I'm still on a nice break after the marathon and don't plan doing an exercise until the 14th. I had planned on a two week holiday and then to get back to training, but what to train for? The first time I ran a half marathon I took a three month break after it. It wasn't planned, but I had put so much energy into the half and no thought about what to do after it. I found with no target or plan I just did nothing, well not this time. I'm going to use this time to look at possible races for next year and maybe you can help m choose which ones. I ran three races in 2010, two 10kms and a half marathon. So far I ran five races this year, a 5 mile, a 10km two half marathons and a marathon, and maybe there is room for one more. I'd love to run 10-12 races next year with one of them another marathon and a few others challenging runs. So what choices are out there.
January:
The Great Health: A 10km run fairly close by in Co. Laois. Looks like a good possiblity for the first run of the year.
February:
Enniscorthy: A 10km run in the lovely and hilly town of Enniscorty. I ran a half marathon here this year and it was a tough one for me as I am un used to hills.
Wild West Run: A very scenic half marathon in the town of Kilarrney from Kenmare to Muckross House.
March:
Wicklow: A 10km or Half Marathon starting and finishing in Wicklow Jail.
Kinvara Rock & Road: An excuse to wear my kinvaras in Kinvara. This is a 10km road race in the town of Kinvara in Co. Galway. Looks like the sceanary will be fantastic.
April:
Connemara: A half-marathon, full marathon or ultra marathon in one of the most ruggid and sceanic parts of the country. A tough course from feedback I've received. Would be beautiful though.
Ballinaslow: A 10km walk/run in Co. Mayo. Doesn't look like there would be a large crowd at this one... I could be wrong. It is in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.
Wexford: Half Marathon or 10km run. It looks very well organised. The first part is uphill and then it is downhill all the rest of the way. Looks nice.
Great Ireland Run: A lovely 10km run through the Phoenix Park in Dublin. This was my irst ever road race in 2010 and I ran it again this year. A lovely run with ver 16,000 entrants this year, the largest race in Ireland.
May:
River Moy: Half Marathon in Ballina Co. Mayo.
June:
Strawberry Festival: A half marathon, 15km walk or 5 mile race. I ran this half this year and set a PR on a tough hilly course that my knees did not like me for. Lovely course though and great support out around the town. Really emjoyed it.
Cork City Marathon: This is supposed to be a nice run but doesn't have the level of support that their is in Dublin from the locals.
July:
Irish Runner: A lovely fast 5 mile run in the Phoenix PArk in Dublin with a few hills. A lovely run. Part of the Dublin Marathon Race Series.
Clontarf: Half Marathon and 5 mile race. Billed ast Ireland's flattest half. A great place for a PR then.
August:
Frank Duffy: A 10 mile run in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Part of the Dublin Marathon Race Series.
September:
Mooathon: This a half or full marathon in Co. Donegal, boasting great scenary and no loop, just a stright point to point run with transport back included in the price of entry. There are miling stations along the way and I'm sure it will be hilly but it looks like it could be a lot of fun.
Dublin Half-Marathon: A lovely race again through the Phoenix Park in Dublin and part of the Dublin Marathon Race Series.
Portugal Half Marathon: Having run the Lisbon Half this year across the April 25th bridge this might be a plan for 2012. It is also based in Lisbon just that it runs across the other bridge and in warmer temperatures.
October:
Dublin Marathon: A lovely marathon in the fair city of Dublin with absolutely fantastic support as you run and a fairly flat course to boot.
November:
Run the Gauntlet: This is a race in the South West of the country through the beautiful landscape of Killarney in Co. Kerry. It is a half marathon over and back through the gap of Dunloe and looks very tough.
Gaelforce Turf Guy: 10km race through bog land in Co. Galway with a few obstacles thrown into the mix.
Mo Run: To celebrate Movember, where men grow a mustache in November to raise awarenss of men's health there is a nice 10km run in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. It'd be a bit of craic and a reason to try to grow some facial hair.
Blue Light Mountain Madness: A nice 5km up and down a mountain.
December:
Santa Dash: This is a 5km or 10km race where you get a Santa outfit as part of your entry and everyone runs in their outfit. The run is in Clontarf in Dublin and finishes on the beach, where you'll have hundreds of Santas crossing the finish line. Money from the event goes towards the Irish Heart Foundation.
Waterford Half-Marathon: Half marathon through the city of Waterford.
RNLI Reindeer Run: A 10km or 5km run to raise fund for the Lifeboats. Reindeer Antleers for all participants.
These are just a few options. There are also races outside the country that could be a possibility and local club races to keep an eye out for. I'm looking forward to next year.
If you were to choose just two or three races from the ones listed above which ones would you pick? Also if you ahve any suggestions for runs in 2012, maybe ones you have run that you found to be great runs please let me know... I'm open to all suggestions.
