Seven Squared

Not a great week, running-wise, I'm afraid. Whatever the problem was I had with my adductor, apparently, moved around slightly and now shows up as a very stiff hip on the right side. It's not hurting, not at all, but I can't stride out properly and whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be in a hurry to go away.

Every run starts with me hobbling one-sided down the road, which I'm sure isn't a great sight. It takes absolutely ages for the hip to loosen up, 5 miles usually, and then I can finally run properly. Like I said, there is no pain, but something is clearly not right. The biggest worry from my point of view is that it doesn't seem to be getting better - it feels exactly the same as it did at the beginning of the week.

So, true to my usual MO, I did my best to ignore the damn hip and kept on running. Since almost all of my running these days is either running from or to work, it doesn't leave much option as far as distance or route choice is concerned. They are all a bit hilly, and they are all 10 miles long. Maybe a short run would be better but then I'd have to get up almost an hour earlier to run before my commute, and that really doesn't appeal to me, so for the time being I'll hobble along, hoping for the thing to work itself out eventually.

Also, because I can't seem to generate a lot of power with my jammy hip I've slowed right down again. This, looked at in isolation, is not a bad thing, actually. I do have a tendency of running my easy runs just a tad faster than I probably should, so an enforced slowdown might actually be good for me.

Oh, and I'm yet another year older. Still not enough for a new age group, though.

21 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:24:38, 8:15 pace, HR 138

22 Jan

10.2 miles, 1:30:56, 8:54 pace, HR 139

2.12 miles, 17:37, 8:18 pace, HR 128

23 Jan

10.2 miles, 1:29:16, 8:45 pace, HR 139

24 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:26:56, 8:28 pace, HR 138

25 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:33:47, 9:08 pace, HR 138

26 Jan

7.22 miles, 59:34, 8:14 pace, HR 141

27 Jan

11 miles, 1:37:00, 8:49 pace, HR 137

It's Hip To Be Square

The week started off pretty well. The tired legs from Sunday seemed to have completely recovered overnight and I felt really good on Monday - though the extra long rest may have had something to do with it as I only ran in the evening, home from work. That left me with the usual dead legs on Tuesday morning, because a morning run straight after an evening run the day before is always tough.

However, worse was to come. On Wednesday I felt a pain in my left side. I wasn't quite sure where exactly it came from, somewhere around the groin area. It left me hobbling a bit first thing in the morning and also for the first mile or two into my run, though once I was warmed up and the muscles had loosened up I felt a lot better and continued my commute run into work (the only other option, namely taking the bus for the rest of the journey into work in my sweaty workout gear really did not appeal, and the other bus passengers would have liked it even less, I'm sure).

That issue pretty much defined the rest of the week. I know the general wisdom is to take a rest when you've got a pain but after almost 15 years of experience I very firmly believe that general wisdom is wrong and you're actually better off to keep running, as long as the pain doesn't get any worse, obviously. That worked for all my niggles over the years, with one exception in 2015 when I eventually required rest and a physio.

For the rest of the week all my runs followed the same pattern, a very slow first mile or two and then a "normal" run for the rest of it. Having said that, apart from the pain in my hip I am actually feeling good, as silly as that may sound. It even got so far that on Friday morning the legs felt perfectly fine, even though I had run the night before, which is pretty much a first. having said that, the HR/pace numbers don't entirely support that subjective feeling, the HR was rather high for such a slow run.

I tried to find less-hilly-than-usual routes over the weekend in an attempt to protect my problem area (which I know think is the adductor muscle), which in the end meant running a few loops, never my favourite kind of run. I don't mind loops at all during a race because then I have enough other things on my mind, but in training I find it absolutely mind-numbing).

Since I didn't want to overdo it, hobbling as I was, I decided to keep Sunday's long run reasonably short and first headed towards the promenade for a few flat miles and then towards Shanganagh Park for a few more. After 10-or-so miles I had a little dip in my energy levels but then I suddenly started to feel really good, a kind of runners' high that I don't usually get, and did an extra loop when originally I was supposed to head for home, and then another one, and then a third one, before reluctantly deciding that I had probably chanced my luck enough already and headed for home. It still wasn't a particularly long run, mind, just longer than I had anticipated.

The niggle is definitely getting better, even if I can't really tell the difference when running. How I know? Well, usually when I get dressed I balance on one leg to put on my socks, and on and Thursday and Friday I instinctively felt too unstable to even try that and had to sit down. By Saturday I could do that again without an issue, that's how I know. By the way, if you have to sit down to get dressed you might want to work on your balance and/or core strength (take that as a free bonus tip from me).

14 Jan

10.26 miles, 1:22:25, 8:01 pace, HR 142

15 Jan

10.2 miles, 1:28:00, 8:37 pace, HR 142

16 Jan

10.21 miles, 1:25:14, 8:20 pace, HR 144

17 Jan

10.26 miles, 1:21:57, 7:59 pace, HR 142

18 Jan

10.21 miles, 1:28:24, 8:39 pace, HR 142

19 Jan

10.4 miles, 1:25:34, 8:13 pace, HR 139

20 Jan

17.36 miles, 2:22:45, 8:13 pace, HR 142

Mixed Signals

The training has been ramping up recently and I’m seeing finally seeing some results, though it’s not all rosy skies.

It’s not that I had been too lazy to train properly in recent months, it was always a question of my recovery abilities being significantly compromised ever since the 24 hours race in June, and it basically took half a year to get over most of that hump.

So, the training had been fairly low-key, at least by my usual standards, and as a result the numbers I kept churning out were rather unimpressive and I wasn’t very happy about it.

In retrospect it’s fairly clear that I didn’t help myself by agreeing to run a number of 5k races with work colleagues when running at race effort was the last thing I should have done, and it definitely had a bad impact on me. I THINK that I’ve learned that lesson but that doesn’t mean I’m over doing stupid things – more of that later.

Anyway, last week I finally saw some numbers that looked much better and it looks like I’m finally making the kind of progress I have been waiting for for months. The heart rate is lower for the same effort. The pace is faster for the same effort. In fact, I finally posted an easy run at sub-8 minutes pace, which was kind of a watershed moment because that hasn’t happened for a very long time.

However, not everything is great. I started an evaluation workout on Friday, at lunchtime. I didn’t have much time so warm up was only just over a mile, and then I got into the effort. The evaluation has always been a rather moderate workout; you certainly feel the effort but it’s never too hard and I never had any problems finishing it. This time, however, after 2.5 miles, I pulled the plug. I felt like toast and running further would have meant my form was completely falling apart and the pace/effort ratio was tanking, so pulling the plug was definitely the right call.

