Lack of training and motivation.

Been a terrible time training wise with my hip flexor's been at me and pain too much to train with.
I had signed up for the Laura Lynn half and the night before pigged out on a take away.
In the morning I decided to run but was anxious about the hip flexor's.The day was fantastic with the sun beaming and great turn out.I went out hard for the first mile and decided it would be a long awy home on my own with seasoned runner Frank Quinlan of Waterford Ac just behind me.I decided to run back and run with Frank and we did so up until 8-9 miles and I started to struggle a little then.I got tight calf muscles wearing a pair of racing flats that are too light for a 13stone runner.I managed to pick it up a little over the last 2-3 miles as my mate Gary helped me out with some pacing and managed to peg back some time on Frank finishing up 18 seconds behind and in a time of 76mins.

Over the next few weeks I got out 3-4 times but struggled on a longish run and felt very down about things.
I decided to run the Arc 10k a race that I have won 3 times before and had been promoting in the shop as Arc is a great cause.The race couldn't have gone better as I have missed so much training and finished up winning comfortable enough just outside 35mins.my calf's didn't suffer after I changed racing shoes to the puma Fass 300 which where class.
The Hip flexor's feel much better and I hope to get some training in now over the coming months down at Donore Harriers.

Amphibian King the new retail partners for the Dublin Marathon.

We had great news a few weeks ago as we are now the official retail partners with the Dublin Marathon and race series.It feels a great fit I think for both parties and will hopefully give our stores more exposure and especially Ashtown been located on 600m from the Phoenix Park where most of the race series take part.
I have watched the Dublin marathon for years and hopefully will run it this year.Right now im carrying a groin injury which  I hope to sort out very soon.It has been frustrating as I was starting to run ok again finishing 4th in the Fit Magazine 10k.

Our new sponsored athletes having been doing really well with Ann-Marie winning her last 2 or three races and running a 16.01 5k.Philip Harty won Connemara marathon and his county championships.Marie had a fine win in the Newry half marathon and Gary ran a pb in Rotterdam  (2.22)after some bad stomach problems.

We are starting a new run course  on the 29th @ 6.15pm and this will run for 5 weeks.

Hopefully a nice update on the next blog with no injuries.

January blues....

Well that was quick month and on to another,January was a good month for me as I had my birthday (33)
and made a few changes in my personal life which have me in a much happier place.
Training has gone to plan and this weekend I will do the Enniscorthy 10k as planned.
I have had a few niggles along the way and a trip to the Osteopath and massage therapist helped get some much needed relief.

My last 4 weeks of training I have averaged 60miles per week and im starting to enjoy the long run with the lads on a Sunday more as the pace is getting easier as I get fitter.
Sometimes its good to have that one day in the week where you push yourself and challenge your mental side.

The shop has seen loads of new customers in Ashtown and some new exciting shoes have come in including the Mizuno Rider 17,Inspire 10,Fass 300,500 & 600S.
One shoe that was a flop was the new Brooks Adrenaline 14,there has been an issue with the heel cup so they have had to go back into production and this has caused a delay.
The Saucony Mirage has gone down well and we ran a competition on Facebook which Paul Barrell who runs with Drogheda District AC.

We got a nice new shower put in the shop which might not seem like a big thing to non sporty people but it really helps so both myself & Mark can run/cycle to work and make more time for our families.
We are in the process of getting our new Amphibian King running kit done up for our sponsored athletes.Puma have come on board to help us out.

4 weeks and I updated this blog,that must be a record !!!

Happy New Year !!!

I was at a friends 30th party last week and got a gentle reminder from a friend of mine Killian Lonergan

that I hadn't updated this in a while.

I love listening to Killian and other friends as we could spend hours talking about running.

It is why i decided to open Amphibian King Ashtown with Mark Horan.

I love listening to customers share their stores both good and bad.Most customers will enter the store and

say ''im only a fun runner''.It doesn't matter what level you are at once you are enjoying the sport.

So my own running has been up and down the last 6 weeks.I upped the mileage too quickly(whats new)

and my knee was niggling at me so had to take 9 days off.

What got me running again was the opportunity to run with the great Haile Gebrselassie over in Manchester.

We just opened up an account with Adidas and they wanted to showcase their new product called Boost.

I got a pair of Adidas Boost glide and have done two good weeks running,they are very responsive and work well in wet conditions.I will report back with a further review after 200miles.

I got to meet both Haile and a former national champion and an absolute gent called James Mcllroy.

Haile took us on a short run around a golf course at 7.30am and some light drills and stretching after.

