It's A Wrap

I wasn't even sweating yet when I finished Tuesday's very short, very easy lunchtime run, and that was that. Training is done. On Wednesday we're flying out to Austria, on Thursday I recover / get ready, and on Friday at 7 pm the race starts.

The weather forecast kept changing every time I looked at it, from 28 degrees in the initial long term forecast to thunderstorms and heavy rain a few days ago, and now the general consensus seems to be that there will be light rain for most of it, but Saturday's temperatures will still hits 22 degrees.

I should be used to rain,so maybe that will work in my favour. It's almost certainly more conductive for a decent performance than blistering heat. I just hope I won't be suffering from blisters and the like.

How am I feeling? To be honest, not great. Something seemed to be off the last couple of weeks, the hamstrings just don't feel right, and the HR has been much higher for any run than I would have thought it should be, and teh numbers look worse than last month, or the last few months even.

What will that mean for race day? Well, I'll give it a go anyway. I've gone into races not feeling great and still pulled out fantastic results at times plenty of times in the past, and as long as my head stays right, I will do ok. Ultra running, and especially timed races, are run with the head much more than the legs, and that has always been a major strength of mine.

I was born not far away from the race venue. I have family living in the area. I'll have the Grimming watching over me majestically. What could possibly go wrong.

24 Jun

6 miles, 49:36, 8:16 pace, HR 137

25 Jun

4.85 miles, 39:28, 8:08 pace, HR 144

26 Jun

3.15 miles, 28:33, 9:03 pace, HR 129

Heat

On Thursday lunchtime I was just about to head out of the door when Norbert crossed my path, and since running with a mate is more fun than running alone, we headed out together. Last time we did that I apparently wore him out, despite me insisting that he would set the pace, but wrapped in 4 layers as I was today, there was never a danger of that happening again. In fact, I was blowing hard by the time we finished while he was very much rating this an easy run - that's the difference a few extra layers on a warm day make.

All in all I did 6 heat adaption runs in a row. On Friday I checked the weather forecast for Irdning again and all of a sudden they changed the temperatures from 28 to 22 degrees! In fact, it might be warmer in Ireland than Austria that weekend. However, heat adaptation benefits you even on a cooler day, and there's still plenty of time for them to change their minds again.

By the looks of it it will be hot enough in Ireland the next few days that there won't be any need for extra layers for a run to count as a heat adaptation run.

I'm back in Kerry, like every weekend, though that will be the very last weekend I am making this trip. The leaving cert is finished, Shea is pretty happy and confident he'll get enough point for his course, and now the entire rest of the family are finally moving to Dublin. Thank God for that! I have gotten mightily sick of that road by now, and 8 hours of driving (or train) every weekend is just ridiculous, and not relaxing at all. I am looking forward to having proper weekends again, not that next weekend will fall into that category.

The legs felt just sh*te this morning, and I didn't even have the excuse of running in too many layers. So far I'm attributing this to taper madness and trying not to panic. Maybe the body is worn out from the heat training. Maybe I just need to take it easy from now on.

By the way, is that the most idiotic headline ever to appear in an Irish newspaper? They seemed to have completely missed the irony, which seems unbelievable, screaming as it is from the page.

21 Jun

6.5+ miles, 55:37, 8:28 pace, HR 152

22 Jun

5 miles, 42:28, 8:29 pace, HR 141

23 Jun

10 miles, 1:23:58, 8:23 pace, HR 140

The Heat Is On

or at least the heat adaptation I'm doing right now is, unlike the outside temperatures. Heat adaption means running wrapped in 4 layers and steaming from the inside, which also works when it's cool outside, though the one time when it was actually warm during my run (Tuesday evening) I sure noticed the difference.

I have done that kind of stuff before a race on previous occasions, though I have changed my approach after reading a few more articles about it. I now do a heat adaption run every day. Since I'm in my taper, the mileage has been reduced, and since heat training is adding a significant new stress factor, mileage has been reduced a lot to keep the overall stress levels down, though presumably a longer duration of the heat runs would produce better results with regards to heat adaptation.

Anyway, obviously the HR is going wild, so I'm not going to compare it with "normal" runs. Despite the slow pace, this feels like a real workout and after less than 2 miles the wish to stop the torture can already be overwhelming. Therefore I avoid doing them on a treadmill, even though the heat build-up would work even better there; I just know I'd step off early.

It actually feels the worst immediately after stopping, and on a couple of occasions I have felt close to fainting, though that seems to have improved already, so maybe the adaptations are starting to kick in. Temperatures are supposed to reach 25 in Ireland the next few days, which would help - the long-term forecast for Irdning is 28 degrees, though 10 days out that does not mean much yet.

Having said that, we're definitely getting close.

18 Jun

4+ miles, 33:10, 8:11, HR 148

19 Jun

4+ miles, 33:38, 8:18, HR 148

20 Jun

4.6 miles, 38:30, 8:22, HR 147

Illegitimi Non Carborundum

With two weeks to go before the Big Race, I am definitely now in my taper, even if my mind still has to grasp that fact. Still, I intended to do a few more miles on Saturday, maybe 12 miles or so, depending on how I felt. However, I was literally stepping out of the house when Niamh came after me with my phone ringing. It was a former colleague of mine and we ended up talking for close to an hour.

Just over a year ago I left a secure, well paying job to head for Dublin and join a startup that I always knew had a very realistic chance of going out of business. It might have looked like total madness but in reality I wasn't as much drawn to the new job as being repelled by the old one, where after 10 happy years (and productive, and we made heaps of money for the owners) some new managers took over and a few years later I'd had enough of the constant bullying, belittling of efforts, talking down to the workers and just the toxic atmosphere in general.

Getting out of there felt like I was finally being able to breathe once more. Even when that startup did indeed falter, I never once regretted my decision, having rediscovered what it's like to work in a professional, respectful work environment. However, 2 weeks ago I got the terrible news that not everyone had been so lucky and a former colleague of mine had committed suicide. While we will never know the exact reasons that drove him to such an extreme action, everyone, and I literally mean everyone I talked to, was of the opinion that it was the senior management in that place that made him do it. He had been on leave (like me he could not take it any more) but apparently had been put under pressure to return, and rather than face the same managers again ...

It sure validated my decision to get out of that place.

Anyway, we ended talking for a long time, and when we eventually got off the phone I had time for just a few miles, which were badly needed to clear my head. Running is a gift in such situations, a pressure valve, and badly needed.

Training doesn't matter at all compared to all that but to mention it just for completeness, I felt great on Thursday and awful on Friday. My back pain has improved significantly but there's something wrong in my right glutes at the moment, though that too will be gone soon.

Rest in peace Mike. I wish you had not let the bastards grind you down.

Late, late update: they got one of their minions to ring me up, asking me to take down that post. Fuck you!

14 Jun

10.3 miles, 1:20:59, 7:51 pace, HR 144

15 Jun

10.22 miles, 1:27:19, 8:32 pace, HR 139

16 Jun

5 miles, 39:02, 7:48 pace, HR 146

17 Jun

5.1 miles, 44:26, 8:42 pace, HR 139

Ouch!

I had considered running around the lake on Sunday. But with 3 weeks to go I was now in my taper, and after running 2 hours on the trail the day before I decided to take it easy instead and just ran along the lake. I was 5 miles into that run when all of a sudden I felt a searing pain in my lower back, it felt as if someone had stabbed me in the back. I've had back pain before, ever since putting out my back while carrying a heavy load about 5 years ago. The last episode had been a few years ago, so I've had a good painfree run since then, but 3 weeks before the big race that wasn't great timing.

I kept on running. I was miles away from home anyway and didn't have much choice. Despite the fact that the pain appeared while out on the road, my experience in the past has been that running does provide some relief and doesn't seem to aggregate it. in fact, I don't think running caused it at all. It's much more likely that the long hours in he car /van and particularly carrying a lot of heavy loads while moving house is the root cause. Unfortunately, the move still isn't complete (we're moving van load by van load, and we've got a lot of stuff) and can't really be delayed, so I'll chance it once more next weekend. In the meantime, I'll try and get on with it.

