2 days and 2 miles (and a bit)

So its less than 48 hours now until the half marathon, and took a short run last night to make sure the legs were still loose and not starting to seize up on me. I kept it local as I've been doing for the last few weeks, but think I need some variety in my runs from now on or I'll go mad :)

I took a short run up to the pitch and up to the Caladh Thaidhg turn last night and jogged home. It was a nice night for a jog, cool and a slightly stiff breeze on the return home. These short runs sort of throw me as I feel I'm only getting started and then I'm finished for the day. But I suppose its better to keep the long miles in the tank for 11am on Saturday when I really need them.

Location: Carraroe
Distance: 2.28 miles ( 3.66 km)
Pace: 8:36 p/mile
Time: 19:38

The funny thing  is I reckon my mind is starting to play tricks on me now, every little twinge that comes and goes convincing me that something is wrong. But am feeling good today, hopefully that's a sign of the nerves disappearing.

3 Miles in the Morning

Am keeping my runs relatively short this week as the half marathon looms large. I decided on a short run at 8 am to start the day and loosen the legs after the weekend off.

I threw on a top thinking it looked cold this morning, but did I get that wrong as it was the most uncomfortable 3 miles I've done in a long time. I kept the familiar route of doing a loop around Carraroe out towards the lake and back towards the local pitch and up towards Caladh Thaidhg before returning back home. Was absolutely cooked after it, but then again these are things you learn from no doubt.

Location: Carraroe
Distance: 3 miles (4.98km)
Pace: 9:53 p/mile
Time: 29:40

A quick short run

I finally started to scale back my runs as the Galway Bay half marathon comes up on the 1st October. I opted for a short run on Thursday and went and took the local loop just to keep the legs going.

I figured a short run was the order of the day, just to avoid the laziness as I was spending the weekend away from home and knew a run wouldn't be on the cards. I got down to my usual start spot in Carraroe and started out on the road, taking the usual gradual incline up towards the top where the road would turn into Caladh Thaidhg, turning and heading down towards my local pitch, and back towards the centre of the village and out towards the lake where I would turn back and head towards home. While this may not sound like much, its a good 5.4 km to loosen the legs up, plus cleared my conscience as I spent the weekend on every food and drink that was anything but healthy :) Ah well, no harm every now and again i guess!!

The main thing now as the Winter approaches will be to make my runs earlier in the day, there's a limited amount of running you can do under street lights before tedium starts to kick in!!

Location: Carraroe Loop
Distance: 5.4 km (3.35 miles)
Pace: 8:49 p/mile
Time: 29:33

Back to Bothúna

Thankfully my legs seem to have recovered from my Sunday run around Salthill and met up with the gang from Trisport last night for a run in Spiddal. The plan was to head from Spiddal, up Bothúna, across the bog, down Saile Thúna and back towards Spiddal. This would be a solid 6.8km with some good hard hills to keep the legs working.

We all met up at 7 pm and took off through Spiddal out towards the turn up Bothúna, I decided to try and keep up with the main group of three that took the lead on this run and kept with them as much as possible for the first 2km of the steady climb upwards on this road. As we reached the turn for the bog road, they were still in sight and attempted to keep up with them, but as they were well seasoned runners at this point gradually the distance began to open out between us. The upside of this was that it forced me to work harder and attempt (and fail miserably) to catch up with them. As i crossed the bog road, i loved how peaceful it is, not a car in sight, nor would they attempt to drive up this pothole riddled road. The only thing was a strong wind against me as I ran here, but I thought to myself "this will be behind me pushing me back into Spiddal".

I finally got on the road to Saile Thúna after crossing the bog road, and was downhill for the majority of the way, much to the relief of my legs. I eventually turned back onto the main road for Spiddal and could feel the wind behind me and had plenty left in the legs, although the group in front of me were long gone, I pushed on regardless, trying to keep going at a good pace and seeing the finishing point getting closer, until eventually i got there. Happy enough with the run, and the time, considering it was a hard hill run (for me anyways).

Location: Spiddal - Bothúna - Saile Thúna - Spiddal
Distance: 4.25 miles (6.8 km)
Pace: 8:35 p/mile
Time: 36:30

As a side note, going back to the Ironman that was in Galway a few weeks back, just seen this great report on it - http://www.tuamherald.ie/2011/09/14/reflections-of-ironman-galway-70-3/ - nice piece of reading.

