Hour Plus

The session called for 70 to 80 minutes. I headed out around 4:30pm and managed to catch just over an hour of daylight which allowed for a few loops around the back roads. Conditions were very windy but the rain just about held off. All up 17.7kms in 1:16:33 (4:19's).

Practice Pays Off

Back to the track for another marathon specific session. No ice to deal with tonight - but there was a stiff breeze in the home straight but all in all good conditions. After the normal 3.9km warm-up it was to be 10 x 1km at 10km pace with 200m jog+ recovery of around 55 to 60 seconds.

I led most of the reps and was consistently running them in the 3:16 to 3:19 range. Felt strong throughout apart from the last couple where the legs started to become tired. Good to have some company today with Barry and Owen who are both also running London right on my heels. Here are the times:

3:17,3:19,3:18,3:19,3:16,3:18,3:17,3:17,3:15,3:10

A 2.0km warm-down on the track and a hasty exit for darts.....all up 35 laps of the track in my racing flats. Tough going!

I practiced for about an hour and a half during the day and was reeling off the big scores (9 x 180s). Played okay in the pairs but lost and going into my singles the team was losing 7-0....well I managed a win after hitting another 180 followed with a 93 finish in the deciding leg. We also won the last game so it ended up as a 7-2 drubbing. Our league form has been woeful since Christmas....we will be lucky to stay second at this rate...

Big week

I need to start hitting my straps this week. I felt a lot better today and headed out for an easy loop of 11.3kms. I felt good from the start and covered the loop in 44:20 (3:55's). Amazing what a rest day can do - even if it was enforced.

A couple of big sessions required this week. Starting with km reps on the track tomorrow night. Maybe 10 at 10km pace...

More sickness

Got home around midnight and started to feel very ill. Spent all night being/feeling sick. I eventually went to bed at 10am and had to pull the pin on XC as a result. Apologies for letting the team down - I would have given anything to be feeling better than I was - even if that meant running XC! Not sure if it was food poisining or a bug. I suspect the former as I could still taste the curry 24 hours later. Not good.

So no run today. A pretty poor week to be honest. Ice skating on the track Tuesday, a poor session on the treadmill on Thursday and nothing of note for the weekend. Looking at the positives my legs should have at least freshened up after the massage and rest day...

85.kms for the week.

England won the World Cup of darts and Ronnie won the German Masters. Get in.

Ditto

Same run as yesterday which completes the mini taper before the XC. Conditions were awful being wet and windy. Time 47:25 for 11.3km (4:12's).

A curry then went to see Gemma Hayes at the Roisin Dubh in the evening. It was all going well until.....

Leg test

An easy run to test the legs post massage. A slow 49:17 for 11.3kms (4:22's). Legs seemed a lot better.

Progressive run

The session today was an 8 mile progressive run starting at MP and finishing at HMP. My lunchtime running window disappeared and that meant an evening visit to the gym on the treadmill. I started off at 16.5km/hour and every km I notched it up by 0.1km/hour. At 10km I notched it up 0.2km/hour and repeated that at 11km and 11.5km finishing with 12km in close to 42 minutes (ave 3:30/km pace). With the run to and from the gym plus an additional 2km warm-up/down on the treadmill I registered 17.8km for the day. A bloody good sweat but not as hard as this session would have been on the road.

Later that evening I finally managed a massage. Wasn't too painful except for a few sore spots around my calves. A couple of easy days now before XC on Sunday. Yes I'm racing XC on Sunday - Masters at Boyle (7km in the mud). Hating the thought of it...

Longer midweek run

I'll try and get this run up to an hour and a half over the next couple of months. Today I managed just over and hour and was tired going into the session after a late night/early morning. A total of 16.1kms all up in a time of 1:07:21 (4:11's).

Crushed

Back to my old routine of track on Tuesday with a session start time of 7:30pm on the button. That would make me a little late for darts but the running takes priority at the moment...

After a 4.5km warm-up it was long intervals for the marathon runners. The session was 4/8/8/4 lappers and I have to say the prospect of running 24 laps on the track wasn't filling me with glee. Very cold temperatures but dry with very little wind. The plan was to run them at 10km race pace...

On the first lap I noticed it was a bit slippery on the approach of the final bend. Then every lap thereafter it got worse as the temperatures continued to drop. Midway through the session it was very hard to run quick and I was having to take baby steps on the bends to avoid slipping over. I found a good line in lane 2 on the back straight but the remaining part of the lap was very slippery. I soldiered on but the sensible thing to do would have been to pull the pin. I was wearing my racing flats which can't have much grip but I have to say I've never had a problem with them in the past - even when the track has been wet.

Here are the times:

5:19,10:36,10:50,5:23 (recovery of 90/120/90 secs)

Yes I slowed as I went from runner to ice-skater. I finished the session barely out of breath. Oh well, we've been bloody lucky with the winter here so I can't really complain.

I finished up with a 3.9km warm-down. All up 18kms for the day.

Darts in the evening. No league match this week replaced with an internal singles competition to determine the top 4 players in the pub to go through to the league finals. The overall result was very tight with 4 of us tied in 2nd place on equal points. Basically another comp now required to decide the final 3 to get selected!

Valentina

An easy run locally. Managed to squeeze it in during daylight hours as it's not getting dark until 5:30ish at the moment. Legs felt good and ran 45:23 for the 11.3km (4:01/km).

Valentina is the title of the new Wedding Present album that is due out in March. A couple of listens to a few preview tracks and it promises be a return to form for Gedge and the boys. Talking of which I'm looking forward to seeing them on the 21st anniversary world tour of the iconic album "Seamonsters" later this year. Would you believe they are playing in Oz for the first time ever? Catch them at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney on April 13th - you won't be disappointed.

Getting Longer

I met with Brian and Owen for the Sunday long run in damp but mild condtions. A similar route to last week doing some of the Dangan pitches before running the guts of the Cathedral Run. We then added a few extra bits on in the run back to Dangan to get the distance up. All up 29.3kms in 2:10:32 (4:27/km pace).

I felt a lot better than last week but still a long way to go. Happy enough with progress to date and I'm not feeling as tired as my body overcomes the shock of collecting some proper kms.

All up 113.5km for the week. Left hammy/buttock still sore and I will get on top of that this week.

Mud Run

A trip to Dangan for some intervals running around the training pitches. Lots of rain around and the paths were very muddy. It was going to be a tough day. I'd decided not to run them eyeballs out as I was feeling knackered, but looking back I couldn't have gone much quicker.

The session was 3 sets of 6 minutes, 3 minutes, 90 seconds (all up 31:30 of fast running). The active jog recovery was 3 minutes, 90 seconds and 45 seconds. The first set was relatively straight forward and the 3 minutes recovery felt way too long. But the session got interesting the start of the second set faced with a 6 minute effort after only 45 seconds recovery. Slipping and sliding around wasn't much fun and I kept telling myself that I was really enjoying myself...still a good group today at the front with various runners taking turns pushing the pace which helped to pass the time.

Felt good on the last 3 minute effort and carried that through to the last 90 seconds. Pace was difficult to gauge but I'd say it was in the 5:20 per mile region. Pretty good going given the slippery terrain. Not a session I would ever do by myself but a good one to add a bit of variety to the training.

All up 12 miles/19.2kms with warm-up and down.

Struggling On

I trotted out for an easy run and nearly had to pull up in the first few minutes as the back as the top of my left hamstring/buttock was very sore - it almost felt like a strain. After about 10 minutes I could start to run more freely but it still wasn't great. Anyway 11.4kms in 48:12 (4:14/km pace). A reminder that I still need to get a massage...

New runners were used today. I won a pair of Saucony runners for the Noriwch Half and I could choose anything in the Saucony range. I went for a pair that I was told would be similar to my normal Asics 2160's. I think they are called Progrid 5's and they seemed very comfortable to wear. I'll continue to use them for the next few weeks and see how I go.

It'll be alright on the night

I wasn't looking forward to this session. The weather had deteriorated throughout the day and on the drive to Dangan it was windy, raining and was a cool 4 degrees. To make matters worse the session was 15 x 400 off a short 30 second recovery (blink and you'll miss it).

By some miracle by the time I arrived it had stopped raining. I did my normal 3.9km warm-up and followed that up with some strides and went straight into it. The goal was to run the laps at a few seconds quicker than current 5km pace. Here's how it went:

75,73,74,73,72,72,72,72,72,72,71,71,72,72,69

I wasn't running them flat out and perhaps started a little too cautiously. By the time I got to the 8th rep I was starting to fatigue a bit but I still managed to remain consistent through to the end. A good session and the 15 laps soon ticks off once you get into a rhythm.

