Meditation for restless people.

belcarra

This is fast becoming a bad mileage week! Stayed in again tonight! I started off fixing a set of blinds that ended up taking me two hours to complete so by the time that was done it was too late for any worthwhile run. Pity too as it was an ideal evening for running L. Fingers crossed for a good LSR tomorrow!

belcarra

Went for a long run this evening over to Howth and back. I completed the loop around Howth Head without any great difficulties which surprised me as I thought it was going to be much tougher. However on the second half of the run my knee was beginning to give me loads of pain. It seems this injury has not gone away after all.
My pace for this run was 9:31 which I was happy enough with considering I never stopped the watch at all, even for brief times when waiting to cross the road or when pausing to get a drink.

Session Details:
Distance: 22.5 miles
Time: 3Hr 34mins 51secs
Pace: 9:31 min/mile.

belcarra

Went for a run with my brother in the Park. Started off well enough but after 2 or 3 miles my knee started giving trouble again. Over the course of the next 3 miles it got really painful so decided to call it quits when we returned to the car after 6.35 miles. Not very happy about this! Had intended to tray and get 20 or so miles in today and was feeling good in general apart from the knee!

Session Details:
Distance: 6.35 miles
Time: 57mins 51secs
Pace: 9:08 min/mile.

belcarra

Decided to give the knee an extra bit of time for recuperation so stayed in today.

belcarra

Fresh from the physio and for the first time in five weeks I went for a Monday run! After basically being told that the knee injury should be treatable with stretches and that there was no need to cut back on the running yet I decided to get the week off to a good start. Initially I planned a 9 miler but aided unknowingly by a strong breeze I decided to stretch this run out to 12.3 miles in the end so I was quite pleased with this. Once or twice I felt my knee a little bit but it never got too bad. The strong breeze was a little more than that on the way home and ice cold also.

Session Details:
Distance: 12.3 miles
Time: 1Hr 45mins 57secs
Pace: 8:37 min/mile.

belcarra

Went for another medium distance run this evening. When I got home from work I lay on the bed for half an hour as I was a bit knackered but managed to rouse myself in time to slip a run in before the Champion’s League footie. Running was a little bit more laboured than last night however. Ended up doing my usual route through Coolock, Griffith Ave and up Ballymun Ave. Tonight though, I turned right up Collins Ave which gives an extra mile or thereabouts, so ended up with 10.5 miles for the evening.
When I got home I made sure to do the stretches from the physio the night before. Seems to be working as the knee has stood up well over the course of the last two runs…fingers crossed for the future!

Session Details:
Distance: 10.5 miles
Time: 1Hr 32mins 06secs
Pace: 8:46 min/mile.

belcarra

I wanted to go for about 10 miles again tonight but by the time I got out I knew I’d only an hour available before I’d need to be back home to watch the Gunners on TV. So, managed to throw in a 7.3 mile run around Santry with a couple of loops to get me the required distance. No issues with any injuries and I was pleased enough with the run overall (Probably because it was the shortest run I’ve done in quite a while!) Anyways, got back in time to watch Fabianski and Hanson ruin the night for Gooners everywhere! After witnessing his faux-pas in Paris firsthand, and now this, I really don’t know how he’s going to the World Cup! That being said, Arsenal deserved to concede a goal for their incompetence in that situation…Slightly off-topic there!

Session Details:
Distance: 7.3 miles
Time: 1Hr 01mins 50secs
Pace: 8:28 min/mile.

belcarra

Went for the usual loop this evening for 11 miles. Took it handy enough at the start but as the run progressed I started to get a bit quicker. Never flat out but 8:30 pace over 11 miles left me pleased enough. Felt good for most of this run.

Session Details:
Distance: 11 miles
Time: 1Hr 33mins 30secs
Pace: 8:30 min/mile.

belcarra

One of those days today...! Intended going for a 20 miler today in the park but within the first two miles there was a bitterly cold wind and eventually about ten mins of hail! :eek:
Never felt comfortable at all while I was running and by mile four I decided I'd continue as far as the car and return home. Totalled 5.3 miles in the end but hopefully it'll all be out of the system by tomorrow!

Session Details:
Distance: 5.3 miles
Time: 48mins 29secs
Pace: 9:12 min/mile.

belcarra

Wow it's been a while since I uploaded...let's sort that out now!

belcarra

Back home in Mayo for the weekend so I took the opportunity to cover some of the Connemara course as part of my run today. I parked up at Maam, just at the base of the HOTW hill. I started off towards Maam Cross so that I could climb the hill when I was totally fresh in the run. The aim here was to have this in the bag come mile 35 in a few weeks time and to think back to what was merely a 20min climb followed by an easy 17 mins to Peacocke’s Hotel. Not sure if it’ll work but today it was definitely much easier than any of the two times I’ve tried it in the past (At mile 22 during the marathon). When I got to Peacocke’s I turned immediately and retraced my steps back up over HOTW and downhill to Maam again. I was still feeling good even after two large uphills in the space of 9 miles when I arrived at my car. I paused here for 5 mins to listen for the results of the ManU game (Lost 3-1, yeh!) before continuing on towards Leenane. I got about 4 miles out that road before I ran into a big dirty, low lying, freezing cloud. The cloud was like the black smoke in Lost in that when I turned here I felt as if I was running to avoid it engulfing me before I returned to the car in Maam. Alas, I never had a chance! The last 4 miles were completed in a miserable snow shower all the way home! I’d have liked to have done a few more miles but in the end 16.7 would have to suffice!

