Run run run run run run run....

dublin runner wrote: »

You forgot to mention the elephant in the room: No headband. Unforgivable. The boy had turned his back on basic aerodynamics and fashion!

Ah look, it was either the beard or the headband and as we all know, beards are babe magnets. Easy decision. It's just a pity my beard only seems to attract food

...as I was saying, I'll pick this log up again sometime soon and now probably feels like a good time. Jesus it's been almost 5 years! I'm suddenly a little terrified of time's wrath and I feel like crawling under the sheets. I was having a read back over this log recently and it dawned on me how enjoyable it was to sit down and write up a review of the weekly training or a race report. It's even nicer as a historical journal to look back on and even brings a smile as I remember a certain session or a particular muffin I ate.

I felt it might be good to bring it back to life as there's a few more chapters left in me yet and the process of writing stuff down is always cathartic for me. I should probably also fill you in on my whereabouts since Berlin 2016 so I'll use bullet points which I always enjoy making.

I've been keeping track of my results on my website here which is more of a personal reference but it's kind of relevant to the log. I'm such a dinosaur, website are so 2016.

• 2017 - I focussed on 5-10k racing for the Spring and Summer and got some good results but was also learning how to race better and won a couple, my favourite being the Millstreet 5 mile where I ran 25:58 and this felt like a bit of a breakthrough just seeing 25:xx on the clock. I got the half down to 71:37 near the end of the year and had a pretty good XC season for someone who didn't really feel like an XC runner. I was 2nd in the county novice, 10th in county seniors, 24th in national novice and 75th in national seniors . I golfed a lot this year and also joined Snapchat.
• 2018 - I have only attempted two more marathons since 2016, both in 2018 and both in the space of 5 weeks and I'm still stuck on 2:31. They weren't exactly terrible runs but I made a few mistakes and probably learned something valuable. I'm certainly not done with 26.2 yet. I didn't race nearly as much as I should have but I did win Millstreet again and another 4 mile in Killeagh. XC was poor as I was still suffering from the marathon(s) hangover and a lot of long haul travel - national novice 65th, national senior 80th. Became a master and not the good type, the old, good type.
• 2019 - I was still quite fatigued and flat in early 2019, I could barely muster 57 mins in the John Tracey 10 miler following a trip back from the US and was feeling far from optimal. Things started improving when I moved to California for 5 months on a long term work assignment. I was training alone running hapes of 400's mainly but I had no complaints, it was sunny every day. I was running consistent mileage at 70 a week and I started racing well and finished with a 70:53 half marathon just before I left for home. When I came back, I ran a 15:22 for a road 5k and was 3rd in the national masters 5k. Then along came the Vaporfly's and things got even faster. I lowered my 10k pb down to 31:00 winning a race in Lisbon and ran 15:03 for the 5k. I even got relatively decent at XC this year - 4th in the county seniors, 8th in the Autumn open, 3rd in county masters, 56th in nationals, gold team in national novice and made the British and Irish M35 team winning silver team and placing 2nd.
• 2020 - Spring started with good intentions with motivation and confidence high. I ran 24:37 in Raheny 5 mile followed by 2nd in the Munster 4 mile road champs in 19:43. Then probably my favourite race to date, a 68:03 half in Den Haag where things just felt right. Then the Covid thing hit, the world panics and and everyone went a little mental training like absolute animals. I trained pretty well all summer but had little to show for it bar a sub 15 5k time trial and an enjoyable 4 mile "elite" race in Fermoy. I was overcooked by the time Nationals came around in August and I had a bit of a rough day for the 10k on the track. I knew I wasn't right, I was lethargic and easy runs were feeling hard so I took 2 weeks off to reset myself. I slowly rebuilt and by the end of 2020 I was back in a good groove, running some decent time trials close to my PBs and banging out a nippy 20 every Sunday (a habit which has stuck and served me well since) but more importantly I was enjoying it more than ever.
• 2021 - With a bleak outlook and pessimism infecting the country, all we had was the hope and promise of races come summer and the distant possibility of a marathon in Wrexham in Spring. You just had to try stay optimistic. I started the year feeling in good shape so got busy training and tweaked a few things focussed more towards building strength and resilience. I got into a good routine with a club mate and just put in solid weeks of consistent 80-85 miles with two quality long sessions and a 20 miler. I ran some very encouraging time trials off this, most recently a half marathon around 67 flat and a 10k in 30:37. These were satisfying but a little hollow at the same time. While they were on a (relatively well) measured and pancake flat course, they're not PB's and and won't go into any history books. I see them as mere (good) indicators of form and potential when it comes to racing again. I had a minor scare for a few weeks around February when I was screened for HCM (i.e an enlarged heart) due to a family occurrence. The scan showed I did have a fat heart and I was advised to ease up on big efforts for a few weeks until I could get an MRI. Eventually I got the MRI and the diagnosis was thankfully athlete's heart, not HCM so I could go back to hurting myself. For a while though I thought that I'd have to make peace with hanging up the shoes early and possibly getting really good at golf instead.