The same warm-down and another 15kms for the training log.

Trying to be a bit healthier at the moment whilst I'm in marathon mode. Crisps and biscuits have gone, to be replaced with fruit and yoghurt. Semi-skimmed milk to replace full fat milk. Booze consumption remains constant...

More of the same

Same run as Monday. I felt like I was running a bit quicker but that wasn't the case when I checked the watch at the end. Time 52:50 for 12.4kms.

Almost Miles

Today was another repeat session from last week. A total of 6 x 5 minutes with a reduced recovery of 60 seconds. Using my short mile course I completed the session with the following times:

5:11,5:23,4:58,5:21,5:03,5:18

A very nasty wind to deal with on the even number reps. I was working harder than the outward sections but was running around 20 seconds slower. A good session nonetheless. I've almost come to the conclusion that you should ignore the watch when the wind is blowing as the slow times are depressing...

All up 15.0kms with warm-up/down.

League darts in the evening. I won both my pairs and singles and we somehow managed to scrape a 5-4 win. I was scoring very consistently and the recent time spent on the practice board seems to be paying off. Already 23 x 180s for the year...

T - 90 Days

Proper marathon training starts today. Only 90 days until showtime...

An easy rattle up and down the main road. Total 12.4kms in 52:25 (4:14's). That's one second quicker than last Monday's run. Progress right there.

I don't have a training plan for the marathon as of yet. It will be a case of following similar sessions to what I did in my build up to Dublin and failing that I'll make it up as I go along. On this subject this is a good read:

Twelve Things You Should Know About Marathon Training

Some good principles in there to follow.

Robertson won the snooker as I expected and Spurs were a little unlucky (read totally robbed) against Man City. At least Arsenal lost as well.

The Masters

I decided to try and get a long run on the board. Up early after a late night in the pub so not ideal preparation. More focus required...

Met with Brian and Barry at Dangan. We started with some laps of the pitches then headed into town to do the Cathedral Run. The pace was gradually lifted but not too quick. At about 1hr 40 I was dead on my feet and about 5 minutes shy of 2 hours we were back at Dangan. Determined to get 2 hours up we added on an extra loop eventually covering 17 miles in 2:02:30. That's 27.4km in new money (4:30/km pace).

Certainly not a confidence booster as I felt tired throughout. But at least it's a start and a decent week of training in the bag. I must be training hard as I feel absolutely exhausted.

A total of 109.8km for the week. Three figure weeks need to become a habit. Plus 18 days of training on the bounce.

So with Judd out of the Masters it leaves Robertson Vs Murphy in the final. I'd like Murphy to win but I think Robertson will be too strong.

Tempotastic

Not a run I do that often. It was either tempo or hills and I fancied running quickly so opted for the tempo.

After a 3km warm-up I did my local 11km loop (more like a rectangle). First 15 minutes was easy with the benefit of a strong wind, the next 15 minutes was bloody tough getting blown all over the place, finishing up with wind behind for the last section. I managed 39:44 for 11kms and that equates to 3:37/km pace. Happy with that given the conditions.

The same 3km warm-down and that makes it 17km for the day.

A few beers and some darts in the evening.

Big Break

Same run as last Friday. A total of 14.4kms in 1hr 2mins. Knackered.

I forgot to mention yesterday I had a big break against my son on the new 4ft snooker table. A clearance of 91 (maximum 107 as only 10 reds). Lets just say he wasn't happy! My Dad never used to let me win and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not...

Something and nothing

I made the trip out to Dangan to be greeted by cold, damp and quite breezy conditions on the track. I joined in with the university training group and after 5 laps slow warm-up and a few token strides it was time for some 800's off 90 seconds recovery.

I was consistently running 75 seconds for the first lap but couldn't lift the pace beyond that (no speed). The times aren't great but it's a start:

2:33,2:32,2:33,2:32,2:32,2:32,2:31,2:30

Not easy running by yourself on the track as the main group were doing a different session to me. In some respects I think I was simply going through the motions...

These track sessions make a huge difference to your running - I've been slacking off the last couple of months and I've lost a few seconds each lap as a result. Moral of the story is that you have to hurt yourself in training if you want to run well...

I finished off with a 3.9km warm-down. All up 12.3km for the day.

Judd played brilliantly to beat the Rocket. He's still my tip for the tournament.

Double Shift

Same run as Monday. This time a bit quicker covering the 12.4km in 52:04 (4:12's). Track tomorrow...

Training Shift

No track today - I've moved this to Thursday from now on. Instead I ran some 5 minute efforts locally (total 6) in fading light. Warm-up and down were 2.3km. All up 13.9km. I used my short mile course. Here are the times:

5:12,5:19,5:01,5:14,5:01,5:11

A stiff cross-wind to deal with which slowed the even number reps more than the odds. Legs constantly feel sore/heavy. Time for a massage.

Darts in the evening. Another 180 fest in practice but I wasn't getting too excited. It was a cup match and we were away. I played okay and won both my pairs and singles hitting a 118 check-out to wrap up my singles match. Overall we won 5-2 to progress to the next round. League resumes next week.

Night Shift

An easy run to flush out the legs after yesterday's race. I ended up running up and down the N17 a few times. All up 12.4km in 52:26 (4:14's).

Snooker on TV. Judd all the way.

Tuam 8km

On the drive to Tuam I was thinking that if I could run under 26:30 I'd be happy. A sub 26 would be exceptional. Conditions were cool (8 degrees) and there was a stiff breeze but compared to my previous 2 races you would take it. After a rushed registration I went out and ran about 3kms warm-up. Then lined up at the start.

Sean Hehir and a guy from the North (Paddy Hamilton) were the stand-outs in the field. So for me it looked to be a race for 3rd. My old sparring partner from the Mayo League Roger Barrett was also there. That would at least give me a good marker and someone to hang on to. The race was underway with very little warning and I couldn't believe the pace at the start. Everyone seemed to be running way too fast and I just tried to settle in and hope that some runners would soon come back to me. The course itself was sold as being very fast and flat and it didn't disappoint. I glanced at my watch at 1km and it showed 3:08 (see splits below) but that was the only time I checked the watch until the finish.

Through 2km and I was hanging on to Roger and sure enough most of the quick starters had been reeled in. As expected Sean and Paddy were eating up the road in front with me and Roger left battling for 3rd. The next couple of kilometres were really tough - we had the benefit of the wind at the start but after making a left turn it became more of a struggle and I started to lose touch with Roger. At the same time I was aware that another runner was very close behind so at least that kept me focused.

By 4km we took another left turn for some respite from the wind. This section of the course was great. Dead flat and very easy to lift the pace. I'd managed to catch a glance behind to find that it was Peter O'Sullivan from Craughwell AC who was matching me stride for stride. At this point I attempted a couple of surges but these were covered off by Peter. Despite this I still felt good and thought I still had a chance of catching Roger who looked to be about 50m further up the road.

This straight section continued for 3km. Just before the 6km marker I think I finally opened up a small gap on Peter. At 7km we were greeted by a small bridge which was the only noticeable climb on the course, then after that it was the last kilometer. I was confident I'd done enough for 4th place but with about 500m to go I was aware that Peter was closing back in. Sure enough at 200m I looked round to see that he was only a few meters behind and that was the trigger to put the foot down until I crossed the finish line. So 4th place in a time of 26:18. Happy days.

Some congratulations firstly. Roger ran a really strong race today finishing 3rd with a time of 25:51 - sorry I couldn't give you a better race today! Peter ran a big PB of 20 seconds and looks to be in great form. The first 2 guys were again in a different class with Sean running 24:10 and Paddy 24:14. A great day and well done to Tuam AC for putting on an enjoyable race which had 630 starters!

I finished up with an 8km warm-down (another lap of the course). I was knackered come the end of that and had to rejuvenate with coffee and biscuits back at the presentation.

A total of 19kms for the day and 93.4km for the week.

Here are the splits:

1km 3:01 (I mis-read the watch during the race - I thought it was quick!)
2km 3:09
3km 3:28
4km 3:32 (13:10)
5km 3:23
6km 3:15
7km 3:14
8km 3:16 (13:08)

Total 26:18

In summary a very quick first 2kms, then a slow 2kms into the wind. Finishing the race strongly the last 4kms. Great racing!

