Days off

Tues & Wed off

One of these was a scheduled day off, the other voluntary. The foot has improved considerably over the 2 days off. Can still give a twitch every now and again, and the Titleist massages and icing have reduced the soreness on the outside of the foot but left the foot very tight in general. Happy enough that its improved sufficiently to get back out there tomorrow without having lost anything. Going to maintain the icing/massaging routine, and beginning tomorrow a steady course of ibuprofen.

I've always tried to avoid ibuprofen, as well as Alka Seltzer when hungover/got headaches. Part of it is a weird thing I have about 'polluting' my body (which is massively hypocritical when I consider some of the binge sessions I've been on) and part of it is it feels like cheating. I tell myself that without it my body can't handle the training load (or booze in the case of a hangover), and to use a drug to fix it is cheating. I felt the same way about the Fosomax for the osteoporosis, and I feel the same way about Caffeine as a performance enhancer. Just because some dude in an office somewhere decides its legal doesnt make it ok in my mind. That being said, I'm too far down the road in the marathon program that I'm not letting the moral high ground screw me over now. Lets go legal drugs.

Bleh

8 miles, 55:15

Gym

The foot wasn't much better today. While its definitely tolerable, its quite a bit worse than it was at the end of last week. It's at its worst on uneven surfaces and turning left, so did the laps of the park clockwise. Frustrated because if I hadn't had the race I felt like I had it kicked but at the same time, the race was worth a lot more than the couple of days I'm going to take off.

My new best friend

6 miles, 44:00

Oh dear God this was slow. The legs, while not sore, were just beat. Enjoyed the relaxed jog as the fields are in great shape and it was a beautiful morning. The foot wasn't too bad, about the same as it was Friday prior to the race. I've been icing on and off all day and reckon it should be ok. Grabbed a Titleist (1 for those keeping track) to roll out the foot, and while it hurt like a bitch, it definitely helped. Will have to keep this going.

Total for the week: 6 runs, 53.5 miles

The highlight of the week was definitely the 1/2 yesterday. Really happy with the performance which exceeded my expectations. The mileage was a little down as it was a recovery week; so yesterday was probably aided by the mini-taper. The downside is the tendonitis in the foot, but hopefully I can work that out over the next few days.

Happy days

3 mile w/u

13.1 miles, 74:13

2 mile c/d

Conditions were pretty much perfect for this and after waking up knew I was feeling good. The foot felt good prior to the race, and I was looking to run about 75 mins (5:43 pace).

Splits: 5:26, 5:36, 5:27, 5:52, 5:42 (28:04 5 mile), 5:30, 5:31, 5:42, 5:45, 5:38 (56:12 10 mile), 5:48, 5:58, 5:38 + 36secs.

I had a feeling I might have been out a bit too quick when I was 3rd after about 400m. Given that I'd finished ~25th in the first 2 races of the series I backed off a little. After about 2 miles, a group was forming but given my splits I decided to let them go. Mistake as I ended up running the rest of the race alone about 10secs behind this group. Think the 3 mile mark was 10secs too early as I was running consistently. Had a bit of a panic at the fact that I was running quite a bit quicker than planned, but was feeling good and trying to get back in contact. The course for the first 7 miles was quick, with the 8th mile the first one uphill. Was glad to see I was still on pace up the hill. Passed through the 10 mile mark 1:20 faster than I ran in the race 6 weeks ago and knew I was on a good one. The 11th mile was uphill again, and was happy to keep relatively on pace. I paid for this big time on the 12th mile. I rigged badly, and was convinced I was going to see about 6:30. Really died and was struggling for 400-500mtrs, but recovered a little, and got a lift going into the last mile seeing that I'd still broken 6 mins. Ran strong in, but felt like absolute toast at the finish.

Ended up in 13th place with €50 of vouchers in prize money. Delighted with the day as a whole, Spurs are 2-0 up as I type, all looks rosy except for the fact that right now my foot hurts quite a lot. Thanks to Jokin, I'm pretty sure its peroneal tendonitis. Glad to feel confidant in what it is. Now I just have to get it sorted.

Easy day

6 miles, 40:20

The rest day had the desired effect on the legs as I was feeling super today with the exception of my foot. The foot actually felt worse today than it did yesterday despite the day off, with it starting to hurt walking around. Running actually felt better than when I was walking. Afterwards the foot was better than it had been beforehand, so hopefully it'll improve with treatment. Looking forward to tomorrow.

To Martha!