On reflection, that's a pretty good 4 years running and a good reminder of why I do it. Plenty of ups and downs but at the core, pure and utter enjoyment of running. I've been lucky to avoid major injury, I've progressed slowly but surely, had plenty of thrilling races, a few stinkers, some brushes with overtraining but on the whole a good period and at 38 now I'm hopeful that the best is yet to come.

I don't post publicly on Strava anymore, I've been clean since late 2019. I only use it for my own tracking and of course some stalking but really only for races - which is why I also make my races public, that's the juicy stuff. It's not to hide my training, people know what I do and it's nothing out of the ordinary. I just don't want the distraction. I won't lie though, I'm human and I want to be told I'm good so I do kind of miss the kudos, the serotonin rushing through your blood as that randomer signals you with a big digital thumbs up to say 'I approve of your excellent run today'. But honestly I don't think it's very helpful, at least not to me, to be aimlessly scrolling through other peoples training without any context. Were they tired? Were they feeling unbelievable? What was their heart rate for that run? Was that a race effort? What did they have for lunch? What was the purpose of that session? So and so's doing this mad session and is running really well, should I do it? At least on a log people can speak about the sessions and explain why they're doing certain things and you get a better picture. Strava is a great tool but sometimes gets in the way of keeping things simple so I try simplify my use of it - which is actually quite hard.

I do have ambitions to run the Berlin marathon this year but I'm very conscious that things can change very quickly. One thing we can be sure of is that the races are starting to surface locally so at least there'll be something mildly interesting to write about soon. Well, we'll see...I might give it another 5 years.

OOnegative wrote: »

You could come over and run the Den Haag half again, pints in bars here is a real thing again!!!!

Ah I'd be all over it if it wasn't the same weekend as Berlin! My OH lives and works in Leiden so that's why I ended up running that race. I've been back and forth a bit and could get used to living over there, the Dutch do life pretty well. And they drink pints inside.

AuldManKing wrote: »

Welcome back - fantastic to see people of your caliber posting here - even if it is fleeting!

Some serious running in the previous 4 yrs - DC's '10 things' blog used to keep us somewhat updated as to your shenanigans in far oft places.

Thanks AMK, good to see a few familiar posters still around. I'll try be less fleeting this time and way more boring.

healy1835 wrote: »

Having been more or less logging since your Boards sabbatical, you wouldn't know me from Adam, but I've read your log from beginning to end and got a lot of insights from it. Great to get the update.

I've been peeking my head into the forum the odd time and I do take a read the logs which is always interesting. I've read your log and the great progress you've made and good to see you're still flying it. Nice to hear my log was somewhat useful to you.

Monday 28/01 - Rest
Watched loads of football. Looked out the window for a while.

Tuesday 29/06 - 17 miles
AM: 5 miles @ 6:54 m/m feeling nice and fresh this morning, enjoyable morning run around Ballincollig.
PM: Track - 16 x 400m This was a workout focussed on volume (8 mile session in total) but at the same time getting the legs turned over and tuned for racing and I was really happy with this one. Upon hearing the session I thought I'd be doing well to hit 70-71's but once we hit that first 68 I was was moving really well and then as we kept banging out 68's I was feeling really up for it. The recovery was generous at 400m but we kept this quite nippy at around 1:35-1:40 so the intensity level felt high for the whole session. In with a nice solid group for this where we took every 4th rep each until 12 reps and then it was just myself and another club-mate alternating for the last 4 which did get inevitably tough but they were all consistent and it was just about the right number of reps as I was close to being done. The group makes such a big difference, it was a case of trusting the pace, sitting in and focussing on the person in front of you while every few reps taking one on yourself. Great session.
68, 69, 68, 68, 68, 68, 70, 69, 67, 68, 68, 67, 68, 67, 67, 66

Wednesday 30/06 - 13 miles
AM: 7 miles @ 7:14 m/m My go-to route these days for easy runs is usually somewhere around Ballincollig and there's a nice variety of routes including the excellent regional park - the closest thing to the Phoenix park you'll find in Cork city. A mini Phoenix Park, with no deer. The legs were good considering the bashing they took the evening beforehand.
PM: 6 miles @ 7:04 m/m Scorcher of an evening. I just love evening runs in the summer despite the noticeable increase in body temperature and forehead fluid. Met with a club-mate at a cemetery after work which is a very cheery meeting spot, well it is on a sunny evening anyway. This one just flew by with the legs a little more awake than this morning. It was odd not watching football this evening so I made a game up in my head, it was terrible nil all draw.

