The Weirdest Way to sign up for a Half Marathon...Ever

I'm tipsy.......i'm not blotto.... i'm far from hammered.....although i'm definitely under the influence...

But this is definitely the weirdest way to commit to an athletic event that i'm, at least, aware of.

The background: Last Saturday i completed a slow running of the Dublin 10 miler in Phoenix Park.

Yippee..i thought; i'll prob. do the half marathon (and a deep down, barely acknowledged, voice whispered in my mind 'And maybe the marathon too?').

So Saturdays wave of enthusiasm washed over me, then passed by  me and left me floundering without a run to my name until i received a text on wednesday from Big E....'Fancy a 16miler on Saturday, 7a.m. along the DART line?'

Ummmm 'Yeah, although i dont have 16 miles in the legs, i'll join you for the first 12'...

Thursday morning...still no running, better bring the gear to work for a lunchtime run.

Thursday lunchtime brought a fast (for the first half anyway...and isnt fast relative?) 6km.

Then Thursday night, still feeling like i should be doing more i went out at 10:30p.m. for a 7 mile run.
It was a beautiful night.    Dublin Bay was like glass.    I passed a number of fishermen on the Coast Road.

(----------Normal service has now resumed - I wrote the above on Friday night and sleep was more interesting than continuing on with the post----------------------)

The reason I though my commitment to the Half Marathon was weird was the manner in which i signed up.    Friday Big E suggested a few gentle pints.  At approx 11:40p.m. Big E asked me if i had signed up for the Half; yikes, i hadn't, so out with the smartphone and start typing (did i mention close of entries was at midnight?).

Finding, focusing and typing my entry was a bit hard but i got signed up with minutes to go.

After cramming 2 runs into Thursday, and a wash out on Saturday morning (due to after-effects of enjoyable Friday night) I went out for 17km late Sunday night.

So i'm back to semi-regular running.     I would prefer to not need the discipline of a planned race in order to make myself get out and run, but for the moment i amn't enjoying myself enough to force myself out.

I'll run the half on 15th September.    I know in my heart of hearts that i wont have enough running to do the Dublin marathon at the end of October, but maybe a late November or December  marathon??.

Dublin 10 mile road race

For me to call this (or any organised run I'm involved in) a race is a misnomer - i'm definitely on the jogger end of the spectrum.

I decided i needed motivation to get out and run, so 3 weeks ago i signed up for the 10 miler portion of the Dublin Race Series.

It still took another week to get out and run - so a few 5ks, 5 milers and two 7.5 milers i lined up (at the back of the pack naturally) in the Phoenix Park at 10a.m. this morning.

After a lot of bad rain during the week there was a window of grey but dry weather while we actually ran.

It was interesting to run this with no level of anticipation, no attempt for a PB, no sense of anything but forcing myself to get out and run.   What was interesting was being an observer of the camaraderie all around; that sense of excitement for first timers.

The run took me 1hr39min39secs (still waiting for the chip time, gun time was circa 1hr45, but had garmin on, chip time doesn't seem to have registered).

The run was as well organised as usual, however when the slower runners were finishing there was a lot of congestion on the final bit of road; it was very inconsiderate of people to be crossing in front of runners (a couple of women even stopped for for a chat , causing a female runner to nearly crash into them).

The half marathon is on in a few weeks, and i reckon i might give it a whirl, its a pity i dont have the miles in my legs for the Dublin marathon, but who knows, maybe one in November or December....Clonakilty looks nice.

Am I doing the marathon or not?

Not...it seems....

I just can't motivate myself to get out.

The biggest drawback at the moment is the sheer level of exhaustion i'm feeling with D.  Since we got the pump we've been upping the night-time checks.

If you ever want to demotivate yourself (or convince yourself that you are on the edge of a heart attack) lace some sleep deprivation with lashings of caffine and you'll get that never to be missed can't run another step without keeling over feeling.

