It usually goes away again after a short while, but its kind off like Pins and Needles, just a numbing of the lower part of the leg. I have no issues with circulation or anything, I have had it checked and nothing can be found. Whether its the camber of the road which effects it, I'm not sure, but today I had to drop to a walk and stamp my foot out, a strange sight I am sure to those around me, but after a while it started to "wake up" and I was back running again. This resulted, not surprisingly, with the slowest mile of the race, a 9:05, but I was back running again and Mile 7 saw the loop completed with an 8:12 mile.

I was trying to do the math in my head as to what I needed to finish under 84 minutes, my target, but was also aware that those last two miles were uphill, so needed to conserve my energy to ensure a strong finish, but I was disappointed to see an 8:37 mile at the 8 mark, and thought this would be tough. I was tiring and the climb back to the main Village road was taking its toll on me. I hit 9 miles with a slow 8:55 and thought my target was shot.

But sometimes, you can dig deep and find energy reserves that you wern't sure were there. The day before I had been running with Keiran in the Phoenix Park and had stopped a couple of times during the run as I was feeling full of indegestion, but as we neared the end of the run, we sped up and had a tremendous burst of energy, and as Kieran said, "It got the run over". So, I thought of that as I hit the rolling rises and dug in to get the run finished, and started to pass people who had been passing me over the previous couple of miles. I kept pushing, with the cruel twist that I knew the race ran through the village where the crowds were, but there was still 400m to go and I kept pushing, kept passing, got cheered on by a few of my Club Mates, and finished with a race best split of 7:28 for the last uphill mile - I got the run over!

A total time of 1:23:50, inside my target, but not exactly a perfect run of even splits, and now I sit back having run my last race as a M45, with the knowledge that as I step up a class on Wednesday, that every race in the next few weeks will be a new PR, at least in my new M50 category. The first race is on Sunday coming, and a St Patricks 5K here in the city - Here's hoping for a more consistent run and a sub 24 show.

Spring is in the Air

Saturday morning and an absolutely beautiful day had dawned. You know when, in winter, you get a day when the sun is shining, the temperature, while still on the chilly side, is just between when you are thinking of less layers and trying to remember where you put your lighter running gear - Well, today was one of those days.

I had a run planned with Keiran, and just after 9:30 we were in the Phoenix Park and raring to go. We decided that we wanted a 50 minute plus run and set off along the grassy trail on Chesterfield Avenue, the main drag, and we were not alone in our desire to enjoy the day - there were oodles of other runners out and about - It was like we were all the squirrels, fresh from our winter hibernation, scurrying around the parklands.

We turned off the main path and ran down where the deer were lying around soaking in the sun, and pushed on along the glen road, hardly noticing the climb, before heading back to Farmleigh, detouring to the Castleknock Gate before running back along Chesterfield Ave and the 2 mile or so back to our car.

A nice easy spring run, enjoying the weather, and happy to be able to run on such a glorious day - long may spring be like this.

Back into it

Well, since I got home last week, I was laid up in bed with a nasty little cold and chest bug. Thanks to flying in a metal box so far, the germs were distributed into my system and I ended up in bed for a few says laid low.

Thankfully it has now all but passed through my system, and I was able to get to the gym last night and managed a 3 mile treadmill run in 23:44 to turn the legs over. Absolutely no reaction from the legs, which were given the luxury after the marathon of a few days in bed, but the cardio was a little lacking, understandably.

Will just take it easy over the next couple of days, and rebuild gradually before racking up the training for the next set of races in March. I have two 5K's, a 10 Miler, and a Half marathon lined up next month as I build up for Connemara. Racing is the motivation to keep me progressing - fingers crossed it will work.

Post Race comments

Surf City Marathon - Or Wet and Wild Adventures

OK, the picture above was taken on Saturday morning, 24 hours before the Marathon in Surf City, Huntington Beach, California. I didn't get a chance to take a picture on Monday morning, but it was a typical sunny, warm, California day. Unfortunately for everyone, the race, the inaugral Surf City Marathon (replacing the former Pacific Shoreline Marathon), was run on the Sunday - And This was more typical of a winters day in Ireland, in fact, to be honest, we don't get days quite like that at home either!