Thursday 01/07 - 15.5 miles
AM: 10 miles @ 7:08 m/m Early start with a club-mate and enjoyed this one around the backroads of Ballincollig.
AM: 5.5 miles @ 7:21 m/m Eating a delicious bowl of granola 15 minutes before this run was a poor choice. I knew I would regret it but I was also very hungry so I'd just deal with the consequences. I felt, and heard it sloshing around my belly in a stormy sea of creamy milk. As if that wasn't enough, it was another sweltering evening and I could feel a layer of salt welding itself to my face. Other than that, I really liked this run. One of the best things I rediscovered recently was my iPod shuffle from circa 2007 and is still in perfect working order. It's got 2GB of random songs on it so I just clip it on and throw on music whenever I feel like it, like this evening.

Friday 02/07 - 8.5 miles @ 7:09 m/m Friday morning is an enjoyable routine set in stone with a club-mate now for the past few months. We set off from the Lee Fields car park at 6:30am, head through the city to the Marina and then back. It's always a nice run where the weather seems to always play ball and it's interesting to observe the world waking up to its Friday. There's a noticeable difference in traffic, noise and pedestrians by the time we get back to the car park. There's also a noticeable increase in our own smugness. Let's see if and how this survives into the winter months.

Saturday 03/07 - 13.5 miles
AM: (3/2/1 mins) x 3 With a 10k race planned for next Wednesday, this would be the last effort before winding down a bit. I'm well due a down week at this stage anyway and aim to take one every 4-6 weeks or so, timing it with a time trial or in this case a real race. The Saturday sessions are on the grass pitches at CIT now, not far from the old stomping ground of the Farm and a very similar set up. This was tougher than it looked on paper. The morning was grey and misty but really warm and muggy and we were feeling it in the last set. The session went well though in general, hitting around 5 min pace for the 3 min reps and slightly increasing for the 2 and 1 min reps. The recovery was only 1 minute so it started to feel tough near the end but just about the right effort over all with 18 minutes of quality in there.
PM: 4 miles @ 7:22 m/m 30 min recovery around Blarney. Nice enjoyable and relaxed run as I listened to Wexford v Kilkenny on the radio and once again had my heart mauled by the cats.

Sunday 04/07 - 12.5 miles @ 6:53 m/m
No big one on the menu today with the 10k coming up and it's always good to take a break from these when you're doing them so regularly. Today was just a nice relaxed 85 minute run with a club-mate from Carrigrohane to the Marina and back and that's a good 80 mile week in the bag.

Weekly milage: 80

See, I can still log!

Thursday 07/07 - 10 miles

AM - 5 miles @ 7:31 m/m

The legs were not bad at all but the side was still hurting and my diaphragm in general was achy. It calmed down after a few miles and I suspect it’s a muscular thing which should settle in a day or two. I got my first vaccine jab after this - what an unbelievably efficient service to be fair. No side effects so far except for my entire arm turning massive and bright green but I think that’s normal.

PM - 5 miles @ 7:19 m/m.

A nice relaxing jaunt after work around Ballincollig, dancing in and around the evening traffic. I hate traffic. The side was still bothering me for the first 2 miles but settled down. I’m in two minds about racing again this coming Sunday. There’s a 10k in Wexford I have entered and hadn’t really planned on doing both as the one on Sunday isn’t likely to have the same depth and is quite hilly. On the other hand I want to go down and see my family so why not injure two birds with one stone. I’ll just have to pretend that the main reason I’m going is to see my family. It’s quite clearly rebound territory which is always dangerous but I am quite excited about getting out there again giving it another shot. Even if I run the same time again, I’d be happy running a solid race without any mini blow-ups or excessively sweaty singlets. This monologue doesn’t belong here, this is supposed to be about the evening run. Saw a red car. The end. 

Friday 08/07 - 8.5 miles @ 7:10 m/m

Set off at half past silly am with my club mate who also ran in Dundrum. Both of us were feeling nicely recovered and excited now that races are actually back. Many things were discussed, most of which I can’t remember. Probably giving out mostly. The side pain in my rib cage is still bothering me but again settled after a couple of miles. If it’s not fully right by Sunday I may knock the race on the head because if it bothers me when easy running then it’s probably going to hurt like a mother at 5 minute miling. I went for a rub later in the morning and got the glutes absolutely mauled which was painful but very much needed as the right side was really tight since the race. That is all. 

Saturday 09/07 - 6.5 miles @ 7:12 m/m

With a busy day ahead of me, I was up early and headed out around Ballincollig just before 7am. The side felt ok today so the 10k in Wexford on Sunday looked like it was a runner. My coach had told me he got a stitch once in a race and the after effects lasted for 3 days. This seemed to be a similar case so I was glad it was finally feeling sorted. This was a nice run, very relaxed and the legs felt well recovered from Wednesday. I then headed for the little town of Dromcollagher in Limerick for a plant ID exam. To explain myself, In recent years I’ve developed a keen(er) interest in horticulture so obviously I enrolled in a distance learning course in organic horticulture. This involves practical days in the college throughout the year which usually means running very early or not running at all on those days, you have to be flexible with these things. Today would be an exam where we had to identify 30 random plants which were laid out on tables and then write down the common and Latin name. Fun, for me anyway. The day finished up around 4pm so back into the car and it was destination Wexford, a route I’d never travelled before but made it home in just under 3 hours. It was really nice to be home with the folks again where mammy proceeded to feed me as if it were my last day on earth. Irish mothers are a breed unto themselves. 

