Whoops

Fell a bit behind with the blog. A few quick updates required...

Today I ran an easy 7.5kms in 31:00 (4:08's). Heading to the UK tomorrow to meet my new coach and also for a lactate threshold test. Should be fun.

Another ton

I ran the Thursday route which I knew would give me another 100km week. A total of 14.8kms in 59:03 (4:00's). Feeling good this week and enjoying the recovery time.

That's 100.4km for the week. A total of 65 days running on the bounce - though I've had several very easy 30 minute days in amongst that lot. Happy with how things are progressing.

Out in the evening for some more darts practise. And for some more drinking practise...

Crusing

A spin around Claregalway. My cruising speed seems to have improved a lot in the last couple of months - today I covered 14.0kms in 56:44 (4:03's). Felt very easy and maybe the improvement in economy might be due to the threshold sessions. Encouraging whatever the reason.

A few beers in the evening whilst watching crap on TV. I missed the PTC final which Barry Hawkins won 4-0 against Gerard Greene. All the top players were knocked out (including Ronnie - I gave him the kiss of death). Sort of lost interest in it after that...

Practise

Back to the treadmill. A quicker run but not quite at threshold pace. A 2.0km warm-up, then 12kms in 44:02 (3:40/km pace), then 2.0kms warm-down. Feeling good and don't think it took too much out of me.

No darts match this week - a rest week before next week's home semi-final. Instead the team got together for a practise. We played a mini-round robin and I went unbeaten and was playing some pretty solid darts (even though my double hitting wasn't great).

Quicker Thursday

Cracker of a morning. Early start with Sean and Owen. Usual Thursday route and felt very easy paced and a little surprised by the time - all up 15.0kms in 1:03:13 (4:13's). Rare to run sub 4:20's at this time of today - must have been because we didn't have Fintan to slow us down!

Watched the darts in the evening. Some great needle between Peter Wright and MVG. MVG getting a bit big for his station lately so good to see Snakebite play to the crowd and ruffle a few feathers. Great entertainment!

8 x 5 mins off 60 secs

A 2.0km warm-up, then 8 x 5 mins, with 1.2kms to warm-down.

I started the 5 minute efforts at 3:20 per km pace. After 4 my HR was getting too high so I ran the next 2 at 3:26/km pace. Same again - had to lower the pace again to 3:32/km for the last couple. A clear sign that I haven't recovered from the race.

All up 15.0kms. Then straight on for a rub focusing on the left quad (to help the knee). Bloody hell that was sore. I clearly have no pain threshold. Felt a lot better after mind.

No snooker for me tonight. Instead stayed in and had a few beers.

More snooker

The legs felt a bit better today so I upped the pace a little. A short run mind - 9.5kms in 39:30 (4:09's). I might try some quicker stuff tomorrow and I also have a rub booked.

The finals of the PTC snooker started today from the Preston Guildhall (not Galway this year). Ronnie won at that venue 20 years ago as an 18 year old. And he is favourite to win the title this year arguably playing the most consistent snooker of his career. Some player.

Recovery week

Easy 10 miles to shake out the legs after the run yesterday. Legs a bit sore, and the weather had taken a nasty turn (wet and windy), so not the most pleasant experience. All up 16.1kms in 1:10:42 (4:23's).

The plan is to take it easy this week. I'll try some threshold runs but I'll wind back the pace a little as to not overdo it.

Craughwell 10

A good sunny day with only a touch of a breeze which was perfect. After a 2 mile warm-up I lined up for the start and we were soon off and running. Mick Clohisey of Raheny took it out quickly, with Emmett Dunleavy of Sligo AC in pursuit, leaving me alone in third spot. As I settled into my running I was a little surprised to be running by myself in such a big race at this early stage, and as the first few miles ticked by I was basically left in time trial mode.

