Galway 5km Series - Week 2

This week it was the turn of Tuam. Conditions were very windy and quite cool. After a 2.5km warm-up and a few strides, we were lining up at the start.

And what a start, a false one to be exact. Several people started running before the starter was ready and we all had to line up again. I can't recall that happening before. Quite amusing.

Second time round we were underway. The first km is fairly flat but it was running into a cross-wind. I was at the front, with Jason matching me stride for stride. The first km marker quickly arrived in a time of 3:05. Still feeling good.

The course continued on, slightly downhill, before a left-hand turn with some more downhill. Very nice. I'd opened up a gap and was running strongly and hit the second km with a split of 3:03. So far so good.

After another left turn, it was time to hit the first uphill drag. Only a very gradual climb, but it went on for almost one km. The running surface was good but I think to make matters worse it was running into the wind. I still felt okay but knew the pace was slowing slightly and sure enough I'd registered a 3rd km of 3:17.

The next section flattened out, and I managed to lift the pace again. But after another left turn at the traffic lights, I'd hit a steeper uphill section of about 200m which knocked me around. At the top of the hill I was greeted by the 4th km in a time of 3:18. Not too bad.

The last section was basically either flat or downhill. With the wind on the back. I just concentrated on finishing strong and with 500m to go (1:33), I tried to run as hard as I could. One final bend and then a nice straight run to the finish. The last km was covered in 3:02 (1:29 last 500m) which saw me crossing the line in 15:45 for my second win of the series. Plus a 6 second road PB!

Very happy with the run finding 25 seconds in the space of a week. Having fresher legs today definitely made the difference.

I finished up with a 5km warm-down. A total of 12.5km for the day. I'm getting to like these races. Craughwell next week which some say is the quickest course. Bring it on.

Here are some photos of the race:

The normaliser

I woke up feeling pretty ordinary. A 7 hour session in the pub will do that....struggled through the day and decided on a run at 8:30pm to try and feel half normal again.

My local 9.5km run in 39:09 (4:07/km). Still very windy (outside, not me). Race tomorrow...

Long run

Back out to Dangan where I met up with Owen for a long run. Started off with a couple of laps of the pitches, then did most of the Cathedral Run before doing a bit more back at Dangan.

All up 26km in 1:53:30 (4:22/km). That sounds a bit slow - I thought we were running quicker than that. Perhaps it was 26.5km - I can't remember!

All up 81.9km for the week.

Getting serious

My third decent session this week. Back to Dangan to meet up for the Saturday morning run which is normally longer/tempo style running. But with the long distance runners and middle distance runners training together, we sort of met in the middle and had a session of 2 minute efforts, followed by 2 minutes recovery.

After a long-ish 4.8km warm-up, and some drills, it was time to get this over with. The initial plan was to run 6 x 2 minutes, with the option of another couple for the longer guys if need be. We were running around the 2 main rugby pitches which meant it was quite exposed to the wind but that wasn't too bad as we copped it at the start of each effort, and had the wind behind for the run home.

The 2 minute efforts seemed to go pretty quickly and always starting from the same point, I was consistent with my finishing position (making it about 85% of the way around the circumference of the 2 pitches - and finishing in basically the same spot each time). I was leading out each one, but there were a few guys not far behind which kept the pace honest. I told myself that I wasn't going to push this session much but I think I was just kidding myself. I was running fairly hard and it seemed quite humid and I'd worked up a good sweat over the course of the session.

After 6 efforts I'd had enough. It's been a good week so far and I didn't want to overdo it. The distance covered each effort was approximately 680m. That was verified using a GPS (I know these can be dodgy) and using Gmap pedometer. That equates to about 2:56/km pace (not even WR marathon pace which is scary).

I finished up with a 3.2km warm-down. All up 12.1km for the day and some more good 5km training in the bank.

Fryday

An easy run around my local loop. Time 38:56 for 9.5km (4:06/km). Very windy again, I think I'll have to get used to this over the next few months.

Fry-up for tea. My first fry-up since Christmas Day. Washed down with a few pints of Guinness. Healthy living.

More than one way to skin a lap

It went something like this. Arrived at the track, did a 2 mile warm-up then a few run throughs. Then straight into it.

I wanted to run at least 12 by 400. A few more if I was feeling okay. The plan was to run them comfortable without the feeling of "going to the well". I pretty much had the track to myself albeit for one person who insisted on walking round in lane 1. So this was almost secret training. Well it would be if I wasn't telling you all now.

After about 7 reps I told myself that I was really, really, enjoying these...by 10 I was getting bored and my competitive side took over and I started racing myself. By 15 I was knackered and called it a day.

Oh yeah, the lap. Quite windy which made the back straight a breeze(!), then a very tough home straight running into the wind. I was consistently 32 seconds at 200m only to slow up a lot after rounding the final bend. It was like a float then an effort each lap.

I finished up with the same 2 mile warm-down. Here are the times:

72/70/70/69/68/69/68/68/68/68/68/68/68/67/67

Recovery was 60 seconds. A solid session. All up 12.4km for the day.

Nothing

I didn't get a chance to run today. Nice to have a rest day though as the legs still haven't fully recovered from the 2 recent races.

I may try and get to the track tomorrow to get some 400's done. Doing the shorter reps at the track will help bring the 5km times down. My goal is to run sub 15:30 within the next couple of months.

Here's a couple of great photos from the race yesterday:

Galway 5km Series - Week 1

The first race was at Newcastle which is out past Athenry. The concept is six 5km races each Tuesday in various locations around Galway. Not too serious, just a good excuse to have a hit-out, try and beat your mates, and try and improve your times over the duration of the series. It has proven very popular with the series selling out within 2 hours of going on sale and with 700 runners signed up, I was looking forward to something different.

A minor miracle that I found the venue. I knew it was somewhere near Athenry but just sort of guessed what way to go and followed some traffic. After driving down some fairly narrow roads I was convinced I had gone the wrong way only to discover the registration area. Very lucky.

Running short of time I basically grabbed my number and chip, jogged down to the start and lined up. There were many familiar faces at the start and it promised to be a good race. I should have mentioned that conditions looked to be very windy as the car was getting buffeted on the drive out there. Same for everyone I guess.

The race started and a lead group quickly formed. I think there were at least half a dozen runners involved and after about 500m we took a right turn which I took very wide to avoid some loose gravel. The first km marker arrived and the time of 3:02 showed that the pace was on. The group was still well formed and after one memorable surge (not by me!), gaps started to emerge. At about 2km (2nd km 3:17) I hit the front and just concentrated on running strongly.

That's how it remained for me. The third km was tough with some long uphill drags and the km split of 3:25 showed a big slow-down but I had still gapped the chasing pack. The course then flattened out and I managed to lift the pace in the run for home with the 4th km covered in 3:14 and then a nice downhill last km of 3:13. Total time of 16:10 and 1st place overall.

The wind didn't seem too bad out on the course. It was probably quite a sheltered route so that may explain why. A good race with several runners all dipping under 17 minutes. More good racing to come over the next few weeks as I'm sure everyone will lift their game. These races seem to be over in a flash when you have just run a half marathon. You are just getting going and you are crossing the finish line.

I finished up with a 4 mile warm-down. All up 12.4km for the day and lots of fun in the process. Thumbs up to the organisers. Results already up on Red Tag Timing so a very quick turnaround.

The Judd-onaut

Just finished watching the snooker. Amazing game. Judd got beaten but what a talent. A future world champion for sure. That match was a great advertisement for the game.

Anyway, back to running...I stretched out the legs today and felt pretty good. My bread and butter local loop of 9.5km in 38:43 (4:05/km). Calves a bit tight but that's to be expected after running 21.1kms in racing flats. Very windy again today but no rain so I wasn't complaining.

A few more thoughts from yesterday. The results were up on the website but were pretty poor to be honest. It doesn't tell you gun time, chip time, position, category place, etc. Surely this would be relatively straight-forward with chip timing? Plus reading some feedback it seems that a lot of the mile markers were missing for the half. That would explain why I didn't see any for 7 miles! Oh and I remembered this horrible hill climbing up onto a big bridge running into the wind in the back end of the race. I was so close to walking...

I'll try and race tomorrow if I can get a babysitter. Should be okay.

Ps, I need to start playing more snooker (again). Any decent players or tables in the Claregalway area? Send me a comment if you have any info. A long shot I know...

Great Limerick Run Half Marathon

Arrived in good time. It only took about an hour to drive from Galway to Limerick which left me plenty of time to park centrally, collect my race number, drop off the bag and run a couple of kms warm-up.

Conditions were very breezy. The sun had been out but it seemed to be more overcast as the half marathon was due to start. That was lucky for me but not so for the full marathoners who were out in the hotter conditions earlier on. Basically hotter than you would want but not too bad.

It was obvious that there were several good runners as I lined up at the start. The countdown was underway and the race started bang on time at 11:30am. I went straight into the lead group of about 6 or 7. There was a long steady climb after we had all rounded the first corner and it was time to settle into your running.

The first mile marker showed a split of 5:38 and I knew it was quicker than that so they were obviously way out. The group seemed to stay together for a couple of miles but after that it started to string out leaving me in the lead group of 4. That's how it remained for the next few miles. We all took a few turns running at the front but the reality was that I was having to work hard to stay in contention.

I kept telling myself I would give it one more mile but at about mile 5 I dropped off the back. At least I gave it a go. So I was left in 4th with the lead group of 3 slowly disappearing out of view. The course seemed pretty flat. There were some testing uphill drags and these were made much worse when you were running into the wind. I wasn't aware of how close the runners behind me were. This was made more difficult as we were running through the back of the marathon field which always has its moments...

