Redemption

I was a bit unsure how much I should rest before today's race. I didn't want to take too much time off the hard training, but I had been feeling so fatigued at the start of the week that some downtime was required anyway. On the other hand, I already started feeling better on Tuesday.

So, after consulting Jack Daniels' oeuvre, I decided to run hill repeats on Wednesday, which made it 2 workout days in a row after Tuesday's 3-mile repeats. But I always recover very quickly from hill repeats, and so it proved again. Then it was time to take it really easy on Thursday. I even cut down the planned 8 miles to 7 because of a mishap; but I was really pleased to see the low HR during the run. The humidity has receded somewhat, and I can tell the difference.

Today, Friday, was the day of the race. I have done this 5K 4 times in a row now, which makes this my most frequently participated race of all. After last week's disaster I was rather apprehensive. Another bad performance would pretty much confirm that I am out of shape, and with 10 weeks until Dingle there would not really be time to make major changes.

The start was supposed to be at 7 pm, which made for a rather tight time frame to get there after work. But the queue at the signup told me that the start would be delayed by even more than the usual amount. I took my time with the warm-up, and had to opportunity to chat to some guys I had known only “virtually” up to now. It's always fun to meet up in real life and put a face to the name (or nick). I was also asked two or three times if I'm the guy “with the website”.

Anyway, more than 20 minutes late we finally gathered at the start line, and we were off. I quickly settled into a pace that felt slightly aggressive but manageable. I was surprised to find myself behind a group of no less than 5 female runners, but that group broke up soon enough. One, the leading lady, pushed ahead, then there were 2 more right in front of me, and the rest fell behind. I knew one of the pair in front of me, Ann-Marie, from last year. She tends to start fast, but I know that if I can keep up initially and then manage to overtake her, I'm running a decent race. History repeated itself, somewhere between km 1 and 2 I went past her, and settled behind lady no. 2. She managed to pull away slightly at one point, we both passed 2 runners who obviously had started too fast, and on a slight uphill segment I managed to draw up to her. That's rather unusual, normally I tend to lose time on the uphill and gain it back on the downhill; maybe the weekly hill repeat sessions are starting to pay off. Anyway, on the next uphill segment I managed to pass her and she soon fell behind.

We had already passed the 3 km marker, my calves were hurting, but I knew this would be over soon. I imagined a bungee rope pulling me towards the next runner in front of me, maybe 10 meters ahead. It seemed to work, I slowly managed to draw closer, and just before the 4 km marker I went past. The next guy was a good bit further ahead, and I knew that I would be unlikely to close the gap, but I tried anyway. I concentrated on keeping a quick turnover, lifting the knees and pumping the arms, but by now I was redlining and didn't have much more to give. The finish is the only cruel part of an otherwise easy course, it's a drawn-out uphill that really saps the strength out of your legs. I got closer to my runner ahead, but I did not have the required finishing speed to draw level, and we crossed the line in quick succession.

I had managed not to look at the Garmin for the entire race, and only now got an indication of how I had been doing. The time was 18:38, a whopping 46 seconds faster than last week, and virtually the same pace as during the Kerry RR championship back in April, before Boston. Before the race I had stated that I would be happy to beat 19 minutes, so obviously I was really happy about this. I was on a real high afterwards.

The HR data on the chart is remarkably smooth. I don't think I have ever seen a HR line rising steadily all the way to the finish like this, at least not one that had been produced by myself. I take this a sign of a well executed race. The other thing of note is that I didn't start wheezing at all, in marked contrast to the race in Ardfert 2 months ago, when I had been wheezing like a steam engine for virtually the entire race. I presume it means that my aerobic engine is in remarkable shape, which would be great news as far as my marathon training is concerned.

This is what you race for, the feeling of satisfaction after pushing hard during a race is something most people won't ever appreciate. Even better, now I know that I'm indeed getting into decent shape. The recent hard training wasn't wasted time and effort after all.

1 Jul

10.5 miles, 1:24:54, 8:05 pace, HR 146
incl. 3 miles @ 6:48, 8x45 secs hill sprints

2 Jul

7 miles, 57:54, 8:16 pace, HR 133

3 Jul

11 miles, including:
Killarney Summerfest 5K, 18:38, 6:01 pace, HR 176

Be Careful What You Wish For

Nana arrived on Sunday, bringing Maia with her for a long-awaited family reunion. The only one not to make a fuss was her little Ladyship herself, she almost blanked Niamh but had some hugs for me. But if we thought our adventures were now over, we could not have been more wrong.