Turning the legs over

Another easy run. This time a very slow 9.9km in 44:54. The temperature had dropped a lot today and it felt much more like winter. Gloves and hat were utilised.

Curry and cinema in the evening (The Iron Lady). Good acting but the film was a bit slow for me. Not sure curry is a good idea on the eve of a race...

Why not?

I was planning an easy 45 minutes but was enjoying the run so I did a bit extra to get me up over the hour. Total 14.4kms in 1:01:52 (4:18's).

Idi Im In

I received confirmation that I have my spot for London a day before the closing date. Cutting it a bit fine but all good to go now.

Today I did some quicker stuff. After a 3.5km warm-up I ran 2 x 10 minutes off a 150 second recovery. I was using my short mile route running out and back for the 10 minutes. My times were 10:22 and 10:08. I should mention that conditions were perfect today - no wind and bathed in winter sunshine. Happy with that and a good tune-up for the race on Sunday.

I finished off with a 3.5km warm-down. All up 13.0kms.

Nosebleed

The same night run as last Friday. 12kms easy in 51:58 (4:20/km).

A few photos from the recent Resolution Run (thanks to Edenhill).

This one is just after the start with me tucked in behind the leaders:



This one is mid-race during the uphill kilometre which was run into a gale. I like my race number (a la Chesney Hawkes):



Spurs on fire at the moment. I fear it will go horribly wrong but you can't deny they are playing some very good football.

Good fun

The long awaited return to the track for a proper session. The weather wasn't great but I was determined to have a hit-out. The Harriers session has now been put back to 7:30pm which wasn't going to work for me (clashes with darts), so instead I headed to the track for a 6:30pm start with my only concern being whether the floodlights would be on or not. Plus I'm used to training by myself so what could possibly go wrong?

I did my normal 3.9km warm-up then headed down to the track. The lights were on and I was greeted by about 50 other runners from the local tri club. I've never seen the track so busy. They were doing 400's so I asked if I could join in and do my own session and thankfully that was okay as long as I didn't get in their way...

It turned into a good session. I decided on 6 x 1km off 200m walk recovery (90 seconds). I was running wide on numerous occasions to keep out of the way made all the more interesting by dodging people at the start/finish line. I set a PB for the widest line on a lap edging out to lane 5 on a couple of occasions. It was raining quite hard every now and then but that added to the novelty. Plus the constant overtaking seemed to spur me on. By the end of the session I was soaked through but I was happy enough with the times given the conditions, plus the fact that I wasn't running them eyeballs out:

3:11,3:11,3:11,3:10,3:09,3:12

Thanks again to the group for letting me train. I'll have to plan a new day/time for my track sessions going forwards. Either that or become a triathlete.

A 3.9km warm-down so that's 13.8km for the day.

Then darts. I had half an hour practice in the afternoon and couldn't miss. I'd quickly notched up 4 x 180's and was feeling good. That form didn't transfer to the match board and I played poorly in both my pairs (which we somehow won) and singles (which I lost). Overall we lost 5-4 to the team who were second from bottom in the league. Our worst result thus far and strange as nobody in our team played well. Perhaps a Christmas hangover? Hopefully normal service will be resumed next week.

And finally some more stats from 2011. I exercised on 315 out of 365 days. I had 111 AFD's. I hit 72 x 180's. And my biggest year on the beer since 2005. Not proud of that last fact...

Low key

An easy loop of the same run from yesterday. Time 45:39 for 11.3km.

A good nights sleep

Out the door for a longish run. I decided on a double loop of my normal easy run and today it felt really good. I was 45:30 at halfway (11.15km) and I ran slightly quicker the second lap despite not deliberately pushing the pace. Perhaps yesterday was just a bad day.

Total time of 1:30:32 for 22.3km (4:04/km).

That's 81.8km for the week.

I have 15 weeks until London. A couple more weeks similar to this week and then it will be time to start ramping things up.

5km Time Trial

Back to the track for a 5km time trial with a few of the Galway Harriers. My first time on the track since November 22nd and it showed...

A nice easy 6 laps to warm-up. Then a dozen or so of us toed the line in a self-timed 12 and a half laps. Conditions were very good - nice and cool with only a bit of breeze around the final bend. I hit the lead and pushed on and was left thinking my watch had malfunctioned when I went through the first km in 3:14...

From there on it was a real struggle. I was slowing lap on lap and had nothing in the tank. Perhaps the hill session had taken it out of my legs as I was back peddling. Through the seconds km with a 3:17, followed up with a 3:21. It was then a slow death march whilst counting down the last 5 laps.

A penultimate km of 3:21 and I kicked for home blowing out none of the cobwebs with a 3:20 to finish up. Time 16:33 and I honestly thought I'd run close to 16 without going to the well. Oh well, perhaps the kick up the rear that I need. To think I ran 15:14 in my last track 5km. Today I still had a lap to go at that time...

A 3.2km warm-down and all up 10.6km for the day. Track sessions to resume next week me thinks.

No daylight

The evenings are really starting to draw out now - dark by 5pm! I managed to get out just at the time it would be too dangerous to run on the back roads so instead I did 3 different out and back sections along the main roads near to where I live. A nice easy run of 12.0kms in 51:42 (4:19's).

Hill Session

My new years resolution is to try and do a few more hill sessions. Today I made a start with a repeat of the session I've been doing recently. A 3.4km warm-up, then 30 minutes continuos hills (1 minute up, jog back down), followed by a 2.3km warm-down.

I managed 13 up and downs by which time I'd gone over the 30 minutes. A good session as it is short and sharp and is quickly over. A total of 12.6kms for the day.

London 2012

No run today. Busy doing other stuff so it never happened.

Well the big news is that I've decided to come out of marathon retirement. It looks like I have a Championship entry for the London marathon in April. That means I'm going to have to get a dozen weeks of decent mileage (100km weeks) under the belt starting very soon. Could the impossible be repeated with another sub 2:30? At this stage I very much doubt it...

Last treadmill session

The plan was to make my track comeback today but with both kids sick that never happened. Instead it was another session on the treadmill. I reverted back to 2km efforts (times 3). Trying to make this a bit harder than 2 weeks previous I decided to up the pace slightly and reduce the recovery.

Overall it was 3km warm-up, 3 x 2km off 400m float, 3.2km warm-down. All up 13kms in 50:29. The speeds for the efforts were 18.2, 18.4 and 18.6kms/hour respectively. Another good sweat.

No darts league match tonight but we still met down the pub for some practice. Just when you wanted to take it easy on the beer front the landlord decides to give us all free beer. Nice.

Wadey bottled it

I squeezed out the last daylight of the day for my 11.3km recovery run. Another big night on the drink the night before. Home at 3:30am. Not good. As for the run it wasn't too bad - 47:48 and that works out to 4:15/km pace.

5km Resolution Run

Happy New Year to one and all!

I managed to keep a lid on the drinking the previous night and felt much better than this time last year on the drive out to Renmore. Similar to Athenry from last week conditions weren't good - very blustery and wintery showers to deal with.

I registered and ran a lap of the course to warm-up. Then a few strides down by the finishing line and it was time to race. Soon we were underway and I settled into the back of the lead group as we ran the first couple of hundred metres directly into the wind. A small gap then opened in front and I took this opportunity to put in a surge and hit the front. After rounding the first corner there was some shelter from the wind but it was still tough going. I was in front and by the time I reached 1km I was joined by 2 other runners. In keeping with recent races I decided to ignore the watch and focus on the race.

Just before 1km we had taken another left turn and it suddenly became a lot easier. I was doing the majority of the running with the other 2 runners sitting in behind me. There was a nice long downhill/short uphill roller coaster like section, then it flattened out through a few more turns before hitting the 2km marker with another left turn. It was now gradual uphill for a few hundred metres before the final turn of the lap and the long climb back to the start line.

This section was extremely tough. I just couldn't get the legs moving in any sort of rhythm as the wind was gusting knocking me in all directions. I deliberately eased off a little and all 3 of us struggled on past the start line for the start of the second lap. By the time we had reached the top of the course the wind had picked up further coupled with an icy rain shower. The left turn (3km) made things a little easier but it was still tough on the run back down to the army barracks.

Another turn and again it was a lot easier being swept along by the wind. On the downhill section of the roller coaster I opened up a tiny gap and that was the opportunity to push on up the hill and race for home. At 4km I had opened up a gap of a few seconds and it was a case of holding my nerve for the last click. The final part of the course had the repeat long uphill drag back up to the start line and then another left turn before the final 100m to the finish line. Thankfully I managed to hold on for the win clocking 16:34.