Showing posts with label Half Marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Half Marathon. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Half Way There
2nd October
This day I went out with the aim of running as long as I could. I was still in recovery and hoping to put in a good showing. The marathon is fast approaching and if I could not manage a good distance I knew it would be very difficult for me to be ready in time for the big day. I decided to run in blocks of 5kms. After each 5km I stopped and stretch out the legs and Achilles. No harm in being extra cautious. All this care must have worked as I ran over 21km went I finally stopped, not bad at all.
This day I went out with the aim of running as long as I could. I was still in recovery and hoping to put in a good showing. The marathon is fast approaching and if I could not manage a good distance I knew it would be very difficult for me to be ready in time for the big day. I decided to run in blocks of 5kms. After each 5km I stopped and stretch out the legs and Achilles. No harm in being extra cautious. All this care must have worked as I ran over 21km went I finally stopped, not bad at all.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Yep, I'm Injured
I've been icing my Achilles as much as I can and putting Arnica Gel on the tendon in the hope that I would get better. So far there has not been that much of a recovery. Today, a little annoyed and probably not to clever I went out for a run in my new Brooks Ghost 4. They felt great but I only got to 4km when I thought that I may stop before I do damage. Back home and out with the ice again.
This has really put my marathon training in disarray. With only 6 and a half weeks or so to the marathon I'm not sure I'll be in the right condition. There is a half marathon on this weekend and I just may have to miss it in the hopes of getting some recovery in. Any tips on how to quicken recovery?
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| My new Brooks just before their inaugural run |
This has really put my marathon training in disarray. With only 6 and a half weeks or so to the marathon I'm not sure I'll be in the right condition. There is a half marathon on this weekend and I just may have to miss it in the hopes of getting some recovery in. Any tips on how to quicken recovery?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Race Report - Enniscorthy Half Marathon 2011
A bit late but here is the report of my attempt at the Enniscorthy Half Marathon, also called the Strawberry Half, which took place on the 26th of June 2011.
I arrived with plenty of time to warm up on an already warm morning in the town of Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford. Wexford is famed for it's strawberries and they have a festival each year called the strawberry festival. Last year they staged their first half marathon as part of this festival. I was registered for the race last year but didn't run it as I picked up a slight knee injury. This year I wasn't going to miss out again.
Parking was in a field beside the river, very close to the starting line. I sat relaxed and then decided to jog the short distance, probably 500m or so, to the start as part of my warm up. I was already sweating due to the heat and high humidity by the time I got to the start. I had a feeling that this was going to be a tough race. The temperature was 22ºC which is warm for Ireland but there was complete cloud cover and it felt very heavy.
At the start line I bumped into people I knew and we chatted about times and hopes for the race. I was hoping for a PR, which meant I would have to come in under 1h 59m 30s. I had decided to run with the 2hr pacers for the first 10km and then see how I felt after that.
We all lined up and a gentleman climbed a step ladder with a loudspeaker to get us under way. We ran straight to the first bridge and across.
From here we ran along the river crossed back over the bridge and up our first hill with not even a kilometre done. I should have realised from this point what the course would be like. I've never ran as many hills in my life.
From here we left the town. The two lads pacing were good craic and chatted away as we ran. They knew the course really well and would let us know when the next hill was coming and motivate us through it, telling us to conserve energy and get the breath back on the down hills. At 7km I started to feel a strong twinge in my left knee. Not used to running many hills and with the road slanted and pretty much uneven my knees were getting a good going over. After the injury at Christmas to my right knee and the length of time it took me to get back to running good distances I contemplated dropping out just in case I did some damage. I decided that there is always an aid station, if I needed to I could stop there, and kept going.
At the 10km mark we hit our biggest hill and this separated those who were aiming for a sub 2 hours into two groups. Once we got to the top of the hill my knee was giving me grief. I decided that if I ran quicker I would be finished quicker and be in some pain for less time. I picked up the pace a little, which actually helped the knee. Maybe my form changed with the change of pace, I don't know. The clouds had broken at this stage and there was brushings of blue in the sky. The sun was picking up in strength and the heat was making it tougher. The water stations were extremely welcome when I came upon them.
From here with the heat the going got tough. My heart rate was really high, it actually started higher than normal at the start due to the humidity. All I could do was plod along. Coming up to 16km and we crossed the bridge over the river that would mark our turn back towards the town. What I thought was the last water station was here and I was so happy for the extra water.
From here it was 5km along a straight, main road. I think I found this part the toughest of the course. As tough as the hills were finishing by running 5km virtually in a straight line with nothing but a clear view of the distance you have to run in front of you was tough. At 17km I could see the road looked like there was an incline up above. At 18km I could see it was a hill and I was not prepared for this. I thought this road was all flat for 5km. My heart nearly stopped. I was nearly out of energy and my brain was telling me to stop that I was going to collapse if I kept going. I could feel I was over heating. I had pushed my body very hard and was not sure If it would get me to the finish. As I reached the crest of the hill a water station came out of nowhere. I was never so happy to see a water station. I drank half the bottle and poured the rest over me to cool me down. I felt immediately better and my motivation came back. I was going to finish and in a good time, for me, too.
