Decent Week

I finished the week with another easy run of 11.1kms in 45:22 (4:05's). I was feeling good today which was surprising as it was one of the windiest days that you could wish for.

That's 79.0kms for the week which isn't too bad. A good week with 2 decent sessions (5km race and 10km tempo). Time to really knuckle down next week starting with a return to the track on Tuesday, another session on Thursday, race on Saturday and long on Sunday. That structure of 3 sessions a week plus long run on Sunday is something I want to hit for the next few months.

The Early Bird

An early run with Fintan around Claregalway. A beautiful morning for a run but the legs felt a little tired - especially in the last few kms. All up 20.1km in 1:26:58 (4:20's).

Nice to have the run done and dusted by 8:30am.

Easy Friday

My old local loop of 9.5kms in 39:02 (4:07's). The new bridge is now open so no need to jump the barriers anymore.

Out to watch the ballet in the evening. Very cultured.

The Great Race

I was asked to run the course of a new upcoming race in Galway called the Great Race (June 17th). It's a 10km that starts and finishes at the Galway Racecourse and the idea was to run it as a tempo session to get a feel for the course. I ran it with Fintan and the route starts with a half-lap of the racecourse (running anti-clockwise), then out onto the roads before finishing with almost a full clockwise lap of the racecourse (the finish line is the same one used by the horses). The route uses the sealed path around the racecourse so you avoid having to run on grass so basically the whole route is on paths and road.

We ran it comfortably hard covering the 10km in 35:35. A good quick start to the course, with a short-sharp 300m climb at around the 7km mark, and an uphill finish as you round the last corner running up to the grandstand. All in all a very enjoyable route and certainly a quick course if you take the run out hard using the net downhill in the first half.

All up 13.4kms for the day with warm-up/down. Forgot to mention the knee - still not great but I took a couple of ibuprofen beforehand which must have helped. Not good practice and something I don't make a habit of but I'm sure all runners have done the same at some point...

Knee

I think I overdid it a bit yesterday. I pulled up with a sore right knee which I think I may have jarred or something. Easily done and I suspect it could have been during the long downhill section in the 3rd km of the race.

The pain was more getting up and down from a chair, or climbing the stairs, but seemed okay when walking. So I decided to try and run and was conscious of the knee the whole way as I tentatively eased into my running. I got round covering the 11.1kms in 47:03 (4:14's). I'll live...

Session planned for tomorrow.

Claregalway 5km

It turned out to be a lovely evening. A bit of a breeze but nothing to worry about. I ran down to the start from my home to collect my number, then a few kms warm-up with Fintan before lining up at the start. All the usual suspects were in attendance and it promised to be a good hit-out.

The same course as last year with the first km containing a nasty 600m climb. I was at the front with Peter as we pushed along. I felt pretty good and with the feedback from the first km marker of 3:13 it looked like I was in for a decent time. For the next couple of kms I settled into my running - the legs and breathing felt fine and I tried a few surges to shake Peter off but he was having none of it.

I probably backed off a little through the 4th km trying to save myself for a quick finish. Peter was still shadowing me and I knew he had a kick at the end so I decided to make my move as we rounded the last bend leaving about 500m to the finish. I kicked hard and immediately opened a small gap but there was still a long way to go and the finishing area didn't seem to be getting any closer! I told myself I was enjoying this and managed to maintain the pace crossing the line for the win in 15:45.

Very pleased with that and surprised I ran so well only 2 weeks post marathon. This was a few seconds quicker than when I won this race last year but tonight it felt quite comfortable (except for the burst of speed at the end)...

Here are the splits:

1km 3:13
2km 3:10
3km 3:11
4km 3:14
5km 2:57 (!!!)

Total 15:45

I finished up with 5km warm-down. Lots of PBs out there tonight and although you'd say the course isn't the quickest going round, you can still run a decent time if you attack in the right places. Peter (2nd 15:48) and Fintan (3rd 16:16) both had super runs notching up 30 second plus PBs. Well done.

All up 13.5kms (approx) for the day. I'll certainly do 1 or 2 more of these races in the coming weeks to try and get a quicker time. I think sub 15:30 would be a nice stretch target!

Potting balls off the lampshade

Ronnie wins the snooker. Fantastic viewing!

No run today. A rest day before getting back on the horse tomorrow for the Claregalway 5km. It's one of those races where my time could be anything. I'm hoping the competitive streak will kick-in and I can string together a few fast kms...could be tricky as it's a hilly one

I've had plenty of time now to reflect on London. Here's some thoughts on what went wrong:

1) The heat - a little too hot for me (I mentioned this already)

2) The group - a great group for the first half of the race and then solo running the entire second half. I can't explain what happened to the group - it just disintegrated. Being dragged round until 20 miles could have made the difference between sub 2:30 or bust.

3) Nutrition - my carbo load was perfect but I may have missed a trick with my gels. I only used one gel in all my training runs so I wasn't used to them come race day. I really struggled keeping the last couple down during the race. Put simply I don't think my body was used to them (poor planning)

4) Old age - I can't really use this as an excuse as one of the Moroccan elites ran 2:07 finishing 5th overall! Just goes to show what can be done!

If I think of any more excuses I'll let you know...

Long of sorts

I met with Owen at Dangan and we ran the Cathedral Run route. Still not feeling great with the lingering sore throat and general tiredness and struggled round notching up 18.6kms in 1:23:02 (4:28's).

That's 70.4kms for the week and not one sub 4 minute km since the marathon...

Ronnie all the way in the snooker!

Sore throat

I woke up with a very sore throat. I must be a bit run down. After spending most of the day painting one of the bedrooms I decided to try a short run. It was a real struggle and I ran 9.5kms in 39:54 (4:12's).

A longer run planned for tomorrow.

More easy stuff

I ran my local loop of 11.1km in 45:44 (4:07's). A bit quicker than Monday but not feeling at all comfortable.

A long weekend coming up. Plenty of snooker and footy to watch with Ronnie looking good for his 4th world title.

Nish

I took a rest day today. The legs just don't feel nowhere near right post marathon. Perhaps I've been overdoing it a bit.

Watched snooker and darts with a few beers instead.

Come on Ronnie!

I ran my old loop today. The new bridge is still not completed but after hopping over a few barriers it was possible to get across and I ran the 9.5kms in 39:20 (4:09's). I'll have to measure this course with the Garmin as no doubt it will measure it as 9kms...

A quick mention of the World Championship snooker that it being played at the moment. Lots of seeded players have fallen by the wayside and that's left it open for Ronnie to pick up his 4th title. He was playing sublime snooker in beating Neil Robertson 13-10 - one visit snooker at its best. I honestly can't see anyone pushing him close now we move into the even longer format semi-finals!

Plus Tottenham back on form. As soon as Harry was removed from the frame of the England job the mighty Spurs spring back into life. Two wins will see us in the Champions League next year...

Athenry

I made a late call to head out to Newcastle near Athenry to watch the first race of this year's 5km series. Conditions were pretty poor - windy and wet and upon arrival I ran a few kms on the course before heading down to the finish to watch the closing stages of the race.

Quite a few people were commenting on whether I had missed the start of the race - but I had no intention of racing as the legs still aren't ready. Good to see these races from a spectators perspective and just the motivation I need to get fired up for the next race in the series which happens to be in Claregalway. Handy Arry.

I finished up chatting with a few people before running the guts of the course to get a few more kays in. All up 10.6km in 47:11.

New start

An evening local loop to sweat out yesterday's excess. I felt surprisingly good today - the legs almost felt normal and I seemed to be travelling well. Time 46:18 for 11.1kms (4:10's).

No speed sessions for at least another week - just easy running to keep me ticking over.

The Galway 5km series starts tomorrow night. I have a spot but will only race a couple of these this year (one quick one - maybe Craughwell, plus my local one in Claregalway). I may head out and watch tomorrow to cheer on the lads. There should be some good battles at the pointy end. Good luck to all taking part!

Darts finals

We met in the local pub at 3pm for an hours practise before heading into town. Our cup semi started about 5ish. In the pairs I should have won but couldn't hit the winning double. In the singles I won but should have lost. Swings and roundabouts. We ended up losing 5-3 overall and it was a case of what could have been. Next year!

Back to the local and finished drinking at 11pm. That's 3 huge Sunday sessions now in the last 3 weeks. I'm getting too old for all this. Time for a new challenge!

No running today. Only 20.6kms for the week...

Back on the horse

No running all week. You seem to have much more time when you don't train and needless to say that time is spent eating and drinking too much. I'm not feeling guilty though as I feel I deserve a bit of a blow-out.

Today I met up with Fintan for an easy run. I felt fine for about 20 minutes then the legs became progressively more sore. By the end I was back in the closing stages of the marathon. A total of 20.6kms in 1:30:23 (4:23/km pace). Clearly I'm by no way recovered from the marathon and will take another day off tomorrow and see how I feel.

Thanks

A few thank yous. Here goes:

-The good wife for putting up with my daily training
- The in-laws for the baby-sitting whilst doing my lunchtime runs
- Owen, Barry and Fintan who were my training partners for the last few months
- Matt from the Harriers for the training schedule
- Conor for the massages
- Plus all the support I've had via text, email, Facebook and through this blog. Very humbling.

No running until at least Saturday then I'll see how I feel.

I played in the darts singles finals tonight. I wasn't expecting much as I hadn't played for 2 weeks, plus I was knackered. To make matters worse I didn't get to play my game until around midnight by which time I could barely keep my eyes open. Needless to say I lost 3-1. Home at 2am...