At about halfway I just wanted the race to be over. It's so hard when you are racing by yourself and the concentration is very hard to maintain. I couldn't find any mile markers - I'm sure they were there but mentally I wasn't in the zone. I did spot the 10 mile marker which showed a time of 54:38. That was okay I suppose but I was still worried about hanging on to my position.

The last 3 and a bit miles were a real struggle. Lots of runner traffic at this stage and I was glad to make the final few turns down by the river as we headed back into the city centre for the finish. No sprint finish for me this time. I just plodded across the line and was happy to get the race completed. The time was 1:12:11 and I managed to hang on to 4th spot.

I can't really fault the organisation and set-up. Everything seemed to go to plan...apart from my own run. I didn't really get a chance to speak to many people at the end as I had to head back to Galway but I get the feeling a lot of people struggled out there. I was at least 2 minutes off the top 3 so in fairness 4th spot was the best I could have hoped for. That said, I'm a little disappointed with my time as I felt that sub 1:11 was possible but perhaps I gave up a little when it became apparent that the lead group were a little too hot for me.

The legs feel pretty good. It certainly doesn't feel like I've run a half so hopefully I recover okay. There is the start to the Galway 5km series on Tuesday so I may race then if I pull up okay. It looks live I'll live to fight another day.

I finished up with a 1km jog back to the car so all up 24.1km for the day and 70.2km for the week. Drinking beer and watching snooker now so happy. Judd going very nicely.

Lazy day

No running, just pottering about. Watched the snooker (Judd won!), threw a few darts, Spurs were robbed, etc, etc.

The plan tomorrow is to race like a 10km (as I mentioned earlier). Hopefully get in a good bunch and enjoy some decent racing. Fingers crossed we get decent weather and the course is conducive to some quick times. Good luck to all.

Trump

One final run before the race. Same run as yesterday though a lot slower today (41:06 or 4:20/km). The run didn't serve any purpose other than earn me a few beers tonight.

Still not 100%. Am I in better shape for this race than the Norwich Half? Not sure, maybe not.

I'm not going to talk about the you know what. Instead I'll focus on the snooker. My hope Ronnie is gone so I'm now cheering for Judd. Looks like it could be a cracker locked at 12-12 in the semi-final. I don't think I've ever seen anyone hit the cue ball so cleanly. Incredible.

Running like an old drunk

Another easy run. Distance 9.5km. Time 37:47 (3:59's).

I nearly fell over tonight after a momentary lapse in concentration. I rolled my ankle slightly but somehow recovered to stay on my feet. I can't recall ever falling over completely on a run. I do remember a mate of mine falling over on 2 consecutive runs in Sydney. Very amusing.

I wonder if Prince William will be going on a bender tonight? Somehow I can't see it...for the record I had 8 beers the night before my wedding. Tame.

Weekly track night

Conditions were warm and humid. Yes, you have read that right.

I started off with a 6.4km warm-up. My legs were sore from the massage and I wasn't particularly looking forward to running quickly. The usual drills and run throughs and it was time to start.

The session was another mixed bag. Starting with 4 x 400, then 3 x 1600, finishing with another 4 x 400. Recovery was 60 seconds between the 400's, 90 seconds between the 1600's and 2 and a half minutes between each set.

Times were as follows:

73,72,72,70
5:00,4:59,4:59
72,72,70,71

It was all plain sailing except for the 3rd 1600 where I had to work the last lap to get it under 5 minutes. The top even came off for a while, that's how hot it was.

Nice to get that out of the way without any hiccups. More so considering I'm still not feeling great, plus the sore legs.

I finished up with a 3.2km warm-down. All up 17.6km for the day.

Rest

No running today. Instead I had a massage which was not pleasant. Muscles now as good as new.

I'm starting to think about the race on Sunday. My plan at this stage is to race it like it's a 10km...

Snooker

The plan was to take a rest day but it made more sense to run today and rest tomorrow. So that's what I did. A very easy jaunt of 9.5km in 39:25 (4:09's).

That's 16 days of running on the trot so a decent block of training. I will try and get a massage tomorrow so that I'm in top nick for the half on Sunday. Wednesday will see some sharpening up at the track and more easy stuff Thu/Fri.

I'm still not feeling great. The sore throat has gone but I still have a bit of a cold or something. A few days to shake it off and I'll be good to go.

I'm loving the snooker at the moment. I'm glued to it. The quarter final line-up is incredible. I'd love to see Ronnie win it again. Plus he's a decent runner so that's who I'm cheering for.

Long Run

Started out at Dangan with Brian and Owen before heading into town and meeting up with a few regulars for the Cathedral Run. Pace was a little slow so we went off the front and upped the pace a bit.

Finished off back at Dangan around the fields to get the distance up and finished in 1:57:23 for a total of 26.7kms (4:24/km). Pretty tired come the end.

A total of 116.2km for the week. Very happy with how it has all gone. Easy week next week.

Double brace

Same old, same old. The 4th time I have done this run thia week. This time a good bit slower in 59:54 for the 14.4kms (4:10's). Lovely warm conditions for running.

Dreading it

One of the sessions I wasn't looking forward to. I was down for 3 x 2 miles but I didn't have a local 2 mile route mapped out so I reverted to my 3.6km time trial course. So I'd already upsized to 2 and a quarter miles...

It was quite windy and my thought process was that I wanted the benefit of the wind (not my own) for 2 of the 3 efforts. With the wind direction that meant a short warm-up (2km) and a longer warm-down (4km). That would have been the other way round with the wind in the opposite direction. Confused?

I wanted to run at HMP so to run the 3.6km in 12 minutes exactly would be about right. The first one felt fairly comfortable and I was surprised at the time of 11:42 (3:15/km). I decided on 2 minutes recovery of mainly walking whilst thinking "what the hell am I doing here". The start of the second rep and you could notice a big difference running into the wind. Trying to run relaxed but it was a real effort and with the long final stretch to my starting point which arrived in 11:50 (3:17/km). Happy as.

The third rep felt tough for the first couple of minutes but then I started to come good. That continued for most of the effort. Oh for that to happen more often. The final 2 minutes were a bit tougher and I finished with a 11:44 (3:16/km). So slightly slower than the first one but all in all very consistent.

All 3 inside my target. Not sure if that's good or not? I finished up with a 4km warm-down so all up 16.7km for the day in a running time (ignoring recovery) of 1:02:31 (average pace of 3:45/km).

The 3 efforts (10.8km) totalled 35:16 so a tough session. Especially for my lily livered low mileage legs. That pace equates to 32:39 for 10km - albeit with 4 minutes recovery thrown in...

Another good session in the bag. Still not feeling great but it doesn't seem to be hindering my training.

Hattrick

Still not feeling great this week. The sore throat persists and a bit of a cold but still out for my daily run. More glorious running weather. Quite warm still as I headed out at 8pm for the same run as on Mon/Tue.

Today it felt really good. I was quick at all my checkpoints and finished in 57 minutes exactly for the 14.4km. That equates to 3:57 per km. That's a PB for this easy run.

On Friday I'm going to run 3 x 2 miles at HMP. Saturday easy and long on Sunday. Then take it fairly easy next week before the half.

Track kms/400s

Arrived at Dangan and managed to squeeze in a 2km warm-up before the session. Conditions were drizzly and a little cold but all in all not too bad for running.

The session consisted of sets of 1km, 60 seconds recovery, 400m, 90 seconds recovery. The plan was to run 6 sets so 8.4km of fast running in total. I wanted to run the kms at 5km target pace and the 400s at 3 minute/km pace.

Times for the efforts were as follows:

3:10 1:11
3:06 1:13
3:07 1:13
3:06 1:12
3:05 1:11
3:04 1:10

The 90 seconds recovery was maybe a little too long. This would have been a much tougher session if that was reduced to 60 seconds. Still I'm pretty happy with how I ran and nice to get the times for the km reps down from the slowish start.

I finished up with a 4.8km warm-down. All up 15.2kms of running. A good session in the bank.

Snap

The same run as yesterday. This time a little slower in 58:34 for the 14.4kms (4:04/km).

More glorious weather this evening. My only grumble would be the large number of flying insects around at this time of year. Swallowing flies isn't pleasant but I guess it saves you having to have supper.

Volume week

Wasn't feeling great today. A sore throat so I decided a run would sort me out. I headed out just before 8pm and ran my local 14.4km double-loop course in a time of 57:48 (4:01/km). The run felt good but the sore throat remains.

The aim this week is to up my kms. The target is 100 clicks with a couple of speed sessions thrown in plus a long run on Sunday.

Half way through watching the London Marathon...

Coole Park 10km

A good crowd today. Much bigger than expected with over 500 runners toeing the line. The start was delayed a bit due to the numbers but that gave me a bit of time to chat to the regulars and get a better idea of the course. Talking of which it was predominantly forest trail which I knew would be tough for me but I was keen for a good hit-out in the glorious hot weather.

The race was underway and I went straight to the front with 2 other runners just behind. The start of the race was on the road leading into the park and at about the 1km mark (which passed in 3:10), we hit the forest trail. I knew one of the other runners Michael (from Clare) as we've had a few good battles this year, but the other guy I didn't know (until the finish).

The trail was pretty wide and was mainly loose gravel so it wasn't too bad. That said, it was constant ups and downs with a few sharp turns along the way which doesn't suit my running style. Through 2km the pace had slowed (3:20) but the effort level was certainly up there. This is how it continued with one of the runners dropping off between 2km and 3km, leaving myself and Michael to fight it out.

The 3rd km showed a split of 3:17 and I continued to lead with Michael on my shoulder. That's how it remained through the 4th km (3:22) and it was about this time that I was happy to swap positions.

At about this time I think neither of us were keen to push the pace. A bit of cat and mouse with a few little surges, but we basically stuck together. The pace was quick enough but I think it was a case of holding back a little in preparation for the finish. The splits through 5km to 8km were all in the 3:20's range and the course remained challenging making it tough to get into any sort of rhythm.

