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.

First win in a long time :)))

I awoke monday morning with very tight calfs from my 10k race the day before.decided to cross train instead of a run and did 1 hour on the bike.

On Tuesday I headed down to the track but the marathon group where heading out for a 10mile fartlek session.
Pace was comfortable with George pushing the pace and enjoyed the banter and company.

Sonia O' Sullivan popped into the store to get a swimming lesson and I got to see the olympic torch and she signed an Irish singlet I had which was great.

Wed I did a steady run of 10miles at 6.30 miles.

Thur I ran late after work and did a 40minute run with 6 x 100m strides as I would be racing Friday.

Fridays race was the first running of the Front Runners 5k and was 1mile from my appartment so I jogged down from work with a 5mile warm up.The wind was strong and when the gun went I was slow to react.
I found myself back in about 6/7th place with soem guy tearing out the front.He must have went through the first km in under 2.50.I soon caught up with him as we turned the corner heading into a strong head wind.I had to make a decision at this point as I was 5-6 seconds up ont he two guys behind and with the leader slowing down I could either stay behind and catch a break but the other two runners would catch up so I decided a long run for home was the best option.
My pace was steady but with the strong wind I wasn't too focused on a fast time.Sub 17 I would have been happy with but as I hit the 3k marker i knew I could run alot faster.
One thing I never do in a race is look behind(exception when turning a corner) and I noticed I was 10-15 seconds ahead so it was me against the clock now.I picked it up over the last km and finished in 16.25 which I was very happy with.
Im not one for speeches and Susan Walsh put me on the spot(thanks Susan)
I finished up with a 4mile cool down and a nice bottle of corona in the polo grounds bar.

Saturday I did an easy 30mins recovery run in the morning as I had a long day working in the shop and attending the Dunshaughlin 10k which Gary won in a great finish with Mark Hoey.

Sunday was a group run with Anto,John,Evan,Daire and myself.Manged 1hour 40minutes but my hips where tight after.


Monday:1 hour on the bike and 1hour run with Ella-Jane in the buggy.

Tuesday I headed to sports Med Ireland for a session with Mark Mcabe who worked on my core and is helping me to rectify some of my weaknesses.I did a 5mile run there and plan a nice session with the club later.
Good luck to everyone running the first race in the race series on Saturday !!!

Parkwest 10k

The legs where tired from the racing so this week was a recovery week with a planned session on saturday.
Monday was a very easy 30minutes as the body was tender.
Tuesday I did 40minutes with the pram and took a trip to the physio to get checked out and was given
some exercises for my weak core.
Wed:30mins am run to work and 45mins pm
Thursday:lovely 70mins am in the Phoenix park with kevin who had run 3.47 for 1500 the evening before and Gary.Pm I did an easy run home 25minutes @ 6.30 pace.
Fri:45mins and decided to race Parkwest on Sunday.

Sat:35MIN RUN

Sunday:Walked 45minutes with the pram to the race.Signed up and a friend of mine was home from the States(goes to Arkansas)
Asked him if there was no one sub 32-33mins would he help pace me to break 34mins.

Race started and I knew the pace was abit fast but 2-3 runners arouns me and dave was out ahead.Told him to go on but he slowed up and I caught him.
I knew I was going to pay for an opening 1k off 2.58 but tried to think positive and said to Dave I can use it as a buffer later on 

Slowly we pulled away from the 3rd runner and now I knew it was a case of staying relaxed and hitting sub 3.30 per km.
At 5k we hit 16.40 and I felt ok at this stage but was breathing heavy.
7-8 k was tough and I was glad it was on the flat section of the canal.

I
We hit 9km and I was dying now and told Dave to go on ahead,he left me standing and cruised home.My form was poor now and I was running back on my heels with all spring lost.I could see the finish was close and I managed one last big effort.The finish line had 33.27 and I ran hard todip under the line in 33.29 but the mat picking up the time was further on 
So finished up in 33.30 .Happy and a nice 75euro for second place.
Righ adductor a little tight after and calfs tight.
2mile warm up and 3mile cooldown.

Road racing again

The last two weeks have been great for me.I have been down with the club (Donore) on Tuesday evening's and we do some interval training.The first week consisted of 600m reps with 1min 45 seconds.I went off too fast on these and could only complete 6 reps at average pace 2mins.
The folowing tue I managed to do 5 x 1k in average 3.10 with 2minutes recovery,this session was a big improvement and ran with my Clubmate Eric who is back running after a long period injured.

This week end I decided to do a road race and I was expecting to run a sub 16.40 5k to start with.
The race went very well for me finishing strong in a solid time of 16.26
Eric finished 1 place ahead and was happy with his opener.Having someone to train with at a similar level really helps.
Bohermeen was the venue for the race and they laid ona  great BBQ after.Amphibian King where well represented with Gary finishing second in 15.13 just 2 seconds behind the winner and we had a small shop at the event.Was great to meet lots of customers and new customers.

On the way home Gary told me of a race the next day he planned on doing and he twisted my arm to take part.
The race was in Blanchardstown and was a really well run event with a great spread after and a friendly atmosphere.
The course was a little long but I had a great run finishing in 3rd place and you will never guess GARY WON AGAIN !!!
Thats the Dundalk half marathon,Cork half marathon,Maynooth 10k and second in Kildare half and second in Bohermeen.
After the race we got to meet the minister for transport Leo Varadkar who had ran in the race himself.

I hope everyone is training away and hope tosee you all in the shop soon.
The New Mizuno and Saucony stock has just dropped ;)

Congrats to siofra our sponsored junior athlete who ran the qualifying time for the world junior championships in the 800m with a great time of 2mins & 4seconds.Im sure we will see her fly the flag for many years to come.

Base is building and back racing some IMRA

Loving being back training and over the last three weeks I have started to feel good running.
The runs are short most days with a 30min trot to work.I will start to add in 30mins on the way home when my training picks up.
I have ran two IMRA races which for those that dont know are hill races based in the dublin/wicklow mountains.They vary in distance and are great fun.
The first one I managed to finish 6th with a good descent but struggled on the climbs.
I improved on my second race to 5th which went up Djouce.

I will do two more weeks of IMRA races and start to add some quality tempo runs to improve fitness.

Hope you are all enjoying the weather :)))

Building again.....

The first few weeks returning from injury or a period of inactivity can be tough.
I started with 3.5 mile runs and on Tuesday I managed 50minutes.
Satrday i joined a few guys from work and did a session of 75seconds on 25 seconds off and 3 x 35seconds with 1minute recovery.I found this comfortable which shows my anerobic system and speed is still pretty good.

My total miles for the week where 30miles.I will be doing a programme for myself with the view to running a sub 75minute Half marathon and doing some Duathlon's