Back down to the town we crossed the first bridge we crossed at the beginning of the race again and turned back to the finish line. My knee was really aching now but not far to go now. I crossed the line in 1:56:00 race time but a 1:55:36 chip time, a new PR. Happy days
From here I walked to the river and got in. The water was freezing but me legs felt great for it. A nice stretch out and walk to cool down and it was back to the car, a quick change and a 1 hour drive home. Maybe there is something wrong with me but despite the toughness of the course I really enjoyed the event.
The only thing I could fault the organisers for is the t-shirts. When I came across the line there were no more medium size shirts left so I had to take a large, no biggy. Apart from this it was a great event. The route was fantastic lots of little roads and very scenic. We passed lots of houses where people were outside cheering us on. At one house a group of girls had set up their own water stand and were handing out cups. Although I didn't take any I thanked them for their work. There was a great buzz and atmosphere about the place the route was well sign posted. It is a tough run but all the more enjoyable when you finish it. It is also a small race at the moment with 414 starting it and 409 finishing. I finished 244. I hope to be back next year.
I arrived with plenty of time to warm up on an already warm morning in the town of Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford. Wexford is famed for it's strawberries and they have a festival each year called the strawberry festival. Last year they staged their first half marathon as part of this festival. I was registered for the race last year but didn't run it as I picked up a slight knee injury. This year I wasn't going to miss out again.
Parking was in a field beside the river, very close to the starting line. I sat relaxed and then decided to jog the short distance, probably 500m or so, to the start as part of my warm up. I was already sweating due to the heat and high humidity by the time I got to the start. I had a feeling that this was going to be a tough race. The temperature was 22ºC which is warm for Ireland but there was complete cloud cover and it felt very heavy.
At the start line I bumped into people I knew and we chatted about times and hopes for the race. I was hoping for a PR, which meant I would have to come in under 1h 59m 30s. I had decided to run with the 2hr pacers for the first 10km and then see how I felt after that.
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| The 2hr Pacers and their orange balloons |
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| Me "71" crossing the bridge |
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| At least there is always a downhill |
At the 10km mark we hit our biggest hill and this separated those who were aiming for a sub 2 hours into two groups. Once we got to the top of the hill my knee was giving me grief. I decided that if I ran quicker I would be finished quicker and be in some pain for less time. I picked up the pace a little, which actually helped the knee. Maybe my form changed with the change of pace, I don't know. The clouds had broken at this stage and there was brushings of blue in the sky. The sun was picking up in strength and the heat was making it tougher. The water stations were extremely welcome when I came upon them.
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| 12km in, just under 10km to go |
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| Across the bridge and the return journey begins |
Back down to the town we crossed the first bridge we crossed at the beginning of the race again and turned back to the finish line. My knee was really aching now but not far to go now. I crossed the line in 1:56:00 race time but a 1:55:36 chip time, a new PR. Happy days
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| At the finish line, and happy to be there |
The only thing I could fault the organisers for is the t-shirts. When I came across the line there were no more medium size shirts left so I had to take a large, no biggy. Apart from this it was a great event. The route was fantastic lots of little roads and very scenic. We passed lots of houses where people were outside cheering us on. At one house a group of girls had set up their own water stand and were handing out cups. Although I didn't take any I thanked them for their work. There was a great buzz and atmosphere about the place the route was well sign posted. It is a tough run but all the more enjoyable when you finish it. It is also a small race at the moment with 414 starting it and 409 finishing. I finished 244. I hope to be back next year.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Juneathon Meltdown
The first half of Juneathon went well. I managed to get in 15 day of exercise in a row and blog about it. My legs were tired but there was a nice sense of satisfaction at managing to get in 15 days of exercise in a row and I was starting to notice the difference from the core exercises.
Then meltdown. I felt run down. I know tiredness is a state of mind but I lost my motivation and a bit of my willpower to continue exercising everyday. I also backed away from the Internet, so I've read no posts and written none since June 15th. This is not to say that I have not ran during this period because I did, I just didn't do what I hoped I would.
I guess I found out how tough Juneathon is if you are not prepared for it. I'll be back next year with Janathon and hopefully will make a better go at it then.
So since the 15th of June I've ran a total of three times. Once for 17km, another for 6km both shown below, and I also ran a Half Marathon race, the strawberry half. Race report to follow. It's back on the horse again and the next run will be the first run of my 18 week Dublin City Marathon schedule, a schedule I hope I am better at sticking to.
Then meltdown. I felt run down. I know tiredness is a state of mind but I lost my motivation and a bit of my willpower to continue exercising everyday. I also backed away from the Internet, so I've read no posts and written none since June 15th. This is not to say that I have not ran during this period because I did, I just didn't do what I hoped I would.
