I thought I did something very stupid on Monday. Not only did I go out for a 5 mile run in the morning, I also played soccer for an hour in the evening. I wanted to know if my Achilles would be able to withstand the twist and turns of an indoor soccer game. The answer was: yes, but it hurt! To add to the pain, I got a nasty whack on my right ankle, and now have a gash on my leg to prove it, and on Tuesday I found it impossible to tell where one pain ended and the next one started. Then, in the evening, I suddenly felt much better. Not only did the ankle feel better, my Achilles was basically pain free as well. I can’t tell what brought on that improvement: time, the strengthening exercises I found on this website, or the magical healing powers of soccer.
To celebrate my new fit state, I went out for a speed session this morning (well, it was in the schedule anyway). The plan was 5x600 intervals with 90 seconds of recovery in-between. Since I don’t have access to a track, I had to improvise. My 5k-time is 21:22, so it should take me about 2:30 mins to cover 600 meters at that pace. I ran along a reasonable flat piece of road, along the Devil’s elbow, and did 2:30 minutes of hard running interlaced with 90 seconds of jogging. The temperatures have plummeted again and it was about –3C/26F in the morning, and I stupidly left my gloves behind. Despite this, the workout went well, and my Achilles stood up to it just fine. I could feel it, but it didn’t actually hurt. More importantly, it’s still not hurting 2 hours later, because in the last two or three weeks I could usually do a workout but would feel the pain later.
I’m now convinced that I’m on the mend, but will still take it easy for a week or so. I will do my key workouts, but have a full rest day after each one, which means I’ll only do 3 or 4 days of running per week, until I feel completely healed.
23 Jan: 5 easy miles, 45:23, 9:04 pace, and an hour of soccer for my sins
25 Jan: 6 miles, 51:03, with 5x600 intervals
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
What to do?
I’m still struggling with my achilles tendon at the moment. It doesn’t actually hurt, but I can certainly feel that something is not quite right, and I’m really unsure on the best way to proceed. I have only run 27 miles this week, which isn’t enough as far as marathon preparation goes, but of course I don’t want to risk a ruptured tendon – that might put me out for the rest of the year, and might never heal completely. I’m icing it a lot these days, and I’m stretching after each run (then again, there are people who advice against those things), and if the pain returns, I will rest again. It is still a bit swollen.
It’s only the right achilles that’s causing me troubles. That doesn’t come as a surprise to me. When I had shin splints last year, they were on my right leg. I got some mild heel spurs (plantar fasciitis) a few months ago, on my right foot. When my legs started cramping during my first marathon, Dublin 2004, it was in the right calf. Several years ago a doctor found some imbalance in my spine, and I had some bone-crunching session with a chiropractor to deal with them. Either those problems are back, or there is something wrong with my running form, or a bit of both. A good doctor might even find a solution to my ongoing troubles, but that’s one of the problems of living in remote Kerry far away from any city centre. Such specialists are very hard to come by – I for one don’t know any, and driving to Dublin on a regular basis is not a realistic option.
This week and the next are cutback weeks in the schedule anyway, so I don’t feel I’ll miss out on much if I drop a few miles of those, as long as I can still get in my key workouts. Thursday’s run was a special one, 15 miles with 12 miles at marathon pace. I’m not sure what my marathon pace should be, and anyway, I couldn’t read the figures on my HR monitor in the dark, so I just went by effort, and tried to keep the pace steady. I was quite pleased at the end to have run the 15 miles in exactly 2 hours, and that includes a drink stop after 9 miles and three time re-tying my shoes in the first 2 miles (I should have paid more attention on how to tie your laces in kindergarten 32 years ago). The fact that I had rested for 3 days before that run probably helped my pace. I still think it’s preposterous to assume that I might be able to keep an 8:00 pace for a whole marathon though, and I still don’t know what time I should be aiming for. 3:30 is 27 minutes off my PR, and definitely looks out of my reach for the time being. Anyway, the achilles didn’t trouble me unduly during the run, but was sore for the rest of the day, which is why I took Saturday off and only ran 6 miles on Sunday.
That on-off schedule will stay with me for at least one more week, I expect.
20 Jan: 15 miles, 2:00, 8:00 pace
22 Jan: 6 miles, 48:53, 8:08 pace
It’s only the right achilles that’s causing me troubles. That doesn’t come as a surprise to me. When I had shin splints last year, they were on my right leg. I got some mild heel spurs (plantar fasciitis) a few months ago, on my right foot. When my legs started cramping during my first marathon, Dublin 2004, it was in the right calf. Several years ago a doctor found some imbalance in my spine, and I had some bone-crunching session with a chiropractor to deal with them. Either those problems are back, or there is something wrong with my running form, or a bit of both. A good doctor might even find a solution to my ongoing troubles, but that’s one of the problems of living in remote Kerry far away from any city centre. Such specialists are very hard to come by – I for one don’t know any, and driving to Dublin on a regular basis is not a realistic option.
This week and the next are cutback weeks in the schedule anyway, so I don’t feel I’ll miss out on much if I drop a few miles of those, as long as I can still get in my key workouts. Thursday’s run was a special one, 15 miles with 12 miles at marathon pace. I’m not sure what my marathon pace should be, and anyway, I couldn’t read the figures on my HR monitor in the dark, so I just went by effort, and tried to keep the pace steady. I was quite pleased at the end to have run the 15 miles in exactly 2 hours, and that includes a drink stop after 9 miles and three time re-tying my shoes in the first 2 miles (I should have paid more attention on how to tie your laces in kindergarten 32 years ago). The fact that I had rested for 3 days before that run probably helped my pace. I still think it’s preposterous to assume that I might be able to keep an 8:00 pace for a whole marathon though, and I still don’t know what time I should be aiming for. 3:30 is 27 minutes off my PR, and definitely looks out of my reach for the time being. Anyway, the achilles didn’t trouble me unduly during the run, but was sore for the rest of the day, which is why I took Saturday off and only ran 6 miles on Sunday.
That on-off schedule will stay with me for at least one more week, I expect.
20 Jan: 15 miles, 2:00, 8:00 pace
22 Jan: 6 miles, 48:53, 8:08 pace
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Back on Track
I’ve not written a blog entry for the week because I haven’t been running. I decided to give my achilles a bit of a break, because I don’t want to aggravate it, and a ruptured tendon is just too nasty to risk.
I had three days without running. Unfortunately this didn’t translate into more sleep, as the boys were up at 6 am every single morning, and with fixing them breakfast, turning on the telly or putting on a video, changing a nappy or just generally looking after them, I didn’t get an ounce of sleep after that. Unfortunately, mummy is not a morning person, and the kids have learnt that lesson very early in their lives – they always come straight to daddy.
I iced my achilles tendon on Monday, and it seemed to swell up like a balloon – I could hardly make out my ankle any more. That said, the pain has gone away, and I decided to test the waters this morning and ran 6 miles at a relaxed tempo. It was a bit too fast to be called a recovery run, but it was at a relaxed and easy pace. The achilles was fine (I felt it, but it didn’t actually hurt), but at mile 5.5 I felt a sharp pain in my right knee. I had to stop running and walked for a minute, then it was gone and I could continue all the way back home without trouble. I don't know what it was, but I sure hope it’s not the first sign of yet another injury.
I had another Yoga class on Wednesday, and that was when I was sure my achilles was better. Last week it was very sore on some of the stretches, but yesterday I was fine all the way through. That said, I will be careful and might cut back on some of the runs if I think there’s something wrong with me.
I will also apply my usual cure for niggling injuries: a new pair of runners. My two active pairs have 260 and 360 miles on them. That’s not excessive, but it’s time for a new pair. In the past, this has usually cured any small problems I might have had with my legs.
19 Jan: 6 easy miles, 53:27, 8:54 pace
I had three days without running. Unfortunately this didn’t translate into more sleep, as the boys were up at 6 am every single morning, and with fixing them breakfast, turning on the telly or putting on a video, changing a nappy or just generally looking after them, I didn’t get an ounce of sleep after that. Unfortunately, mummy is not a morning person, and the kids have learnt that lesson very early in their lives – they always come straight to daddy.