8 miles, 53:27

Gym

Threw on a new pair of kicks for this one, and saw a definite improvement in the condition of the foot. With a day off tomorrow and an easy run on tap for Friday I hope to have this nipped in the bud come the weekend. The run itself was good, started out at the usual pedestrian pace, but got into my running as the lap times around the park dropped from 6:45 to 6:10's over the duration (lap is about 15-20secs short of a mile).

Tomorrow is Arthur's day. 250 years of the best beer in the world. Would love to be able to raise the glass at 17:59 but will be at the hospital, so no joy for me. Still, it will taste all the sweeter on the 26th.

Bullit Bitten

5 miles, 35:08

Just a shake out run after taking the red eye back to Dublin last night. Overall legs felt pretty good, and the tiredness isn't bad at all as I got a couple of hours sleep on the plane and back to the apartment at 7am for 5 hours of unconsciousness.

Bit the bullet and finally entered the marathon. I'd been postponing this out of fear of jinxing myself and having something go wrong, but since deadline is Oct 5th, there isn't any point to hanging around. €97.20 seems like a lot to inflict massive amounts of torture on myself, but hopefully it proves to be worth it.

Hammerhead

10.5 miles, 72:47

This was supposed to be 8 miles, but despite Coste giving me instructions on where to run to, I botched both the turnaround point and then the route back, failing to recognise the street I had run not an hour before. Despite this the run was extremely enjoyable, with the conditions just about perfect. Clear blue skies, no wind, and a crispness in the air in the shade. Perfect autumn weather for running. Started out pretty leisurely (7:30 1st mile, 7:15 2nd) and clocked the last mile at 6:35. All in all, a pretty easy run, with the legs feeling surprisingly good. The foot was good during the run, but took a trip into town during the afternoon, during which the foot got quite sore walking around. Need to be careful. Unlike the previous 2 days where I jumped in the water post-run, I wasn't about to jump in the Charles today. Flying back home tonight, and just hoping to get over the jet-lag ASAP so that this weekend's race isn't screwed with too much. Feeling good though.

Better than expected

~6.25 miles, 44:35 total running

I crashed and burned pretty early last night (blame the jetlag, not the booze), and was up and feeling surprisingly chipper around 7am. After helping with the clean-up operation from last night me, Owen, Tarpy and Church hit up the beach and coast road for about a half hour with a little tack-on towards the end. The legs felt very good considering although the right foot is still a little cause for concern. Need to do a better job taking care of it from here on out.

Some nice running by the Brown Alums today, with Enda running 2:37 in Berlin, and Jokin making the Ekiden team for a 2nd(?) time.

Totals for the week: 6 runs, 61.9 miles

While this was a little down on last week, given that I was travelling I'm still pleased as I got in a quality workout and a good steady-paced long run despite the distractions and festivities on offer. Next week is a slight downweek in mileage terms, with the Dublin half-marathon on Saturday.

Another good man gone

~20 miles, 134:06 total running.

Did the long run today as with the wedding this evening I didn't fancy doing it tomorrow. The first half hour of this run was very pedestrian as we were jogging back and forth to the house picking up different crew members taking part in the run, including in no particular order, Churchnuts, O-face, Bren-bren, Kim and Tarpy. After the half hour or so, one member of the group who shall remain nameless (I'll give you a clue, the only blonde/female/Olympian in the group) decided to make the pace a little more honest. From here on out, the run was a straight out and back, with the out portion into a fairly strong headwind. The run was good, and was glad to have Tarpy for company the whole way, otherwise this would have been a bit of a struggle. Finished up the run with a dip in the Atlantic.

The evening was spent commiserating the loss of another good man from the gang. In all seriousness, the wedding was pretty spectacular, and a truly enjoyable night's craic. Congrats to Easy and Danielle

Posting: Jokin Style

5 mile, Gym session, 1.1 mile

43:44 total running.

Going to do these like Jordan and post 4 days in the one go. Nothing of note from this one, easy day after the workout. Flew out to Boston that afternoon. Alls good in the hood.

Rollin'

2.5 mile w/u

Goal: 3x 3 mile @ 10 mile race pace (5:40-5:45), 3 min rec

3 mile c/d

1. 16:59 (5:38, 5:37, 5:44), 2:59;

2. 16:50 (5:34, 5:37, 5:39, 2:59;

3. 16:35 (5:32, 5:33, 5:30).

Running for the bus on the way out to the park I was knew I was feeling good. However the workout was nearly derailed by the need to go 2'sies. Thankfully there was a John in hospitable condition, and we were good to go. Still, amateur mistake to be making at this stage.