I guess I found out how tough Juneathon is if you are not prepared for it. I'll be back next year with Janathon and hopefully will make a better go at it then.
So since the 15th of June I've ran a total of three times. Once for 17km, another for 6km both shown below, and I also ran a Half Marathon race, the strawberry half. Race report to follow. It's back on the horse again and the next run will be the first run of my 18 week Dublin City Marathon schedule, a schedule I hope I am better at sticking to.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Juneathon - Day 15: Exercises
Today I was pretty tired after work and left the little bit of exercise I had planned to do today until late. I did manage to get in 34 minutes of sit-ups, push-up parallel stretches and balance exercises. I feel really tired now and am off to bed. A 6 to 8km run planned for tomorrow.
I also got my sponsorship pack today from the Irish Cancer Society. I'm running the Dublin City Marathon on October 31st, my first marathon, and am fundraising for them while doing it. If you wish to donate to this cause please click on the mycharity.ie button on the column on the right. The marathon training schedule starts in July and I'm not sure what to expect but I am looking forward to it. But before all that starts I have a half marathon on Sunday week. I better get in a good long run this weekend to make sure I can still do it.
I also got my sponsorship pack today from the Irish Cancer Society. I'm running the Dublin City Marathon on October 31st, my first marathon, and am fundraising for them while doing it. If you wish to donate to this cause please click on the mycharity.ie button on the column on the right. The marathon training schedule starts in July and I'm not sure what to expect but I am looking forward to it. But before all that starts I have a half marathon on Sunday week. I better get in a good long run this weekend to make sure I can still do it.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Juneathon - Day 12: Running
This morning the weather was horrible and I was not looking forward to my run. It was dark, wet, cold and miserable. I needed to run as it had been a few days since I did and I knew I would have to go out in this. I can't believe this is June.
When the time came to run the temperature had risen a little and rain had stopped. I didn't bring the gloves that I was contemplating in the morning. When I got to my starting point I left my jacket in the car, the weather had improved some more, and set off at a nice pace. The idea for today was to try and hit 15km. I'm supposed to run a half marathon in two weeks and I haven't run further than 12km in almost two months.
The first 10km were nice but then the dreaded IT band, on my left leg this time, began to play up. At 11km I stopped to stretch it out and again at 13km. At 13.1km I stopped and walked the short distance back to the car. I didn't want to push the knee too hard. I did this in December and it resulted in one month trying to get past 2km without my knee giving in. I'm hoping the problem is related to Juneathon and daily exercise and that my body is a little tired. I'll know next week how I'm feeling when I run my long run if the half is doable or if it is better I sit this one out. I hope next weekend is better.
When the time came to run the temperature had risen a little and rain had stopped. I didn't bring the gloves that I was contemplating in the morning. When I got to my starting point I left my jacket in the car, the weather had improved some more, and set off at a nice pace. The idea for today was to try and hit 15km. I'm supposed to run a half marathon in two weeks and I haven't run further than 12km in almost two months.
The first 10km were nice but then the dreaded IT band, on my left leg this time, began to play up. At 11km I stopped to stretch it out and again at 13km. At 13.1km I stopped and walked the short distance back to the car. I didn't want to push the knee too hard. I did this in December and it resulted in one month trying to get past 2km without my knee giving in. I'm hoping the problem is related to Juneathon and daily exercise and that my body is a little tired. I'll know next week how I'm feeling when I run my long run if the half is doable or if it is better I sit this one out. I hope next weekend is better.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Lisbon Half - Recovery Run
With my legs still a bit shook from Sunday I went out for a run. I probably should have done this run on Monday but decided a family day out walking Lisbon Zoo was a better option that day. I had forgotten to cut my toe nails before the half and some toes were not in great shape, but on the mend. The legs were complaining that they didn't want this but I knew they really needed it.
The weather was great. A cool 16ºC with a lovely breeze. The idea was to try for 6km but if the legs were still too tender to cut that short. I ran 1km and stopped to stretch and legs felt much better after that. 5km later I was back at the house and after a bit more stretching was finished a nice slow, easy run. Feeling better today.
I've a 10km race in Dublin in just under 3 weeks time. I learned my lesson after the last half where I had no races planned when it finished. As a result I got lazy and ran only four times in the following 3 months. That won't be happening this time around.
The weather was great. A cool 16ºC with a lovely breeze. The idea was to try for 6km but if the legs were still too tender to cut that short. I ran 1km and stopped to stretch and legs felt much better after that. 5km later I was back at the house and after a bit more stretching was finished a nice slow, easy run. Feeling better today.
I've a 10km race in Dublin in just under 3 weeks time. I learned my lesson after the last half where I had no races planned when it finished. As a result I got lazy and ran only four times in the following 3 months. That won't be happening this time around.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Race Report - Lisbon Half Marathon 2011
It's all over now and my legs are in recovery but here is how it all played out.