That’s a bit worrying, because I really should not have a problem finishing an evaluation. It clearly shows that my recovery is still not back to normal and I have to be really, really careful. That lesson was reinforced on Sunday. I really thought I was being sensible and cut the long run back from last week’s 20 miles to maybe 16 or 18, but it was over a hilly section over to Greystones and back via the Cliff Walk trail, but by the time I started on the Cliff Walk I was already pretty much toast and just tried to survive the homewards journey. I opted for the short way home but the last few miles particularly were really tough, uphill and against a fairly strong headwind and I was struggling to keep going.

I was utterly baffled when I uploaded said run into Strava and saw an entire string of new segment PRs. I’ve only run that course about 4 or 5 times, and never when even remotely on form, so my segment times are very soft but still, I was really tired and trying to take it easy and just survive, so apart from Strava messing up the data I’m not sure how to explain that.

As for the stupid stuff mentioned earlier? Months ago I signed up for the annual pilgrimage to Donadea for the 50k in February . I'm still planning to run that, though I have promised myself to take it really easy, and run at least 20 15 minutes slower than my previous slowest time, in order to keep the recovery requirements to a minimum. It will require a serious amount of willpower to keep the ego in check and I have a tendency of losing it whenever I pin a number onto my chest, but for once I really need to be sensible (as sensible as you can be while running a 50k, that is).

7 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:22:37, 8:03 pace, HR 139

8 Jan

10.18 miles, 1:27:25, 8:35 pace, HR 139

9 Jan

10.26 miles, 1:25:50, 8:21 pace, HR 139

10 Jan

10.26 miles, 1:25:14, 8:18 pace, HR 141

11 Jan

4.96 miles, 36:53, 7:26 pace, HR 151

   2.5 miles @ 6:49, HR 161

12 Jan

7.24 miles, 57:43, 7:58 pace, HR 143

13 Jan

14.54 miles, 2:03:26, 8:29 pace, HR 148

Happy New Year

Can you believe it, the first week of 2019 is already behind us. At that  rate it will be 2020 if you blink - then again, that's probably more a reflection of my own increasingly advanced age, time didn't pass as quickly when I was younger.

Anyway, I had a decent enough week. Tuesday was the first day for many months when the pace was close to 8-minute miles on an easy run, which was nice to see, even if it still wasn't quite there yet - it probably would have been on a flatter course.

Then the watch crapped out on me on Wednesday when it refused to turn the GPS on, claiming "only" 23% of battery power, which would easily have been enough for the run, but it just would not cooperate. Maybe it's time for a new one - the charging cable is rather worn by now, after over 4 years of constant use, and I'd definitely prefer one that connects wirelessly. I'll think about it some more, unless I see a really good deal in the sales. One of my show-stopper requirements is a battery time of close to 24 hours, which immediately rules out the vast majority of watches, though.

Anyway, I also had one bad run, which wasn't a complete surprise as I tend to feel tired if I run in the morning following an evening run. 12 hours is just not enough for the legs to recover fully at the present rate, and that's what happens when I run home from work one evening and back into work the next morning.

My long run on Sunday went pretty well for most of it, until the long final climb home started, which is the last 2 miles. Until then the legs had worked very well over the hilly course via Kilternan, but then I seemed to hit a limit and the last 2 miles were a bit of a slog. Never mind, all in all still a very good week, and I can finally see some progress being made.

31 Dec

6.72 miles, 56:12, 8:21 pace, HR 143

1 Jan

10 miles, 1:20:59, 8:04 pace, HR 145

2 Jan

10.2 miles, 1:24:00, 8:14 pace, no watch

3 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:24:33, 8:14 pace, HR 141

4 Jan

10.25 miles, 1:29:54, 8:46 pace, HR 143

5 Jan

6.72 miles, 55:22, 8:14 pace, HR 142

6 Jan

20 miles, 2:47:59, 8:23 pace, HR 141

A GOAL

Well, that was slow!

I had never run a race shorter than 5K, and while I'm perfectly aware that most people treat the GOAL miles as a walk or maybe an easy jog with the family, I reckoned there would be a few faster guys there as well, keen to get a good workout.

Obviously, opening the kids' presents took precedence. Wait a second, what did they do to get so much? Did the naughty list get lost or something? Anyway, once they had gone through their stacks I jogged the 3 miles to Shanganagh Park, where Dom had organised the event. It might have been better for a fast mile to drive there, but a flat tyre put a stop to that idea, and I probably would have jogged anyway.

They had 3 start times, 9:30/40/50, and while I got there a couple of minutes before the first start I decided to give that a miss and get a bit of a rest before my mile, so the 9:40 one it was. One guy took off at the start and kept inching away, one girl went off fast as well but couldn't keep the pace, so I was in second place for a while until 2 guys passed me about two thirds in, when my oxygen depth started to tell, one of them moving so smoothly that it looked like he was out for an easy morning jog. By that time we just started to catch up with the back end of the first start, and I belatedly realised that I had chosen the worst option because the rest of the mile was spent weaving through the crowds, which made a strong finish impossible, even if I'd had the legs and lungs to do so.

Still, I was in shock when I saw my time, barely under 6 minutes. I had expected maybe 5:30 or so but was worlds away from that, and the crowds had nothing to do with it. I could have sworn I had run as fast as I could, and my cadence of 208 seems to indicate that I definitely wasn't jogging, as does the way I was totally out of breath afterwards, so it comes back to tired old legs, I suppose.

The next day I intended to go out for an easy recovery run but my right glutes felt painfully tight and absolutely not right at all, so when it still had not loosened up after a mile I binned the run and went back home. For once it was the right call, because the next day it was virtually gone.

I don't want to spend much time recapping 2018 as a running year. It was the year when I finally had to admit that my international running career is over, something I might have done in 2017 already but hey. I'm okay with that, as I have stated in an earlier post, I have a lot to look back on with pride and satisfaction, and absolutely no regrets.

I'm not sure what's in store for 2019. My training isn't going great; I managed to rebuild my endurance to the extend that I can jog 20 miles without issue but my easy pace has suddenly slowed by 30-ish seconds a mile and the VDOT numbers in training are barely improving, so something isn't quite right. However, I still enjoy a 10 mile jog as much as I ever did, and that's the most important thing. I never set out to be great runner, 14 years ago I would have been happy just to be able to finish a marathon, and I still got that.

I hope you had a good Christmas, and Happy New Year!