Session Details:
Distance: 16.7 miles
Time: 2hrs 29mins 56secs
Pace: 8:58 min/mile.

belcarra

I decided to cancel my return visit to the physio for a couple of reasons…Firstly, I felt that I’d be charged another €50 just to be told a few extra stretches that I could easily get on the internet. Secondly, I didn’t want to have to take more time off work to get to the 5:00pm appointment. I feel now as long as I stretch the muscles as advised last week I should be ok. If it flares up again then I’ll return for another visit.
Regarding mileage for today, well I decided not to bother going out this evening, so it became a rest day.

belcarra

Monday’s rest has become Tuesday’s lethargy! Nothing again today, but given my plan for the week I’m not bothered about this. A 10 miler tomorrow and 2 planned LSRs still bring me North of 50 miles if it all happens.

belcarra

Consistent start to the week as this was my third successive day without running this week.
‘Nuff said!

belcarra

Managed to get out at last! Went over towards Coast Road, along the seafront to Clontarf and back again. 20 miles in total but it was the toughest LSR I’ve done this year! Started off easy and after about 2 or 3 miles I eventually got into a rhythm. Got to half way and was still doing ok but with about 4 miles to go I started to fade badly. Probably had to do with my crap diet the past few days. The last two miles were a real struggle and I was more than happy when I got home.

Session Details:
Distance: 20 miles
Time: 3Hr 12mins 00secs
Pace: 9:48 min/mile.

belcarra

Had to travel down the Country today with work so the usual Fri afternoon run wasn’t an option. Which was a good thing as I was still really knackered from last nights run so wouldn’t have managed too far today. Still not quite sure of the reason for it but I think I’ll just write off this week and watch sport from here til Sunday!! It starts with the Rugby tonight…

belcarra

After having several pints last night and the Ireland match at 4pm I decided to ignore the running gear again today!

belcarra

Tomorrow is the start of a new week so I’ll be back on track by then. Just couldn’t get myself motivated at all this week so basically took it all off! I know I’ve done loads upto this point though so I won’t get too concerned about this. An inevitable lull in motivation given the 370-odd miles accumulated so far this year!

belcarra

Overview for February...Not such a good finish to the month..!
Monday|Tuesday|Wednesday|Thursday|Friday|Saturday|Sunday
01/02/2010|02/02/2010|03/02/2010|04/02/2010|05/02/2010|06/02/2010|07/02/2010
|11 Miles / (8:32)|9 Miles / (8:42)||24.6 Miles / (9:38)|11.5 Miles / (9:24)|7.7 Miles / (8:49)
08/02/2010|09/02/2010|10/02/2010|11/02/2010|12/02/2010|13/02/2010|14/02/2010
||9 Miles (9:08)||22.5 miles (9:31)|6.4 miles (9:08)
15/02/2010|16/02/2010|17/02/2010|18/02/2010|19/02/2010|20/02/2010|21/02/2010
12.3 Miles (8:37)|10.5 Miles (8:46)|7.3 Miles (8:28)|11 Miles (8:30)|5.3 Miles (9:08)|16.7 Miles (8:58)|
22/02/2010|23/02/2010|24/02/2010|25/02/2010|26/02/2010|27/02/2010|28/02/2010
|||22.5 miles (9:48)|||

belcarra

The week is up and running(!) and I have a 5.7 mile quick run under my belt. As I knew tonight’s run was a short one I tried a slightly different way of running where I shortened my stride but increased my cadence. It seems to have worked pretty well so I must keep this in mind for the shorter races. However, my hamstrings were sorer than usual after the run as this technique seemed to have my knees bent a little further and therefore more stress on the hammers. I guess I’ll have to try and fine tune it a little.

Session Details:
Distance: 5.7 miles
Time: 44 mins 02secs
Pace: 7:43 min/mile.

belcarra

Managed to get out for a decent run before the Ireland vs. Brazil match got underway. Went for a loop around Santry, Griffith Ave and Ballymun which is my regular confidence run as I’ve yet to associate it with any kind of real hardship! (I reserve that for coming back via Coolock after most of my 20 mile+ runs!) I ran this at a decent pace on the back of last nights quick run so by the end I was feeling a little heavy legged but not bad overall.
Anyways, before I knew it I was on the couch watching Paul McShane trying to deal with Robinho…not pretty!!

Session Details:
Distance: 8.0 miles
Time: 1hr 08 mins 43secs
Pace: 8:35 min/mile.

belcarra

My aim was to get in a decent length run this evening as I’ll be resting tomorrow and then going for 2 LSRs on Fri and Sat morning before flying off to Austria for a week of skiing.
Leaving the apt the target was between 10 and 15 miles but hoping to get nearer the 15 rather than the ten. The first few miles passed without incident but as I was passing through Coolock my legs began to start feeling a little heavy. Also, started to notice my feet feeling like blisters were beginning to appear. I struggled on for the 7 miles left and checked them out at home. They both felt as sore as on another but my left foot had no visible blister but was tender whereas my right boot had a big blood blister! Not sure how they managed to feel the same yet such remarkable difference in appearance…! Luckily tonight is a rest day:-).


Session Details:
Distance: 14.3 miles
Time: 2hrs 08 mins 39secs
Pace: 9:00 min/mile.