Go Europe!

A late Sunday run with Fintan around Claregalway. Another windy day and it was really tough going into the wind even considering we were only running at a nice and relaxed pace. Lots of chat which helped to pass the time and we had soon notched up 17.0kms in 1:12:50 (4:17's).

Legs a little sore after yesterday's race. That wouldn't be the case if I was on top of my training.

On the sporting front there are a few things that warrant a mention. Firstly, Galway got soundly beaten in the replay of the hurling final to Kilkenny. Secondly, the mighty Spurs finally notched up a win at Old Trafford! And finally, the Ryder Cup. This was sporting theatre at its finest. I was glued to it Saturday and Sunday evening. Ian Poulter sparked the revival late Saturday night with some brilliant putting on the final 5 greens. Then on Sunday Europe got off to a great start. The big turning point for me was when Justin Rose beat Phil Mickleson by winning the last 2 holes. From that point on the Yanks looked really scared. Europe ended up winning 14.5 to 13.5 and it was some of the best sport I have seen in a very long time. Incredible scenes.

Oh yeah, 74.0kms for the week...

Ballyhaunis 8km

Race number 7 in the Mayo League out at Ballyhaunis - about a 50 minute drive from Galway. I hadn't run the course before and I was looking forward to some kind of hit-out to get back into race-mode and hopefully give me the kick up the backside to get back into proper training.

Arrived in time to register and do a short couple of kms warm-up (I was using my new racing flats straight out of the box). It was a very windy day which wasn't going to help things and I had been pre-warned that there were some nasty hills in the 4th and 5th kms. A poor turnout with only about 100 runners fronting up - can't really explain why as there didn't look to be too many other races on the calendar.

The start was a strange one - I thought the countdown to the start was a dress rehearsal but it turned out it was the real thing and I was left a few rows back before I started my run. I quickly moved through the field to get in second position behind a smaller runner. As we ran through the town it was very quick as the course was steep downhill. After about 400m we took a right turn and it immediately become tougher as we were now running directly into a very strong wind. At around the 1km mark I took the lead with the smaller guy doing the sensible thing and tucking in behind me.

The next couple of kms were tough - the road was dead flat but the wind was a real strength sapper. I was gradually slowing and just before the turn at 3km the guy behind me had moved back into the lead and was pushing on. Another right turn and it was time to get stuck into the hills. I was moving okay but I was losing a little ground on the leader. I kept telling myself to stick with it as I knew the last few kms would be quick. The fifth km was really tough. I felt like walking up (what I hoped) would be the final climb and I kept expecting someone to come up behind me but surprisingly that never happened.

Through 5km and finally some quicker terrain. I was only about 10 seconds down on the leader and I was still confident I could get close. One final right turn and we had a nice flat/downhill stretch back into town with the wind on the back. I ran as hard as I could but didn't seem to be making any inroads into the leader. At the 7km marker I knew the win looked unlikely and I upped the pace as best I could but with no joy. With about 500m remaining we made a left-turn and there was a nice flat stretch up to the finish line. I crossed the line in 26:22 for second place some 11 seconds behind the winner.

Happy enough with that - a strange race as the first km, and the last 3kms felt really comfortable. The 4kms in between though were really tough. There was no in between. Probably a better run that I was expecting given my piss poor preparation. Well done to the winner - Con Doherty. It turns out he is one of the top junior triathletes in the country and with a 5km PB of 15:10 he is no mug at running! Great to be mixing it with a guy over 20 years your junior!

Here are the splits:

1km 3:02
2km 3:21
3km 3:35
4km 3:13 (13:11)
5km 3:40
6km 3:13
7km 3:12
8km 3:06 (13:11)

Total 26:22

I though the 4th km was hilly but the split doesn't suggest that. Perhaps there was some downhill in there that I forgot about? Or perhaps it was the relief of getting out of that headwind? Dunno. A nice finish running the last 3kms in 9:31 and funnily enough even splits...

I finished up with a 4km warm-down. All up 14kms for the day. I couldn't stay for the presentation as I had to be back in Galway by 6pm but there looked to be a very good spread in place for the runners in the clubhouse. A good afternoon out and well worth the trip.