25 Dec

6.63 miles, 56:46, 8:33 pace, HR 140

1 mile, 5:58, HR 166, GOAL mile

26 Dec

1.75 miles, 16:02, 9:10 pace, HR 133

27 Dec

10 miles, 1:23:36, 8:21 pace, HR 144

28 Dec

12 miles, 1:44:58, 8:43 pace, HR 143

29 Dec

10 miles, 1:22:23, 8:12 pace, HR 143

30 Dec

15 miles, 2:02:13, 8:12 pace, HR 145

Happy Solstice

Things are finally starting to show proper signs of improvement but there's still a long way to go. Some days are better than others, but that's already a massive improvement from most days being sh*tty. I am able to run a decent amount of mileage again without feeling banged up, but anything faster than easy pace and I need at least 2 days of recovery, sometimes more.

Most of my runs are easy commutes ones. I managed to run either in or out of work once each day, and then either cycle or take the bus when going the other way. I noticed that I run a lot faster in the evenings, though that comes with a higher HR, so it's not as if I suddenly turn into a more efficient runner in the evenings.

On Saturday I headed towards Shanganagh Park to run about 4 miles at evaluation effort (that's about 160 HR). I was well on my way towards it when I suddenly, and very belatedly, remembered that there would be a parkrun and I would be right in it. I couldn't think of a decent alternative venue (I reckoned the promenade would already be busy) so I kept going but once in the park stayed on the field closest to the road, and where I shared the road with the parkrun I ran right at the outside and stepped into the grass when there was a group approaching. I wouldn't have done that if it were a "proper" race, but a parkrun has to share the path with walkers, prams, dogs and all other folk anyway, so I reckoned one more park user won't make much of a difference.

While I was there a girl doing the parkrun collapsed and was tended to by a few people. One person seemed to take charge and really seemed to know what to do, and after a while they had her sitting up, so I think she will be ok. It took 15-20 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, which is very long considering the hospital is maybe 2 miles down the road, but that also meant most of the parkrun was finished by the time they arrived, which had its advantages.

It was a sobering experience, especially so close to Christmas, and my own running doesn't feel particularly important in comparison. Nevertheless, I was reasonably pleased that I could hold HR 160 without too much issue and the pace seemed to hold very steady (7:00, 7:01, 7:05, 6:58) but with stopping a couple of times due to the mentioned incident that's maybe not all that valid.

Fairycastle. Photo by Anto Lee

You should always mix things up a bit, especially when not training for a particular race and therefore without a specific training plan, so when Anto told me a group of them were headed into the local hills on Sunday I joined them, despite the rather awful weather. Not knowing where exactly we were headed I was distinctly underdressed, which worked ok at first but became a bit chilly on top of 2 Rock mountain, with the wind and rain and general wet conditions, so I was thankful for Anto to lend me a second layer, after which I was perfectly snug. He couldn't do much about my other problem, namely being half blind without my glasses (and they would have been utterly useless in the wind and rain) so all I could do was to take it slowly and carefully, especially on the downhill, and try not to trip over any of the thousands of stones. Still, it came as a surprise that it was Ollie who came home with bloodied knees and not me. All in all a lovely outing with a great group.

17 Dec

9.31 miles, 1:16:32, 8:13 pace, HR 147

18 Dec

10.23 miles, 1:28:46, 8:40 pace, HR 145

19 Dec

10.29 miles, 1:22:55, 8:03 pace, HR 147

20 Dec

10.22 miles, 1:31:02, 8:54 pace, HR 143

21 Dec

10.23 miles, 1:28:06, 8:36 pace, HR 142

22 Dec

10.18 miles, 1:21:31, 8:00 pace, HR 145

   incl 4 miles at evaluation effort (~160 HR, ~7-minute pace)

23 Dec

~6 miles, 1:22:00, 13:39 pace, HR 123

24 Dec

6.7 miles, 55:46, 8:19 pace, HR 140

Weekend Weather

It was fairly miserable outside on Saturday. I had known that in advance but it just looked worse than anticipated. I sat there on the sofa, wasting time on the computer, trying to gather enough resolve to head out, but eventually I realised that I have grown old and soft and the treadmill right there beside me was beckoning instead.

Running on a treadmill is similar to banging yourself over the head with a hammer, except a lot less fun, I imagine. After about 2 minutes I was already staring at the clock, willing it to go forward. I managed to survive with the help of a podcast, but once that was over so was my run.

When I stepped off the treadmill I felt somewhat disorientated and almost dizzy, which was weird. I wouldn't think that running on a treadmill would affect your balance like that but thankfully I managed to get into the shower without keeling over. Because it had been such a short run I had vague ideas of doing a second one later in the day but then I felt really tired, not helped by the Christmas shopping, so I left it at that.

Sunday was much better. The storm had abated and it looked positively inviting. I suppose the easy Saturday helped to have the legs in a fresher state than usual, and I headed out for a long run. I had done a 19 miler before Dublin from Bray via Kilternan and gotten the idea of adding a loop around Leopardstown racecourse, which is exactly what I did today. Spookily it worked out as exactly 20 miles on the dot right at our gate, so I guess I now have a proper long run loop. It's rather hilly, which is exactly what a long run route should be, and of course there are still plenty of options to tweak it a bit if I ever feel the need to add some extra distance.

When the hamstrings started to feel tired after about 12 miles I expected a bit of a slog on the way home but in actual fact they held up really well and I was still in pretty good shape when I got back home, pleasantly tired as they would say. That's good, it looks like my endurance is starting to come back, even if the pace is still maybe 30 seconds per mile slower than what my mind still thinks it should be at.

12 Dec

10.23 miles, 1:27:16, 8:31 pace, HR 146

13 Dec

10.23 miles, 1:26:22, 8:26 pace, HR 144

14 Dec

7.22 miles, 1:02:00, 8:35 pace, HR 135

15 Dec

5.5 miles, 50:00, 9:05 pace, HR 131

   treadmill

16 Dec

20 miles, 2:51:40, 8:34 pace, HR 141

Doubly Forgetful

I had completely forgotten about it, but when I had met Norbert last Saturday at the parkrun we had agreed to meet up on Thursday for a lunch run. Since it had completely slipped my mind, the reminder email on Thursday morning came as a bit of a surprise - I had already done a run that morning and didn't feel too fresh.

Still, not someone to go back on his word despite some heavy legs, I agreed to go out on the hilly loop he suggested. In actual fact, the legs felt surprisingly fine, which was nice, and the easy pace seemed to suit us both.

That had been the first double in a long time, and of course completely accidental. With that, and a reasonably long run on Sunday, my weekly mileage for the week went up to 75. I'm not chasing a mile goal, but I have increased my mileage a bit recently, and it really seems to suit me. The legs are feeling better, the pace is quickening a bit, and the VDOT numbers are finally pointing upwards after months in the doldrums. There is still a lot of room for improvement but it is great to see things finally going in the right directions. I don't know what exactly happened in Irding that made me a) have a really lousy race and b) knock me out for 6 months, but I'm confident that it is finally behind me.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm training for. There is the Donadea 50k in February but that won't be a goal race. I was thinking about doing Connemara again, after a few years of absence, but it just doesn't feel the same any more since my friend Ray is no longer associated with the race. I could try and target a late spring marathon, which has a certain draw because I do wonder what time I could still achieve in a marathon with some focused training. And of course there are a couple of longer ultra options as well. Decisions, decisions.

