On A Roll

The last few days were like a whirlwind. Every day would bring totally unexpected but very welcome good news.

I received an email on Wednesday indicating that I might be running Ballycotton after all. And I'm not talking about a number transfer or any other nefarious business (I got a few offers for that as well, thanks but no thanks), but a perfectly legit number and I'll be running in my own name. There is a slight downside to that as I'm nowhere near the same shape I was in last year around the same time, so my sequence of running a little bit faster every year is almost definitely going to end (and I'm not hunting for a top-100 t-shirt this year), but I'll enjoy running it all the same.

Another surprise came on Thursday when the kitchen lady in our office produced my Ballycotton mug that had gone missing a few weeks ago. That is nothing short of a miracle, nothing ever turns up in that place that has gone missing. I was absolutely delighted and the office coffee immediately tasted a lot better (though it's still fairly awful, to be honest).

The biggest surprise, however, came on Friday, when Niamh sent me a message if I was expecting a parcel from the AAI, to which I obviously said no because I could not think why on earth they would send me something. Well, wouldn't you know it, all of a sudden I can honestly say that I have a genuine National Championship medal at home. I knew they got medals in 2013 and I was thinking "that's strange, we didn't get any last year", but thought no more of it. Obviously someone felt differently.

Boom boom boom. The good news just keeps on coming, I'm obviously on a roll. Let's hope it lasts!

Oh yes, running. I have been doing that as well. I took it easy again for two days after Wednesday's evaluation. The HR was sky high on Thursday (almost 10 beats higher than expected), which I still attribute to fighting off some virus but had come down by Friday. Then, on Saturday, the weather turned nasty once more and I headed out into the kind of weather that makes it clear to Niamh that she's married to an idiot, though it wasn't quite as bad as it seemed. I did a few mile repeats, probably with those news from Ballycotton in mind, but they just confirmed that I'm not in shape to run fast at the moment. On Sunday I ran into town to meet up with a few guys from the club. I had meant to joint them on these runs for a while but in the last few weeks something always got in the way. I did 5 miles on my own on the way to town, 10 miles with the guys and 5 back home, giving me an easy 20 miler. I was quite amazed how easy it felt, the legs were not even tired at the end (which isn't necessarily a good sign according to MC).

The mileage is a tad lower than last week because I took a small step backwards to ensure that I remain on the right side of recovery.

30 Jan

10 miles, 1:19:26, 7:57 pace, HR 148

31 Jan

10 miles, 1:18:25, 7:50 pace, HR 141

1 Feb

8 miles, 57:08, 7:08 pace, HR 156
   incl 3 x 1 mile @ 6:17, 6:17, 6:19

2 Feb

20 miles, 2:35:16, 7:46 pace, HR 146

Weekly Mileage: 80