It was rather manageable but for some reason it got really bad on Wednesday morning. I had not slept particularly well, and whatever sudden movement I might have done while asleep seems to have set the pain level up by a notch or two. I still ran into work (I need to get there, and I'm pretty sure it's better for my back than sitting in the bus for 45 minutes) but felt the need to be really careful, so it was a rather slow run. Oh, and since I had left my HM at work the day before, I didn't even get to see the low HR.

Oh, and in the middle of it all I had a great run on Monday. Not that the pace was anything to write home about - it was just the way I felt that evening, like a million dollars, floating along effortlessly and feeling that I could go on forever.

Anyway, as of now nothing has changed with regards to running. I still believe that running is beneficial rather than aggravating, and with over 2 weeks to go there is every reason to think that it won't affect my goal race.

Mind, the fact that my second annual hayfever attack has started this week does nothing to improve the mood. It might be in for a few more shitty days, I think.

10 Jun

12 miles, 1:39:36, 8:17 pace, HR 136

11 Jun

10.25 miles, 1:18:40, 7:40 pace, HR 144

12 Jun

10.3 miles, 1:25:16, 8:16 pace, HR 139

13 Jun

10.22 miles, 1:28:20, 8:38

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4 Jun

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

5 Jun

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

6 Jun

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

7 Jun

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

8 Jun

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

9 Jun

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

   Windy Gap x 2

Pacing Cork

It's been a while since I last paced a marathon but I was reasonably sure I would be able to remember how it works. Since I had run the Clare Burren Challenge last weekend I had opted for the easier 3:30 slot and there were three of us, me together with Mark and Dipak, though Dipak arrived a bit late, got stuck in the crowd before the start and was always a bit behind us, so for all intents and purposes it was just me and Mark for the vast majority, with Dipak having his own group just behind us.

Niamh had been able to join me in the hotel, which had gone down very well, apparently that is the only perk of being married to a runner. Wait, what?

Anyway, at the earlier-than-usual time of 8:30 we were off on our way. It was already fairly warm and that would only get worse. I knew full well that a lot of runners would be struggling today. I hoped I wouldn't be one of them, though.

Right away I had to really reign myself in. 8-minute pace feels reasonably fast on a training run these days but with the race-day adrenaline working its magic it felt like crawling. However, I knew that the Cork marathon always measures a bit long on the GPS; I have seen it higher than 26.5 miles, so we had to run a few seconds faster per mile, and we also had to keep a close eye on the official mile markers, because they're the ones that count at the end, not the numbers on your watch.

Case in point, we passed the 2-mile marker at exactly 16:00, bang on pace. However, the average pace on my watch displayed 7:45, which was a bit worrying because that was definitely a bigger gap than anticipated. We were actually a couple of seconds behind at mile 3 with the average pace still faster than it should have been, really, something like 7:46 or 7:48. Since they are mounting the mile markers on lamp posts there is always the chance that they are a bit out of place, so we didn't make any drastic changes and just kept going at the same effort level.

Since the Cork marathon also incorporates a relay, we were passing a changeover point roughly every 5 miles. Some people focus on the negatives, being overtaken by a bunch of fresh runners every 5 mile, which is the wrong way of looking at it. See it as a positive, get a boost from the cheering crowds at the sidelines, and smile!

Between miles 7 and 8 the tunnel awaits. I actually had an argument (a friendly one) with someone the day before, because I think the climb out of the tunnel is the biggest one of the day; you just don't notice it much because your legs are still quite fresh at that point. The other guy disagreed and insisted there is a bigger climb in the second half Anyway, if you add the tunnel climb and the one immediately following at Mahon Point together, it's definitely the biggest climbing section of the race. On the plus side, once you're over that hump you get 2 miles of smooth downhill at a lovely gradient - and that's where we got a little bit too fast, getting a full minute ahead of time without even realising with a 7:30 and a 7:40 mile. Oops. I had made the same mistake last time I paced here. Having said that, with the hills waiting for us in the second half, being a minute ahead wasn't the worst thing to happen and we decided to keep it in the bank.

The next few miles are my favourite section, on the old railway line towards the Marina. Even when I'm in Cork I tend to go there for my training run (not done that for a couple of years, though). We passed the halfway mark about 80 seconds ahead of time, definitely a bit faster than I would have thought was ideal, but that's what it was.

Photo thanks to Cork Athletics

We merged with the half marathon, which had started a little bit earlier. The 1:40 group, running just a little bit quicker than we were, passed us soon after the merge and for a mile it was really busy but once they had gone ahead it settled and then the half marathoners around us were basically doing the same pace as we were. One runner (hi Richard!) introduced himself to me and said he liked the blog (though he disagreed with my post-marathon recovery program), which prompted some jokes about having a celebrity pacer. Hey, if they can still laugh at mile 17 we're doing fine.

That's when the work started in earnest. There are a series of climbs from miles 18 to 21 and if you're already close to the edge they can easily break you (as I found out myself last year). By now it was really warm and the humidity was very high, which made for fairly brutal conditions for a marathon and the runners in our group suffered and one by one they started dropping. By the time we had broken the back of it at mile 21 there were only a handful of marathon runners left with us. We also acquired precious few runners who had been ahead of us earlier in the race and it was a rather small group that turned into the straight road for the final few miles. There was a slight breeze against us, which actually made it easier because it felt significantly cooler, and most of what was left of the initial 3:30 group actually started to pull ahead to gain a minute or two before the end.

There was a nice surprise for me when Niamh was standing beside the road, and soon after we passed Grellan as well. Mark must have been feeling the effort by now because he kept mentioning how tough the conditions were, though he clearly had enough in him to keep going. I still felt reasonably fresh myself, which was nice to know. Even with that marathon from last weekend my legs were still in good shape.

Photo thanks to Cork Athletics

Towards the end we were surrounded exclusively by half marathon runners, who must have
been on around 1:42 or 1:43 pace. I tried to find a marathon runner to specifically encourage him or her, but to no avail. It's not that unusual for the pacers to arrive at the finish without any pacees but at a reasonably big race like Cork that's quite rare. A few runners of our group had managed to pull ahead on the last few miles, very well done to them. The rest suffered a bit too much in the tough conditions - that's a hazard at marathons, nothing you can do about it.

Right at the end Dipak caught up with us and we crossed the finishing line together, in 3:29:31 gun time, close enough to feel it was a job reasonably well done, especially as it had not been the easiest of days. There was not much left to do except congratulate the runners around us, marvel at Gary O'Hanlon's fantastic win (I had met him briefly at breakfast in the morning and at his warm-up) and go home. Marathon number 102 was in the bag - more importantly, it was the last really long training run in this cycle. It's about time to get into taper mode.

3 Jun

Cork City marathon, 3:30 pacer

3:29:24, 7:58 pace, HR 146

4 Jun

4 miles, 34:00, 8:40 pace, HR 134

In-Between

This is one short post-marathon recovery I'm going through at the moment, because Cork is on this weekend and I agreed to pace it. At least I wasn't stupid enough to go for my "usual" 3:15 slot and told them straight away it would have to be 3:30 or slower - and 3:30 it was. I'm really looking forward to it, Cork always look after the pacers very well, and now my job is to make sure I don't mess it up.

Recovery was kind of curious this week. There had been no muscle soreness, nada, zilch, nichts, despite the hilly nature of the Clare Burren Challenge, and despite the fact that I ran two of the downhill segments fairly hard, which really should have destroyed my quads but they managed to completely withstand it. That's good. My muscles have definitely become very resilient, which will hopefully mean there won't be a repeat of last year's fiasco in Belfast when the legs were just gone after 12 hours, irretrievably. However, the runs over the last couple of days have felt quite tough, despite the fact that I tried to take it as easy as possible, and the slow pace shows it.