So not much racing to report - I felt great for the first 4 miles, then started to wobble between miles 4 and 6, and then had to grind out the last 4 miles. We were running into the breeze for the first half of the race, and then had the benefit of the wind in the second half. After passing 10km in 33:20 I was there or thereabouts for a 53 something but I had nothing to offer in the run home. It's very hard to remain focused when you have nobody in sight in front or behind, and even though it felt like I was slowing the mile splits were pretty consistent. That was until the last mile which seemed to last forever and I struggled with the final few drags crossing the line in 54:02 for third place.

Mick won the race in a great time of 50:14 with Emmett in second place in 52:21. That's great running so well done to them both. On a personal note I was initially a little disappointed but upon reflection I was perhaps being a little tough on myself. I only missed my time goal by a few seconds and that was all in the last mile, and what gave me some hope that I was moving in the right direction was that my 10 mile time was worth a 32:20 10km (according to Mr McMillan)...

As I suspected I was only really 10km fit so I need to continue to work on my strength and stamina which the threshold sessions will develop once I increase the duration. So more hard training in the next month and I'll be ready to conquer the longer stuff!

Here are the mile splits:

5:10, 5:25, 5:17, 5:26, 5:27 (26:45), 5:26, 5:25, 5:24, 5:27, 5:35 (27:17)

Total 54:02

A few photos. The start:

During the race:

The finish:

The top 3 (Mick and Emmett had already done their warm-down before I crossed the line...)

All up 22.5km for the day after a very slow couple of miles warm-down. And that's 82.9kms for the week. A few beers in the evening and that was that.

Better weather

The same session as yesterday - 8.4km including 6 x strides. That's it now until the 10 miler tomorrow. I'm targeting sub 54 and if I have a good run I'd love to give my 10 mile PB of 53:20 a shake. We shall see...

A few beers in the evening to ensure a good night's sleep...

Another drubbing

Not great out there but ventured out for an easy 30 minute run with 6 strides at the end. All up 8.4km in 38:54 and that included the strides with the walk back recovery. Soaked come the end...

Darts in the evening. Another 9-0 win - we were lucky winning all the close games. On a personal note I played okay - I cleaned up the doubles nicely but the scoring was very hit and miss. We finished joint top of the league so onwards and upwards with the top 4 teams now progressing into the finals. A few too many beers mind...

Leeds

I hope this weather improves in time for Sunday - not pleasant. So more treadmill running - this time 10.0kms in 41:17 (4:08's). Feeling good.

I watched the Premier League darts in the evening. An incredible crowd of 11,000 to watch darts. The Power looks to be finding some form and he's certainly not finished yet. Good to see Gary Anderson playing well also - and unlucky to lose the last couple of weeks 7-5. I'd tip him as an outsider to win it.

Sport double

Easy week continues - a treadmill 8.0km in 32:59 (4;07's). Awful weather at the moment so took the easy indoor option.

Snooker in the evening. Started well - a 41 break in the second frame missing an easy black, and then finished well with another couple of 30 odds.

6 x 800 off a rolling 4 minutes

More running on the treadmill. A 3km warm-up, then 6 x 800 at 10km pace, then a 3km warm-down. I wasn't sure what my 10km pace was so I ran them at 32:30 pace which is 3:15/km or 2:36/800m. That could be optimistic but it felt relatively comfortable and the 1:24 recovery felt like a lifetime.

All up 10.8kms. A nice easy session for a change and even the knee seemed a bit better today. All positive.

An easier week

I plan to run the Craughwell 10 miler on Sunday so I'll wind things back a bit this week in order to freshen up. I did an easy hour today to help clear the head after another night on the drink....a total of 14.8kms in 1:01:30 (4:09's).

So no threshold running this week. Maybe just some 800's on Tuesday at 10km pace, and then easy running thereafter. It will be interesting to see how I fare on Sunday - the training to date will be more suited to 10km so 10 miles will be a stretch but we will see. Looking forward to it and here's hoping for some good conditions for racing.

