Training on the bike !!!

As the title suggest all im doing is a small bit of biking of late.
Been lazy on the Physio front and need to get the finger out.

Last week was fun,headed out to the Athlong three-quarter marathon with Nelly and Gary.
the drive down was great fun as both lads had never ran further than 13miles in training this was going to be a test for both.
I was on the bike and after only 400m gary was well clear so i cycled with him for the duration chatting to him and looking after his drinks and gels.
Nelly was run a very controlled race back in the field,starting of at 6.30 minute miles and picking it up near the end to come home in 4th place and under his 2.36 marathon pace.
Gary ran the race of his life coming home in first place wearing the Amphibian king colours.
His time was 145.59 which is 2.20 marathon pace,outstanding running.
The event in Athlone was pure class with gels,drinks,jellies and even Mellon on hand for the runners.Some big bunches running with the pacers made this event a must for those running dublin for the first time.

Understanding the body !!!

I have been running since the age of 10 now and over the last 20 years have been injured
more times than I care to remember.
Leaving school  I decided to do sports managment and sports massage and remedial therapy
as sports was all I was interested in.
So the last two weeks have consisted of 1-2 hours on the bike per day.if I didn't know what saddle soreness is well now I do :)
Plan of action over the coming weeks is a Physio session with Darren Kelly and one with Ciaran Mcdonagh.

More ice and more ice :(

The long run that nearly killed me !!!

Saturday i had planned a run before work as I was heading down to the the dublin half marathon in the phoenix park.
My body just couldn't get out of bed in time and I decided to watch the first half of the rugby.
Heading down to the half I took some pictures of people passing the first mile.
I left my run till the evening after work and did 40minutes very relaxed putting emphasis on my form and staying relaxed.

Sunday was a shock to the System as I met up with the lads in the running club who where doing a long run of 1hour 40minutes.
The pace was a steady 7minute pace and although the first 45-50minutes where ok I struggled for the rest of the run.Still managed just over 14miles and 1hour 40minutes.
Today i feel like a truck hit me and last night I was in bed @ 7pm.
Very easy to be negative getting back into full fitness so it's so important to stay positive.

Wasn't that long ago I was winning races ,how can all the fitness go so fast ???

the joy and pain of running !!!

Yesterday was a 24minute run (3miles).Went late at 9pm so a head torch was needed as I struggled around
the phoenix park.To my supise there was a few other runners around in the pitch dark(atleast i hope they where runners)

Today my bike got punctured ont he way to work so ran 10minutes with the bike on my back and my kind friend at work Paul picked me up.
After work I did my usual 4mile spin on the bike home and met my friend Aidan Bailey fo a run in the phoenix park.
The boarding and fences where going up for the half marathon tommorow.Would have loved to be running it but a half marathon seems a long way away.
The good news is I ran 43minutes pain free tonight,pace was avearage 4.42 per km and average H/R 154

Did a weigh-in today and im 12stone 10 pounds which is 10 pounds heavier than when I got injured.Time to lay of the pies :)

The last 6 weeks have been a write off.I have been getting Laser/dry needling and physio on my achilles and nothing seems to be working.
Rest only does so much and the 3 runs i have done would feel ok after I warmed up but the next day hurts to walk.
The cross country season is approaching fast and hopefully i can get back soon.

On a positive note it's good to see lee and Dooley back running and hopefully Donore can have a strong team for the Dublin cross country this year.

More to follow soon :)

3 wins aint bad !!!

