Lazy day

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

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

Trump

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

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

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

Running like an old drunk

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

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

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

Weekly track night

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

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

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

Times were as follows:

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

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

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

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

Rest

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

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

Snooker

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

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

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

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

Long Run

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

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

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

Double brace

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

Dreading it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hattrick

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

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

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

Track kms/400s

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

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

Times for the efforts were as follows:

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

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

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

Snap

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

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

Volume week

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

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

Half way through watching the London Marathon...

Coole Park 10km

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thinking rubbish

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

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

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

Time precious

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

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

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

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

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

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

Premier League Darts

Same run as Monday. Time 38:35.

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

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

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

Something different

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

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

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

Average of just under 33 seconds so happy with that.

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

Hour

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

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

Keep on running

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

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