Not only that, but for your added enjoyment, sleep deprivation comes with the added benefit of wanting to eat all around and do no exercise whatsoever.

M & I are alternating the nightime checks every couple of days.   Checks are at 12a.m., 3a.m. (or 2a.m. depending on the reading) and 6a.m. with one of us watching till 3, and the other taking over for 6..    Although when i'm on checks i prefer to stay awake until 3, as i dont trust myself to wake up on the alarm.  Therefore, this morning started at 6a.m., its now 1:30am, and i'll get to bed at approx 3:30....(having said all that, the pump benefits far outweigh this one disadvantage).

In order to get myself moving i signed up last night for the dublin 10 mile race on 25th August.   I didnt go out today, but there is nothing like spent money to motivate a cheapskate, so here's hoping this week will be better (there is no way i could get thru 10 miles without prepping myself somewhat over the next fortnight).....

So marathon or not?  Let's see.....

Fun

Want to know what fun is....?

Taking your kid out for a run in Dollymout's dunes.....exploring.....Bear Grylls style (he's a huge fan).

Cross Training Craic & Cross Training Calamities

A month since writing anything (been kinda sick of looking at computers in all honesty).

However, up to three weeks ago I was actually making strong progress on the fitness and running.

I was also starting to make inroads on that stone in weight i want to drop (not much of an inroad, but hey, baby steps).

In order to improve the fitness, and burn some more calories, i also started into a lot of cross training; both bodyboarding and biking.    Also some hill/trail running in the local park with my own kids and once a week with the kids in the running club (absolutely great fun, must do it more often).

I also took advantage of the bike-to-work scheme, and after two years of himming & hawing, finally bought a cyclo-cross bike to get to work on.

Crosstraining Craic

Bodyboarding, I think, was invented so that forty something year old men could have fun in the water without looking stupid falling off surfboards.... 

We went down to Roslare with my extended family for the June bank holiday.  Weather was crap, but while the rest of the clann sat indoors and cursed the rain, myself and the two eldest boys grabbed the wetsuits and headed to the beach.

Waves were high and fun was great.   My dad came down for a look and was surprised at the speed we could get up to on the waves.

I scuffed my knee on the rocks on the beach and was feeling rather sorry for myself until i got on the bike to get into work the following tuesday.....

Crosstraining Calamities

The first thing i realised about my new bike was the speed...and i loved it.

A 35-40min journey on my old mountain bike suddenly dropped to 28-29 mins as i flew to work.

However, the bike differs from my old mountain bike in another respect.    On the tuesday after the long weekend i cycled to work on wet roads after an overnight rain.   After 7km i went to hop up onto the path to avoid traffic.   The hop was over a barely there kerb, a doddle to a mountain bike...if i had been riding a mountain bike.

Wheel one passed over the lip withno trouble, wheel two however decided it was happier on the road and i was ungracefully slammed into the pavement sideways....

Although i was fairly cut up i walked the last 3.5k to work, then spent an hour trying to clean out my cuts before giving up the ghost and heading home.

There followed a week off work, xrays for suspected wrist fractures, and a very embarrassing session where a neighbour who is a nurse cleaned the gravel out of my hand, all the while with my tensing up, yelping, sucking in breath, and generally emasculating myself in front of her.......

Both wrists were fierce sore, i lost a good bit of skin off the right palm, and left knee, and a bit less on the other hand/knee.  My knees also wouldnt bend for 2 weeks so it was a fortnight before i was back running......and i only started to cycle again yesterday.    I cycled home yesterday and back in to work today, all the while very nervous of faceplanting into the ashphalt again....ah well, a few more days to ease myself back in....

Oh, and to prove i was hurt.....(look away if squeamish)......it hurt a lot more than it looks now that i look back at it........

24 hours later

A few days later

Healing slowly, a week later

You've got to fake it till you make it......

When telling a friend recently about my lack of motivation in going out for a run he said - 'you've got to fake it till you make it', i.e pretend your enjoying yourself until you actually start enjoying yourself....