Going off the rails

Today was another struggle. That's it now, I'm going to take it easy on the falling down water for the next few weeks....

A late afternoon run of 9.5kms in 40:47.(4:18's). That's over 3 minutes slower than the same run on Monday!

Racing tomorrow in the Mayo League. Expectation levels are very low...

To Arthur

Nice easy run this morning with my mate to blow away some of the cobwebs. Total distance 12.2kms in 57:24 (4:42's).

A cold morning, and my mate has obviously spent too long living in Australia as he rugged up like he was running around the North Pole...

More socialising in the evening. Out around Galway visiting some of the city pubs. Lets just say I felt very old...

Then and now

An old mate from Australia and his family were in Galway for a few days so I decided to take a day off and instead eat and drink too much. Good fun. This very person was the reason I started running when I moved to Sydney in 1999.  Weighing in at 15 and a half stone I was in shocking nick and I remember our first run around Lane Cove. I didn't even have proper runners and I did my "run" in a pair of Adidas casual trainers. I managed about 5 minutes of shuffling before I had to start walking...

12 x 400 off 1 minute

My first quick session since the relay. I am lacking speed so I though I'd try some 400's to see where I'm at. Usual warm-up and down of 3.5kms. I was running solo as the main group now start an hour earlier and I couldn't make the new start time.

A very windy evening. Running down the back straight of the track was like running into a brick wall. Then the last 100m felt like you were being pushed along. Here are the times:

75/72/73/73/72/71/72//70/70/70/71/70

Umm, what can I say. Bloody tough going. The first one was awful, then had to grit the teeth to try and improve. I suppose the last 5 weren't too bad. Difficult to gauge what those times indicate as the conditions made quick running very tough. I could feel the burn in the lungs and I think that's a sign that I've lost a fair bit of fitness.

All up 11.8kms.

Chugging along

Easy run of 9.5kms in 37:46 (3:59's). Felt really comfortable. Training will be interrupted this week as we have 2 sets of overseas visitors. Which is nice.

Licking my wounds

I was on struggle street today. There was a 10km race out at Loughrea that I planned to run if feeling okay but I was far from that. Made the call not to run at midday and instead polished off 4 rounds of bacon sandwiches. Lovely.

I did manage a local wobble later in the afternoon. I ran 11.1kms in 45:53 (4:08's). Not too bad all things considered.

Well done to Donegal who Donegood winning the final of the footy. More heartbreak for Mayo...and Simon Whitlock won the darts capturing his first major title beating Wes Newton 11-5 in the final. I should also mention the snooker (Shanghai Masters). Judd Trump against John Higgins in the final with Judd 7-2 up after the first session (Higgins had hit a 147 break in that session!). Anyway the wizard from Wishaw levelled at 7-7 and went on to win a last frame decider (10-9). An incredible turnaround in form as I watched John play in the Premier league recently and he looked all out at sea...just goes to show that class is permanent...

Back to the running. That's a massive 52.3kms for the week. A much deserved easy week. I'll start back into some proper training starting next week. The week before last was 74.6kms - I think I forgot to mention that at the time.

41

Happy birthday to me. Where has the last year gone? I followed the advice of Master Sweeney and had a guilt-free day off from running.

A spot of shopping during the day and out in the evening for a meal followed by far too many pints with mates. Home at 2am.

More boring stuff

Pretty easy running week for me. Still in recovery mode so no fast stuff just yet. Same loop as yesterday but I managed to knock a minute off the time for 44:15 for the 11.1kms (3:59's). I think I upped the pace on the faster sections without even realising it.

Bought some new racing flats today - I've had my last ones since February so I was long over-due (I use these for all my races up to the marathon distance, plus all speedwork including track sessions). I got the new Asics DS racers which look to have got a bit of a face-lift. I was left a bit gob-smacked in the shop when another customer mentioned that he had dropped 5 stone in the last year by regular running and healthy eating. Goes to show what incredible results you can achieve in a relatively short space of time.