I iced my achilles tendon on Monday, and it seemed to swell up like a balloon – I could hardly make out my ankle any more. That said, the pain has gone away, and I decided to test the waters this morning and ran 6 miles at a relaxed tempo. It was a bit too fast to be called a recovery run, but it was at a relaxed and easy pace. The achilles was fine (I felt it, but it didn’t actually hurt), but at mile 5.5 I felt a sharp pain in my right knee. I had to stop running and walked for a minute, then it was gone and I could continue all the way back home without trouble. I don't know what it was, but I sure hope it’s not the first sign of yet another injury.
I had another Yoga class on Wednesday, and that was when I was sure my achilles was better. Last week it was very sore on some of the stretches, but yesterday I was fine all the way through. That said, I will be careful and might cut back on some of the runs if I think there’s something wrong with me.
I will also apply my usual cure for niggling injuries: a new pair of runners. My two active pairs have 260 and 360 miles on them. That’s not excessive, but it’s time for a new pair. In the past, this has usually cured any small problems I might have had with my legs.
19 Jan: 6 easy miles, 53:27, 8:54 pace
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Wounded Knee
First of all, I’ll try and keep my running report short. I’ve noticed that recently I’ve been rambling on in far too much detail about my training runs.
I have been contemplating one thing since my 5k race two weeks ago. If I enter my 5k-race time into one of those race predictor calculators, my marathon time should be between 3:24 and 3:27, depending on which calculator you’re using. That is more than 30 minutes better than my actual marathon PR. I certainly cannot imagine running faster than 8:00 pace for a whole marathon. I guess I’ll have to work more on my endurance.
I had planned an 11 miler with 6 miles at LT tempo for Saturday, but on Friday evening I happened to feel both my achilles heels and noticed that the right one was much thicker than the left one. I didn’t feel any pain, but the swelling was obvious, so I decided to swap Saturday and Sunday around and do the tempo run on Sunday instead. I did follow that revised plan, and ran the 11 miles at good pace, though somehow I felt really slow at times. The strong headwind for the first 5.5 miles didn’t help – and when I had the wind in my back for the back section of the run, I started to feel really cold. I was shivering when I got home, and even a long hot shower didn’t quite revive me. I was worried about coming down with a cold, but I didn’t develop a temperature, just a headache that doesn’t want to go away.
Just to gross you out, this is a cut I received on mile 2, from some plant at the side of the road. I didn’t even notice it until I got home. Don't worry, it's only superficial.
This has been a very long week, 54 miles, which means I’ve equalled my previous highest mileage (not quite coincidentally, as I’m following the same plan as last time round). I got caught by wind and rain on every single run, which probably didn’t help.
I had planned a 6 miles recovery run for tomorrow, but as my achilles is swollen again (it hurt after the run, but gradually got better as the day wore on) and the head ache is not going away, I’ll pass and have a rest day instead. If I feel better later this week, I’ll make up for it, if I don’t, I won’t.
15 Jan: 11 miles, 1:27, 7:54 pace
I have been contemplating one thing since my 5k race two weeks ago. If I enter my 5k-race time into one of those race predictor calculators, my marathon time should be between 3:24 and 3:27, depending on which calculator you’re using. That is more than 30 minutes better than my actual marathon PR. I certainly cannot imagine running faster than 8:00 pace for a whole marathon. I guess I’ll have to work more on my endurance.
I had planned an 11 miler with 6 miles at LT tempo for Saturday, but on Friday evening I happened to feel both my achilles heels and noticed that the right one was much thicker than the left one. I didn’t feel any pain, but the swelling was obvious, so I decided to swap Saturday and Sunday around and do the tempo run on Sunday instead. I did follow that revised plan, and ran the 11 miles at good pace, though somehow I felt really slow at times. The strong headwind for the first 5.5 miles didn’t help – and when I had the wind in my back for the back section of the run, I started to feel really cold. I was shivering when I got home, and even a long hot shower didn’t quite revive me. I was worried about coming down with a cold, but I didn’t develop a temperature, just a headache that doesn’t want to go away.
Just to gross you out, this is a cut I received on mile 2, from some plant at the side of the road. I didn’t even notice it until I got home. Don't worry, it's only superficial.This has been a very long week, 54 miles, which means I’ve equalled my previous highest mileage (not quite coincidentally, as I’m following the same plan as last time round). I got caught by wind and rain on every single run, which probably didn’t help.
I had planned a 6 miles recovery run for tomorrow, but as my achilles is swollen again (it hurt after the run, but gradually got better as the day wore on) and the head ache is not going away, I’ll pass and have a rest day instead. If I feel better later this week, I’ll make up for it, if I don’t, I won’t.
15 Jan: 11 miles, 1:27, 7:54 pace
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Blowing in the Wind
Thanks for all your comments, folks. The majority seems to think that I’m not completely bonkers but about as sane as the rest of you. Hmm. Ok.
I keep having issues with my legs. My left hamstring seems to have finally recovered, but now my right achilles is acting up. I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday worrying about it, because it was really sore, I could hardly walk. I didn’t know if I should have some rest, because tendonitis is just about the last thing I want to get. Luckily, when I got up this morning I immediately noticed a big improvement. Running today made it slightly worse again, but the pain is much less then yesterday, and I’m coming round to the idea that it was only a passing problem.
I’m not having much luck with the weather at the moment. Tuesday’s 20-miler was run in rather wet and windy conditions, yesterday’s rest day was a beautifully sunny day, and for today’s 12 miler the gale force winds predicted for Tuesday finally arrived. I ran most of it at the foot of a hill called the Devil’s elbow, as well as in the wood towards Ard na Sidhe, where it was somewhat sheltered, but it was still bad enough. To make things worse, the blister that I thought I had avoided on Tuesday came back with a vengeance. I already felt it after one mile, and at the end of the run it was huge. I can’t really complain too much about my feet. This is only my second blister in a year, and I have covered a lot of miles with soggy feet.
All in all, today’s run went fine, considering the conditions and the fact that I’m still a bit fatigued from Tuesday. The heart rate was a bit higher than normal, which I presume is because I’m still recovering. The calves and hamstrings felt fine.
I’ve also got another Caragh Lake photo for you. This is me with the twins in the garden of the plush Ard na Sidhe hotel. We never stayed there (couldn’t afford to), but they don’t mind us strolling around in their vast and stunningly beautiful garden along the lake. Unfortunately, it didn’t look quite as inviting today at 6am in the morning.
12 Jan: 12 miles, 1:41, 8:25 pace
I keep having issues with my legs. My left hamstring seems to have finally recovered, but now my right achilles is acting up. I spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday worrying about it, because it was really sore, I could hardly walk. I didn’t know if I should have some rest, because tendonitis is just about the last thing I want to get. Luckily, when I got up this morning I immediately noticed a big improvement. Running today made it slightly worse again, but the pain is much less then yesterday, and I’m coming round to the idea that it was only a passing problem.
I’m not having much luck with the weather at the moment. Tuesday’s 20-miler was run in rather wet and windy conditions, yesterday’s rest day was a beautifully sunny day, and for today’s 12 miler the gale force winds predicted for Tuesday finally arrived. I ran most of it at the foot of a hill called the Devil’s elbow, as well as in the wood towards Ard na Sidhe, where it was somewhat sheltered, but it was still bad enough. To make things worse, the blister that I thought I had avoided on Tuesday came back with a vengeance. I already felt it after one mile, and at the end of the run it was huge. I can’t really complain too much about my feet. This is only my second blister in a year, and I have covered a lot of miles with soggy feet.
All in all, today’s run went fine, considering the conditions and the fact that I’m still a bit fatigued from Tuesday. The heart rate was a bit higher than normal, which I presume is because I’m still recovering. The calves and hamstrings felt fine.