I woke up at 7:30am and had my breakfast of porridge, honey and banana, drank about 500ml of water, put on some suncream and waited to be collected. My wife's brother João was also running the half and arrived just after 9am to bring me to the train station. João's girlfriend Ana was taking part in the mini marathon, a 7km track on mostly the same route. We got the train at 9:34am and had only one stop to go. Anyone with a race number could use the public transport system free of charge to get to and from the race, which was great. It was nice to be staying so close to the start of a race so there wasn't much travel time involved. This, however, didn't prevent me from being late for the start.
I'm going to complain a bit here so apologies in advance for this. We arrived at Pragal station and I left the group in search of a toilet. I had hopes that this would be a well organised event but the toilet facilites were definetly lacking. On paper there were a lot of toilet locations at the start, on the race route and and at the finish, unfortunatley at those locations there were not a lot of toilets, and each toilet had it's own queue, so you could be stuck a long time waiting. I tried three toilets, all with no toilet paper, poor organisation. Losing a lot of time at this point I decided to jog to the start as part of a warm up. There were two large roads leading to the start and lots of space to jog until both came together in a bottleneck with a huge crowd trying to get past. At this point I knew I would miss the start but felt that I would still have time to reach the gate I was looking to start in. When I finally got through the bottleneck (there was a nice group standing in the bottleneck making it smaller having a group meeting with two organisors watching them, not moving them on) it was on to the start.
The race starting point was at the beginning of the bridge on the way into Lisbon and the race had already started. My stretching was quick and brief, not really what I wanted but I was in a hurry. I had assumed that one side of the bridge would be for the half and the other for the mini, but I was wrong. I also assumed that they would start the race in waves with the faster wave first and so on, it seems I was wrong again. I asked which side was for the half and was told both, it doesn't matter. It also seemed that they started everyone together, I was 8 minutes late for the start, but I think if it was started in waves I wouldn't have had to wade through lots of people walking. As a result I spent the first 1km run/walking as the majoity of people were walking, stopping, taking photos, meaning I had to weave between people and stop abruptly on a regular basis, more bad organisation.
OK, further complaining about the organsition of the event can wait a little... The Race. I had said in my previous post that thoughts of a PR were shelved due to the weather, of course I was just saying that but still harbouring hopes it might be possible. This half is considered the fastest in the world as it is almost totally flat with probably 100m uphill and 1km downhill outside of that flat, a great opportunity for a PR. At the 3.5km mark we came off the bridge completed our little bit of uphill and then began winding our way downhill to the lower river level. At 5km the mini marathon went to the right and the half to the left. At this point there was lots of space. It was also the first water stop and bit of live music. With the temperatures at 23ºC it was great that there were so many water stations on the route, good organisation :-) and the live music along the route also was a welcoming factor.
Songs I heard sung live along the route:
Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Phil Collin's Easy Lover
Katy Perry's Hot N Cold
Britney Spear's Toxic
Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode
Around the 8km mark we past the main square of Lisbon's downtown, Praça do Comércio. Up to this point my race was going quite well and my pace was well on for a sub 2 hour half. We turned around and ran back the direction we came from. As soon as the turn was made the lovely breeze that had been in my face on the way up completely disappeared, replaced by a dead heat. At the next water station I poured a bottle of water over me to cool down, a slight mistake as my t-shirt became really heavy, at least in the heat it didn't stay heavy for long. At 10km I passed Hennessy's Irish Pub for the second time and I'm sure I could hear it whisper "Come in for a cool drink". At this point my heart rate was also suggesting a break. Shaking this from my head I plodded on. At 13km we passed the point again where the mini and half orignally seperated and went the other direction. We continued down this new stretch of road along the river towards Belém. Along this route there are some great views.
At 15km I was gone. I stopped and walked each time I took a drink. At 17km we ran by and past the finish line and it was tempting to jump the barrier and run towards it. At 19km we reached the end of this long stretch of road turned around and ran back along the other lane. Just over 2km left and the breeze had returned. At 19.5km banana's and orange slices were handed out and the next 1km was spend making sure you didn't step and slip on any of the peels. I pushed and pushed myself over this last stretch as a sub 2 hour was still possible but it was going to be close. I ran through the finished line, tired, glad to be finished, with nothing left to give and collected my medal and finish pack in front of Jeronimo's Monastery. In my opinion the toughest race I've ever run. My son, my wife and her dad were there at the finish line to great me. The finishing pack had two bottles of water, one energy drink, a carton of milk and a small museli bar. I was so happy that my wife brought lots of sugary jellies for me to snack on at the end of the race.
I later got my offical chip time off the website 1:59:31 a new PR.
The classification gave me a finish of 4128 out of 6331 which is based on the offical time but on chip time I finished 3577, not bad, and out of the 23 Irish people who entered the race I placed 8th. Out of the 2752 in my age category I placed 1663.