So the last week i've gone out 4 times, Tuesday night 9:30p.m. for 5 miles, Wednesday night 9:30p.m. for 5km, Friday at 9p.m. for 5 miles and this morning at 9a.m. for 5 miles (yea, starting at the right end of the day for a change).

And while i am still at the faking it step i'm glad to be getting out a bit more regularly.

Kildare marathon was run today, 2 colleagues in work ran it and did pretty good (one aiming for 3:30 finished in 3:37, hope he's not too disappointed, another finished around 4:15, a time i can only dream about).   My bro-in-law did the half in 1:44, again, dream time for me....

I've dropped out of this race twice now through injury - but on my run this morning i was wondering if my heart just isnt into doing this race? I dont understand why this would be; its near, the course is nice, my sister leive close by.......

Anyway,start of another week, lets see if i can keep the miles (and the faking levels) up.....

Becoming a marathon spectator.....

I'm watching London Marathon on the telly.

Nice way to spend a few Sunday morning lazy hours........although i made a promise to myself that i would only watch it if i got out for a run first (I went out last Sunday for 5k and another 5k on tuesday, i'm not very motivated at the mo').

Looking at the elites, i reckon the real drama is in the wheelchair race, i wish they'd spend more time concentrating on it, even to the point of running those races separately.   A commentator on the Paris marathon last week (yep this sunday morning telly watching is turing into a nice, but ironically unhealthy, habit); mentioned that the wheelchair race is more akin to cycling in the tactics and I'm really coming to appreciate his point.

Of the two London is closer to me than Paris, and although I love visiting London its Paris i'd like to do, assuming i do another few marathons.

Anyway this mornings was a fresh bright early summers day, perfect for running.    And the fact that i woke for a BG check at 4a.m. and couldnt go back asleep meant it wasnt too much of a stretch to hit the road at 7a.m......although now its kinda hard to keep the sleep at bay.....

8km - 45m25s, took the runners off for the last couple hundred metres - calves sore but prob due to lack of running over the last few weeks.

Why I run.....

I like sitting down more than I like running.......

I like sitting down after a run more than I like sitting down after not a run.....I find it hard to remind myself of this before stepping out the door.....

I like being on a run 10% of the time.......I hate being on a run 30% of the time.......I'm somewhere else 60% of the time......I like it there the most......

Giving up on Kildare

 

 

I went out running for 5km last Saturday, hoping it would be a leg loosener for Sundays planned 25-26km.

 

The pain in the small of my back was still there (caused by trying to do some core exercises over the last few weeks).   But while running (and for a good while afterwards)the pain spread beyond my back, down my hamstring, and into my calf.

 

Running has become, if not quite impossible, very uncomfortable.   I missed my long run, and haven’t run since (a full week today).    Only today did walking downstairs not hurt, and i reckon i’ll do 5-6 miles over the weekend – but for now no marathon in kildare in May.   At this stage i might try Portumna in June, a 50km run on 12th June - http://forestmarathon.com/

 

I cant say i’m overly disappointed – the training has been a real drag recently and probably the mental state didnt help…..

Diamonds on the soles of his feet

I finally got out for a longish run last Sunday, the first in a few weeks.

I arranged with M to meet her and the kids at our (due to the recession soon to be ex-) gym in Leopardstown.   A distance on the sat-nav of 19k by the shortest route.    As i had to do 25-26k i took a detour off the suggested route.

I ran the first few k quick enough, about 5m30s per k up to 8k.   I wanted to keep my heart under 150bpm (just to see what happened, i know i can keep going a lot longer at that pace), so i started slowing down a bit and kept to 6m05 or so up to 16km, feeling pretty good.

Then, then i started hitting the hills of south dublin..... 6m29, 6m36, 6m25, then 6m50 arggh.  The pain was pretty severe.....in fact the pain was yucky.