I’ve also got another Caragh Lake photo for you. This is me with the twins in the garden of the plush Ard na Sidhe hotel. We never stayed there (couldn’t afford to), but they don’t mind us strolling around in their vast and stunningly beautiful garden along the lake. Unfortunately, it didn’t look quite as inviting today at 6am in the morning.12 Jan: 12 miles, 1:41, 8:25 pace
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Why do I do it?
It’s on days like this that I have to question my sanity. I got up at 4:30 am (that wasn’t too difficult, I went to bed shortly after 9 and therefore still managed over 7 hours of sleep). The weather forecast had predicted rain and, starting early morning, gale force winds. Luckily, they wind wasn’t quite as bad as predicted, but it didn’t exactly make for ideal conditions. My left hamstring was still a bit sore, but it is definitely getting better. As soon as I started out, my right Achilles was rather painful. I hoped it would be just one of those niggly things that go away after 10 minutes, but that turned out not to be the case.
The strong wind made the Caragh Lake road a no-go area, so I settled on four 5-mile loops to Ard na Sidhe and back. I hoped the elves might help me if I broke down on the run (Ard na Sidhe is Gaelic for “Circle of Elves”). I left out 2 gels at the end of our driveway, together with some water and an energy bar, should I need it. My feet got totally wet, especially as I managed to step right into a puddle early on. At 8 miles I thought I felt a blister developing on my right foot, so I went back home after the second loop to change into dry socks, and also put on a new t-shirt, because the other one was already soaked through, despite me wearing a wind jacket, which, by the way, made me uncomfortably hot. I took the second gel after 15 miles, and headed out again for my last loop. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I sure was glad when I finally made it back home.
As I lay on the kitchen floor, Niamh went by and started “well, …” I went “don’t say it!”. “Ok”.
To recapitulate: I got up in the middle of the night; ran 20 miles in complete darkness; two days after a tempo run; five days after an 18-miler; in the rain; in the wind; feeling too hot under the wind jacket; with a dodgy hamstring; with a painful Achilles, that hurt more and more as the run went on; with what could have been a blister.
Yes, it’s on days like this that I have to question my sanity.
9 Jan: 5 miles recovery run, 46:41, 9:20 pace
10 Jan: 20 miles, 2:56, 8:42 pace
The strong wind made the Caragh Lake road a no-go area, so I settled on four 5-mile loops to Ard na Sidhe and back. I hoped the elves might help me if I broke down on the run (Ard na Sidhe is Gaelic for “Circle of Elves”). I left out 2 gels at the end of our driveway, together with some water and an energy bar, should I need it. My feet got totally wet, especially as I managed to step right into a puddle early on. At 8 miles I thought I felt a blister developing on my right foot, so I went back home after the second loop to change into dry socks, and also put on a new t-shirt, because the other one was already soaked through, despite me wearing a wind jacket, which, by the way, made me uncomfortably hot. I took the second gel after 15 miles, and headed out again for my last loop. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I sure was glad when I finally made it back home.
As I lay on the kitchen floor, Niamh went by and started “well, …” I went “don’t say it!”. “Ok”.
To recapitulate: I got up in the middle of the night; ran 20 miles in complete darkness; two days after a tempo run; five days after an 18-miler; in the rain; in the wind; feeling too hot under the wind jacket; with a dodgy hamstring; with a painful Achilles, that hurt more and more as the run went on; with what could have been a blister.
Yes, it’s on days like this that I have to question my sanity.
9 Jan: 5 miles recovery run, 46:41, 9:20 pace
10 Jan: 20 miles, 2:56, 8:42 pace
Sunday, January 08, 2006
No Show
I had intended to run a 10-mile race in Mallow today. However, when I got up in the morning, all kinds of doubts came into my head. I didn’t want to abandon Niamh for half the day with three unruly children; I had run a 5k race only 7 days ago; my hamstring was still hurting and I didn’t want to aggravate it; I didn’t fancy the drive; I intended not to run all-out, but didn’t trust myself to stick to that. In short, I decided not to go, but do a proper tempo run along Caragh Lake instead.
It was quite late when I finally managed to get out of the door. First I waited until Niamh got up (and cleaned the kitchen in the meantime), then she wanted to take a long bath (I did the washing in the meantime), then the kids needed my attention … by then it was 11:30, and I knew if I wouldn’t leave right away, I wouldn’t go at all, so out I went. I ran 2 easy warm-up miles, and then did a 5-mile run at LT pace. It was hard going at first, but as always became a bit easier once I got into it. I had to push it again in the last mile, but managed to hold on. My 5 mile time was 36:30, which is almost definitely the fastest I have ever run over that distance, but as I have never raced 5 miles, I won’t call it a PR. At that stage I was 5 miles away from our house and decided to do the last 5 miles home at a more relaxed pace.
I’m glad I didn’t run the race now, because if I had tried to keep my 5 miles pace for another 5 miles, I would definitely have been extremely knackered, and seeing as I have a 54 miles week ahead of me, with a 20 miler on Tuesday, it probably is better that way.
8 Jan, 12 miles, 1:36, 8:00 pace, with 5 miles tempo run at 7:18 pace
It was quite late when I finally managed to get out of the door. First I waited until Niamh got up (and cleaned the kitchen in the meantime), then she wanted to take a long bath (I did the washing in the meantime), then the kids needed my attention … by then it was 11:30, and I knew if I wouldn’t leave right away, I wouldn’t go at all, so out I went. I ran 2 easy warm-up miles, and then did a 5-mile run at LT pace. It was hard going at first, but as always became a bit easier once I got into it. I had to push it again in the last mile, but managed to hold on. My 5 mile time was 36:30, which is almost definitely the fastest I have ever run over that distance, but as I have never raced 5 miles, I won’t call it a PR. At that stage I was 5 miles away from our house and decided to do the last 5 miles home at a more relaxed pace.
I’m glad I didn’t run the race now, because if I had tried to keep my 5 miles pace for another 5 miles, I would definitely have been extremely knackered, and seeing as I have a 54 miles week ahead of me, with a 20 miler on Tuesday, it probably is better that way.
8 Jan, 12 miles, 1:36, 8:00 pace, with 5 miles tempo run at 7:18 pace
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Spark in the Dark
I did the 18 miler that I had originally scheduled for Tuesday, and it went pretty well. My hamstring felt a lot better, though I still had the odd twinge, and the feeling that “something” wasn’t 100% right was always there, but it didn’t really trouble me. I take that as confirmation that the pains I felt on Tuesday were indeed caused by sitting in the car for 5 hours on Monday.
Getting up was easy, because Shea woke me at 4:38 because he was scared in his bed. That’s the same issue at the same time of night every single morning since we have come back from Dublin.
I originally intended to run 11 miles along Caragh Lake and then a 7 mile loop towards Killorglin, but it was very windy, and to make things worse, the wind came in from the East, which means that I, on the exposed western shore of the lake, felt the full force. After struggling against the elements for 4 miles I gave up and turned back. After I passed my driveway, I did two 5-mile loops from our house to Ard na Sidhe and back, which is running through a little wood and therefore much more sheltered from the wind. It was indeed much more pleasant to run there than along the lake, but the fact that by now it had stopped raining certainly helped. It was very tranquil, apart from an animal making some sudden noises as I ran past on a few occasions, but I presume they got more of a fright than I did. It can be quite spooky to run in a forest in the middle of the night with just a little bit of light from a headlamp. It looks a bit like those scenes in a horror movie when a doomed character is running away from the monster, just before they are caught. (not that I want to scare you ;-) )
The hamstring is a little sore now, and I will take it easy over the next days. There is a 10 mile race in Mallow on Sunday, about an hours drive from here. I’ve been uncertain if I should run it, so close after the 5k last week, but I think I might do it. I will not race but will treat it as a 10 mile tempo run.
5 Jan: 18 miles, 2:33, 8:30 pace
Getting up was easy, because Shea woke me at 4:38 because he was scared in his bed. That’s the same issue at the same time of night every single morning since we have come back from Dublin.