I don't think I'm overtrained, and there are two possible explanations. First, the toughest runs were the ones in the morning, after just half a day break after running home from work the night before. Secondly, and I think that is the real, major reason, it has become very humid here, and the temperatures have been a good bit higher than what we're accustomed here in Ireland. Those are tough conditions for a run and always make it feel harder.

The main worry is that the conditions tomorrow in Cork might well be more of the same, which will make it a tough day for everyone. I have paced marathons in warm, humid conditions before, with Dublin 2014 particularly sticking in my mind, and it was always hard work, feeling more like a race effort than a reasonably easy training run. We'll see. I have been worried about messing up the pacing before but I have paced 14 marathons so far and never missed the target.

If you're there tomorrow, say hello.

27 May

6.9 miles, 58:25, 8:27, HR 133

   Actually 2 runs - my youngest daughter wanted some company when going for a cycle

28 May

am:2.7 miles, 22:39, 8:23, HR 138

pm:6.3 miles, 49:52, 7:54

29 May

10.25 miles, 1:21:18, 7:55, HR 141

30 May

10.25 miles, 1:30:25, 8:49, HR 136, gasp

31 May

10.25 miles, 1:24:05, 8:12, HR 139

1 Jun

10.25 miles, 1:28:25, 8:37, HR 143, gasp

My Dalmatian Run

I have started marathons on already tired legs before - when doing back-to-back marathons, or several in a row. Saturday, as a single run on pre-fatigued, was a new one. The fact that it was going to be an off-road race added to the situation; I had no idea how the legs would react to the long, steep climbs and the uneven running surface (something I generally hate). I wasn't worried as such. More curious how this would play out.

"You might win this one". Mo's comment, flattering as it was, was definitely wide off the mark. I had no intentions of racing this one, and even if I had I very much doubt I'd have been anywhere near the top. Probably not even when I had been at my best, 4 or 5 years ago, and definitely not now. But thanks for the ego boost all the same!

I had arrived in Ballyvaughan at 8:15, which should have been plenty of time to easily get ready in time for the 9 o'clock start, but after chatting to some friends, picking up the number, chatting some more, getting ready, chatting to the president (Dave Brady, that is) and remembering very late to put a plaster on my nose and going back to the car to retrieve it, I had cut it mightily fine and arrived at the start line at 8:58. Ah well, still on time, isn't it?

I noticed the tired legs from step 1, I could not fail to do so. Somehow I still managed to start a little bit too fast, almost 7:30 pace on a slight uphill; maybe Mo's words had worked their way into my subconscious, even though I perfectly knew I wasn't going to finish near the top. However, once we hit the first trail section, after 4 initial road miles, things changed very quickly. I immediately moved backwards in the field at quite some rate, though at that point that still included the half-marathon runners. The rough surface really didn't suit me and took some time getting used to. About a mile into that section I went over my ankle, which subsequently hurt for a while, but thankfully no damage was done and it all subsided.

Before the start I'd had a quick discussion with Karina on what shoes to wear. I had brought along roads shoes as well as trail runners, so I'd be able to make a late decision. But it had been dry almost all week and I remembered back to February in Donadea when I wore trail runners and afterwards felt it had been the wrong choice, so I went with the road runners (Karina opted for trail).

That trail section lasted for another 4 miles, first a long, steep climb and then a section at the top that would have been extremely muddy had it been raining, but thankfully we had avoided that. It was also quite windy up there. I had lost maybe 10 places, including 3 to female runners - not that that particularly bothered me, but the sight of Deirdre Lynn floating past me effortlessly at some point in a race is starting to become a little bit too familiar.

Once we made it back to the road section for the downhill part things changed again. I started to charge down that hill at pace and made up a fair few places, until a couple of miles later my brain started to kick in, wondering if it really was such a great idea to hammer a downhill section so hard in the first half of a race, especially for someone whose legs weren't in great shape to start with. So I dialled it back a bit , just to err on the side of caution - and since this was first and foremost a training run it was definitely the right decision. Oh, and I did manage to look around me and soak up the scenery - wow! What a stunning setting!

As soon as the road bottomed out we went straight into the next climb, and that one was a real bitch. Very steep, very uneven, very tough. Most people I saw actually walked it, at least in parts, though I was a) too stubborn and b) slightly worried I wouldn't be able to start running again once I got into a walking rhythm, so I ran. I passed a few more runners, not that it really mattered, and got to the halfway point in surprisingly good shape and even better spirit. At some point I started to wonder how much running I had been doing this week and started adding it up. 59 miles so far this week, plus well over 16 last Sunday, plus the 26 today - wow, well over 100 miles in 7 days, and that included a 5k race at full tilt. Actually, I was mostly surprised I was still able to do the maths at that point. I sometimes have troubles counting past 2 in a race.

Then followed a very, very long gradual descend, thankfully on road, winding its way down the mountain. Once again the scenery was spectacular, with the Atlantic and Connemara further in the background and the Burren all around us. The gradual downhill gradient made the miles just fly by, which was good because now the fatigue started to add up and become a factor.

After criss-crossing the countryside for 16 miles I could not have told you if we would have to turn left or right to head back towards Ballyvaughan but thankfully the markings were absolutely immaculate with really big signs that you could not possibly miss. The Ballyvaughan Fanore Walking Club could teach quite a few running clubs how to organise a race!

On the Green Road, the most benign surface of the day, around mile 19.
Photo by Andreas Riemenschneider

The beach section was actually the only flat bit of the entire race (apart form maybe the last quarter of a mile) but it was also the roughest footing, so no chance of a breather or making up some time. Eventually we made it back to the road for a small bit and then onto the next trail section, the third and final big climb. The footing here was actually much better than on the other climbs; someone called it the Green Road, which was apt, with its rather smooth grass to run on. There were still a few rough bits but in general the only problem were the tired legs.

Somewhere close to the 20 mile point we either rounded a bend or went over some hill (I can't remember) and the view opened up. It was absolutely stunning, a truly breathtaking sight, and I'm not even referring to the fact that we were climbing yet another big hill. Wow! Just wow! Worth the entire race alone. However, I did not mingle and carried on, chasing after the guys in front.

I didn't lose any more places on that section but I lost a fair amount of distance to the guys right ahead of me, until it got to the point where I could no longer see them. Never mind, the signposting kept up its top notch standard. The footing got rather rough again, and by now I was sufficiently tired to not lift the legs properly any more, which led to a few incidents of stumbling over a stone, which could have ended ugly but thankfully I managed to avoid a face plant on each occasion.

The views remained spectacular, with the Atlantic well below us on the left and the road almost as far below. Eventually, at the 22 mile point, we turned left and reached a long, steep field where we dropped down all the way to the road. It was one of those sections where a proper hill runner can spin the legs and drop down at world-record pace without any real danger, but a road runner like myself ends up running down slowly and awkwardly and without any hope of making up some of the time lost at the climb.

However, once we reached the road I was back in my element. Actually, at first the legs needed a bit of time to remember what road running was like, and then I felt a bit weak and almost faint and took my one and only gel to avoid low blood sugar, but once that was done I had 4 miles of real fun. I finally was back in my natural habitat and made full use of it. The road gradually dropped towards Ballvaughan and anyone with a working set of quads would be able to make full use of that. To my surprise, I was one of those lucky ones. The legs seemed to have forgotten the miles and the 5k race 2 days earlier and I made up a host of places. With maybe 2 miles left to go I caught up with yet another runner who mentioned something about 3:45. I looked at at my watch, did some quick calculations, and very confidently stated "we'll make that". By now we had caught up to many of the walkers doing the half, and they never failed to encourage us, which was great to see, some real camaraderie out on the course.