Oh, and on Monday morning I yet again forgot to press the "start" button the watch. Dementia must really be settling in now. 7 miles, lost in time and space, because obviously if it's not on Strava it didn't happen, or so I'm told.

5 Dec

10.22 miles, 1:29:36, 8:46 pace, HR 142

6 Dec

am: 6.33 miles, 56:55, 8:59 pace, HR 134

pm: 6.56 miles, 55:34, 8:19 pace

7 Dec

10.25 miles, 1:28:22, 8:37 pace, HR 140

8 Dec

7.27 miles, 59:56, 8:14 pace, HR 144

9 Dec

17.53 miles, 2:29:49, 8:32 pace, HR 145

10 Dec

7.22 miles, ~1:02:00

11 Dec

10.2 miles, 1:22:37, 8:05 pace, HR 149

Parkrun Blues

I ran down to Shanganagh park again on Saturday to get the legs moving once more. I left a bit late and ran the 3.5 miles towards the park a bit quicker than what would have been ideal to classify as a warm-up, but if the parkrun had started on time I still would have missed it.As it was I had 3 minutes of a breather before we set off, which was enough time to say hello to Norbert and his better half, and then line up a bit nearer to the front.

I think I got the first k pretty much spot on because after the first lap the timer guy said "four" just as I passed him. However, things were not to last. Maybe it was because I had worn myself out on teh way to the parkrun. maybe the leftover noodles for breakfast were not the ideal pre-race breakfast. Maybe I was a bit tired after the 10 miles the day before, but none of those things explain why I completely, totally and utterly fell apart after the first mile. All the guys I had passed a minute ago went streaming past me over the next few miles and apparently I was barely doing 7-minuet miles. I sued to run marathons a good bit faster than that, not very long ago! It must have been in my head because I did manage to do 5:30 pace at the end when I saw the finish line, but whatever it was, I wasn't happy with the result (20:51).

You know what? I haven't recovered from DCM, that's what. So, after a bit of soul searching, I decided to bin the parkrun idea and get back to base training, which is what I should have done 5 weeks ago. I still think my initial assertion that I needed to get some speed into the legs because I had been running exclusively slowly for much too long still holds true, but the timing was completely wrong.

Let's re-build the legs and then see if I can some zip into them, preferably without tiring myself out for a change.

Ah well. At some stage I'll get the hang of this running stuff, hopefully before I retire.

27 Nov

4.57 miles, 38:22, 8:23 pace, HR 137

28 Nov

10.21 miles, 1:27:03, 8:31 pace, HR 147

29 Nov

6.33 miles, 55:13, 8:43 pace, HR 141

30 Nov

10.18 miles, 1:25:38, 8:24 pace, HR 146

1 Dec

7.22 miles, 1:01:41, 8:32 pace, HR 142

5k, 20:51, 6:42 pace, HR 162, Shanganagh parkrun

2 Dec

12.48 miles, 1:49:03, 8:44 pace, HR 141

   very hilly

3 Dec

7.23 miles, 1:02:36, 8:39 pace, HR 135

4 Dec

10.25 miles, 1:28:13, 8:36 pace, HR 140

River Deep Mountain High

Once more, it was time for something different. last Saturday I had met Gary at the parkrun, and afterwards he asked me if I wanted to join him on a trail run the following weekend where he could show me round the local trail options.

Of course I said yes immediately.

The only slight problem is, Gary is a 2:30 marathon runner. In fact, if you search for the Top Irish marathon performances for 2017 at the AAI website, you will see his name there as the 19th fastest Irish marathon runner that year. Which means that he would have to slow down for me to keep up - and even so, his easy pace is probably closer to my tempo pace, and at times I'm sure he wasn't even aware that I had to work to keep up with him when he was just jogging along.

Anyway, we met a 9:30 in Shankill and immediately went uphill, and uphill, and uphill, and the up a bit further. On the plus side, teh views were amazing. On the downside I was fairly quickly wondering how long I'd be able to keep going. My climbing legs have completely gone awol this year, undoubted related to a distinct lack of climbing after I moved away from the Windy Gap, which did not help.

However, eventually I managed to settle into the effort and we made decent progress, though I'm not sure how Gary would have seen it. Going through a wood past Enniskerry the footing became very tricky and we had to climb under-over fallen logs, cross a couple of streams and not mind too much the drop to our right on a tiny trail. All that was fine. The horror came on the road in form of teh climb up to Glencullen. I know a few cars that wouldn't make it up that hill, and for a while I wasn't sure if I would either.

Well, I did make it up there, but form then on my legs were gone, and on each following climb Gary ran away on his own and had to circle back at the top waiting for me to catch up. Also, his repeated announcements of "yet another lovely climb" started to sound a bit less lovely with each repeat. And as for the "all downhill from here ..."

Anyway, I survived the run, but was grateful for the lift home because I didn't particularly care for the additional 4 miles run home. I guess we'll do it again. I've always been a sucker for punishment.

20 Nov

4.67 miles, 37:52, 8:06 pace, HR 145

21 Nov

10.21 miles, 1:28:32, 8:40 pace, HR 142

22 Nov

7.2 miles, 1:05:07, 9:02 pace, HR 134

23 Nov

10.2 miles, 1:27:03, 8:32 pace, HR 144

24 Nov

8.5 miles, 1:13:20, 8:37 pace, HR 141

25 Nov

15.87 miles, 2:33:39, 9:40 pace, HR 143

   mountain run with Gary

26 Nov

6.33 miles, 59:37, 9:25 pace, HR 128

   VERY easy recovery run

Not Up To Speed Quite Yet

Well, I said I'd run a few shorter races, especially 5Ks, and when I got an invitation from Dom to join him for a 20-minute parkrun he was pacing I said yes, especially since it happened to be at my local parkrun.

I was fairly sure I wouldn't be able to stick with him. That in itself is a fairly shocking state of affairs - even half a year ago I ran in the low 19s on a hilly course, so to not be able to break 20 now on a totally flat course isn't great. I guess that's exactly why I want to run a few shorter ones. Old age doesn't cut it as an excuse for that one, so all I need to do is get my speed back.

I didn't exactly help myself by running the 3.5 miles to Shanganagh park from our house. It's way too long for an ideal warm up, but it's the easiest way to get there. Plus, that way I wouldn't have to worry about my daily mileage.