I originally intended to run 11 miles along Caragh Lake and then a 7 mile loop towards Killorglin, but it was very windy, and to make things worse, the wind came in from the East, which means that I, on the exposed western shore of the lake, felt the full force. After struggling against the elements for 4 miles I gave up and turned back. After I passed my driveway, I did two 5-mile loops from our house to Ard na Sidhe and back, which is running through a little wood and therefore much more sheltered from the wind. It was indeed much more pleasant to run there than along the lake, but the fact that by now it had stopped raining certainly helped. It was very tranquil, apart from an animal making some sudden noises as I ran past on a few occasions, but I presume they got more of a fright than I did. It can be quite spooky to run in a forest in the middle of the night with just a little bit of light from a headlamp. It looks a bit like those scenes in a horror movie when a doomed character is running away from the monster, just before they are caught. (not that I want to scare you ;-) )
The hamstring is a little sore now, and I will take it easy over the next days. There is a 10 mile race in Mallow on Sunday, about an hours drive from here. I’ve been uncertain if I should run it, so close after the 5k last week, but I think I might do it. I will not race but will treat it as a 10 mile tempo run.
5 Jan: 18 miles, 2:33, 8:30 pace
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Back Home
The most important thing first: Shea is absolutely fine. He now proudly tells everyone how he fell down the stairs, and Lola points out every time that it was she who saved him. I guess the story alone will keep them happy for a while.
As for my running, we are back in Kerry, and I’ve managed to run every day of the New Year so far – no, that’s not really impressive on 3 Jan, I know. I did 8 miles yesterday in Dublin before we left. I expected to be a bit sore from the race, but no, I didn’t feel any soreness at all. The problem started later during the day, when my left hamstring started hurting while sitting in the car. 5 people in one car make for cramped conditions, and I could feel the hamstring getting more and more uncomfortable. I had toyed with the idea of running 18 miles this morning, but decided against it. I regretted this decision early today, because the boys woke me at 4:45, the time I would have gotten up for that run, and kept me from falling asleep for the next hour (our boys are impossible to sleep beside, they constantly wriggle around), and putting them back into their own beds didn’t work either. I eventually got up at 5:50 and went for an 11-mile run, finally back alongside Caragh Lake. My hamstring hurt all the way, never enough to stop me from running, but there was a pain there for the whole way. I’m sure it’s the car journey that made it worse, and I hope it will get better over the next days and weeks again. Anyway, I was glad that I hadn’t gone for the 18-miler, because I certainly would not have fancied another 7 miles on my dodgy hamstring.
Oh, and I found a decent photo of Caragh Lake on the internet. The road you can see on the right hand side is the one I was running on this morning, though it was a lot darker at 6 am, obviously. That part is about 2.5 miles away from our house. The photo is taken from a helicopter over the northern side looking southwards, on what must have been a quite windy day.
2 Jan: 8 miles, 1:07, 8:22 pace
3 Jan: 11 miles, 1:33, 8:27 pace
As for my running, we are back in Kerry, and I’ve managed to run every day of the New Year so far – no, that’s not really impressive on 3 Jan, I know. I did 8 miles yesterday in Dublin before we left. I expected to be a bit sore from the race, but no, I didn’t feel any soreness at all. The problem started later during the day, when my left hamstring started hurting while sitting in the car. 5 people in one car make for cramped conditions, and I could feel the hamstring getting more and more uncomfortable. I had toyed with the idea of running 18 miles this morning, but decided against it. I regretted this decision early today, because the boys woke me at 4:45, the time I would have gotten up for that run, and kept me from falling asleep for the next hour (our boys are impossible to sleep beside, they constantly wriggle around), and putting them back into their own beds didn’t work either. I eventually got up at 5:50 and went for an 11-mile run, finally back alongside Caragh Lake. My hamstring hurt all the way, never enough to stop me from running, but there was a pain there for the whole way. I’m sure it’s the car journey that made it worse, and I hope it will get better over the next days and weeks again. Anyway, I was glad that I hadn’t gone for the 18-miler, because I certainly would not have fancied another 7 miles on my dodgy hamstring.
Oh, and I found a decent photo of Caragh Lake on the internet. The road you can see on the right hand side is the one I was running on this morning, though it was a lot darker at 6 am, obviously. That part is about 2.5 miles away from our house. The photo is taken from a helicopter over the northern side looking southwards, on what must have been a quite windy day.2 Jan: 8 miles, 1:07, 8:22 pace
3 Jan: 11 miles, 1:33, 8:27 pace
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Race and Accident Report
I had an eventful morning when preparing for the race. I had to stop Cian, our 2 year old, from playing with his toothpaste in the downstairs bathroom, then with the adult toothpaste upstairs, the I just about managed to stop him from raiding Nana’s jam jars, and when he nearly fell off a table, I asked Niamh to get up and help me with that unruly toddler. All that happened between 9 and 10 am, which was when I tried to eat my breakfast and gather all the things I needed for the race. As a result of this I left the house a little bit later than planned, but still in good time. I managed to find the start in Phoenix Park, which wasn’t entirely straightforward, because I am quite unfamiliar with that part of Dublin.
The conditions for the race weren’t too bad, but a bit windy. The course is nearly totally flat, and we had to run 2 laps, the second lap being a bit shorter than the first one. There was one final insult at the registration: at the obviously well advanced age of 35, I am no longer classed as a Senior, but a Veteran. Who would have thought.
I started out at what I guessed was my 5k speed, and immediately noticed that it was faster than everyone around me. I guess that means that I should have started further ahead, but it wasn’t crowded and I didn’t have to weave in and out of the crowds to overtake. At the 1-mile marker I checked my time and heart rate, 6:53 and 179 respectively. I was pleased with both. On the second mile I started to feel tired, but I tried to keep going at the same speed, and I was still overtaking quite a few of the other runners. There was an older runner, maybe in his 50s or early 60s, lets call him Pop, which I managed to pass at that stage. I definitely thought I slowed down towards the end of that mile, but when the 2-mile marker came, my time was now 13:30, or a 6:37 split for the second mile. I cannot rule out that the mile markers were a bit off, of course. At that stage, a group of 4 runners which I had passed half a mile earlier, overtook me, but I did manage to keep right behind them. I was definitely knackered by now, my heart rate was 186 which is my max HR, and I knew I had to fight to keep up the speed for a decent finish. Then, with what I thought was a quarter mile before the finish, I started a surge (Bob Glover would have been proud of me), overtook that group again, and put a fairly big gap between them and myself. I got a surprise when I checked my heart rate, 187. In all my big training efforts on the hills I never managed to go over 186, so I really must have given everything I had. I also realised that I had badly underestimated the distance to the finish when I started my surge, because it must have been at least half a mile before the end. Then I heard footsteps behind me coming closer, turned around and was surprised to see Pop coming closer and closer and actually trying to overtake me. Well, I was about to find out if I had one more push in me and accelerated again. My heart rate was now 188, which I really had not thought possible. I was breathing so loudly that some people on the side were giving me funny looks, not that I cared. I just gave it all I got and passed the finishing line in 21:22, which is a personal best by 38 seconds, but then I had never run an all-out 5k race before, so a new PR was always on the cards. When I was able to breath again, I turned to Pop and told him, “that was your fault, you made me run so fast”, to which he replied, “well, you dragged me along”, and we shook hands.
I was quite pleased with myself and my effort, I couldn’t possibly have run any faster. My average heart rate on the race was 181. I hadn’t done any real speedwork in the last few months and I had always assumed my max HR was 186, which I now know was wrong.
However, when I rang home to tell Niamh about everything, she told me that Shea, our 4-year old son, had tumbled head over heels all the way down the stairs, and had only been prevented from smacking into the wall by the fact that Lola, his twin sister, just happened to stand right there. He smashed into her instead, which broke his fall, and which may have prevented any serious injury, though Lola was extremely offended by the fact that everyone fussed over Shea and nearly ignored her.
Now, six hours later, Shea seems to be ok again. We are keeping a close eye on him, if he starts vomiting or gets dizzy, we have to bring him straight into A&E, but he is enjoying all his latest videos, had lunch, and seems to be in good form.
Thank Goodness for that, and it certainly puts the race into perspective.
