We Are Go

I did a couple of tests the last few days to give me a clearer picture of where I stand and if I would be able to do Cork at all. After a set of excessively easy 5-mile runs I eventually got itchy feet, not entirely surprising, and one mile into Thursday's run I decided to keep the distance at 5 miles but run at a faster clip. I averaged about 7:10 pace, much faster than what I would have expected, and all of a sudden the prospect of running Cork seemed a lot less daunting.

On Friday I ran 8 miles at the same effort level that I would have run before I got sick. What I found was that the pace was marginally slower, the HR was at least 5 bpm elevated and hills seemed to feel a lot tougher. Still, all in all that was promising. By now I now longer felt sick. Were I not a runner I would have sworn I was fully recovered, and even if I were a runner without a HRM I probably would have thought I was almost entirely recovered. It's the readings of the HRM that give me some concern now, they are clearly well above what I would see had I not gotten sick last week, and I clearly am still recovering from that episode.

The most important test came this morning, Saturday. I ran 10 miles all at 3:15-marathon-pacing pace, which would be 7:25 in real terms and 7:20 on the Garmin (Cork always measures long on my Garmin). All went well, the pace is easy enough even if the HR is higher than usual. The hills feel harder, which shows me that I am running closer to my threshold than I would ideally like. If this were a race I would give it a miss, I am clearly in no condition to get the maximum out of my body right now, but this will be a marathon at a reasonably relaxed pace and I am confident everything will be just peachy. Cork is definitely back on and Alan, my co-pacer, can breathe a sigh of relief.

Not sure why they used that brutal picture - and Paul looks even worse

With that worry out of my way, I can start focusing on my next target. Last Sunday I did a photo shoot with a photographer in Tralee, together with another local endurance athlete, Paul Gosney. Paul is doing a double Ironman right now, as I am typing this he should be roughly halfway through the cycle. He is doing that in support of a great charity, Liam's Lodge, which is the sister charity of Bee for Battens, which has been making quite a splash the last few years. My involvement will come next month, when I do the 10 marathons in 10 days event in Sixmilebridge in support of the same charity. If you can find it in your heart to support some desperately needed help for very sick children and their families, click here (or the image on the side of my blog). I hope I can get a bit more media exposure over the next few weeks to raise a few more funds. Any donations, even if it were just a Euro, would be very gratefully received. Thank you.

30 May

5+ miles, 36:17, 7:11 pace, HR 155

31 May

8 miles, 1:00:28, 7:33 pace, HR 148

1 Jun

10 miles, 1:13:18, 7:19 pace, HR 152