A good start to the year but over 40 seconds slower than last year! Old age? Not enough drink? Tough conditions? I'll let you decide.

A further 2.5km warm-down with the lads. I didn't hear of any PB's today and I think that most people were around 30 seconds down on their expectation. Those Galway winds are a cruel mistress!

World darts semi-finals tonight coupled with a night in town. Gotta love this time of year! Serious training to resume soon...

A total of 87.1km for the week. Here are the splits:

1km 3:13
2km 3:02
3km 3:43 (all into the wind)
4km 3:17
5km 3:19

Total 16:34

2011 Yearly Review

Today I met up with Ian for an easy run around Renmore. We did 3 laps of the Resolution Run course to be used tomorrow and also ran with Paul Fallon for a short while who was finishing his 1,000 mile run in December. An incredible achievement and something he should be very proud of. All up only 9.2km for me in just over 40 minutes.

That gets me an annual total of 4,230.5km for the year. My biggest yet!

Moving on, it's time for the yearly review. Here is the list of races for the year:



A very good year for me. Lot of racing, no real injuries to speak of and a few PB's along the way. Of the 39 road races I managed 21 x 1st places, 8 x 2nds, 4 x 3rds, 3 x 4ths, 2 x 5ths and 1 x 26th.

On the PB front I managed to improve my 5km PB on a few occasions. A very unexpected PB on New Years Day running 15:51 at the 5km Resolution Run in an epic sprint finish. I then improved that in the second week of the Galway 5km series out at Tuam on May 10th running 15:45. I managed to equal that time the following week in Craughwell and then recorded a big improvement in Maree on 13th July clocking 15:33.

For 8km, I peaked for the Streets of Galway and I managed to improve my PB by a whopping 3 seconds with a 25:36 in early August.

At 10km it was a case of chipping a few seconds off my PB here and there. Going into the year my PB stood at 32:49. I tackled the distance 12 times in the year and was very consistent breaking 33 minutes on 8 separate occasions with the worst time being 33:53 from last week in very testing conditions. I improved my PB to 32:44 at Clarinbridge at the end of January and then improved that further to 32:41 at Annaghdown on June 21st. I have to say I thought I'd go a lot closer to breaking 32 minutes this year. Despite some red hot form in training and over 5km, I couldn't convert that over 10km. Some of that could be down to bad luck as I often was racing solo (time trialing). On a few other days it just didn't happen (the Great Ireland Run springs to mind). More improvement to come hopefully.

My first race over 10 miles out in Craughwell on March 20th. I ran well and managed to post a decent time of 53:20 on my debut.

At the half marathon I started the year well. I posted a decent PB in the postponed 2010 Norwich Half Marathon running 1:11:15 on March 13th (a 39 second improvement). I tried to improve on that with 4 more attempts at the distance and despite training really hard for the 2011 Norwich Half in November, tough windy conditions put pay to a quick time where I ran 1:14:07. I honestly felt that I had a sniff of sub 71 minutes on that day which was a bit disappointing.

Looking through the list it's hard to pick my top 5 performances of the year but here goes:

1) Craughwell 10 miler (March 20th). This was the week after the Norwich Half Marathon and my legs didn't feel great. I ended up having a tough battle with Paul Buckley where we swapped positions many times. On the day I was beaten by the better man but the racing on that day was why I love running. My time of 53:20 was the equivalent of 31:50 for 10km and 1:10:50 for the half. An unexpected result given the half marathon the week before.

2) Balla 10km (July 23rd). Another good battle with Martin Conroy on a tough hilly course. Martin and the hills got the better of me in the last 4km but I still managed to run 32:43 only narrowly missing out on a PB. A great race and good to see the whole town out in support of this race.

3) Norwich Half Marathon (March 13th). A new PB and great to run well in your home town with friends and family watching. I managed 5th positon after catching and overtaking another runner in the last few miles.

4) Resolution Run (Jan 1st). My lead-up training was awful and I had a hangover to boot. Despite hardly being able to fill in the entry form I managed a win and a new PB of 15:51 with a sprint finish at the end. Where did that come from?

5) Claregalway 10km (August 13th). A nice win in the county 10km championship in my back yard with the wife and children watching.

An honourable mention also to the Galway 5,000m Championship track race that I won on June 16th. I sat in behind Kenny Rogers for the majority of the race and managed to pip him on the line with a quick last 100m. A decent time also of 15:14 which equalled my track PB.

That's about it for 2011. I now need to set some new goals for 2012 which no doubt will involve getting quicker over various distances (isn't that always the way?). Plus I hope to have lots of good racing along the way. But for now it's time for some beer. Cheers to you all!

Soldiering On

Another miserable day. I ran outside in the wind/rain and struggled around my local loop of 11.3kms in 48 minutes exactly.

I'm glued to the darts at the moment. It's getting very good with the semi-final line-up now decided. The Wade v Lewis game should be a belter. Not much love lost between them two...

Lacking quality

Bad weather put pay to an outdoor speed session. Instead it was back to the gym for a good sweat on the treadmill.

The session was 3.1km warm-up, 6 x 1km off 300m recovery, then 2.4km warm-down. All up 13km in 50:07. The 300m included the slow-down, speed-up time so basically 200m recovery at 4:25/km pace.

The first km was run at 3:18/km pace and I gradually increased the pace each km finishing at 3:09/km pace. It felt pretty comfortable throughout and certainly doesn't replicate running the same pace outdoors. Sweating buckets at the end.

Easy running now before the race on Sunday. I'm not expecting anything flash!

42 Races in 2011

I should have done some quicker stuff today but instead I took the easy option and ran my local loop of 11.3km in 45:59 (4:04's). I'll try and squeeze one more quick session in before Sunday's 5km Resolution Run that I somehow managed to win on Jan 1...

So no more races for 2011. I'll have to get my yearly review done in the next day or so. I managed a whopping 39 road races this year, plus 2 track races and a token cross country (never to be repeated). I've never trained and raced as much before and a few PB's throughout the year show that I still seem to be making some progress.

I was digging around for a few more photos from this year. Here are a couple from the Carnomore Turkey Trot (thanks to Edenhill).

This one shows that I'm in the zone ready to run for my lunch:



And here's the sprint finish that I lost out on:

Recovery

Not from the race but from the drink. I did the same run as I did on Christmas Eve but this time the conditions were a lot better. So 10.8kms in 45:55 (4:15's).

A couple of photos from the Athenry 10km (thanks to Eirefoto and Edenhill). This one at the finish:



And this one from the presentation (Paul Hession - Olympic sprinter):

Fields of Athenry 10km

Very windy on the motorway on the drive to Athenry. This was going to be another tough day - made worse by the over indulgence on the falling down water the previous day.

A token 1.5km warm-up and it was time to line up at the start. A large field of over 1,000 runners and just after 11am we were off. The start of the race has a bit of a climb which you don't really notice then the course flattens out. The wind was swirling around but was predominantly on the back for the start of the race. Through the first km and I was ignoring the watch as I settled into a small group who were chasing 4 other runners who had opened up a decent gap.

After 1km there was a nice downhill section followed by more gradual undulations. I decided to make a break and surged to work away from the small group. I was left in 5th position outright and I was working my way up on 4th. At this point I was feeling great. The wind was still behind and I quickly caught the next runner and went past him. I continued to push the pace as I passed the next few kms. Then at 4km it was time to make a sharp left-hand turn...

It suddenly became very hard. Running directly into the wind coupled with a long gradual climb. The course was more exposed and I knew I had slowed dramatically. I was hanging out for the next km marker and when I got to 5km the course flattened out a little but it was still very exposed and windy.

Midway through the 6th km the course took another left turn which made the wind more bearable. I was feeling okay on the flat/downhill sections, but had nothing on the uphills. Funny that. The back half of the course is still very flat but what undulations there are seem to be more short and sharp. If you were running well you wouldn't notice them but I wasn't feeling great.

The next few kms were all about hanging on. I had the feeling that a couple of runners behind me were closing in but I knew that if I could get to 9km I'd have enough in reserve to finish the race off. That's how it turned out - the last km being very runner friendly with a nice downhill stretch back into town. I enjoyed the finishing chute and managed to cross the line in 4th position in a time of 33:53.