Shortly after 8km we crossed a path and were greeted by a long uphill drag. And that's where my wheels fell off. Undone again by the hills. I soldiered on and was probably gapped by about 5 seconds in pretty quick time. Michael must have sensed I was struggling and continued to pull away in the 9th km. My legs were very tired and I knew the race was slipping away. The 9th km showed a split of 3:23 and to my relief the last section looked pretty flat. I threw everything into the last km and for about 400m I was definitely closing. But I didn't have that extra gear to surge the last 600m and Michael maintained the gap. The final section saw us coming through a gate followed by a sharp turn then one final turn before crossing the line in 33:20 (a 3:12 last km).

So second place and just 7 seconds behind the winner. Pretty happy with the run as my legs felt tired and the course didn't suit me today. Great organisation and just happy to be out there in what turned out to be a good race.

I finished up doing a warm-down with Gary who was the mystery runner in 3rd. All up 16km for the day and that makes it 88.9km for the week.

So my run of sub 33's for 10km comes to an end but I've had a good week nonetheless running every day and with some quicker stuff on 3 separate days. This should help me for my next half marathon in 2 weeks time in Limerick. It's all part of the bigger picture!

I have the London Marathon recorded so will watch that this evening. I've heard a few reports and it sounds like a great race. After watching it I just know I'll want to run another one...

Thinking rubbish

Having overdone it on the sauce last night, today's run was a struggle. I set out late afternoon and did my standard loop, plus a bit extra to get 12kms in the bank. The time was 52:25 so that's 4:20's which I suppose is quite slow by current standards. I was convinced I'd injured my left Achilles but come the end of the run it didn't feel too bad. One of the worst runs of the year. Fingers crossed I'll be okay for tomorrow.

It's amazing the rubbish you think about whilst running. Some days it's nothing, but today I was mulling over the scenario of being offered a spot for the London Marathon which is being run tomorrow, and what time I could potentially run with one days preparation. I settled on 2hr 45. Perhaps that was the beer from the night before talking...anyway, I've retired from running marathons so it was purely hypothetical...

Good luck for anyone running London tomorrow and not just thinking about it. A few of my old sparring partners from Sydney are making the trip over so it will be interesting to see how they go.

Time precious

I had a spare hour and I wanted to squeeze in a session so I decided to run a slightly longer version of my normal 9.5km loop to allow for a 3km warm-up.

I was undecided what to do as I jogged to the start. Initially I was thinking 1 x 12 minute tempo, then I upped that to 1 x 15 minute tempo, but then decided that was going to be too much like hard work so settled for 3 x 5 minute efforts with 60 seconds jog recovery.

The first couple of efforts were uneventful. I was running well with the benefit of the wind and would be running around 3:10/km pace. Coincidentally, at the start of my 3rd 5 minute effort I was exactly 3.6km into the session (12 minutes divided by 3.6 = average pace of 3:20/km including the 2 x 1 minute jogs). Pretty good going.

The 3rd effort was a lot tougher. Running into the wind and I'd say the pace had dropped to around 3:25/km. Then as easy jog home for the remainder of the loop.

All up 10.6km in 41:36 so an average pace of 3:55/km.

Heading out tonight in town to watch Paddy Casey. A few beers and live music and I'm as happy as a cod in a sea of batter. Easy run tomorrow then race on Sunday.

Premier League Darts

Same run as Monday. Time 38:35.

Legs were a bit sore this morning after the 'sprints' from the previous evening but improved in time for tonight's run.

Just finished watching the darts again this evening. Not the best standard tonight but still enjoyable. The things I've enjoyed most since moving to Ireland are (in no particular order): the long evenings, the pubs, open fires and the darts. Oh yeah, almost forgot, being closer to my family...

Also, the results were up today for the nationals from the weekend. I finished 16th in the 10km and the Galway City Harriers finished 12th in the team event. Here's a photo:

Something different

Back to the track tonight. After a longish 6.4km warm-up, it was time to knock out 20 x 200s with 30 seconds recovery.

I quite like these short sharp sessions. I haven't done anything like this in years. The going got a bit tough in the second half of the set, but I was always in control and could have done a few more. Times were as follows:

33/34/34/33/34/33/34/33/33/32/33/32/32/31/32/32/32/32/32/32

Average of just under 33 seconds so happy with that.

I finished up with a 6.4km warm-down. All up 16.8km for the day.

Hour

Out for 14.4km this evening. Quite cold but soon warmed up and glorious for running if the truth be known. The time was 58:19 which equates to 4:03 per click. Like yesterday, I felt really good.

My last three 10km races have all been under 33 minutes so I'm consistent if nothing else (32:44, 32:48 and 32:54). Going back a bit further, I've run six 10km races in the last 12 months (slowest 33:24, quickest 32:44, average 32:58). Again, pretty consistent. Note to self - must try and get quicker. Starting this weekend....

Keep on running

I headed out the door at 8pm for my 9.5km loop. The legs felt as fresh as a daisy, as if I hadn't raced the day before. I picked the pace up a bit and covered off the run in 38:19 (4:02/km). Feeling good.

How short the running memory is. At the time of the race I was absolutely flat stick for the full 10km but today I had many thoughts that perhaps I had given up a bit at the business end of the race. Also, I watched the race today on the TV and had to laugh when the female winner had said that the hills weren't that bad really and that she was just jogging the first half of the race. I wish I could jog at 3:12/km pace. Oh to be young again.

Great Ireland Run

Arrived in Dublin and was greeted with very warm conditions of over 20 degrees. After picking up my race number, then getting rid of bags, I did a bit of a warm-up and a few strides before watching the start of the women's race (I didn't realise it was a separate race for the elite/club women).

The men had to wait a further 20 minutes and despite being told to take on plenty of water, there was none freely available at the start. I did finally find some water at one of the charity stalls - much needed by this stage as I was dehydrating fast. I decided against any further warm-up and was soon lining up at the start.

The club runners were at the front of the race next to the elites so we were guaranteed a good start. To my surprise I found myself next to a celebrity runner (Craig Gazey) and we had a bit of a chat about running before the horn sounded. I was quickly into my running and the first section was very flat and fast. I had missed the first km marker and after navigating a roundabout, the course remained fast and I was soon running through 2km in 6:18. There was a nice group of half a dozen runners or so which I was part of. So far so good.

The third km was a slower 3:19 and it didn't feel like I had slowed so I was guessing that the km markers were a bit dodgy. Pressing on the 4th km was a nice quick section and with a km split of 3:04 I was back on track. The next km was a big downhill and at the bottom of the hill we rounded a corner only to be greeted by the first big climb. The 5th km marker passed shortly after and my split of 3:08 meant I was 15:50 at halfway and bang on target pace. That's a 5km road PB as well - but not claimable as it was very much flat/downhill. Moving on.

As I got into this first climb I knew I was in trouble. The group were working away from me and I had nothing. I kept grinding away and after what seemed like 500m, I had finally reached the summit. On the subsequent flats I felt okay, and to my surprise I managed to work my way back to the group which was starting to spread out. The 6th km was a 3:22 so I had slowed but I knew there were more hills to come which were going to hurt. Halfway through the next km we were climbing again up a very long drag that seemed to go on forever. At about the halfway point of the climb I had arrived at km 7 in 3:27. All I wanted now was for this to be over.

I can't recall too much at this point, the group had spread out and it felt like I was running in slow motion. The heat and hills had really knocked me. The 8th and 9th kms passed with splits of 3:23 and 3:37 (insert swear word) and I somehow managed to put in a strong last km along the longest flattest finishing straight I can ever recall. I crossed the line in 32:54 and was absolutely spent. Nothing left in the tank. I was 26th overall and 4th in the 35-39 age category. Not sure of my placing yet in the Irish Champs.

I was initially disappointed with the run but on reflection I was only 10 seconds slower than my road PB on a challenging course in warm conditions. Everyone I knew ran much slower than they were expecting in the region of 40 seconds to one minute. It's obvious that I still can't run well on hills but my lack of training on hills would explain that. I didn't think the heat would be a factor as I was used to it in Oz, but sadly that wasn't the case today.

I was trying to think of a course to compare this to. The only thing I could come up with would be like running the Lane Cove 10km course in reverse. Maybe. Perhaps Lane Cove would be slightly more challenging.

No warm-down. Too spent. A few beers in the evening and I was already planning my next 10km race which will happen in the next week or so. Sub 32:30 is there, I just need to be patient. I remain upbeat.

Great performances from the 2 British girls to go 1-2 in the women's race. Charlotte Purdue won in 32:42 and left some very experienced runners in her wake. She is only 19 and is already being described as the next Radcliffe. Great to see. Gemma Steele in second place only a few seconds behind.

Rest day

No running today. Just taking it easy. I practiced my darts for a while and hit a couple of 180's - and I have a witness.

Lots of good runners tomorrow in the race. A very good chance of getting chicked as Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) is running with a 10,000m PB of 30:04! Also some top male elites competing including Sergey Lubid and Rui Silva.

Looking forward to the run and currently having the usual negative thoughts before a big race. I've restricted myself to 2 beers tonight - that's how serious I'm taking this one. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend. There are a few races on in Ireland plus there are a couple of big marathons on in Paris and Rotterdam so good luck to anyone taking part.

An easy 40 minutes

My last run before Sunday's race. An easy 9.5km in 38:58 (4:06/km). I felt really tired today so I think the rest day tomorrow is much deserved.

Here's a photo from the 5km on Wednesday:

An easy hour

A local run of 14.4km in 59:02 (4:06/km). The long evenings have well and truly kicked in now. I left home at 7:30pm and there was still plenty of light at the end. Nice weather also with the wind finally having dropped.