Bit extra

More easy running. Feeling good at the moment - calves a bit sore still but apart from that it's all good. Longer loop today of 11.1kms in 45:23 (4:05's).

Darts on the tele for the weekend (ESPN). Sorted.

Ditto

Same run as yesterday - getting quicker though. This time 38:48 (4:05's). The temperature has dropped and my cruising speed improves by at least 10 seconds per km. Coincidence?

Dipping the toe in

I tried an easy run today. I felt surprisingly okay - calves still sore but in general I think I've recovered pretty well. I think it just goes to show that the damage sustained to the body during a marathon is all on the last 10km (post "the wall" - which I avoided). After London I didn't feel right for several weeks...

Time 39:12 for 9.5kms (4:08's).

RNR Splits

No running today. Calves very sore so I'll give it another day.

Another night with little sleep - only 6 hours and then up at 3am for the big trip back to Galway.

I've pieced together my splits from the Round Norfolk Relay. Here goes:

5km 17:13
10km 17:55 (1st 10km 35:08)
15km 17:42
20 km 17:47 (2nd 10km 35:29)
25km 17:51
30km 17:37 (3rd 10km 35:28)
31.6km 5:47

Total 1:51:52 (average 3:32/km)

Intresting that although I felt I was slowing towards the end, my 3rd 10km split was slightly quicker than my 2nd 10km block (albeit by only 1 second).

A question I've been asked a lot is what time would I have run if I'd have continued on to the full marathon distance. Impossible to answer really as I never had any intention of doing so. I would say I felt much better at this point than I did in London @ 20 miles. Who knows. It would have been 2hr29 if I could have maintained the pace but there was very little chance of that happening. I think you'd have to add a couple of minutes (at the very least).

Round Norfolk Relay

I received the baton, exchanged a few pleasantries, started my Garmin, and then raced off up the road. I had my cyclist to the right of me, the support vehicle behind, and despite the road being well lit by the headlights of the car, it felt very lonely as I started the 31.6km journey from Scole to Thetford.

Conditions were absolutely perfect. Very little breeze, a nice cool evening and the feedback I had on the course was that it was very runner friendly. No excuses at hand. I settled into my running and my immediate concern was that I had no idea what pace I was running. There were no distance markers on the course, and I couldn't see the screen of the Garmin, but luckily I'd set the watch to auto-lap so I had the beep to listen out for after I had passed each km. I could then consult my cyclist after each beep and I he would give me the cumulative time split from his watch that he had set at the start of the stage.

I was ticking along nicely and I checked my split for the first time at 4km. I was just under 14 minutes and that indicated sub 3:30/km pace which felt comfortable. There was nothing to see up-front but it felt surprisingly easy to stay focused - and the fact that it was so early in the morning didn't seem to be bothering me. In fact I was quite enjoying it.

Not much to report. The beep of the watch, check the time, maybe a few mouthfuls of water, a gel on the half hour, and then just as we were approaching 10km I could see my first flashing light up front. Slowly but surely I was getting closer. This seemed to really get me fired up and I think I upped the pace without even realising it. The protocol on overtaking was that the vehicle up front would move to the right allowing me and my cyclist through on the inside. I caught the runner, went straight past, and simple as that I had overtaken our main rivals - the Norwich Road Runners.

Through 10km in just over 35 minutes, and feeling good I pressed on. The course wasn't pancake flat, there were certainly long uphill drags, and some nice downhill stretches. I don't recall any short sharp hills and one thing I noticed was that it was very difficult to judge the gradient of the road in the dark. I'm note sure if that was good or not.

By 15km I was still running strongly. My splits were consistent. I think I passed another runner. I should just fill in a few details about the concept of the race. The start times for each team are staggered based on the team's estimate of the total time to complete the entire relay. In simple terms, the slow teams start first and the quick teams start last (we started some 5 hours after the early teams). In theory if the estimated times are accurate, all the teams should complete the race within a short space of time.

