Still going

After 4 weeks of my 'get back to running plan' I'm still going! In total I've run 113.5 miles in 18 runs (14.05 hours). So this is my most consistent period of running since 2009! I've been enjoying it and not an injury in sight either. Most of the runs could be classed as 'easy' which is fine for now but as my fitness has begun to return I'm finding that my easy pace is getting ever closer to 7:00 min per mile!

Details of all my runs were tweeted using dailymile.com which gives some interesting (and useless) stats including that my runs to date are equivalent to almost 62 donuts or 22 cheese burgers. I'm not sure which I would prefer???

My target was to be at 40 miles per week at this stage. Not quite there yet but I'm getting there!

Week 1 - 5 runs - 28.03 miles
Week 2 - 2 runs - 12.45 miles
Week 3 - 6 runs - 36.95 miles
Week 4 - 5 runs - 36.16 miles

I was asked recently when I'd be pinning a number to my chest again... not sure but I'll let you know - maybe August?? My thought is that I don't want to race too soon and risk another injury and given that I don't see the point in 'racing easy' I'm not going to rush back just yet.

Recovery over..

Bless me reader, it's been 2 weeks since my last run.... so I thought yesterday would be a good day to check out my calf. 5+ easy (really) miles at the seaside over a course that included some hills, some beach and some undulating trails. A good test I'd say ... and if my calf did bomb I'd at least have had a nice walk home.

Luckily it didn't and despite some hamstring twinges it was pretty good (42mins). So I now reckon a 2 week recovery is the minimum for calf injuries. Hopefully I won't need to use this bit of new found knowledge again in the near future.

This morning I repeated the run at 7am when the sun was shining, the sky and sea were blue and the waves were calm. Definitely a run for the soul and not one for a fast pace. This time the pace was slower (44+mins) partly due to the early hour and partly due to DOMS. I need to run more often!

Also today I purchased a new Garmin 305 - a real sign of intent. It's been over 12 months since my old one was stolen while on holidays and I've been running by feel ever since. It's time to get a bit more scientific! I'll wait patiently for Amazon to deliver it in a week or so.

I've also been playing around with DailyMile and Map-My-Run & Twitter - there are too many social network site combinations!!! I still haven't decided which is the best to log & post my runs - possibly Daily Mile & Twitter as Map-My-Run has too much advertising getting in the way! ... but ... only time will tell which combination eventually wins out.

Well done to all those who ran the Cork City Marathon, Half & Relay today - some very impressive times/performances!

2011 update

Some ways in which the World has changed...

• The Queen came to Ireland;


• Dr. Garrett Fitzgerald passed away;


• Eamon Coughlan became a Senator;


• Portugal joined Ireland in bankruptcy;


• Leinster joined Munster as two time winners of the Heineken Cup!

It's always an ominous sign when New Year's resolutions are put down in text. In my case, at least, it usually means that the exact opposite will happen - a bit like making a doctors appointment - by the time I get to the surgery the symptoms have cleared up!

This is certainly true of my last post which, as I was recently reminded, is over 4 months old!

Let's examine this in a bit more detail. Two resolutions were stated:
1. To run 'lots' more;
2. To post more often on this blog.

A reasonable person might consider these to be relatively easy and attainable goals for 2011 but I've failed misearably on both counts.

On the running front - I have run 'some' more but not 'lots' more and certainly not as much as I'd intended. During January, February & March, mainly due to other demands on my personal time, I only managed 'infrequent' slow/short runs. This certainly put paid to any chance of me following in the footsteps of others and running 39 miles on my 39th birthday in February (I'll have to aim for the 40 @ 40 target instead!). It also caused me to DNS the Ballycotton-10 on March 6th for fear of doing myself an injury. Unfortunately, I went for a 6 mile lunchtime run on March 7th only to seriously pull my left calf at mile 4.5. Maybe I should have run the Ballycotton-10 anyway - at least then I'd have got a mug instead of looking like a mug. (luckily Grellan passed by in his car and gave me a lift back to the office which saved me some of the walk/limp of shame)

However, since April I've had a bit more available personal time so I've tried to redress my family/running/work-life balance. Running has been a bit more frequent and for a short while I managed 4+ runs per week (20-30 miles 7:45-8:15mpm pace). My plan was to get a few solid weeks in the bag as 'conditioning' and then to set some goals for the rest of the year. Maybe even a marathon in the autumn... But since the start of May things have not been good. My calf problems are back. I've been resting and icing but I probably need to do some more massaging and strengthening. Last week I got more than 5 miles into my run before my calf cramped but today (after a 7 day rest) I pulled up after less than 1 mile. I think that the source of the problem is a general tightness/weakness in my left hip/leg. This is now getting a bit frustrating as, obviously, my self-treatment isn't working so I may have to resort to seeking professional advice!

On the blogging front - I think that no post in almost 5 months speaks for itself! There's just not been too much to talk about, really. In my defence, I have tweeted (see the sidebar across...) about my infrequent runs/injuries etc. So if you are part of my small band of followers you'll know know what's happening.

The Cork City Marathon is only around the corner so I hope all your training is going well. Next year I may be availing of your pacer skills ....

2011 Resolutions

It's that time of year again. Time to reflect on what is no more and time to plan what is yet to be.

My first resolution is to run 'lots' more. 2010 was disasterous in that respect! My second resolution is that I'll post on this blog more often. Hopefully the first resolution will give me something worthwhile to write about.

At least I've ended 2010 on a positive note with some nice (altough tough) runs. Let's see how much easier it can get...

Happy New Year to all and thanks for stopping by.....

Recovery

There wasn't too much running in my calendar this week... I'm putting it down to a 'recovery' but really it was more due to lack of time.

On the recovery front - all went reasonably well and there were no post-race issues with my ankle. So I don't intend on posting about 'anklegate' again and I'm moving on....

