Rest before race

No running to report today.

More cricket watching - England to play India in the final on Sunday. Should be a good game with 2 teams of very contrasting styles.

More snooker watching - the Wuxi Classic. My pick at this point is Robertson.

A few beers in the evening and an early night. The throat still isn't right so it may be time to visit the doctor.

Just looking at my previous performances in Annaghdown. A 32:41 in 2011 and a 32:38 last year. Looking at my splits the first half of the course would appear to be quick (16:08 in 2011 and 16:05 in 2012). Or perhaps I just went out too quick and blew-up in the second half...the course record is 32:31 which I don't think is in reach for me at the moment. But hopefully some quicks will show and they can smash that to pieces!

Not easy

Was hoping for a nice and easy lap around the block. I felt dreadful the whole way - the worst run I can remember for a while. All up 9.5kms in 41:55 (4:25's).

Even stopped for 5 minutes mid-run to speak to one of the lads out of the darts team. With hindsight perhaps I should have pulled the pin at this point.

A good win today for England in the Champions Trophy. They look to be in good from whilst the Aussies are really struggling. Me likey. Roll on the Ashes!

8 x 75 secs off 60 secs

Slight change of plan. I couldn't make the track session so had to run later locally. The club session was 3-4 sets of 400/600/400 with 60 secs between efforts and 90 secs between sets. I decided on something similar opting for 8 x 75 secs on the road with a minute recovery. With my watch it's just easier to run for a set time rather than a distance.

Warm-up of 2.2kms then got going. Anything under 3:00/km pace I would've been happy with:

Pace/km 2:59/2:56/2:59/2:57/2:54/2:54/2:50/2:49

Not bad though I just can't run as quick as I can on the track. Answers on a postcard please...

All up 10.0kms with warm-down. Still have sore throat/left ear.

Contacts

Easy run of 9.5km in 39:19 (4:08's). Still have sore throat but the running seems to be going ok.

I am trying out some contact lenses which I picked up this morning, Had a 30 minute session on putting them in and taking them out and was good to go. These were primarily for playing snooker so trialed them with a game in the evening. Yes I could see a whole lot more but what I witnessed was a pile of shite. Didn't play well. Couldn't pot a geranium. It can only get better.

Will take it easy this week in the build-up to Friday's 10km. I'll do the track session tomorrow but won't run the full number of sets. Then an easy run Wednesday and a rest day on Thursday.

Fathers Day

Long solo run today on my lonesome. A big loop and then running back into Claregalway along the N17. All up 25.1kms in 1:51:19 (4:26's). Still not cracked the 2 hour mark - that's just lazyitis.

A bit of a sore throat at the moment. Perhaps time to lay off the booze for a few days...

I watched the Champions Trophy cricket between England and New Zealand. A good win for England who bowled really well to defend a lowish score. I then stayed up to watch the end of the US Open golf. Nice work by Justin Rose who was incredible coming up the last hole.

That's 100.3kms for the week. Easy week planned next week.

3 x (7 mins tempo/1 min jog/2 mins hard/3 mins recovery)

Another Harriers session run locally. Thankfully I had Fintan for company who was doing his first serious speed session in around 6 months.

Warm-up of 3.5kms then into the session. The tempo efforts pacing always confuse me - the plan was to run them "comfortably hard" and I thought that 3:20/km pace or better would be a good target. Then try and run the 2 minute efforts much quicker.

Here's how the session went:

7:00 - 2.15kms - 3:16 pace

2:00 - 0.64kms - 3:07

7:00 - 2.16kms - 3:14
2:00 - 0.66kms - 3:02

7:01 - 2.15kms - 3:15

2:01 - 0.65kms - 3:05

I felt great today - the longer efforts felt really comfortable despite a strong breeze in parts. The last 2 minutes was directly into the wind but I was still going nicely. Definitely hitting some form. Good to see Fintan back and running well. Roll on the Annaghdown 10km.

Warm-down of 3.9kms. All up 16.8kms.

No rub-a-dub

I was planning to rest today but after consuming so much junk food in the last 24 hours (namely crisps and Kit Kat chunkies), I decided to turn the legs over with the sole purpose of burning off some calories.

Same route as Mon/Wed - 9.5kms in 40:37 (4:15's). Getting slower! Weather was pretty ordinary though - quite cold and juicing down with rain. Summer looks to have been and gone.

No going out at the moment - haven't been to the pub in about a fortnight!

Almost 4

Myself, Owen and Gearoid this morning after Fintan had to dash back to the bakery thus missing the run. Good of him to still taxi Owen round to my place though! Great effort.

Usual route with no switchbacks for toilet breaks (no Fintan you see). Lots of chat and this is fast turning into my favourite run of the week. All up 14.8kms in 1:04:40 (4:22's).

Did manage 4 later in the day on the beer front.

The camera never lies

Same 9.5kms as Monday in 39:58 (4:12's). Quite quick which perhaps reiterates that I didn't hurt myself enough on the track last night.

A couple of photos courtesy of edenhill from the Monivea 5km. This one was within the first 500m of the race where I look almost normal:

And this beauty at the finish line where I was supposedly cruising home...

6 x 1km off 2 mins

Damp rainy conditions for track tonight. A long warm-up of 3.8kms around the block, then 4 laps of the track before changing into the racing flats.

The session was km reps off a longer than normal 2 minutes. The longer recovery simply meant you were to push the pace more than if you were running off a shorter break.

A good lead group with Keith, John and myself leading out the reps. Here are the times:

3:04, 3:05, 3:04, 3:02, 3:02, 2:59

Not sure what to make of that. I felt comfortable throughout, never hitting the red-line. The 2 minutes recovery felt like way too much. With a little time to reflect on it I don't think I attacked the session enough - perhaps I should have aimed to get them all under 3 minutes.