Actually, once we got going the first k was so comfortable I was almost dumbfounded. At the same time I knew fully well that this was not going to last. There was a sizeable group with Dom, easily over half a dozen pacees, but one by one they started to drop off after the first k was done, and each time I had to make sure not to stick with the shirt in front of me but instead go past him and stick to Dom. That was fine all the way to the halfway mark when we got to the "incline" for the second time.

When I say incline, it's probably not even 2 feet of elevation gain, and it really is barely noticeable, expect when running a 5K a bit close to your limit, and with weak hamstrings to start with. I lost a couple of steps, and immediately there was a gap. Obviously, what I should have done is once more to pass the runner in front of me and get back onto Dom's tail, but I didn't have the gumption to properly turn on the pain and stuck with the shirt in front of me until it was too late and all of a sudden Dom was way, way off in the distance, and so was my sub-20.

I could claim that the final lap was a struggle but in fact, undoubtedly due to the more measured first K, it wasn't the same sufferfest as my usual 5Ks, and while I didn't manage to get close to Dom again, at least I passed a few runners (too late) but the time was a rather modest 20:24. Ah well. At some point I'll re-learn how to a) to activate my fast fibres again and b) to put myself into the pain cave for a bit.

I did a bit of a cool down with Dom and Gary (who had run an easy 17:xx, despite still being hobbled by a groin/hip issue), and wasn't too surprised that their easy pace was a not-quite-so-easy pace for me, and then headed for home, feeling surprisingly good.

Turns out a 5K isn't anywhere near as painful when you try and run it at a reasonably even effort instead of heading off like a complete eejit and then hang on for dear life for the other 4K. Who would have thunk it! Two days later my legs still haven't shown any signs of tiredness, though admittedly today's run was very slow, though I put that down to still being half asleep rather than having heavy legs.

12 Nov

6.33 miles, 56:08, 8:52 pace, HR 134

13 Nov

7.22 miles, 1:03:02, 8:43 pace, HR 140

14 Nov

10.18 miles, 1:25:26, 8:23 pace, HR 145

15 Nov

6.33 miles, 56:42, 8:57 pace, HR 135

16 Nov

10.18 miles, 1:26:40, 8:30 pace, HR 143

17 Nov

7.4 miles, 1:03:08, 8:31 pace, HR 140

Shanganagh parkrun, 20:24, 6:33 pace, HR 163

18 Nov

10 miles, 1:24:03, 8:24 pace, HR 145

19 Nov

5.15 miles, 47:22, 9:11 pace, HR 132

A Little Bit Different

Like almost every other runner, I usually do my long run on Sunday, though with DCM only 2 weeks ago that's not of utmost importance right now, so when I got a message from Anto to be at St. Stephens Green at 10 o'clock, I had no hesitation to agree.

He is starting a new venture, organising running tours through Dublin, and this was a dummy run, with a few foreigners like myself as mock tourists.

If you've ever been at one of Anto's races, the
most famous of them all being the Donadea 50k, you know that he knows how to talk to a crowd; in fact, his race briefings are legendary. With this being not yet an official tour we got the non-PC version including some if his own TMI personal history. Great stuff. And we saw plenty of Dublin City centre, with plenty of local history, both old and more recent. I know the area pretty well, especially since working there for a couple of months at the start of the year, but plenty of the stuff was new to me.

Obviously it wasn't a training run, with a fairly slow pace and plenty of stop/start running. In the end I had accumulated 4 miles, and Anto had 4.8 miles, the difference being he kept his watch running and kept stopping it at each walking break.

All photos by Anthony Lee

This was great fun, and if you're visiting Dublin you should do yourself a favour and do something like that yourself (they are planning a Phoenix Park and a pub option as well). We also go treated to coffee and donuts, which I can't promise to all future visitors, but it prompted me to run another couple of miles afterwards.

Apart from that group run, I didn't do much noteworthy this week. But it was so wet on Wednesday that apparently it was enough to kill my headlamp, because when I tried to use it the next time on Friday morning, it would not turn on. It's the fancy, expensive headlamp that I bought three years ago for the Spartathlon, which cost about 15 times as much as the Lidl/Aldi headlamps that I had used up to then, and as it turns out it didn't last any longer than the cheap ones had. What a waste of money! Okay, it was significantly brighter at the highest setting, but at the price of burning through your batteries in 3 hours, which had almost cost me that very Spartathlon race I had bought it for. Ah well. Back to the cheap ones when I see them next time, I guess.

But anyway, if you want to see Dublin City Centre and hear some great stories and have fun all at the same time, have a look at Running Tours Dublin. Don't wear compression socks while doing so, and Anne and Anto will look after you.

6 Nov

4.46 miles, 38:00, no watch

7 Nov

6.71 miles, 57:24, 8:33 pace, HR 142

8 Nov

10.16 miles, 1:26:30, 8:30 pace, HR 144

9 Nov

6.32 miles, 53:19, 8:26 pace, HR 142

10 Nov

9.68 miles, 1:22:11, 8:29 pace, HR 142

11 Nov

4 miles, 38:56, 9:43 pace, Running Tours Ireland

2 miles, 16:57, 8:20 pace, Donut Burn

Recovery

Looking WAY too comfortable
for the end of a marathon

I know I said I wasn't really racing Dublin, I was more doing it as yet another run, one with 20000 of my closest friends. I can prove that. Never mind the fact that I was able to sprint for the bus straight afterwards, that picture is the final and conclusive proof. To be honest, nobody should look so relaxed when they're crossing a finish line, no matter how long a race it had been.

Despite all that, recovery is a slow process. This one I think I can blame on age, even though I promised not to mention the "A" word again for a while.

I went straight out the day after the marathon, which is my usual recovery protocol after a marathon, and which has worked exceptionally well for most of the 105 previous times, so I'm not going to radically change it now. Initially the legs were slow and stiff , just as expected, but after a couple of days they started to improve. The trouble is that in the last two or three days they seem to have gone backwards again, which is starting to feel all too familiar recently.

No need to panic, I'll keep going as is, it worked after the crash that was Berlin and I'm sure it will work again. Once I have me legs back to some extend I think I'll try and do a few parkruns, mostly for fun (yes I know, I keep remembering how much I hate 5ks halfway through each one) but also because I think I have done excessive amounts of slow running in the last 12 months and nowhere near as much faster running as I should have, so I'll try and blow away some of the cobwebs.

On Friday I did something I don't think I have ever done before: I totally forgot to press the "start" button on the watch. And since I never look at the watch while running I only noticed at the end when staring at a set of zeros. Oops! Dementia setting in already?