The first 3 runners were in a different class today. Sean Hehir won the race in a super 31:07 with Emmett Dunleavy 2nd in 31:19 and last years winner Gerry Ryan 3rd in 32:30. I reckon the wind was worth close to a minute today so all in all a good hit-out in very trying conditions.

I decided to run the course again as a warm-down to see if it was as tough as I remembered it. It was. So after stuffing myself yesterday I'd had all the stuffing knocked out of me today.

Here are my splits:

1km 3:13
2km 3:13
3km 3:15
4km 3:25
5km 3:46
6km 3:27
7km 3:27
8km 3:29
9km 3:27
10km 3:11

Total 33:53

A first class race which I thoroughly enjoyed. On a still day this would be a super quick course but that said it's difficult to peak at this time of year. Anyway 21.5kms for the day and now it's time for a few more beers.

Happy Christmas

No run today. Instead double figures on the alcoholic beverages which was made up of mainly cans of Guinness with a couple of Irish coffees thrown in post lunch.

I did have the chance to run but it was a repeat of the weather from yesterday so instead I was building lego and trying to play snooker on a 4 foot table. Great fun.

Merry Christmas to one and all. I got a new coffee machine (coffee is great for running). And for sobering up...

A total of 60.4km for the week.

Madness

I decided to get a run in late doors. The weather was abysmal being very wet and windy. I was fighting the fading light and I managed to get the Claregalway 5km loop in followed with a stretch of the N17. All up 10.8km in 49:34 which was very slow and laboured.

Presents wrapped

I decided on doing some 5 minute reps. The usual 3.4km warm-up on my now set-in-stone short mile course. I must get it properly measured in the New Year.

I decided on 6 off 90 seconds and surprisingly I felt great. The breathing was completely in control and that's probably testament to finally shaking off the cold. The times were as follows:

5:17/5:15/5:04/5:08/4:57/5:07

A slow start but wound it up towards the end. As usual the outward section was easier (1st/3rd/5th) despite being slightly uphill.

A 2.3km warm-down and 15kms for the day. Beers and darts in the pub for afters.

Note to self - must wrap the presents

Today I was supposed to do some quicker stuff but I couldn't be bothered. Instead I rolled around my local 11.3km loop in 46:36 (4:07's).

A trip into town in the evening for more boozing. All the pubs were heaving...

Mild

An evening run outside in very mild conditions. I clocked 10.3kms in 45:32 and was feeling pretty ordinary throughout.

Very low in motivation at the moment. Hopefully Christmas and the New Year will lift my spirits.

My tickets fell through to watch Spurs hammer Norwich on December 27th. At least that saves me a trip home.

Bottled it

Today was to be my track comeback. But the wet weather put pay to that so I took the easy option and hit the treadmill.

It was a similar session to last Tuesday. A 3km warm-up, then 3 x 2km with 500m recovery, finishing with a 3km warm-down.

I ran the 2km efforts at speeds of 18.1, 18.3 and 18.5kms per hour respectively. I was worried I was going to blow on the last one but I held on. By the end of the session I was sweating oceans. A nice Smashey and Nicey style CD on in the gym which made the time pass quickly.

Then darts. I scored well in the pairs but neither of else could hit a double and we ended up losing. I bounced back in the singles and played very well winning 2-0 winning the last leg in 17 darts. Overall we won 8-1 and whilst we comfortably hold second place in the league, we have very little chance of catching the leaders.

Countdown

Well not long now until Xmas. The kids are getting excited and so am I when I see all the Lego that I'll have to play with...

No chance for a run today. One run in 4 days now. I'm tapering but with no race at the end of it...

The darts are fantastic at the moment. The first round has thrown up some incredible games and the standard has to be seen to be believed. You compare yourself to the pros and you realise just had bad you actually are...

When all else fails...

go for a run. Enough effort wasted on masking agents such as Codral and Lemsip so decided to man up and sweat it out. I did my local triple loop covering 16.1kms in 1:09:00 (4:17's). Breathing a little laboured and legs were a touch heavy but aside from that not too bad.

That's 63.5km for the week.

Lots happening next week on the social calendar so will try and squeeze a run in here and there. A complete lack of quality no doubt.

Grin and beer it

Still not feeling great so no run again.

That didn't stop me heading out to the local for a few pints and a game of darts. I missed a few doubles but was scoring well.

No races scheduled at the moment. There are a few options but it's difficult to commit to anything in the silly season. There's the Fields of Athenry 10km on St Stephen's Day and the 5km Resolution Run on January 1st. If previous years are anything to go by the preceeding day won't be ideal race preparation...

Cold

Things took a turn for the worse and I now have a bad cold. It may even be the flu. So no running today.

Mixing it up

I wasn't feeling too cracky today but couldn't resist a lunchtime run as the weather was as good as it's going to get at this time of year. After a 3.4km warm-up I did 2 x 5 minutes off 90 seconds along my normal short mile route (5:05 and 5:08). Then after another 90 seconds recovery I did 6 x 1 minute on my Rock Road hill with jog back down the hill recovery (around 1:25). The same 3.4km warm-down so all up 13.1km for the day.

The darts World Champs start today at the Ally Pally. I'd say I'll be glued to that for the next couple of weeks.

Again

Another run in the gym. This time 10km in 41 minutes. Another good sweat.

Cruising

Too dangerous to run today. The wind seemed galeforce and it would be just my look to get taken out by a tree or something. So instead it was a gym run. Being a quick day I decided to do some 1km cruise intervals. After a 3km warm-up I did 6 x 1km off 300m recovery. The 300m recovery included the speed-up/slow-down time before and after each effort which takes about 50m each time. So in truth about 200m recovery at a float pace (4:25/km pace).

The first one was done at 3:20/km pace and I gradually wound up the pace each effort running the last one at 3:13/km pace. A good sweat if nothing else.

A 2.5km warm-down. That gives me 13.0kms for the day in a time of 50:33.

A rest week this week in the darts. One more game next Tuesday before the Christmas break.

Weather Worsening

Very cold, wet and windy. After another big night and I reluctantly headed out at lunchtime and boy was it tough. The first 4km were ran into a howling wind and I was hardly moving. It got a bit easier after that but still very unpleasant for running. All up 11.3kms in 49:58 which is about 4 minutes slower than it would normally take me. Still no snow but it's done everything but...

All the 5's

I wasn't feeling as bad as I should have. Finishing at 3am and getting up 8 hours later and I'd just about gotten away with it. I headed our for a lunchtime run covering 13.4km in 55:55 (4:10's) and felt pretty fresh. Okay not a long run but better than nothing.

I think at this time of the year it's all about damage limitation. You have to resign yourself to the fact that you aren't going to improve your fitness and you have to hope that a few sessions will at least not see you going backwards.

A quick shower and then a full Christmas lunch that my Dad had cooked. Washed down with a few beers and then a pub crawl in town...

74.9kms for the week and already over 4,000kms for the year. That's a PR as the American's would say...

5km tempo run

I decided to squeeze in a session before a session. I ran a 3.4km warm-up, then a tempo lap of the local 5km course in 16:55. Finishing up with a 2.3km warm-down. Total 10.7km.

It was a difficult run as the wind was swirling, plus it's a hilly loop. Now for the first of the big Christmas piss-ups...

Forgot to mention I played snooker last night. Beat my old man 7-0. He wasn't happy.

Gloves

It has been very cold in Galway the last couple of weeks. I doubt if the temperature is getting much above 5 degrees. In a very rare event it wasn't raining at lunchtime when I headed out for my run and to make things even better there was very little breeze. I'd take these sort of conditions every day. They say the optimal temperature for running is around 13 degrees but I prefer it much cooler than that as per today.

A repeat of Monday's 11.3km run in 45:46 (4:03's). Not pleased to report that I've turned soft and that I've resorted to wearing gloves...

Gears

In my last few races I feel like I've had another gear to call upon when required. I can only attribute this to cutting down on the number of races that I've been doing, plus the benefit of doing some hill sessions. So with that in mind I decided to do some more hills today.

It was almost a repeat of the session on October 27th except that I did 12 x 1 minutes instead of 15. The weather was very bad. The first half of the session I got caught in an icy rain shower and it was blowing straight at me as I was attempting to sprint up the hill. Very tough and I kept telling myself that I was really really enjoying this...

All up 13.2kms for the day and needless to say no other runners spotted out and about.

Rest

No time to squeeze in a run today. Nevermind.