I finished at the gym to find i had only done 21.7km, blast, do i keep going, finish out the miles, take no shortcuts, grind out the distance? - not on your nelly.  i took the cowardly choice of believing the hills made up for the missed 4k.......obviously i'm into that whole endurance running self punishment thing....hmmm, maybe not, lets see how it goes next weekend - 25k.

And the title? after about 8.5k i thought i was starting to get a blister. i kept running, trying to ignore it.  Eventually i stopped to investigate - to find a tiny diamante jewel out of one of my daughters many, many make-your-own-jewelery sets - had it gotten worse it would definitely been the weirdest running injury yet!

Kildangan 10k Race Report

I feel i've done a lot of races recently, but when my big sis mentioned that her local GAAclub was having a funds raising 10k i jumped at the chance.

Backstory first - I went out for a 10 miler last saturday week and had to give up after 4 miles; the pain in my right calf was pretty bad and i was also getting lower back and hip pain on my left hand side.... pretty sure it was the old asics i'm still using well past use by date.

I stopped running for a complete week - its always worrying that after a running break how the aches and pains go away, leaving you feeling pretty fit and healthy until the fitness starts to wear off.   Anyway after a weeks rest i went out sunday night for 4k to try out the legs.   I put on my old, old nikes and felt pretty good so I headed down to Kildare the Bank Holiday Monday.

The race kicked off a few minutes after 11.   I was not expecting any special time but i figured i'd try to keep with my super fast bro-in-law for as long as possible.

The first k started okay, i was feeling good and it didnt feel all that fast but i was wondering why i was breathing pretty heavily - we ended up doing it in 4mins30sec - about the fastest i've ever run a k.

i let the bro-in-law head off and i slowed down k by k, eventually hitting a slowest of 5m23s before picking it up in the last k at 5m02s for a new pb of 51m20s for 10k - chuffed or what!!

i suppose the odd rest pays off - all i've to do now is assess where my narathon training is going!!

Bohermeen Half Marathon

A few months ago running buddies suggested entering the Kivara Half Marathon.

As this would entail hotels and a full weekend away we decided to meet semi-halfway, in Bohermeen, Co Meath.

Short Version

Very enjoyable day.  Well organised, lovely atmosphere.  Great value for race and technical tee. Only downside - there must have been an issue with my chip as my time didnt register, and this seems to have happened to a lot of runners (keying in my surname showed about half didnt get timed or placed).

Long Version

I headed down with the clann early on Sunday morning.   The village is just past Navan and we were there in about an hour.

M dropped me off and headed back to Navan (we had to bribe the kids with McDonalds to get them to come.    I met the two lads at the clubhouse & collected the goody bag (cool tee, if a little too many sponsors names on the back!).

One of the lads was aiming for a PB, the other was, like myself, just treating it as a training run, but quietly hoping for a 1hr 50min. 

I myself was aiming for less than 2hr15min (very conservative) but one of the guys guessed 5mins either side of 2 hours.

We got changed & headed down to the starting line.   The start was deferred by ten mins (prob to let late comers get to the start).  

The race got underway.  Ultra Tall Boy & myself started beside each other but we were running our own races so we stuck the headphones on, shook hands and headed off.

I lost sight of him within the first mile & a half but didnt make any attempt to keep up.   I was running comfortably at about 9min5sec a mile (no Garmin so depending on the mile markers for timings).   I slowed down each mile for the first 9 miles, just enjoying the run, watching people pass by, passing the odd fast starter who couldnt keep their early pace up.

I ran well within myself for the first 9 miles, listening to a podcast, then some music.   I then decided to turn off the sounds and slightly pick up the pace.

I had an interesting moment around mile 9.    I slowly caught up to a woman in front of me.  As i went to pass her she saw me in the corner of her idea and speeded up.    I kinda smiled to myself at this, i havent really come across it before, and as i always run my own race i was surprised someone was putting this much effort in with 4 miles still to go.   Each time i went to pass her she pushed on a bit harder.....