The trip home was an adventure. We decided to get the boat back across the river. The queue was long as there was no change in the public transport timetables. At the weekends in Lisbon the public transport service is reduced and the day of the race was no different. With 36,000 people decending on Lisbon, over 6000 for the half and the rest for the mini all with the right to free access on public transport you would think that the service would have been increased even just for the time of the race and two hours after but no. Agression levels were high and two men had to be physically pulled apart while waiting for the boat amongst aqusations of skipping the queue. I've been told a few times before that queue skipping is a big no no in Portugal and I saw evidence of that first hand.
We got home, showered, changed and the it was out on the tiles for the night. We went for dinnner to an all you can eat Brazillian Restaurant called Chimarrão and ate until we were about to burst. A couple of drinks later and a fun day ended.
Despite some of the organisational hiccups it was a great day, a great race, great spirit around the place and wonderful sceanery. I'd do it again, but hopefully on a cooler day. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it, I did.
I woke up at 7:30am and had my breakfast of porridge, honey and banana, drank about 500ml of water, put on some suncream and waited to be collected. My wife's brother João was also running the half and arrived just after 9am to bring me to the train station. João's girlfriend Ana was taking part in the mini marathon, a 7km track on mostly the same route. We got the train at 9:34am and had only one stop to go. Anyone with a race number could use the public transport system free of charge to get to and from the race, which was great. It was nice to be staying so close to the start of a race so there wasn't much travel time involved. This, however, didn't prevent me from being late for the start.
I'm going to complain a bit here so apologies in advance for this. We arrived at Pragal station and I left the group in search of a toilet. I had hopes that this would be a well organised event but the toilet facilites were definetly lacking. On paper there were a lot of toilet locations at the start, on the race route and and at the finish, unfortunatley at those locations there were not a lot of toilets, and each toilet had it's own queue, so you could be stuck a long time waiting. I tried three toilets, all with no toilet paper, poor organisation. Losing a lot of time at this point I decided to jog to the start as part of a warm up. There were two large roads leading to the start and lots of space to jog until both came together in a bottleneck with a huge crowd trying to get past. At this point I knew I would miss the start but felt that I would still have time to reach the gate I was looking to start in. When I finally got through the bottleneck (there was a nice group standing in the bottleneck making it smaller having a group meeting with two organisors watching them, not moving them on) it was on to the start.
The race starting point was at the beginning of the bridge on the way into Lisbon and the race had already started. My stretching was quick and brief, not really what I wanted but I was in a hurry. I had assumed that one side of the bridge would be for the half and the other for the mini, but I was wrong. I also assumed that they would start the race in waves with the faster wave first and so on, it seems I was wrong again. I asked which side was for the half and was told both, it doesn't matter. It also seemed that they started everyone together, I was 8 minutes late for the start, but I think if it was started in waves I wouldn't have had to wade through lots of people walking. As a result I spent the first 1km run/walking as the majoity of people were walking, stopping, taking photos, meaning I had to weave between people and stop abruptly on a regular basis, more bad organisation.
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| Ponte 25 de Abril - The Race Start |
Songs I heard sung live along the route:
Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Phil Collin's Easy Lover
Katy Perry's Hot N Cold
Britney Spear's Toxic
Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
Chuck Berry's Johnny B Goode
Around the 8km mark we past the main square of Lisbon's downtown, Praça do Comércio. Up to this point my race was going quite well and my pace was well on for a sub 2 hour half. We turned around and ran back the direction we came from. As soon as the turn was made the lovely breeze that had been in my face on the way up completely disappeared, replaced by a dead heat. At the next water station I poured a bottle of water over me to cool down, a slight mistake as my t-shirt became really heavy, at least in the heat it didn't stay heavy for long. At 10km I passed Hennessy's Irish Pub for the second time and I'm sure I could hear it whisper "Come in for a cool drink". At this point my heart rate was also suggesting a break. Shaking this from my head I plodded on. At 13km we passed the point again where the mini and half orignally seperated and went the other direction. We continued down this new stretch of road along the river towards Belém. Along this route there are some great views.
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| The Discoverer's Monument |
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| Torre de Belém |
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| Jeronimo's Monastery |
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| At the end of the race with my free Chocolate Cornetto (I love Ice-cream, Wonderful Organisation) |
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| Me and James celebrate the end of the race |
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| Me and my wife Ana who gratefully brought jellies for me to eat. |
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| Look what I won |
I later got my offical chip time off the website 1:59:31 a new PR.
The classification gave me a finish of 4128 out of 6331 which is based on the offical time but on chip time I finished 3577, not bad, and out of the 23 Irish people who entered the race I placed 8th. Out of the 2752 in my age category I placed 1663.