A warm-down of 3.7kms around the roads and that was that. All up 15.1kms. Several people running very well at the moment - just what you need to keep everyone honest.

Turned

The weather has quickly turned back to non-summer like conditions. An easy run of 9.5kms in 39:25 (4:09's) to kick the week off.

The plan this week is to get 2 good sessions in with no racing.

The Power

Out at 9am with young Timmie for a long jaunt. We ran out to the Coast Road and back, and then did a few loops in Claregalway. All up 24.5kms in 1:47:30 (4:23's). Another gorgeous day and could have done with some water after an hour but the time soon passed with plenty of chat.

Phil Taylor won the UK Open after defeating Andy Hamilton easily in the final. A great weekend of viewing and good to see MVG get beaten to show that he is human after all.

A total of 87.0kms for the week.

Monivea 5km

A hot summers day again. The temperature was already well into the 20's for the drive to Monivea and with Some Friendly by the Charlatans blasting out on the stereo I was really looking forward to having a good blow-out in the 5km.

I ran the course as a warm-up (5.1 kms). I watched the start of the half marathon at 11am and then we lined up about 5 minutes later and we were off. I took it out fairly hard and by the time I made the first turn at the bottom of the village I had already opened up a lead. The first 2.6kms of this race are on the road (with nice stretches of downhill), then you hit the forest trail which has lots of twists and turns coupled with some nasty drags. Through the first km in 3:10, and then I pushed on and by the time I reached the second km with a 3:08 I was well clear.

The next km and after 600m you switch to the trail. I was still going nicely and with a 3:13 3rd km (9:31) I had visions of breaking 16 minutes. That thought was short-lived and I lost some momentum in the 4th km and with a 3:22 split I was pushing custard uphill with a fork. I cruised the last km and crossed the line in 16:13 for the win.

I'm happy enough with the time (my quickest on this course was a 16:06 in a closely fought race 2 years ago). This time ranks as my second best and it felt pretty comfortable - despite the very hot conditions.

Another lap of the course as a warm-down with the top off. A total of 15.8kms for the day.

A great day which I really enjoyed. One of my favourite races on the calendar and great to see this race grow in its 4th year. Superb organisation, a beautiful location and probably the warmest weather I have raced in since moving to Ireland. And here was me thinking that Australia was the lucky country...

Painting and Decorating

Well the playroom, kitchen and sitting room are just about done. Thank fcuk for that. Time to put the paint brushes away for a while...

No run today. I'm going to race the Monivea 5km tomorrow. I asked the coach of GCH whether I should run the 5km, or use the half marathon for a session and the response was to race the 5km. Given the weather conditions (forecast hot) then that comes as a welcome relief.

More beer (drinking) and darts (watching) in the evening.

As good as it gets

The sun was splitting the sky at 7am in the morning and that sets you up perfectly for a run. Myself, Fintan and Owen in attendance and some good chat and before you know it you have just over 15kms under the belt. Time 65 minutes (4:19's). Perfect.

A few beers in the evening whilst watching the FA Cup of darts.

I feel like a Tooheys

More glorious weather. The legs were a little sore after the 400's but not too bad. The same run as Monday covering the 9.5kms in 41:02 (4:19's). Thirsty.

12 x 400 off 60 seconds

This session has to be one of my favourites. I last did this session on April 27th and was looking for an improvement today. After a warm-up of 4.4kms it was game on.

A great lead group today with myself, John and Eamon taking turns leading out the laps. The first one was a slow one that felt awful, then after that I clicked into a nice rhythm. Here are the times:

70/69/67/67/67/67/67/67/67/66/64/63

My target was 68 seconds per lap and I ran these at an average of 66.75 seconds so well under that (the total session was 3 seconds quicker than last time). The 67's felt really comfortable but as soon as I tried to dip below that it was a different ball game. I never attacked the laps running them much more controlled and even paced than I did back at the end of April. I think that speed session on the 300's a few weeks back has really brought me on.

A warm-down of 3.4kms to give me 12.6kms for the day. I feel like I'm starting to hit some form now and that will be put to the test at the Annaghdown 10km on June 21st. But in the meantime I plan to run in Monivea on Saturday.

Bank holiday

9.5kms in 39:20 (4:08's). Felt great. Weather is super at the moment - long may this continue.

Dinner party in the evening with some friends. A few too many cans...

Nearly 2 hours

Longer run today as per my orders. Started off and felt very heavy legged. The tops of my hammies were particularly sore and knew I was in for a tough one. I ran from home out to Oranmore and back and then added a local loop to get the time up. The legs never recovered and it was a slow slog.

All up 25.0kms in 1:52:35 (4:30's). At least the weather was quite warm. That being the case it's now the insect swallowing/spitting out season. Which is nice.

93.6kms for the week.

5 minute efforts

Out late today after a 10 hour decorating stint in the sitting room. Wasn't looking forward to it having been thinking about the session most of the day whilst perfecting my brush work.

Ideally I'd have gone to the track for some 4 lappers but time didn't permit so it was on my local stretch of road for speedwork. I decided on 5 x 5 mins off 90 seconds and the target was to run them at target 10km pace or better (sub 3:12 per km).

Here's how it panned out:

5:00 1.52kms 3:17/km
5:01 1.54kms 3:15/km
5:00 1.55kms 3:14/km
5:00 1.55kms 3:14/km
4:59 1.57kms 3:10/km

Basically not what I was after. Conditions were good so can't blame that and I felt like I was going well but the speed wasn't quite there. Perhaps 10 hours on the feet beforehand could have been the reason.

All up 15.5kms with warm-up and down. Home then for a few beers. No problem with my beer drinking speed,