Since the Bray 10k I have started to run again most days.This weeks mileage around 70miles.
I raced in the Slane AC 5k today finishing in first place but the race was one of mixed feelings.
I travelled down with my mate Gary O hanlon(fitsquad trainer and coach) ,gary was runnign the 10mile and was hopefull of a pb(well pb he did and smashed it running 53.11 on a very hilly course)
Having started of nice and steady and going through the first 1k in 3.12 I took the lead here and slowly pulled away from the field.Coming to 1.5k the marshals where up ahead but none where giving directions and I came to a stop shouting ''which way lads'',none of them seemed to know and asked me which race are u doing the 10mile so at this stage I turned back and ran towards the field.
The runners where roaring ''for fuck sake''  ''this is a joke''   and I could see why.
So we all decided to run towards the marshals and knock the cones over onto the main road.
Finally I reached the 2k marker with a sense of relief but now I had a runner from Rathfarnam ac with me and he looked trim and fit.
I tucked in behind and started to relax again,only to find myself impatient and decided to surge.
My surge didnt last for lond as the Rathfarnam runner went with me and came past me.
We reached 2k in just outside 7mins which meant my last 1k was 3.50 which showed I had lost time from stopping and all chances of a quick time.
A slight climb up through the village welcomed us and I again surged only to be tracked down again.As we turned the corner once again we missed the turn with no stewards and only a Gardai shouting at us ''turn right lads''.It was now into the woods and we both chatted about going wrong again and kevin(guy from Rathfarnam) even suggested a protest at the finish by bot crossing the line :)
There was no way I was doing this as €150 was on offer for the winner and Ronan who organises it is a gent.
So once again I surged only this time kevin reacted with his own surge and gapped me by 20metres.I was feeling sorry for myself at this stage and snapped myself out of if and regained the distance only this time I surged hard and got a gap.The last 1k was downhill and I could really enjoy it knowing I had a healthy lead.
Coming into the finish I gave one last surge and raised my arm aloft for the third time this year(Clontarf half,Bray 10k and now Slane 5k)
Bad news is my achilles swelled up after the race and been icing it since.Im booked in for laser treatment Tuesday and going to hit the bike to keep the fitness up.
Couple weeks and hope to be back and start clocking up the miles again.

somethings don't make sense

Well where to start ummmmm not sure.Few people have asked me why my blog hasn't been updated lately.
Somethings best not said on blogs but my Mam got sick of late and just havn't had the heart to train.
Was only the last 2 days my best mate Gary got me out for  a couple of runs and I relaised how much running helps keep me sane.

Since my last blog I did the formula 1 duathlon finishing in 7th place.The race went as follows:
Run 1 was 2.7km and went out with the intention of going steady on the first run but couldn't resist putting the hammer down and getting the run prime of 25euro :)
The change over was crap,struggled to change into my bike shoes and mount the bike.Hving had a 20second lead ont he run I was now back in 5th after the bottom of the Kyber.Amazing how fast them guys go on the TT bikes.from the last duathlon I did 3 years ago I now had a nice bike purchased from Paul and Dom in Velo Motion.After the bike I had slipped back to 9th or 10th place but ran well picking off 2-3 guys and decided to run in my socks as no lock laces would have meant 1min lost in transition.
on the second and last bike ride(thank fuck) I felt I had found a good steady pace only to be pased by more guys on their lovely TT bikes.coming into the last corner my gears got stuck and lost momentum.Someguy struck me from behind and started to shout at me ''you fucking idiot,learn how to ride your bike''
I was in shock more at being hit than him shouting and put the head down into the transition for the last time.
i was now thinking to myself ''that guy is not gona beat me''.Sometimes actions speak louder than words and I had a cheeky clance as a ran smoothly past him early into the run.
The top 5 guys where out of my league but next year I  will be aiming for an improvement.
Bray 10k:

Sunday came around not having done any training,I was hoping that the race might spark me back into training.The race was very low key,around 60 people lined up in Bray and the race went off 30mins late as we waited for the Gardai car.I ran steady from the gun and was suprised when I glanced around and had a gap so early,the guy back in 3rd from Kilcole ac had beaten me a few months ago in the Wicklow Gaol 10k(ran 36.57 then)
After 1k we went up a large steep hill for another 2k and this stage I had 10-12 seconds lead.Over the next 3k the gap stayed pretty much the same.Reaching halfway in 17.30 I decided to put the hammer down and leave the runner in second.I ran the next 1k in sun 3mins,turning the turn with 4k it was all downhill and i just enjoyed the remainder knowing i had the win in the bag.To my suprise i finished up in a pb of 33.13.

The goal now is too sit down with my coach and work out a plan fro the cross country.having missed so much of late and my achilles niggling at me I think it best to give the national half marathon a miss.