Over The Hills And Far Away

I was agonising all week if I should add yet another race to my already extended racing season, namely the Kerry Athletics cross country in Kenmare on Sunday. I was worried about my shin, but cross-country running would probably be a lot better for it due to the reduced impact off the road. I even had a chat with a team mate on Saturday, and he told me I could wait pretty much until the last minute to make up my mind.

In the end, I decided against it, but I'm not sure if I chickened out of the challenge, did not fancy the long drive to Kenmare or simply tried to nurse my leg. Whatever the reason, I was not there at the start line. Maybe next year, but that's exactly what I said last year and the year before that. I suppose Grellan had it right when he said I really was a road runner.

Having said that, in order to get 2 hours of running without the pounding on the road I headed for the Kerry way this morning, crossed Windy Gap (it was a very windy day, no prizes for guessing what the conditions up on the saddle were like), dropped down all the way into Glenbeigh and then turned around and did it all again. The double crossing of Windy Gap gave the legs quite some workout, I think it's the ideal way to build up some leg strength without running yourself into the ground. The shin behaved itself fairly well; I could notice some discomfort but no more than that.

It had been a bit worse yesterday, when I decided to put in a slightly higher effort than the recovery runs that had marked the rest of the week after the Valentia race. The quads told me early on that they didn't really feel like working and the shin started protesting last into the run as well, so it was not an unqualified success.

One question: what's the next challenge? will be going for another of sub 3?

Excellent question. In one way, I do want to have another go at the marathon because I know I didn't quite reach my potential in Vienna. On the other hand, I still don't really feel putting myself through a gruelling marathon training cycle again. Instead I'll aim for sub-5 in the Connemara Ultra instead, and if everything goes to plan, this will be a stepping stone for my big goal race later in 2012. But you know what they say about men and plans and all that.

8 Oct

8 miles, 58:07, 7:15 pace, HR 151

9 Oct

12.2 miles, 1:50:27, 9:03 pace, HR 148