I do have one area of concern, namely my right knee. It has been bothering me on and off for a few months already but has gotten worse the last few weeks. However, I'm pretty sure it's not a running-related injury, for the simple reason that it's not hurting at all when running. Instead it hurts when I twist the knee, usually when getting in or out of the car, or when I somehow make the wrong movement, and for a split second it can feel like I've been stabbed. What am I going to do about it? Not much, to be honest. I might try and avoid twisting the knee as I step out of the car but that's about it. I won't be stopping running, that much I can tell you for sure.

30 Oct

4+ miles, 39:13, 9:40 pace, HR 132

31 Oct

4+ miles, 37:18, 9:12 pace, HR 132

1 Nov

5+ miles, 44:51, 8:40 pace, HR 137

2 Nov

5+ miles, 45:00, no watch

3 Nov

5+ miles, 46:08, 8:55 pace, HR 140

4 Nov

6.7 miles, 57:31, 8:35 pace, HR 147

5 Nov

6.7 miles, 58:05, 8:40 pace, HR 143

The Road To Redemption

I went into Dublin knowing full well that I was still far off peak shape. In fact, it had been only in the last few weeks that I finally started to feel better again; that 24 hours race in June had taken a lot out of me, much more so than any previous long ultra, and it took me a long time to finally notice an upturn. However, when it came I sure did notice it, and with that I knew that the worst was behind me.

The Berlin marathon six weeks earlier had been a less than pleasurable experience but I knew I was feeling better now and I was confident a repeat of that horror show was not on the cards.

I had tested running 8-minute miles, basically 3:30 marathon pace, on a couple of occasions and each time it had felt a bit too hard, so I expected a finishing time of about 3:40 instead, still one of my slower marathons but what can you do.

Public transport in Ireland is still a shite as ever, they really did shut down the Dart train service on marathon day for engineering works; that kind of idiocy would be staggering were we not so used to it, and with the total lack of accountability it will not change any time soon. The first bus out of Bray left at 7:30 and got into town an hour later, which was touch-and-go for getting there in time for the start of wave 1 at 9 o'clock, though I was reasonably relaxed about it. If I missed it I would start with a later wave instead. As it happened I got into town, deposited my bag, joined to queue for the toilets and emerged ready to go with 4 minutes to spare. Great timing - it meant I didn't have to wait in the freezing cold any longer than strictly necessary.

I started towards the back of wave 1, so as not to be in anyone's way. As a result, the first mile was a bit slow due to all the congestion but that was fine. I wasn't there to break any records today and a slower first mile in the marathon usually means a few faster miles at the end. I gradually started to pick up the pace as spaces started to open up and eventually settled into a cruising pace that felt comfortable enough. I took it noticeably easy on any uphills but always seemed to make up ground on the downhills, though the first 7 miles are net uphill. In fact, that's the highest point of the course already, not that you feel it in the legs at that early stage. The 2 downhill miles back the other side of Phoenix Park passed by very quickly, and when we crossed the Liffey again I was actually bang on time for 3:30, which I had not expected.

I did worry a little bit because that pace had felt definitely faster than marathon effort beforehand, and I sure didn't want to blow up. However, I have plenty of marathons in my legs already to know what a marathon effort feels like, and today felt perfectly adequate, so I kept going. Oh, and I was actually wearing proof of my marathon history today, sort of, having finally picked up my "100" singlet from the Marathon Club Ireland stand at the Expo the day before and I gave it an outing today, finally having gone full Irish native.

Funnily enough I actually started to feel better as the miles ticked by, not getting tired at all. The course drags on a bit at that stretch, especially up Crumlin Road, for many runners the worst part of the course with its gradual uphill, sparsity of support and almost always a bad headwind in your face. Having said that, this year seemed to be the first time I remember not running into a headwind at that stage. I was still glad to leave it behind me, there is only so much of an uphill drag I can take.

From time to time I ran into some friends, usually the ones with a recent injury history, otherwise they would have been a bit further forward in the field, but it was nice to have the odd chat along the way, and I did get a fair few shouts from the sidelines, at least every couple of miles.

By now we were on the second half of the course and I was still feeling surprisingly good, very much in contrast to Berlin where I had felt thoroughly cooked already at that point. I was gradually making my way through the field, again very much in contrast to Berlin where the masses had kept passing me almost the entire way. According to the watch I was actually running faster here than for the first few miles and I was gradually picking up a tiny bit of time, but most importantly the miles kept ticking by with surprising ease.

This being a marathon, and me still being a long way off my usual shape, this was never going to last forever, but it sure lasted for a lot longer than I had expected before the start. I was well past the 20 mile mark when the legs finally grew weary, and then I started to get the odd spasm shooting through my calves, which I really could have done without. I have a long history of cramping in marathons and I have learned fairly well how to deal with it and how to nurse the legs along. The key really is to run as relaxed as possible. You have to slow down a little bit because you cannot relax if you're right at your limit, but if you do it right you can still make decent progress. I still got the occasional spasm shooting through my calf muscles like they had been electrocuted but I never went into a full cramp.

I eased myself up the wrongly named (because we're not in Boston, that's why) heartbreak hill and then enjoyed the downhill stretches, at least the stretches where my calves didn't threaten to quit on me. I couldn't quite match last year's great finish because my legs wouldn't allow it, even if the energy levels were still intact. However, just like last year I passed Mike from Listowel with a couple of miles to spare (though I think he paced a friend today rather than race it) as I made my way towards the finish.

Because of the cramping issues I had lost a bit of time and was slipping behind 3:30 pace, but what can you do. It would have been a tight finish otherwise but as it was I came home about 2 minutes late, though still a lot sooner than I had predicted or expected, and I was happy enough.

The finish layout required a fairly long walk past the bag drops and towards the exit, but actually that's a good thing as a relaxing walk is good for your legs after a marathon, not that a lot of runners would agree at the time. I kept on walking, and just as I got to Leeson Street Lower saw a 145 go past, and I actually managed a sprint to the next bus stop to catch it - I never had to sprint straight after a marathon before, and I never thought I'd be able to, until the day when I didn't want to wait 30 minutes for the next bus - or maybe I just didn't run the marathon hard enough.

2018 Dublin Marathon - 3:31:57

22 Oct

5+ miles, 46:20, 8:58 pace, HR 134

23 Oct

5+ miles, 43:11, 8:25 pace, HR 143

24 Oct

5+ miles, 45:26, 8:48 pace, HR 138

25 Oct

4+ miles, 36:04, 8:53 pace, HR 134

27 Oct

3 miles, 26:24, 8:47 pace, HR 139

28 Oct

DCM 2018, 3:31:57, 8:05 pace, HR 154

29 Oct

4+ miles, 37:10, 9:09 pace, HR 134

A Test

It's one week to the Dublin marathon, and I have a very similar problem like I had 6 weeks ago before Berlin, namely that I have no idea what pace I can hold over a marathon distance.

