Saturday, May 30, 2020

I Pity The Fool

Last week I finished off the 8 week 5k training program I had been following on Zwift. It was very strange in 2 completely separate ways - firstly that I was doing it on a treadmill and secondly that I was doing a 5k training program at all - me, the ultra runner with the Diesel engine and without a single fast twitch fibre. Anyway, I finished it off with the obligatory 5k time trial, obviously with a fair amount of trepidation, and ended it with a 19:16 treadmill TT, a pretty decent improvement compared to the 19:44 I had done 4 weeks earlier as part of the boards.ie TT.

As it happens, the community on boards.ie had gotten the taste for virtual races and today was the second installment, and this time it was the mile! That's even more fish-out-of-water territory for me, so of course I jumped at the chance and signed up (while trying to ignore the fact that Anto has been organising a series of virtual ultras all along).

I knew what to expect.



I was already chancing my luck bombing along at 5k pace on my home treadmill, so for that one I was definitely heading outwards, and the flattest piece of road anywhere nearby is obviously the Prom, though I avoided the Prom itself because, you know, people and social distancing, so I ran on the bike path parallel to it and don't worry, I jumped off onto the road whenever a cyclist was nearby.

The fact that my first glance at the watch in desperation was as early as 0.18 miles wasn't a good sign, though in my defence I was a bit paranoid about missing the turnaround point.

A 19:16 5k would translate into a 5:33 mile, though taking my speed-deprived legs into account you could probably add a few seconds to that, but even that always sounded way too optimistic - at the GOAL mile half a year ago I wasn't even able to break 6, so in the end I was actually pretty pleased with 5:56, faster than my previous fastest mile at the 2018 GOAL mile, and let's completely ignore the fact that I used to run a lot faster for 5Ks. Getting old sucks, but I think I might have mentioned that before.

Hey, it's good to be alive and we're having the sunniest spring in Irish history, which makes the lockdown so much more bearable.

Stay safe.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Still Alive

So I haven't written a single post about running since February, about 3 months ago. What happened? Nothing in particular, really. I just didn't feel like it any more. In fact, even in the weeks before that hiatus I sometimes had to force myself to sit down on a Sunday and write at least a short post about my running week, just to keep the blog going.

And then I ran Donadea, with very modest expectations, and I managed to do significantly worse even than that. It didn't come as a complete surprise, the body had been rebelling against running in the weeks before the race, I had to stop training or I would have run myself into the ground entirely and I ran the entire 50k basically on muscle memory, so the fact the the legs started cramping violently towards the end was always on the cards.

I could say I was licking my wounds afterwards, but that wouldn't be entirely correct, it was more mental than physical. Still, my calves were really sore for a full 5 days, which is the longest I have ever had sore muscles after a race (well, maybe with the exception of Sparta) and then I had a bit of a head cold. I know what you might be thinking but I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with Covid; it was very mild, mid-February was too early to be in with a realistic chance to catch Covid here in Ireland and nobody around me got sick afterwards, so it was just one of those respiratory issues that do tend to come occasionally following long races.

Mind, I'd love it to have been Covid. A degree of immunity after a nothing illness would be great.

Anyway, I stopped running entirely for about 3 weeks and then I only picked it up very slowly, only a few days a week and only short distances at that. And then, of course, we got locked in, all of us.

I was actually in a very good spot, much better than most. I still had the treadmill that I had bought back in my competitive days, and it was still there, albeit much under-used. And since I had signed up for the Ironman here in June, I had purchased an indoors bike trainer in February, which turned out to be excellent timing for completely unforeseen reasons.

Now, I hate running on a treadmill as much as the next man, and the indoors trainer wasn't any better, but in the intervening years someone invented Zwift, and as it turns out it makes all the difference. It really is a complete game changer. Up to then I had once managed to last an entire hour on the treadmill and that had been pure mental torture. Now, being able to see your avatar on a screen and even run or cycle together with others, that mental boredom is gone and training indoors is actually fun. Not as good as running outside but fun nevertheless.

And then there's another thing. Ever since I started running 15 years ago I was always training for my next race, and of course it was always at least a marathon. And races of shorter distance were always just training races as part of the build-up. I always had the thought at the back of my mind that doing a training block aimed at a shorter distance, say a 5k, might be beneficial but there was always that next goal race on the horizon, so I never did one. Until now that is. Since all my long races have been cancelled, all of a sudden I had time and opportunity to do something completely different. I picked up an 8 week 5k training plan from Zwift and started pounding the treadmill in earnest, with intervals, hill sessions, tempo runs and what not. It's pretty good, much more fun that I would have expected a 5k training plan to be, still very challenging at times, just what you'd want it to be.

I did a 5k TT halfway through, which was definitely not on the plan but it was organised as a virtual race by someone on boards.ie, and managed to go sub-20, which would have been my fastest 5k in about 2 years, though I'm pretty sure 5k pace on a treadmill is easier than on the road, so how that would translate into an actual race I don't know, and I won't know for a long time either.

By the way, I'm definitely not sponsored by Zwift.

Last week they finally started to ease the lockdown restrictions and all of a sudden Enniskerry, Little Sugar Loaf and Bray Head are all in my zone, which makes running outside feasible again. The Prom would be as well, though from what I've heard it's too crowded to feel safe, so I won't go there. But it felt sooooo good to cover some real ground rather than a virtual one. Still, I'll finish that training program, and I'll definitely keep using Zwift for cycling. I can't see racing coming back this entire year, so it's really just to have fun, keep fit and remain healthy.

All the best.

Stay safe!









Tuesday, May 05, 2020

My Friend Michael

I do apologise in advance. I have been silent for 10 weeks, which has never happened before, and now I'm coming back with a real downer of a post. I just had to get that off my chest.

In all honesty, I didn't know Michael all that well. It was his wife that I had known for many years, and Michael came along much later. But we did meet on a few occasions and several years ago they stayed with us for a couple of days when some of us did the Valentia triathlon, down in Kerry. We got to talk a good bit and I knew him a little better after that.

The one quality I admire in people almost more than anything else is resilience. Michael had tons of that. He really had the odds stacked against him. He was born blind, caused by a genetic condition which he shared with some of his siblings. That alone would have been enough to stop almost everyone. Not Michael. He didn't let that get in his way. He became a successful athlete, doing triathlons and marathons and more, training when he could, despite the obvious obstacles.

He also met a wonderful, supportive partner, married her and had 2 children. And then, as if being blind wasn't enough, he got cancer. He didn't take that lying down either; he fought it with all he could. When things got worse, he opted for a dangerous operation rather than let it all drift away, which was of course typical of him. He was never the one to give up, no matter how hard it was.

Actually, the operation seemed to work, he got another lease of life, could see his little girls grow up for a bit longer, but then it all came back and this time there was to be no stopping it. The cancer had come back, he was told he had less than a year to live and this time there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

Michael passed away last night. My thought are with his family, particularly his wife and his girls, the youngest of whom is probably too young to ever remember him in years to come.

Life can be so fucking unfair! Good bye, Michael. You were one of the most inspirational people I have ever met. I will miss you!