The trip home was an adventure. We decided to get the boat back across the river. The queue was long as there was no change in the public transport timetables. At the weekends in Lisbon the public transport service is reduced and the day of the race was no different. With 36,000 people decending on Lisbon, over 6000 for the half and the rest for the mini all with the right to free access on public transport you would think that the service would have been increased even just for the time of the race and two hours after but no. Agression levels were high and two men had to be physically pulled apart while waiting for the boat amongst aqusations of skipping the queue. I've been told a few times before that queue skipping is a big no no in Portugal and I saw evidence of that first hand.
We got home, showered, changed and the it was out on the tiles for the night. We went for dinnner to an all you can eat Brazillian Restaurant called Chimarrão and ate until we were about to burst. A couple of drinks later and a fun day ended.
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| Portuguese beer "Super Bock" in a Guinness glass, nice :-) |
Friday, March 18, 2011
Rising Temperatures
A few days ago I was contemplating a PR in the Lisbon half on Sunday. I had checked the long term weather forcast which said sunny, blue skies and 18ºC. Perfect for an attempt at a PR, or so I thought. Three days ago the weather forecast stated 20ºC, two days ago it was giving 22ºC and yesterday on arrival in Portugal the weather forecast said 24ºC for Sunday.
This morning I ran a small 4km as my last outing before the half. It was 16ºC out. The past few runs I been doing at home have been in temperatures between 4ºC and 8ºC, granted I was well wrapped up. Today was the first run done this year without a jacket and I could still feel the heat difference as I was out. Sunday will be 8ºC warmer. I've since revised my goal of a PR and will just go out and run it and see what happens. I hope there will be a lot of water stations on the route.
I'm going into the city today to collect my race pack and my wife's family are cooking pasta for dinner tonight and tomorrow night. I'll be making sure I get enough water in today and tomorrow and during the race. I've even brought porridge from Ireland for breakfast the mornign of the race. I'm also not having any wine until after the race. I think yesterday was the first St. Patrick's Day in a long time that was a dry one for me, but I'll celebrate Sunday night instead.
This morning I ran a small 4km as my last outing before the half. It was 16ºC out. The past few runs I been doing at home have been in temperatures between 4ºC and 8ºC, granted I was well wrapped up. Today was the first run done this year without a jacket and I could still feel the heat difference as I was out. Sunday will be 8ºC warmer. I've since revised my goal of a PR and will just go out and run it and see what happens. I hope there will be a lot of water stations on the route.
I'm going into the city today to collect my race pack and my wife's family are cooking pasta for dinner tonight and tomorrow night. I'll be making sure I get enough water in today and tomorrow and during the race. I've even brought porridge from Ireland for breakfast the mornign of the race. I'm also not having any wine until after the race. I think yesterday was the first St. Patrick's Day in a long time that was a dry one for me, but I'll celebrate Sunday night instead.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Early Morning Run
The idea of today's run was to run slower than last weeks 18km but still at a good pace. This was my last long run before the half, I'll be slowing it down from here on in.
Normally I would run between 10am and 11am on a Saturday morning but as my wife was off to Dublin today I needed to get the run in earlier. I had my porridge and honey for breakfast, which is what I like to eat before embarking on a long run, drove to the shop and bought an energy drink. After a few drinks drove to work where the run would begin. The radio was talking about beautiful weather, blue skies in Dublin but outside in Carlow the fog was everywhere and still hasn't lifted as I write this.
At 8:35am I left the car park with my head fully awake but my legs seemingly still asleep and a little sore. This was going to be a long run. I have four road routes that I like to run around the town and today I decided instead of doing a loop 3.5 times maybe I should run them all and see how far that is. By combining the routes there would only be one stretch of about 750m that I would run twice.
The first 8km were far from comfortable, unlike Thursday's run but I battled through. It wasn't until 14km that my legs started to respond and feel that they were up to the task. I reached the front of my office and the Garmin showed 17.83km, not bad. I ran a little further to hit the 18km and walked back to the car to stretch. I felt the run, although tough, was at a comfortable enough pace, a pace of 05:33 min/km, which would give me a sub 2 hour half, happy days. I was 1 minute and 24 seconds slower than last week, not much.
With the IT band problem in late December and a half training schedule that was changed almost every week I didn't think I'd be at the stage I'm at now. Looking forward to Lisbon now. Recovery run tomorrow, all going well.
Normally I would run between 10am and 11am on a Saturday morning but as my wife was off to Dublin today I needed to get the run in earlier. I had my porridge and honey for breakfast, which is what I like to eat before embarking on a long run, drove to the shop and bought an energy drink. After a few drinks drove to work where the run would begin. The radio was talking about beautiful weather, blue skies in Dublin but outside in Carlow the fog was everywhere and still hasn't lifted as I write this.
At 8:35am I left the car park with my head fully awake but my legs seemingly still asleep and a little sore. This was going to be a long run. I have four road routes that I like to run around the town and today I decided instead of doing a loop 3.5 times maybe I should run them all and see how far that is. By combining the routes there would only be one stretch of about 750m that I would run twice.
