Tipping away

Since the 10mile race things have gone to plan.I have managed two sessions per week and every week
I have noticed the times are getting a little quicker which is great for the confidence.
Last Sunday I ran my first cross country race in nearly 5 years.The race was 5k and the surface was great,I went out a little hard and paid the price on the second lap but managed to recover and finished up in second place.Our manager in Bray Gary was also running and finished 4th place,maybe next time we will get a full team out.

I also purchased a running buggy a couple weeks ago and it's very handy for days where my wife Elaine is working and I can take it to the phoenix park for a spin.

So I have signed up for the Clonliffe 5k this coming Sunday and hope to run as close to or under 16minutes.
This is silly season now regarding work parties and club parties so head down ad keep the legs moving.

Stook 10mile race

Hit the road early with Gary in the van for the 10mile race organised by Gowran ac.The weather looked perfect and we found our way to the race without any wrong turns for a change.
We unloaded the van and set up the shop with a short 1mile warmup and a few strides.
I was in a really good frame of mind before the race even though most people said the course was full of hills.
A friend of mine David Mc Carthy who is one of the favourites for next weeks National Intercounty cross country was
out with his training partner Philip Harty and was planning on running 6minute miles which suited me so I asked if he would run around/pace me :)
Philip would be Gary's biggest rival today and both very good runners on the hills with Gary having the slight advantage on the downhills and with the final 2miles this proved to be decisive as Gary won in 51.59 around 30+ seconds ahead.

The start of the race was strange for me as I was holding myself back and sticking to my 6minute mile plan.
Back in about 14th place after mile1 I was chatting away to Dave and as we passed each mile we started to pick of some runners that went out a little too fast.
After 5miles of running I was running 6minute miles handy enough but was preparing forthe real hills at 5.5miles.
The next mile was the slowest of the race in 6.15/20 and as we passed the next runner on a climb I got excited and my legs where abit like jelly near the top,at this point Dave slowed to wait for me(thanks Dave)

Mile 7 I was back rolling and suddenly at mile 8 I saw this huge downhill and let the legs stride out.We passed another runner and I now found myself well inside the top10.
My last 2miles I ran 9.20/30 and finished(8th place) strongly with this race giving me the appetite to train harder/smarter and look forward to 2013.

Well done  to Simon and Gowran ac on a fantastic race.

Berlin marathon awaits me.............

Never a good sign when a blog hasn't been updated in over five weeks.Trying to go back and remember things when I should be logging my training in a diary.
Since the last time I posted I ran a marathon in 2.55 and blew up badly in the last 5-6 miles.I have signed up for Berlin marathon next September and with the right training can have a good crack at a 2.3x marathon.

This week has gone well with a good session Tuesday of 8 x 1k repeats and one long run of 95minutes.The rest are my usual 4mile commute to work.

This weekend we are one of the sponsors of the Stook 10mile road race in Kilkenny.I plan on running 6minute miles with the last 2-3 a little quicker.

the boys are flying...........

I had a great weeks training last week with no injuries.

For most of the week I ran 40-60 minutes running.On Friday I decided to run  a long one considering I was going to have a long day working at the Athlone 3/4 which AK are sponsors.

Sunday at the last minute i decided to help Barry out and do the pacing for 3hour marathon pace.

I ran nice and controlled at 7.05-710 pace and at 15miles most where starting to suffer on the hills.

Finished up in 2.16 and body feels great.

A couple of easy recovery days ahead and then time to put a proper training schedule in place.

Well done to team AK who won the Hell & back race for a third year in a row.I had to give it a miss this year as i couldn't risk an injury again.

Well done to our sponsored athletes the weekend.Jt was 5th in the Tallaght 5miler and Goh was 2nd in the Athone 3/4 marathon.

Perfect shoes !!!

The last few weeks I have managed some consistant training.Most runs are 30mins and have along run Sunday 70mins.
Decided to give Hell & Back race a miss this year and instead will head down to the Athlone three quarter marathon
which Amphibian King will be doing a shop at.

 I love this time of the year seeing so many people out testing their bodies with punishing long runs.
Good luck to everyone training for the marathon.

I have gone back tothe Mizuno riders for training and love them.The last model I feel out of love with Mizuno but very happy now with the Rider 15's.

The new year myself and my mate Gary O Hanlon will be starting up a training group and plans for people
interested in 5k-marathon programmes.
If anyone is interested they can mail me at kevinenglish1@yahoo.ie

Injuries just keep coming

When you see a runners blog not being updated you can guess he/she is injured.
Well that is what happened me the following day after my win in the hills.
All was good in work till that evening when running with Niall I could feel a sharp pain
in the outside of my foot.
Niall turned to me after 20minutes and said ''you are very quiet'',well there was a reasonand I knew
straight away it was a stress fracture.Last time I got one was after the European Club Cross country in
Turkey and it was painfull to say the least.

I knew it was now a waiting game and I borrowed a boot of Darren in work but it cut the shin off me and
with every customer asking me what happened it got me down a little.
Last time I was injured I amanaged to put on two stone so I made a good effort to lay of the choc and pies this time :)

I started back two weeks ago and my first week was 4 runs with longest run being 30minutes.
This week has being goodand the pain has nearly gone.I will have to massage the foot more and start looking after
myself more.
Picture below my little girl in her first running vest :)

So onwards and upwards,let the good times begin !!!

Mountain Plod

Been so long since I updated the blog im not sure where to start.

Best to start with yesterday as it's fresh in the memory.

I woke up early to see that my car was clamped so a 30euro taxi fare to Marley park

and I signed up for the Dublin plod half marathon.

This I knew would be a difficult course as I had trained on the course a few times.

The gun went and the early pace felt very easy as all my races of late had been over 5k & 10k distance.

As we reached the hills I started to breath a little deeper now but two of us where well clear.

Aongus who I had ran with on the Irish team in Snowdon two years ago I knew was a beast on the uphill so I would have to work hard to stay within distance of him.

After 4miles I began to struggle with a stitch and the hills.Aongus was now 90seconds plus ahead.

Mile 9 I made a surge on the downhill and began to close.

Mile 10 I had caught him and lookign at my Garmin i was clocking 4.25 per mile and I put the hammer down as I past him.Aongus in fairness responded and again i had to find another gear and slowly I stretched away.

Mile 11 i knew I just had to stay on my feet and could enjoy the finish.

My time was 85.55 and a new course record.

Friday the 13th:

Headed down to Tullamore for a 5k with my mate Gary O ' Hanlon.

we where too busy chatting and missed the turn for Tullamore and ended up in Athlone.

Fair play to the organisers who held the race by 10minutes as we ran up with no warm up.

Gun went and i was flat as a pancake from the off.Struggled home in 5th place in around 16.40 and gary got pipped at the finish for the win.Great feed on after the race and I would highly recommend the race.

I have had two good session of 16 x 400m and 6 x 1km reps over the last two weeks.My training kept to 55-70 miles per week.still running with the pram once a week.

Dublin Marathon is still on the cards once the body stays in one piece.

Don't forget to sign up for the lakes 10k in September.Picture from last year and thanks to Darren for the racepix t-shirt.www.racepix.com for all your racing pictures.