DCM: Wk:14 5km Recovery

I started running back at the beginning of 2010 due to a health scare at the end of 2009.  A severe bout of chest pains landed me in hosiptal and after a few tests with no conclusions stress was put down as the cause.  I knew I needed to get back into shape and began running as it was something I always enjoyed but hadn't done for a number of years.  I called the blog Recovery Runner to remind me of why I decided to run again and to recover my health.

Last year I ran on and off but this year has been better and I already ran longer and further than last year.  However with all this talk of recovery, today was the first time though that I did a proper recovery run.  My calf muscles and Achilles tendons have been tender and sore lately and I have put it down to increasing the distance run while running constantly on the road and running too many faster runs.  So last week I went to McMillan Running Calculator which, if you put in your last best race will give you the pace you should be running at for your long runs, speed workouts and recovery runs.  While I was still a bit faster today than I should have been it is the slowest I've run for a long time and I feel great after it.  Maybe the experts do know a thing or two that I could learn.

I've since adjusted my target pace for certain runs and inputed them into my Garmin to make sure that I stick to them and so far so good.  I'll report back in a week or two on how the muscles are reacting as the distance goes up but the pace zones stay in correlation with the calculator.

DCM: Wk:14 21km Long

Thursdays 5km went out the window.  There was a family emergency and the run was totally forgotten.  I'm now into a very important three weeks.  The distance starts to creep up with today being a nice 21km.  I'm on holidays for the next three weeks also, in Portugal so I'll have to contend with the heat.  I hope this will make the run in to higher distances when I get home easier as the temperatures will be cooler.

I got up early this morning, early for me and ran what is probably my first run before 7am.  I have present my garmin before I left for holidays with the runs I need to do and with pace zones for the runs to ensure I don't run too fast and end up burning out.  Todays runs was nice and easy and clocks my slowest ever time for the distance, but not by much.  The great thing for me was that it was just my legs that were tired, the break during the week had help but my muscles are still recovering.  My breathing was good and my average heart rate was the best it has ever been for this distance.  I have ran this distance five times now, but never further.  This run was probally the most relaxed one I've done.

In two weesk time I'll run my very first 24km run, here.  It will be another early start.  I've been using Nuun hydration tabs for my long runs and they seem to be working.  While I'm still not enamered by the taste todays run felt nice, even in the heat and I didn't feel dehydrated during the run.  I'll see how this continues.

DCM: Wk:14 6.5km Regular

My Achilles tendons are giving me some trouble at the moment.  I've been reading that speed and hard ground can agravate it so I'm looking at running on softer ground and at a slower pace for teh next three weeks.  Hopefully I'll still cover the kilometres I should while giving the calfs and tendons a slight break.

On Tuesday I went up to the Éire Óg club and ran on their km track.  It is mostly gravel and a part on grass.  It was to be a 6.5km run.  The weather as usual this summer wasn't great and I found the run tough as the muscles and tendons were not too happy, but I still managed to finish it, just.  I was happy to get home after this one, not a good day.

Race Report - Irish Runner 5 Mile 2011

On the 16th of July it was off to the Phoenix Park in Dublin for year another race.  This time it was a 5 mile race, my first every 5 mile race, so a guaranteed PR, something I love about running a distance for the first time.  It was also the first race in the Dublin City Marathon race series.

The weather was very windy and a cool 18º.  As i pulled up to park the race started coming down and combined with the winder it felt distinctly cooler than 18º.  A nice little warm up and it was into the coral for the start of the race.  There were three different starts and I chose the middle one for those who hoped to finish between 40 minutes and 45 minutes.  A month ago I had hope to run under 40 minutes but due to having a cold all week and not training as much as I should I set myself a target of 42 minutes 30 seconds.  It was freezing waiting for the start, but it wasn't too long a wait.

It was very crowded at the start as usual but it didn't take too long to spread out.  The first mile was straight into the wind with a slight incline but once that was over you turned around and the wind was at your back and you hit a gradual slope down hill.  I had my watch set to km, as it's what I'm used to and I was checking each km for time.  1st km was done in 5:16, good timing for 42:30.  The 2nd km was 5:05 and when I saw that I got thinking, maybe a sub 40 is not impossible.  I just needed to shave a couple of seconds off my current pace.  3km past by in 4:51 and I knew I had a good chance.  I was feeling good, my breathing was good and I felt I could keep this pace up.  I knew the next 4kms were on a downhill before we hit the last km which would be a tough uphill to cover all the down hill we had got and get us back to the finish line just beside where we started.  I knew if I put it all out there on the next 4km I could leave myself plenty of time for the hill.

The sun came out, the heat rose and the day began to turn nice.  I kept the pace up, it was nice to run down this hill as opposed to up it as I did in April.  4km down in 4:47, so half way through in 19:59, still on.  I really pushed myself over the next few kms.  5km in 4:32, 6km in 4:46 and 7km in 4:26 and then the hill struck.  It was tough and my legs were sluggish.  I actually felt for the first time in a race that I may vomit, but didn't.  I pushed up the hill willing myself to the finish line.  Afterwards i saw my heart rate peaked at 200, not so good.  I crossed the finish line with 8km in 4:55 and another 70m on top for good measure with a chip time of 38:58.  I was delighted.  In over 6300 runners a finish of 1177, great day out, looking forward to my next race.