Snooker on the TV at the moment and more darts starting tomorrow so plenty to keep me entertained.

Not track

No time for track tonight so did some intervals local. I decided to ease myself back into some proper training with 5 x 5 minutes off 90 seconds recovery using the same stretch of road I've been using recently. After a 3.4km warm-up I did my out and backs in the following times:

5:05/5:18/4:59/5:18/4:51

As you can see the back efforts (2nd and 4th) were slower as I was running into a stiff wind. I pushed the last one and was ticking along very nicely.

I finished up with a 3.8km warm-down so all up 15.0km for the day.

Later in the evening it was more darts and the top of the table clash. As my Dad was in town he got drafted into the team and we were teamed together for the pairs which we then lost! We both made amends winning our singles game but we still ran out 6-3 losers overall.

Still no snow

An easy run today covering my new local Rockmount 11.3km loop in 45:44 (4:03's). Feeling good after yesterday's race.

Carnmore 5km Turkey Trot

Back to back 2am finishes in the pub perhaps not ideal preparation. Despite that I was ready to have a decent hit-out.

The course had been shortened from last year (6km down to 5km) so that was a good bit of news. I ran a short warm-up (approx 2km) and lined up at the start. A good turn out of 150 or so and the wet weather had broken leaving us good conditions for racing. I quickly took the lead and settled into a nice rhythm. After about 500m I was aware that another runner was slowly catching me. Slowly but surely by about the 1km mark I had been caught and he settled in behind me. I didn't look round so I had no idea who it was but it looked like I had some competition.

Through the 2nd km and a few surges but no shaking the guy behind. The course was a lollipop shape and seemed fairly flat with perhaps more downhill than uphill if that's possible - great for racing. The 3rd km had a long downhill and still no clue as to who the mystery runner was. I tried a few more surges through the 4th km which were easily covered so it was heading for a last km showdown.

The final km was going to hurt. I upped the pace hoping that would give me the break but again no joy. I was aware that the other runner had moved wide ready to strike. Sure enough with the finish line in sight he made his move and kicked for home. I went with him and was running eyeballs out. The moment I thought I was closing he seemed to kick again and I was left hanging on. The finished line arrived and I was still sprinting but it wasn't good enough. Second place in 16:04 and some 2 seconds behind the winner.

A thoroughly enjoyable race. I'd take this sort of race any day over a race against the clock. It turns out the mystery runner was Tony Fogarty from Thurles Croke AC who was on holiday in Galway for the weekend. I have no problem losing to someone a lot younger than me and twice as talented! Just goes to show you never know who is going to turn up to race. I suppose that's part of the appeal for me.

A 4km warm-down by which time it had started raining again. Back to the community centre for coffee and to collect my turkey prize. Well done to the organisers and hopefully lots of money raised for the club.

All up 11km for the day and 43.2km for the week.

Splits:

1km 3:10
2km 3:16
3km 3:20 (poor)
4km 3:14
5km 3:04

Total 16:04

Snap

Another late night in the pub so not at my best today.

The same run as yesterday. This time in 46:06. Very cold which I don't mind and little or no wind.

Back to the pub tonight for more of the same.

Marathon

An 11.3km run at lunchtime in more miserable conditions (time 45:56 = 4:04/km). Feeling good and looking forward to having a blow-out on the weekend.

A marathon game of darts in the pub with my old man followed. I won 30-25. Plenty of practice as it's the top of the table clash in the league Tuesday night. My running blog is fast becoming a darts blog. Proper training will resume next week after my week of eating and drinking like Cliff Lazarenko.

Advent

My easy week continues with no running again. I had a look at the calendar and I may race at the weekend. The 6km Turkey Trot is looking favourite on Sunday. Running to feed the family and all that.

Look out

Awful conditiions for running (wet/windy). It was a lunchtime wobble covering 9.6km in 43:42 (4:33's). I should have played darts instead.

Back in training

No running again but that didn't stop me playing darts. We didn't have a league match tonight but instead we got together for a round robin competition. I won both the pairs and singles and receieved a bottle of vodka for my efforts. Gotta love the arrers.

Nothing to report

A large hangover thanks to Timothy Taylor Landlord. Then travel back to the Emerald Isle. No running.

Norwich Half Marathon 2011

Cold and extremely windy conditions greeted me on arrival at the Norfolk Showground. I delayed my warm-up until about 20 minutes before the race start and attempted to keep warm by staying indoors. I jogged a few kms and straight away it became apparent that it was going to be a tough day. The course being 2 laps meant you were running into the wind for the first half of the lap, with wind on the back for majority of the second half. Times were going to suffer.

I lined up at the start and the race got underway bang on 11am. A large group formed at the front and nobody was prepared to take it on as we ran a mile around the showground. As we exited and switched to the main road there must have been a good dozen or so runners in the lead group. I was trying to find some shelter from the wind and at the same time avoiding clipping of heels and the bumping and barging.

Through the first mile in 5:42 and then a long straight directly into the wind. The group remained together and I decided to ignore the watch and focus on racing. I was feeling good as we made a left turn to take us through the second mile. A long uphill drag followed until we made a sharp left turn to finally give some shelter from the wind. At this point I decided to pull the trigger and I made a quick break which quickly opened up the race. I held the lead for only a short while as a couple of other runners went with me. To my surprise they continued to push on leaving me in 3rd position with lots of runners in pursuit.

Running out of the wind felt effortless. With some quick miles I was feeling solid and I was again surprised to be caught and passed by another runner moving me down into 4th. Closing out the lap you have the long climb back to the showground, then a few twists and turns to make within the grounds and that meant being exposed to the wind again. I could still see the 3 runners in front of me and I was confident that I had plenty to offer on the second lap.

Sure enough I had started to close on third place. I caught him somewhere around 8 miles and we then ran together for a mile and a half being buffeted around all over the place. The same point where I made the move in the first lap arrived and again I made another break to quickly take outright third. I pushed on running a decent couple of miles and I still thought I had a chance for second but that wasn't to be. The final climb into the showground and I knew I still had a tricky mile to finish with. Lots of lapping runners and another couple of minutes running directly into the wind and as I rounded the final bend I could see another runner only a few seconds back. That was my cue to put in a spurt and I managed to hold on to cross the line in 3rd place in a time of 1:14:07.

Very disappointed with the time but the conditions were not good for distance running. I felt strong throughout which was a good sign so maybe I'll have to see if there is another half I can do before the year is out.

Here are the splits:

1 5:42
2 5:43
3 5:42
4 5:12
5 5:19
6 5:38
7 5:50
8 5:57
9 6:19
10 5:24
11 5:23
12 5:42
13.1 6:16

Total 1:14:07

I have a report from the local paper that I will scan and add when I get a moment. The guy who won clocked up his 4th title and described it as one of the toughest races he had done. He's a regular sub 70 minute runner so to get within 90 seconds of him today wasn't too bad.

A couple of kms warm-down so all up 25.1kms for the day and 64.9km for the week.

Time for the pub to spend my winnings...

Final Prep

Rest day today. I had a look around the city in the morning, fish and chips for lunch, and pub/darts/cards in the afternoon. I limited myself to 2 pints in the pub, lost to my Dad at darts 14-13 (I bottled it), then broke even at cribbage. Quality.

Arrived Okay

An easy run today just to check the legs were okay. I ran around the block (total 5.1km in 21:56). Feeling good.

Snooker and a few beers in the evening.

A roight noice place hintut

Another easy run. This time 33:15 with a quick mile thrown in the middle at something close to HMP. Difficult to tell really as the weather was so bad making quick running virtually impossible (a combination of wind and rain that makes your face sting). Plus I was wearing my heavy clogs. Excuses, excuses. Enjoyment factor - less than zero.

That's about it now. I travel to Norwich this evening so will probably be offline until early next week (the internet doesn't yet exist in Norwich). For anyone that is interested the results should be up here on Sunday afternoon.

I can't remember having put so much training into a half marathon before (or any race for that matter). Some decent mileage in the bank and a good recent 10km has given me a lot of confidence. Fingers crossed.

Rolling round

An easy run today. My local 11.3km loop which was very windy and also raining. Time 49:29 (4:23's). Drenched come the end. An enjoyment factor of zero.

The first photo from the recent Hollymount 10km courtesy of edenhill. Sitting in bludging as is the norm:

Final Track Session

This was to be the last effort session before the half. The schedule called for a mile, 3 miles, then a mile with the miles to be run at 5 minute mile pace and the 3 miles to be run at HMP. In between it was 2 minutes jog recovery.