Sunday 10/07 - 15 miles

AM - RACE! Inch 10k

One race in 16 months and now we’re looking at two in the space of four days. You know what they say, make hay when the eggs hatch…to save a stitch in…nine. I was very aware that this could backfire on me and that all sense pointed towards regrouping for a period and getting in a couple of sessions before racing again. But sometimes sense is wrong. I was keen to just get out there again and put together a solid race reflective of my current shape. In short, I was being a stubborn pup but when you have been starved of races for so long it just makes sense to lap them up and get used to the sensations again. I also knew this course wasn’t going to be fast but it wasn’t going to be about the time or running a PB, rather putting together a good race and maybe even getting a win depending on the field The standard for this was never going to be as good as Dundrum. Competitive runners gravitate towards well established races and fast courses, naturally. 

I was going to do a few things differently though this time. For one thing, getting there on time. Secondly, no pressure or time targets, just race it and be smart. We sometimes focus on the wrong metrics as runners and I’m guilty as sin. In races, it’s times instead of racing and placing. In training, it’s weekly milage instead of the quality, recovery and intensity. It’s also very hard to step back change a moulded mindset. That’s not to say times aren’t important or relevant, it’s almost the first thing you’re asked when you run a race and of course as runners, the PB list is our personal roll of honour. But time in the context of the course, conditions and competition is so variable that putting pressure on yourself to run this time or that time just more often leads to disappointment. If you just put trust in your training and focus on consistently racing instead of always clock-watching, times will come. They always do. Finally, I made sure not to eat anything else after my breakfast of toast and jam at 7am. About 45 mins before the race during the week I ate a banana. I don’t know if this made a difference but why take the chance. 

With only a 25 minute drive up the road to Inch and an 11am throw-in, I set off around 9am making sure to get there with time to drive the course, get a good warmup in and then relax before the race. I was so early I could have also gotten a few batches of ironing done. I drove the single looped course and boy was I glad I did. I saw the route online and could tell it was hilly but driving it really opened my eyes. The majority of the route was on small country roads and the challenging hills were dotted the whole way with very few flat sections. They looks like they were hungry to eat up some unsuspecting runners today. Of course what goes up must come down but they don’t equalise in effort. The hills generally take more than they give back. For that reason, I was already planning a conservative start and keeping something for the tough middle section and a nasty climb on the final mile. Back in the car park and I didn’t see many regular faces but being so close to Dublin I expected a few competitive runners to make the trip down. Sean Hehir was rumoured to be running but I hadn’t spotted him yet. It wasn’t long until I spotted a different top dog, a familiar sight on the circuit. It was those flowing locks of Mick Clohisey in the distance. Damn. It wasn’t a great immediate reaction but would you blame me? Despite being a very nice guy, he has an aura of intimidation when you see him before a race. I was already resigning myself to second though on form I shouldn’t have been so defeatist. In Dundrum a few days ago, Mick placed 4th in 30:47, a time I was shooting to exceed - the cheek of me. Then again my confidence took a knock that evening so still the plan was to just get out there today and shake that one off. I then overheard a couple of runners nearby joking “I just spotted the winner, Clohisey is here”. I didn’t like it, but I kind of agreed. I took a sip of water and squinted my eyes at him. Then I waved. 

The day itself was not looking good and a barrage of rain was forecast. There was a strong wind from the south west and the rain which was pretty light all morning was now picking up. Typical July weather I suppose. I headed off for a warmup and bumped into our own poster dublinrunner who was doing the race timing. It was great to catch up and one of the wonderful things about races returning is reconnecting with a lot of running folks around the country. On the warmup I didn’t feel terribly great. I ran a section of the 1st and 2nd mile, into the wind and effort was a bit too high. I don’t know if it was psychosis kicking in but the side was bothering me also whenever I ran up a hill. Honestly, the head was not positive at this point and I was even giving myself reasons to not run, even figuring out logistics for when the side would hurt so bad that I’d need to stop. If I was past 3 miles would I just jog the rest or turn and jog back to the start so I didn’t have to cross the line. Madness. In hindsight, a warmup on a hilly route in wind is never going to feel good but that’s easy to point out now. Anyway I had my 20 minutes done and got back to the car to stretch a bit and try get focussed. I met my sister who was doing her first 10k and relaxed and hung out with her for a while before we all walked up towards the line which was about 1km away. 