Anyway, I proved to myself how small minded and petty i am.   I kept edging up behind her watching her struggle on.  Rather than just going past her I kept this up for a few mins, then, as a car came up behind me (roads were only semi closed) i put the foot down and went past her ( i wasnt too proud of myself with this behaviour. 

(I always reckon its better to ignore the other racers unless its the last couple of hundred yards, i dont see the point of killing myself trying to shut out someone with 4 miles remaining).

Anyway i kept the pressure on myself and finished at 2hrs1min so happy enough with that.   Weather was good apart from a cold start, strong headwind in some places and a short hail/sleet shower.

M and kids were back t see the end and C ran the last 200 metres with me, which made any aches and pains worthwhile.

Me and Training have 'Committment Issues'

I've less than 12 weeks to the Kildare Marathon.

Running during the week is okay.   I'm hitting the miles as required (though not always on the right days).  

However i'm finding the long weekend runs a real drag.

Two weekends in a row now i've decided to get up late and have a leisuely breakfast rather than head out.   So last night i had to catch up on a 20km run.

At least last Thursday I cycled into work and ran home, then Friday I ran in and cycled home.   As its an 11.5km distance the route i took i was pretty happy with the distance.....

So last night at 7:30p.m. i went out for a 19.6km run. Out to Howth & back.

Felt pretty good during the run.   Went out without food, brought a gel but didnt use it (very unusual).  This morning quads and calves felt tight but not too bad.

Plan for this week is 5k lunchtime run tomorrow, then possibly run/cycle in and out of work Thursday/Friday, or maybe run one day & cycle next.   Only reason not to do this is that I'm entered in the Meath Half Marathon Sunnday next.....

Irish Indoor Athletics C'ship & Marathon Training

A friend suggested travelling to Belfast to watch the Irish Indoor Championships last week.

Four of us agreed to head up North early Saturday, do a quick 10 miler around the city and maybe hit the C'ship Sat afternoon but spend Sunday in the arena altogether.

Being a soft, insular Dub I was a bit trepidatious heading up there.   I'd never been there before (except for driving through sometime shortly after the 1995 ceasefire on our way to a weekend in Portrush).  But the lads assured me that we'd be okay (they found it funny that the previous year they brought up a different friend who also had the same concerns, they've definitely decided its a Dub rather than 26 county thing!!

We headed up early and got our bearings.  Belfast isnt a beautiful city but it definitely has 'something', I reminded my friend he had told me B'fast was beautiful, he laughingly denied this, insisting he had described it as 'lovely'.   We saw the Europa Hotel (famously the most bombed hotel in Europe, but as hotels in Europe are not in the habit of getting themselves bombed there probably wasnt much competition).

After dropping our bags we headed out for a wander (only 2 of us were there at this stage).   I found myself holding my tongue to avoid my obvious accent being broadcast, but I quickly got over this silliness (the City Centre, I read in a internet guide is seen as a neutral zone, but there are definitely places where I might not feel too comfortable).

On the arrival of the third amigo (the fourth was injured and not joining for the run part of the day) we headed out.   We left the hotel on Castle Street, headed down to the Botanical Gardens, then over to Ormeau Park for 2 loops and back to the Hotel.

I didnt have the Garmin but drew up the route (not fully accurate, specially on distance) on Mapmyrun, we got through 15.7km so was happy for that

After changing we headed to a local pub for a bowl of stew & a  couple of gentles.

The lads headed back to the hotel for a rest & I headed back to the city to buy pressies for the wife & kids.

Tip: Don't buy pressies while tipsy drunk, i went waaaay over budget (they have both a Disney Store and a Forbidden Planet - yikes).    The proverbial straw was the last pressie bought - i was only vaguely aware of Molten Brown as a brand name, but i ended up buying bath lotion that in sufficient quantities would pay off the National Debt.

Anyway, after not spending quite all the money i had the four of us went out for pints (original plan, food then pints, but food ended up being a take away pizza).