Let me start at the beginning... Last year I was aiming myself to run a Boston Qualifier at Philadelphia, but came down with PF and had to curtail my training in October. As I really wanted to make Boston this year as I celebrate my 50th burpday in March, I looked for an early marathon where the weather would possibly be conducive to running the 3:35 I needed, and plumped for Surf City in California, I mean, It Never Rains in Southern California!

What added to this being special was the fact that a large group of friends from Kickrunners were going to be there too, and a fair number of them are in the pic above.

In the build up to the race, I was aware that I hadn't done enough training to merit a crack at 3:35, but as I had paid my airfare, booked the hotel, I was going to fly a 24000 round trip and have a great time. I was planning on hooking up with Elizabeth, a fellow Kickster, who was planning a 3:50 crack at her own Boston qualifying time, so the plans were made to run together, along with another friend, Joe. All in all there were 5 of us running the full marathon from the group, with the others planning on running the 5K and 1/2 marathon - although there lies another story for some :).

I flew in on Friday, a few delays meant I didn't get in until 8pm, so went for dinner on my own and tried to have a reasonably early night, trying to adjust my body clock rapidly. Saturday was bright, sunny, and warm, if the race would have been run then, it would have been perfect. The expo was busy, easy to navigate, and the Crocs bag a welcome gift, along with the long sleeve technical shirt. We gathered around outside as new arrivals appeared, and I was delighted to meet Amy, one of the race organisers, who has been following this blog, and eventually we all wandered off to Wahoo's for Fish Taco's, taking over most of the restaurant.

After a return to the hotel, Joe and myself drove over to Brian and Becca's condo, or honeymoon retreat, for the pre-race gathering. What a blast, and I have to confess it's the first (and I'm guessing last) time that I turned up to a party with Kitchen Towels. A big thank you to all the chefs on the day, and meeting everyone and chatting away for a few hours was a great way to relax the day before the race.

OK, The Race Day!

I woke up at 3:15, looked out and it was dry! Maybe the forecasts were wrong. I went back to bed for an hour, only to woken by the rain lashing against the window - Oh dear! Why were the palm trees bending over at dangerous looking angles? Great, wild winds too, just what we needed.

Joe and I walked down to the start, were soaked before we got 100 yards, and met up with Elizabeth, Nettie and Tim were also around, but the Kick Tent was nowhere to be seen - It was too windy and horrible to even think about putting it up.

We lined up with the intention of running 8:35 pace, and at a little before 7 am, to the backdrop of Wet Sounds, as against Pet Sounds, we were off! The Marathon only had 1000 entrants, so it wasn't too packed and we soon eased into a steady pace, running Mile 1 in 8:38 along the sea front, although we had as much water coming down on our heads as the ocean was showing. Just after Mile 2 we turned off the PCH up Seapoint, and crossed a timing mat at Mile 3 - 25:29 (official time). Elizabeth had to make a potty break not long later and Joe and I pushed on, hoping she would be able to catch us up.

The race turned a few times around here, through parklands, with narrow paths, and great support from a lot of youngsters encouraging us all, despite the rain - they were a highlight of this part of the race. Joe and I were running very easily at this point, and another Timing Mat at Mile 6 had us at 50:42, an 8:27 average pace, and no sign of any wheels coming off. Joe was running very strong, and as we came out of the parklands, back onto the roads, we knew there was the only real hill, at Mile 8, and it came, we buckled down and reached the top, only to blown away with a Force 9 gale , and still it rained!

Just before Mile 10 we turned onto the PCH again, and passed the very appropriately named Bolsa Chica Wetlands - they were! Around this point I felt that my hamstrings had not warmed up at all, and were still very tight, something I would suffer from if I continued at this pace, so I told Joe to head on and keep up the good work, I would ease back and wait for Elizabeth to catch up, she couldn't be too far behind - she wasn't and was going well. I ran with her for a short while, and at Mile 12, another timing mat showed 1:42:31, still averaging 8:33 pace, and I made the half way point in 1:52:40 - I was very happy with that, but my legs were starting to cramp up a little, and still no loosening of the hammies.