So here I was, standing at the start line which was at the bottom of a 400m climb and then followed by a generous downhill, an apt introduction to what would be a race of literal ups and downs. I saw a few handy looking runners around but really felt I shouldn’t do any worse than 2nd place today. The rain was staring to bucket down a little hard now but it was cool, I’d take that any day over the warm evening heat. A rough plan was to take it out reasonably conservative, making sure I don’t end up breathing like maniac too early and getting another stitch. I knew whatever happened there should be too much daylight between myself and Mick based on midweek, if I run like I know I can. 

Mile 1 - 5:08

A generous countdown of 10 and it’s game time. It’s always a bit easier to power up a hill at the start of a race knowing there’s relief forthcoming. Mick surged to the front with a guy in red alongside him and myself behind. When we hit the downhill which went on for a good half a mile and I got into a good stride, moved into 2nd with Mick pulling away a little. We passed the finish line which I would have liked if it was the actual finish but I’d hopefully be seeing again very soon. With about 400m left in the first mile and as expected, pace plummeted as I hit the first tough climb, into the wind. I felt I had a nice bit of course knowledge having driven it so I knew what was coming and nothing was going to surprise me. 5:08 popped up on the watch, irrelevant in a way but that’s grand I said. Feeling ok, keep this up. 

Mile 2 - 5:09

Effort was tough. Climbing for half of a mile into a strong headwind was not easy this early on but it was in the territory of just get your head down and grind through. I tried to just focus on Mick who was maybe 30m ahead of me now and clearly also battling the wind and drag as the gap just stayed the same. I got to 1.5 miles and knew there was a nice downhill stretch coming so I was ready to let the legs take a little breather. I turned left, opened the legs up and tried to relax and enjoy this stretch. The gap on Mick was the same and possibly even closing at this stage. I was feeling good, no side issues and quite settled into the race. 

Mile 3 - 4:56

Hitting the start of mile 3, I was still in downhill wonderland all the time thinking “I’m going to pay for this aren’t I”. I hit the lowest elevation of the course at 2.5 miles and then there were a few sneaky lumps still to deal with before we’d hit the next big climb. The gap on Mick had been closing and all the time I was starting to gain confidence even if I wasn’t sure where it was leading. Even if I just got back up to him I thought, let’s see what happens then. By the end of mile it was only a couple of yards. At one point it just hit me that I’m within touching distance of an Olympian, one I’ve admired from a far distance for most of my running life. How on earth did I get here? I can touch his hair. We hit the start of the climb at the end of this mile and now it felt like a race was starting.

Mile 4 - 5:10

This for me was the most important mile. Post-race, I stalked a few other uploaded runs on Strava and this is where people seriously haemorrhaged time. It’s also the climb we were warned about. That makes it an opportunity. Suddenly though I was right there. I was back with him and made a conscious effort to run to the side knowing how irritating it is to run on the shoulder of someone. I didn’t need or want a windbreak though as I wasn’t really planning on sitting. I figured that this window right now, this is the time to pull ahead. He probably knew he had a good gap over the opening miles so now I needed him to know that not only did I close the gap but that I’m still feeling good after closing the gap. There was no point just getting back to him and relaxing. I was feeling strong on the hills all day (well, as good as you can feel on a hill) and the strength of the miles I’ve put in this year really felt like it was shining through. I noticed I was actually putting in a gap now, not huge but enough to call it gap. Was I actually daring to pass Mick? I had no doubt he wouldn’t be sitting down. He’s used to winning races. I worked the arms up the hill. Breathing was hard but controlled and I was making sure to really open up the lungs and take intentional large breaths. Anything I could do to avoid a recurrence of the stitch. I knew relief was forthcoming on the top with a flat section and if I could maintain this small gap then why not back myself to hold on. It was exhilarating and I was so glad we had made a race of it. Running is just terrific. Here I am, the back arse of Wexford with the rain bucketing down, running my guts out up a hill with an Olympian chasing me. Wow. We levelled out halfway through the mile, I had a few meters on him maybe. We turned left with a wind on our back, still feeling good and it was feeling like the start of the finish. This was marginally my slowest mile at 5:10 but on the whole, that was the best mile. 

Mile 5 - 4:50

I was now just two miles from home and I knew I still had that gap which felt like it was growing marginally every minute. I had to make it count now and just focus, focus, focus. In my head I told myself it’s just 10 minutes of running. Hold the line. There was a flat section which allowed a little recovery from the gruelling climb and then it merged onto a beautiful downhill section where I started to fall into a nice state of race flow. The arms were relaxed, the breathing controlled and my little legs were whirring. It was around now I really genuinely thought I could win it but there was no denying the shroud of doubt looming over me. I can’t describe though how terrifying it is to know Mick Clohisey is chasing you down. What have I done. I knew he wasn’t far away as those thudding footsteps I could hear were certainly not mine. 4:50 for the mile popped up. I’m on it. This is good. I’m also starting to hurt and I know there’s another vicious hill up ahead so I really needed that concentration. We had already turned left again and on the home stretch back towards Inch. This was the old Dublin road which I know pretty well, back when we didn’t have an M11. My eyes were now firmly focussed on the back of a black leather jacket perched on the lead motorcycle, urging me to pursue him up the hard shoulder. I’ll follow you, Mr. Motorcycle. I wonder could I possibly take a peek at your rear-view mirrors to see if I have company? 