After a 3.9km warm-up it was time to get moving. I jumped in with Keith and he paced me for the first 2 laps of my opening mile. I went on to complete this is 4:59. Then 2 minutes jog and straight into 12 laps @ 80 seconds per lap pace. I wouldn't call the pace comfortable and the windy conditions made it a bit tough but I managed to stick to the lap times with metronome like accuracy. I completed this in 15:59 and then had another 2 minute jog. The final mile was going to be tough. After an initial 75 second lap I was struggling and another 75 second lap meant I was hanging on. I then started to feel good and lifted the pace to finish with a 4:57. Job done.

The same 3.9km warm-down. The usual thoughts that there was no way I could maintain 3:20/km pace for 70 minutes. Ignore.

Then darts. A late night (home at 1:30am) but a good 8-1 win away. I won both my pairs (played well hitting 104 out in the first leg) and my singles (not so good and should have lost). My record to date is played 14, won 9, lost 5. Not bad for a first season.

Half Marathon Progression

No running today being a taper week. I have a track session tomorrow then I'll do a bit of easy running for the rest of the week.

Here's a quick summary of my half marathon progression:



Prior to this I had run one previous half marathon (also Norwich) some time in the late 90's. It was one of those "I can do that" bets and I got round on the back of very little training in just over an hour and a half (from memory). I'll have to see if I still have the result somewhere.

Just looking at the list you can see I had a good record in the Sydney Half (the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon). In total I ran this race 8 times and I recorded 7 PB's.

I don't remember too much of the detail of these races. The 2002 race was a good one as I had a long battle in the Hickson Road finishing straight with my mate Johnny Gallagher. He caught me and I immediately kicked and put 10m into him which gave me the victory.

The 2004 race was also a good one as it was my first sub 80 minute run. Again at the time I remember saying in the pub that I couldn't go any quicker.

A big improvement in 2009 in the Sydney Running Festival Half Marathon. I got into a good group that day running with Saxon Moseley and Matt Palmer and although I wasn't a big fan of the course, it was nice to maintain 3:30/km pace.

Here are the reports of the Galway Half Marathon and the Norwich Half Marathon that complete the list. Hopefully I can get somewhere neat those times again on Sunday.

One week to go

After my run yesterday I was feeling decidedly ordinary. Maybe a bug/virus. Lots of stomach cramps and a few night sweats. Not pleasant. Anyway I decided to try a long run around 4pm. I got out and did a few of my local loops finishing off with a stretch of the N17 (as it had turned dark by then). My heart wasn't in it and I was simply going through the motions wanting it to be over. The stomach still wasn't feeling great and I had very little energy and heavy legs. A run to forget.

Total 22.9kms in 1:44:26 (4:34's).

That's 113.3kms for the week. A good week apart from today. A nice easy week next week with the only session of note being a final hit-out on Tuesday. Here are some photos I found from the 2010 Norwich Half that was actually run earlier this year due to postponement for bad weather:

8 x 5 minutes off 1 minute

A beatiful day today. Nice and cool and some winter sunshine with very little breeze. I decided to do the session locally so that meant using my out (slightly uphill) and back (slightly downhill) course. After a 3.4km warm-up I went straight into it.

The first one was a bit sluggish but after that it was very consistent. I was working the uphill section more to keep the times similar:

5:11/5:04/5:04/5:06/5:02/5:05/5:03/5:01

Legs were getting tired at the end but the times didn't reflect this so that was good. I wasn't running them flat out, just getting used to running close to HMP. The 1 minute recovery felt adequate. My breathing and heart rate would fall quickly during that time ready to knock out the next rep.

I finished up with the same warm-down. All up 19.2kms.

The Central Governor

An easy run of 9.8km in 43:40 (4:27's).

With regards to the title, this theory suggests that athletic performance is linked closely to what your mind (your central governor) believes is possible from the body. I've been a bit guilty of this in the past when you predict you'll run a certain time for a race and low and behold you run very close to that expectation. The key is to try and ignore your central governor (as I did for the Dublin Marathon in 2010). I'm sure there are many ways and means of doing this. One of these would be to not use your watch and just run on feel.

I know some of the guys in Australia are big on this e.g.Kanser. I would welcome any input you have in regards to this as I certainly think the theory has its merits.

Tough session tomorrow...

Mr Softee

The weather turned today and what a turn. Very windy plus rain. I had a running slot at lunchtime but there was no way I was going to do my session outside so instead it went like this:

- run to gym (800m)
- straight on to treadmill
- a further 3.2km warm-up
- 3.2km at HMP (3:20/km)
- 3 minutes recovery (700m)
- 3.2km at HMP (3:19/km)
- a 3.2km warm-down
- run back home (800m)

Total running time 59:48 covering 15.2km (ave 3:56/km). I was ticking along quite nicely on the treadmill and boy do you work up a sweat running indoors. I did have the thought that there is no way I can keep the quicker pace up for 21.1kms but that's perfectly normal. No room for those negative thoughts.

Easy run tomorrow, more quick stuff on Saturday and a long run on Sunday. That will be the bulk of the training done.

The Minimalist

The schedule called for 75 to 90 minutes. Straight away I took that as 75 minutes - no need to kill yourself and all that. My window for running was early evening. It was dark so I had the choice of the main road or the treadmill. So I settled for the main road and conditions were again good. Only a slight breeze, no rain and cold but bearable.

A rattled up an down the N17 doing 4 x 4km stretches. Plus an extra 1.5km to get me over the 75 minute mark. Total 17.5kms in 1:17:28 (4:26's). It felt quicker than that? I don't have a GPS watch so I often use MapMyRun to measure my routes. I have my suspicions that it's a long way from being accurate though...

Starting to think about the half now. What time to target and all that. In my 2 most recent halfs I've run 1:13:30 (training run in Sep) and then 1:12:41 (flat out in Oct - felt like I was going to die). I think sub 72 is definitely achievable and the closer I get to 71 the happier I will be.

Coming into form?

Arrived at the weekly track session for 10 x 800's off 75 seconds. After a 5.5km warm-up and a few strides it was time to get into it. Conditions were absolutely perfect: cool, dry and no wind whatsoever. No excuses at the ready.

The brief was to try and run them under 2:30 (sub 5 minute mile pace). I was on my own today and my times were:

2:33/2:29/2:28/2:27/2:27/2:26/2:26/2:26/2:25/2:21

A shocking second lap for the first rep gave me a slow 2:33. But that spurred me into action and I got progressively quicker throughout. I was feeling great and didn't feel like I was running on the limit. A good sign. Eddie jumped in to help me out with the last rep and it made a huge difference to have someone to tuck in behind. I perhaps got a bit carried away but I nice way to finish (average 2:27 per rep).

I finished up with a 3.9km warm-down and 17.4kms for the day.

Later in the evening it was out to Clarinbridge for the darts. We won 6-3 and I won both my pairs and singles game. I hit my first 180 in the league with the first 3 darts of my singles game. The 4th dart was just below the wire which put pay to the 9 darter...next time...

The Ballroom Blitz

An easy 11.3km to reset the legs. Time 48:12 (4:16's). Feeling pretty good.

As promised here is the karaoke footage from the big party night in Spain:



What do you think of it so far? All together now "Rubbish"...

Hollymount 10km

Arrived in good time to register and then run the 3km loop in reverse as a warm-up. My initial thought was that it wasn't flat, but at the same time the hills didn't look too taxing. The road surface was pretty good except for a small road which was 2 strips of road with grass growing in the middle. Plenty of breeze around and would you believe it was 16 degrees. All in all not too bad.

I lined up at the start and all the usual suspects were there from the Mayo league. I couldn't see any obvious gun runners but at the same time there were lots of unfamiliar faces. The race started and we had a slight climb up to the high street which we basically had to cover 4 times (1km and then 3 x 3km). I was in 4th or 5th position, with some runners going off the front. At the 1km marker (3:27) I had decided that the km markers were dodgy (time to ignore the watch) so I just focused on chasing down the leaders.

Slowly but surely the gap started to close and I had Roger Barrett for company as we hit the front. That was how it remained for the majority of the race. I would sit in behind Roger, then try a surge (usually on a downhill section) that he would cover off with ease. I would then go into recovery mode ready for my next surge. After the first lap (approx 4km) we were nicely out in front and we continued our battle.

