I suppose occassionally I should update this

Not really sure why I should even think about writing anything on here, as to be brutally honest, I am hardly running at all at the moment. I Hash with the Buenos Aires Hash House Harriers every two weeks, and in between, I pop to the gym and jog on the treadmill, if I'm honest, twice a week would be a good week!

Why has it come to this?

Well, unfamiliarity with the local area was the initial reason, coupled with the hot, humid weather when I first arrived in Argentina. At first I did manage to "train" a fair bit in the gym, and for the first few months here, I was keeping relatively fit. Then a couple of silly injuries were used as excuses, and the real truth started to hit me - I'm not 30, or even 40 any more!, and weight seems to creep up on me whenever I am inactive, and these days, its so hard to shed it when I re-start to run. I have to confess to having hit 94 kilograms, which works out at almost 15 stones, or for my American friends, 207 lbs..... That's the heaviest I have ever been.

Other Problems

Motivation is very hard right now. Given the excess weight, naturally my speed is so slow. When it becomes hard to maintain an 8 minute mile pace, for one mile, and feel really tired after a 3 Km (less than 2 miles) run on the treadmill in 16 minutes, it's tough to go back the next day. It's not that long ago, I could time trial a 5:15 mile, and run repeats over 400m in 75 seconds, seriously within the last 5 years, that was within my range. When I run 400m on the treadmill in 2 minutes, and struggle, it simply becomes impossible to raise a smile and be enthusiastic about coming back again tomorrow.

So, What can i do about it?

Well, I can moan and do nothing, but that isn't going to get me off my butt and do anything about it. Maybe by writing this down, it can help, expressing my thoughts to the world (well, OK, both of you who read this!) I am shaming myself into doing something. I'm not going to pretend that I will diet, cut out beer, train 7 days a week, and drop 30 lbs, run a 3:30 marathon etc..... It's not going to happen like that. What I can do, is watch my diet a little more astutely than I have been. Cut out the silly junk sweets and biscuits that I indulge in. Reduce my drinking to Friday Nights (Can't beat Frinks!), and after the hashes, and start to train with a little more method. If I can organise myself to go to the gym three times a week, the work should start to pay off after a month or so.

No targets, no goals. We'll see what happens over the next couple of months, and maybe then I can set my sights on realistic goals for 2011. I know what I would like to aim for, but that isn't going to happen unless I take these first steps, and reduce the weight and regain my mojo.... Hopefully it will come......

An even longer gap.....

I am so bad at keeping this thing up to date. The main reason is that I have been doing very little running. I have continued to Hash in the first six months of the year, and I am still in Buenos Aires. But, I have done very little serious running. I started the year well, with good intentions. Managed a steady 40 plus miles in January, followed by 30 plus in February, but since then its been down hill.

My first six months of the year have seen a total of 108 miles added to my career history, with most of them being from Hashing. I did manage a race of sorts in May when I was home in Ireland for a vacation, the Banbridge Spar 10K, but the least said about that the better, as I had forgotten two things - One, I wasn't fit, and Two, Banbridge is Hilly! I took over the hour for a run/walk, gasp for air, trip around the town, but at least I finished. Then, as soon as I got back to BsAs, I went and turned my ankle which saw me off running for four weeks.

Well, it's July now, and I have already amassed more miles in ten days than the last three months, mind you, that wasn't hard! So, I am trying again, and as an eternal optimist, I am planning on a half marathon (or possibly two) in September, with the Buenos Aires Marathon on 10 10 10 as a hopeful ambition, we shall see. At the moment, running 5 Km would be a challenge, so I will have to do a lot of hard work in the next two months to get even close - We shall see......

This is a new record

Yep - This must be the longest I have gone without recording anything in my blog. I am sure that nobody bothers to check in anymore as there has been nothing in over three months, but here I am, alive and well, and with a lot to tell, although sadly, not too much in the way of running.