Before the race my left calf was a bit sore. Plenty of deepheat and massage beforehand made sure that I didn't feel anything during the run but now it's taking time to heel. I reckon it's a symptom of needing to rebuild muscle strength and a reminder not to push too hard too soon!

On Thursday I finally managed to fit in a lunchtime run - steady 7:10 pace 5.6 miles around Ballincollig. Earlier tonight having recovered from today's hangover I went for an easy 5.5 miles @ 7:45 pace. The said calf is now being iced so hopefully all will be well tomorrow. That's a 'massive' 11 miles for this week excluding my Guinness & Lennox's chips fueled walk home from town last night. Next week will have to be better...

System Check

Going into today's Cork to Cobh 15-mile race I wasn't sure how it would go. My last race was Cork to Cobh last year so today gave me a real chance to benchmark my current fitness.

I realise that I've only a few short weeks of 'low level' training (2 runs this week including today!) and so I was never going to emulate my 1:38 performance of last year. I settled on 7:30 pace with a 'see how it goes' race strategy. This would bring me home in approx 1:52:30. Richard was also planning a marathon pace run at approx 7:30 so it made sense to hook.

I arrived at the Race HQ a little after 8am for the 9am start (or so I thought) and after registering I went for a short (1.5mile) warmup. It was only while stretching at 8:45am, when everything was very calm at Race HQ, that I realised something was wrong - the race wasn't due to start until 9:30! At least I was early! So, what should I do with the extra 30 minutes??.... I went for another 2 mile warmup run with Grellan and Derek.

Richard and I started pretty far back and there was a lot of traffic over the first couple of miles. After a very slow start (7:45 first mile) we reached the 2 mile mark bang on schedule at 15:00. The pace continued to be in the low 7:20's and we passed through 5 miles in 37:10. Despite this being my fastest 5 miles in months I felt very comfortable. I guess it helped having someone to chat to to take my mind off the effort! At this point Richard pointed out that we were going a bit too quick for his marathon pace so he decided to ease up a little. I, on the other hand, wanted to test myself so I thought I'd kick on. I passed through the next mile in 7:05 (felt easy but probably a bit too quick) and I then settled into a 7:15 pace. It all felt good.

The time at the halfway point was 55:00 minutes. This gave me a hope that I may get to Cobh in 1:4x but this was dashed by last 3-4 miles!

I crossed Mile 11 at 80 minutes just over 7:15 pace. At this point it felt good but it was shortly after that the wheels came off. I remember that I struggled over the same section last year albeit at 6:30 pace rather than 7:30+ pace. This year my lack of training really showed over the last 4 uphill miles. My pace dropped significantly. So much so that my average pace was down to 7:25 at the Half Marathon Mark (1:37). The uphill seemed never-ending and it was only the fear that my 'support team' may drive past at any moment that kept me from walking.

Shortly after the 14 mile mark Richard passed me looking good (he had warned me that he may put in a quick last mile) but I had nothing in the tank to react. So I took his last drop of water and left him strike for home. However, I did manage a bit of a sprint finish (during which my hamstrings nearly ceased up) over the last quarter just to show cause and I stopped my watch, wrecked but satisfied, at 1:52:40 (7:31 average).

With over 18 miles in the legs for the day no warmdown was on the cards... I'd had enough!

So what did I learn?....

I'm over 14 minutes slower than last year and I need to do more training.

The good news is that my ankle gave me no trouble so hopefully this issue is now in the past.

I gave it everything I had today (so much so that I had to go to bed for an hour once I came home) and I'm glad to be back on the right road. Now it's time to build up some fitness and identify some goals...

It's time to start some 'real' training..

Today saw the 30th running of the Great North Run - probably one of the greatest mass participation races in the world! Looking at it on television it made me wish I was there again. Although I must admit that based on my recent training I don't think Haile Gebreselassie would have been too worried! Maybe next year??

I first entered the GNR in 2007 and I used it as my motivation to get fit. Three years on I'm in a very similar position - trying to get fit..

I see that Sonia O'Sullivan was the last person to cross the start line today and finished the GNR in 1:34:53. When I first ran the GNR I started close to the back of the field and finished in 1:34:51. For most of that race I was passing runners, running on the footpath, crossing the road from side to side and constantly looking for the 'gap' ahead. It was both mentally and physically exhausting! Sonia, I know what you went through today. There are easier ways to run 13.1 miles!

Since my last post I've been getting out approx 4 times per week and I'm now up to approx 20-30 miles per week. Nothing spectacular but for me the most important indicator has been that my ankle is holding up.

Last week I went for a 'slow' 12.6mile run (1:45) on Saturday morning and followed it by a 'steady' (i.e. low 7min/mile pace) 10k on Sunday morning. Despite the fatigue everything else seemed to hold up.... a good sign!

This week my long run was 11.7 miles (1:28) i.e. Douglas to City Centre to Sundays Well down the Mardyke back to the City Centre and home to Douglas. I could class it as an 'easy' run (i.e. possible conversational pace) but it'd be more correct to refer to it as a 'comfortable' pace run i.e. a bit harder than 'easy'. :) I passed the 10 mile mark at approx 73mins and feeling good. Interestingly, I last ran this route on 3rd January (4 days before I broke my ankle). The time on that day was 1:31 .. the slower time being more a function of the icey conditions rather than a measure of my fitness!

Today I followed yesterday's run with a 6.5 mile run (47mins) - Douglas to Bishopstown. This felt good and was 13 minutes quicker than the last time I ran this route .. sign of progress??

So now that I've some base training done and I know that the screws in my ankle are holding it's time to start some real training. I guess I need to formulate a plan... but what plan and can I stick to it??

It's time to put my thinking hat on.....