More darts on Sunday - the semi-final and final of the team cup.

Some Stats

Here is a summary of the mile splits:

Mile 1 - 5:37
Mile 2 - 5:38
Mile 3 - 5:25
Mile 4 - 5:44
Mile 5 - 5:34 (27:58)
Mile 7 - 11:35
Mile 8 - 5:37
Mile 9 - 5:35
Mile 10 - 5:42 (28:29)
Mile 11 - 5:36
Mile 12 - 5:49
Mile 13 - 5:42
Mile 14 - 5:32
Mile 15 - 5:35 (28:14)
Mile 16 - 5:55
Mile 17 - 5:49
Mile 18 - 5:46
Mile 20 - 11:33 (29:03)
Mile 22 - 11:52
Mile 23 - 5:57
Mile 24 - 5:50
Mile 25 - 6:13 (29:52)
Mile 26 - 6:02
Mile 26.2 - 1:17

Total 2:30:55

These are the official splits from the results in metric:

5km 17:16
10km 17:48
15km 17:36
20km 17:43
25km 17:31
30km 17:57
35km 18:16
40km 18:36
42.2km 8:12

Total 2:30:55

Here is the training volume in the 12 weeks up to and including the marathon:

Week 1 - 85.8kms
Week 2 - 119.6kms
Week 3 - 126.1kms
Week 4 - 112.3kms
Week 5 - 124.7kms
Week 6 - 109.3kms
Week 7 - 84.0kms
Week 8 - 115.9kms
Week 9 - 104.1kms
Week 10 - 103.0kms
Week 11 - 98.5kms
Week 12 - 67.9kms

Total - 1,251.2kms (average 104.3kms per week)

As a comparative, for the same period in the build-up to Dublin 2010 I averaged 90.9kms so a big increase in volume for me. The result sort of blows the theory that more is less but I believe there are reasons behind this. Umm.

Here is one photo I found of me being chased by a big blue bus. This must have been in the second half of the race as I'm running solo:

London Marathon 2012

Up early for breakfast. Two portions of rice pudding, a bagel and a couple of cups of coffee. We had a 10 minute walk to the train station at Nunhead but upon arrival we discovered the line was closed for engineering works! A momentary increase in stress levels but thankfully we quickly found a cabbie who dropped us off as close as we could get to Blackheath.

The walk up to the Blue start area was a little daunting. The temperature seemed much hotter than advertised (max 14 degrees), and when we got closer to the start it was like being at an outdoor music festival. Thousands of people everywhere milling around whilst waiting for the main act.

Over to the Championship enclosure where we had the luxury of our own changing area and place to warm-up. The usual last minute checks - putting on Vaseline, a quick energy gel, a few mouthfuls of water, a final visit to the toilet, then time to get rid of the bag and do a quick warm-up.

I ran a very slow 800m or so. I've never been one for doing a long warm-up for a marathon - it's hard enough without handicapping yourself further. The short out-and-back warm-up was great - but there was a noticeable breeze on the course. Not perfect conditions but you'd take them pretty much every time.

Soon we were being called towards the start. Slowly we edged forwards until we were directly behind the elites. As it happened I was on the far left of the start and I found myself directly behind Marty Dent and Scott Westcott - 2 elite Aussies. I wished Marty well and then we were underway.

A little bit of congestion as you found your racing line but basically straight into your running. I was wearing a stopwatch (no Garmin) so there was the usual apprehension of receiving the feedback from the first mile marker and I settled into a pace that felt fast but comfortable.

Through the first mile in 5:37. Happy with that and a big sigh of relief. Target pace or thereabouts and there were signs that a nice group was forming. The magnitude of this race is like no other I have been involved in. The crowds were huge - and you find yourself running through constant waves of sound. It's hard not to get carried away but I didn't want to repeat my mistake of 2009 so I was trying to keep a lid on things.

The next few miles passed without incident (mile 2 in 5:38 and a quicker downhill 3rd mile in 5:25). Perhaps a little too fast but I was in a massive group of around 25 runners. Perhaps too big as you found yourself jockeying for position every now and then - especially when running through the water stations. Talking of which, my strategy was to take on a little water at every stop, and due to the heat I was also throwing water over the body to cool down.

I don't really recall any detail from the course at this stage - I was tucked into the group and we knocked out the next couple of miles in 5:44 and 5:34 respectively. Still inside target pace and feeling very comfortable. I had a brief conversation with a guy next to me who was running in an RAF vest. He mentioned his target time was 2:28 to 2:30 (as was mine) - perfect. To my surprise a few guys went off the front of the group and were then left running by themselves. To me that didn't seem like a very good idea and I remained in group company. Another gel at 5 miles and I was to repeat this every 5 miles at 10, 15 and 20.

I somehow managed to miss the 6th mile - not easy to do as they were very clearly marked. So a bit more of a wait until mile 7 but the split of 11:35 for the previous 2 miles was again about right. Continued jostling through the water stations but if anyone missed a drink there were always runners willing to pass on their bottles. Again detail is lacking but I continued to run well through miles 8 (5:37), 9 (5:35) and 10 (5:42) which had me at 56:27 for 10 miles.

The group had been whittled down a bit which wasn't a bad thing; I was still feeling good but it was still early days. I went into blinker mode and decided to re-evaluate the race at halfway. The next 3 miles were again notched off at target pace going through mile 11 in 5:36, mile 12 in 5:49 and then mile 13 in 5:42. It was during the 13th mile that you get to cross Tower Bridge - an incredible experience with the deafening crowd cheering you on. Then a right turn to head towards Canary Wharf and then the feedback of the half marathon split of 1:14:10. Absolutely spot on.

At this point it seemed like the group evaporated around me. A few guys went off the front, I felt like I was still running well but I was left in no mans land. The next couple of mile splits confirmed I was still running well reaching mile 14 in 5:32 and mile 15 in 5:35. Too quick if anything and I was left a little rattled.

Then time for a bad patch. The next couple of miles I continued to run solo and I was starting to do it tough. I knew I'd hit trouble but didn't expect it to be this early. I was really having to grit it out and I knew I was slowing. Sure enough the times confirmed this with mile 16 reached in 5:55 and mile 17 in 5:49. It was make or break time.

To my surprise I started to feel a little better. I knew I'd slowed but I was starting to overtake people. This was a good feeling and helped to spur me on. I wanted to run another mile at target pace and take it from there and I was moving in the right direction at mile 18 with a split of 5:46. Come on, get to 20 miles and see what you can do...

I was still running well. The effort level was up there but you expect that in the last third of the marathon. I glanced down at my watch and realised I'd missed another mile marker - not sure if that was a good thing or not but soon I was running through the 20 mile marker with a split of 11:33 for the previous 2 miles. A little slow but still within sub 2:30 pace.

The cumulative time at 20 miles read 1:53:44. I still felt that sub 2:30 was there for the taking. If I could run sub 6 minute miles from here I was in with a shout. The legs were very heavy and I was over-heating but the breathing felt good and the mind was still strong. This is what I'd trained for in the last 3 months and I was in my element.

Another missed mile marker. Just keep this going - still running solo but I must have overtaken at least 10 runners between miles 15 and 22 without being overtaken myself. That was great but the time was ebbing away. At mile 22 I had run 11:52 for the last couple of miles and I was really hanging on. I tried a final throw of the dice through the next couple of miles and managed to chalk up 2 more sub 6 minute miles: 5:57 and 5:50 respectively. Still there or thereabouts but any time in the bank was disappearing very quickly.

The last couple of miles down the Embankment were very tough. I felt like I was maintaining the same pace of the previous few miles but a couple of runners passed me with ease timing their run for home perfectly. I passed the 40km clock and knew straight away that I wasn't capable of running close to 7 minutes for the last 2.2kms to give me the sub 2:30 and that seemed to give me the excuse to back off slightly. Mile 25 with my slowest mile of the race of 6:13, with a little improvement as I hit mile 26 in 6:02. I was going to enjoy the finish and I brought out the now standard aeroplane as I weaved down the finishing chute to cross the line in 2:30:55.

After crossing the line I was in bits. I made my way over to one of the metal railings and spent the next 5 minutes doubled over dry-retching. I eventually forced down some water and hobbled over to have my photo taken and gather my bag.

I've had a bit of time now to reflect on the race and whilst I was obviously disappointed to miss out on the sub 2:30 by only a small margin, I had a great overall placing of 61st and I also managed 4th in the 40-44 age group (3rd Brit). The race itself was an incredible experience but I just couldn't nail the latter half of the race as I did in Dublin in 2010. My theory on that was the heat - as mentioned earlier the conditions were generally good but perhaps a little too hot to suit me personally. Nit picking really and when you hear of the tragedy that happened to the young girl at mile 25 it really puts things into context. Claire Squires - may you Rest In Peace.

My wingman Owen had a super run of 2:39:20 for a 3 minute PB. Similar to me he struggled from 20 miles in whilst being on 2:37 pace. Still a fantastic effort and much deserved. Well done in spades!

More stats, photos and thank yous to follow. I'll leave you with a sampler of a photo I found on the BBC website of me crossing Tower Bridge. I'm the one wearing the bright red and yellow stripes of my UK club City of Norwich:

Travel

We travelled from Shannon to Heathrow. Then got the tube to the house we had rented for the weekend (in Brockley). Then straight to the race expo to pick up our race numbers.