The loop was good, first mile flat, 2nd slightly downhill, and 3rd making up the gain from the 2nd. Was not keen on this workout a few weeks back as I didnt trust my pace judgement but was very pleased with todays effort. At no point was I strained in the run (shouldnt be at 10 mile pace), and decided to try to open up on the last mile but stay relaxed. Was very happy with the results, and recovered pretty much immediately afterwards. Feeling good going into the half next weekend and more importantly the big one itself in 5 weeks. First things first though, I've got to go and pay my last respects to Matt 'Chewy/Easy/Rhino' Emond. Another good man gone after this weekend.

3 days till Boston

10 miles, 68:54 (35:11 1st 5)

Gym

Expected to be very sore today from Sunday (2 days after etc etc) but wasn't too bad. Started out nice and easy for the run, and was surprised to see I'd dropped to 6:45s for the 2nd half of the run. Had a good session with the weights in the gym, but finishing up I definitely was tired, and am grateful for tomorrow's day off. Have some soreness on the outside of the right foot. Nothing major, but need to keep an eye on it. Icing this evening definitely seemed to help. I think I'll keep doing that.

PS. Very excited for this weekend.

Monday Blues

5.5 miles, 40:57

Ran home from the gym veeeeeeeery slowly, but have to say didn't have any soreness from yesterday, but at the same time the legs didn't feel on the money during the run. Really starting to dislike this run as its all concrete, always follows a long run on a Monday and its at the end of the day so I'm always tired doing it. Still, positive about how the legs felt after yesterday's effort.

Long 'Un/Week In Review

22.65 miles, 152:11

Days like this make me glad I ever took up running. It was absolutely gorgeous out. Temps about 65-70, slight breeze coming in off the sea, pure blue skies. Pure class. The run was great, used some different gels today but no problems, taste slightly better than the ones I had been using, so not really fussed which I'll go with on the day. Had no problems with the time on my feet, some heaviness in the legs about 90mins in but the stretch of road from 15.5 to 16.5 is a pretty much dirt road and the change in surface led to a nice response from the legs. Clocked the last 3 miles in 19:30 and felt strong finishing. Happy days.

For the week: 6 runs: 68.85 miles

That's the biggest week yet, and is the biggest week of the training schedule. Long runs from now on will only be 18-20 in length, but very happy with how the legs feel after this week. One more hard week in this cycle, before a down week in the build up to the half marathon.

Deadliest Catch: Annaloughan Style

8 miles, 55:20

Nice easy run on an unbelievably beautiful day here in the motherland. Legs were a little heavy for the first 3 miles or so, but after that felt great.

Spent the rest of the day enjoying the sun and doing Annaloughan's version of Deadliest Catch with the brother, Ricey and Turlough. Can take a look at the 'action' below. Was a great way to spend the afternoon before watching a dire Spurs performance against Utd. Don't understand why managers change a winning team, but that seemed to be a theme for the weekend.

Dilemmas dilemmas

2 mile w/u

12.3 mile @ thon pace (1st lap 36:51, 2nd 36:15; 73:06)

~1.7 mile c/d

This was pleasing.....took occasional splits, passing through 2 miles in 12:13, 6th mile was 6:00, 1st two miles of the 2nd loop in 12:08, and the last mile in 5:45. Did this same workout 3 weeks ago in 73:52 with the difference being pretty much all on the 1st lap, but today was so much easier than that day. Partly due to better conditions, partly because I was coming off the 10 mile race the last time, but overall just felt very smooth and relaxed. Didn't push the last few miles too much as I knew I was running faster than race pace by a few seconds (5:57 average today is not going to be repeated in October) but was happy with the last mile as it didnt feel hard yet was my race pace in that 10 miler from 4 weeks ago. Felt I could have comfortably kept going for another few miles at same tempo. Took on a gel during the run but without water its not to be repeated as it did cause some stomach cramps. Overall though good day.

Having serious issues with my fantasy football team which is causing my dilemmas. Played the transfer wild card last night but since then the midweek internationals have caused injury havoc with my squad. Will have to continue to tinker between now and Saturday. I love football.

The goggles, they do nothing!

10 miles, 67:24

Starting out, the legs had some real spring in them after not running yesterday, but felt a little tired towards the end of the run, I'm guessing a combo of Sunday's long run and 15 hours in the lab yesterday. College ain't supposed to be like that.

Hittin the park tomorrow for a longer effort, getting 8-10 miles at 'thon pace with a few tacked on a little quicker at the end. Hopefully the weather's as good as it was today, cos it was fantastic. Haven't said that too often this 'summer'.