Anyway, eventually we got all the way down to sea level but by now we were inside Ballyvaughan and could smell the finish. Indeed, just a couple of bends later there it was, just one more effort and it was done, in 3:42:29 on my watch and a few gifted seconds on the results.

God, I loved that race. The scenery is up there with the very best, absolutely spectacular. It wouldn't have been anywhere near the same experience on a rainy day and we got very lucky this year with the weather. The date, however, tends to coincide with Niamh's birthday, which is why I had to wait until now to finally do it. Maybe I can persuade her to celebrate it via a annual getaway in the Burren in future?

Obviously it's not a race you'll do for time. I guess the fairly brutal climbs and the rough footing adds at least 20 minutes to your time, more if you struggle on trails, a lot more if you're there to enjoy the scenery instead. But give it a go, you can thank me later.

26 May

Clare Burren Marathon Challenge 2018

3:42:21, 8:35 pace, HR 144, 16th place

Speedy Recovery

Oh my God, has it really been basically a week? I think that's the longest break I've ever had between posts. But actually there isn't all that much to catch up.

As good as the legs felt after the Killarney marathon, the cold I acquired had a bit of an impact, even though it was rather mild. It progressed exactly as I had predicted; after it had moved into my chest I had a day or two of coughing and by Friday that stopped. However, I could still feel teh restriction in my chest. It was fine when I jogged along, so actually not that much of an issue, but racing a short race would have been impossible. That actually did cause some concerns because I had agreed to take part in a staff relay on Thursday and I wasn't sure if by then I would have recovered sufficiently for a 5k.

Photo by David Power

In the meantime I cranked up the mileage again. Sunday's long run was a modest 16.6 miles, a.k.a one loop around the lake, but then I did a double on Tuesday and another one on Thursday; the latter one was a 10+ mile run into work in the morning and then a 5k in the evening, but you have to add the cycle from work to Phoenix Park and especially the long cycle from Phoenix Park all the way to Bray with a 5k race in the legs!

The 5k went surprisingly well, even though I never went to 100% effort. I got caught in traffic at the start and then kept overtaking runners by the bucket load until 4k, when the course went on grass. You might not remember but I hate cross country running just as much as cross country running hates me. I cannot keep the pace, and a handful of runners started overtaking me back. But despite that unloved surface and a quite hilly course I finished in 19:14, basically half a minute faster than for the parkrun a few weeks ago, despite the slower course, the initial traffic, and the 10 miles already in my legs from earlier today. Very interesting!

As a team we did pretty damn well as well, 19th out of 833 teams, with an average of basically 20 minutes per runner. However, in my case there will be a big price to pay for all that: on Saturday I have an off-road marathon in the Burren, which I had wanted to do for years. On tired legs, that will be an interesting one!

19 May

11.3 miles, ~1:32:00, 8:08 pace, no HRM

20 May

16.6 miles, ~2:19:00, 8:22 pace, no HRM

21 May

am:2.67 miles, 22:41, 8:29 pace, HR 135

pm:7.47 miles, 1:01:00, 8:09 pace, HR 136

22 May

am:5 miles, 38:25, 7:40 pace, HR 139

pm:10.24 miles, 1:19:39, 7:46 pace, HR 140

23 May

10.23 miles, 1:26:17, 8:26 pace, HR 138

24 May

am:10.2 miles, 1:25:53, 8:25 pace, HR 136

pm: 5+ miles, incl 5k in 19:14, HR 164

100 Times Recovery

Photo by Valerie O’Sullivan

I've gone through post-marathon recovery often enough by now to know what I can expect. Not that it is always the same - a goal race will take a very different toll on the body than a training run of the same distance. But I know the patterns very well.

I was really pleased by how the legs felt. They just took it as yet another training run. Even teh day after the marathon there was no soreness whatsoever, which was good as I had to return the rental car, which happened to be about 7.5 miles away from home, and running home afterwards was far more enjoyable than public transport would have been.

However, upper respiratory tract infections are very common, and once more I got hit. On Monday morning I has a slightly sore throat, which gradually developed into a very sore throat by Monday evening. On Tuesday morning the throat was fine but replaced with a splitting headache. On Wednesday morning the headache was still there, but much reduced. By Thursday it had moved into my chest, and by Saturday, give or take a day, it will be all gone. I know the pattern exceptionally well, I've gone through it so often.

Photo by Valerie O’Sullivan

My HRV readings were deep red the days immediately after the marathon but have already returned to green by now. My morning HR, on the other hand, is still elevated (around 48-50 rather than 40-42), which is rather interesting. The HR for my run was really low earlier this week, which really surprised me initially, until I realised that all my recovery runs had been on rather flat courses, as opposed to the very hilly commute I had been doing prior. I guess I'm starting to see just how much those hills are adding to the HR; maybe I haven't gone backwards in training after Rathdrum after all, the numbers just reflected the types of courses I have run on.

Due to that head cold, which was made a bit more complicated by the fact that it coincided with the first of my two annual hayfever bouts, I took to easier than usual in my post-recovery week, so no big mileage at the moment, far from it. I'm hoping to get back to that next week, and then it's getting close to taper time already. As long as the training cycle has been, now it feels too short already and I wish I could have a few more weeks. Same story as always.

13 May

7.6 miles, 1:04:58, 8:32 pace, HR 134

14 May

4+ miles, 32:51, 8:06 pace, HR 130

15 May

4.5 miles, 36:26, 8:05 pace, HR 134

16 May

4.8 miles, 37:58, 7:54 pace, HR 139

17 May

6.5+ miles, 52:31, 8:00 pace, HR 140

And ... 100!

When I checked the weekend weather forecast on Tuesday, things didn't look great. Saturday was going to be a miserable day in Kerry. I guess that's always a risk but I was dismayed nevertheless - you only get to 100 marathons once, and it looked like the beautiful sunny day in the glorious surroundings of Killarney National Park I had imagined was not going to happen.

Throughout the last few years, as my marathons started to accumulate, I had never spent much time thinking about the numbers. I was not chasing the target of running 100 marathons as such, they just kept adding up as I kept running them, the majority of them first and foremost being training runs, leading up to a longer ultra as goal race. However, once I got to about 97 or so, I started looking forward to reaching triple figures, and the last few days I was actually quite excited about the prospect.

Still, even on Friday the forecast wasn't that great; at least it wouldn't be raining at the start but then the weather system would close in. Ah well.

Imagine my surprise when I awoke on Saturday to a glorious morning with not a cloud in sight. I know the weather can change very quickly here but it really did not look like that was going to happen - it might just turn out to be that day I had imagined after all!

There was one issue: I awoke with a seriously sore right ankle. Actually it wasn't the ankle itself, it was a spot about an inch above the ankle, on the inside of the right leg. I've had similar pain before. It might not even be a running injury; I think I might have gotten it while driving from Dublin the night before. Anyway, it hurts when I run, it hurts when I walk and it equally hurts when I don't do anything, so the thing to do was to try and ignore it as much as I could.

The one thing I had asked for my 100th marathon was the bib with the number 100, and RD Alan was kind enough to provide it. It was with quite some pride that I put it on my top - you don't get to run such a round number of marathons very often. I got plenty of well wishes and congratulations (slightly premature at that stage) and just after 9 o'clock we were off. My 100th marathon had begun.

I had every intention of enjoying every single step today and watched the lead pack race ahead without any regrets - not that I would have been able to challenge them anyway. I very quickly settled into a comfortable rhythm and intended to stay there for the next few hours.

The course consists of 3 laps in the Demesne of Killarney National Park, mostly between the Castlerosse Hotel and Ross Castle. The course looks really confusing on a map but makes perfect sense in the actual surroundings. It is incredibly scenic - at least on a day like today, but from what I remember the weather seemed to cooperate most years, which is great because it's not half as enjoyable in the rain. It is also very hilly; there is a big climb shortly after passing the hotel, with some rough surface to boot, and there is a loop on Ross Island which is constantly going up and down, something I had almost forgotten but got reminded of very quickly on the first loop.

