ARTist in the Spotlight - Kiely Unusual

Did you do athletics as a kid? Or any other sport?
If not from when you were a kid, why did you start running?
And why Crusaders?
How did you find this forum?
Any race time/position in a particular race that would make you think, "there's no topping this, I may as well retire"
Any races on the bucket list?

Thanks Stevo (Cru 4 life)

Do you have any other top other than that bright green one

I have an assorted number of different colour tops but I just like to wear that one because I know the Raheny colours piss the rest of ye off

What other colour top would you like if it started raining tops?!

O what a rain that would be! I'd go for maroon for sure. They're the colours of the local club, Borrisoleigh. Club All Ireland champions in 1987, as I'm sure everyone is aware. I was all of a year and a day old sitting in the stands. Fast asleep, I'm told.

Will you ever like cross country?!?!?

I used to love cross country when I was 10 or 11 and getting mucky in the fields on a Sunday morning was the best sort of craic you could imagine. Now, I'm just old and cranky and like my creature comforts. Next year, I'll give it a proper go. Maybe;).

2 38 was a savage time in London, how much lower can/would you like to go?

I'm finding I have much less time these days with work and other commitments so I'm less certain than I was a year ago. At the time, I thought sub 2.30 in Dublin this year would have been a real possibility but now I don't think I'll even be running a marathon. I'm out injured at the moment. Going for a x-ray on my ankle tomorrow and it seems serious enough. This is something I haven't had to deal with before and it's another major factor that comes in to the equation. For now, I'll say sub 2.30 for a Spring marathon next year if things go well at the end of this year. The strength from all the cross country racing I'll be doing should see me in good stead:D.

Which race did you think, sh1t, I could have done better?

Definitely the Dublin Novice XC last year in St Anne's. I dropped out after two laps of a 6k race and I wasn't even injured. I had been training well, so there was no excuses. My head just wasn't in it, on the day. It's an experience I don't want to relive so I think dropping out should be a thing of the past.

Which race did you go above and beyond(excluding London)?

Definitely in London, I pushed myself further than I ever thought possible but outside of that I would say my second race ever. This was the race series half marathon in Phoenix Park. I was helping a friend train for the marathon, which I later decided to enter too and we signed up for the 10 mile and the half marathon as preparation. I had run 83 minutes in the 10 miler and had set a goal of 1.40 for the half. I was basing this on the idea that I was aiming for a 3.30 marathon and didn't even take my 10 mile time in to account. If I had compared the pace for the two, I'm not sure I would have went for the same target. In the race, we started a good bit behind the 1.40 pacers and I caught them at about half way (my friend had dropped back a bit). My original intention was to sit in but my momentum took me through and I continued on. Come 10 miles, my breathing was gone and I was on my last legs but managed to somehow struggle through the last 5k and came in at 1.36. This was the first time I realised what I could achieved if I really pushed myself and was a great confidence booster ahead of the marathon itself.

Any Cru ladies tickle your fancy?:)

I'm a taken man Stevo and she found out my Boards moniker the other evening so I best keep quiet on this one. We can discuss next time down at training;)[/QUOTE]

Did you do athletics as a kid? Or any other sport?

I did everything and anything Ray. I lived in the countryside so we were basically out from dawn till dusk with brief intermissions when our respective Mam's stood at the doors yelling at us to come in for our dinners. Most of the time was spent playing soccer but we didn't have any local team so this was just casual games in the back garden. Outside of that, hurling and gaelic football were really big and I played in these up to U16 level and the odd minor game. Then you had tennis, golf, rounders, cricket, basketball etc. to fill in the gaps.

Running wise, there was a club set up when I was around 10 but it only lasted a year. We mainly competed in the cross country and I loved it. Definitely would have kept it up but I don't think the general interest was there so it didn't last. In a small town, I was the only boy my age that went so that tells a lot.

If not from when you were a kid, why did you start running?

I re-started running a to help a friend train for the marathon. I had taken up Junior hurling with Na Fianna but was really unfit so said I'd train with him to help that side of things. I soon dropped the hurling and had signed up to the marathon too and it went from there.