Lots of eating all day. Snacking constantly and a big pasta meal in the evening. In bed by 9:30pm ready for the big day.

Early Night

My last training run. I trotted out a very easy run of 7.7kms in 32:55. Feeling good.

An early night in preparation for travel to London in the morning.

Barry who has been struggling with an injury the last couple of weeks today made the difficult call that he would not be fit to race on the weekend. An extreme case of bad luck. Myself, Owen and Barry have done the bulk of our training together in the last 3 months and sadly no reward for Barry for all the hard work and effort he has put in. Next time mate, next time...

Race Strategy

Rest day today. No running and no beer..

My best chance to duck under 2hr30 will be to replicate my plan in Dublin. Try and get to half-way in good shape somewhere around 1:14 low and then hang on. The big thing, and I'd say this is where luck comes into the race is to get in a group. I can't stress how important that is - it makes the execution of the race so much easier if you have others around you to work with. London gets big numbers so I'm hoping there will be a few like minded people shooting for sub 2hr30.

Pacing required - 3:33/km or 5:43/mile.

The big lesson learnt from last time I raced London is to not get too carried away at the start. Easily done as it's like being at the Olympics. Crowd everywhere cheering you on. Don't run your race in the first 10km...slow and steady...open up the throttle at 20 miles if you have anything left.

VSLR

Very short long run. A total of 7.8kms in 33:18 (4:16's). It served no purpose other than to turn the legs over and stop you going stir crazy.

Doubt and paranoia at the moment. The doubt isn't troubling me as I know I've trained more than any of my previous races. The paranoia is controllable - you know what I'm talking about: "I coughed, I must be getting sick" or "I'm going to take these stairs very easy so as to avoid tripping up and breaking my leg". Madness.

Race strategy tomorrow. It's looking like another Dublin job...

Bad weather

Very cold, windy and wet. That put pay to track as I didn't want to risk getting a cold - instead favouring the treadmill. The session was 3 x 1 mile off 90 seconds recovery. I did 2km warm-up/down and knocked out the miles at 10km pace (3:15/km pace). Sweating buckets as per the norm indoors. All up 9.4km. No niggles which is really pleasing.

I pulled the pin on darts favouring an early night. Me and the pub have parted company until Sunday afternoon...

Starting to think a lot about the race now. Where has the last 3 months gone? My race strategy will be revealed in the next few days. What to do?

I like these easy weeks

Nothing today. Just trying to recover after yesterday and the 5 hour session in the pub. I considered going for a gentle jog but that's about as close as I got.

This week I'll take it really easy. A few intervals tomorrow, easy running Wednesday and Friday with rest days in between. Similar to my last week before Dublin 2010 which seemed to work.

Winding Down

Out very early this morning. A very cold start to the day, but a beautiful morning nonetheless. Ran with Fintan and Owen and we knocked off 22.2kms in 1:40:20 (4:31's). I can't say I was feeling great but at least it's done.

Then home for a quick shower and back into town to watch the Rotterdam marathon. A good crowd in the Kings Head and the leaders were setting a cracking pace going through halfway in under WR pace. The inevitable slow-down happened in the second half of the race - hampered by blustery and cold conditions. The first 2 runners still clocked sub 2:05, with Gary just missing out on Olympic qualification running 2:17. An excellent run in the circumstances which he should be very proud of.

Then in the evening I went out to see the Spurs get hammered. Not good. So I got hammered also. Great preparation only one week out from the marathon...

A total of 98.5kms for the week.

Varying the pace

Today was a total of 12 miles broken up as follows:

2 warm-up
2 @ marathon pace
1 @ 10km pace
2 relaxed
2 @ marathon pace
1 @ 10km pace
2 warm-down

It was very sunny and bright but was also windy. I ran local and cheated so that I had the wind directly behind for both the miles at 10km pace. That was fine though it meant I had 2 nasty efforts into the wind running at marathon pace. Robbing Peter to pay Paul and all that.

The run was continuous (no breaks). The times for the quicker miles were:

5:37/5:39/5:18

5:44/5:46/5:15

All up 19.3km in 1:17:40 (average 4:01/km pace). Still not on top form though I feel better than I did yesterday. A few beers tonight and I'll be flying again.

Lesson learnt

A rest day today. Still not feeling the greatest - that's what happens if you go 3 days without booze...

A tough enough session tomorrow then time to really take the foot off the gas.

Out of petrol

Another run at marathon pace. This time only 4 miles. Similar to last time I handicapped myself by running into the wind with the hills in all the wrong places. I never felt good at any point in this run and I feel like I'm still carrying a bit of a bug or something. Better to have this now than in a weeks time.

Times for the miles were:

5:37/5:38/5:38/5:37

I was working as if running at 10km pace and no way I could maintain it today.

A total of 13.8kms in 54:53 (average pace 3:59/km).

Sunset Run

The title makes it sound better than it was. You couldn't actually see the sun as it was covered by all the clouds. It just slowly got dark. I finished along the N17 with the street lights for company.

All up 16.8km in 1:12:18 (4:18's).

Rotterdam

Another track session. It didn't sound too bad - 4 x 400, 18 minutes tempo, 4 x 400. One minute recovery between the 400's, then 2 minutes recovery before the tempo; 3 minutes after the tempo.

Conditions were good enough. A bit of breeze around and nice and dry. I rattled out the session as follows:

69/69/68/67
18:39 for 5.6km (I went through 5km in 16:36)
70/69/67/66

With warm-up (3.7km) and warm-down (2.0km) it's another 14.5km for the week. I didn't feel particularly great but it's another session in the bank. Tick it off and move on...

I bumped into Gary who is running the Rotterdam marathon on Sunday and wished him the best of luck. The target is sub 2hr15 which will get him the Olympic qualifying standard. To put that time into context you need to be running at sub 3:12/km pace which is quicker than my 10km pace! Come on Gary!

League darts was cancelled but we still got together for a game. I had to play in a mini-round robin to decide what players from the pub go forward for the end of season singles competition. I played 3 games, won 3 games and easily progressed. I played well considering I haven't practiced recently. The taper must have done me good...

Easter Monday

I wasn't feeling great today. One of those days where you feel like you are on the verge of coming down with something. Some people would take the day off, however my way of thinking is go for a run and sweat it out (no it wasn't a hangover - perhaps too much chocolate!).

That seemed to work - an easy 11.1kms in 46:13 (4:10's). Felt much better afterwards.

Only 2 weeks to go

Starting to scale back the longer runs now. Today we were down for an easy 2 hours and ran from Dangan, out to Fervo, then back to Dangan cutting short near the end as we didn't want to over-do it. All up 28.4kms in 2:06:11 (4:27's).

A good crowd today which really helps pass the time. I felt pretty good throughout after yesterday's race and even tried some of the gel I intend to use on race day.

That's 103.0kms for the week. I've been averaging over 100kms per week for the last 13 weeks now so it has been metronome like consistency. Starting to think a bit about the race now. Really looking forward to it.

Colemanstown 10km

The race in Galway was selected purely on the grounds that it would be less time away from home. The course was advertised as being fast and flat and I wanted to test myself to see what shape I was in. I had no idea what time to expect/target but in speaking to Owen I decided I'd be very happy if I could dip under 33 minutes.

A field of around 175 runners lined up for the start. I'd done a 1.6km warm-up and no strides, and with the start slightly delayed it allowed a bit of time to relax and chat to the other runners. Conditions looked good enough - we were going to cop a bit of wind in places and to me it felt a little muggy but all in all pretty good.

The race was underway and I went straight into the lead. I wanted to push the start and I was a little surprised as I took note of my split for the first km - a 3:07 - and I was feeling good. I concentrated on keeping the legs motoring and unusually there was nobody for company - no lead car, bike or motorcycle - just me in time trial mode with empty road ahead. The second km was again quick (3:12) but the wind was probably assisting at this stage. The road remained very flat and the km markers were appearing quickly - the 3rd km covered in 3:14. I recall the 4th km was a bit tougher - I think we were slowly turning more into the wind, plus it seemed to be a very gradual uphill gradient. I knew I'd slowed a bit and after taking the first left hand turn off the main road I had reached the 4th km with a split of 3:20.

My thinking was that I'd probably paid for the quick start and it was going to be a tough run home. However I managed to pick the pace up again to reach the halfway point with a split of 3:15. With those splits I realised I was in with a shout of a PB. Just keep this going. The next km was the toughest of the race. Very exposed, slight uphill and running into the wind. Again I knew I'd slowed and sure enough I'd run the slowest km yet (a 3:22). Like before though I'd bounced straight back with another turn of speed to record a time of 3:15 for the 7th km. I'd decided to take note of my cumulative time at 8km then decide if a PB was possible. I think it was midway through the 8th km that we took another left turn and suddenly I felt a lot more comfortable as the wind was on the back.

At 8km I had run a 3:19 km and I was left fumbling with my watch to get the display to show me my total race time. I quickly calculated that I was in with a good PB shout and decided to really push for home. Thankfully this seemed like the quickest section of the course and I quickly reached 9km with a split of 3:09. I felt strong and kicked on as best I could. The last km was a bit tougher as there were a couple of turns, plus a slight uphill as we approached the finish. But nothing was going to upset my rhythm today and I managed to cross the finish line in a time of 32:22 recording a final km split of 3:09.

Very pleased with that. Finally I've broken out of the 32:40's! A 19 second PB and I'd also broken the course record in the process. Plus another win! Good to see that all the training is paying dividends and this has given me lots of confidence for the marathon in 2 weeks time.