Of course we have to share the course with the other park users, which is perfectly fine as the path is generally wide enough, though there was a tricky bit in the first miles when there was a convoy of at least 5 jaunting cars, and they were a bit tricky to pass (and I declined the offer of one tourist load to join them for their ride).

The first lap passed very quickly. My ankle did hurt quite a bit for the early miles but I ignored it and eventually the endorphins kicked in and the pain went away. Apart form that little niggle I was on loop 2 almost before I knew it. When climbing the hill for the second time I remembered back to 2013 when I had a really good day and just seemed to fly up that climb totally effortlessly. Today I was a bit slower but it still felt easy enough - I wasn't running at my limit, and was able to enjoy it all the more.

The weather was still sunny, which makes such a difference. KNP is a stunning setting, though in a marathon you have to pay for that on all those hills. When the sun is shining, it's well worth it - hell, I'd pay extra just for the views. On a miserable day it would be very different but somehow it all worked out perfectly today. I was still cruising along nicely, the pace and effort remaining constant with the enjoyment level at its peak. Today really was a great day.

The biggest climb of each loop is right at its start, which is good as it meant tackling it for the last time at mile 18, when the legs were still in reasonably good working order. All throughout the day my legs had been working away perfectly happily on the flats and the downhills but with each little hill the hamstrings got a little less willing to put in the work. By the time I had reached the top of that hill, I was glad I didn't have to tackle it again.

Photo by Susanne Foley

I was a bit surprised to start hearing voices behind me. I had passed the second placed lady sometime through the second loop, so I figured this was the new second lady, and she was clearly gaining on me. For a while my competitive instincts kicked in, or maybe it was just the fragile male ego, and I put in a little more effort and kept her off. However, once we reached Ross Island for the third time the climbs started again and I could hear her getting closer. Eventually I realised that to keep holding her off I would have to go full throttle, and even then there was no guarantee that she wouldn't pass me, and I decided to enjoy the last few miles of my 100th marathon instead. Plus, my ankle was hurting again and easing off seemed to lessen the pain. Anyway, it didn't matter to me if I finished in 3:25 or 3:27 today and I consciously decided I'd rather savour the moment. I eased up, let her pass me (and her companion, who had a tough time staying with her) and continued to jog home.

Looking at the mile splits later I realised that I actually only eased up for about one mile. Once we left Ross Island and its constant climbs behind I got right back to 3:25 pace without even noticing, and I was still able to enjoy the last 3 or 4 miles. The weather was still as lovely and the scenery still as gorgeous as at the start and I drew it all in.

And then, much too soon really, I reached the finish, soaked up the applause, and just like that it was all over and I was done.

100 marathons completed (well, 65 marathons and 35 ultras).

Fastest marathon: 2:55:07
Slowest marathon: 4:36:42
Average marathon time: 3:25:02

Photo by Susanne Foley

Photo by Susanne Foley

12 May

Lakes of Killarney marathon

3:25:44, 7:51 pace, HR 146, 9th place

99

In 2004, I ran the Dublin marathon. I'm not 100% why but I wanted a big challenge and I had always been fascinated by long-distance running, though until that time I never imagined being one of the runners myself. That Dublin run was supposed to be a once-off, tick one off the bucket list and move on with your life. At least that's what I kept saying, though I think deep down I knew there might well be more to come. Still, the accepted wisdom at the time was that you never run more than 2 marathons a year, so even if you had a long running career you would only get so many of them.

It wasn't for another few years that I became aware that Ray O'Connor, at the time mainly known as the RD in Connemara, was actively running as many marathons as he could, with the goal of eventually reaching 100. Wow! Then the Marathon Club of Ireland was founded, by Ray, because he (and others) felt there weren't enough marathons around (how times have changed!), and running 100 marathons became a fairly popular quest. Many ran marathons purely to add up the numbers. I can honestly say that I never did that - with one single exception, all my marathons had a purpose, either they were the goal race I had been training for or they were a training run with the specific aim of getting me fitter for a long ultra race.

That was the case for the first 98.

Number 99 was purely there to make up the numbers. The Lakes of Killarney marathon is basically my home race, the one marathon closest to Caragh Lake, where I had spent 13 happy years and where I had run 10000s of miles. It had to be the one, so I ran Rathdrum just to make the numbers add up. Incidentally, it messed up my training for the 24 hours race next month, but never mind.

Right now, as of this moment, I have run exactly 64 marathons and 35 ultras, adding up to 99. On Saturday, I'll get to 100.

Training this week was a bit of a mixed bag. The legs, especially the hamstrings, were rather tired after Saturday's parkrun, and it took a while to come round again. I also ran quite a few miles, which might not have helped with recovery but the 24 is getting very close and this is the time to boost the miles. I'm probably flirting with overtraining but so far I think I'm getting away with it. The resting HR is the lowest I've had for 10 years, though the training HR is a bit off peak. Killarney is obviously another big training run and then it's another 3 weeks of big miles before the taper.

6 May

16 miles, 2:12:36, 8:17 pace, HR 135

7 May

10.1 miles, 1:24:03, 8:19 pace, HR 134

8 May

am: 5.2 miles, 42:43, 8:12 pace, HR 135, incl. several sprints

pm: 10.25, 1:24:23, 8:13 pace, HR 135

9 May

10.25 miles, 1:26:23, 8:25 pace, HR 137

10 May

10.25 miles, 1:25:52, 8:22 pace, HR 137

parkrun

Oh my, it's the weekend already. How did that happen? And it's a bank holiday weekend, and it's nice and sunny outside!

The week has gone in a bit of a blur, there was so much to do after just moving into a new home, I hardly had a minute to sit down. My training was my commute - every day I was either running into work or back home. The route is rather hilly - there's a steep uphill on either end of it, and a couple of smaller hills in the middle as well. It's probably good training. It also messes up my HR training data - of course the figures look worse when you're running hills all the time, so I just have to ignore those numbers for a while until I can get a sense of the new baseline.

The legs have been tired on quite a few occasions; when I run home in the evening and then back to work the next morning I can always tell that the legs don't appreciate only 12 hours of recovery. Also, the mountain runs from the weekend definitely left some mark during the first half of the week. I decided to ditch any ideas of speedwork for a few days.

However, I'm not driving to Kerry this weekend (they're coming up instead), and with the morning so nice and sunny I couldn't resist visiting my nearest parkrun, which now happens to be in Shanganagh park. The preparation wasn't ideal: Cian flew in from Barcelona last night and I had to collect him, the plane was delayed and landed after 1 o'clock and by the time we were home in bed it was past 3 am. Did I tell you that I wake every morning around 5:30 am, no matter when I go to bed? Turns out that's still the case, even after going to sleep at 3, so just about 2 hours of sleep was all I got, and no chance of getting any more, believe me I tried.

Nevertheless, at the parkrun itself I managed to surprise myself by running a minute faster than during the previous attempt, though Shanganagh is as flat as it gets, in marked contrast to the crazy hills of Cabinteely. That didn't stop that 10 year old kid blasting past me halfway though the course, who finished in about 19 minutes. At the age of 10! Very impressive, and if there hadn't been an overseas visitor he would have actually won all out, ahead of every single adult (bound to happen anyway, though). Oh, and his almost-as-young sister was first female. Some impressive genes at work here.

Anyway, I was happy enough that my ageing, creaking, tired legs were still able to run a sub-20 5k without any speedwork whatsoever. My HR once more only averaged 169, though it rose steadily throughout the run and I definitely finished under the impression that I had run as hard as I could - a bit of speedwork would get the body and particularly the mind used to that pace and effort again and I am sure I would cut a significant slice of that time - but that's not going to happen any time soon, I have bigger fish to fry.