We did a mini pub crawl of Belfast, The Crown (beautiful Victorian pub), The Bot (loud and made me feel OLD), The Crown again, The Carrick (nice range of world beers), ending up in Kellys Cellars (relaxing to be in a pub with Gaeilge on the walls, maybe the trepidation hadn't fully left me after all).  I finished up with a wonderfully calorifically greasily satisfyingly stuffingly MacDonalds meal - if you need to be drunk to appreciate something it might be something you don't really want!

During the evening one of the lads received a text that his daughter was sick (not seriously) so ew agreed we'd head back on the early bus.

So, the lads Indoor Championships Weekend - we got in a ten miler (almost) quite a bit of beer, quite a lot of calories, but no athletics.....ah well, enjoyable weekend all round.

Raheny 5 Mile Race Report and progress since then

This is a very late post about the Raheny 5 miler that took place on 31st January (its been sitting in drafts since then!!!).   But i better finish it to cover off other stuff i'd like to write about.
---------

Well, after not prepping much, and only running 5 miles twice since the marathon i went down to raheny for my third running of the Raheny 5 Mile Road Race organised by Raheny Shamrock.

This is one of the most enjoyable races i've been to (but i am biased, its only a mile from home and i'm a kinda member of the club that runs it).

The day dawned drizzly and cold, but the weather changed later on - the drizzle  trasformed into heavy rain, but the weather warmed up ever so slightly.

About 300 kids turned up for the 800m (between ages 8-11). Two of my boys did the race, one came in in the bunch; the other came pretty much last - but he was happy with this, he had to stop 2 to re-tie his laces so he knew he could have dropped a minute or so off his time.

About 2,200 did the 5 miler.    I took 43.5mins to complete the course, over 2 mins more than last year, but serves me right due to lack of work.

Report Card - Needs to try harder.

Progress Since Then

After an average 5min30sec per km for Raheny i upped the number of miles over the following week, followed with a 12.2k the following Sunday (trying to increase the mileage).

The following Tuesday i joined some of the guys in work for their 'recovery' run, i.e. they were slowing down to 5m15s per k.

Although worried about the pace I joined them for the first 5.5k and felt very comfortable; so i dropped the pace (on a solo run this time) to 4m55s the next day & 5m15 as again on the thrursday, 5.2k lunchtime run each time.

And then on Saturday i did a 15.5k in Belfast......but thats another post for another day.....

Slow, Slow, (Not quick quick), Slow

Completing the marathon was a huge boost for me and since then I've taken all that energy and enthusiasm and done pretty much nothing with it.     My main goal for January was the Raheny 5 mile race, I was hoping to do under 40 mins (last year 40m59s), however with the lack of recent running that wont be happening.   In fact until yesterday i wondered if i'd be even able to do 5 miles.....

For a fortnight after the marathon I was keeping the running up, then I got a bad throat infection which put me out of action for the guts of two weeks and when I got back i found myself only going out once or twice a week, and even that was a pain.   I have also (dont worry, i am ashamed to admit it!!) put on almost a stone in weight since the marathon, it seems carb loading was one part of training i didnt have any difficulty with.

But its now 18 weeks to the Kildare Marathon (which had I not injured myself i would have completed last year).   Raheny 5 mile is on Sunday week, which i've pretty much committed to.   So I'm hopefully back on track with a bit more discipline.

I went out for 5k last Tues & Wed, then a (ha, ha, long slow run of) 5 miles yesterday.     Today i really felt i had the bug back and hit the road for another lunchtime 5k.  As i left the office i met a colleague who joined me for same.    He's a much faster runner and was holding himself back, but i kept to a decent pace the first 2.5 - 3k, then let him off and i slowed right down.   No worries tho', i was still happy to do a 5k with a fast pace.

I need to get back to regular running and see how i get on with lengthening the distances over the next few weeks & see how i get on hopefully with a Spring marathon.......