29 Dec: 8 miles, very hilly
1 Jan: 6 miles, including 5k race at 21:22, 6:53 pace
The conditions for the race weren’t too bad, but a bit windy. The course is nearly totally flat, and we had to run 2 laps, the second lap being a bit shorter than the first one. There was one final insult at the registration: at the obviously well advanced age of 35, I am no longer classed as a Senior, but a Veteran. Who would have thought.
I started out at what I guessed was my 5k speed, and immediately noticed that it was faster than everyone around me. I guess that means that I should have started further ahead, but it wasn’t crowded and I didn’t have to weave in and out of the crowds to overtake. At the 1-mile marker I checked my time and heart rate, 6:53 and 179 respectively. I was pleased with both. On the second mile I started to feel tired, but I tried to keep going at the same speed, and I was still overtaking quite a few of the other runners. There was an older runner, maybe in his 50s or early 60s, lets call him Pop, which I managed to pass at that stage. I definitely thought I slowed down towards the end of that mile, but when the 2-mile marker came, my time was now 13:30, or a 6:37 split for the second mile. I cannot rule out that the mile markers were a bit off, of course. At that stage, a group of 4 runners which I had passed half a mile earlier, overtook me, but I did manage to keep right behind them. I was definitely knackered by now, my heart rate was 186 which is my max HR, and I knew I had to fight to keep up the speed for a decent finish. Then, with what I thought was a quarter mile before the finish, I started a surge (Bob Glover would have been proud of me), overtook that group again, and put a fairly big gap between them and myself. I got a surprise when I checked my heart rate, 187. In all my big training efforts on the hills I never managed to go over 186, so I really must have given everything I had. I also realised that I had badly underestimated the distance to the finish when I started my surge, because it must have been at least half a mile before the end. Then I heard footsteps behind me coming closer, turned around and was surprised to see Pop coming closer and closer and actually trying to overtake me. Well, I was about to find out if I had one more push in me and accelerated again. My heart rate was now 188, which I really had not thought possible. I was breathing so loudly that some people on the side were giving me funny looks, not that I cared. I just gave it all I got and passed the finishing line in 21:22, which is a personal best by 38 seconds, but then I had never run an all-out 5k race before, so a new PR was always on the cards. When I was able to breath again, I turned to Pop and told him, “that was your fault, you made me run so fast”, to which he replied, “well, you dragged me along”, and we shook hands.
I was quite pleased with myself and my effort, I couldn’t possibly have run any faster. My average heart rate on the race was 181. I hadn’t done any real speedwork in the last few months and I had always assumed my max HR was 186, which I now know was wrong.
However, when I rang home to tell Niamh about everything, she told me that Shea, our 4-year old son, had tumbled head over heels all the way down the stairs, and had only been prevented from smacking into the wall by the fact that Lola, his twin sister, just happened to stand right there. He smashed into her instead, which broke his fall, and which may have prevented any serious injury, though Lola was extremely offended by the fact that everyone fussed over Shea and nearly ignored her.
Now, six hours later, Shea seems to be ok again. We are keeping a close eye on him, if he starts vomiting or gets dizzy, we have to bring him straight into A&E, but he is enjoying all his latest videos, had lunch, and seems to be in good form.
Thank Goodness for that, and it certainly puts the race into perspective.
29 Dec: 8 miles, very hilly
1 Jan: 6 miles, including 5k race at 21:22, 6:53 pace
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
I hear you
Ok, ok, guys and girls, I get the hint. You want photos. You will get photos, I promise. But I’m in Dublin at the moment, and haven’t got access to my photo albums at the moment. I’ll try and scan some as soon as I get home in the New Year. Let that be my New Year resolution.
Now, the running. I did 4 easy miles yesterday, and a long run today. Well, when I said Long Run, I really meant Medium Run. It was supposed to be 12 miles, but, to be honest, it was probably less than that, so let’s call it 11 miles, and it will make up for the fact that Monday’s 8 miler was probably more like 7.5. I don’t really care about the exact distance, because this is a recovery week anyway, and I’ll try and do the prescribed 37 miles, and if it ends up as 36 miles, that won’t kill my chances of a decent marathon in March. I’ll try and do the 5k race on Sunday, but I won’t run full steam because I have an 18 mile run planned for Tuesday, and don’t forget, we have to drive all the way back from Dublin to Kerry on Monday, and that will take about 5 hours. (It’s 4 hours if I drive on my own, 4.5 with Niamh beside me nagging me to slow down ;-), and 5 with the kids).
The run today felt much easier than Monday’s 8 miler. I seem to have these off days followed by better days a lot recently. I’m not sure why. Running last summer felt much more, well, even. The temperature has dropped again, and the sidewalks were very treacherously covered with a thin sheet of ice – very tricky to run on, but I managed to do it without losing my footing. Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder, but I guess we’ll see. I’ll do roughly 8 miles again tomorrow, and then I’ll rest for two days for the race. That should be sufficient, I won’t try and brake any records (apart from my own).
27 Dec: 4 miles recovery run
28 Dec: 11 miles, very hilly
Now, the running. I did 4 easy miles yesterday, and a long run today. Well, when I said Long Run, I really meant Medium Run. It was supposed to be 12 miles, but, to be honest, it was probably less than that, so let’s call it 11 miles, and it will make up for the fact that Monday’s 8 miler was probably more like 7.5. I don’t really care about the exact distance, because this is a recovery week anyway, and I’ll try and do the prescribed 37 miles, and if it ends up as 36 miles, that won’t kill my chances of a decent marathon in March. I’ll try and do the 5k race on Sunday, but I won’t run full steam because I have an 18 mile run planned for Tuesday, and don’t forget, we have to drive all the way back from Dublin to Kerry on Monday, and that will take about 5 hours. (It’s 4 hours if I drive on my own, 4.5 with Niamh beside me nagging me to slow down ;-), and 5 with the kids).
The run today felt much easier than Monday’s 8 miler. I seem to have these off days followed by better days a lot recently. I’m not sure why. Running last summer felt much more, well, even. The temperature has dropped again, and the sidewalks were very treacherously covered with a thin sheet of ice – very tricky to run on, but I managed to do it without losing my footing. Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder, but I guess we’ll see. I’ll do roughly 8 miles again tomorrow, and then I’ll rest for two days for the race. That should be sufficient, I won’t try and brake any records (apart from my own).
27 Dec: 4 miles recovery run
28 Dec: 11 miles, very hilly
Monday, December 26, 2005
Christmas Run
Christmas seems to be a very quiet place in blog-land. Nobody is updating their blogs, and I’m not sure how good everyone is when it comes to running.
We had a long drive to Dublin (which is made longer by 3 kids in the car), and a succession of Christmas parties – one every evening so far. I have mostly managed to withstand the temptations throws my way, and just had a glass of wine or two per party. Niamh’s family probably think I am the most boring person in history.
I finished off last week with a 5 mile recovery run on Sunday, and managed 8 miles today. A look at the map revealed a park called Cabinteely about 2.5 miles from here, maybe a little bit further. A round in the park is just over one mile, and that’s where I am going to spend my running week. The run is very hilly, there’s one bigish hill between here and the park, and the park itself as quite hilly as well. There were plenty of other runners in the park today, which is a completely new experience for me. Unfortunately it looked like most people are able to run faster than me. Either that, or I was very slow today – which is a possibility, because I felt quite sluggish.
I don’t know the exact distances of the runs here, so I am running by time only, and don’t know my pace. I’ll just try and run by time and effort for this week.
25 Dec: 5 miles recovery run
26 Dec: 8 miles
We had a long drive to Dublin (which is made longer by 3 kids in the car), and a succession of Christmas parties – one every evening so far. I have mostly managed to withstand the temptations throws my way, and just had a glass of wine or two per party. Niamh’s family probably think I am the most boring person in history.