30 Apr

10.75 miles, 1:26:58, 8:05 pace, HR 141

1 May

10.2 miles, 1:26:01, 8:25 pace, HR 140

2 May

14.28 miles, 1:59:33, 8:22 pace, HR 137

3 May

10.2 miles, 1:21:04, 7:56 pace, HR 141

4 May

10.25 miles, 1:24:25, 8:14 pace, HR 141

5 May

11+ miles, incl. Shanganagh parkrun in 19:49, 6:22 pace, HR 169, 4th place

Mountains, Moving and Teenage Birthday Twins

So there was something funny happening with my HR during the recovery period after Rathdrum. Initially my HR was elevated, as would be expected straight after a marathon, especially a hilly one like that. Then I started to notice something curious: my resting HR, read straight after getting up first thing in the morning, had returned to its normal levels (about 42, give or take a beat or 2) but my running HR remained elevated. It did improve a bit, but at a much slower rate. I can't remember this happening before. I'm not worried, just curious. It is improving and will eventually return to its pre-race level.

VDOT chart fro April

Also, as can be seen in the VDOT chart, I did recovery very quickly from the Spartan Way 100k at the start of April but it took (takes) significantly longer to recover from the Rathdrum marathon, despite that being lass then half the distance, and despite the initial dip in numbers having been MUCH greater after the 100k (the pre-100k race levels had been about60). I guess that happens when you run a race before being recovered from the previous one, the recovery needs suddenly shoot up exponentially. There's a very important lesson here, one that I learned the hard way 2 years ago. At least I hope I've learned it - that graph clearly shows that I'm still vulnerable to the same thing happening again.

I took it rather easy at the start of the week but have started cranking up the mileage a little bit the last few days. I'm going to introduce a bit of faster running as well again but will monitor the numbers closely. I know from past experience that I can handle high mileage without problems but speedwork is much harder to handle and I need to be extra careful, which is why I always stop it for a few weeks after a race (which also means I don't do much of it).

The weekend was particularly stressful with us moving again, first taking our stuff from Cherrywood and moving it to our new house in Bray, and then driving to Kerry and taking more stuff from there, though the other family members will still be here for another couple of months. Oh, and the twins had their 17th birthday.

Not quite as cute as they used to be 17 years ago, though the cat makes up for that

Just how old does that make me feel?

Anyway, I made best use of the Kerry mountains nearby by running across the Windy Gap not just once but twice, on both days. I did take it easy - but that's a rather relative thing when running up a mountain.

I have always found that mountain running doesn't require much subsequent recovery, assuming you're fit enough to start with so that the downhills don't trash your quads. That makes it well suited for runs when you're still recovering from a previous run but still want to do some work on the legs. Oh, and I do love the mere fact that I am able to run up a mountain. I kinda sounds cool.

24 Apr

9.55 miles, 1:16:18, 7:59 pace, HR 140

25 Apr

am: 6.82 miles, 55:02, 8:04 pace, HR 144, very hilly

pm: 7.1 miles, 54:20, 7:39 pace, HR 140

26 Apr

10.5 miles, 1:19:47, 7:35 pace, HR 142

27 Apr

10.15 miles, 1:23:24, 8:13 pace, HR 144, with a few faster miles in the middle

28 Apr

12.15 miles, 1:57:54, 9:42 pace, HR 136, Windy Gap x 2

29 Apr

12.15 miles, 1:58:54, 9:47 pace, HR 138, Windy Gap x 2

Still Recovery

All week most of my body has felt really good and raring to go but the hamstrings were having none of it. The difference between that one muscle group and the rest really surprised me. On the other hand, the calves were perfectly fine despite them being the one part that was cramping during the marathon.

A recent observation I have made during the recovery period is that recovery seems to plateau after a while if I keep the mileage low; once I decide to risk it and crank it up to 7-8 miles a day, things start to improve again.

I know this is only observational data and all made on a sample size of 1, and therefore far from a scientific study, but it looks like total rest is actually a bad recovery option, and doing a little bit of exercise isn't optimal either. There is a certain amount of volume that works better - however, I am in no doubt that doing a little bit less than optimal is a lot better than doing too much, so caution is definitely still on the cards.

The HR data during that week was interesting as well. My resting HR had returned to normal values (low 40s in my case) within a few days but the HR during my runs was still elevated and is only just now starting to come back to pre-marathon levels. However, about 10 days after the marathon things are just about returning to normal. They're not quite there yet, but getting close.

The weekend was full on once more, with yet another trip to Kerry, and this time in a big van, returning laden with furniture for our new house. However, me and offspring #1 will be doing the move in stages and won't be moving in for another week - and the rest of the family will only follow at the end of June. Despite the heavy lifting, literally for once, I still managed to get my weekend runs done. Saturday was a glorious day and I could not help but be inspired by the Caragh Lake scenery - I will really miss this! On Sunday I headed up to Windy Gap, though the hamstrings were less than thrilled by the workload and I ended up running less than originally planned. However, that run seems to have persuaded them to start working again, because all of a sudden they feel a lot better.

19 Apr

am: 5.5 miles, 45:31, 8:16 pace, HR 140

pm: 5.5 miles, 43:56, 7:56 pace, HR 139

20 Apr

8.6 miles, 1:11:28, 8:18 pace, HR 133

21 Apr

10 miles, 1:18:06, 7:48 pace, HR 141

22 Apr

am: 10.7 miles, 1:36:24, 9:00 pace, HR 142, Windy Gap

pm: 3.1 miles, 24:00, 7:44 pace, HR 137

23 Apr

8.55 miles, 1:11:03, 8:18 pace, HR 132

Celebrating Victory

Two things happened the last few days that cheered me up no end.

I have been a City fan ever since watching my first football game in England, all the way back in 1987, and it just happened to be at Maine Road where the boys in blue emerged victoriously against the might of Plymouth Argyle, coming back from behind in the last 10 minutes and Imre Varadi scoring the winner with the last kick of the game. I can still remember it like yesterday. I still can't believe that I used to watch them play the likes of Gillingham, Colchester and Oxford and now they are one of the best team in Europe (funny what a billion quid can do). Of course, winning the Premier League didn't come as much of a surprise, it has basically been on the cards since November.

I have been a fan of Yuki Kawauchi ever since his incredibly gutsy performance in the 2011 Tokyo marathon, where he had come third after an amazing finish,where he really had left it all behind in the last 10k. He has been a regular feature in running circles ever since, partly because of his highly unusual setup as an elite runner with a full-time desk job, and partly because of his incredible racing schedule. However, never in my life would I have expected him to actually win a major marathon but of course that is exactly what happened on Monday, and again it was an incredibly gutsy performance, first by keeping the pace high in the early miles and then by coming from behind once more to completely smash it. How could you possibly not be a massive fan?

As for myself, I started the same recovery protocol as ever, running 30-40 minutes at a very easy effort for a few days and then gradually increasing the mileage after a few days when I feel ready. The day immediately after the marathon pretty much sucked, as it always does, but the next day was already a lot better. There seems to be a pattern evolving in that I gradually improve but day 4 or 5 after the race is often another tough one, but once I push through that things start to improve rapidly.

I ran home from work on Tuesday evening, and the legs really didn't like it. The fierce headwind didn't help and indeed may have been somewhat responsible for that, but even as I started out I knew this wasn't going to be all fun and games. However, after a few miles the legs suddenly started to loosen up completely, so much so that I did an extra celebratory loop around Kilbogget Park.

My time in Cherrywood is quickly coming to an end. Shea's leaving cert exams are already starting, and once that is done they will finally move up here. Since our two bedroom apartment won't hold them all, we are on the move again, a bit further out once more because until I win the lottery I can't afford a house around here. I won't miss the long journey to and from Kerry almost every weekend, I can assure you. I will, however, miss running along Caragh Lake. It is a stunningly beautiful area and every single step I could take there was a privilege. However, circumstance dictate to move on, and so I did.