On Sunday evening Shea started complaining about pains in his feet, ankles and wrists, and he was unable to walk because putting weight on his feet was too painful. We rang the doctor who advised us to go straight to hospital. It was pure luck that Nana was in Kerry to look after the other children. Unlike every other time I had been to A&E we were seen almost immediately, and after two very thorough (and painful) examinations, Shea got a room in the children’s ward. Niamh stayed overnight, while I drove home.

For some reason I felt guilty about running next morning while my boy was in hospital, but of course staying home would not have made the slightest difference. As promised, I cut the 20 miles down to 15. The first half went pretty well but on the homeward stretch I got more and more tired, and after 12 miles I was really dragging. Having said that, the pace was decent enough. I think I was dehydrated, when I weighed myself back home I was 4 pounds lighter than the morning before. The humid air does not agree with me, I have sweat pouring off me at an alarming rate without much cooling effect. The thought that this might be responsible for me recent sub-par performances did cross my mind.

On Sunday I had not relished the thought of going back to work. With my boy in hospital, I ended up getting my wish, not that I would have wanted it. I spent all day there keeping him company, which for some reason completely wore me out. Niamh arrived in the evening to swap; I was so tired I conked out in bed. Unfortunately, Maia had a nightmare and woke screaming for Nana, but was perfectly content with her Dada instead. She spent the rest of the night in my bed, and if you’ve ever had a thrashing toddler beside you all night you know that it’s not the best way to get some sleep.

I had been wishing for the temperatures to drop, and when I awoke today to heavy rain I had gotten my wish – again not the way I would have wanted it. But wet as it was, the run was much better than any other I’d done recently. Keeping to a slightly toned-down schedule I did 10 miles with 2x3 mile repeats. The first one, with a net elevation drop was at 6:39 pace, much faster than any others in this training cycle so far, the second one, with a net elevation gain, was at 6:48, still not too bad, though with a significantly higher heart rate. In any case, I felt refreshed and energised after that run. With both London and the humid weather behind me, things are moving in the right direction again all of a sudden. Maybe I’m not overtrained after all, which would be a great relief.

Talking about great relief, Shea was released from hospital after two days in the ward. He still has to take some antihistamines that seem to make him slightly drowsy, but otherwise he’s pretty much restored. They still don’t quite know what exactly the problem was. They’re calling it vasculitis (inflamed blood vessels) and seem to think that it was a reaction to a previous infection, but his symptoms were atypical. But he’s much better. Since he had gotten use of a Playstation for much of yesterday, I think he rather enjoyed his stay in hospital.

With all of us on the up I’m now actually looking forward to Friday’s race. I have to decide how much I want to rest up beforehand, but I’m rather sure I’ll do better than last week in Dulwich.

29 Jun

15 miles, 1:59:17, 7:57 pace, HR 151

30 Jun

10 miles, 1:11:30, 7:09 pace, HR 153
incl 2x3 miles at 6:39 (-67 ft, HR 155), 6:48 (+81 ft, HR 164)

June Mileage: 388.5

London Redux

Everyone agreed that it had been a very successful holiday, but everyone was glad to be home. After a stressful week full of action it was nice to sleep in our own beds again. I was so worn out that I slept for 9 hours, went for a run this morning and went back to bed for another hour or two of sleep, which was thoroughly needed.

Saturday was my last run in London. Usually I do a fairly long marathon pace run on Saturday but I really didn’t feel up to it, so I just ran for about an hour at a much easier pace. I still felt worn out. Something's not right, but after the week I’ve just had, that probably explainable.

We arrived back in Caragh Lake at 9 o’clock in the evening and nobody had troubles falling asleep. The kids have the advantage of being on their school holidays. Poor Daddy on the other hand has to be back in the office on Monday; I really could do with another few days off, just to relax. That feeling of being worn out was reflected in today’s run. I did the workout I had skipped yesterday, and at first it went well. I might have started a bit too fast, but was soon back on pace. But after 7 or 8 miles I was wiped out. I could hardly keep 7:30 pace, and even that was a struggle. The end could not come soon enough, and when I finally got back home after slightly over 11 miles I showered, ate something and collapsed back to bed.