One of the reasons I went AWOL was that old adage - injury struck! Yep, around the beginning of September that niggling groin injury became more acute, and I had to rethink my plans for the autumn, as clearly I wasn't able to run the half marathon, or train to take part in the Dublin Marathon at the end of October. I still managed to get out most weeks and hash, and whilst the groin wasn't hurting while running, every time I ran, the next day I was in some discomfort. So, I took my usual self-diagnosed advice and took some time off from running seriously, just the hashing.

Around this time I was planning other major life changes, firstly deciding to take a career break from work, As this is a running blog, I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say, on October 30th, I spent my last day at work for three years - or at least my last day working with the Revenue Commissioners for three years anyway. The second big change is my location. Having taken the time off, I needed to take myself off, and here I am, typing this update on a hot, sunny, December day (obviously not Dublin!), in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

And so back to running, and the real purpose of my update. Well, I have been gently running again for a few weeks now, very light, short distances, and, touch wood, with no recurrance of my groin niggle. Today, December 6th, I took part in a local, low-key race over 4 Km, only 20 pesos entry fee (that's €3.50), for which we received a tech T-Shirt, water, and a calendar at the end, and a decent prize list for the winners, along with spot prizes. There were around 100 in the main race, along with a fun run/walk over 1.5 Km which had around the same number again.

The race was a straight forward out and back one along a main road, after leaving the Bridgestone tyre plant in Llavollol, and whilst I felt I ran well, my time shows that the course must have been well short of the 4 Km, as I am not in the shape to be running 17:15 which is the time I recorded, and I know I was not running sub 7 minute pace. More likely the race was around 3.5 Km, and I finished around 30th out the hundred or so particpants, which was fine for me.

Unfortunately, despite the weather being far nicer than at home, the running season is coming to an end here, as January and February are usually far too hot to hold races, so I may not get as many races as I would like in over the next few months, but I can't use the excuse that it is too wet or cold to train, so hopefully, by the time that autumn arrives I will be in good shape to carry on running, and carry on updating this thing, if only for my own amusement.

No races, but training going as well as it has been

Since the Frank Duffy race two weeks ago, it has been into training mode and a couple of weeks away from hard racing. This year has been a slow build up, but July saw a lift in my mileage, and August has continued in the same vein, as can be seen from the table below (at least I hope it shows as a table!).

August: 76.0 Mi
July: 74.1 Mi
June: 37.0 Mi
May: 27.4 Mi
April: 34.6 Mi
March: 2.2 Mi

As can be seen, the second half of the year is progressing in the right direction, and with a few races to sharpen my speed up in September, and a half marathon at the end of the month, hopefully September will continue in the same way.

Although I am planning on the Marathon in October, clearly my mileage is well below what is required to run well, so it will be a jog around Dublin, enjoying he 30th anniversary party, before I refocus my targets elsewhere.

Frank Duffy 10 - Yet another race for me !!!

Another week, another race. For the first time in a while, I am writing that
in confidence. Whilst I might be running slower than ever, I am, at long
last, at least getting some consistency, in that I am racing with more
regularity, hence I have something close by to aim for. Maybe, in recent
years, I have set my targets long-term, and as such, have not focused on the
building blocks I have always referred to when coaching others along the way.
So whilst I may have the Dublin Marathon as a goal, each race along the route
has become important in its own way, and not simply a gauge as to how I am
progressing.

So, this weekend, it was the Frank Duffy 10 Miler in the Phoenix Park, the
second race in the Adidas Dublin Marathon build up series. In recent weeks I
have run the 5 Miler in this series, and the 8K Streets of Galway run, and
now I was preparing to step up to 10 miles, and my longest run for over a
year. My last venture over anything like this distance was in May 08, when I
ran the Brussels 20 Km Race in a little over 2 hours, an average pace of
around 9 mins 45 secs per mile, an absolute disaster. Whilst not in the shape
to crack the 80 minute mark I would like to be under for a ten mile race, I
knew I was not, barring accidents, unlikely to be as bad as that run.

