I keep doing that. Every now and then I look at the calendar and go "I haven't written a blog entry in HOW LONG?" Maybe it's old age, with the 50s approaching rapidly?

Actually, that reminds me of the interview I heard recently with Eoin Keith on the Marian Finucane show, where he said he was really looking forward to turning 50 so he would be more competitive in his age group again. Two things struck me about that. One, I used to say exactly the same thing before turning 40 and still remember the look people gave me. Two, I didn't think Eoin needs to be even more competitive as it is. That's the guy who wins the Irish National 24 hrs championship almost every year, outright, not age group, in addition to all the multi-day ultra wins on his resume.

Anyway, there's still a good bit to go until then anyway, and there's the little matter of another 24 hours race on the horizon. As you might know, I'm giving the Belfast 24 a wide berth this year because I never want to step foot into Victoria Park ever again due to some rather painful memories from last year (and the year before, even though that had been a much better race). Interestingly, Eoin has stated how much he loves that very course, obviously just as much as I have grown to hate it.

Having said that, chances are that the Austrian championships, where I'm headed to, will be at least as painful, particularly since they regularly get 30 degrees during the race there. Oh God, please not this year! Having said that, I have been getting plenty of heat training recently with our very unexpectedly good weather. It's not THAT warm, still only in the low 20s, but it is very, very humid and the last few days I was completely soaked on my runs, even though the pace had slowed to barely above crawling.

With the conditions being as they are, I'm not taking any real notice of the fact that I have suddenly slowed down a lot and yet the HR has turned into stratospheric levels. It is what it is.

Apart from that, recovery from Cork is going exceedingly well. Once again there was no muscle soreness whatsoever and this time round I didn't even feel particularly tired on my recovery runs the next couple of days. That's definitely a good sign, and very much in contrast to some previous races, particularly the 2016 one in Albi, so I'm actually rather optimistic about my upcoming performance.

This morning, Saturday, I went up Windy Gap, twice, despite the legs complaining all the way. It might have been my farewell run on that mountain. I wonder if I'll ever set foot up there again.

4 Jun

4 miles, 34:40, 8:39 pace, HR 134

5 Jun

4.94 miles, 41:08, 8:19 pace, HR 129

6 Jun

4.82 miles, 35:46, 7:25 pace, HR 147

7 Jun

10.25 miles, 1:21:47, 7:58 pace, HR 137

8 Jun

10.25 miles, 1:25:30, 8:20 pace, HR 146

9 Jun

12.15 miles, 2:03:32, 10:09 pace, HR 139

   Windy Gap x 2