Diary of a Rubbish Marathon Runner

The main training strategy for this cycle so far has been to run one big, long training session per month, which means either a marathon, a ...

The timing was not ideal. Recovery from the Dublin marathon had taken a lot longer than I would have hoped and even though there had been so...

Came home first male but was beaten by the better woman into second overall. Started at an effort that felt very comfortable but turned out ...

Bump, pause, double bump. Bump, pause, double bump. Bump, pause, double bump. That's what my heart beat felt like pretty much all week. ...

I did more of the same reasonably easy miles on the weekend. They went the same as most of the other ones: I felt so-so. Not bad but I'm...

One thing I learned the last 2 weeks is that recovery from a 3:10 marathon is a completely different animal compared to recovery from a 3:30...

When you run a race, it is all about that one race, nothing else matters. But when you do a training run, the magic actually happens off-scr...

Going into the Dublin marathon I knew I was in pretty good shape. Once again, this was a training run so I was not going to run at a full ra...

Training had gone really well this week. I have noticed an up-and-down pattern at times but this week was undoubtedly an "up" one....

It looks like we skipped autumn this year and just went straight from summer into the winter storm season. I might have expected a little bi...

Most people have a pretty clear image in mind when they think of Ireland and the weather, and for a lot of time it is fairly accurate. Actua...

A friend of mine insists that bad things always come in threes, which is a really Irish thing to say. I don't believe in any of that cra...

I woke up shortly before 6 o'clock, as I always do, but took my time to get ready because I was cycling to work this morning and had an ...

I had been a bit worried about running back-to-back marathons. Not so much about the running itself, I know I can do that, but about recover...

If I were still living in Kerry I would not even have contemplated driving to Monaghan for a marathon. That drive would just have been insan...

Who turned off the lights? Tuesday morning I ran through Clonkeen Park and was tempted to stop for a photo because it looked so pretty with ...

Its early morning, just after 6 o'clock. I open the blinds and it's still dark outside - summer is definitely over. No matter. I hav...

Maybe it's something to do with Kerry. As soon as I got home my throat was feeling sore again. I have no idea why. This time it wasn...

I spent the weekend in Kerry, as I do most weekends. Of course I want to spend time with my family. However, there is a drawback, apart from...

It must be old age, but time really is flying. It's already mid-September. Where did the year go? What did I miss? And how come my young...