I finished up with a 3.2km warm-down and that gives me 14.8kms for the day. I guess I'll have to have a few beers tonight to celebrate. Still getting quicker at the ripe old age of forty!

A quick thank you to the organisers. These country races are superb - a very friendly atmosphere and again well organised. The course is super quick and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to target a quick 10km time. I don't think there would be a quicker 10km option in Galway. But then I'd have to say that after today!

More rest

It's important to have these rest days to give the body a chance to absorb all the training and recuperate. I'll probably have 2 rest days next week, and maybe 3 in the final week before the marathon.

So today I did very little except chase the kids around the garden. A few beers in the evening along with chocolate Angel Delight and a family size bag of crisps. Nice. I'm often asked about drinking and training. I've tried tee-total training, and having a few beers and I'm of the firm belief that the latter does you no harm. If anything I find it helps you to relax and is a good reward after a tough session. More often than not I will have a few beers the night before a race. Low and behold you sleep better and wake up refreshed and ready to go. Works for me but probably wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Sports scientists and nutritionists will no doubt give you a million reasons why you shouldn't follow my lead. Oh well...

I'm keen to race on the weekend as a final tune-up. There are two 10km options tomorrow - one in Galway and one one in Mayo. The Mayo race would be a better standard (which I would favour) but would involve a 2 hour round trip. What to do...

Marathon pace not comforable...

A 10 miler today with 5 miles at marathon pace in the middle. Still quite windy and foolishly I started the 5 quicker miles running into the wind. I never felt comfortable and was having to push hard just to get inside my target time of 5:40's. The penultimate mile contained a good 600m climb (still into the wind), then the last mile I was assisted by a nice downhill stretch. Here are the mile times:

5:32/5:37/5:37/5:50/5:26 (total 28:02)

There are reasons why it doesn't feel comfortable running at MP at the moment. I recall feeling the same in the build up to Dublin. Magically on the day it will all click into place - at least that's what I keep telling myself.

All up 16.0kms in 1:02:40 (ave 3:55's).

In the evening I had a good massage which lasted well over an hour. Each massage seems to be less painful than the last - a good sign (caveat - except my calves which were screaming). Rest tomorrow.

Knackered

Still feeling tired. Probably still a hangover from the half. I rattled out 17.4kms in 1:15:32 (4:20/km). Again very windy and a sense of going through the motions. One more session to survive tomorrow, then a much needed massage, with a rest day planned for Friday.

Windy at track

The temperatures have really dropped again. It was well below 10 degrees and the wind had picked up considerably. It was going to be a tough one.

The session was 3 x 2 miles. Sounds easy enough but that's still 24 laps of running around the track. But at least we had the luxury of 90 seconds recovery!

After a 3.7km warm-up myself and Owen lined up for the session. The goal was to run it at 10km pace so that's around 3:15-3:18/km pace which equates to 5:14-5:19/mile. That target went out of the window after the first few laps - a very strong headwind on the back straight (complete opposite to the normal wind direction) and whilst you did get some tail-wind on the home straight, the sheltered nature of that part of the track by no means made up for the time lost running into the wind.

I gritted out the session as best I could but the legs felt dead (breathing was fine). Times were as follows:

10:38/10:39/10:35

Not too bad and I'd say the wind accounted for a few seconds each lap. Bloody tough mentally the 8 lappers it has to be said.

Finishing up with 2.0km warm-down for 15.3kms all up.

Darts in the evening. A win in the doubles and a loss in the singles. Both games went to a deciding leg and both times I was throwing second. I played well enough in the pairs and hit the winning double; the singles was a very close game. The standard of darts was very good in the decider. I had hit 140, 125, 94 and a few lower scores and I had set myself up nicely leaving double 12. My opponent then took out 120 to win the match. Close but no cigar. And to make matters worse we lost 5-4 overall! Alcohol was the winner...

Recovery Run

An easy run around my local loop. The legs were not feeling great but the time wasn't too bad covering 11.1kms in 45:47 (4:07's). One more decent week then it's taper time...

Connemara Half Marathon 2012

Disappointing. I couldn't even manage one pre-race night of no beer...perhaps it helped?

Anyway I was up early to get the bus from Galway out to Leenane which was the starting point for the half. The journey of around an hour soon passed and it gave you a good idea to assess the terrain as we drove some of the course. Rolling hills and warm sunshine were the order of the day.

Upon arrival I was to get an appreciation of the magnitude of this event. There were runners and walkers everywhere waiting patiently for the 12pm start. I took the chance to get ready - sort out race number, timing chip, get changed, put my bag in the truck and then after a slow 2 mile warm-up it was time to make my way to the start.

A few familiar faces at the start and after a bit of chat we were all underway. I went straight into the lead and after crossing the bridge in town, then taking a left turn, it was time to tackle the first hill. I'd decided to take the hills easy enough, and then run the flatter sections of the course at marathon pace (around 5:40 per mile).

The first hill was a tough one and must have lasted well over a mile. I had already opened up a decent gap on the chasing runners and upon reaching the summit I settled into a nice rhythm which felt very comfortable. The course itself was point-to-point finishing out at Maam Cross which meant that most of the running today was directly into a breeze. To make matters worse, the temperatures were hot and you could really feel the heat of the sunshine as most of the course was very exposed.

The scenery was pretty spectacular - hills, valleys and water views and as picturesque a race as I can recall. The terrain was undulating with constant slight uphills and downhills. At the 3 mile mark I took on some water which I would never normally do for a half - that was a measure of how hot it was. I concentrated on following the lead bike and at around 5 miles there was a nasty climb, followed by a steep descent which really had you working.

At 6 miles I took on more water. My splits seemed consistent and I tried to stay as relaxed as possible and enjoy the race. I was overtaking walkers who had started an hour earlier, plus a few of the marathon runners who were on sub 3 hour pace who were running the same route. This at least gave you something to focus on. More water at 9 miles and barring any disaster I had the race in the bag. After taking a right turn it was time to tackle the last hill and it was a beauty lasting the guts of 2 miles. I decided not to push too hard, and upon reaching the summit it was then a very nice descent of around a mile, followed by a fairly flat last mile to the finish line.

I really enjoyed the last section as there were lots of spectators and a good atmosphere down at the finishing chute. I crossed the line in a gun time of 1:14:30 to give me a comfortable victory. A good win when you consider there were over 2,000 runners in the race.

So today I managed to tick all the boxes. I ran exactly the time I was after and also won the race in the process. I finished up with a slow 3 mile warm-down with Enda who had a great run to secure second place.

A great event which is superbly organised and is very unique in its nature. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something different but it's not a course to go for a time on!

Just a quick mention to the guy who won the ultra event (39 miles or 1.5 marathons). His name is Georgio Calcaterra and he is the current 100km World Champion. He seemed to be doing it easy knocking off the 39 miles in 3:56:56. That's 3 by 1:19 half marathons back-to-back. Incredible.

All up 29.1 kms for the day and 104.1kms for the week. A few beers to be had now.

Here's the first photo (thanks to Jane Walsh). The scenery looks much nicer than me:



Here are the mile splits from the Garmin which measured the course at 13.22 miles:

Mile 1 5:46
Mile 2 5:51
Mile 3 5:13
Mile 4 5:26
Mile 5 5:33
Mile 6 5:42
Mile 7 5:41
Mile 8 5:33
Mile 9 5:32
Mile 10 5:53
Mile 11 6:23
Mile 12 5:16
Mile 13 5:30
Mile 13.22 1:11

Total 1:14:30

Nothing Day

No running today. A bit of freshening up before tomorrow's race. The course profile shows a big hill of around 2 miles at the start, then a further hill of similar distance at about three quarters of the way through. It's a net uphill course and as I mentioned earlier in the week I'll be happy with a time around 1hr 15.

Heading into town this afternoon to pick up my race number, get some new gels, and to purchase some new gear at the sports shop. Will aim for a beer free night tonight...

Big discrepancy

An easy run around my local loop of 11.3km (from MapMyRun). It turns out that the Garmin measures it closer to 11.0km. That's a big difference. Not sure what to believe!

Anyway, the time was 45:22 and if I trust the Garmin that's 4:07/km pace. Feeling good and looking forward to the race on Sunday.

Alternating

Another longish session today. The brief was 2 miles warm-up, then alternate between a mile at MP followed by a relaxed mile stopping at 10 miles (all up 4 miles at MP). I ran my local loop and added a bit on at the end and the flats/downhills all seemed to come in the right places! My splits for the miles were:

5:34, 5:40, 5:41, 5:31

All up 16.4km in 1:04:12 (3:55/km pace). Nice change from imperial to metric right there...

I didn't feel that good on the efforts to be honest. I seemed to be working a lot harder than you should be running at MP. You need to be comfortable running at your target MP - almost like you're jogging along. Today it didn't feel like that at all...

Finally, Dad left at lunchtime to fly back to the UK. So the socialising should be more scarce in the final 3 plus weeks to the marathon...a good chance to catch up on some sleep!

Running a half soon

I headed out at lunchtime in the midday sun. I wasn't at my best after a late night coupled with a few too many beers the night before. Once I got going it wasn't too bad but the last 30 minutes were a real grind. All up 21.1kms in 1:28:04 (4:10's).

Thoughts turn to the half on Sunday. It's a really tough hilly course and in speaking to people if you get within a few minutes of your PB you are doing well. I might set myself a goal time of sub 1hr 15 as that would be target marathon pace. If I could achieve that then running the same pace on a flat London course should be a lot more comfortable. So with this race in mind I'll be taking it relatively easy for the remainder of the week...