I finished off last week with a 5 mile recovery run on Sunday, and managed 8 miles today. A look at the map revealed a park called Cabinteely about 2.5 miles from here, maybe a little bit further. A round in the park is just over one mile, and that’s where I am going to spend my running week. The run is very hilly, there’s one bigish hill between here and the park, and the park itself as quite hilly as well. There were plenty of other runners in the park today, which is a completely new experience for me. Unfortunately it looked like most people are able to run faster than me. Either that, or I was very slow today – which is a possibility, because I felt quite sluggish.
I don’t know the exact distances of the runs here, so I am running by time only, and don’t know my pace. I’ll just try and run by time and effort for this week.
25 Dec: 5 miles recovery run
26 Dec: 8 miles
Friday, December 23, 2005
A Marathon Day
Wednesday turned out to be a bit of a marathon day, though it was the wrong kind of marathon. After getting up at 4:45 and running 17 miles, I was bound to be a bit tired for the rest of the day. What I hadn’t really factored in was that I was invited to a children’s Christmas party after work and then a card night at a friend’s house. I expected the cards to be finished by midnight (which would have been very late anyway), but for various reasons it didn’t stop until 3:30 in the morning. Well, we had to finish the game, didn’t we? I felt like going home at midnight, but didn’t want to be a spoilsport, though if I had known just how long it would take, I definitely would have left there and then. I finally got to bed at 3:45, which made it a 23 hours day.
No, I didn’t do any running yesterday morning ;-). Thursday is a rest day anyway. I went to bed early (ish) last night and as soon as the head hit the pillow, I was zonked. When the alarm went off at 6, I originally thought I had set it by mistake, until it dawned on me that I was due another 10 miler. Getting up was a challenge, but I rose to it.
The 10 miler was very pleasant though, under a slightly cloudy sky with plenty of moon light, which looked very romantic. My hamstring produced just a tiny little twinge, not really a pain, just a reminder to be careful. For once I didn’t get hit by the rain, it was just a bit windy along the exposed parts of Caragh Lake, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The temperature has climbed as well. At 9 o’clock it was 10C/50F, and it didn’t feel much colder when I did my run. Maybe winter is already over here?
We will drive to Dublin today to spend Christmas with Niamh’s family. The kids are very excited to see Nana and Gaga and all the Aunties and Uncles again. I don’t like running in Dublin, because last year all I could find was concrete sidewalks (there aren’t any parks suitable for running close enough to Stillorgan that I know about). I’ll have another look, because I’m sure the week of running on concrete substantially contributed to my shin splints, and I don’t want to get injured again, especially since my hamstring is dodgy already. Whatever, it will be a cutback week. The schedule calls for just 37 miles, with a long run of no more 12 miles. I’m sure I’ll manage that. There is also a 5k race on New Year’s Day in Phoenix Park, which sounds nice as long as I don’t celebrate New Year too enthusiastically.
23 Dec: 10 miles, 1:22, 8:12 pace
No, I didn’t do any running yesterday morning ;-). Thursday is a rest day anyway. I went to bed early (ish) last night and as soon as the head hit the pillow, I was zonked. When the alarm went off at 6, I originally thought I had set it by mistake, until it dawned on me that I was due another 10 miler. Getting up was a challenge, but I rose to it.
The 10 miler was very pleasant though, under a slightly cloudy sky with plenty of moon light, which looked very romantic. My hamstring produced just a tiny little twinge, not really a pain, just a reminder to be careful. For once I didn’t get hit by the rain, it was just a bit windy along the exposed parts of Caragh Lake, but nothing I couldn’t handle. The temperature has climbed as well. At 9 o’clock it was 10C/50F, and it didn’t feel much colder when I did my run. Maybe winter is already over here?
We will drive to Dublin today to spend Christmas with Niamh’s family. The kids are very excited to see Nana and Gaga and all the Aunties and Uncles again. I don’t like running in Dublin, because last year all I could find was concrete sidewalks (there aren’t any parks suitable for running close enough to Stillorgan that I know about). I’ll have another look, because I’m sure the week of running on concrete substantially contributed to my shin splints, and I don’t want to get injured again, especially since my hamstring is dodgy already. Whatever, it will be a cutback week. The schedule calls for just 37 miles, with a long run of no more 12 miles. I’m sure I’ll manage that. There is also a 5k race on New Year’s Day in Phoenix Park, which sounds nice as long as I don’t celebrate New Year too enthusiastically.
23 Dec: 10 miles, 1:22, 8:12 pace
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
A Long Run at Long Last
According to Pete Pfitzinger, long runs are at least 17 miles. Therefore I did my first long run of the marathon training today. I had to get up at a ridiculously early hour. I set the alarm for 5am, but at 4:45 Lola cried that her bed covers had come off. That’s the third night in a row, and it’s the same issue at exactly the same time of night. I tried to tell her that at 4-and-a-half she is big enough to pull up the covers herself, but no luck so far. Anyway, against better judgment I did go back to bed, but only dozed there for 5 minutes and got up again. Mindful of the long run ahead of me, I had half a banana as well as my usual wheat cereal, and left out a gel with some water on the driveway for later on.
Last night had been very stormy, in fact the wind kept me from falling asleep for an hour (which isn’t good, when you’re only hoping for less than 7-and-a-half hours anyway), and I was worried if I would be able to do my run in those conditions. Luckily, by 5 o’clock the storm had calmed down, though it was still quite windy. I decided to do some laps in the woods, where the road is more sheltered from the elements. I planned on a 6 mile loop along a hill called the Devil’s elbow, then a 5 mile loop to Ard na Sidhe, and another 6 mile loop to make it 17 altogether. It turns out that the 5 mile loop is a tad longer than 5 miles (either that, or I ran the middle loop a good bit slower than the other two, but I don’t think so), so I called it 17.2 miles all in all. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a bit more or less – it’s only a training run.
My left hamstring started acting up at mile 6 and was hurting for 3 or 4 miles after that. I’m still not sure what it is. It’s not a cramp, and it gets better if I shorten my stride. It’s just a little bit worrying, but not enough to stop me from running. At mile 16 I got a coughing fit – not nice at all, and for the next 2 or 3 minutes after that I felt like my chest was restricted. That went away as well though, and I finished the run still feeling very strong.
All in all, I’m pleased with today’s workout.
21 Dec: 17.2 miles, 2:30, 8:43 pace
Last night had been very stormy, in fact the wind kept me from falling asleep for an hour (which isn’t good, when you’re only hoping for less than 7-and-a-half hours anyway), and I was worried if I would be able to do my run in those conditions. Luckily, by 5 o’clock the storm had calmed down, though it was still quite windy. I decided to do some laps in the woods, where the road is more sheltered from the elements. I planned on a 6 mile loop along a hill called the Devil’s elbow, then a 5 mile loop to Ard na Sidhe, and another 6 mile loop to make it 17 altogether. It turns out that the 5 mile loop is a tad longer than 5 miles (either that, or I ran the middle loop a good bit slower than the other two, but I don’t think so), so I called it 17.2 miles all in all. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a bit more or less – it’s only a training run.
My left hamstring started acting up at mile 6 and was hurting for 3 or 4 miles after that. I’m still not sure what it is. It’s not a cramp, and it gets better if I shorten my stride. It’s just a little bit worrying, but not enough to stop me from running. At mile 16 I got a coughing fit – not nice at all, and for the next 2 or 3 minutes after that I felt like my chest was restricted. That went away as well though, and I finished the run still feeling very strong.
All in all, I’m pleased with today’s workout.
21 Dec: 17.2 miles, 2:30, 8:43 pace
Monday, December 19, 2005
Weekend Drama
My department’s Christmas party was on Friday – the main difference to the company’s do being that there are no partners invited. In other words, it is generally a very heavy drinking session. I also had to attend out twins’ Christmas play in their school (which turned out to be much more entertaining that I had expected), so I was a bit rushed to get to the dinner in time. I didn’t feel like drinking much, and left at half past twelve – one of the first to leave. Because I was on water during dinner I was even sober – which will probably make me a pariah amongst my colleagues in days to come ;-).