It was around Mile 14 I met Tory, who was struggling badly. We walked a little, ran a little, she tried to persuade me to run on, but I couldn't leave a damsel in distress, so I made the decision to effectively end my race, and spend a couple of hours trying to ensure that Tory finished her 13th marathon with company. We turned off the PCH just before Mile 16 and ran along the coastal path for most of the rest of the race, meeting up with Tory's husband and kids around Mile 18, and chatted away, running lamposts, turning at Mile 20 and heading towards home. The running bits got shorter, and the walking a little longer, but we were determined to get to that finish line, so we persevered. The rain actually stopped somewhere along here as well, so not all was lost.

We plodded along, trying to keep Tory going, passing a few people, who then passed us as we walked, then I spotted my hotel, it was only a 10 minute walk to the finish from there, we were nearly done. Those nasty race organisers tried to inflict one last sadistic aside, with a little loop towards the pier and back, with a photographer waiting for us too - so we ran that bit, then climbed back onto the PCH and the finish was in sight. Tory was stuggling, but she gritted her teeth we passed Mile 26 and ran home - all the way she was chanting "Yes I can" - and she could, we crossed the line together...relief was on her face, and Jeff, her husband was thanking me for bringing her home and staying with her - I enjoyed the run with her, and so my final time of 4:31:14 didn't really reflect my own capabilities on the day, but I was happy to have helped, and I have my little surf board medal to show.

Joe ran a PR of 3:42 and Elizabeth made her Boston Qualifying time with 11 seconds to spare, and the beer garden was cold, but a welcome beer all the same. We then returned back to the hotels, before Joe and I walked up to Oggi's and watched the Superbowl with the gang, drank copious amounts of beer and ate pizza's - You can do that when you run a marathon :) - Nettie also made her PR and Tim had to drop out due to injury, but all in all a good weekend for the Kickrunners on Tour.

If I am being honest, I wasn't impressed by the course. Too much isolation along the coastal path, not helped by the awful weather. The fans were very thin on the ground, understandably, and maybe if the weather is better on another day, I would have a different perception of the race. On the plus side, the medal is awesome, the shirt was cool, and the enthusiasm of the youngsters in the park was great to behold. The flatness of the course does make it reasonably fast, at least on a good day - So maybe I might come back and run it again, just to spot the difference, as long as someone can guarantee the weather.

Perfect Tune Up for Surf City

With a week to go before my trip to California and the Surf City Marathon, it was a chance to see how the training has been going, and a chance to let the legs turn over sharply before putting them thru 26 miles next week. The Raheny 5 is a classic race here on the last Sunday in January, and this was the 24th running of the event, and my third year in a row taking part.

My training has been going well in the last three weeks since the cross country race at the beginning of the year, and whilst I may be short of the distances in my legs to have a chance of a Boston Qualifier next week, I was confident that my speed over shorter distances would be getting back to a respectable level. Before the race I was saying that I would hope to be around 38 minutes, whilst privately I was thinking that, if the weather conditions were right, I would go a bit faster. A speed session on Friday night augered well for a decent run, and with the weather being a perfect January day, sunny, and in the sun at least - semi-warm! - with only the slightest breeze, I would have no excuses.

As I said, this is a well established, and very well supported, road race, and the good day certainly brought the numbers out, so the start was a little cramped. The race starts on the road, in a housing estate, and as such there is limited space, so when the start came, there was a somewhat chaotic dash, then a stop as the domino effect took place, then within 14 seconds I was across the line and off, almost without a hitch.

It was obvious to me right away that I was feeling good and was up for a decent run. The first couple of turns saw me holding my position well, keeping flaying legs of fellow competitors away from myself as I bobbed and weaved around the slower starters. It was relatively incident free, which was a surprise given the numbers involved, but I soon settled into my stride, and before I knew it I was at Mile 1 and 7:35 was on my watch, almost perfect. The race settled into a pattern for me, easing along, with only one hiccup when a young runner tried to cut across me at a turn, and almost knocked me over, and as he had ear phones in (I hate people who race with earphones!!!!) he failed to hear my expletive, but he felt my elbow as I defended my position on the road!