Almost as hot as Sydney...

Out to Dangan for a session that promised to be a tough one (in 20 degree plus heat!). The session for those in marathon training was 4 x 400, 4 x 1600, 4 x 400. All off one minute...

Luckily the start of the session tied in with the middle distance runners who were to run 10 x 400 off a minute. I led out the first lap in a sluggish 74 seconds, but after that things improved. Here are the times:

1:14/1:12/1:10/1:08/5:00/4:59/5:00/5:00/1:11/1:11/1:10/1:08

Really pleased to keep the miles consistent at 5 minutes. Running these off a minute is tough and I was having to work harder than I would have liked in doing so. The legs were feeling tired going into the session so it was pleasing to put together some good reps. I have to say that the final 4 x 400 were like desert. Whilst the minute recovery seemed tough between the miles, it was more than enough between the one lappers and they felt a lot easier in comparison.

All up 15.3km with a 3.7km warm-up and 2.0km warm-down.

Darts in the evening and we were playing the top team who dished out a right hiding of 7-2. I played very well and lost both games. I had 2 darts to win both the pairs and singles in the deciding leg but it was not to be. You really have to take those chances against the top players. To give you an idea of the standard, in my singles game I lost the first leg in 15 darts. The second leg was a bit scrappy and I managed to win after my opponent missed a few darts on the double. In the decider I was on 96 after 15 darts and missed 2 darts at double 18 after hitting treble 20 with my first dart. My opponent then took out 94 for the match. Close but no cigar...I have to mention that my Dad won both his games after making a guest appearance for the team. I'm not going to hear the end of that for a very long time...

Heatwave?

Beautiful running conditions at the moment. Hot and sunny. Rolled out my normal loop of 11.3km in 45:32 (4:02's).

Another victory for me against the old man at darts last night. Not our best game but managed to win a marathon best of 31 legs...

Longest Sunday

I met with Owen, Barry and Fintan out at Dangan. We started on the Cathedral Run but added an extra section out towards Ferbo which made for a very pleasant change. The pace started slow with a few 5 minutes kms to kick off with, but the pace gradually picked up as we made our way back to Dangan. The weather was glorious today - blue sky and sunshine and for the first time this last week you could really feel the warmth of the sun.

I never felt comfortable today. It has been a big week of training and with 3 good sessions in the legs already I was looking at the watch more than I normally would. I've been lacking sleep and losing an hour overnight with the clocks changing didn't help things. On the positive it's another very good week of training in the bag and I think I'll be jumping out of my skin when I finally freshen up.

All up 34.2km for the day in 2:26:01 (4:15's). That's 115.9kms for the week and nice to get back over triple figures.

Saturday session

Another speed session today. This time it was 3 minutes, 6 x 6 minutes, 3 minutes (off 90 seconds recovery). After a 2.4km warm-up I eased into the session and armed with some Garmin data I can report the following:

Duration Pace Distance

3:01 3:30/km 863m
6:00 3:27/km 1.74km
6:00 3:21/km 1.80km
5:59 3:22/km 1.78km
6:01 3:22/km 1.79km
6:01 3:21/km 1.80km
6:02 3:19/km 1.82km
3:00 3:11/km 944m

I ran local and after a slow start, I managed to run well enough for the last 6 efforts. Very tired again after a late night and another night on the beers...

Very impressed with the Garmin. A very useful training aid. I should have got one of these years ago...

All up 18kms for the day after a couple of kms warm-down. A very long run planned for tomorrow...

Fields of Athenry

I didn't run today. Instead my exercise was a game of golf out at Athenry. I was awful which is as per the norm. Good fun nonetheless and finally my Dad has something to brag about with a narrow victory...

That was short-lived as I beat him again at darts. I hit 6 x 180's during the match and had a couple of chances for 11 dart legs (down to below 100 after 9 darts). Poor finishing was the theme of the night...

Feeling knackered after my "rest day"...

Speeding Up

Another acceleration session. The brief was to get quicker and try and run 5 to 8km at marathon pace or better towards the end of the run. I was again using the garmin and the km laps were as follows:

4:20/4:01/3:53/3:54/3:42/3:35/3:39/3:23/3:32/3:33/3:27/3:30/3:29/3:15/4:25/4:23

All up 16.3kms in 1:01:29.

Legs felt heavy and tired so pleased to get through it in one piece.

Rest day planned tomorrow.

Darts and beer in the evening. Played well at darts dishing out another hiding to my old man!

Longest Wednesday

The brief was to run 1hr30 today. I headed out at lunchtime and armed with a Garmin that I have on loan (thanks Brendan!), I decided to run a new route. Basically I ran from Claregalway to Oranmore village (8kms), then ran a further 3km along the coast road heading towards Galway. At 11kms I then turned and ran the same route in reverse giving me 22kms all up in 1:31:21 (4:09's).

I felt pretty tired throughout but despite that the pace was quite quick. I'll take that as being a good sign that I'm running well. My first ever Garmin run and I feel like I bonded well. My eyesight is not the greatest without glasses so I need to reconfigure the display to make the text a bit bigger. Looking at the manual that seems to be fairly straight-forward. Impressed thus far.

Pyramid session with bells on

Out to Dangan for another track session. I made the decision to run the session comfortably and wouldn't be pushing the pace but again I felt pretty good and was very happy with the outcome.

After an initial 3.7km warm-up and a few drills it was time to find out what delights were in store. The group session was 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 off one minute but the marathon guys (me and Owen) had to run a bonus km at the start and end of the session. Cheers.

I eased into it and ran the first km very controlled. Then we joined the main group and rolled out the session. Here are my times:

1km 3:12
400m 1:13
800m 2:27
1200m 3:39
1600m 4:57
1200m 3:43
800m 2:24
400m 1:06
1km 3:04

I was getting more than a minute recovery as we were taking the minute from the middle of the quick group so I was getting an extra 5 to 20 seconds depending on the length of the previous effort. The times were very pleasing as I could still feel the 10 mile race in the legs but despite that I seemed to be bounding along strongly.

Finishing up with a 2km warm-down. All up 14.1kms for the day.

The darts match was cancelled but that didn't stop me going down the boozer for some practice post run. Another late night...

Start of a big week

Some analysis from yesterday's race. Here are the splits with last years times in brackets:

Mile 1 5:09 (5:09)
Mile 2 5:24 (5:30)
Mile 3 5:24 (5:24)
Mile 4 5:27 (5:22)
Mile 5 5:31 26:55 (5:28) (26:53)
Mile 6 5:18 (5:11)
Mile 7 5:18 (5:20)
Mile 8 5:17 (5:15)
Mile 9 5:26 (5:22)
Mile 10 5:19 26:38 (5:19) (26:27)

Total 53:33 (53:20)

Basically very similar. I forgot to mention I also managed to retain my county 10 mile title as the first 2 runners were not Galway based, plus GCH won the county team title. So more medals for the kids to play with!

Today was an easy recovery run around my 11.3km route. I felt surprisingly good after the run/beer clocking 45:47 (4:03's).

Here is a photo from the race:



And another one of the first 3 Harriers home:

Craughwell 10 Miler

I only managed a short warm-up of around a mile before the race. A few strides and it was time to line up for the 1pm start. Conditions looked to be good. Plenty of blue sky and sunshine around and the wind didn't seem to be too bad...

I went straight to the front group of 4 as we settled into the race. We were running into the wind and the first mile has some nice downhill sections which meant a quick first mile of 5:09. Midway through the second mile I wasn't feeling particularly great and I was soon gapped leaving me alone in 4th place, whilst the front 3 started to work away. I missed the 2 mile marker and kept plodding away still not feeling great - perhaps running into the wind was tougher than I had imagined.

My split of 10:48 at mile 3 for the last 2 miles showed that I had slowed significantly. This wasn't good. That trend continued through miles 4 (5:27) and mile 5 (5:31) to reach halfway in 26:55. At this point the front 2 runners had broken clear leaving me to chase Paul Buckley in 3rd who I had a good battle with in the same race last year. At the halfway point someone shouted out that after the next right-hand turn the wind would be on the back all the way home. Sure enough as soon as I took that turn I started to feel a lot better. I counted a gap of around 15 seconds on Paul and started to work on reducing the gap.

Mile 6 arrived in 5:18 so I had at least managed to get the legs moving again. I would say I had halved the gap and sure enough at around the 7 mile marker (another 5:18) I caught Paul and went straight past him. This was definitely a race of 2 halves as I was feeling much better and I continue to push the pace. At mile 8 I was still full of running and another decent split of 5:17. This section of the course was a little tough as you take another turn down a narrow country road with a grass median strip but I continued to plug away until I rejoined the main part of the course with the long mile and a half run up to the school. A slowish 9th mile of 5:26 but I was still feeling good and I managed to lift the pace again for the last mile.

This mile seems to last forever but compared to last year I was still feeling strong. I had consolidated 3rd place and the first 2 runners were out of sight so I had the opportunity to enjoy the run home crossing the line in 53:33 for 3rd place with a 5:19 last mile.

Happy with that. I was 13 seconds slower than last year but ran most of the race by myself after I dropped off the front group. The first half of the race was tough but it felt a lot better in the second half and I never felt like I was outright red-lining. A good confidence booster for London. Straight on the McMillan and that time gives me 1:11:07 for the half and 2:29:59 for the full. That's exactly where I want to be.