Saturday was a day of drama. Cian had coughed during the night again and we struggled for 10 minutes to get a little spoon of medicine down his throat. Niamh, my wife, left the bottle on her bedside table. So what do I discover the next morning after breakfast? Only Cian with the open bottle in his hand, a big portion spilled on the floor and we have no idea how much he had himself. Niamh brought him to the hospital, where he was being seen by two nurses and three doctors in succession. None of them could find anything wrong with him, but all wanted yet another opinion. Eventually they sent them back home. Cian is absolutely fine – though, of course, he is still coughing, and by now has passed it on to me as well.
Oh yes, the running. I did 4 easy recovery miles on Sunday to conclude the week on a mileage of 42. Today I did a 9 mile tempo run, the first in ages with plenty of moon light. Unfortunately, the weather changed towards the end and I was caught by the wind, the cold and my old buddy, the rain, again. I also lost my concentration towards the last 3 or so miles because I slowed down from a tempo run to a “normal” pace run. I didn’t feel tired or unable to keep up the speed effort. I just lost my concentration and slowed down a bit. Ah well, it’s still 14 weeks until the marathon, and a slightly slower than optimal tempo run won’t have any real effect.
18 Dec: 4 miles recovery run, 36:42, 9:10 pace
19 Dec: 9 miles, 1:12m 8:00 pace
Saturday was a day of drama. Cian had coughed during the night again and we struggled for 10 minutes to get a little spoon of medicine down his throat. Niamh, my wife, left the bottle on her bedside table. So what do I discover the next morning after breakfast? Only Cian with the open bottle in his hand, a big portion spilled on the floor and we have no idea how much he had himself. Niamh brought him to the hospital, where he was being seen by two nurses and three doctors in succession. None of them could find anything wrong with him, but all wanted yet another opinion. Eventually they sent them back home. Cian is absolutely fine – though, of course, he is still coughing, and by now has passed it on to me as well.
Oh yes, the running. I did 4 easy recovery miles on Sunday to conclude the week on a mileage of 42. Today I did a 9 mile tempo run, the first in ages with plenty of moon light. Unfortunately, the weather changed towards the end and I was caught by the wind, the cold and my old buddy, the rain, again. I also lost my concentration towards the last 3 or so miles because I slowed down from a tempo run to a “normal” pace run. I didn’t feel tired or unable to keep up the speed effort. I just lost my concentration and slowed down a bit. Ah well, it’s still 14 weeks until the marathon, and a slightly slower than optimal tempo run won’t have any real effect.
18 Dec: 4 miles recovery run, 36:42, 9:10 pace
19 Dec: 9 miles, 1:12m 8:00 pace
Friday, December 16, 2005
Wind, Rain and ... Tags Again
I went to bed too late and did not fall asleep until 11pm, so getting up at 6 was never that easy. To add to the troubles, Cian came into our bed around 2:30 and kept us awake with some heavy coughing. We struggled to get some medicine down his throat, and eventually succeeded, but it was probably nearly 3:30 by the time I got back to sleep.
I got up at 6:00, feeling less than refreshed. I had also played an hour of football 12 hours previously, which didn’t help my legs. It was Full Moon, and last night was fantastic with hardly any clouds, and I was looking forward to a great run in the moonlight. I felt cheated when I saw that it was totally cloudy. It was even worse when I stepped out of the house and realised that it was actually raining, with the wind blowing to compound the misery. I decided to change my route. Rather than do 10 miles along Caragh Lake, which can be wind-swept, I did 2 laps of 5 miles from our house to Ard-na-Sidhe and back. That run is through the woods, and therefore more sheltered from the wind. The run was ok-ish, but I felt a bit sluggish. I noticed that my pace increased with each 2.5 mile section though, which is good.
There is yet another game of tag going on, and Jack tagged me. There’s the rules:
”Write 5 random facts about yourself, and then list the names of 5 people whom you in turn infect. Also, leave a post to these people letting them know they have been infected”. I won’t write them any comments, because that reminds me too much of spam, if they read my blog they will know.
So, 5 facts:
1. I once spent 2 years in Vienna while my girl friend was in Dublin. We wrote each other a letter every single day. After that we knew we were meant to be together.
2. Even more astounding, we had only been together for 2 months before that. I never really expected it to last the 2 years, but it did.
3. We have been married for 8 happy years now, with 3 kids
4. The oldest two are twins, a girl called Lola and a boy called Shea.
5. I am a soccer nut; my favourite team are Manchester City. As a result of this, I hate Manchester United with a passion.
There it goes. My five victims are DGC, psbowe, Cliff, Marc and NYFlyGirl.
16 Dec: 10 miles, 1:24, 8:24 pace
I got up at 6:00, feeling less than refreshed. I had also played an hour of football 12 hours previously, which didn’t help my legs. It was Full Moon, and last night was fantastic with hardly any clouds, and I was looking forward to a great run in the moonlight. I felt cheated when I saw that it was totally cloudy. It was even worse when I stepped out of the house and realised that it was actually raining, with the wind blowing to compound the misery. I decided to change my route. Rather than do 10 miles along Caragh Lake, which can be wind-swept, I did 2 laps of 5 miles from our house to Ard-na-Sidhe and back. That run is through the woods, and therefore more sheltered from the wind. The run was ok-ish, but I felt a bit sluggish. I noticed that my pace increased with each 2.5 mile section though, which is good.
There is yet another game of tag going on, and Jack tagged me. There’s the rules:
”Write 5 random facts about yourself, and then list the names of 5 people whom you in turn infect. Also, leave a post to these people letting them know they have been infected”. I won’t write them any comments, because that reminds me too much of spam, if they read my blog they will know.
So, 5 facts:
1. I once spent 2 years in Vienna while my girl friend was in Dublin. We wrote each other a letter every single day. After that we knew we were meant to be together.
2. Even more astounding, we had only been together for 2 months before that. I never really expected it to last the 2 years, but it did.
3. We have been married for 8 happy years now, with 3 kids
4. The oldest two are twins, a girl called Lola and a boy called Shea.
5. I am a soccer nut; my favourite team are Manchester City. As a result of this, I hate Manchester United with a passion.
There it goes. My five victims are DGC, psbowe, Cliff, Marc and NYFlyGirl.
16 Dec: 10 miles, 1:24, 8:24 pace
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Early Morning
For some perverse reason that only runners can understand, I was looking forward to today’s 15 miler. Now that my miles are slowly reaching the proper long-run stage, they somehow seem more worthwhile.
Getting up for that run was easy. I set my alarm for 5:20am, but by 5am I was up anyway, changing the baby and re-arranging the bed covers for my daughter, because “the blanket has come off the dollies and the teddy” (obviously, a grave concern!). After that there was no point in going back to bed, but I felt wide awake anyway.
Yesterday had been rather cold, -3C/26F, and the short sleeves had not been the ideal choice, so I went for the long sleeves today. Alas, today was a lot warmer, 3C/37F, and initially I felt quite overdressed and actually pulled up my long sleeves. It was very cloudy, but very tranquil initially. Then, by mile 5.5, the wind started blowing strongly, and by mile 6.5 I was running in the rain again. At that stage I was grateful for the long sleeves and pulled them down again. It finally stopped raining by mile 11, and the rest of the run was more pleasant.
I felt a sharp-ish pain in my left hamstring with half a mile to go, the same hamstring that has given my troubles before. So late in the run it was no problem to get home, and a few hundred yards on the pain seemed to have gone anyway, but I am a bit worried about this. So far I have no idea what’s causing the pain, but it is re-occurring fairly frequently.
Last week I got quite hungry around mile 11, so this time I left out a gel at our driveway, went on a 10 mile loop along Caragh Lake, came back, had the gel and some water, and then finished the run with a 5 mile loop through the wood. I had developed that routine when training for my last marathon, and it worked very well. The only drawback is a slight temptation to go home after the first loop rather than go out again, but so far I have always managed to resist.
13 Dec: 5 miles recovery run, 48:08, 9:37 pace
14 Dec: 15 miles, 2:12, 8:48 pace
Getting up for that run was easy. I set my alarm for 5:20am, but by 5am I was up anyway, changing the baby and re-arranging the bed covers for my daughter, because “the blanket has come off the dollies and the teddy” (obviously, a grave concern!). After that there was no point in going back to bed, but I felt wide awake anyway.
