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.
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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.....