Abbey 10km (threshold #4)

I hadn't planned to run but with the Dad here I decided we needed a day trip and the Abbey 10km popped up so that was that. Quite a drive to Abbey which I thought was just outside Loughrea but I should have done a bit more research as it was a good 20 minutes further. Upon arrival it was a quick registration and then a mile warm-up before lining up for the start.

The course was going to be a tough one. That was apparent from the drive in where we basically covered the last 5kms. Hilly plus the wind was also blowing so quick times were going to be difficult - but that didn't bother me as a) I was a little hungover and b) I was looking to use the race as another threshold session.

The race started and myself and Steve McKeigue hit the lead. Steve is a 33 minute 10km runner so I knew I had a race on my hands. We ran out of town into the wind and I took up the running at the prerequisite comfortably hard pace. By 1km I was starting to gap Steve which was a little unexpected. That said, the course was definitely as expected - a big loop full of hills and drags - a good test. And it seemed like that after every turn it was still into the wind - one of those days!

By 5km I had opened up a decent lead. The legs were feeling a bit heavy which was expected really after this week's training. A very nasty climb shortly after 5km, and then some more ups and downs before another left turn just before 7km. Then I felt great - a flattish section with the wind behind and the pace lifted. I perhaps wound up the pace a bit too much, but I was enjoying the run home and soon I was back in town before one final loop to cross the finish line in 34:10 for the win (with Dad and son watching on). Afterwards it was a slow mile warm-down to give me 13.2kms for the day.

What's not to like about that? A great spread afterwards and some more crystal for the collection! Another very well organised event and good to see these local races really well supported. Thanks to all the organisers and volunteers for a great event.

That's 106.6kms for the week. I've averaged 97.6kms the last 10 weeks so that's good going for me. Plus this new training regime has definitely improved my average weekly pace. Take this week for example - 106.6kms at an average pace of 3:51/km. No wonder the left knee is giving me a few twangs...

Here are the splits from the race (clearly the km markers were a little out):

3:05 / 3:33 / 3:30 / 3:37 / 3:49 (17:34) / 3:12 / 3:26 / 3:10 / 3:18 / 3:30 (16:36)

Total 34:10

And here's a photo courtesy of 77edenhill. I think this was approaching the finish:

Gallon

An easy run of 9.5kms with the customary quick finish to ensure I dipped under 40 minutes (39:59 to be exact). That's 4:13/km pace.

Out in the evening with the old man. A few too many beers was had on top of a large meal. Calorific.

Threshold #3

A bit different today - I broke the run up into 5 minute efforts off a minute recovery. Much easier mentally breaking the session down into chunks and to get the heart rate up into the right zone I was running them at a slightly quicker pace (3:17/km). All up 16.2kms with the 2kms warm-up/down.

More socialising in the evening. Starting with a meal and then league darts. I played second in the singles and started like a dream: 100, 140, 100, and then missing the bull for a 161 checkout (for a 12 darter). I cleaned up the 25 in 2 darts so still a 14 dart leg. And then I won the next game taking out 100 in 2 darts. If only it was like that every week. Overall we won 9-0 and that certainly keeps us in the hunt for a top 2 finish.

Solo Thursday

Just me today so delayed the run until mid-morning. I ran the bog standard Thursday route and pushed the pace a little - initially trying to average 4 minute kms but when that seemed too much like hard work I decided to try and keep the run under the hour. All up 14.8kms in 59:59 (4:04's).

Knee a little sore - no surprise as I seem to be pushing it a bit at the moment.

Threshold #2

A 2.0km warm-up, 40 mins at threshold (average 3:22/km pace), a 2.0km warm-down. All up 15.9kms. The average pace was one second per km quicker than yesterday. That's improvement right there...

A day sightseeing with the folks. Out to Ashford Castle and then a drive back to Galway through Connemara. We drove the last few miles of the Connemara half marathon course - even the car struggled up that last mountain...