In Berlin I was a bit overoptimistic, as I had suspected even beforehand, to be honest, and I got slower with almost each mile and the second half wasn't the greatest fun I've ever had. 6 weeks later I know my legs are starting to improve again but make no mistake, they are a long way away from being in proper marathon shape. I'm pretty sure the last few miles are going to suck once more, and this time I have the added problem of a hillier route. My legs are starting to falter every time the road is pointing upwards, so that's probably not ideal. I can work around the worst of it by taking it easy on the climbs, ignoring the scores of runners going past me and just slowly making my way to the top, but it's not going to be pretty in the second half.

I did a test run this morning (Sunday) to see how 8-minute pace feels like, and the answer was quite obvious, namely much too fast. I managed to hold it for the planned 7 miles (actually there was a slower mile in there which I had completely missed and only noticed afterwards when I looked at it on Strava) but there was no way I would have been able to hold it for almost 20 more miles, so a 3:30 marathon is out of the question.

Admittedly, I did a couple of intervals on Saturday on the promenade, which obviously had an effect on the legs today but still - I might try and stay somewhere close to 3:40 pace and see how I get on. Despite the hillier nature of the course it should be a bit faster than Berlin, thanks to slightly better legs, but it's almost certainly going to be my second slowest Dublin marathon, only propped up my my very first marathon here, all of 14 years ago.

Oh, and yesterday's intervals were actually quite interesting. I did not time them and I did not pace myself off the watch; in fact, I didn't even know how long they were, just one length of the Bray promenade, which turned out to be just over one k, and there happened to be a Strava segment, which is how I got my numbers afterwards. All I did was run fast but fully controlled, twice, with a slow jog back as recovery. I was actually surprised by the numbers, I expected them to be a lot slower, and I was even more surprised that the second one had been faster than the first one. Shows how wrong perception can be! With the marathon next week I left it at only 2 repeats, but I think I might use that stretch in future as my workout stage. It's obviously completely flat, there are not a lot of people there during teh times when I do my runs, and it's only the wind that can be a factor on some days, though yesterday's it was almost completely still.

But let's get that marathon out of the way first, plus the recovery period that will follow it.

17 Oct

10.2 miles, 1:32:58, 9:06 pace, HR 139

18 Oct

6.72 miles, 1:01:12, 9:06 pace, HR 135

19 Oct

10.2 miles, 1:28:40, 8:41 pace, HR 145

20 Oct

7.8 miles, 1:06:04, 8:28 pace, HR 144

   2 x 1k @ 6:26, 6:16 pace

21 Oct

10 miles, 1:24:26, 8:26 pace, HR 148

Thank You!

Thanks for the comments to the last post, I was genuinely delighted to see that there is still value in this blog and that there are still runners who enjoy reading it. Thank you! However, Roisin was absolutely correct in pointing out that I've been overplaying the ago card recently. I am actually very much aware of this, but the thing is, I do wonder how much of a factor age is playing into all of the recent issues I've had, especially with the slow recovery.

On the other hand, I could very much feel a distinct improvement in the last week, which I attribute to finally getting over the 24 hours race in June. In the past it has often taken me about a day per mile raced to feel fully recovered from a very long ultra, and funnily enough we're just about there once more. This time I was feeling the effects a lot more than usual but I can definitely feel the difference, just in the last few days. I've got a spring back in my stride and the legs no longer feel stiff, heavy and tired with each step, which is just great and I'm enjoying the fact that running is just fun once more, and I no longer have to struggle from step to step.

Now there's the small matter of the Dublin marathon looming rather large in the not very far distance. I'm sure the smart thing to do would be to cancel it because I know it's going to be one of my slowest ones, it's going to hurt in the last few miles and I'll have to spend weeks in recovery yet again, but doing the smart thing was never my thing, so I've decided to run it - as I knew all along I would, really.

Sunday's long run was very hilly and the first half went very well but the second half gradually turned into a bit of a struggle and the last few miles, especially the final two, uphill ones towards our house weren't all that much fun, but I got it done all the same. It went better than a similar, if slightly shorter run, that I had done before Berlin, so I guess I should be doing a bit better than in Berlin. We shall see!

It's gotten rather cold recently, which most people might be moaning about but personally I love it. I can cycle into or out of work without arriving soaked in sweat (don't worry, there are showers at both ends of the journey) and while I miss running through the crisp, dark morning along Caragh Lake, the Bray Promenade isn't a bad replacement.

12 Oct

10.2 miles, 1:29:29, 8:46 pace, HR 144

13 Oct

6.85 miles, 59:01, 8:36 pace, HR 142

14 Oct

19 miles, 2:53:53, 9:09 pace, HR 142

15 Oct

6.33 miles, 59:30, 9:23 pace, HR 130

16 Oct

4.5 miles, 36:39, 8:10 pace, HR 147

Ye Olde Legs

I'm not sure how many people still read this, though I know a few of you still do. The blog format seems a bit outdated these days, though I still prefer it to video logging (yuck), and things like Instagram are just not suited to the type of content I want to post. Believe me, you don't want to see photos of me post-run!

Anyway, I will keep this going, and if the last person will have lost interest it will be my private training diary again, just like it was when it all started over 13 years ago. And with me getting older and slower, I might even get stopped being accused of violating the trade act due to falsely naming this blog. But, you know, it's all relative, and there were are also some lovely guys along the way who let me know that the name is perfectly apt.

Anyway, I keep on running, very slowly most days. It's a bit disconcerting that until a few months ago my natural pace was around 8-minute miles and now it suddenly changed to 9-minute miles, and I could swear they feel more or less the same. I know I keep getting older, but surely I didn't age so much within 3 or 4 months.

However, just this morning I thought there were glimpses of the old legs starting to re-appear, when running felt more effortless, and the stiffness and aches disappeared for a while. Now, I know the mile along the promenade was misleading as I had a strong tailwind pushing me along, but it wasn't just on that stretch that I felt good, so maybe something is indeed finally starting to work.

I am doing mostly very slow, easy miles but I'm also mixing in a few faster strides, like on Tuesday with some work colleagues, not really speedwork as such but just some things to rev up the system. I did a 1-minute-on/1-minute-off run last Saturday (Kenyan Fartlek, in structure that is, not in pace), which felt ok for a while and when it no longer felt ok I stopped, so it's all relatively gentle and measured. The last thing I want is to feel overtrained again, been there, done that, no desire to do it again.