Race morning greeted me with rain lashing against the window, and things did
not augur well as I headed up to the Phoenix Park. Much as light rain can be
welcome in a long race, and it was warm so no complaints on that score, as a
wearer of glasses rain makes life a little awkward. So, I left the glasses
behind, and lined up with a throw away t-shirt and my Marathon Maniacs
Singlet as the rain thankfully stopped, and the sun started to appear. Lining
up in corals was actually surprisingly easy, with the majority of the 4,500
filed being sensible and seemingly getting into the right, self-seeded,
coral, before a little after 10, the tapes were dropped, we bunched up, and
off we went.

The route was to be two laps of the Park on the south side, down Chesterfield
Avenue, then around by the Military Road before descending to the bottom of
the Kyber Road, up the hill, down the S's and up another hill towards the
start line, and a second lap which repeated much of the first, with the
exception that this time we ran down the Kyber Road, hitting the quads at
Mile 6...

I deliberately set out to try and run 8.30 pace which would see me home in 85
minutes. I felt confident that I could realise this time after last weeks
clocking of 39:10 for 8 Km. With the long run down the first mile on
Chesterfield completed in 8:36, I was a little outside, and surprisingly this
pace seemed to be my bench mark for the entire first lap, as each mile was
more or less the same, irrespective of the ups and downs. The half way point
was reached in 43 minutes dead, slower than I had hoped for, but I was
feeling good at this pace, and felt confident of a decent time.

After the quads had been hit going down the Kyber around Mile 6, I struggled
a little on the climb back up, and the next couple of miles were slow and saw
me starting to struggle. I knew that the last mile would be flat, and a good
effort there would enable me to claw back a little time, but the lack of
miles in my legs was starting to tell, and as I finished the final hill
around Mile 8 ½ , I felt 87 minutes would be my finish time. Once I hit the 9
mile mark in 78 minutes and change, a simple calculation meant I had to run
under 8 minutes for that last flat mile to be anywhere near 86 minutes, and
that was doable, and certainly I would be under that 87 adjusted target, so I
knuckled down and tried to keep a steady pace, accelerating gradually, and
starting to pass people, without kicking too soon.

The announcer had stressed at the start that the last turn towards the finish
still left some 400m of running, so I bided my time before really trying to
run hard until the final turn, and then I set my targets ahead. In my hey day
of running, I prided myself on the strength of my finish, only ever losing
one sprint for the line, and in 25 years plus of racing, I must have passed
hundreds, if not thousands, and I am not exaggerating there, in that last
400m of races, and today was to be no different, despite the slow pace
overall. Age may have slowed me down overall, but comparatively I still have
that long kick in me, and here again, I passed 5, 10, 20 runners in that last
400, increasing the speed with every stride, and crossing the line in full
flow, with the clock stopping at 86:04, and a sub 8 minute last mile.

On the face I of it, almost perfect splits for the run, but the second half
was inconsistent as the lack of miles showed, but at the pace I was running I
was able to kick hard at the end and make the times look more respectable.
Overall I was very happy with the run, even though I would have liked to have
been under 85. The age adjusted percentage was a slight drop to just under
60%, but again, given the mildly tentative pace I ran at, this was to be
expected. I finished 1805th in a field of 4,500, and 45th out of 75 in my age
class, all in all a satisfactory performance.

Next up for me is due to be a drop back to 5Km on September 5th in Malahide
Castle, Dublin, although there is a Half Marathon in Longford in two weeks I
am toying with. Both of these are preliminaries for the next targeted run,
the final leg of the Adidas Series before the full marathon, the Dublin Half
Marathon on September 26th, where I am hoping to be under 1:50 and a final
decision can be made as to participation in the 26 Miler at the end of
October. Now, back to training..........................