Lola has been complaining about a pain in her stomach as well as a headache. My head is fine, but the stomach feels slightly off, and I’m utterly knackered. Of course there is more than one theory for the way I’m feeling: we could have picked up a bug in London, we’re worn out after a stressful week, I could be overtrained or just tired from the travelling.

My original plan was to go straight back to my 100 week mileage, but with the present level of fatigue that might be madness. Tomorrow’s run will be reduced from 20 miles to something more manageable, and then I’ll wing it for the rest of the week. There’s a 5k in Killarney on Friday, and I intend to run it on rested legs, which might give me some feedback in comparison to last week’s race in London. Then I’ll have to make a decision on my further training load.

In the meantime, here are some photos from London. We’ve seen the following things: Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Science Museum, Legoland, London Dungeons, Westminster with Big Ben, London Eye, Greenwich Park, Greenwich Observatory and the Greenwich Meridian, the Planetarium, the Monument for the Great Fire of London (as well as the sign on Pudding Lane where the fire had actually started), King’s Cross and Platform 9¾, Coram’s Fields, the Lion’s King Musical, the Natural History Museum, the IMAX, and probably something I’ve forgotten. And half a dozen friends from old times. The packed program was only possible because Niamh and me knew the place very well.

27 Jun

8.5 miles, 1:06:54, 7:52 pace, HR 144
incl. 9x100 strides

28 Jun

11.25 miles, 1:20:18, 7:08 pace, HR 157

Weekly Mileage: 76 miles

Homeward Bound

We're almost at the end of our London week – thank God, I'm worn out. I may have reduced the mileage, but all the time spent walking around the place meant there was a significant extra stress load to be dealt with. After Wednesday's race I went out Thursday morning to explore a few areas of South East London. I went towards Beckenham Place Park, and then followed the signs for the Green Chain Walk, which is linking dozens of London's many green places. A great idea that really should be copied elsewhere. I went all the way to Crystal Palace Park, where I rounded the athletic stadium. The place may have seen better times, but a stadium purely for the purpose of athletics still appeals to me. When I arrived back home, just over 12 miles had passed.

The day brought us to the Monument (climbing all of its 311 steps), Kings Cross Station and platform 9¾, and a spectacular children's playground, Coram's Fields. Niamh, Lola and Shea went to a musical performance of the Lion's King, which was a massive success, while Cian and me went home to watch a few fire engines passing by.

It was really hot and humid today, and I caught a few rain drops during the run, though without receiving any cooling benefit. I did a scaled-down version of the hill repeats workout, first a 2-mile tempo run (6:46 pace), and then a recovery jog towards Mountsfield Park. The gate was still closed when I got there, but I went around it and the second one was open. There is a climb right at that second gate, but it wasn't as steep as I remembered it from years gone by. I used to let go of the pram when the twins were still tiny and then charge after the quickly accelerating vehicle, much to Niamh's horror and the babies' delight. Today's purpose was a lot less fun, 8 charges up that hill at full tilt. One sprint took about 40 seconds, a bit less than it takes me on my normal hill training ground in Caragh Lake. Either I'm getting stronger, or the hill was much easier, or I didn't put enough effort in to it, but I wasn't as worn out as I usually am after hill repeats. I was back home after only 7.5 miles.

We spent most of the day in the Natural History Museum, which pretty much took the kids' breath away, despite their original reluctance. I can very much recommend that place.

Tomorrow we're on our way back home. Home Sweet Home.

25 Jun

12+ miles, 1:36:59, 8:01 pace, HR 137

26 Jun

7.5 miles, 1:00:54, 8:07 pace, HR 145
incl. 2 miles @ 6:46, 8x40 secs hill sprints

A Midsummer Nightmare

“You might go surprisingly well (as long as it's not an afternoon run after a day of walking)”, Ewen had said. Right he was too, especially about the second part. We'd been to Westminster, the London Eye, Greenwich Park, Greenwich Observatory, the Planetarium (where I very nearly fell asleep), and then at some friends' house again. It's not the ideal preparation for a race, I guess. I also had a humongous lunch, but that was 6 or 7 hours before the race, and I though I'd be ok by the time the race started.