The first 8km were far from comfortable, unlike Thursday's run but I battled through. It wasn't until 14km that my legs started to respond and feel that they were up to the task. I reached the front of my office and the Garmin showed 17.83km, not bad. I ran a little further to hit the 18km and walked back to the car to stretch. I felt the run, although tough, was at a comfortable enough pace, a pace of 05:33 min/km, which would give me a sub 2 hour half, happy days. I was 1 minute and 24 seconds slower than last week, not much.
With the IT band problem in late December and a half training schedule that was changed almost every week I didn't think I'd be at the stage I'm at now. Looking forward to Lisbon now. Recovery run tomorrow, all going well.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Feeling Good
The Tuesday run was postponed as I went to Tai Chi again and felt that a run after an hour of Tai Chi was a little too much. Last week the knee was sore after doing both so I postponed the run until Wednesday. The idea was to run 5km without the IT band strap on Wednesday and another 5km on Thursday.
At 9.30pm I left the house and drove to where I work. The route around the block where I work is about 2.45km long and there is a small up and downhill. I got to work and the weather was still good. For the first time this year I didn't run with a hat and gloves.
I ran the first 1km as a warm up, stretched and then continued my run with the aim of completing a total of 5km without any knee pain. As I was running I was feeling good. I passed 4km, my previous best without the strap, and kept going. At 5km I was still feeling good so I decided to keep going. At 7km still feeling good I was zig zagging around to make sure I was close to the car should I have to stop while continuing the run. I got the 10km and decided to stop so as to not strain the knee, but I felt I could have run the half marathon that night.
I love those runs where you enjoy every minute of it and it feels steady, at a good pace and you could just keep going on and on and on. It's been a while since I enjoyed a run so much. Looking forward to Lisbon now.
At 9.30pm I left the house and drove to where I work. The route around the block where I work is about 2.45km long and there is a small up and downhill. I got to work and the weather was still good. For the first time this year I didn't run with a hat and gloves.
I ran the first 1km as a warm up, stretched and then continued my run with the aim of completing a total of 5km without any knee pain. As I was running I was feeling good. I passed 4km, my previous best without the strap, and kept going. At 5km I was still feeling good so I decided to keep going. At 7km still feeling good I was zig zagging around to make sure I was close to the car should I have to stop while continuing the run. I got the 10km and decided to stop so as to not strain the knee, but I felt I could have run the half marathon that night.
I love those runs where you enjoy every minute of it and it feels steady, at a good pace and you could just keep going on and on and on. It's been a while since I enjoyed a run so much. Looking forward to Lisbon now.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Bedtime Reading
Since I've started blogging about my running I find I'm reading books less at night. The reason being is the time I would normally spend reading books I now find myself reading running blogs. There are some great blogs out their full of information, tips and real motivation.
The last book I read was on my holidays at Christmas and is the reason I developed an injury. It wasn't my fault running through a searing pain while my knee screamed no more, oh no I'm not to blame it was the book I read. The book was "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker Jr.
The last book I read was on my holidays at Christmas and is the reason I developed an injury. It wasn't my fault running through a searing pain while my knee screamed no more, oh no I'm not to blame it was the book I read. The book was "Once a Runner" by John L. Parker Jr.
(Image from amazon.co.uk)
This book was such an easy read, I flew through it cover to cover. It helped me reengage with my running that had stopped after the half-marathon in September. I had been so happy when I finished the half-marathon that I just stopped running for a few months. I read the book and felt, once again the need to run. In my wisdom I decided I was still as fit as I was three months earlier and felt I could push myself hard to make up for lost time. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Three hard runs in three days saw me do damage, which now seems to be on the mend. As it is on the mend I can look on the bright side, which is the valuable lesson that I learned and I hope I remember. Listen to my body when I run. If it is fine and feeling good an extra kilometre or two is nice. If it is tired and sore be careful and if there is pain that doesn't feel right slow down and stop if necessary, there is no point in injuring yourself because a good day will be just around the corner.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A Little Longer
The goal for today was 4km and to run slower than Tuesday so as not to put too much pressure on the knee. I hoped that this would get me the extra distance. The place I normally run was locked up so I parked up the car and ran to the nearest green area.
I ran at a nice easy pace and I kept going until the knee started to ache. I've learned to stop when that happens (you would think it was something that I should know and not have to learn). At the end of the run I didn't hit the goal of 4km but i had run 25 minutes, 5 minutes more than the last run which is a big positive.
I used the foam roller today for the first time. I really hope it it works because it hurts like hell. The half marathon is now only 52 days away. The recovery rolls on.
I ran at a nice easy pace and I kept going until the knee started to ache. I've learned to stop when that happens (you would think it was something that I should know and not have to learn). At the end of the run I didn't hit the goal of 4km but i had run 25 minutes, 5 minutes more than the last run which is a big positive.
I used the foam roller today for the first time. I really hope it it works because it hurts like hell. The half marathon is now only 52 days away. The recovery rolls on.
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