Athenry AC at the Streets

Streets of Galway heading in the right direction

Well, keep those fingers crossed, as things do appear, for once, to be heading in the right direction. Headed over to Galway for the Streets of Galway 8Km, a race I have run four times previously, and a chance to meet up with my fellow club mates, most of whom these days I have never met :). I am a member of Athenry AC, a club based just outside Galway, and when I first came home to Ireland, Mick Rice, a founder member of the club and a great runner himself, persuaded me to join the club and become something like the sixth or seventh member of the club. Today, some 6 years later, the club has well over a hundred members, but I'm glad to say that Mick is still a stalwart of the club, and it was great to see him in great shape, he runs a 100 Mile race next weekend, so this was just a short jog for him!

After a three hour drive, it was a very sunny, warm, summers day in Galway, a rare treat, and after the photcall with the club in fornt of Jury's Hotel, it was a 7 pm evening start for the race in perfect running weather. Having run 41:10 for the 5 miler in Dublin a couple of weeks ago, I was hoping to run around the same time or slightly better, having had a few days loss of training in between due to flu.

The run started smoothly on a realtively flat course, starting on the Claddagh in Galway, and heading into the city centre along Merchant Road, passed a few bars where revellers enjoying the summer evening were in fine force cheering us along. There were around 2000 entries, so a mass throng was pounding through the pedestrianised streets, around Eyre Square and past Brown Thomas before heading out to the Cathedral and through a residential area. I managed the first Km in 4:53 which was surprising given the crowd, and I kept going, running around the same pace, reaching half way in 19:05.

I was going a little too fast for my level of fitness, so I eased back a little as we ran the turns around the houses, as it was very warm for here, and the sweat was dripping off me. Between 5 and 6 Km I had to stop to wipe my glasses as I had steamed up, I couldn't see with the sweat on my shades, but then again, I couldn't find any dry part of my clothes to wipe the sweat off, so ended up running the last couple of Km's with blurred vision :) -

The run drops down onto Salthill promenade, and turns for home. I had eased off the pace by now, but as I approached the 7 Km mark, I worked out that I had 5:15 to spare to bring me home under 40 minutes (my best projected time), and so, despite the sweat impeeding my sight, I knuckled down to make sure I made it home as quick as I could. With 500m to go, maked on the road, I kicked, and started to overtake folk in front. I felt I was running strongl, but within myself, I didn't want to go for an outright sprint, but as we approached the right hander to turn to the finish, I had my sights on a few people and with 80 to go, I kicked on, passed my targets and crossed the line in 39:10, a good two minutes faster than the Dublin 5 (I know its not quite the same distance), and very happy.

This may not have been the fastest Streets for me, but at an average pace of 7:53 per mile, and a positive run, I am going the right way in gaining fitness, and next week I have a 10 Miler to "enjoy". Lets hope that continues the progress. I finished 657th out of the 1973 who completed the course, around a third of the way, so again, heading in the right direction.

Before the Adidas Race - The Crowd was Big - And I look a lot better here, than at the finish!

Another week, and still improving

Yep, making a welcome change in that I am not writing about taking two steps backwards after a week of improvements. After last weeks healthy race over 5K, I started the week with another race, the 5 Mile, Adidas Irish Runner Challenge in the Phoenix Park. They were unable to get the car parking at Castleknock College as in previous years, so I decided to go via Public Transport, which ended up with me walking around 3 miles as a warm up - maybe not ideal, but I'll live - Had to walk the same back, which wasn't quite as much fun :).

With the time I had managed over 5K earlier in the week, I was hopeful of breaking 40 minutes for this 5 Miler. However, I hadn't accounted for only 60 hours between the races, and I knew very quickly that the heaviness in my legs was not going to see that sort of time getting near. This race is part of the build up to the Marathon in October, and there were around 4,500 participants, and so with the legs heavy and the size of the field, I was reconsidering my strategy right from the off. The course also has its surprises in that there are a number of hills which slow you down, and with each mile clicking over 8 minutes and 20, I was struggling from the start. But once I had reached 4 miles, I needed to kick hard, and see what inner strength I might have, well, OK, the course had flattened out here, and I hoped I could run faster - Well, I did, not wonderfully, but fast enough to record a 41:10 finishing time, which in hindsight I was happy enough with.