A very slow 4 mile warm-down to give me 15 miles for the day. Really tough going and by the end of that I was very low on energy. A few cup cakes and cups of tea and I was back on track.

A great race which was very well organised as per last year. Lots of PB's by fellow Harriers which shows that all the training of late is starting to fall into place. Well done to all.

Lots of beer to report in the evening with some belated St Patrick's Day celebrations. Ouch.

That's 24.1km for the day and 84.0km for the week. Two more big weeks of training then time to wind it back for the marathon. Photos to follow.

More snooker

With the final of the PTC Championship in town at the moment it was another opportunity to watch the snooker up close out at the University. I missed out on seeing Judd (knocked out) and Ronnie (withdrew) and instead had the please of watching Andrew Higginson Vs Xiau Guodong in the first QF. A very poor game with lots of missed pots and Higginson eventually winning 4-1.

The second QF was Neil Robertson Vs Joe Perry. This started a lot better with Robertson making a 131 break in the first frame, only for Perry to reply with a century of his own to level things up. The quality of the snooker fell away a little with Perry missing a few easy balls and that presented Robertson with frame winning chances which he didn't miss out on. He went on to win 4-1. Not a bad night but I don't think I'll be rushing back to watch live matches any more...I seem to enjoy it a lot more watching it on the tele...

No running today. Thoughts turn to the race tomorrow. If I can get anywhere near last years time of 53:20 I'll be delighted.

Exhibition

A final easy run of 11.3kms in 45:40 (4:02's). Feeling really good.

Out in the evening to watch a snooker exhibition match in town involving Ken Docherty. A great evening and the highlight being a 137 break by Ken. His touch around the black was incredible. I think he only missed one easy ball all night...and easily beat the 9 players that were put before him...

Easy run and massage

Another easy run of 11.3kms. I picked up the pace for 3-4 minutes at a time in a couple of spots to get the heart rate up. Time 44:22 (3:56's).

Massage in the evening. No real niggles except for the sore neck that still persists. Apart from that I feel that I'm in decent nick. A game of darts in the pub with the old man to finish off the day. Happy to report a 15-13 victory.

Winding back

Easy running for the rest of the week until the race on Sunday. Today I was down for an hour - I did my normal 11.3km loop and then tagged a bit on at the end to get me up to 13.1km in a very relaxed 56:49 (4:20's).

Dad arrived today so trying to keep a low profile on the socialising front until after the race. That said there will be no AFD's between then and now...

Coming into form

What a difference a week makes. Despite a lack of sleep, I was looking forward to tonight's track session. The plan was to run 1km followed by 400m with 60 seconds between efforts and 90 seconds between sets. The volume was reduced and we "only" had to do 5 sets. That's 7km of track running compared with around 10km the last few weeks.

Conditions were spot on. Hardly a breath of wind, bone dry and everyone doing the same session. I was up the front for most of the session and it felt really easy. I only started to feel the pinch halfway through the last set and by that time it was almost over. Times were:

3:12/1:10/3:05/1:10/3:02/1:08/2:59/1:08/3:01/1:06

Nice to wind the pace up throughout the session and a sub 3 minute km to report. Long time since I've run one of those. With warm-up (3.9km) and warm down (2.0km) it's another 12.9km to add to the tally.

Everyone in the front group was running well tonight. Some great improvements in times and that bodes well for everyone racing on Sunday. It's getting very competitive at the pointy end which is great for the club.

Darts later in the evening and a league match out at Clarinbridge. We won 6-3 overall and I won both my pairs and singles and I was happy with how I played. The singles was a really close game and I was throwing second in the deciding leg and managed to take out 112 (T20, S20, D16) for the match. Whilst on the darts, I managed to squeeze in some practice today at home (for the first time in a fortnight) and I chalked up my 100th 180 for the year (now at 102). Target is 365 for the year (one a day!).

An easyish week

In the run in to the Craughwell 10 miler on Sunday it's time to cut back the volume this week (but not the intensity). Today was an easy run to shake out the legs after yesterday's long run. Total 11.3kms in 44:52 (3:58's). I felt really good today despite the sore neck. Weather still perfect for running with very little wind around. Hopefully it stays like that for tomorrow's track session which is sets of 1km then 400m.

Pain In the Neck

I managed to twist/crick my neck/shoulder in the drive to Craughwell. Upon arrival I tried jogging very gingerly and I was in a fair bit of discomfort. Time to man up and get this over with...

The run today was a long run around the Craughwell 10 mile course as a bit of a recce for next week's race. Conditions were just about perfect: dry and very little wind. The marathon runners (myself, Owen and Fintan) were joined by Gerry, Paul and Sean who were doing a bit of a tempo session. Our brief was to run a relaxed 2 hours but the other 3 were soon pushing the pace along nicely knocking out a few 6 minute miles along the way. After finishing the first loop, the other 3 ran home leaving us to run another loop. At this point Fintan decided to push on leaving myself and Owen in pursuit. Relaxed it was not!

After completing the second loop we ran back to the school where we had started. All up 30.2km (18.8 miles) in 2:02:59. That's 4:04/km pace so a good honest clip.

Neck still very sore and had to resort to painkillers when I got home.

Another 100km week to report - this time 109.3kms. That's 5 on the trot now and 7 out of the last 8 weeks. Very consistent. Looking forward to the race next week - the course is superb - very flat with only a few drags and should be a good field to help get dragged around.

Dogs

One of the hazards of running around the local back roads is that you often have a few close encounters with dogs. They can hear you coming and they then run out of the driveways and chase you down the road. I'm not afraid of dogs but when an unknown mutt comes charging after you it always gets the blood pumping and tends to cause an injection of 3 minute km pace. I counted 7 dog episodes in one run recently. After a while you know where they are but occasionally you get taken by surprise. No injuries to report yet but a few close shaves. Enough waffle.

Today was 15, 10 and 5 minutes off 3 minutes recovery. I ran up to Carnmore Cross as my warm-up (4.0km), then started my session running back towards Claregalway, then turning off at the Rock Road and continuing around the Claregalway 5km course. After 15 minutes I had covered 4.5km (3:20/km pace). I then jogged back to the start of my 5 minute course (400m) which I was to use for the rest of the session. I ran this out and back for the 10 minute effort turning in 4:54 with a tough run into the wind on the return leg finishing in 10:08 (3:18/km pace). The last 5 minutes I decided to give it a real nudge and with the benefit of the wind I got to my end point in 4:41 and ran on for the full 5 minutes (3:04/km pace).

I felt really strong today. Probably due to the rest day. Nice to get a decent session in to get my confidence back with the feeling I had some still in reserve. Finishing up with 3.7kms warm-down and that gives me 17.3km for the day.

Letting myself go

No run today. Instead I went on a reverse health kick eating crap food including bacon sandwiches, pizza, crisps and peanuts. Finishing up with a few too many beers. Nice one.

Moves Like Jagger

I couldn't face a windy dark run so I headed to the gym. The session was 8-10 miles with between 2 and 5 miles at MP depending on how you were feeling. I still wasn't feeling great but wanted a decent session as tomorrow is a scheduled rest day.

I did 3 miles warm-up gradually lifting the pace and then ran 5 miles (8km) at 5:38/mile (3:30/km) pace. Finishing up with a couple more slow miles to give me 10 miles overall in 1:01:25. The breathing felt okay but the legs are still unresponsive. The above song came on as I was finishing the last of my MP miles and I couldn't resist throwing in a few facial expressions and hand claps. In my head.

Legs not mine

I left the run late and that meant a night run up and down the N17. I added on a bit at the end to get the time up finishing with 1:20:15 for 18.5kms (4:20's). Another struggle and pleased to get it over with.

Tough session...

Out to Dangan for my weekly dose of track. The weather was awful - cold, very wet and windy. I don't feel like I'm hitting my straps and I carried that mentaility into the session expecting to struggle. Guess what - I did....

Usual 3.9km warm-up then the session was 2x1km, 3x2km, 2x1km. The coach said I should be able to run at 3:10/km pace but after the first lap that went out of the window. Grit the teeth, run hard and get the session over with.

My times were very poor. Here goes:

3:24/3:18/6:45/6:45/6:49/3:24/3:18

The wind around the final bend and home straight was a real leg sapper. At times I was hardly moving made all the worse by driving rain in the mush. Not pleasant.

Oh well, another session in the bag. I finished up with a 2km warm-down and that's another 15.9km to log.

Darts in the evening. Quarter finals of the cup. I won both my pairs and singles but didn't score that well. No practice all week so happy with that and we won overall to progress to the semis...

Back to Galway

Too much falling down water and then the long drive to Galway so struggled to get out of the door. I ended up running an easy local loop in 47:35 for 11.3kms (4:13's). Legs not feeling great at the moment. One more tough week to get through this week and then a mini-taper for the Craughwell 10 miler on March 18th. That will be a really good gauge of where I'm at fitness-wise. Hopefully all the mileage will start paying dividends...

Cork Day 3

Today was a long run. I delayed the run until the afternoon which is never good as you have it hanging over you. I had no idea where to run so did a large flat out and back run out past Ballincollig until I ran out of footpath. That got me around 1hr 45 mins so I then did some mini-loops down by the river to get the distance up. All up 32kms (estimate) in 2:20:26 (4:23/km pace). Slow but good time on the feet and another 20 miler in the legs (weather good except for the icy sleet shower for the first 10 minutes).