Thoughts now turn to Sunday's 10km. As mentioned previously, it's a tough last 5km so it's all about putting time in the bank in the first half. Assuming a 40 second positive split I think splits of 15:50/16:30 (32:20) would be about right. That pace is similar to what I ran on Wednesday and I must say it felt far from comfortable. Lets hope it all falls into place on the day...

I suppose I have to mention McMillan. Based on my recent 10 miler (53:20), he is predicting a time of 31:50. So is my target of 32:20 a bit soft? Maybe but I feel I haven't done enough out and out speedwork to get to that time. If it does happen then I will be pleasantly surprised, and after that drunk.

Run with Ray 5km

I arrived just in time to pick up my race number. I did a bit of a warm-up (approx 2km) and made my way to the start. Just going back a bit, the concept for the race was a tie in with the Today FM radio station and one of their DJ's Ray Darcy who was promoting running on his show. A 5km race was organised in 5 different locations around Ireland all to be run this week with Ray running each day. Today was the turn of Galway. There were close to 800 people registered for the fun run so a good crowd. It was all about getting out there and having a go. The course itself was an out and back 5km route along the coastline.

Anyway, soon we were underway running into a very stiff wind. I took the lead after about 100m and tried to push on. But it was bloody tough. After a couple of minutes I only had a few metres on the field and I was ready to give up. My mind set at this point was to simply get to the turnaround point in one piece and hope for a much easier second half.

There were no km markers during the race so there was no feedback on pace. After about 1km I was joined by the lead cyclist and I tried to stick as close to him as possible. A roundabout, followed by a few twists and turns and it was time to make the turn for home.

What a difference that made. I was now flying. I'd opened up a bit of a gap so I just focused on running relaxed. There was quite a bit of traffic as I was running against all the runners coming the other way. There was no issue though as the lead cyclist and volunteers had done an excellent job of keeping the path clear. Soon I was making the final turn and after a 400m dash I has crossed the finishing line in first place. The clock in the finishing gantry showed 15:50 which I was really pleased with. That joy was short-lived as my own watch showed 16:05. Yes, the official clock was 15 seconds slow! No big deal though. I'd say I was running about 20 seconds per km quicker in the second half of the race so that gives you an idea of the wind factor.

I had to rush off at the end to get back to the kids. I had a brief chat with a few regulars then had a 1km jog back to the car. All up 8km and a great experience.

In the evening I did an 8km recovery run to flush out the legs. Time 35:37. I'll take it easy Thursday and Friday, rest on Saturday, before the 10km on Sunday.

Beer and chocolate

I ran my local 9.5km loop in 38:11 (4:01/km). Windy again but I pushed on and felt good.

There's a 5km fun run in the city tomorrow lunchtime that I've signed up for. I was thinking of using it as a race pace hit-out for the 10km on Sunday. The problem is that it's right on the coast so the 5km loop will mean at least half of the lap will be windy. Plus it's a fun run so I don't think too many people will be taking it seriously. We shall see.

I just watched Spurs get shellacked. Not good. I've consoled myself with beer and Easter eggs...I think I need to race tomorrow to pick up my spirits...

Easy 10km

The poor run of weather continues. I was out the door at 8:30pm and it was cold, wet and windy. Then some 41 minutes and 19 seconds later I had completed my run. Glad to get home for a hot shower then a bowl of cornflakes (crunchy nut).

Retribution

Time to cancel out the night before...the same run as last Sunday. A 17.6km run in 1:14:50 which works out to 4:15/km. That's not bad but nearly 4 minutes slower than last week! Can't think why?

A total of 74.5km for the week.

A divil for the sup

Woke up feeling ordinary. I decided to head out and get 2 x 12 minute efforts under the belt. After a 3.4km warm-up, I was straight into it. I was using the same course I've used in the past for this session. I have a 3.6km route marked out, and anything more than that distance in the 12 minutes means you are going alright.

The outward section is probably tougher than the return as it's a little more uphill. But today I had the benefit of a strong wind on my back and it felt so easy. I reached my 3.6km safety point in 11:30 (new PB - 3:12/km) and ran on for the full 12 minutes. Then after 3 minutes or wobbling around, it was time to do it in reverse. Wow, suddenly very tough. It felt so slow and there was at least a dozen points when I thought about stopping. But I soldiered on and after 12 minutes of pain I still hadn't reached the 3.6km point. So I decided to keep going and finally knocked off the 3.6km in 12:07 (3:22/km). So 37 seconds slower for the same point-to-point effort. I finished up with a 2.3km warm-down so 13km for the day.

Then in the evening it was into Galway for a pub crawl. Too much fun to be had and finished up in true style in Supermacs. Solid training.

Mum's home

No running today. Pub and food instead. Lovely.

Thursday

An easy loop of my local run. The 9.5kms was covered in 39:46. It was very windy during the last section of the loop heading towards Galway and that cost me about a minute over the last 2km. Good for strength.

Who knows what training I can squeeze in over the weekend. At the very least I'd like to get a tempo run in and a longer run.

Getting it done

My weekly trip to the track fell through due to other commitments so my new training window was 8:30pm. It was raining and there was a bit of wind about, plus I was going to have to try and run some intervals under street lights. Any sane person would have pulled the pin.

During a 2.2km warm-up, I decided to run some 400's. As part of the warm-up I marked out a section of the N17 that looked to be about 400m (with lampposts as my start and end point). After a few strides it was time to get this over with.

The first effort was a feeler (running towards the city into a wind). The time was 84 seconds so clearly it was more than 400m. At least that is what I was telling myself. I continued on changing direction after each effort with the luxury of one minute walk/slow shuffle recovery. Coming back I was 81 seconds (wind on the back). That pattern continued throughout the set of 16 with me running the return leg slightly quicker. The wind picked up a little throughout which made the outward section tougher. Looking at the times I averaged 82 seconds and the effort level felt like I was running at 3 minute km pace so I guess the actual distance to be closer to 450m. So clearly I have no idea how to mark out a 400m distance.

I finished up with a 5km warm-down. All up 14.4km for the session and lots of strange looks from other users of the footpath...

Tuesday

A carbon copy of yesterday's 10km run. This time I was 8 seconds quicker (40:46). Lots of runners about at the moment, it must be the longer evenings.

I have my entry confirmed for the Great Ireland Run on April 10th in Dublin which doubles up as the Irish National 10km road championships. It should be a great race and I think they are expecting over 10,000 runners so it should be of a high standard. Thankfully the club runners get to start near the front. It's a quick first 5km, then a grind to the finish (so I've been told). A positive split of at least 30 seconds is to be expected...

Monday

The same 10km run as last Monday. The time was 40:54 and again felt really easy. The calf feels back to normal so I'll resume proper training with a track session on Wednesday.

With less than 2 weeks to go before the 10km in Dublin, I'm a little short on time to get in some decent speed sessions. Plus my Mum is visiting this weekend from Spain and being her first trip to Ireland will mean that there will be a spike in the local pub trade. Which is nice. The sub 32 may have to wait...excuses, excuses...

Running on

I did my local "long run" of 17.6km in 1:11:08 (4:02/km). Another glorious day for running and today it felt really easy. The calf is almost back to normal and after getting my muscles ironed out in the week I think my stride is now a few inches longer. Or perhaps it was the beer from the previous evening...

A total of 70.3km for the week.

Cricket rubbish, football good

Out for a bit longer today. Another local run of 14.4km consisting of my normal loop with a smaller 5km loop added on. Time 59:46 (4:09/km).

There is a new chicane on my standard run - the Claregalway bridge is being widened to reduce the chance of flooding so there is a new temporary bridge for traffic and pedestrians (runners) whilst the work is being done. It must add at least a couple of metres to my standard route...

I'll try a longer run tomorrow. Calf still tight but on the improve.

Baby steps

I ran late afternoon in more glorious weather. My local 9.5km route in 38:27 (4:03/km). There was no pain in the calf but it was still a little tight. A good result.

I'll take it easy for the rest of the week before doing a 2 week crash course in speedwork in prep for the 10km in Dublin. It's the national champs so it will be a great race...time for a sub 32?

Massage

I managed to get a massage at short notice. All the muscles were screaming. But I didn't complain once.

No running today. I'll be back on the road tomorrow...

Track session

Out to Dangan tonight. Another fabulous evening. Almost like being back in Sydney...

After a 10 minute warm-up, the session was 1200's off one minute recovery. The target was 8km race pace. So that was 3:48 per effort for me (3:10/km pace) but I wasn't going to be too bothered if I wan a bit slower as I was still not fully recovered from the weekend.

The times were as follows:

3:51, 3:50, 3:49, 3:49

The plan was to do 6 efforts but the left calf was becoming progressively tight/sore throughout the session so I pulled the pin after 4. Definitely time for a massage. Hopefully I haven't done any lasting damage - we shall see over the next few days.

I changed shoes and ran a slow 2km warm-down to finish with. All up 9.3km for the session.

Improving your marathon time

This is in response to a question posed by Ian on how I went about improving my marathon time from sub 3 to sub 2:30 in the past 5 years. Here goes.

Keeping things simple, the keys to my training which have led to the improvement in time would be:

1) Consistency - don't get too caught up on running massive kms. I average about 80 to 90 kms per week in the build up to a marathon. This reduces risk of injury, keeps the body fresh, and allows you to monitor progress as you repeat similar sessions. Not having to miss sessions builds confidence.

2) Get your basic sessions in each week. A big (read massive) turning point for me was starting to run track in 2007 - with the aim of improving speed through all the race distances (the quicker you can run a lap, the quicker you will run a marathon). In addition I would do regular races (failing that tempo runs) - my philosophy is that races push you much more than you will in other sessions. Plus the bread and butter long run (between 2 and 2 and a half hours with varying amounts at marathon pace). I have also done some longish mid-week runs in the past, focusing on hilly routes, to develop leg strength. Plus recovery runs when required. And don't be stupid - if you're feeling tired, take a rest day.