Mile 6 - 5:05

This was mostly a climbing mile which meant if I didn’t put in the same shift with the same intensity like I did on mile 4, I’d be caught and ejected from my pedestal. I was so close now. I was almost screaming to myself internally. It’s just one mile. ONE mile! But what about the bit? the 0.2 of a mile? Don’t worry about the bit, just get the mile done and the bit will look after itself. A pesky drag, while still moving fairly well, took me to 5.5 miles and then the course presented me with its final and toughest challenge of the day. Overcome this fearsome anti-gravity obstacle and you may well descend as the victor. I hit the hill as hard as I could. Up the travelator. I was starting to hurt bad now and the dreaded side even felt like it was hinting at trouble but lucky that’s all it ended up being, a hint. Breathing was laboured, grunts were emanating and the legs were burning. I was possibly in deranged rag-doll territory, I don’t know. I pumped the arms again, gritted the teeth and listened intently for movement behind me. I swore I could hear something but there wasn’t a hope in hell I was looking back. That’s akin to holding up a little white flag with “I’m scared” written on it. The hill was sharp but short, maybe 600m but it felt like an eternity. Finally I could feel the crest coming to me. I could see where we came out at the start which meant the steep downhill to the finish was at hand. He wouldn’t pass me here would he? I was not letting anything to chance so once elevation was back on my side, I exploited every ounce of gravity I could and I bolted. I knew my parents were heading up to be at the finish so I really wanted to do this for them. They’ve been such a great support over the years and I wanted to do them proud. “You did us proud son”, they’d say. No better place to do it than on home soil (well, fairly close to home soil). I hit the 6th mile rolling down the hill and according to my calculations that means the finish line is less than 400 meters close. I still had no idea how close Mick was so nothing was guaranteed and I have to leave it all out there. I could now see a congregating crowd, mostly covered by umbrellas. I forgot it was raining. It was lashing. The motorcycle I’d tailgated for the last 3 miles pulled to the side of the road and beeped, as if it were releasing a rescued monkey back into the wild. Go free monkey boy. I could see my parents, my brother in-law and my nephews and nieces. No time to chat everyone. I threw the thumbs up their way and then crossed that sweet finish line 1st in 31:26. Unreal. Mick came in just 10 seconds behind me. I was right to be wary and glad I squeezed every drop I could out of the last section. Losing concentration anywhere in those last 2 miles could have easily meant 10 seconds lost and a hard luck pat on the back. We executed the now standard elbow touch, acknowledging the culmination of a good honest race. Hanging in there for 3 miles with Mick breathing down my neck suddenly felt like a big deal. What a moment for me personally. A blip on the radar for Mick but a big one for the little guy. It’s right up there. 

I couldn’t quite believe the time I managed to run on that course, especially given the first couple of miles when I felt anything between 32 and 33 minutes was going to be a decent run. And yes, I shouldn’t have been even thinking about that but there’s a lot of time for thinking in a race. It was even marginally quicker than the other night and that just highlights what can happen when you’re primarily focussed on the race and not the time. I also couldn’t have predicted how it all turned out considering my wavering shenanigans in the warm-up where I was trying to conjure reasons not to run. If I step back, I can see that I’ve put together one of the best training blocks of my life over the past 6 months and this felt like it was the fruits starting to bear. I need to trust in that more, deal in facts and the confidence will persist. Beating someone of Mick’s calibre is not something I’ve achieved in all of my years running. I know he’s not in the top shape of his life right now and struggling with the glute but still, he’s out there racing and quite competitive as we saw in Dundrum so that really felt like a knockout above my weight. Maybe I won’t fear the top dogs so much anymore. And I shouldn’t, they’re just other runners. Intimidating runners that are human and can be beaten. I put in the work, I’ve years of consistency and experience behind me at this stage so why shouldn’t I back myself to contend with some of the best in the country. 

Summary: 1st in 31:26

Full results

PM - 5 miles @ 7:03 m/m

After a really nice afternoon relaxing and playing with the nieces and nephews, I headed back on the 3 hour hour journey to Cork. I didn’t get a proper cool-down done afterwards as I was standing around with the family and chatting so when I got back and was heading out to get a pizza for the game, I said I’d stretch the legs and get a little recovery jog in. It was a bit quick for a recovery but the legs dictated the pace as I looped around Blarney, where clearly the rain had not attacked Cork today. It was a really nice 35 minutes of headspace to just reflect on the week and the two races. On paper the results both look very similar but in reality they were two very contrasting experiences. The gulf of emotion and energy between the two was massive. From chaos, self-doubt and disappointment on Wednesday to calm, self-doubt and jubilation on Sunday. That’s why we love it I suppose. The pizza was enjoyed, strangely with with a gin and tonic because I had no beer and then I sat back to enjoy the spectacle that was England coming Rome. A low-week milage as planned so a day off tomorrow and it’s back to the grind on Tuesday.