I really need to get one of those Garmin thingamejigs as it's all well and good when you run locally and you know your distances but not so good when running in new locations. I think I'd also find the pace you are running at very handy. If anyone wants to buy me a 610 then I'd be eternally grateful!

All up 124.7kms for the week.

Cork Day 2

A slight change to the plan this week reverting back to the old structure of a speed session on Saturday. I was down for 3 x 12 minutes off 3 minutes and I managed to find a good loop down by the river that was exactly 12 minutes. After a 4km warm-up I rattled off the 3 x 12 minutes covering around 3.6km each time (3:20/km pace). The same 4km warm-down and that gives me 18.8km for the day.

Cork Day 1

Arrived in Cork on Friday after the 3 hour drive. I was straight out for an easy 50 minute run to try and get my bearings. We were staying near the University and did a few slow out and back runs to get a feel for the place. Time 50:37 and I estimate I covered 11.3kms. Beer and food followed.

Spring in the air

But not in my legs. Today was a mini version of the long run last Sunday. I ran 3.5kms warm-up, then ran 4.9km at MP (3:36 pace), then 4.1km at HMP (3:23's), finishing with another 3.5km warm-down. All up 16kms in 1:03:42 (3:59's).

I still wasn't feeling great tonight and the first MP effort was very sluggish. I really pushed the HMP effort and was happy to lift the pace a bit but it was a lot harder than it should have been. I then walked for a minute before the slow crawl home.

Holiday tomorrow so will get plenty of sleep and try and recharge the batteries.

Midweek longish run

Same run as the last 2 weeks. The first 25 minutes were tough going as the lower body is still sore, plus it was into a stiff wind. The time seemed to drag and it was another effort just to keep going. Pleased to get it out of the way covering 19.4kms in 1:22:11 (4:14's).

If the legs don't improve then I'll take another rest day on Friday. Talking of which I'm heading down to Cork for the weekend for a few days R&R. Never been to Cork so looking forward to checking it out and seeing what running routes I can discover whilst there. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know...

Legs heavier than lead balloons

It's all part of marathon training running on tired legs. I guess you are trying to simulate running the last 6 miles/10kms of the marathon that can make or break your time. Well tonight was another tough one. A track session of 1600m followed by 400m and 5 sets to keep you honest. That's 25 laps of the track which is enough to send anyone dizzy.

Usual warm-up of 3.9kms. Recoveries were tight tonight - 45 seconds after the 1600m, then a minute after the 400m. Target times were 10km pace for the miles (5:12), and target 5km pace for the 400s (72 seconds).

Here are the times:

5:13/1:11/5:04/1:11/5:05/1:11/5:06/1:12/5:06/1:09

After the first mile the coach said that I looked too comfortable and that I needed to come down to 5:08's (insert swear words). I responded and ran the next 4 under that pace but it was a real effort. The legs were in bits so it was nice to turn in a decent session when the legs and the brain were not as one.

Another 5 laps of the track as warm-down. All up 15.9kms for the day.

Darts in the evening and finally a decent win of 8-1. Our team was at full strength and I won both my pairs and singles. The singles went to a deciding leg and I took out 76 to win the match in very unconventional style - single 1, semi-bull, bull. Game shot.

Moving on

What should have been an easy run was a real struggle as my legs were heavy and the calves were screaming (32kms in racing flats will do that...). Time 46:59 for 11.3kms (4:09's).

The Accelerator II

Today was a nastier version of the "Accelerator" run that I last did here in the build up to the Dublin Marathon in 2010.

As mentioned earlier, the brief was 30-40 minutes relaxed, then 35-40 minutes at marathon pace, then 20-40 minutes at half marathon pace. I decided to take the relaxed section really easy, then target 3:30/km pace for the marathon pace section, then try and lift the pace in any shape or form for the last effort.

The conditions weren't too bad. A bit of wind about but nice and cool. I'd plotted the route locally as best I could to make the last part easy - at least that was the intention. I was using my local 11km loop for the majority of the run, with a bit of flat running at the end. Here is how it went (distances courtesy of MapMyRun so could be slightly out):

9.69km - 42:36 - 4:24/km pace (relaxed)
11.04km - 38:29 - 3:29/km pace (marathon pace)
8.58km - 29:32 - 3:27/km pace (half marathon pace)
3.49km - 16:09 - 4:38/km pace (warm-down)

Total - 32.8km - 2:06:46 - 3:52/km pace (2:43 marathon pace)

Pleased enough with that. It was very difficult to lift the pace for the last effort at HMP but I managed a slight improvement (this should have been at sub 3:25/km pace but the legs disagreed with that). I was pretty spent come the end and had a very slow jog back home. Another 20 miler in the legs and almost 20km of that at marathon pace or better (note I took no breaks for the entire run).

This is why it will be a lot easier come London:

- fresh legs after the taper
- fitter (still 7 weeks to go)
- better nutrition (today I took no water or gels for the entire run)
- better conditions (you can but hope)
- people to race with (get in a group)

Now I'm sitting down ready for the Spurs match against the unmentionables. There is beer in the fridge which won't be there for long...

Oh yeah, 112.3kms for the week. That's 3 ton plus weeks on the spin now and pleased to report the hammie was no problem today.

Double fitness test

A rare double session for me. I did my local 11.3km loop in the morning at a "steady" pace. Time 44:29 which works out to 3:56/km pace. The hammie felt fine but the legs were feeling very heavy. That was a bit disappointing after yesterday's rest day but was probably residual tiredness from the massage.

Then in the afternoon I did a very easy 8.6km run in 38:43 (4:30's). Hammie behaved again. I'm now primed for tomorrow's horror session. Please let it be good weather...

Rest from running

I didn't feel the hamstring pull at all today so I'm hoping it will be okay. A bullet dodged and all that.

Instead I had a few beers, threw a few darts, watched some tele and built some lego. Which is nice.

Up to now the structure of the marathon training has been 3 speed sessions per week (Tue/Thu/Sat) and a long run on Sunday. For the next few weeks that will change slightly and the quick session on Saturday will be incorporated into the Sunday long run. This session then becomes a real toughie....this Sunday the sessions calls for 30-40 minutes relaxed, then 35-40 minutes at marathon pace, then 20-40 minutes at half marathon pace. Clucking bell...

Ouch

It was wet and windy and after delaying my run I inevitably missed the last of the daylight so I ended up at the gym for 2 x 14 minutes at half marathon pace.

I ran to the gym (900m) and did a further 2.3km warm-up. I then stopped the treadmill and started the session from a standstill. It took at least 30 seconds for the belt to reach target pace (18.1km/hour) so I decided I would keep running for the full 15 minutes.

The first one I covered 4.43km, and after 3 minutes recovery I notched up the pace very slightly and covered 4.47km for the second rep. Sweating like you wouldn't believe...

Then a 2.1km warm-down, followed by the 900m run home. All up 15.1km.

After stepping off the treadmill I could feel a slight twinge/pull in my left hamstring. The massage had come just at the right time. I was given a right good going over and was in a fair bit of discomfort. Obviously I didn't complain though....the verdict was that the hamstring didn't seem too bad so again tomorrow's rest day sits very well. Fingers crossed I'll be okay for the weekend.

Frank Carson RIP

The same run as last Wednesday covering 19.4kms in 1:23:32 (4:18's). That's over 2 minutes slower than last week but not too bothered as my legs were sore after yesterday's track session, plus it was blowing a gale.

Massage booked for tomorrow and rest day planned for Friday.

Click click

Track day. Windy and wet and soaked after a heavy shower in the 3.9km warm-up.

Today was a sharpening up session before 6 weeks of marathon specific trackwork. This was great as it meant the middle distance and long distance guys could train together to push things along.

The session was 5 sets of 600m/500m/400m. One minute recovery between efforts and 3 minutes between sets. That was plenty. Our group of 8 or so decided to target lap pace of 76/73/70 seconds for each rep which gives target times of 1:54/1:31/1:10 (the aim was to run the 600m at 5km pace and then work the subsequent shorter reps a few seconds a lap quicker). There was a stiff wind around the final bend/home straight that made each lap easy then hard in terms of effort.

Despite the wet track I felt great from the get go. Times were as follows:

1:56/1:33/1:09
1:49/1:32/1:08
1:52/1:31/1:08
1:52/1:30/1:08
1:54/1:31/1:07

This is the best I have run all year. Okay the times are flattered by the long recovery but it was nice to run some quick laps again and being in the group meant the session seemed to tick along nicely.

I finished up with a 2.4km warm-down so all up 13.8kms for the day.

Our team finally won at darts 5-4. Not helped by me much though - I won my pairs but played a shocker in the singles losing in a deciding leg. No consistency on the match board at the moment. I think the running is taking too much out of me!

Another day another run

Start the week off with an easy run of 11.3kms in 47:17 (4:11's). Still feeling tired after yesterday's run.

That's all for today...

Matt runs decent mileage shocker

Long run day. Out to Dangan with Barry and Owen for the Cathedral Run. Conditions were brilliant with very little breeze about and plenty of winter sunshine. We added in a loop of the Galway Bay half marathon course down on the prom to get the distance up and then added in another extra loop on the approach to Dangan. Then Owen decided to lift the pace the last few miles and me and Barry were hanging on for dear life. A couple of 6 minute miles to finish with as we hit the rugby pitches certainly had me rattled.

A good hit-out. All up 32.6kms (my first 20 miler) in 2:14:56. That's 4:08/km pace on average so a decent clip (around 2:55 marathon pace).