3) Weight. Since I've been running marathons my weight has dropped 7kgs or so. No surprise that the more weight I have lost, the quicker my times have become. I haven't taken this to the extreme, nor do I intend to, but a few kgs can make a big difference over 42.2kms.

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head but I'd say the above sums up my improvement in a nutshell.

Anyway, today I did another easy run. My 9.5km local loop in 39:06. It was a fabulous late afternoon for a run. The sun was shining and it was 16 degrees. How good is that? And my calf seems a little better. All good.

Recovery Run

Legs sore today. I feel like I've been stabbed in the left calf. So out for a run to try and run it off. A very easy jaunt of 10km in 46:14. No improvement post run. I'll be right after a few days...

I'll try and add a few photos over the next few days. Here's one to start with:

Craughwell Ten

Arrived in good time to pick up my race number. The whole set-up was very impressive and well organised. Lots of volunteers on hand to help out and a great finishing area that included a huge marquee full of food. For a moment I thought I had gatecrashed a wedding. Very promising.

I hadn't planned on doing much of a warm-up as I wanted to save my legs. I ran down to the start which was about 1km and then did a few strides before lining up for the start. Soon the countdown was underway and 5-4-3-2-1 we were off. Racing at Craughwell.

One guy went straight to the front leaving me in second. The start was running into the wind but you didn't notice it straight away as the adrenaline is flowing. I settled into a good rhythm and whilst the leader was quickly disappearing up front, I was running on my lonesome in second. The first mile passed in 5:09 (way too quick). Only 9 miles to go...

The course itself was an out and back section of well over a mile, with a loop stuck on the end. I haven't described that very well. It was like a lollipop. So you ran the first section twice (start and finish) with the 10 miles being made up with the big loop. Confused?

By the second mile I had slowed a lot. I could feel I was running slower as the wind was more noticeable but the mile split of 5:30 was an indication it could be a tough day. I kept plugging away and it was some way before the 3rd mile that I was joined by Paul who seemed to move up on me effortlessly. I decided to stick with him and we then preceded to have an almighty battle...

I don't recall too much of the detail mile by mile. We both took many turns running at the front. The pattern was that I would lose ground on the uphill drags, and then make up ground on the flat/downhill sections. One hill session in 9 months will do that. Anyway, the 3rd mile passed in 5:24 so at least I had picked up the pace slightly. Having someone to race with makes such a difference, it keeps you focused. The 4th mile was a 5:22 and we were still shoulder to shoulder. This continued over mile 5 and with a split of 5:28 it was halfway in a time of 26:53.

At this point I was feeling far from good. My immediate thought was that a sub 54 finish was not going to happen. The legs were very heavy, and the calves (left especially) felt like I was in the closing stages of a marathon. So what do you do in this situation? Try a big surge? So with a huge effort I dropped in a quick mile of 5:11 and I managed to open up a little gap. That was a grand plan in theory but it still meant I had 4 miles to go. At least I was now running with the benefit of the wind.

Sure enough more hills followed and within the next mile Paul had caught me again. The 7th mile was a 5:20 so still going alright despite feeling crap. I may have tried another surge in the 8th mile - a last throw of the dice - but still we were running side by side. The split was a quick 5:15 and that was me done and dusted.

Paul started to work away from me from this point leaving me in 3rd spot. At the back of my mind I still knew there was a nasty drag in the last mile so I'd all but given up on 2nd place. So 2 miles to go, that's 8 laps of the track. All of a sudden that felt like a huge distance. Why do you put yourself through this?

I think somewhere in the 9th mile I rejoined the same part of the course I had already run with a sharp left turn. The 9 mile marker slowly arrived with a split of 5:22 with Paul less than 10 seconds in front of me. The dreaded hill came and went and with 800m to go I really tried running hard but was fighting a losing battle. So I just decided to "enjoy" the final section and attempted a few smiles which probably looked like grimaces to any of the spectators in the finishing chute.

I crossed the line in 53:20 (a 5:19 last mile). That time was extremely pleasing. That's exactly 5:20 per mile with a big negative split of 26 seconds in the second 5 miles (mainly due to the wind?). According to McMillan that's a better run than my half from the previous week (1:10:50). So that's especially pleasing considering my legs were very tired in the closing stages of today's race.

I really enjoyed the day, especially the 5 miles of racing with Paul. At the finish area I had to get a massage on my left calf which had reduced me to a slight limp. I need to toughen up. I'll be okay after getting a rub in the next week and resting up for a few days.

Well done to the organisers. You couldn't really ask for more from a runner's perspective. A great course, a huge field, chip timing, t-shirts, massage, drinks, and an all you can eat buffet.

I finished up with a slow 1km hobble. All up 18km for the day and 54.9km for the week. And more beer tonight to celebrate.

I should say a special congratulations to the winner of the race. In a time of 49:12! That's a very impressive time. Well done indeed.

Family Day

Today was zero running. The clan headed into Galway for a spot of shopping and I got a go faster haircut.

It should be a good race tomorrow. I'm hoping there will be half a dozen runners or so around the 54 minute mark to push each other along. I was 54:12 at the 10 mile mark last week so in an ideal world I'd be hoping to go a bit quicker than that.

Most people give up drink for Lent. I haven't had a dry day since Lent. Not that I'm worried as beer makes you run quicker. Try it.

Friday

A local 9.5km trot in 38:50. I'll rest up tomorrow in preparation for the race on Sunday. That's 3 rest days this week...

I managed to get a spot in the Galway 5km series. Looking forward to that.

Fitness test

Today I decided to do a longer run to see how the legs reacted. I opted for 10 miles and I wanted to cruise round in a decent enough time without pushing it.

I covered 16.4kms and my route was basically 3 loops around Claregalway. A 9km, 5km and 2km loop (round numbers). The time was 1:06:49 so 4:04/km.

Legs still a little sore, especially the calves, but I'm happy enough with that. So I've decided to race again this Sunday in the Craughwell 10 miler. I just need to enter now.

Oh yeah, happy St Patrick's Day to all. A lovely day for a Guinness...

More rest

Legs still not feeling right so took another day off. I could get used to this.

Celebrations gearing up for St Patrick's Day on Thursday. I'll see if I can get out for a jog tomorrow to at least build up a thirst.

Back in the saddle

I left the run late. Absolutely no motivation to get out there, and eventually out the door at 8:30pm.

It was very cold - must have been close to freezing. Legs were still sore and heavy and I wobbled around my 11km night run in a slow 47:35 (4:20/km). If I decide to run on Sunday I'll either have a blinder or a shocker...

Monday

No running today. Too sore, tired and hungover.

A bit more time to reflect on the half. I think I could find another minute on a quicker course. Then I'm getting very close to the 70 minute mark. I plan to run 3 or 4 more halfs before the year is out so hopefully better things still to come.

Hopefully some photos to follow soon.

This week I'll do some easy running. If I feel okay towards the end of the week I may then run the Craughwell 10 mile race on Sunday.

Norwich Half Marathon

Weather seemed okay. It had been raining overnight but had cleared by the morning. The temperature was around 11 degrees so all was well.

I got to the race about an hour early. After a cup of coffee, and a short warm-up with a few strides, it was time to start racing. I was standing in the second row and got a pretty good start and quickly joined the lead group. We stuck together as we did a section around the showground before exiting onto the main road. The first mile passed in 5:06 so that was way too quick and I panicked a little and let the group get away from me to leave me in 4th place.

The course itself was 2 laps so you got a good feel for the course on the first lap. The start of the lap was fairly flat, then there was a downhill section before a long gradual climb back up to the showground.

The second mile passed with me running solo in 4th place in a split of 5:15. Again too quick. I was then joined by 2 other runners who must have started conservatively and was quickly overtaken by both of them to leave me in 6th place. So I was back running by myself and the miles ticked by with splits of 5:34, 5:19 (downhill) and 5:25 (target pace). So 26:39 at the 5 mile marker. I should mention that there was a fair bit of wind on the course. The flat/downhill section seemed to be into a very stiff breeze, with the benefit of the wind on the uphill section. Not ideal for racing.

The long climb into the showground was a really tough drag. My mile split was 5:31 but it felt a good bit slower. Then we had to do a few loops through the showground running on mainly path but with a section on the grass for about 100m. I was glad to get back onto the road and whilst one of the runners who had overtaken me was a good way in the distance, I seemed to be closing in on the 5th placer runner.

The 7th mile was passed with another 5:31 mile so I was slowing a little. Sure enough I caught the 5th place runner and went in front and the runner behind me seized the opportunity to stick to me like glue leaving me doing all the work into the wind. I must have tried at least half a dozen surges to drop him but couldn't shake him off.

Miles 8,9 and 10 passed in 5:31, 5:34 and 5:26 and my shadow was still there. He was running so close he clipped my heels a few times which was frustrating but that's racing. The time on the clock at 10 miles was 54:12 so that was bang on target despite starting the race too quick.

Mile 11 was the dowhnill section and despite a really quick surge for about 200m I still couldn't drop the runner behind me. The split was 5:23 but felt a lot quicker - I still felt strong but lacked a bit of speed in the legs.

The 12th mile was the long drag back to the showground. A very tough section and I think I subconsciously slowed a little to save myself for a quick last mile. The mile split was the slowest of the race in 5:44. Time to press for home.

To my surprise after only lifting the pace a little, I had finally dropped the runner behind me. I continued to surge on for what felt like 3 minutes but was probably only half that time. The last section was twists and turns and lapping the slower runners. I was really struggling with half a mile to go but managed to keep it going to cross the line in 5th place in 1:11:15 (the last 1.1 miles covered in 5:56). The clock under the finish line was 20 seconds fast so initially I thought I had broken 71 minutes only for that joy to be short-lived after I looked at my own watch!