Yesterday had been rather cold, -3C/26F, and the short sleeves had not been the ideal choice, so I went for the long sleeves today. Alas, today was a lot warmer, 3C/37F, and initially I felt quite overdressed and actually pulled up my long sleeves. It was very cloudy, but very tranquil initially. Then, by mile 5.5, the wind started blowing strongly, and by mile 6.5 I was running in the rain again. At that stage I was grateful for the long sleeves and pulled them down again. It finally stopped raining by mile 11, and the rest of the run was more pleasant.
I felt a sharp-ish pain in my left hamstring with half a mile to go, the same hamstring that has given my troubles before. So late in the run it was no problem to get home, and a few hundred yards on the pain seemed to have gone anyway, but I am a bit worried about this. So far I have no idea what’s causing the pain, but it is re-occurring fairly frequently.
Last week I got quite hungry around mile 11, so this time I left out a gel at our driveway, went on a 10 mile loop along Caragh Lake, came back, had the gel and some water, and then finished the run with a 5 mile loop through the wood. I had developed that routine when training for my last marathon, and it worked very well. The only drawback is a slight temptation to go home after the first loop rather than go out again, but so far I have always managed to resist.
13 Dec: 5 miles recovery run, 48:08, 9:37 pace
14 Dec: 15 miles, 2:12, 8:48 pace
Monday, December 12, 2005
Socials and Changes
I managed to get through the weekend without any mishaps. Friday’s social was ice-skating, which I enjoyed from the sidelines. Saturday’s was a mum’s outing, which meant that the daddies stayed at home baby-sitting while the mummies got drunk (how times have changed, eh) and Sunday was a trip for the kids to nearby Crag Cave to visit Santa, which they enjoyed immensely.
I got my 4 miles recovery done to conclude my 40 miles week, and decided to make some small changes to my schedule. Long runs on Monday weren’t ideal because it meant cutting short Sunday evening, one of the few evenings my wife and me get to spend together these days (times are busy), and I wasn’t sure how long I would manage to run long in the morning and then play an hour of soccer in the evening. Therefore I decided to switch the long runs to Wednesday, which should fit easier into the rest of my life. This week’s plan calls for a modest increase of the mileage to 42 miles. I started with a brisk (for me) 8 miler this morning under a starry sky and a spectacular display of the Belt of Venus towards the end of it. It got a bit chilly again, but I finally got through a run without any rain. The left hamstring was fine, and my right foot, which had some aches and pains occasionally over the last few weeks, wasn’t acting up either. Woo-hoo, my luck is changing!
11 Dec: 4 miles recovery run, 8:54 pace
12 Dec: 8 miles, 1:04, 8:00 pace
I got my 4 miles recovery done to conclude my 40 miles week, and decided to make some small changes to my schedule. Long runs on Monday weren’t ideal because it meant cutting short Sunday evening, one of the few evenings my wife and me get to spend together these days (times are busy), and I wasn’t sure how long I would manage to run long in the morning and then play an hour of soccer in the evening. Therefore I decided to switch the long runs to Wednesday, which should fit easier into the rest of my life. This week’s plan calls for a modest increase of the mileage to 42 miles. I started with a brisk (for me) 8 miler this morning under a starry sky and a spectacular display of the Belt of Venus towards the end of it. It got a bit chilly again, but I finally got through a run without any rain. The left hamstring was fine, and my right foot, which had some aches and pains occasionally over the last few weeks, wasn’t acting up either. Woo-hoo, my luck is changing!
11 Dec: 4 miles recovery run, 8:54 pace
12 Dec: 8 miles, 1:04, 8:00 pace
Friday, December 09, 2005
Slow Coach
After the 10 miles this morning, this week’s mileage stands at 36 – a short run on Sunday will bring it up to 40. That might not impress some of you, but the way I’ve been feeling lately I’m pleased. Something I have noted is a distinct loss of pace. Today’s run was by far the slowest run I’ve had in ages (apart from recovery runs of course). I’m not bothered about that though. It’s always better to slow down when you’re increasing your mileage. Plus, last night’s soccer was rather strenuous, and running 10 miles 12 hours later is asking for stiff legs. It’s a lot warmer now, it was about 6C/43F in the morning, and originally I hoped to go through a whole run without rain, but my hopes were drowned by mile 3.5. Ah well.
The stomach seems to be nearly back to normal, and the kids have stopped vomiting – hurray! Our youngest son, Cian (I’ve decided not to be so coy about my family’s names from now on), celebrated his second birthday yesterday, and he really enjoyed being at the centre of attention. He also adores his new tricycle. I might post some photos if we get them developed any time soon.
The weekend is going to be strenuous – there are three Christmas parties, two for the parents and one for the kids. I’ll abstain from alcohol – I think.
8 Dec: 4 miles recovery run, 36:36, 9:09 pace
9 Dec: 10 miles, 1:29, 8:54 pace
The stomach seems to be nearly back to normal, and the kids have stopped vomiting – hurray! Our youngest son, Cian (I’ve decided not to be so coy about my family’s names from now on), celebrated his second birthday yesterday, and he really enjoyed being at the centre of attention. He also adores his new tricycle. I might post some photos if we get them developed any time soon.
The weekend is going to be strenuous – there are three Christmas parties, two for the parents and one for the kids. I’ll abstain from alcohol – I think.
8 Dec: 4 miles recovery run, 36:36, 9:09 pace
9 Dec: 10 miles, 1:29, 8:54 pace
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
After a Good Run comes a ... yes, you guessed it
Some of you guys and gals might be getting a kick out of running in adverse weather conditions, but I can tell you I am getting thoroughly sick of the Irish winter weather. Today was probably a little bit warmer than on previous mornings, but you couldn’t really tell because it was lashing, and to compound the misery the wind was blowing really strong in places – just what you need when you’re not feeling too well anyway.
The kids all had a stomach bug over the last week. It could have been worse, because between throwing up violently they were totally chirpy. For the last two days I could feel it myself, I haven’t thrown up (yet), but there is a certain uneasy feeling around my stomach area. Additionally, due to late work commitments I didn’t get to bed until 0:40 last night. I got up at 6:20, and that’s not even nearly enough sleep. The schedule called for an 8-mile tempo run, but somehow I wasn’t quite up for it. I certainly put in the effort, but the pace wasn’t forthcoming, and I hardly ran faster than on Monday, when I seemed to glide along effortlessly. My left hamstring made itself known again as well. It’s just a little twinge at the moment, not enough to stop me from running, but enough to have me a little bit worried.
I need to rest – I’ll go to bed early tonight and hope the kids will cooperate. Tomorrow is just a 4 mile recovery run, and if I manage 2 or 3 nights of 8 hours sleep, I’ll be fine again.
7 Dec: 8 miles, 1:06, 8:15 pace, faster during the middle 4 miles, quite slow warm-up and cool-down
The kids all had a stomach bug over the last week. It could have been worse, because between throwing up violently they were totally chirpy. For the last two days I could feel it myself, I haven’t thrown up (yet), but there is a certain uneasy feeling around my stomach area. Additionally, due to late work commitments I didn’t get to bed until 0:40 last night. I got up at 6:20, and that’s not even nearly enough sleep. The schedule called for an 8-mile tempo run, but somehow I wasn’t quite up for it. I certainly put in the effort, but the pace wasn’t forthcoming, and I hardly ran faster than on Monday, when I seemed to glide along effortlessly. My left hamstring made itself known again as well. It’s just a little twinge at the moment, not enough to stop me from running, but enough to have me a little bit worried.
I need to rest – I’ll go to bed early tonight and hope the kids will cooperate. Tomorrow is just a 4 mile recovery run, and if I manage 2 or 3 nights of 8 hours sleep, I’ll be fine again.
7 Dec: 8 miles, 1:06, 8:15 pace, faster during the middle 4 miles, quite slow warm-up and cool-down
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