Goals

6 miles, 43:33

Gym

Apparently my attempt at humour in my comment on yesterday's post was lost on poor Jokin. But the reason why I haven't explicitly stated any updated time goals for the race is a) not to get too wrapped up in running a certain time, b) I'm not too sure what that time should be, and c) I'm too used to disappointment to be getting overly worked up about the race when it's still 6.5 weeks away. But to completely contradict everything I've just said, yes I am thinking I can do something around the 2:40-2:42 range but am waiting to get through the half on the 26th before putting it in stone.

For the run today, the legs were surprisingly good. The right hammy was a bit tight again in the first 2 miles or so, but after that was spot on. Taking tomorrow off instead of Wednesday as collage is kicking my ass at the minute. Feck all else to report.

PS Happy Labour day Americanos

Week in Review

6 runs, 64.8 miles

A pretty solid week. Had a decent workout on Thursday, and a very good long run today. Got a good week's sleep as well despite having a lot of shit going on with college. Just gotta keep trying to do the right things. Only 7 weeks to D-day.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

21 miles (well 20.8); 140:43

This was a little over the 20 miles I had on tap but I took a wrong turn (again........Cooley's a dangerous place). Took on 100g of gel, 500ml of isotonic drink, and about 400ml of water over the course of the run, so felt great pretty much the whole way, although did have to make a couple of pitstops during the first hour. Other than that the run was pretty much uneventful, although the weather was pretty much perfect, and just keeping my fingers crossed for similar conditions on the day.

Simple run

8 miles, 54:31

Ran nice and easy; hamstring was much improved on yesterday, only really noticeable on the two uphill portions of the run. Long 'un tomorrow.

Ireland vs. Cyprus @ 8pm tonight. It's a big one.

Oh No he's pulled a hammy!!

6 miles, 43:22

Gym

For the first time in a while I had to deal with some real discomfort on the early stages of the run. The right hammy and in particular the semi-tendinous insertion were very sore after the first half mile or so. I didn't feel like I was running freely and was having to compensate. Debated cutting it short but around 2 miles in, stopped to fully stretch out the hammy, the calf and the quad before deciding whether or not to continue. Thankfully, the stretch did the trick and was able to continue on. After that it was a totally uneventful run & gym session.

You think W had it bad?

2.5 mile w/u

4 x 2 mile with 2.5 min rec

3+ mile c/d

This was a repeat of a workout done 4 weeks ago. However, I wanted to see how much my aerobic capacity had improved since then, so dropped the recovery from 3 to 2.5 mins and had planned on doing a 5th interval. That was until I got through 4 in the following splits:

11:07 (5:47, 5:20), 2:28;

11:01 (5:45, 5:16), 2:28;

10:56 (5:40, 5:16), 2:27;

10:52 (5:35, 5:17).

Needless to say, I was running into a very strong headwind from 200 to 2k, which lead to some crazy splits. Coming into the workout, I was willing to run the intervals a little slower than I had previously in an attempt to get 5 in. While my splits were pretty much the same for the 2nd mile as the previous effort, I did have a tailwind today for the last 3/4 of a mile. I still thought I was up to 5 finishing the 3rd one, but definitely didn't feel as recovered starting the 4th as the previous ones, then ran the first mile of the 4th too hard. As a result I completely rigged on the last mile and was tapped finishing. Overall I'm still pretty pleased with this as without the wind I think my splits would have matched the workout from a month ago (10:36-10:40) on less recovery. Just gotta keep on trucking.

My title is a reference to the recent opinion polls judging the Irish government and in particular our Taoiseach 'The Lip' Brian Cowen. He's got an approval rating right now of, wait for it: 15%. W had it easy.

Where's the time going?

~8.9 miles, 58:29

Gym

~1.1 miles, 8:19 (66:48 for 10)

The run was enjoyable, despite being another early morning jaunt. I'd been going most days around lunch time, so not finding it easy to get out of bed to run first thing. Felt strong in the gym which was the first time in a while, as the arms had been feeling pretty tired the last week or two. Having a slight problem with my eye, as sweat has caused the skin on my eyelid to become inflamed/irritated, and in turn, rubbing that is not good for the eye itself. While not a problem for running, its a serious pain in the ass

Today marked 1 year into my PhD program. This thought literally makes me crap myself (figuratively). Can't see myself finishing in time despite the fact I'm busting my ass. Fuck.

In good news today, Spurs snapped up Niko Kranjcar for an absolute steal today (Tarpy take note). Happy days.