So very happy with the race and time. That's a 39 second PB on a challenging course with a tough wind to deal with. The winner ran 1:08:23 and the second place runner ran 1:09:02. Apparently the second place guy had run 65 minutes at the Bath half the previous week so that goes to show how tough the course was. The runner I had a duel with had run 67 before so that was a good scalp.

I finished up with a short warm-down. All up 23.1km for the day.

Total 75.3kms for the week.

Saturday

A nice and relaxing day. In the pub at 3pm for darts and cards. I had a couple of pints and lost to my Dad at darts 10-8 after being 8-7 up. Not good. Then I won at cards so that just about made up for it.

Then out for a meal in the evening before meeting a few more mates in another pub. In bed by 11pm.

Training done

My final training run. A 7km jaunt in the cold (5 degrees) and rain in a time of 30:23. Glad just to knock this run off and enjoy the rest day tomorrow.

Travel tonight and maybe a few beers en route.

I'll be offline until Monday night but the results of the half should be up on the website after Sunday's race:

http://www.cityofnorwichhalfmarathon.com/

The target remains at 71 minutes. Go out hard and hang on - my only race plan.

Good luck to anyone who is racing this weekend. Especially those doing the 6ft track race in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney. This race enjoys cult status and after watching the race 3 times I must say I still have no desire to do it! Here's the website if you are interested:

http://www.sixfoot.com/

TTFN.

Thursday

An easy run during daylight hours for a change. My 9.5km route was covered off in 39:29 (4:09/km).

Weather forecast not looking great for Sunday - rain and wind. Still, it's the same for everyone.

On track, off track, on track

Weather changeable. Clear one minute, windy and raining the next. Galway weather.

A 30 minute warm-up (estimate 6.5km). Then after a few drills and strides it was into the start of the session. It was 4 x 400's off 1 minute, followed by 15 mins tempo, finishing with 4 x 400's. The luxury of 3 minutes either side of the tempo with the 400's to be run on the track, and the tempo run around the football pitches.

Times were as follows:

1st set of 400's: 72/72/70/68

15 mins tempo - not sure of distance, I covered 3 full laps of the course in 13 minutes, plus the extra 2 mins. I'll call it 4.3km - could have been a little more.

2nd set of 400's: 70/67/66/64

Finished with a 2km warm-down - all up 16km - happy enough. The tempo was to be run at 10km race pace and it certainly wasn't (slower) - but I just can't get the legs moving on the grass/paths. Having said that, I was pushing them hard so the effort level was certainly up there. The last couple of 400's were a bit too quick but felt comfortable (ish).

So a few easy runs the next couple of days and a rest day on Saturday. Training done. Am I feeling confident? Definitely not - but that's perfectly normal. I'm certainly running well at the minute and I've trained almost as hard for this race as a full marathon so hopefully it all pays off on Sunday.

More importantly, a good win (draw) for the Spurs! Hopefully avoid Barca in the next round...

Easy running

Another local night run. Only 8.0km today in 34:23 (4:18's). Weather not great - windy and a few icy showers to deal with. Tick the session off and move on. Track tomorrow.

Here is a photo from the recent Kilconeiron race. Great work again from the photographer!

Tuning up

Tonight was some running at target half marathon pace - 2 x 2.4km broken up with 1.6km of steady running. Again I was running in the dark so was forced to use the footpath along the main road - far from ideal. My course was a 1.4km out/1km back section of road which was fairly flat and obviously had a sharp switch of direction at the turnaround point.

Following a 2.6km warm-up, I went straight into the session. The first interval passed without incident in 7:51 (3:16/km pace). After the next 1.6km of steady running, I knocked out the second one in 7:54 (3:18/km pace). Both felt pretty comfortable. Finished off with a 2.7km warm-down.

Thinking about it, I ran these a little too quick. That pace is more like my current 10km pace. Whoops. So what is my half marathon target pace? I think 3:22/km would be sensible. That would have me going through 10km in 33:40 and if I could maintain that pace it would equate to 1:11:02 at the finish line. This plan is liable to change over the next few days....

End of another week

Another late night run. More running up and down the N17 many times over. Total distance 20.3kms in 1:26:29 (4:15's).

So that's 97.1kms for the week. I missed doing some longer tempo efforts this week so I may try and squeeze that session in next week. Not a great week of training but a good time in Spain eating and drinking too much!

I checked the results of the Barcelona Marathon and the winner ran 2:07. Slow course - not. That's 3 minute clicks. Clucking bell...

Barcelona

Just back from Barcelona so an update of my running whilst away:

Wed - an easy 46 minute run to find my feet. I ran up and down Diagonal Ave and did a few laps of the grounds of one of the Royal houses. Estimate 10.5kms.

Thu - the plan was to run to the Olympic Stadium. Ideally to do some intervals either on the track or a nice flat section of ground. I got hopelessly lost so decided to turn the run into an easy 70 minutes instead. By the end of the run I had at least worked out where I had gone wrong. Estimate 16kms. That's 4 days of easy running on the trot now...

Fri - visited the Olympic Stadium earlier in the day and there was no access to the track so in desperate need of some intervals I ran into the heart of the city down by the water and ran some flat reps of about 550m off one minute recovery. I did a set of 16 and had the benefit of the wind in one direction. The times were metronome like (1:43 with the wind, 1:47 against, average 1:45). I'm only guessing the distance of 550m based on the time but I was running hard so a 1:45 works out to about 3:10/km pace. All up 17.3km with the warm-up/down.

Sat - another easy run of 49 minutes (estimate 11kms).

Barcelona is a fantastic city - certainly lots to do and despite being there for 4 days, it seems like I was only scratching the surface on seeing what the city has to offer. Highly recommended.

Coincidentally, the Barcelona Marathon was on Sunday and looked very impressive. I visited the expo on Saturday to get a feel for the event but didn't get a chance to watch the actual race as my flight out was early Sunday morning...

Short and sweet

Same run as yesterday. This time a bit slower in 45:27 for the 11km.

Making plans for Norwich

Less than 2 weeks to go. I'm just in the process of finalising my training schedule this week which will involve some shorter intervals and one more tempo session. I just need to juggle the sessions with travel to and from Spain.

Tonight I ran my 11km "night run". More glorious conditions for running and although taking it easy I knocked off the 11kms in 43:47. That's a shade under 4 minutes per km so probably a bit too quick for an easy session.

So why Norwich? It may surprise you that's where I am from (no I am not an Aussie or Kiwi). Look it up and you'll find out all about Colman's mustard, Delia Smith, Carrow (Carrot) Road and Alan Partridge...

Kilconieron 5 Miler

About 30 minute drive to this race. I surprised myself by not getting lost and arriving in plenty of time for registration and a 4km warm-up. A bit of confusion as to whether this was an 8km race or a 5 miler (not that it makes much difference), but after the warm-up I could see the course was marked in miles so 5 miles it was to be.

The weather was glorious. A little breeze but we were bathed in spring sunshine (11 degrees). I listened to the course description over the loudspeaker and headed back to the car to change into my racing flats. It sounded basically flat with nothing to worry about. I'd forgotten my GCH race singlet so I had to make due with another top. No problem.

The countdown was soon underway and we were racing. A good crowd of over 200 I'd say and I went out quickly following the lead car. A slight uphill section at the start, but the course soon flattened out followed by some gradual downhill. The mile markers take their time arriving when you are used to kms but I was pleased to tick off the first mile in 5:01 - time in the bank. No other runners around me and I was soon taking a left turn into a more exposed section. At this point it felt quite breezy but I focused on the lead car and after a few twists and turns over a very flat section the second mile marker was passed with a 5:10 split. Again ahead of schedule and so far so good.

The third mile was a bit of a slog. Again there was some turns and there may have been a slight uphill section into the breeze but nothing too daunting. I certainly did not back off and after another left turn the third mile was passed with a 5:18. Slowing a little but 15:29 with 2 miles to go and I was confident I could find something for the finish.

The fourth mile and I was back on track. A more sheltered part of the course and again predominantly flat and straight with the breeze on the back. This suits my style of running and I had soon knocked off another mile in 5:09. One final push required. The start of the last mile was bloody tough. A long uphill drag that I estimate must have went on for a good 600m. It felt like I was slowing but thankfully the course levelled off and there was a good downhill section to the finish where I really picked up the pace to cross the line in first place in 25:46 (a 5:08 last mile).

Very happy with the time (5:09 per mile or 3:12 per km). According to McM that's equivalent to a 32:18 10km (a big PB) but not where I want to be for the half (1:11:52). But what does he know!

A great day out - well organised and hopefully lots of money raised for charity. I finished up running another lap of the course as a warm-down so all up 20km for the day.

That's 86.9km for the week. Only 2 weeks now until the half so I'll do a few decent sessions next week before a one week taper. I'm off to Barcelona this week for 4 nights for some R&R with the wife and zero kids in tow. Which is nice.

Rest Day

No running today. The body is feeling good at the moment - no excuses at hand. I'm guaranteed a PB tomorrow as I've never run a 5 mile race. I think that's 47m (rounded) more than 8km so about 9 seconds more than an 8km race if you want to compare times. Sub 26 would be a very solid run.

Longer than normal

I decided that tomorrow was to be a freshener upper (today being 20 days of running with no rest). So to compensate I decided to do a longer run to get the weekly miles up.

Same route as Jan 9th. A double loop in Claregalway. I started running at 5pm and there was still plenty of daylight rays by 6:12 and 50 seconds. Distance of 17.6kms (11 miles) at a pace of 4:08/km. Feeling good at the moment.

A few beers tonight. Maybe 10...

Thursday

An easy run on the treadmill - 10km in 41:48 so a carbon copy of last week.