Weekly milage: 58

Monday 12/07 - Rest

Enjoyed this rest day doing absolutely nothing but mainly looked at photos of me beating Mick to make sure it really happened.

Tuesday 13/07 - 15.5 miles

AM - 10 miles @ 7:19 m/m

The legs were in decent shape with the day off. Nice enjoyable run, my usual morning route with some nice countryside stretches. Listened to an audiobook on holistic management. Riveting.

PM - 5.5 miles @ 7:28 m/m

I can't remember much about this. It definitely happened though. I remember it being hot. And I had a sloshy stomach.

Wednesday 14/07 - 15.5 miles

AM - 5.5 miles @ 7:32 m/m

I ran from my house which can only mean one thing. Hills, in every direction.

PM - 3 x 10 min (1 minute recovery) on grass (10 miles total)

I headed out to the UCC farm for this one. The grass surface felt like the right thing to do with two races in my legs and another 5k planned for Friday evening. I met up with a club mate on a really humid and balmy evening. I wasn't feeling much love on the warmup and felt a little sluggish but once we got into the session it turned out to be ok. The 10 mins just flew by and having company kept us both honest with the effort. Decent moving all things considered. There were so many little black midges stuck to me afterwards I felt responsible for a mini fly genocide.

1. 10 mins @ 5:19 m/m
2. 10 mins @ 5:18 m/m
3. 10 mins @ 5:16 m/m

Thursday 15/07 - 10 miles @ 7:09 m/m

With the race scheduled, I swapped the Friday routine for a Thursday morning. It would be legs up after this run until the 5k the following evening. Nice early morning run to the marina and back and the legs felt alright. They felt way better after a massage in work later that morning.

Friday 16/07 - Doneraile Park 5k trail race (9 miles total)

This is starting to feel like a race log. Anything that opens up for registration these days, I register for. It's worked out quite well so far. 3rd race in 10 days but I don't think it's been too mad and I've managed the schedule well so far. This wasn't one I really wound down for and saw it was a good alternative for a Saturday morning session. Plenty of club mates were heading out to the beautiful Doneraile Park in North Cork so this would be a good bit of craic also with all of us threatening to tear lumps out of each other. We all knew the course was far from fast, it's mostly on trail with loads of hilly sections and sharp turns, essentially an XC race in the summer. This was good though because all I wanted to do here was get more racing into the legs where time didn't matter. That said, I'd heard beforehand that the (pre shoes) course record was 15:45 so I thought that was worth having a stab at.

Of course it had to be one of the hottest days of the year to date and by 8pm on Friday evening it was still around 26 degrees (according to Strava weather). It felt close to it anyway but personally I didn't feel the effects too much as most of the course was sheltered by tree canopy. With the dodgy surface and sharp turns there was a lot of a debate on what footwear we should don, some concerned about the Vaporflys leading to injury but in the end we all wore them, bar one. The atmosphere was fantastic around the start line and it was just a pleasure once again to be feeling the race buzz. North Cork AC did a fantastic job from start to finish and really showed how to put on a good race with no nonsense. On the start line someone made the comment that this looked like a Leevale training session and looking across the line, it really did (even though some of them aren't actually in the club, they still train with us). The GPS was very wonky with the trees and I clocked it pretty short but I'll put up the splits anyway.

Mile 1 - 4:57

Off we go and hell was unleashed as we barrelled along the fast downhill section which was on a nicely paved road surface. If only this section had have lasted longer than those glorious 50 seconds it would have been an ideal race. After the sharp turn left which we all took quite cautiously in our high heels, we charged into the gravel trail section which was littered with mini pot holes and large stones. You really had to watch where you were going if you were getting out of here in one piece. A hungry pack had formed and I sat in just behind a club mate who was setting a good aggressive pace out front. I had turned off mile splits on the watch today knowing firstly that GPS would be useless and secondly, not to be worrying about time. All I could see was the time of day which wasn't going to tell me anything really, except the time of day. Coming towards the end of the first mile I decided to take some of the slack and moved into the lead but just coming up to a sharp humpback bridge, a St.Finbarrs athlete who despite being an enemy is actually a good friend, stormed ahead in a sneaky move as if the bridge didn't even exist. I had heard rumours he's in very good nick so felt no option but to cover it.

Mile 2 - 5:07

Another sharp right turn after the bridge followed by the sharpiest left and we were on the forest trail section. Here's where you had to be careful of trees and tree roots if you wanted to exit alive. I had quelled the challenge of Mr.Finbarrs for now and was starting to pull away. Nobody was coming so I said why not pile it on, get a gap and hopefully they'll eventually stop trying. It was worth a go. I was actually enjoying this. I realised after this race that I love trail running. It's exhilarating and exciting as you are bombarded by mini challenges around every corner. I felt I was really moving well here and maybe this is where the GPS went haywire as I didn't think it was my slowest mile. Coming to the end of the mile I didn't hear anything behind me but that didn't mean there wasn't anyone behind me so I kept the foot down (on the accelerator).

