Irene and Katia

The Caribic and the Gulf of Mexico might be far away from Ireland, but their weather does have an influence on ours. Once the hurricanes have finished their business over there they tend to cross the Atlantic, dumping the rest of their load over here. By then the wind strength is down to gale force and the rainfall is variable, but it never makes for great running conditions. A few runs in what used to be Irene were followed by half a day of nice weather and now Katia is paying us a visit. Bring on winter, I say.

I'm actually really looking forward to winter – not the potential for weeks of ice on untreated roads like the last 2 years, but the heavy mileage training that will be on the menu. Last year I trained very hard for the Vienna marathon. I achieved my dream target but at the cost of feeling mentally drained. I spent the last 6 months running purely for fun, not following a program, running just enough to keep my fitness level steady and racing for fun. Considering the lack of focus, my results this summer have been astounding, with new PBs in the 5K (which I thought I’d never reach again), 10K and 15 miles. But now my mojo for the marathon and beyond has returned and I'm looking forward to running long hours in the dark again. Some don’t like it, I love it.

A couple of videos From Dingle have appeared on youtube, and I like the embedded one. Grellan and I are 1:30 into it, easily recognisable by the yellow tops and the balloon. Grellan’s balloon is already gone, so the video must have been taken after the 4 mile mark. I have to say I look rather relaxed, obviously just out for a morning jog. But have a look at the runner 4:20 into the video. WTF!



Following the marathon on Saturday I took it very easy this week. The legs felt great on Wednesday and I thought they might already have forgotten about Dingle, but felt a lot more tired on Thursday, so I dialled it back again this morning. My sleep hasn’t exactly been helped by the presence of a certain 3-year old in the house. 3 times this week she woke at 4:xx in the morning to tell us that she needed the toilet and as much as I tried to get across that she can use the toilet without telling me in advance, I haven’t managed to get through yet. Twice she also woke me in the middle of the night because she was hungry and wanted breakfast – I would have gotten 8 hours of sleep without her all week, in reality this never happened. Her big brother was a night old as well at that age – if she follows in his footsteps, there are 3 more years of that to come. And yet her mother sleeps soundly through all that!

7 Sep

6.1 miles, 47:15, 7:45 pace, HR 147

8 Sep

8 miles, 1:03:25, 7:56 pace, HR 146

9 Sep

5 miles, 40:04, 8:02 pace, HR 142