I got the 185 to Dulwich, a bus I had taken countless times in years gone by. I signed up for the race, did a warm-up with some strides, a few minutes of strong running and stretching, and then – highly unusual for a runner from Ireland – the race started on time.

Oh yes, and I was not wearing my Garmin. When I got ready for the race I was about to put on the HR strap, and then changed my mind and decided to run “freely”. I'd had a few experiences during shorter races recently where I thought that reading the information about pace and/or heart rate was counter-productive, and today a simple stopwatch would have to do.

The race was marked in kilometers, and I reached the first marker in 3:40. I wasn't able to tell my pace in minutes/mile but I knew it was pretty fast (5:54 pace, btw). The field had more or less settled, but I was able to gain a few places every now and then. Somewhere around that marker a runner from Orpington passed me. His vest was so yellow that at first I thought it was a race steward, but he would serve as a pace bunny for the next part of the race.

The course was in Dulwich Park, and at first we did 1.5 laps around the park. I reached km 2 at 7:21, still on the same pace, which was good. At that point I managed to work out that 5 times 3:40 is 18:20. I would have been very happy with that time, but maybe the mere fact that I was able to work that out at that time was a sign that I was not pushing with all I had. I still went past a few runners, but my yellow pace bunny kept slowly pulling away from me. At that stage we left the park and did half a loop on the outside. It included running past a pub, but I managed to resist temptation to stop for a pint. I had lost contact to the Orpington runner, but the sound of footsteps and breathing told me that I was at the head of a small group, and they were obviously pacing off me. I reached km3 in 11:30. How on earth had I managed to lose 30 seconds in one km? I guessed the markers were off, but without my Garmin I could not tell with absolute certainty.

Then we went back into the park, but this time running the other way. We actually passed a few stragglers still on their initial loop in the park. It was slightly uphill and against the wind, and I had the feeling of standing still, a bit like in those nightmares you sometimes have when you're running and running without getting anywhere. I lost no less than 3 places, as all those guys that had been pacing off me went past. The Orpington runner apparently struggled even more because I managed to close the gap, but he was still a bit ahead of me. I did not check my split at the last marker, at that stage I was merely pushing with all I had, breathing heavily and hurting a lot. The course went downhill again, only slightly, but enough to make running much, much easier. I managed to regain my 3 places, and then I pushed even harder, pulled up to my yellow clad friend and went past. There was a big gap to a group ahead, and I visualized a bungy rope pulling me ever closer to those guys. Remarkably, I gained another 2 or 3 places, but as the finish came closer I heard some footsteps approaching from behind. Determined as I was to hold off that guy he went past me like I was standing still, and then I lost another place to someone following in that guy's slip stream.

I only saw the seconds on the clock, and when I passed the line in :24 I thought I had done 18:24 and was very pleased. Then I checked my watch again, and to my horror saw a 19 at the minutes field. Good God, how slow have I become? To be more than a minute slower than my PR, and almost 50 seconds slower than less than 3 months ago on a much hillier course, is almost inconceivable. Should I give up running and start collecting stamps instead?

Lydiard said you can't train hard and race well at the same time, and since I have undoubtedly trained very hard recently, racing well is not on the cards. Still, this was slow, and it is in line with the disappointing result from the 10k in Killarney last month, as race result I had hoped would be a once-off. But I am committed to my training and will see it through until the end. If the marathon will be as disappointing I will know what not to do next time. Until then I'll try to keep in mind the fact that I'm training for a marathon in September, not a 5k in June.

24 Jun

13 miles, including:
Dulwich Midsummer 5k, 19:24, 6:14 pace

Not That Easy

Running isn't the problem, it's the fact that I'm on my feet literally all day. As someone who has a desk job I'm not used to spending hours walking around, and I can clearly tell the difference.

Monday is normally my long run day, and at home 20 miles would have been on the program. Last week I did those without batting an eyelid, but yesterday I was silently groaning after even half a mile. The fact that I'd just done 100+ miles had left me tired, and add to that the traveling and the walking around then we're on a new level of stress.

I went towards Greenwich via Blackheath, an area that would be familiar to anyone who has done the London marathon. Several laps around Greenwich Park followed; I was very surprised how hilly it was. I used to live not far from there and had been there plenty of times in my pre-running days, but either never picked up on the hills or forgot all about them. After about 10 miles I turned towards Catford again, and after a couple of laps in Ladywell I ended the day on 15 miles. It wasn't a lot for a Monday, but it was definitely enough for me at that point.