Mile 2 was a 7:22 and the third mile down towards the coast road saw a 7:18 clocking. I started to push on as I felt strong and Mile 4 was reached in a further 7:10, progressively quicker each mile, and the Mile 4 marker is just as we climb away from the coast road towards home. Given I have run this race before I knew what to expect and I dug in as we completed the gentle slope - it's not a tough climb, but around 100 yards of gentle uphill after the initial lift. When it levelled off, I eased into a strong rhythm and prepared for the finish -

- I was deciding where to kick, and remembered that there are three turns as we approach the finish - The finish is back where we started, with a small park that we run around the outside of - You can hear and see the finish as you approach the first of the three turns, and a few people started to sprint out then, but I knew we still had 400 to go, so I held back, pushed on down the length of the park, before the second turn where I picked off the jump-starters and as we turned the last corner, I kicked out, sprinted for the line, some 50 yards, and crossed the line stopping my watch in 36:27, 7:02 for the last mile, and a very satisfying performance.

I also use the WAVA tables to work out my age related performances, and although I ran this same race two years ago in 36 minutes dead, this years performance was actually a better age performance, with a 66.83% performance, my best age adjusted performance over ANY distance since 2001!

Now I can look forward to next week with a confident feeling, although I won't be going mad and expecting to run a BQ performance, but I will be confident of a decent run and, more importantly, having a good time.

Slack Posting but running go OK

I know, I know, I'm as bad as ever at keeping this as up to date as I should. But on the plus side, I have been running well in the last two weeks, with training completed on 11 days out of the 14, and the base mileage building up and consistency becoming the key word.

Now, I appreciate that there are a few readers and fellow bloggers who train every day, but as the years have advanced for me (slowly I hope!), I have always programmed rest into my plans, so no apology for the rest days - we need to recover.

What I have been doing is planning out the next few months of racing and goals. This Sunday I have the Raheny 5 Road Race, and I would hope to be running sub 39, depending on weather. The following week I am off to sunnier climes, and California for the Surf City Marathon, and although this was originally planned as a Boston attempt, I will now be looking for around 3:50 and a good hard training run with friends :).

When I get back I have a couple of cross country races in February, all the time building the training for the spring and a few key races. Firstly, my last race in the M45 Category, the Ballycotton 10, and naturally following on, my first race in the M50 class, although I'm not certain which that will be, but I have entered the Omagh 1/2 Marathon on March 29th, however their are a couple of other races before that one which could make the First!

All these are gearing me up for the Connemara Marathon on April 6th, the tough Galway race that sorts the men out from the boys, and the women from the girls. All being well I am really hoping to run sub 4 here (worth 20 minutes elsewhere!), with the last 3 miles the tough part.

That's where I am at, and here's hoping that I can get through this period unscathed and all will be well for a late spring/early summer attempt at the 3:35 I need to make Boston next April.

First Race (X-Country) of the year

Oh dear!

I did think I was getting back to a reasonable level of fitness - sadly, it was clear by the events today that I am either getting too old for all this, or I have a lot of work to do to get back to a decent level of fitness. Or (thinking positively), I just had a bad day!

A few years since I ran my last X-Country race, I was encouraged by colleagues to take part in the first BHAA race of the year - the South Dublin Co Co Cross Country 4 mile race in Tymon Park, Templeogue. It was a cold day, but fair to say the conditions underfoot were good, and I dusted my spikes off, and lined up with a few other hardy souls, and off we went on a 4 mile trudge around the park, three laps of the circuit.

I won't bore you with the painful details of the race, suffice to say I had a bad day at the office. I took 35:30 to run the 4 miles, and felt terrible. I have felt better at Mile 20 in a marathon when I wasn't fit :) - But I got around, and next week, it's Race 2 in the series, next one over 5 miles - Here's hoping I have a better week.