16 Apr

4.6 miles, 37:08, 8:04 pace, HR 135

17 Apr

4.5 miles, 38:06, 8:24 pace, HR 138

18 Apr

7.75 miles, 1:01:04, 7:57 pace, HR 143

Avondale

I always knew I was cutting it a bit fine with a marathon only 13 days after a 100k but I really wanted to squeeze in 1 more marathon before the Lakes of Killarney marathon in May and all the other weekends just did not suit. I was lucky enough to actually have a fairly local option this weekend so off to Rathdrum I went, tired legs or not.

Recovery from the 100k had gone pretty well, considering it had been a 100k, though of course not as well as I'd have liked but that's just me being greedy. The hamstrings were still very much feeling the effort at the start of the week but then things improved rapidly and on Saturday morning I felt reasonably good. I resolved to just get on with things as always, and with this loop course straying never more than a mile from the start I had the option of pulling out at any time.

It was a run in aid of Temple Street Children's Hospital and with their 5-mile lap course they offered all the options from 5 miles upwards, with the full marathon completing a short 1.2 mile loop before doing the standard loops. They also offered the option for an early marathon start. Usually that's meant primarily for the slower runners but the email from the organisers contained the line "Ideally it would be great if all marathoners started at 8.00 a.m.", so I showed up early. It suited me just fine; it was only a 45 minute drive from Cherrywood and I still didn't have to get up particularly early.

The weather forecast for Saturday had been pretty dire all week but just as race day approached they changed their minds and the rain would arrive later. Great! This would have been an interesting mud bath otherwise. The loop consisted of 3 separate mini-loops, one upper loop with a road section, a smaller middle loop past the car park and a lower loop through the forest.

(you can skip the next paragraph if you want, but I want to explain the setup):
I had run here before, 3 years ago, and found 2 serious issues with that setup: 1) the loop was short according to my GPS; they claimed the GPS didn't work properly in the forest (ok, I know that this is possible) and 2) the layout of the loop was so confusing that almost everyone took at least one wrong turn at some point, myself included. The main problem was one junction that you approached 3 times per loop (let's call it the 3-junction), the first time you have to go left, the second time, coming the other way, you go straight, and the third time, coming from the same direction as on your first pass, you have to go straight. Yes, let me point that out again: you approach the same junction from the same direction, but depending on where you are in the loop you have to go either left or straight. It meant the marshals can't just point you in the right direction, they had to either remember when they last saw you or watch out and see if you had approached the previous junction from uphill or downhill and direct you accordingly. Last time they didn't even describe the loop; this year they did, but it's so complex that it's virtually impossible to remember it all, though I appreciate the effort. Anyway, this year they tried to solve that problem by placing a line of cones along the path to create 2 separate lanes, which was an ingenious solution, even though it made for a very narrow path on a stretch where runners approach from both directions. However, it made that particular junction so much easier to navigate, they clearly had put some thought into it and come up with a great idea. It didn't solve the problem for good but it sure made it a lot easier to handle. To be honest, I had hoped that they would have designed an entirely new course since my last visit but those hopes had been dashed.

(ok, read on from here. I'll finally get to the actual race)
It wasn't the most competitive field ever assembled, and I found myself near the front right from the start. I took it relatively easy, for two reasons: one, I hadn't forgotten that I had a 100k in the legs and two, I preferred to follow the runner in front through that maze-like course layout rather than lead it myself. In fact, when I did go out in front by a step or two I promptly took a wrong turn coming out of the park gates but was thankfully immediately called back by the runner behind me and no harm was done. I also took it very easy on the first few climbs, allowing myself to fall back a few steps, to make sure I wouldn't wear myself out too early. Eventually I started to remember the course from last time and the legs loosened up and gained pace without me noticing and I found myself out in front, gradually pulling away.

The setting is absolutely stunning with a gorgeous forest park, though you do pay the price for that in form of some serious amount of elevation change on each loop. And it is steeped in Irish history, with us running past Avondale house twice per loop, and some monuments dotted around. Just wow!

Anyway, I wasn't in race mode and just ticking along but at the out-and-back road section I could see that I was steadily increasing my lead. I guess that meant that I was kind of winning the race, though I had seen Barry and Liam getting ready for the 9 o'clock start and I was pretty sure that at least one of them would be setting a faster time than me today. However, if I just looked at the 8 o'clock start as a separate race, I was now the race leader. And don't get me wrong. I wasn't racing this, it was very much a training run, but leading a race is always a nice feeling. It doesn't happen very often and my attitude was that I may as well enjoy it and not care about little details such as not actually winning when taking the 2 starts into account, or the fact that none of the proper fast guys had showed up.

Anyway, the first lap passed by so quickly I could have blinked and missed it. Before I knew it I was already on lap 2. Lap 2 wasn't much different, except that the 9 o'clock starters had joined the fun and now you were constantly passing people coming from all kinds of directions. The legs still felt very fresh, which was good, and once again the miles just flew by almost unnoticed and before I knew it I was on lap 3.

Happy Out. Photo by Vincent Guthrie

By now I could see that there was a discrepancy between the mile signs and what the watch said. Remembering the last time here I wasn't surprised by that fact, though I was surprised by just how much difference there was. But I didn't spend any time worrying about that and just got on with it. As I came back from the middle part of the loop Barry came barrelling down the other way, and as we got close he asked if he was going the right way, which was tricky to answer because it totally depended on what part of the loop he was on. He thought he had been misdirected at the 3-junction, which must have been enough to put doubt/confusion into my mind because I started to think that may indeed have been the case, though he went running down the same direction in the end. However, because of that confusion now in my mind, I did something a few minutes later that kept hounding me for the entire rest of the race: when I saw Liam approaching I told him to turn left at the 3-junction. It was only then that my brain slowly started to switch on again and I eventually realised that I had just sent him the wrong way! I shouted back to run straight instead but I think he didn't hear me and I also think he indeed took a wrong turn there. And it was my fault entirely! (update: Liam later told me he didn't take a wrong turn)

Back at my own race, the hamstrings eventually let me know that they just remembered the 100k from less than 2 weeks ago (I might have mentioned that already) and asked me to please take it easy, so I eased off the effort on the climbs, and there were many of those, but was still able to go at a good clip on then even or downhill stretches. That got me through lap 3 still in good shape, helped by my one bottle of sports drink that I had prepared beforehand. That was my only caloric intake today, the rest was just water handed out by Vincent. I had a gel in my pocket but I ended up bringing that back home.

At some stage my glasses started to dig into the skin of my nose and it started to bleed quite a bit. I had meant to put a tape on the spot but completely forgot. It didn't hurt but made for a few funny looks, as much as I tried to rub off all the blood running down my face.

Still happy, late in the game. Photo by Vincent Guthrie

Halfway though lap 4 the calves started to act up, and once they did the situation deteriorated rapidly. I have suffered from calf cramps on many marathons, ruining far too many otherwise good races along the way, but lately they had behaved themselves. But today they too remembered the 100k, which gives you an insight into what causes cramping, at least in my case, and it has nothing to do with dehydration or magnesium. The plus side of battling that problem for many years is that I have tons of experience in handling it and got quite good at nursing the legs along with just the odd spasm but avoiding a full-on iron clasp. One thing is to take a salt tablet, which may or may not help, depending on who you ask, but it definitely doesn't do any harm. I also had some concoction called HotShot, which is a very spicy drink working on a neuro-muscular basis and surprisingly effective. However, the single most important way of managing cramping calves is 1) to run as relaxed as possible and 2) to slow down. That's not something I particularly wanted to do, especially since my energy levels were still full on and could have sustained a much faster effort, but I definitely wanted to avoid a cramp and for the next 5 miles I was crawling up all inclines at a snail's pace. However, on the out-and-back section early on lap 5, with less than 4 miles left in the race, I could see that despite my issues I had once again increased my lead and as long as I kept running until the end I was going to finish first, and yes, that was still ignoring Barry and at least one other quick runner from the later start.