We then spent a spectacularly successful day in Legoland; we went on nearly all of the rides, the weather was great, and I can hardly remember any arguments. Anyone with kids in London should have this as a compulsory day (no, I'm not being paid by them). The only problem was the egregiously long journey on public transport, but I can't blame that on the park. We didn't get back home until 9 o'clock, at which time everyone, including the adults, just collapsed into bed.

I felt stiff and tired today and doubted I would be able to do a decent workout. Since this is an easy week I didn't even dream of repeating last week's 3-mile repeats. One lap in Ladywell Fields is just under 0.7 miles, so 2-and-a-bit laps would be 1.5 miles, and half a mile of recovery would get me back to the start. I did 3 repeats, and despite feeling like wading through molasses at the start I managed a surprisingly fast set of pace, all of them under 6:50. It might not be great, but it's all I'm looking for.

Another busy day at the London Dungeons awaited us, which was very imaginative and well done, though I think Cian might be traumatized for life. He really was scared out of his wits. Lola had had enough as well towards the end; Shea on the other hand could have stayed for another round. We rounded off the day with meeting some old friends. Catching up after all those years is great, and there's yet more of that to come.

There's a 5k race tomorrow. It's not exactly high on my priorities list, and I'm worn out from the stress of the holidays, but I'll try and do my best anyway.

22 Jun

15 miles, 2:02:17, 8:09 pace, HR 135

23 Jun

8.5 miles, 1:04:18, 7:33 pace, HR 148
incl. 3x1.5 miles @ 6:46, 6:44, 6:49

London Calling

It's been a busy two days already here and I'm exhausted, but that's more down to the obnoxious eight-year old we've brought along with us rather than the running. But that's a different story that won't be told on this blog.

I managed to drag myself out of bed early on Friday. 5 o'clock alarm calls are awfully early, but in summer it's much easier to handle. It's already bright outside, and with the better weather we've generally had over the last few weeks it's not too bad. 18 miles are still a long way, but as long as I don't wear myself out on the climbs, I can manage pretty easily. Somehow the legs felt a lot better than for Wednesday's 15-miler; the hill repeats always seem to leave my legs in pretty decent shape, maybe because the Thursday mileage is the lowest of the week. Anyway, the run went fairly well, and left me on 75.5 miles for the week so far, which meant 24.5 miles over the weekend would give me a 100 mile week. Even with the traveling, that was definitely achievable.

I had thought about getting up early on Saturday, but with our flight leaving at 8:40 we had to be up before 6 o'clock as it was, and I decided against running beforehand. The journey went by without a hitch, we were in our apartment at 1 o'clock, met some friends from our old London days, and by 4 o'clock I got some leave to go out running. Since I had a tempo session in mind I decided against exploring the London roads and went to Ladywell Fields instead. One entire loop was 0.7 miles according to my Garmin; I did 12 of those and with the stretch from and to our house added I came to 11.5 miles. The first 7 or 8 miles went pretty well, I was doing about 6:49 pace and it felt definitely do-able. After that I started to wilt in the hotter temperatures and I felt rather dehydrated. By the time I was back home the pace had dropped to 6:54, which is still a decent enough session. I was a bit disappointed that I had not been able to stay on the first-half pace, though.

With only 13 miles left for a century week I took off early this morning. I did a tour around Southeast London, running past all the 3 houses we had been living in during our 8 years here. For the middle part I went to Dulwich Park, where the race will be held on Wednesday. The course is very flat, there will be no excuse for a slow time. On the way back home I found a trail that I hadn't been on for several years and could not resisting running on it. This left me with a detour that turned out to be much longer than anticipated, and I ended up doing over 2 miles more than planned. After 13 miles my legs were getting increasingly tired, as if they were saying “we've done 100 miles already, what else do you want from us?”. However, I made it home, having completed the biggest week of my running career so far. This week will be easier, like it or not.

19 Jun

18 miles, 2:23:02, 7:57 pace, HR 142

20 Jun

11.5 miles, 1:19:26, 6:54 pace, HR 162

21 Jun

15.25 miles, 2:02:55, 8:04 pace, HR 143
incl. several strides

Weekly Mileage: 102 ¼