The second lap was fairly uneventful. Roger was doing the majority of the work in front and I would sit behind and continue my surging. To no avail. I couldn't see any easy way of winning the race at this point as every move was being covered so I thought I'd stick in for as long as possible and try and pull something out of the bag on the last lap.

At 7km we crossed the finish line ready for the last lap. Not too much was happening. I lifted the pace in a few spots but wasn't doing any damage. I'd say I'd tried at least 7-8 surges at this point so I'd almost resigned myself to a sprint finish. As we approached 9km there was a slight uphill before we took a left turn onto a main road. I took off again and to my surprise I opened up a slight gap. I then pressed for home with 800m still to go. I wasn't feeling too bad, and after rounding the final corner I was confident I had the race won. I ran the final couple of hundred metres hard which was slightly uphill which had me crossing the finish line in 1st place in a time of 32:47.

A solid win in a time I was very happy with. That said, all the gun runners didn't show which was a bit of a shame for the organisers as this race has a really good tradition. But as one of the lads said "You can only dance with the ladies in the hall". I really enjoyed the race with Roger and I'm sure we'll have a few more battles next year!

I finished up running a couple more laps of the course so all up 19kms for the day. Well done to the organisers on putting on a great event. There were loads of prizes at the end, plus more than enough food and drink to keep everyone happy. All for the bargain price of 15 Euros.

A good confidence booster 2 weeks before the half. I had that extra zip in the legs today that you don't get when you race frequently as I have been very guilty of doing. So a big week next week, then I'll taper down for the half.

Only 67.6kms for the week. But it was a reduced week of training that was much needed. Time for a few beers now.

Splits:

1km 3:27
2km 3:06
3km 3:32
4km 2:59
5km 3:26 (16:30)
6km 3:14
7km 3:14
8km 3:19
9km 3:14
10km 3:16 (16:17)

Total 32:47

Racing tomorrow

So with that in mind I did a very easy local run of 9.8km in 44:15. I ran up to see what was happening with the new bridge that is being constructed but couldn't see much as they had closed off the site. Hopefully my old training route comes good by the new year...

A decision has been made to race at Hollymount tomorrow. It's a 10km course consisting of a 1km start, then 3 x 3km loops. It seems to attract a really good field (last year the top 2 runners ran 30:3x). I'm hoping the same will happen this year as I might then have a few people to hang on to. Absolutely no idea of how I'll go having not raced for so long (only 1 race in the last 2 months would you believe). If I can get somewhere near 33 that would be good but the feedback I'm getting from my training is that I'm not setting the world on fire. Watch this space.

After the race there is the presentation for the Mayo League that I somehow managed to win. I may have to shave so I look my best for the photos!

All the ones today

I squeezed in an easy hour today covering 13.8kms in 57:29 (4:10's). Very windy for the first 4km but it was a lot easier after I changed direction.

I'm feeling very tired at the moment. That always seems to happen when you have an easy week or take a day off. I guess the body is doing its thing and absorbing all the training. At least I hope that's what is happening...

Mixing it up

I managed to get out at lunchtime thanks to the brother-in-law who looked after the nippers. This should have been yesterday's session so I've thrown my schedule out again this week.

The session was 5 x 1 mile off 75 seconds. Then 3 minutes recovery. Then 2 x 400m off 60 seconds. As I was running local I had to improvise so I was going to use my 10 minute out and back course for the mile reps and then run for 72 seconds hard to hopefully have me covering 400m.

After a 3.4km warm-up my times were as follows:

4:56/4:58/4:47/4:52/4:49/1:13/1:13

As mentioned previosuly the 5 minutes out and back are not 1 mile. Probably just over 1.5km if the truth be known. I really should make the effort to measure them properly as I hate playing the guessing game. That's why I like the track and the fact that the distances and times don't lie.

Moving on - the 72 second efforts were over-cooked by 1 extra second both times. That extra second of training (x2) could make all the difference in just over 2 weeks time....

Then a 2.3km warm-down to give me 14.2kms for the day.

As this week is shaping up into a recovery week I'm considering racing at the weekend to give the body a bit of a test. I have a couple of options with a local 8km on Sunday, or a 10km at Hollymount in Co Mayo on the same day. What would you do?

Backing Up

No running again today. This is becoming a habit.

More travel and darts

Hence no running. A long journey of around 9 hours keeping the young nipper amused. Arrived back in Galway in time to make the weekly darts match. I was very ordinary in the pairs but hit both winning doubles to help register a win. Then in the singles I scored as well as I can remember narrowly missing the bull for a 170 finish in the first leg (I hit the semi-bull). I ended up losing 2-1 after numerous ton plus scores. I just couldn't hit the winning double (read I bottled it)...

Last day in Spain

An easy run today. Running from the apartment I did a similar loop to the long run from the previous day an added on a bit extra to get me up to 10.8kms in 48:11 (4:28/km).

A long wobble

Not the full quid today...can't think why???

I put the long run off until the last of the daylight and eventually headed out around 4pm. I wanted to run for 1 hour 45 mins and that was going to be a real effort in my condition. I ended up running 3 x 7.2km loops and added on a little more at the end to get my total distance up to 23.5km in 1:44:06 (4:26's). Not pretty.

The weekly tally again exceeds 100km coming in at 100.8kms. And that includes a rest day. I don't feel like I'm getting any fitter but I guess time will tell.

Going back to last night there may be some karaoke footage of yours truly soon to be made available...watch this space...

Breaking all the rules

I tend not to do consecutive days of hard running but if I was to squeeze in all my sessions this week than that rule had to be broken. Today I was to do 7 x 6 minutes off 1 minute. Again I used the same section of path as yesterday taking turns doing my efforts out then back running the full length of the path irrespective of the time. After a 2.6km warm-up I knocked out the following efforts:

6:03/5:49/6:06/5:49/6:08/5:50/6:06

You can see from the times that the outward section was much tougher. This was run into the wind with the double whammy of more uphill. Happy with the times as they were consistent but again the speed wasn't what it should be. Back to back sessions could explain that as I felt a little flat.

I finished up with a 2.1km warm-down. Another 17.3kms in the bank. Mum's birthday party tonight...

A longish run with some half marathon pace

The session was 2 x 2 miles of half marathon pace running thrown into a longish 10 mile run. After a 4.4km warm-up I was going to use a section of path that out and back would be just over 2 miles. Generally flat, but there is one nasty little climb.

True to form, I ran the whole course each effort which was about 3.6km so about 400m longer than schedule. My times for each effort were 12:06 and 12:13 so around low 3:20/km pace but the problem was it felt more like 10km pace. Perhaps the higher humidity was a factor. I ran 1.9km easy between those 2 efforts and finished with the same 4.4km warm-down. All up 17.9kms for the day.

Travel & Rest

Spent most of the day travelling to Moriara, Spain. Arrived and straight out to the pub so no training. I was quite happy to have a rest day after 26 days of training on the bounce. The problem being I now have some sessions to squeeze in the rest of the week so I'll be playing catch-up...

Train in Spain

Feeling really tired at the moment so just did a lazy local hour covering 13.8kms in 58:57 (4:16's). My hamstrings are feeling tight so gave them a good stretch after the run.

Off to Spain tomorrow morning for a few days with my young lad. A catch up with family and a very big birthday to celebrate for my mum. Training could suffer as I'm down for some half marathon pace running tomorrow but I can't see that happening as I'm basically travelling most of the day.

8 x 1km off 90 seconds

Track night. Same warm-up as previous weeks (5.1km) then a few dynamic stretches and strides and it was showtime.

Conditions were quite windy but there was no rain in the air. The track was therefore bone dry which seemed to help me no end. I think I've under called how much a wet track can slow you down in the past. Despite feeling tired I seemed to be running a lot more comfortably tonight.

The first couple of reps I was running with Keith which made the start of the session much easier. I then worked in front of him and finished running the last 6 reps by myself. Times were:

3:06/3:06/3:08/3:05/3:05/3:05/3:04/3:05

Being windy I cheated slightly by starting each rep at the start/finish line which meant you had the benefit of the quick back straight 3 times each rep. So that meant walking diagonally across the oval back to the start after finishing each rep at the 200m mark during the 90 seconds recovery.

Very happy with that as I felt in control throughout. I was running at a quicker pace than the 800's from the previous week. Some of that can be attributed to the extra 30 seconds recovery but that aside I felt much better this evening.

A 3.9km warm-down and 18kms for the day.

Then darts. We were playing in town and we won 6-3. I lost my pairs and won my singles...