The dreaded 4 lappers

A 6.4km warm-up before some drills and strides. Conditions a little windy around the final bend and finishing straight but not too bad. I wasn't looking forward to this - the plan was to run them at the same pace as my 800's from 2 weeks previous so that meant 5 minutes per effort (round numbers). I had the luxury of 90 seconds recovery which was plenty to start with, but much needed come the business end.

As always with this type of session, I use the first one as a barometer. Run it at a very honest pace and hope that's enough to get you somewhere near the target. If you hit the first one it's a good sign that the session will go well. Miss it and it's going to be a struggle.

Well tonight I had a very good night. Times went as follows:

5:01,4:58,4:56,4:58,4:59

That's my quickest set of 1600's by a long chalk. See below - note all of these were done off 60 seconds recovery so maybe that makes a big difference:

Jun 30th 2010 - 5:19,5:14,5:15,5:10,5:06
Aug 4th 2010 - 5:13,5:12,5:11,5:11,5:09,5:07
Aug 17th 2010 - 5:10,5:10,5:09,5:08,5:08,5:01
Sep 30th 2010 - 5:08,5:07,5:06,4:59
Nov 17th 2010 - 5:34,5:22,5:20,5:20,5:21,5:23
Jan 12th 2011 - 5:22,5:16,5:14,5:14,5:08

Tonight I was running a quick first lap (approx 72 seconds). Then cruising the middle 2 laps before cranking up the pace again the last lap. Not sure if you are supposed to run them at even pace for maximum training benefit - who knows? Anyway, I felt good throughout and always felt like I had another gear.

I finished up with 11 laps warm-down. All up 18.8km for the night.

Hopefully this form translates into a good time on Sunday. Assuming it's a flat course I would like to break 26 minutes.

Tuesday

My local 9.5km route. Time 39:24. Grey and wet with lots of puddles to dodge.

I wish I was on the N17

Well tonight I was. Up and down, up and down. A late night run covering 11km in 44:48 (4:04/km). The run felt really easy. Perfect running conditions helped.

This week I'll do mile reps at the track on Wednesday. Then race on Sunday (a 5 miler - a new distance for me!) and this will double up as a long run. Easy running around those sessions with maybe a rest day thrown in for good measure.

Long Run

Started at 8:30am at Dangan. We did a bit around the football fields before heading into town for the Cathedral run. Very blustery and it felt like you were copping the wind all the way round. Finished by running back to Dangan and tagging a bit more on to get the 2 hours done.

Nice pace - it felt really easy and the time goes so much quicker when you are running with a group. The exact time was 2:04:10 and I was told we covered 16.54 miles. That's 26.6km at a pace of 4:40/km.

A total of 104.9km for the week. Another couple of weeks like this would be nice before a mini-taper for the half.

5km Time Trial

Great conditions in Dangan. I arrived early and ran for a 27 minute warm-up. Then a quick change into my racing flats and it was soon time to line up at the start.

I was targeting 76 second laps which would give me a 15:50. I was hoping that pace would feel manageable and I could put a few seconds in the bank along the journey. There were 7 runners at the start - me, the 2 Brians, Paul, Enda, Barry and Owen. After a bit of banter we were off.

I went straight to the front and settled into a pace that felt comfortable. The first lap was a 74 and I was feeling good. A little headwind as you came off the final bend and along the home straight but nothing to worry about. From then on it's all about keeping your head - concentrating on each lap and trying to keep the pace constant. The first km was a 3:08 so a few seconds in the bag.

The next couple of kms passed without incident. Counting down the laps and feeling like you are running at the same pace only to lose the odd second here and there. The km splits were 3:11 and 3:12 respectively so slowing slightly. Not feeling particularly great at this point - working very hard to try and get close to the 76 second laps. Bloody hell, still 5 laps to go. That suddenly felt like a very long way...

The 4th km was another 3:12. Nothing left in the tank but I managed to find a little turn of speed in the last lap to cross the line in 15:49 (according to the timekeeper although my watch showed 15:50 - always happy to take the quicker time!) So a 3:06 km to finish with.

That pace was certainly not as friendly as I had hoped and had me blowing like a you know what. My initial thought was how the hell did I ran over 30 seconds quicker last year? Perhaps I'm not drinking enough. A great hit-out nonetheless.

I finished up with a 40 minute warm-down run. All up I estimate 19km for the day.

Later on in the day I visited the excellent Amphibian King store in Oranmore to pick up some new Asics DS racers (my prize from last Sunday). Here is the website:

http://www.amphibianking.ie/

Very friendly staff and some great product that would only be available in a specialist running store. If you need to be fitted out for some new runners get yourself down there and they will provide video gait analysis to ensure you get the best fitting shoe.

Junk food and beer to finish off the day.

Friday

More of the same. My local 9.5km loop in 38:52 (3 seconds slower than Tuesday). Weather was cold and raining quite hard. You tell yourself it will be alright once you get out there but to be honest it wasn't pleasant.

No rest before tomorrow's 5km time trial. If I was going for a time then I would have taken a rest day but I think it's important when you are training to do some sessions on tired legs to simulate the end of races. I ran 15:51 on Jan 1st when I was in a very shabby state so I should beat that on the track. Dry and no wind would be nice.

Hello Ireland

I seem to have had a big spike in Irish visitors the last few days! Search engines have a lot to answer for. I can't imagine that anyone would be interested in my daily dose of drivel but I guess time will tell. Anyway, hello to any new readers!

Back to the running...today was a trip to the gym. After paying for my membership I feel obliged to go even though I would much prefer to be running outdoors. Moving on, I did an easy 10km on the treadmill in 41:48 (4:11 per km or 6:44 per mile).

Pyramid Session

A long warm-up of nearly 40 minutes around the various football pitches (estimate 8.5km). Then a few stretches and strides before the pyramid session.

The session was 400/600/800/1000/1200/1000/800/600/400. We were to get 60 seconds between efforts and run them at 3km race pace for the shorter efforts, up to 5km race pace for the longer ones. Perfect conditions on the track - mild with only a slight breeze.

Feeling tired during the warm-up, I was keen to see the back of this. As I like to do in this type of session, I would start a little conservatively and hope to get quicker in the second half. That's pretty much how it panned out but interestingly, I started to feel stronger/more comfortable as I cranked up the pace. Actual times were:

400 - 1:14
600 - 1:49
800 - 2:27
1000 - 3:07
1200 - 3:45
1000 - 3:06
800 - 2:26
600 - 1:48
400 - 1:03

The last 400 was an eyeballs out lap. I ran the first 100m bend in lane 3 so I'm sure it would have been quicker if all in lane 1. That's the quickest I have run in a long time.

I finished up with 10 laps warm-down. All up 19.3km for the night. Easy running the next 2 days before the 5km time trial on Saturday.

Staying local

My 9.5km loop today in 38:49 (4:05's).

How good are Spurs at the moment?!?!

Recovery Run

An easy night run of 11km in 45:51. Same run as last week but 8 seconds quicker. That's 4:10/km pace.

This week's main sessions will be intervals on Wednesday at the track. Then a 5km time trial/race on Saturday morning - again at the track. Not sure yet if I'll run flat-out and go for sub 15:30, or use it as a hit-out for target 10km pace which is just under 16.

Long run planned for Sunday.

Maree 8km

Blessed again with great running conditions. Nice and cool with only a slight breeze. I arrived at the race and was impressed with the set-up. Chip timing, a hat for all competitors, all for the price of 18 Euros.

I did my 4km warm-up running the first 2km of the course then doubling back to the start. There was a hill at 1.5km that lasted for 500m, but that's about as much as I knew. I really should make an effort to look at the course maps before these races rather than running blind each time.

No obvious guns at the start so I was favourite to win. I lined up on the second row which was a schoolboy error. The gun sounded and I was boxed in so had to run the first 400m or so in about 6th or 7th spot. Then the road widened and I took an outside line to close down the leader before moving to the front. Feeling good at this stage and I managed to open up a gap as I crossed the first km in 3:03. I was warned before the race that the km markers were a bit dodgy and it certainly didn't feel like a 3:03. So I ignored it and raced on.

As mentioned, the second km had the 500m climb and I was running strongly and I was surprised to reach the top of the climb with a 3:14 km. Nice, now there was a good downhill section. Pushing on I was starting to really hit my straps. I was following the lead motorbike and although it levelled out a bit, I had knocked off the 3rd km in 3:04. So 9:21 for the first 3km - that's not a bad 3km time.

The next section was very flat with beautiful water views. The sun was out and there was a touch of spring in the air. The motorbike upfront had pulled over which confused me a little but as I ran past him he pointed up the ride. It was at this point I realised it must have been an out-and-back course. So I expected the turnaround to be at the 4km point but no - it came much sooner. After a sharp u-turn I was then running in reverse with all the chasing runners in view. I guess I was about 15 seconds in the lead by this point.

It was immediately apparent that I must have had a slight tailwind on the outward section and after the turn it suddenly felt a lot harder. I was trying to run strong but the legs weren't responding. From feeling great to ordinary in a matter of seconds. Anyway, I was still trying to work out how the course was going to make up the 8km....then the 4th km passed with a 3:26. Not good.

About one km of running against the traffic (with several people blocking the road) I was then directed down a side-road. So it was a different finishing section of sorts. The road at this point was very rough (grass/potholes) and straight away there were several hills when you least wanted them. The 5th km was a 3:19 and I was now hanging on for the finish. More hills and I went into blinker mode wishing to fast forward the next few minutes. Little recollection of the race at this point but it seemed more up than down with kms 6 and 7 passing in 3:26 and 3:21 respectively.

The last km was marked each 200m. Not sure if that was good or not. It felt like an eternity - with 400m to go I kicked and another uphill drag to the finish crossing the line in 26:03 (3:10 last km). Big crowd at the finishing chute for a change!