Since then I have had a good week. Sunday saw me hashing over 5 miles, with a gym session beforehand, rested on Monday, 5K on Tuesday, 6K on Wednesday, and on Thursday I decided on a speed session to see where I am at that score, and ran a hard 3K on the treadmill in 13:48, again a time I was more than happy with, given my present levels of fitness.

All in all, a good week, and with my next race two weeks away, the Streets of Galway 8K, time to build from this and certainly look at that sub 40 there.

Irishtown 5K - Improvement is clear

Running is a funny sport, and running at a more mature age sometimes throws up surprises, that even an experienced veteran of 30 years of tieing up the laces,
finds fascinating, and one of the many reasons those 30 years have encompassed this hobby/sport for me.

For the first time this year I went to a BHAA race, the Business House Races, I have enjoyed over the years. With injury and lack of fitness, I have missed the first half of the BHAA season, but there are still a few races I can fit in. Tonight was the Dublin City Council organised, Irishtown 5K, a race I have enjoyed in previous years, both as a particpant, and also I have marshalled in the days I worked for the council.

The race starts on the track at Irishtown Stadium, running the first Km on the track, before exiting and heading into the adjoining park, for three laps there, before returning to the track and a lap to finish. The run is flat and in 2005 I managed to run 23:46, followed up by a 23:50 in 2007. Missed the rcae last year due to injury, and with my last outing just ten days ago being a 24:34, I had no high hopes of bettering those times, maybe I could be closer to 24 minutes than 25, but no expectations or plans to push early.

I started gently amongst the 200 or so runners, and hogged the inside line on the track, giving up time to ensure I kept the shortest route, there would be plenty of chances to overtake once I got into the park, so the first Km on the track was only just under 5:00. Once out of the stadium, I started to go past runners, and into the park, we seemed to quickly reach 2Km in 9:35, obviously a little pacier, and still I was overtaking. I used to do speed work on this loop, and know thats is's around 950m a lap, so I dug in, and gradually reeled in guys and gals, two ro three each lap, and nobody was catching me. 3K was 14:12, so I was running around 4:37 pace, and on this lap I caught a young guy in a blue T-shirt, he didn't seemed too pleased, so he spent the next 8 minutes trying to surge away, and each time I caught him back.

The second lap was over quickly, and coming up to the 4Km mark, i checked my watch, 19:02. Here is where I started to feel surprised. I was feeling good, and as I was easily going to be capeable of a final Km of under 5 mins, the maths was starting to look good, and my mind was wondering what my body thought of this pace, and was it expecting a sub 24 time. Blue T was still trying to surge, but with 800 to go I decided to run for home, I surged myself, I heard him behind me as we left the park and headed around to the stadium, my old strength at the end seemed to be there in a small way, and gradually the breathing behind became more distant. I caught another runner as we entered the track, but he was slowing, and with the 350m to run on the track, a quick glance at my watch had me startled as to the likely time. I can't say I Kicked, but I pushed on, and whilst I had no chance of cathcing anyone in front of me, I was conscious that Blue T might have a sprint finish, seeing as he must have been 20 years younger. But I never look back, head down, last bend, push off the bend, last 80m, see the clock, try and "sprint", cross the line, wow!!!! 23:39 - Where did that come from? (PS - Added the pic which shows that Blue T was trailing in)

Seriously, I had no thoughts of realistically beating previous times here, and hence I was pleasantly surprised - onwards and upwards. Saturday sees the first race in the Adidas series, the 5M Irish Runner Challenge, a race I have done a few times before, the last three times failing to break 40 minutes, so hopefully, if I recover OK, that will be my target there.