Planning to not plan

Its been a pretty good week non-plan wise.   That is i'm keeping to my plan of getting out regularly and increasing the distances while not really following a plan.   Altho its less than 14 weeks to Dublin i think i'm still not ready to follow a defined plan, however in the words of Nixon i'd soon better do something or get off the pot.

I've been reading a lot of american and canadian blogs about people running in their heat, i.e over 35-40C!!!!    I once ran (while on hols in France) in weather that approached 28-29C.  The result - less a run, more of a walk, and a pounding headache to boot, definitely not my idea of fun (i cant even imagine the effort of breathing in that kind of heat).

This summer (if we're using that word) the temperature has rarely climbed above 20C, and usually has stayed in the 16-18C range - i'm quite happy with this!! 

Last night a case in point.  I left the house at 10:15pm into a soft rainy night.   I did my usual 5 miles route and loved every minute of it.    It never got to the point of being wearisome rain, it felt invigorating all the way, i was prob buoyed up by the fact that, yet again, i forced myself out against my better judgement and felt all the better for it.

Tonight M was going out to the cinema with a couple of friends so i didnt feel too guilty heading out at 7p.m. for 5 miles, nice weather and gentle temperatures, it was nice to get a run in the daytime, all recent runs are still late at night.

Times and distances for the last few days (all slow but who cares, i only had to use the compression bandage once to keep the ankle swelling down - i'd rather run slowly than not run at all).

July 19 - 8km 46:14
July 20 - 8km 48:11
July 22 - 5.3k 29:33
July 24 - 14.44 - 1hr:32:32 (v. rough late night run)
July 27 - 8km about 46 mins (forgot to charge Garmin)
July 28 - 8km about 47 mins (still forgot to charge Garmin, what a dipstick)


And tonights  grey sky over Dublin

Rough Weather Spectating & A Long Slow Run

Although it was a Sunday morning (and i'm about two steps away from  lack- of- sleep induced psychosis) I set the alarm early to go out and look at the Howth triathlon.

Until I got injured earlier in the year I had hoped to compete in this as my first tri, but after dropping out of the marathon 3 weeks before the event I don't think i had the strength of mind to get into the whole bike,swim,run thing straight away, and i only kept myself ticking over with 2 or 3 short runs a week, in fact its only in the last week or two that i’m really back at the running.

Anyway, K had expressed an interest going out to see the triathletes (her teacher from last year might be competing) so after morning calcs /  injections / breakfast we set off at about 8:15 on the short journey.

The weather for the day was atrocious, temperature couldn't have been more than about 12C, very windy with choppy seas and threateningly overcast.

We went down to the beach to wait for the swimmers.   The first swimmer over from Ireland's Eye had a huge lead over the field.   The 2nd swimmer home was a women (yippee, Kate was v. impressed) and she also had a huge lead over the field (apparently they’re both experienced sea swimmers, they needed it yesterday).

Looking at the people battling the choppy sea part of me was relieved that i wasnt with them, but a part of me was also dead jealous....

K. on beach with Irelands Eye behind

After freezing on the beach for about half an hour (July in Ireland, who thought we’d need fleeces!) we headed for a warming cup of tea, followed by a drive up to the summit to watch the bike race.

A truly enjoyable few hours, mainly for the one on one time i got with my daughter.

The Weekend Long(ish) Run

The day got away from me after that and it was 9:30pm  before i got out for my run.    I really ( REALLY)  didn't want to go out, but i figured that  if i start compromising before getting into a plan what chance will i have later in the year.

I wanted to do 12k, so I ran down the Howth Road to Fairview, then along the Coast Road, to Watermill and back home.

The wind down to Fairview was awful, really strong and funnelled by the road into a headwind.  Kinda takes the zip out of one’s step.

I was worried that the wind would still be against me on the coast which is no fun at all, but thankfully it was at my back, so I had a pleasant trot over the next 5k.