5 Oct

6.19 miles, 55:44, 9:00 pace, HR 140

6 Oct

6.58 miles, 57:48, 8:47 pace, HR 146

   Kenyan Fartlek

7 Oct

15 miles, 2:19:23, 9:16 pace, HR 144

8 Oct

6.71 miles, 1:01:37, 9:10 pace, HR 142

9 Oct

4.95 miles, 43:05, 8:42 pace, HR 147

   100/200/300/200/100

10 Oct

10.21 miles, 1:32:14, 9:02 pace, HR 145

11 Oct

6.67 miles, 58:53, 8:49 pace, HR 144

Slowly Does It

So on Thursday I hurt my Achilles on the last meters before the finish line of a 5K, leaving me rather worried. On Friday it was so stiff on both legs that running was completely out of the question and left me hobbling round the office like an old man (no smart comments, please). However, the fact that it wasn't actually hurting was a very good sign.

On Saturday morning I first ran down to the shop to pick up some milk as well as to test out the Achilles, and the news was good.While it was sill a bit stiff it definitely felt ready to run again, so I did.

I changed my approach. I looked at the time I ran in the 5K, and while it was almost 3 minutes slower than my PB it was still aged-graded over 70% and the equivalent of an 18:18 of a younger man. While not exactly winning any major championships, or even a minor one, it's actually not that bad, especially when compared to my marathon time in Berlin. So I figured I still have a bit of pace left, relatively speaking, but my endurance has gone to bits.

How do you build up endurance?

By running more miles.

How do you manage to run more miles when they keep leaving you exhausted?

By running them slower!

So that's what I did. I didn't follow the advice of leaving the watch at home entirely because I'm too much of a numbers geek and would just fret over what the numbers would have been had I recorded them, but I'm good at ignoring the watch completely when I'm out running.

Tuesday's run into work was a bit of a struggle, not helped by a headwind for 10 miles, but Thursday was already a lot better, even if it was equally as slow. I think this is already working, though it's a bit early to tell.

29 Sep

1.16 miles, 11:01, 9:29 pace, HR 134

4+ miles, 35:38, 8:45 pace, HR 148

30 Sep

8.5 miles, 1:19:33, 9:21 pace, HR 146

   very hilly

1 Oct

6.32 miles, 56:38, 8:57 pace, HR 144

2 Oct

10.25 miles, 1:31:22, 8:54 pace, HR 149

3 Oct

5.55 miles, 52:35, 9:28 pace, HR 138

4 Oct

10.22 miles, 1:30:38, 8:52 pace, HR 148

I Keep Forgetting How Much I Hate 5Ks

We had a chat on Thursday at work about running and I mentioned that the only 2 times I got injured in the last 10 years were when I did something really stupid, the last one 2 years ago when I ran a fast workout a week after a long race and duly messed up my right Achilles for weeks to come.

So, when I got ready a few hours later to run the Sandyford 5k, it struck me that I was doing something very, very similar to that very same stupidity, a 5K only 11 days after a marathon, on legs that had clearly not recovered yet.

What can I say? I’m an idiot, something I have proven on plenty of occasions in the past, and like most idiots I get away with my idiocy on many occasions, so I was hoping for some more good fortune. The race was very close to work, and work had paid for the entry fee, so why not accept the Danaergeschenk?

I wasn’t planning on racing all out, in fact with the combination of increasingly old age, tired legs and lack of competitive instinct I was contemplating the possibility of running my slowest 5K ever.

Just like the previous 5K it started to rain just before the start but unlike that one it stopped again and the conditions were pretty decent. Remembering the very painful 20 minutes from my last 5K I decided to start at a more measured effort in the hope of a less torturous event. In actual fact I was only 5 second slower on the first mile, though it was slightly downhill. The rest of the race was marked by me trying to remain at the same effort level, which I thought I did reasonably well, passing a few runner, being passed by others but overall moving slightly ahead in the field. I struggled on all uphills and kept drifting backwards but I was flying effortlessly on the downhills and always made up a fair few places (neither was steep though - it was a pretty decent course). All the while I kept the effort at no more than maybe 95%, fast enough to put some pain on the system but never too much. However, the watch claims that I slowed down to almost 7-minute pace on the last mile, which came as a bit of a surprise, to be honest.

I got to within 100 meters of the finish line when my right Achilles suddenly started to hurt, and by that I mean REALLY hurt. It was close enough to the finish to clench the teeth and keep going but I was really sore afterwards. Also, it started raining again, so eventually I decided not to go to the post-race tent afterwards but head home instead.

I pathetically hobbled for a mile back to the office with a seriously gampy right leg and the cycle back home wasn’t particularly comfortable either, so by now I was rather worried. The next day was different, I was no longer in real pain but both Achilles were incredibly stiff, and for the entire day I was reduced to hobble slowly through the office whenever I had to move, feeling every single one of my many years for a change. I didn’t run, even I can see that it would have been a daft idea, but with the pain subsiding overnight I’m reasonably optimistic I might actually have gotten away with yet another stupidity.

20:36 was not my slowest 5K by a long shot, but on the other hand it IS almost 3 minutes slower than my PB. Ah well.

26 Sep

4+ miles, 34:12, 8:21 pace, HR 146

27 Sep

5+ miles, including Sandyford 5K in 20:36, 6:37 pace, HR 174

28 Sep

0

Driftwood

Ok, so I was prepared to walk away from running altogether. What's more, I still felt like that three days after Berlin, which was a new one. However, after that I did start to get itchy again. I still did my daily cycle on and out of work, but it's running that ticks the boxes for me, and on Saturday morning I finally gave in, laced up my runners and headed outside.

I've had all summer to come to terms with the fact that my international career is almost certainly over. It's a bit painful and I'll miss it but of course it is inevitable. When I started running I would not have dreamt that I would ever run in a European or World championship. I thought the dream of running a sub-3 marathon was a ridiculous one, and the idea of ever being in the national team wasn't something I even contemplated, not even theoretically. So basically I've massively overachieved and I know I can look back at my running career with immense satisfaction.

The fact that my legs seem to have completely gone the last few months seems like not such a big deal. I've had my time in the sun, everything else is just a bonus. I can run for the sheer love of running alone, and I guess that's exactly what I'm going to do.

After Berlin I straight away decided that I won't be running Dublin. I'm already having second thoughts about that one as well. I'll see. It probably would be better for my legs if I didn't, but that doesn't necessarily stop me from running it anyway. If my deterioration continues as it has done recently I won't even break 4 hours, which would be hard to swallow even with my readjusted mindset, so I guess I'll just wait and see.

For the first time in years I don't have any next big race to look forward to. I don't know how I'll handle that.

22 Sep

4+ miles, 34:05, 8:24 pace, HR 146

23 Sep

4+ miles, 34:05, 8:22 pace, HR 148

24 Sep

4+ miles, 35:43, 8:46 pace, HR 142

25 Sep

5+ miles, 44:47, 8:31 pace, HR 145