Through 16km and I had passed the halfway point of the stage. Detail is a bit lacking, very little chat between myself and the cyclist, another gel on the hour and just trying to keep it going. The kms were still ticking by nicely and at 20km I was still on track (low 70 minutes). I was confident I would run well up to the half marathon point but there was the doubt about the remaining 10km or so.

Around this point my cyclist was swapped. This was a bit eerie as he had to stop, as did the support vehicle. I was left running up the road by myself in the fading light of the headlights as someone else jumped on the bike, got their instructions, and then had to cycle hard to catch me again. It probably only took a couple of minutes but by the end of this I was almost running in total darkness. And then the light was restored when my support vehicle caught me again.

At 21km I was just under 1hr14 so I probably ran the half in 1:14:15 or so. I was planning on 1:15 so I'd put a little bit of time in the bank. I was still feeling okay, and knew I had more quick kms in the legs. Round numbers I had 10km to go and I was on the countdown.

The course at this point seemed tougher. This could be explained by tiredness but it just felt that long sections were all slightly uphill. I knew I'd probably slowed a little, but if I ran a poor km I'd try and bounce back with a quicker next km. I was lucky as just as it felt like I was hitting a bad patch, a flashing light would appear in the distance and that was the motivation to keep things going to run past another team.

At 25km I was still running well but it was getting tougher. The splits were slowing a little which I was expecting, but I had the encouragement of my cyclist who helped spur me on. The lights up front were becoming more frequent which was great to focus on and I knew by how easily I was passing out some runners that I was still running quickly.

I made a call on around 1hr 30 not to take my final gel as my stomach felt a little dodgy. I only had to keep this going for 20 minutes or so and I'd be done. Around this point I missed one of my beeps and that threw me a little as the km seemed to be taking an eternity. But that error was soon realised and almost without warning I had the shout from the car behind that I only had one mile to go.

I really tried to lift the pace at this point. There were some nasty drags in the last mile but was we approached a large roundabout I again caught 2 more teams and then ran as hard as I could up to the changeover area where I handed over the baton to our next runner.

Upon finishing I had to lay down on the grass for several minutes. I checked my watch and I had broken 1hr 52. My official time was 1:51:52 which worked out at 3:32/km pace. My Garmin had my pace a second a km quicker than that but it had measured the course slightly long.

I was escorted to another support vehicle where I put on some clothes and drank plenty of water. I then spent the remainder of the race in the car, leap-frogging to various points of the remaining stages (usually stage changeovers) to support the other runners. I should add that upon getting to the changeover area for stage 14 I was feeling very ill. I think the gels were sitting in my stomach and it wasn't long before I was having a good heave. Straight away I felt a good bit better and after drinking some coke I felt okay - I suppose as well as can be expected on a night with no sleep having run the guts of 20 miles.

Our team finished at 8:22am. It had taken our 17 runners 20h 22 to complete the 197.2 miles (average pace 3:51/km). We had a big group breakfast at 9am (full English) then it was time for the presentation at 11am.

Awards were made to the winners of each stage. I had posted the quickest time on stage 12 so it was nice to pick up a stage win (in total there were 58 teams competing). I had also broken the masters course record for that stage by almost 8 minutes (the senior record for the stage is 1:48:49 so I was way off that). Additional awards were made for the best junior, senior and masters performances of the day (based on age gradings). No joy for me but City of Norwich were certainly scooping lots of trophies (my run rated 8th out of of the 986 runners who took part in the RNR based on age grading).

Then on to the final awards - the winning teams. Our team was entered into the club class which was seen as the premier award within the RNR. A club team had to comprise of a mixture of female, male and masters runners (a minimum of 5 females and 5 masters out of 17 team members). This award was kept to the very end and our brilliant team performance was rewarded by winning this class - made all the more special by me being nominated to collect the trophy on stage on behalf of all of our team-mates. A little nerve racking as the trophy stood about 3 foot tall and I wasn't sure I would be able to lift it!

It turns out our team had posted the quickest time of the day by over 50 minutes beating all of the other race categories (open, masters and female). To beat the open teams was quite an achievement as these teams would be predominantly made up of senior males.