That went on for a while and I just about managed to keep going. Then, with maybe 2 miles left, all of a sudden I realised that my calves felt perfectly fine again. That was remarkable! I suspect that it was the HotShot finally kicking in, or it may have been the purely psychological effect of knowing that the end was near, but the legs were rock solid once again, just like that. I didn't trust the situation entirely and didn't quite get back to previous effort levels but appreciated the fact that I could run that last mile of climbing without painful spasms shooting through my lower legs. And so I finished feeling pretty happy, with a time of 3:13:53 on the clock, and (silently) celebrated victory. However, I could not ignore the fact that the watch displayed a mere 24.9 miles.

Anyway, the first call was the little kitchen and one cup of tea and several pieces of cake later I felt perfectly human again. There were a few ladies in there who I had seen numerous times out on the course, and they gave me some really nice compliments. I'm not sure I buy the fact that I'm a very elegant runner but the compliment was very much appreciated anyway, so thank you. And then a few more runners finished the marathon as well and we chatted along for a while, until I eventually decided to call it a day and head back home.

As a day of running I had a lot of fun, not because I had (kind of) come first but because it is such a stunning setting, you can't help but love it. The volunteers were brilliant and their help much appreciated, we wouldn't get to run without them. The weather mostly held up as well, and as a fun day out it gets a total 10/10.

However, and I guess they won't appreciate me saying so but I'll say it anyway. The course is short. I accept the fact that I can't prove it. GPS signals are not accurate enough for a proper measurement and the signal can indeed get thrown off by tree coverage. But I have never seen such a difference between the GPS and the markers, not even close, which is not a good sign. But if that were the only indicator I would accept that the course may still be correctly measured. However, and that's a much better indicator, I know the effort level required to run a 3:13 marathon, and on such a brutally hilly course with almost 2000 feet of combined climbing it would probably be closer to a sub-3:10 road marathon effort. And I did not put in that kind of effort. It was maybe a 3:20 effort, and I don't think I have suddenly become so fit that my internal gauge would be off by so much. My opinion is that the course is over a mile short, and you can probably add about 10 minutes to my time to get a better reflection of what my actual marathon time would have been like. Like I said, I can't prove that, but that's what I firmly believe.

I did get a few more miles in later that day, after dropping off my rental car and running home. So at least I made up the missing distance, somewhat.

13 Apr

5.55 miles, 44:45, 8:03 pace, HR 139

14 Apr

am: Rathdrum marathon, 3:13:53, HR 152

pm: 3 miles, 25:04, 8:21 pace, HR 139

15 Apr

4.4 miles, 39:27, 8:57 pace, HR 132

RISC And Recovery

Let's talk recovery first. After all, after running a 100k, it's rather important.

Despite me and my legs feeling surprisingly good after the 100k, recovery wasn't entirely straightforward. Or maybe I was setting unreasonable expectations; after all, that was a race longer than the distance most people will ever run, and it's expected to take its toll. Running short, slow recover runs, as per my usual recovery protocol, initially showed some great progress; after 3 days I was able to run properly again. However, after that is seemed to stall somewhat. I kept the daily 4-5 miles going for the rest of the week, and on the weekend finally increased it again, despite the hamstrings still complaining at every run, certainly for the first few miles.

However, and counter-intuitively, running longer seemed to do the trick and within 2 days I felt almost back to normal. The hamstrings are certainly much happier now and my pace has more or less come back to the point where 8-minute miles feel easy and comfortable. That's good, because the next marathon is just around the corner. Obviously it's going to be another training run and I have every intention of taking it easy, but it's still good to go into it without feeling destroyed even before the start.

And that brings me to the RISC part. I agreed to take part into a study at DCU, looking into running injuries. Thursday morning was my appointment. They took A LOT of measurements, from the length of my legs and movement angles of my knees to jump strength, box jump measurements and others, and then it was on the treadmill for 20 minutes, very easy at first but eventually cranking it up all the way to 16 kph (6-minute miles), which maxed out the treadmill. Actually, that felt easier than expected, I'm pretty sure I would have had a much harder time on a road or track at that pace, though it sure started to feel rather hard after a few minutes. However, it was over before it got too hard.

that's what it looked like, though that's not actually me

They had attached plenty of sensors to me, which enabled them to track my movement patterns for further analysis. Looking at it afterwards I could see that my left leg seems to be almost straight when landing while the right legs looks better. However, I tend to get niggles in the right leg, which is a bit surprising, judging by what I saw on the screen. Anyway, let's hope I won't need to follow up with them in the next 12 months; if I do it means I got injured again and they need to assess it.

Oh, and my Suunto watch all of a sudden from today on seems to refuse to connect to my computer. It still charges and I can still get the numbers off the watch but right now I can't upload the GPS data into the likes of strava, which is more than a bit annoying. I have no idea if it's the watch, the cable or the computer that decided to throw a wobbly, and it's hard to trouble-shoot if there is no feedback whatsoever. If anyone has an idea what's going on, I'd appreciate your input. (update: it seems to be my laptop's USB port, and I managed to connect the watch on Friday morning)

8 Apr

8.4 miles, 1:06:04, 7:51 pace, HR 145

9 Apr

8.4 miles, 1:10:48, 8:25 pace, HR 131

10 Apr

8.8 miles, 1:14:21, 8:26 pace, HR 129

11 Apr

9.55 miles, 1:16:39, 8:01 pace, HR 139

12 Apr

am: 2.5 miles, 20:00, treadmill at DCU RISC study

pm: 5.55 miles, 41:20, 7:26 pace, HR 140

Recovery

Well, no shit Sherlock, after a big race comes a big recovery. If you have been reading this blog before you know my standard recovery protocol by now. It works very well, so why change it. It's based on the theory that active recovery is better than full rest. Actually, it's not really based on any theory, I just stumbled my way through trial and error a few years ago as I experimented a bit and this particular practise emerged as a clear winner. It wasn't until later that I found out about coaches or scientists who talked about active recovery and it perfectly matched what I was doing already.

Anyway, it means no matter how tired and achy your legs are the day after a race, you go out and run, at a very very easy effort for 30, 40, maybe 45 minutes. The day after a long race this is well and truly going to suck, certainly at the beginning, but after 2, 3, maybe 4 miles you can feel your legs loosening up and getting better. The next day will suck a bit less and after a while you start to to feel reasonably good again and can pick up training once more.

"What are you going to do on Monday?" asked Niamh before the 100k. "Probably lie on the bed and feel sorry for myself". Actually, it turned out I felt reasonably good. The run that morning sucked but afterwards I was fine, able to do a big weekly shop and do the dishes and wash some clothes and go out for a walk and a few other things that I expected I'd forgo for a day of pain and misery. I didn't even realise it at first but I habitually walked down the 3 flights of stairs from the apartment instead of taking the lift and my quads didn't even hurt a bit - that came as a major surprise, once I realised what I was doing.

I might have gotten slower with old age but it looks like I have become more resilient in the process. That's not a bad thing.

Having said that, while the legs were not as damaged as expected, recovery was still slow. Every day was a little bit better than the one before but all week the hamstrings kept feeling heavy and stiff, so I kept my little recovery runs going for longer than usual. It's only now, a week later, that I'm finally starting to feel like a runner again and ready to do a bit more.

3 Apr

4.15 miles, 42:46, 10:18 pace, HR 117 (!!)

4 Apr

4.5 miles, 39:37, 8:48 pace, HR 123

5 Apr

am: 4.6 miles, 37:58, 8:15 pace, HR 135

pm: 2.15 miles, 16:24, 7:37 pace, HR 128 (downhill)

6 Apr

4.5 miles, 38:05, 8:27 pace, HR 127

7 Apr

4.5 miles, 36:22, 8:04 pace, HR 131