That gets me a weekly total of 126.1kms. Another PB in terms of weekly distance. The body seems to be holding up okay apart from feeling knackered most of the time. I'll pull back a bit next week and throw in a rest day and also get a massage. Only 9 weeks now until race day...

Four seasons in one run

I know I rattle on about the weather and running conditions but today was the most bizarre day I can ever recall. It went from blue sky, to white cloud, then grey clouds, wind picks up, black clouds, icy hale storm, snow, rain, then back to clear blue skies. All in the space of just over an hour.

The session was a mixed bag of 10 minutes tempo, then 15 minutes continuous hills, then finishing up with another 10 minute tempo. With the luxury of 3 minutes recovery between each discipline. Didn't sound too bad...

I was running locally and was to use my 10 minute out and back route for the tempo, and the start of the Rock Road for the hills. Normal warm-up of 3.5kms and ready for action. The first 10 minute effort and I turned on 5:12 finishing up on 10:34 (3:27/km pace). The return leg was slower due to the wind.

Then a slow walk of just over a minute to the start of the hills. The effort was to be continuous which meant keeping the heart rate up throughout. So rather than roll back down the hill I wanted to run them at a decent pace (quicker than the ascent). I was using my normal turnaround point which is about 1 minute of uphill when running well. The 15 minutes quickly passed by and I ended up doing 8 ups and downs in a total of 16:25. I'd say the uphill part was taking just over one minute and I was running down in a minute or quicker.

Then back to the tempo course for the final effort. By this stage the clouds were becoming much darker and I reached the turnaround point in 5:08. I then felt really strong and I think I was helped by a change in wind direction as the clouds continued to roll in. The last 2 minutes turned really nasty and I was suddenly running in a freezing cold hale storm. I had to put my hand up to cover my face and I considered stopping but decided to lift the pace and run as hard as I could to the end. I finished in 10:11 (3:19 pace). Very pleasing.

Then the same warm-down back to the house. After a few minutes the hale had turned to snow and I was now soaked through and all I could think of was the need for a hot shower. Then the rain came and after losing the will to live the clouds cleared to reveal clear blue skies. I enjoyed that I told myself as I got back to the house shivering...

All up 17.1km for the day.

No Beer

Almost the same run as Monday - except that I started at the in-laws just round the corner after dropping the kids off which added a couple of hundred metres. Very blustery today with the wind going up another notch. All up 11.5kms in 48:34 (4:13's).

Watched Descendants at the cinema in the evening. Very slow but a good performance from Clooney. Not really my cup of tea...

Changing Gears

Not a session I was looking forward to. I was feeling tired from the late night, and coupled with poor weather it was a struggle to get motivated. Get out the door and get it over with...

Today was an out and back run. The brief was to take the first half of the run steady (sub 4 minute kms), then lift the pace to be running quicker than marathon pace for the return leg. This was going to be tough with a strong wind and I plotted a route that I thought would give me more of a tailwind on the return leg. That's not how it turned out...

After a 3.1km warm-up I went straight into it. I used my now bog standard local loop (more like a rectangle) and I was to run 3 sides of the rectangle (6.8km), then turn and repeat. The first section was straight into the wind, then the longest section of around 3kms dealing with a cross-wind, finishing with a tail-wind. The pace was fluctuating with the wind direction but I tried to keep the effort level consistent and I reached the turnaround point in 26:55 (3:58's).

Then time to pick it up. This was tough as it was now straight into the wind. The long middle section was also tough as it's more up than down, and the cross-wind seemed more troublesome. The run for home was good though and I really picked it up the last 5 minutes or so. I got back in 23:26 (3:27's) and that just about achieved what I set out to do.

Finishing up with a shortened warm-down of 1.7km as I was running out of time. Another big day of 18.4kms. What doesn't kill you will make you more tired and all that...

Darts and snooker to watch tonight. I may be asleep before it ends.

Biathlon

A longer mid-week run today. Similar to last week but I added a bit extra on at the end. All up 19.4kms in 1:20:55 (4:10's).

Then darts. Very little practice before the big match against the top of the table side which wasn't ideal. I lost the pairs 2-1 after missing doubles to win. Then in the singles I played poorly chalking up another loss. And our team got hammered 7-2 in the process and the rot continues. Next week, next week...

Valentines Track Session

Another track session focused purely on marathon training. It was to be 5 x 1600m (4 laps) off one minute. I was going to try and run them slightly quicker than my km reps from the previous week.

Conditions were dry but there was a stiff wind that made the back straight tough. I was leading out the reps and was happy enough as I again felt strong throughout. Times were:

5:17,5:14,5:12,5:12,5:12

That works out to be around 3:15/km pace on average.

With warm-up/down it was 15.8kms for the day.

No darts tonight - moved to tomorrow night due to Valentines!

Here we go again

An easy run today to flush out the legs. Despite feeling great yesterday I was struggling a bit today. I knocked out my usual 11.3kms in 47:05 (4:10's).

Some photos from yesterday's race courtesy of Amphibian King.

Chatting at the start:



Approaching the finish line:



Crossing the line:



The podium:

Maree 8km

My speed session today was to be a local race in Maree. An 8km that I managed to win last year and I decided to incorporate it into my long run to get two workouts rolled into one.

I arrived in good time to allow me time for a decent lap of the course as a warm-up. The conditions were splendid - nice and cool and no wind to speak of. This is a lovely part of the world and on the warm-up lap I had sufficient time to take in some of the fabulous views around Maree. I completed the 8km in 35 minutes exactly and then changed into my race gear and it was time for the off.

I got a decent start and there was a few young lads who sprinted off leaving us all to chase. The course has 3 decent hills. A long climb of about 500m as you approach the 2km marker, then hills after the 5km and 6km markers. You wouldn't call it super quick, but at the same time there are some lovely flat sections where you can tick along very nicely.

At about 500m I took the lead with a few runners hot on my heels. I wasn't looking at the watch but I took the time to record my splits at each of the km signs. At the start of the climb around 1.5km I knew that I had gapped the field and I pushed on up the hill. At the summit there is a welcome downhill stretch followed by a flat section that takes you out to the turnaround point at around 3.5km.

At this point I could see I had opened up a 50m lead and following the lead motorbike I had no issues running against the flow of runners coming the opposite direction. This flat section continues for about a km then it was time for a right turn to take you closer to the water for the trickier back half of the race. Through 5km and I still felt strong and shortly after it was time to take a left turn onto a much smaller road with a grass median strip.

Another climb of no more than 400m, then it flattened out again through to the next km marker. After 6km there was a shorter steeper climb, and I find this the toughest of the lot. But it was soon behind me and then it was a fairly flat run through to the finish. I tried to push the last km but despite feeling strong, I lacked some leg speed to really kick in a quick finish. That's to be expected when in marathon mode and I was very pleased to cross the finish line with a nice win to defend my title in a time of 26:22 (3:18/km pace). A bit slower than last year (19 secs) but that's explainable now that I'm an old codger.

I only have positive feedback about this race. The organisation was first class - very well marshaled and the signage was brilliant. Chip timed (the chip was in the race number - not sure if that was meant to be returned?) and the results were published within a few hours of the race being completed. A great prize as well thanks to the sponsors Amphibian King and Asics and I picked up a pair of racing flats (Asics DS racers). How good is that?

Then more running. Another lap of the course with Gerard, Paul and Paddy at a nice sedate pace. Still not content with that I then ran a further 5.2km with Paddy around the 5km course that I set my road 5km PB on back in July of last year.

All up 29.2kms for the day (total running time 2:03:32 at an average of 4:14/km).

That's 119.6kms for the week. I've just checked my training diary (read Excel spreadsheet) for the last 10 years and that's my biggest weekly distance ever! Okay not the huge distances that some people cover but I seem to be moving in the right direction.

Here are the splits:

1km 3:12
2km 3:19
3km 3:15
4km 3:19
5km 3:19
6km 3:24
7km 3:20
8km 3:14

Total 26:22

Ps, just remembered - where is my bag of nose candy I was promised from last year?!?!

Change of plan

I was going to do some faster stuff today but after consulting the coach I decided I'd incorporate it into my Sunday long run instead. It therefore opened up the window for another easy run and being a splendid day I perhaps did a bit too much.

Total run of 16.4kms in 1:09:19 (4:14's). I did a new-ish out-and-back route around the back road near the Abbey in Claregalway. Made for a pleasant change of scenery.

Now watching the mighty Spurs play. They are two nil up and there is only 5 minutes played!!!

Jogger

An easy run to break up the week. Weather was again very good and I trotted round my local loop in 45:54 (11.3km at 4:04 per km). At one point a kid yelled out "jogger". I nearly gave him a piece of my mind...

Marathon pace efforts

Today's session was 3 x 2 miles at marathon pace with 2 minutes recovery. I decided to use my short mile course (my latest estimate is that it is 3.07km out and back). So what's my marathon pace? It was 3:31/km at Dublin in my last marathon and whilst I think that's going to be beyond me that's what I went with. My target was therefore 10:48 for each rep...didn't sound too bad.

Conditions were great today. Very little wind about and nice and cool. I felt pretty comfortable throughout but had the usual thoughts of "there is no way I can keep this pace up for 42.2kms"....

Here are the times:

10:45,10:32,10:37

The 2 minutes recovery felt too long but I took it nonetheless...

All up 16.0kms with warm-up and down.

Darts premier league starts tonight. That's the next 15 weeks of Thursday nights sorted!

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).