Back to the Phoenix Park

Slowly but surely getting back into it. After a busy start to the weekend with a trip up to house in the North to get the builder set as he makes good the water damage from last week, it was home and an early night after watching the first games in the European Championships from Austria/Switzerland. With no Ireland, and even England failing to qualify, it's open as to who to cheer for, and tonight sees a potential good game between Germany & Poland, I have a lot of Polish friends here in Ireland, including my builder, so I'll be wanting them to win tonight, and I have drawn Croatia in the sweep at work, but it will be Spain that I will be following most attentively, they have 4 Liverpool players im their squad, so Viva Espana!

I digress away from running.

This morning I met up with my training partener and friend Kieran in the Phoenix Park and we took a leisurely 5 mile run around the park, catching up on our American trips, as he ran Cleveland Marathon while I was in Cincinnati. He is in better shape than I at present, so I let him run off on me (truth told, there was no way I could keep up!) over the last mile, and I have a lot of work to do to get back into proper shape.

24 weeks to Philadelphia, with Dublin 20 weeks tomorrow - The clock is ticking!

Update and Up and At Them

Thought I'd bring you up to date with what has happened since my run in Cincinnati, and where I'm planning on going next. Well, after the race, it was vacation time in San Diego and Palm Springs, and I only managed a few little runs between pool time, but it kept me ticking over, and the relaxation gave me the chance to re-charge the batteries, and take stock of whether running was still in the plans - maybe it was getting too hard to keep the fitness levels.

Well, I took stock, and decided that as running is in my blood, there is no way I can relinquish the adrenalin that comes from a good run, or a race finish, so it was home, and the Dockland Fun Run over 7.75 Km, starting right outside my front door. I ran it steadily, clocking an unimpressive time of 39:44, but happy enough, and then flew off to Belgium to run the Brussels 20Km Road Race, as part of a team from Irish Revenue, where on a very warm day, and avery tough course, I ran 2:01:26, to finish around 12,000th in the race, but with a further 10,000 behind me! It wasn't the time that I had hoped for, and I have to admit that it is not a race that I would want to repeat, the course is too hilly and the numbers too high for the size of the roads, but I did enjoy my weekend, where our Belgian hosts treated us superbly.

I returned from Belgium with a BIG Blister on my right foot, so I took the whole week off running to allow it to heal - This was down to new shoes, that I thought I had broken-in, obviously not, so they will be discarded as running shoes, and I'll switch to my new Asics Gel Nimbus 10's, over those 9's -

June is here, and I have a plan. I was always intending to run Philadelphia this year, a Thanksgiving Vacation to Pa is a regular occurrance now, visiting family, and Dublin is 4 weeks before Philly. So, Starting on June 9th, I have a 24 week build up to Philly, with Dublin being my last long run before Philly, which I will run as a long training run, and hopefully help a pal reach a goal of his own at the same time. He can reach his goal, and I can contain myself and treat the race as a 2 minute slower than desired pace, training run.

I would point out that my weight has crept up to 196 lbs again, and this WILL be reduced to 175 by the time of the races, and with a summer of running to look forward to, I intend to make this one to remember. Last night I ran with the Dublin Hash House Harriers for a bit of fun too, and will continue to do this, and maintain the fun element of running alongside my serious training.

Swings and Arrows

As you can probably tell, when my running is going well, I post on a daily basis, but when it's not - There are HUGE blanks on the blog and it becomes dormant. The latter has been true in recent months, with the PF causing training to be curtailed and the running going down hill, and not with the wind behind me!

So, what have I been doing in these past weeks? Actually a surprising amount, but SLOW! April was a lean month, with only 39.2 miles run in total, but I was booked on my vacation and I was going to run something while I was away, so May 1st, we flew out to Cincinnati and the Flying Pig Marathon. I have been fortunate enough to make it to Cincy on two previous occassions, and really enjoy the friendliness that this race shows - and my good friend Jenny was there to meet us, and make us at home. On the Friday night I rekindled my affair with Hashing, taking part in the Sin City Hash which was great fun and prepared me well for Saturdays 5K race, part of the Marathon Weekend.

I had decided to run the 5K to see how I was feeling and to see that the foot would put up with racing - it also had to put up with torrential rain on the morning of the race. I took it steadily, and ran a 24:41 time, finishing 135th out of 918 participants, and 5th in my age group - If I had been actually racing this, my time from the St Patricks Day race would have had me 2nd in my age. The positive news was the foot was OK, no reaction.

With a pasta party at Jenny's on the Saturday night, I was prepared for the Race on Sunday, wisely having switched to the Half Marathon, but with no real running worth talking about in the month preceeding, I was uncertain what to expect. Cincy is a tough enough course, with a fair few hills in the 13 miles, so I set about a strategy to walk the worst hills, and jog around the rest - today was a day of testing the foot and not breaking anything :).

I was actually feeling bad after 3 Miles and almost ready to drop out of the race. The bridge you cross back into Ohio at this stage was a tougie, and my lack of training was showing dramatically. 3 Miles! And I used to run Marathons for breakfast! But I persevered, got running again, and stuck to my plan. I ran as much as I could, then when the hills came, I strolled up them, chatting to a fellow Marathon Maniac, also walking, although he had a better excuse as this was his Third Marathon in 8 days :) - We parted at Mile 9, and from there on in, it was easier. The long downhill stretch back into the City saw me picking up the pace, and almost flying along - who needs training when the road is down?

Lets just say I managed to finish the race in one piece, nothing spectacular in the last mile or so, did feel I picked up the pace, and nobody went past me, but it wasn't because of the time that I raised my arms as I crossed the finish line, it was the very fact that I had completed 13 miles with my foot feeling attached and no residual pain - maybe I could get back into running again. For the record, an all time PW of 2 hours 8 minutes and 34 seconds, which is of course my M50 PB, and something to aim at - I was 2721st finished out of 7357, so maybe not quite as bad as I thought, and I lived to fight again, go to California, enjoy a proper vacation around a pool, and start to think about Racing properly again and training hard for Philadelphia in November :)....

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.