And why Crusaders?

Crusaders was a marriage of convenience. I work out in Bray and live in Drumcondra so it's the only club where I can make the 6.30 training. As is the case with most marriages of convenience, we have come to love and respect each other and the relationship has blossomed in to a beautiful thing.

How did you find this forum?

I can't remember to be honest. I think I came across the forum when I was looking for some information for the Edinburgh marathon and we've never looked back.

Any race time/position in a particular race that would make you think, "there's no topping this, I may as well retire"

In my first five mile race, I saw the leaders bombing around the corner and I was so impressed. The winner that day was in a time of 25.0x and if I ever ran sub 25.30, I think I could retire a happy man.


Any races on the bucket list?

I've wanted to run in Ballycotton for the last year and a half but it looks like injury might deprive me of the opportunity this year despite getting the entry . Outside of that, I would like to run one of the American marathons (Boston, NY or Chicago) for the experience and the reports always seem really positive on here from those that have ran.

Where did you disappear off to early the night of boards xmas beers and were you on your own?

Do you think it's essential to run 7 days a week (or do doubles) to achieve a sub 2:40 marathon?

That's a good question yaboya and I'm not really sure of the answer. My highest mileage week (84 miles) for London was on a 6 day week but that included 3 doubles. If you look at smmoore's blog, he ran sub 2.40 off relatively low mileage and, I think no doubles so it's certainly possible if you are that bit faster over the shorter distances. The main thing, I think is the consistency and doing enough mileage around your main sessions so that you're capable of hitting your targets within them. I always felt that as long as I could be on target in my marathon paced run, then the supplementary running around that was sufficient.

To be honest though, I don't think you'd be able to run a marathon that approached your potential if you were only getting 6-7 runs in a week. Part of the difficulty in marathon training is that you're always a little bit fatigued from the volume of work but that's also where the strength comes from and the pig headed stubbornness in the last 6 miles of the race

Dictator-for-life of AAI - what do you do?

KielyUnusual wrote: »

I'm a taken man Stevo

We held hands for 2 seconds max. That hardly constitutes a relationship. A bit presumptuous, if you don't mind me saying so.

Anyway:
What was the cause of the injury? What have your learned from it?
You have made incredible progress over the last couple of years. Do you think that progressing that quickly carries an associated increased risk of injury?
Are you still hurling?
What's the main goal for this year?
Remember that buddy of yours at the coal-hole? Did he ever run that marathon? Did your brother break 3 hours?
Do you ever go out drinking in Bray (on Bray Runners turf, so to speak)?
Any desire to run an IMRA race?
How do you plan on improving your beer mile time for this year's race?

We held hands for 2 seconds max. That hardly constitutes a relationship. A bit presumptuous, if you don't mind me saying so.

You city slickers are so cruel. Down the country, holding someone's hand actually means something....something real.

Anyway:
What was the cause of the injury? What have your learned from it?

As described above it's been a bit of an on and off thing for the past month and a half. the muscle below my ankle got a little sore at first but nothing that I would have worried about. Then after a tempo run, it got bad enough that I took a week off. Ran in Raheny, had to take two weeks off. Was almost better and did the same tempo run on Sunday only for it to flare up again. It was in a bad way Sunday but its recovering very quickly so I think my initial assessment might have been a little over dramatic. I'll air on the side of caution this time though.

You have made incredible progress over the last couple of years. Do you think that progressing that quickly carries an associated increased risk of injury?

I've been lucky over the past two years with injury but in retrospect I was tethering on the edge before the '12 DCM. I thought it was normal at the time but I increased the mileage quite dramatically and I was creaking around for a few months. Since then, I've felt that I approached things quite sensibly but perhaps the odd injury is just inevitable in this sport. Unless you're you!! :mad:

Are you still hurling?

I have a puck around regularly enough down in Fairview Park but I'm not playing for any team. I played a few games of Junior 'E' hurling (yes, it exists) over the summer but it was a casual enough affair and I think my days of competitive hurling are behind me. I was never very good at it anyway.

