Week 4

The week so far has been a bit of a disaster.
I can't shift a chesty cough so the training has been very limited.
I've cycled to and from work and I've done a few miles on the treadmill and that's it so far.
I may be kayaking this evening so that may help keep things ticking over.

Didn't get out kayaking..

Managed a bit on the treadmill..

On Friday in did 8k in 39.50... not too bad considering I still can't get rid of this cough.

A week in Dingle

Sunday 19th July

We arrived at Dingle after dark on Saturday night. The plan was to get in a 12 mile LSR first thing on Sunday morning. I got some route suggestions from a few of the lads on Boards.ie.
I had managed to get an OS map from a late night garage, so with beer in hand (cheers Paul) I planned my route.
I headed off just after 7.00 on Sunday morning, it was lashing rain but warm.
The run took me along quiet country roads – although, I suppose most roads are quiet at that time Sunday morning – the hedgerows were bursting with Fuchsia and Crocosmia, the hills to one side and Dingle bay to the other, what a great place to run.
I took a looping route to Ventry and headed out towards Ballyferriter. Despite the weather I was enjoying the run, at what was supposed to be the half way point I decided to keep going for an extra half mile.
Although the return journey was back along the same roads, the views were fantastic and I was certainly not bored.
A most enjoyable 13 miler.
I had been kayaking last Wednesday and made the mistake of not wearing a baselayer under my wetsuit, so the only downside to Sundays run was the bloody nipples, I didn’t notice during the run but the fecking things are still sore… Ouch !!!

Monday 20th July

We went sea fishing this morning. It was great craic – I did see my breakfast twice – we ended up with a load of mackerel and Pollock. We’ll be living on fish for the rest of the week.

I went out for a spin on the bike in the afternoon. I took the coast road around Slea Head and through Dunquin, Ballyferriter and Feohanagh. The scenery was stunning and to make matters even better I had a tail wind for a good part of the journey.
Traffic was light enough, I’m sure it was mostly tourists in hire cars, the same mini bus passed me three times along the route.
I noticed a strange behaviour from some of the drivers, I don’t know if it’s a foreign thing but some of the cars hung right back, so when there was an opportunity to overtake the fucking eejits were too far away to do so. I didn’t mind but I would love to know why they did it.
On one stretch of road there is a downhill followed by a 90 degree left bend. As I approached the bend I took a wide line (car behind hanging back) to the other side of the road, jaysus, I’m glad that I did because as I reached the bend I was greeted by a river running across the road, now this was not casual water running down the hill and across the road but a mini river and the road had been paved with rocks/stones to facilitate this. I tried to pick the flattest, shallowest part to cross, although I was gripping the bike with everything possible, including gripping the saddle with my arse (well, that’s what it felt like) I fully expected to take a spill in the wet rocks, I’m still not sure how I got across in one piece.
The spin was only about 25 miles but was well worth it for the scenery alone.

Tuesday 21st July

I set out this morning to do a 5 mile tempo run but I knew after the first few yards at the faster tempo that this was not going to happen today. My legs felt really tired, don’t know if it because of the Adidas 5 mile run on Saturday or not but I settled for a slow/medium 6.5 miles.
I got lashed on again, aren’t Irish summers great?
We had a surf lesson in the afternoon. That was a blast, we spent 2 hours trying to catch the right waves and stand on the board. I laughed for the whole time and even managed to get upright on the board a few times (not for very long). For the last half hour I was so tired that I was struggling just to hop up on to the board. I reckon that this counts as a good workout.

Thursday 23rd July

I woke at 4.00am this morning with a stuffed nose and sore throat, managed to doze for another couple of hours but didn't feel great when I got out of bed.
I was supposed to do a tempo run today but after a few minutes I realised that was not an option and settled for 5 miles at predicted marathon pace. The first mile was ok and the second was 10 seconds off pace but it was mostly uphill so I wasn't too bothered. It all went tits up after that.
My legs just stopped working and at the halfway point I stopped to walk around a bit and try to relieve the pains in my calf's and shins. The few miles home were a struggle and I didn't even bother to retrieve the info from my Garmin.

Went sea kayaking later this morning. That was great fun. We paddled across Dingle harbour and into some of the sea caves. We spent a couple of hours in the kayaks so I'm going to count that as a workout ;-)

Saturday/Sunday

I was to do a 13 mile LSR this weekend but both days I've had a sore throat and a bit of a cough so I decided to skip the run until I feel better.
I did manage 2 hours surfing on Saturday, hopefully that will help maintain some level of fitness.