Wind was against me again for the last 2k, but i was so cheered up by forcing myself out and getting thru the run that i even managed to up the pace for the last k.

Distance - 12.2k
Time - approx 1hr 15mins (Garmin playing up a bit & had to be re-booted)

One Route, Two Runs - what a difference a day makes

Back to back 5 mile runs last night and tonight, and very different experiences of each.

Last night was a beautiful calm evening, no wind and a pleasant temperature.    I headed out at 10:20 p.m. after putting the kids to bed (these bright evenings make it very difficult to get them to bed at anything approaching a reasonable hour..).

I got down to the seafront quickly and thought the view of the moon over the city was beautiful.  I stopped to take a couple of snaps (shaky hand evidence below!).

When I started running again i felt weirdly dizzy.  I made it to 4k  and turned for home, but had hardly the energy to walk.    I had an emergency gel in my belt (I carry same if i haven't eaten for a few hours) and shame oh shame on a 5 miler, I swallowed it.

After a couple of hundred yards I forced myself to trot slowly (I thought of how ultra runners discuss ignoring the pain, running thru walls etc, and here's me only a couple of miles from home and walking...what a wuss!!!).

A very slow jog home, all the while thinking of fooooood,

Tonight tho' was very different.     I had a toasted bagel smeared with peanut butter about an hour before leaving the house (10:40p.m., if my runs get any later i'll be back to morning runs before long).

I was about .75k into my run when i felt the first light pinpricks of rain on my arms and face.   This didn't worry me too much as the weather forecast this morning had given rain in the west breaking up into light showers by the time the clouds reached the east of the country.

Well the spirit of Michael Fish is alive and well and living in Met Eireann..... Within another half k I was in a torrential downpour, but, weirdly, loving every minute of it.   

When you're having a good run nothing can stop the pleasure.   The rain was lashing down, running in rivulets off the end of my nose, and i cared not a jot!  In fact, in a perverse way it almost added to my enjoyment (well the temperature was still pleasant).

The only slight downside was that, after a couple more k the rain stopped - and what is worse than running in the rain? running in the dry with only the cold suction of a sodden tee shirt to remember the rain by...but still i enjoyed it!  All i could think of was that at one time had i been driving by a lunatic runnng thru a downpour i would have felt at best pity, at worst contempt - never would i have imagined he was enjoying himself...

Thats the weird thing about running, same route it, same time of night, different conditions, and you can never tell which one is going to be more enjoyable.....

And btw shaky hand evidence from yesterday (and another shot from Monday, just cause i like it)

Getting back into it

Well, for the first time in a couple of months I got out last week 3 times between Monday & Friday.   And although I didn't get in a long run at the weekend I got out Monday night for 11k, its the longest I've run since May.

Its unusual but I rang 5 k on Monday lunchtime, 5k again on Wednesday lunchtime, 8 k Thursady evening and 11k yesterday - and although the distances were getting longer the difficulty was definitely diminishing.....  The 5k on Monday was TOUGH and I cant really say why.

Why is it that on a long run the hard miles are the first 3?

Another impact on the running in the last month or so is that we've been doing a lot more glucose checks for K and it almost feels like we are back at the baby waking in the middle of the night stage.   When you've been up between 3:30 -4:30 am treating a low you dont necessarily want to hop out of bed at 6:30 to do a 5 mile run, hence the lunchtime & evening runs (and the skipping of same on too many occasions)....

On the marathon front I'm still not sure about Dublin in October.   There are a good few guys in the ant farm considering it and training for same (there's a lot of mid life crisising going on, me included) - at the moment I just want to get back to the distances I was running earlier in the year, so I'll keep it up and see in a couple of weeks.

But back to last nights run, I walked down to Raheny library with the family and ran on from there.   It was a beautiful calm evening.   I planned to do 10k but when I got to the beach I added on the extra k as it was just so enjoyable.  Is there anything more relaxing than the sound of a calm sea lapping against a strand?