What's the main goal for this year?

I really don't know. I'd like to run a good mile time maybe and get in to the 4.30's. The sub 60 400m would be nice. Showdown, this summer :cool:


Remember that buddy of yours at the coal-hole? Did he ever run that marathon? Did your brother break 3 hours?

Poor auld Marthastew was convinced that he would give it a go but lets just say I was reasonably confident that he was talking bull. If he ran to catch the bus, I'd be surprised. The brother ran 2.57 on the same day. Good day for the Kiely's all round

Do you ever go out drinking in Bray (on Bray Runners turf, so to speak)?

I've had a few pints in Brady's in Shankhill. More of a liquid lunch kind of thing though. Only night out I had in Bray was in the Martello during the summer. I wouldn't be brave enough to rough it up in a proper Bray pub for a night. This innocent face wouldn't last a few minutes.

Any desire to run an IMRA race?

No, but I'd give it a go if there was a crowd doing it.

How do you plan on improving your beer mile time for this year's race?

Probably not a good thing but I've gotten in some proper preparation over the last three months.
I think the specific sessions are where it's at. Our half beer mile was great preparation last year. We'll have to up it to the three quarters this year. I fancy a place on the podium

Favourite distance?

As I've said earlier, I love the mile distance and I suppose you could throw the 1500m in as well.

Favourite Session?

I love the 12 X 400m with short recovery or 8 X 600 with 200m active recovery. I think the 600 might win out. I really like the continuous nature of the session and the 600 distance just seems like a good distance that works on a lot of things. Speed endurance and strength are two of my weaknesses so I think this is a good session to work on these.

Least favourite session?

We do a session around the acres in Phoenix Park of 3 X 2.5k with 75s recovery. If the ground is soft, this is absolute hell. I'm always struggling after the first one and come the second half of the third one it is race effort. I don't know what it is about running on grass but my effort levels just go through the roof and people whom I run all the other sessions with and with similar race times just get away from me.

Favourite Irish athlete?

From old, I really like Eamonn Coughlan and it's nice to think that you're training on the same loop that a world class athlete trained on (Munich Laps in Phoenix Park).
From the current crop, I like Paul Pollock. He's so determined and single minded and the marathon he ran in the World Championships was immense given the conditions.

favourite international athlete?

Haile Gebraselassie was a big favourite from my youth and still to this day. What he achieved from 5k to the marathon was incredible and then there's that smile:D.

favourite post race beer?

No fancy beers here. Tend to drink Heineken because it is served every and removes the thought process. Buckfast is the post marathon recovery drink of course. Don't judge me!

Who was sandbagging in London you or Krusty?

Krusty.

I don't really have any questions for ya, but if you're working in bray, and training for middle distance then feel free to jump into any of our sessions in greystones on either tue or wed, and friday at 7pm. Hmm actually are you up for a sub4.30 mile smackdown with me this summer, if ya get over the injury!

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Thanks for the invite Timmaay but last time I went out to Charlestown, I wasn't back home until 11.00 :eek:. It's a heck of a trip if you don't have a car. I'm considering getting a car at the moment so it would be a good possibility if that were the case. Should head out there if the mile invitational goes ahead again this year, in any case.

By the way, I said 4.3x mile not sub 4.30 mile. That might be a bit of a stretch this year. Might use you as an advanced pacer like I did the last time though. If I'm ~2s off your pace each lap then I won't be doing too badly.

Sorry read that wrong! If ya did a 2.38 marathon you should defo have a sub4.30 in ya. Agreed no point aiming too high for this season yet, but stranger things have happened ha. Afew of the other lads in around the 4.40 mark here also, so should always be someone to pace ya! And hmm yeh car defo needed for charlesland. I'll let ya know about any other miles on also.

If you had a girl baby, would you consider naming her Kylie ?

wrstan wrote: »

Or you could always move to Bray!

I could but its very far away from everything for an unmarried man like myself. I should definitely move closer though.