Playing In The Mud

When I crossed the line in Ballycotton, my watch said 60:14. The provisional results said 60:15, which is fine because the rules say you have to round up to full seconds. Now they added another second to 60:16. Hmpf. Not that it makes a difference, it's just another reminder of my near miss there.

Recovery has taken a bit longer that I would have hoped for, or maybe I should say recovery is taking a bit longer. I took it easy all week but when the legs were still sore during Thursday's run I decided to step back again and cut the distance down to 5 miles each on both Friday and Saturday. Now I finally feel fully recovered again. If that's really the case will be revealed 6 days from now, I suppose.

I spiced up those easy 5 milers with a faster final mile. On Friday I had averaged about 7:50 during the first 4, definitely recovery pace, and accelerated up to 6:30 pace on the final mile, which is marathon pace. I did the same again on Saturday but I must have felt better because I inadvertently ran 7:17 miles for the first 4 and a 6:06 mile at the end; maybe I should have checked my Garmin but I only realised it after I had gotten home and looked at the numbers. Then again, if you can almost run a 6-minute mile without noticing, I don't suppose you should complain.

For a bit of fun on the last weekend before the marathon I did an excursion to the Kerry Way, climbing all the way to Windy Gap, about 1000 feet higher up. My original idea was to drop down to Glenbeigh and turn around there, but I had taken me 43 minutes to reach the top and I really did not want to exceed 90 minutes. To add to that, the trail was very slippery and muddy and the steep road was a bit dangerous. Of course I should have worn my off-road runners in conditions like that. The way down from the Gap was rather hairy, I slipped on three different occasions and the last time was quite severe, I was just about to crack my head open on some stones when I somehow miraculously managed to re-gain my balance and avoided disaster. The last week before a marathon is all about not doing anything stupid. I failed in that respect but it looks like I got away with it.

The run was great fun but I was almost screaming in pain in the bath afterwards when the warm water got the blood flowing again into the numb, frozen toes. They were striped bright red and white. Surely you don't get frost bite that quickly, do you? Anyway, they did manage to thaw eventually, but boy, that hurt!

Update: In the afternoon I drove the Tralee marathon course. It's not the same as running it but I think I got a pretty good feel for it. There are a few hills in there, alright!

7 Mar

8 miles, 1:00:01, 7:30 pace, HR 142

8 Mar

5 miles, 37:02, 7:24 pace, HR 139

9 Mar

5 miles, 35:17, 7:03 pace, HR 147

10 Mar

10.75 miles, 1:22:41, 7:40 pace, HR 151
   Windy Gap, playing in the mud

Weekly Mileage: ~48