Mile 3 - 5:01

At the start of this mile I was blessed with another 40 seconds of a deliciously smooth and bouncy road surface. That was enjoyed before a left turn into a super gravity chamber. This was by far the toughest climb and being fairly close to home I just pumped the arms up here knowing every step brought me closer to relief. We had run the course in the warm up but I had a moment around here after reaching the top of the hill when I was faced with a T-junction. I was 93% sure it was a right turn. There was a young lady sitting down on the grass nearby, right at the intersection. I wasn't sure if she was part of the race crew or just someone sitting on the grass playing with her phone. I couldn't really afford a wrong turn so I said I'd check, even though I'd already turned right. I looked back and shouted "which way?" and she just looked up and pointed me in the direction I was already facing. Phew. On we go. At around 2.5 miles there was a nice downhill section which was the less evil twin of the other hill, mainly because I got to go down it. This was quite a dodgy surface so I had to spend a lot of time scanning for the best terrain to guarantee survival to the next section. I did survive and was rewarded once more with that lovely paved surface. It's amazing how it feels like a gift from the gods when you've just come off a trail section. I was starting to feel pain now, 3rd mile in a 5k sort of pain. I was now on the far side, parallel to the downhill section I'd just come off and I could see Leevale vests, two of them in 2nd and 3rd. I could smell home but really needed to keep up the effort to get home safe. This section felt endless, but as expected and as with most things in life, it actually did end. I know I said that the time of day on my watch wasn't very useful but at this stage I was looking at the time of day and trying to figure out how long more I have to run based on the knowledge that we started the race at 7:45pm. It was close to 8pm so this felt like it was probably good. I came off a slight downhill and then the imposing Doneraile house came into view. This was a good sight for two reason. Number one is that it's a very nice late-17th century house and number two is that the finish line is right outside it. One final push up a very sneaky hill to finish and I was home 1st in 15:20. Job done. Bend to knees. Repay oxygen debt. I was closely followed by two Leevale bees, buzzing over the line 16 and 18 seconds later respectively.

I was pleasantly surprised seeing the timer on the way up the hill, that was quite a good time on that course (4:56 m/m avg) and I'd be interested to see how that would translate to a fast 5k course on the road. I was really happy with the overall effort, how strong I felt and how I paced it. Running a good time was nice but getting the win and racing it well felt more important. Each race I do seems to sharpen the blade a little more and increases the confidence levels. For my effort I brought home a lovely hamper of craft beer and a few quid in the pocket. What a lovely way to spend a Friday evening. Racing really has returned.

Summary: 1st in 15:20

Full results

Saturday 17/07 - 20 miles @ 6:01 m/m

This was originally planned for Sunday but the coach suggested doing it the morning after the 5k on tired legs and also giving us an extra day recovery for a 4 mile race next Sunday. That made sense so decided with a club mate (who had come 2nd in the 5k race) that we'd get it done on the Saturday and with a scorcher of a day on the menu, we'd get it done early! This was a run with an eye on Berlin which is now just 10 weeks away. I had a pair of AlphaFly shoes sitting under the bed for 6 months so I wanted to try these out and see if they were the shoes for the marathon. We also picked a flat route and with both of those advantages, hoped that around 6 minute mile pace wouldn't be a massive effort deviation from the usual Sunday run on a hilly route at 6:20-30 pace.

Because of dropping water around the course we didn't set off until 8:15am which was ok but we knew we'd suffer a bit with the heat. It all went very much to plan in the end and thankfully I was lathered in sun cream. I felt really good from the start and we just ticked off the miles, starting at around 6:08 pace and finishing at 5:49. It was really enjoyable and I think I get great satisfaction out of longer marathon sessions. The route was out and back and we had water bottles with Maurten at 5 and and 15 miles and then just cold water at 3 miles to go which was the most refreshing and appreciated water I've ever had. The heat really started to intensify in the last few miles and wasn't very useful for running. The shoes, despite being clunky clown boots, felt really nice and I feel like they'll do the job for me in a marathon. The one thing I did take away is to wear bigger socks as the anklet ones I had meant the rear of the shoe was chafing off the back of my achilles and caused a few blisters. The heart rate averaged 140 today which was good. Around 130 is my usual heart rate for a typical 20 mile run and with the faster pace and heat, that was about right.

Sunday 18/07 - 10 miles

AM - 5 miles @ 7:41 m/m - Lazy hot recovery run #1 at the farm

PM - 5 miles @ 7:23 m/m - Lazy hot recovery run #2 around Blarney

Weekly milage: 80