Afterwards was a nice breakfast and outdoor Jacuzzi :)

Since the new year I have decided to get a coach and have a plan put together.The key is staying injury free and I will probably go backwards before I go forwards again.

I plan a couple of races just to keep ticking over and starting with the Enniscorthy 10k in 5weeks time.

I missed the cut of date for Ballycotton 10mile so will look for another option.

Our new run course starts the 7th and 11th of Jan.for more info log onto our Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/events/684616431571270/

Dublin Marathon

What a day and what a weekend !!!
Both myself and Mark where working the expo with CEP compression the weekend.
Was brilliant to talk to everyone and meet new customers.

Our day on Sunday was a disaster for Gary O Hanlon who had his phone stolen by some thug.
The Gardai arranged a sting operation to get it back but ended up with the phone been thrown into the Liffey and Gary with a broken hand.I went home that evening thinking he wouldn't be racing.

Monday arrived and I was at the 10k mark cheering everyone on.Sean and Joe the two favourites came gliding past with Brian Maher pace making.At this stage Sean looked very relaxed and I was thinking experience would count.Gary came past not looking happy as he missed his water bottle and stopped to get one under a car.
At this point i didn't expect him to have a good run but was to be proved wrong with  big pb and 6th place.
Next I was on the look out for Maria and Gary Crossan and you couldn't miss them as it was a very large bunch working together.Maria was a deserving winner and the scenes after with Gary would bring a tear to the eye.

Few things happening in the shop now over the next couple of weeks with a new 8 week running course.This will be for beginers and an advanced group.Follow our facebook page for more info https://www.facebook.com/AmphibianKingPhoenixPark
Belated congrats to staff memeber Lee who  who came 3rd in the Leinster novice cross country.


Final well done to everyone who took part in Dublin and hope to hear all your amazing stories over the coming weeks.

ON runners a huge hit with customers !!!

In the last few weeks I have started to try a new brand of runners called ON.
They are a Swiss made shoe and are new to the running market in Ireland.
When you hit the ground,the highly adaptive rubber elements cushion both vertical and horizontal forces for a soft landing.They give back a very light running sensation and are helping me stay away from pain and injuries.
With my achilles setting me back 6 weeks and no training I have started to ease back into training
running 15-20minutes 4-5 times per week.
Treatement with Ciaran McDonagh once a week is helping and hopefully by December I will be training like a man possessed.

We have had some new stock arrive in the store with the Asics Lyte 33,Puma Fass 100 & 600 and also the very popular Puma Nightglow jacket which lights up like a glow torch when light shines on the fabric.
Our running classes have started on Monday nights and the course being 8 weeks gives plenty of time for runners of all leveles to improve fitness,technique and goal specific training programmes.

This weekend saw Maria win the lakes 10k after a superb win in the Frank Duffy 10mile race.Gary O Hanlon is running for Ireland in Poland in the world mountain running championships.
Last week we had two  sub 4minute milers and European cross country gold medalists in the shop (David McCarty & John Coghlan) We also had a large crew from team Carrie down,177 runners taking part in the Dublin marathon for the first time.
I also managed to get my ugly mug in Mens uk running magazine :)

Great to see so many people training for the Dublin marathon this year.Hopefully see you all over the coming weeks.
Don't forget to follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/AK_Ashtown
and also facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmphibianKingPhoenixPark?ref=hl

Amphibian King Ashtown now open !!!

Almost four months since I updated my blog but been a productive and exciting last few months.
Training took a back seat for a while with injury and getting the new store open.
Myself and Mark Horan decided to open the store together as it is something we both dreamed of and are passionate about.

The store is located 600m from the Phoenix Park and is in a lovely part of Dublin called Ashtown.We have free parking and a huge range of running shoes,compression,clothing,running belts,nutrition,foam rollers and anything a runner could need.
Our first three weeks have been amazing and was great to see so much support from friends and family.

Regarding my training I had a nice block and started of by winning the ARC 10k for a third year.I then finished second in the Prison service BHAA 5k on the grass.
My next race was a 250km relay race around Ireland thanks to Saucony who flew over 60 people from around the world to take part.
our team was made up of the UK and Ireland and we had an amazing battle with team Germany and finished up 2minutes behind after 14 hours of racing.Damian and myself took part for Amphibian King and Ireland.

The few days after my achilles has been at me so no running for a few days.
hope you are all enjoying the sunshine and hope to see you down at the new shop.

https://www.facebook.com/AmphibianKingPhoenixPark?ref=hl