All in all a great experience. A truly unique event which I really enjoyed and I have to thank CoNAC for giving me the opportunity to run. I'm glad I ran well to warrant my selection and hopefully it won't be the last time! Thanks also to the support crew. The logistics behind this race are amazing - to get 17 team runners together is quite an achievement. Making sure they are at the start of their respective stages when the start time is fluid takes some doing. Well done RP and the crew, you did a great job. I think the runners have it easy - all they have to do is turn up and run!

The finish of the day went something like this. Home by 1:30pm. Lunch at 2pm. In pub by 3pm. Back from pub by 8pm and in bed by 9pm (still no sleep by this point). Job done.

I'll no doubt add bits and pieces to this post as I think of them over the next few days. I need to add my splits for a start. But for now that can wait...

Travel, eat, rest, eat, travel

Up at 6am. A car journey, a flight and 2 trains later and I was in Norwich - all up just over 6 hours. Straight into the city for a pasta lunch, then I found a bed to try and get some sleep on in the afternoon whilst listening to Five Live on the radio.

Porridge around 6pm (2 bowls of), and then I got all my gear packed. I was picked from the city centre just after 10pm for the 20 minute drive out to Bungay which was the start of stage 11 of the Round Norfolk Relay.

Upon arrival you immediately got a feel for the event. The sight of runners entering the changeover point accompanied by a cyclist and the flashing light of their support vehicle. Surprisingly when we got there we watched about 12 teams coming through in quick succession. This bunching I was told was quite unusual as the teams are normally much more spread out.

I was starting to get quite nervous which was unusual for me. I think the team factor played a big part of this, plus it being pitch dark when there were no runners or cars on the road. I was asking a few questions to the support crew but this just seemed to make me more nervous so I decided it was best to stay quiet and try and stay calm.

Another lift from a support vehicle from stage 11 to stage 12 which was the start of the stage that I was to run. I was expecting to start some time after 1:30am so there was a fair bit of waiting around which I did in the warmth of the car. Tension levels were continuing to rise. Then shortly after 1:30am I got the call that our runner was about a mile a way so I stripped off and made my way down to the changeover zone waiting for the baton to appear...

Turning the legs over

I did 30 minutes on the mountain bike in the evening to loosen off the legs.

A few beers and an early night as I'm travelling to Norwich early in the morning.

Three-peat

Same run for the 3rd time this week. Getting slower each time - this time knocking off the 9.5kms in 41:26 (4:22's).

That's it - no more running until the race Sunday morning.

A cunning plan

The same run as Monday. Perfect conditions again and this time I was a little slower covering the 9.5kms in 39:11 (4:07's).

Lots of time to think about the run on the weekend and what to do pacing-wise. I'm now thinking of trying to cover the first 13.1 miles in around 1:15. Then at this point I'll no doubt be feeling like shite, will collect a piano to carry on the back, then limp home. Sounds perfect.

6 x 4 minutes off 1 minute

One last session of quicker stuff before the big race. A lap of the pitches for warm-up and then for a change we were to also use the pitches for the main session (instead of the track).

A good group in attendance with lots of new faces. I didn't want to push it tonight and was content to cruise around. The route we had marked out would have us passing the start well within the 4 minutes and the instruction was to start a second lap until the 4 minutes was up.

Gearoid, Fintan and myself took turns leading out each 4 minute effort and I was feeling really good. Again another cool evening with very little wind which suited me down to the ground. The back half of the course had us running along a very stony path down by the river which wasn't great wearing racing flats. Then there was a nasty 30 second climb up to the final turn which marked the completion of the lap. I was generally lapping in about 3:30 which meant a further 30 seconds running before the 4 minutes was up. Then a short jog back to the start in the 60 seconds recovery to do it all again.

I had no idea of pace at the time but I would have said around 3:20/km pace. It turns out I was averaging around 3:12 to 3:13/km pace. Very happy with that as I wasn't giving it my all, plus the session is quite a tricky one off a short recovery.

I did my warm-down also on the pitches. A bit of a guess-timate but I reckon it was around 14.5kms for the day.