That's a good time on a tough course. Much more to come on fresh legs. In summary a really good first 3.5km, then I started to struggle. But you can't be too disappointed especially when you are winning races. Over 300 in the race so a decent sized field.

I finished up running the course again with a few of the other runners. I was absolutely shot after this and couldn't wait to get back to the start for some coffee and biscuits (6 chocolate digestives - standard size before you ask). I was presented with my prize envelope which contained a bag of charlie. Well a voucher for a free pair of Asics if I am to be honest.

All up 20km for the day and 94.4km for the week. My only gripe is a slightly sore left hip - I think it's finally time for a massage.

Another local run

My 9.5km route covered in 39:43. Always nice to keep this run under 40 minutes. Windy and cold today - I hope the weather is a bit better tomorrow for the 8km race.

Talking of which, people say there are a few hills and drags but from my experience, in Irish terms that isn't comparable to say the LCNP 10km so should offer up a decent enough chance to run a good time. Anything sub 26:30 I'll be happy enough with. The aim is to get somewhere near 20km done in total by doing a decent warm-up/warm-down.

2 x 12 minutes

I don't like or look forward to these longer sessions. But I believe they are the reason why my running has improved in the last 9 months.

I ran close to 17 minutes warm-up as I ran from the out-laws to the start of my course. The outward section is more uphill (not steep - but some gradual drags) and I started running at a pace that felt quicker than 10km race pace. My first checkpoint (bridge) showed I was running well and I went on to pass the 3.6km mark in 11:41 and I continued running until the 12 minutes was up (so close to 3.7km). I've just had a quick look at other times I have done this session and I'm confident this was my quickest.

I then had a 3 minute walk recovery before the return journey. I was feeling confident that I could go a bit quicker but as soon as I started I realised I must have had the benefit of a slight tailwind on the outward section. I battled on and again at the bridge I was on for a quick time but I didn't have it in the legs to really nail the finishing section crossing the start point in 11:52 (11 seconds slower) before running on for the full 12 minutes.

A difficult session to do by yourself but a good one nonetheless to get under the belt. As mentioned, I ran this session if running at race pace but for whatever reason you seem to be a few seconds slower than you would be if racing. Perhaps the Adrenalin of race day makes the difference and gives you that extra one per cent.

I finished by running back to home. All up 14.4km for the day. Happy enough as the legs didn't feel too fresh today.

Gym Night

I missed my daylight running window so decided to do a later run in the gym. I ran for 12km in 50:33 and gradually wound the pace up each km finishing in close to 4 minute per km pace.

I then had a jacuzzi and sauna. Not sure I enjoy the sauna - can't really see the point of it. Just a good way to become even more dehydrated. Still it gave me an excuse to replace fluids when I got home.

More darts started last night - the Premier League. Reminds me I need to put some more practice in.

Wet Track

Mild weather but persistent rain. After a 6.4km warm-up and a few drills I was straight into the 800's. I was to run the first 6 with Matt, then 4 more by myself. Matt wanted to push the recovery out to 90 seconds (200m very slow jog) which felt far too much at the start of the session, but by the end was about right.

I felt completely in control whilst the times were around 2:30. But towards the end when I started to push them by a few seconds I was red-lining. Times were as follows:

2:34, 2:31, 2:31, 2:29, 2:30, 2:29, 2:30, 2:28, 2:27, 2:24

That's a decent enough session and at least gives me some confidence that I can run fast again after last weekend's baptism of mud.

I spoke to Matt about what shape he was in for 10km when he broke 70 minutes for the half. He was running 32 low. So I'm certainly not there at the moment - but I live in hope.

I finished with 4.5 laps warm-down. All up 18.0km for the night.

Easy Running

I ran my 9.5km loop in 39:03 (4:07/km). Feeling good at the moment.

The plan for this week is:

Wed - track 10 x 800m off 75 secs
Thu - easy 10km
Fri - 2 x 12 minutes tempo
Sat - easy 10km
Sun - 8km race with 8km warm-up/4km warm-down (long run of sorts)

That should give me just over 90kms for the week.

Back on dry land

Well almost dry. I ran in the evening - very mild for this time of year and excellent for running. I ran my 11km nighttime route in 45:59 (4:11's). I was 23:29 at halfway so a little bit quicker in the second half of the run.

I picked up a nice bruise yesterday on the inside of my left knee. Nothing serious, just a little sore whilst running. That aside, I was feeling as fresh as a daisy.

Here's a video from the start of the XC yesterday. This was taken at one of the good sections:



Apparently Dublin have won the title the last 6 years so it was good to knock them off their perch.

I forgot to mention yesterday that my weekly tally was 71.4kms. I'll try and get that nearer triple figures for the next few weeks.

Intermediate XC Champs - 45:31 for 10km

That's not a typo. I ran my ring out and managed four and a half minute kms. It was a Barry...

The weather was brutal. Raining all weekend and when we arrived at the course in Dublin we were greeted with juniors covered in mud head to foot wrapped up in bakofoil. I was ready to feign an injury.

So we were 14th on. The course had cut-up beyond recognition. I attempted a warm-up with about 30 minutes to go before the start of the race and within 10m of running my runners were completely waterlogged. After a couple of slow kms it was then apparent that the races were running at least 20 minutes behind schedule so it was going to be a case of hanging around and getting cold.

The masters race was on before us. They looked like they were limping round. I just wanted to fast forward the next hour....so at about 3:40pm after changing into my spikes we lined up in our pens and were off. I decided to start conservatively and see what happened. The start was an absolute bun fight. The racing line was ankle deep mud and any attempt to run wide was just as bad. I slipped into a void-like state thinking this was a nightmare and after 1 small 1km loop and a bigger 1.5km loop I finally woke up realising this nightmare was for real.

There was about 500m of good running in the 1.5km loop. By good I mean very, very, muddy. The rest of the lap was ankle deep mud. No chance of any rhythm, just slipping and sliding. I was way down on the field and it was a case of grinding out the laps to the finish.

By the 3rd lap I had caught one of my teammates. He was shocked to see me and he told me afterwards that he thought I was lapping him. If only. I then concentrated on pegging a few people back each lap. I had a better idea of the course by this stage and with 3 laps to go I managed to catch another teammate.

I felt stronger the race went on but I don't think I was running any quicker - I was simply maintaining my pace whilst others slowed. The next couple of laps passed by and as I was finishing the penultimate lap I was lapped by the lead runner. He was flying - not a bother on him. On the last 1.5km lap I pegged a few more places back. As I approached the finish I was directed onto a new part of the course which was almost firm under foot and I found myself in a sprint finish with another guy who I just managed to pip. Every place counts and all that.

No warm-down - too cold and wet. Everyone simply left the course and headed back to the clubhouse for a (cold) shower.

After about 2 hours the men's results were finally announced. Most people had gone home. Galway were an outside chance of a medal by by some miracle we had won a gold medal in the national intermediate champs. I was 3rd scorer out of 6 in our team - I finished 26th overall.

I would have to say that XC is a great leveller. Guys I would beat on the road were taking 2+ minutes out of me. This was my Achilles heel but great fun looking back. I say that now after supping a few pints of the black stuff...

So about 12km all up for the day. I am now ineligible to run any more novice or intermediate XC by virtue of the gold medal - so at least some good came out of the race.

I think that's my second slowest 10km ever. So not quite a PW but close. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger and all that. Until next time...

Rest Day

No running today. Just a trip into town to buy some new spikes.

Here's a photo I find of me winning the Castledaly 10km last weekend. As you can see another massive crowd at the finishing line:



I just had a look at the results from the Sydney Striders race on the weekend. On current form I would have won it! Well probably not actually - the weather was completley offensive according to a few of the race reports. Still, maybe I would have got that top 3 that I was so close to in the start of 2010.

Friday

The weather is still very bad - completely inadvisable to run outside as the wind is that strong it could literally blow you over. So decided to run from home to the gym, do a bit on the treadmill and then jog back.

It took me 3 mins 34 secs to run to the gym with the benefit of the wind. I then ran 8km on the treadmill in 32:33. I ran 2 x 1km cruise intervals @ 3:25 pace midway through this to get the legs moving and the heart-rate up. I then ran home in 4 mins 15 secs and in parts it felt like I wasn't moving. Onlookers in their cars must have thought I was mad.

All up 9.7km for the day. Rest tomorrow in preparation for the XC on Sunday. I think my loathing of XC started at school. But that was over 20 years ago. Surely it can't be that bad? The course itself is 1 x 1km followed by 6 x 1.5km (total 10km). So 7 laps in total and we are race 14 of 14. The course will be nice and cut up by then. My aim is not to get lapped...

More of the same

Atrocious weather here at the moment. Howling wind and rain so back to the gym for 10km in 41:33.

Track Night

Another longish warm-up of 7.6km running with Matt, Gary, Rory and the 2 Brians. All good runners and we slipped and slided around the university fields. If it's like this on Sunday it will be a mud bath.

The session was something a bit different: 4 x 400m, 3 x 1600m, 4 x 400m. We were to get 60 seconds recovery between the 400's and 90 seconds between the 1600's with 2 minutes in between each set.

It was windy tonight but funnily enough you seemed to have the benefit of the wind for well over three quarters of the lap. The only tough section was part of the final bend. Very odd.

I was totally in control tonight. The breathing was great and I always felt like I had another gear. Times were as follows:

400s - 74,69,69,71
1600s - 5:11,5:08,5:07
400s - 73,70,68,68

The recovery was a bit too long to be honest. Both in between efforts and sets. But on this occasion I decided to take it!

I finished up with 2km warm-down. All up 17.6km for the night.

Tuesday

I ran 12.1km easy in 49:20 (4:05/km).

There could be a bus laid on for the trip to Dublin on Sunday. That could open up all sorts of post race drinking options. Which is nice.