Adidas 5 mile run

A dull and overcast day greeted the runners for the Adidas 5 mile run in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.
I started from Sean’s house and we ran a gentle warm up of about 20/25 minutes around the park – I hadn’t realised how fantastic the tracks around the park are for running – we then headed for the start line.
Sean headed off to do some strides and I hopped over the barrier close to the front. I had made the mistake at the BUPA 10k of starting too far back – actually in the correct time pen - and had no chance of getting a decent time with all the fat arsed women blocking the road. This time I thought that I would be close enough to the start line that I may be one of the fat arses that people were trying to get past. In the 10 or 15 minutes before the race started every available space in front of me was filled with runners of all shapes and sizes.
A sudden push forward heralded the start of the race. Away I went zig zagging through the runners, giving out to myself for starting too far back again.
I checked my watch at about ½ mile and I was totally surprised to find that I was 15 seconds ahead of schedule at the mile mark I was a full 30 seconds up.
I knew that there were a few hills ahead so I was happy enough to be ahead of time at this point.
Mile 2 was still below target – another 3 seconds ahead – not too bad.
It all started to fall apart from mile 3 – 13 seconds over target.
Mile 4 - 35 seconds too slow – this section was mainly up hill, well, at least it felt like that…. no, no it really was !!
Mile 5 – 5 seconds too slow.
When I set my target time for this event I was looking for a PB of sub 37.07, this time was set at the Sportsworld 5 mile race a couple of months previously and was the day after the Mount Leinster Challenge, 140 km cycle including over Mt Leinster twice, so sub 37.07 was my out loud time…….my in my head time was sub 35…….. 34.59 would have been really good.
I finished up 32 seconds behind my “in my head time” and to be honest I’m a bit disappointed, although if McMillan is to be believed that time is good enough to keep me on track for the Dublin City Marathon – I hope he’s right………….

Taper Week...Well, sort of

This is a strange week as it is the second week of my marathon training programme but it is also a taper (lol) week for Saturdays Addidas series 5 mile run.
Luckily the programmes are not too dissimilar so I'll take the best (easiest) options.

Tuesday 14th July
3 mile run on treadmill @ just sub 7 min miles.

Wednesday 15th July
40 mins tempo
2 hours kayaking

Thursday 16th July
3 miles easy on treadmill (11.5kph)

Friday 17th July
Some handy stuff on the treadmill and a bit on the spin bike

Things

This blog is named "Training, Events & Things"

I started it mainly to put out my training schedule in an attempt to keep me honest.
This post is about one of the "things" and has nothing to do with training or events.

I was involved with Drimnagh Basketball Club for a good number of years. I lost touch with the club and a lot of friends when I moved away from Dublin.
On Saturday Drimnagh were playing in the Leinster final of the community games in my local town.

I haven't seen a Drimnagh team play for a long time. I arrived just after the game started and as I walked in I saw 3 players from the same team, one after the other dive for the ball, I'll tell you now that I didn't have to look to the bench to see what colour Drimnagh were wearing to know what team was what, the level of commitment in Drimnagh hasn't changed.

I lost most of my nails during the first game - the semi final - and I'm sure that I shouted at the refs far more than I should have. The funny thing about this is that despite the fact that I haven't been involved in basketball for years I wanted to jump in beside the coach and say "why don't you do this or why don't you do that"

Drimnagh won the semi final eventually and were set for the Leinster final.

Between games I went for a coffee with my son and an old friend, I have to say that the clock was turned back for that hour or so. I had a very enjoyable time.

Drimnagh won the final with style, some of the players stood out, they have the potential to become a force in Irish basketball.
The Drimnagh team were so well drilled and did the right thing at the right time so often that it is a testament to their coach(s)

I haven't been involved with Drimnagh Basketball Club for a lot of years but after Saturdays games I think that I will head to the finals in Athlone to support a fantastic group of players.

In all the years that I've been away from basketball, I don't think that I've ever missed it as much as I did when I saw those kids play on Saturday......................

Marathon Training Starts

This week was the start of my 16 week marathon training programme.
I've done a few runs, tempo, normal, long slow & recovery and some gym stuff, chest & arms.
I'm thinking that I'm not doing enough.
I need to do more mile and I need to get out on the bike for cross-training.
Let's see what happens..