DCM Week 15: Long

Yesterday's run was a nice 15km on a lovely day.  When I woke up the sun was shining.  It's been a while since that has happened in the wet country of ours.  The weather has been pretty miserable in June and July, more like winter than summer, but yesterday was a glorious day.

A nice easy 500m warm up, a stretch and I was on my way.  I had put the IT band strap on my right knee as it was giving me a bit of trouble on Thursday's run and I had put a Nuun hydration tab in my water.  I had read about Nuun tabs on blogs and some bloggers swear by them so I thought I'd give them a go.  I had the orange flavoured ones.  The taste is like lightly flavoured water but there is a slight fizz also.  I'm not sure if I'm mad about the taste or the fact that as I run they bubble up so when getting near the bottom of the drink you get foam but they did seem to do the job they are meant to, in that they kept me hydrated on a warm day.  I'll stick with them until the end of the tube and see how I go.

The run itself was non-eventful except that my right leg must be getting too much work.  The IT band is currently fine but my Achilles tendon is very tender today.  I was supposed to run a 5km recovery run today but on account of the Achilles I've decided to rest up.  Next run is on Tuesday.  14 weeks and counting to the Dublin City Marathon.  Here's hoping the tendon will be in better shape by Tuesday.  If anyone has any tips on taking care of your Achilles tendon I'd love to hear it.

DCM Week 15: Regular

Today was a scheduled 6.5km regular run.  Once I had put the young lad to bed I got changed and headed out the door.  I was really tired and not in the mood but I need to be more focus with my running if I'm to be ready for the marathon.  I've pushed my legs over the past two runs and have been feeling it in my calves and Achilles so the plan was to run nice and easy today.

As I set off on a surprisingly nice evening I settled into a nice easy pace but it wasn't long before the left calf started feeling tight.  I kept focusing on running steady and easy and although the tightness didn't clear it also didn't get worse.  With a km to go I realised that I had misjudge the route I chosen so instead of 6.5km I ended up with 7km, not too bad.  I felt great after the run.  You have gotta love hove you seem to have more energy after a nice run than before it and you know you made the right decision to get out.

Back home and getting out of the shower I felt a twinge in my right knee.  The knee feels tender and a bit weak. I hope I haven't done damage to the IT band again.  The strap may have to come back out of the press for the long run on Saturday.  It's to be a nice 15km run.  I hope my knee is up to the challenge.

DCM Week 15: Speed

So there is only 15 weeks left to the Dublin City Marathon and so far my training has not gone to plan.  Last week was a complete write off.  I woke up on Monday with a head cold, which had me totally bunged up and miserable.  I had no energy to run and probably would not have been able to breath had I run.  The cold started to clear on Friday afternoon, which was good timing as I was supposed to run a 5 mile race on Saturday morning.  So my only run of the week was that 5 mile race on Saturday, race report to follow in the next few days.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, work wise, so I moved Tuesday's run to today.  The plan called for an 8km run so I programmed the Garmin for an 8km pyramid speed workout.  It was tough but doable and the legs are getting a good workout.  I never look forward to speed workouts but I'm glad I've done them when they are over as I can feel the benefits of them.  I calculated a bit wrong and ended up running the cool down fast as I though I had another 400m fast to come.  For a perfect pyramid I should have run another 400m fast, so I wasn't wrong but that would have put me well over the 8km target for today.  I was a bit surprised when the watch said workout finished and I thought I still had 900m to go.  A small jog back to the car was my cool down, a nice round of stretching and then home.

3 more runs left this week, a 6.5km, a 15km and a 6km run.  I need to be focused for the remainder of the plan.  Bring it on.

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.

The 2hr Pacers and their orange balloons

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.

Me "71" crossing the bridge

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.

At least there is always a downhill

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.

12km in, just under 10km to go

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.

Across the bridge and the return journey begins

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

At the finish line, and happy to be there

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.

Week 18 & 17 Roundup

I've been away for a while and have not really had a chance to blog so I'm throwing all my latest runs into this post to catch up rather than create an individual post for each one, not that there are many runs since my last blog.

I've had a poor start to my marathon training.  I'm on a schedule which is 4 runs per week.  I'm looking at getting in a speed workout, a regular run, a long run and a recovery run.  Two weeks in and I've managed 5 runs out of 8, not great.  With only 16 weeks remaining to the run I have to become a lot more disciplined or I won't be at the place I need to be for the marathon.

One of my runs was in Geneva, a little outside of my usual routes, working trip.  It is a beautiful place to run.  Geneva is situated on a lake and this really makes the run enjoyable.  I wish I had more time to run there but the day I did run was beautiful, sunny, warm, clear blue sky and had a snow capped Mount Blanc in the background.

I hope to blog on a regular basis again now that life has slowed down again.