That last Long Run

I was unsure about where I was going to doing my last long run this week, so when I woke up on Sunday morning, I figured that heading to Salthill and following the Galway Bay Half Marathon course, would be the ideal way to go. No better way to get accustomed with the course than to give it a craic, well the first 12 miles anyways:)

Grattan Rd as the rain was about to hit

I parked up on the Claddagh, a beautifully quiet 10 am and Salthill was still waking up. I finally had a stretch and thought "this is a lovely way to start the day" and off I went. I always seem to notice that it takes awhile for me to get comfortable with my breathing and usually takes 2-3 km before I settle into it. But when you finally get over that, you start to find your stride.

The first loop of the course was relatively pain free, bar a sharp enough crosswind when returning to the Claddagh, but its always good to get this out of the way and prepare for the real thing. One thing you can't dictate for in Ireland is the weather so needed to be prepared for all sorts :) The first bit of discomfort would be around the second loop of the caravan park, where the hill came into play and started to drag myself up it for the second time (god I hate hills, even small ones). When i got over it there's that lovely drop back down to the sea and off I went, which was miles more comfortable for me. I knew as I crossed the Prom is that once I started out onto Mutton Island, i would be heading for the 18km mark, which spurred me on more, as I started up the walkway of the Prom I figured to keep going until i got off it again and pulled up. 19.3 km done, painful - yes, satisfying - yes and the furthest I've ever run....all in all a very good day.

Now if only I can do that for the Half Marathon next month!!!

Location: Galway Bay Half Marathon Route
Distance: 12 miles (19.3km)
Pace: 8:44 p/mile
Time: 1:44:53

Nearly there

As I write this it's starting to dawn on me that my first half-marathon is only 2 weeks away. This may not seem like a challenge to some more seasoned runners, but considering this time last year i could barely run across the road without looking for an oxygen tank I'm very happy with the progress I've made. However the more i think about it now, the more my nerves are starting to come into play. I start to question whether i've trained enough? Have I done everything I can to make a decent go of it? I guess these are the sort of questions that creep into the mind of a first timer, so hopefully they will disappear closer to the time.

5.7 miles through Carraroe

Anyways, I got a few miles in this week, not as many as I'd like due to other commitments (plus a head cold that i finally seemed to have shaken) but went out last night to get a run in. I settled on doing two loops of Carraroe last night just to get some miles in. The one thing I like about Carraroe as opposed to running in Salthill would be the slight inclines that are on the main road, these can be deceptively tough but at least force me to work a little harder in my runs, especially when the second loop comes around.

The other thing I've noticed lately is that I seemed to have abandoned the water bottle on these runs now, it seems that as long as I take on board plenty of water during the day I don't need it for these runs. So am considering that progress in my book:)

Location: Carraroe Loop x2
Distance: 5.72 miles (9.2 km)
Pace: 9:27 p/mile
Time: 54:06

4 miles and a breeze

Despite the fact I'm nursing a head cold, I just had to get out and have a run. It was the start of the Fit4Life season again last night in Galway so I figured a group run would be the ideal thing to keep me going and try and open up the lungs and get rid of this head cold.

As it was the new season, plenty of new faces were to be seen last night, our group consisted of about 30-40 runners starting at 10:30 p/mile pace and down to about 10 minutes per mile. So a nice and steady start to the season. Although i would imagine that the headwind we had to compete with slowed a lot of us down significantly. But the one upside was when we arrived on the Dangan campus which belongs to the local university, the wind died down significantly due to the cover from the trees. All in all a nice first run back with the group, just need to pick up the pace over the Winter and we'll be sorted :)

Location: Westside to Dangan loop
Distance: 4.0 miles
Pace: 9:50 p/mile
Time: 39:23

A cold and a storm

I get the feeling that this weekend just conspired against me to do anything. The plan was to do 11 miles this weekend but am suffering a touch of the flu so that put the skids on any plans I had.

Trá an Dóilín this weekend, rough

Although the more i think about it i get the feeling the gods were trying to tell me something, I mean sending the tail end of a hurricane my way as well should be enough of a hint to call it a weekend :)

Here's hoping for a fast recovery and back training asap.

Early Run (For a change)

Anyone that knows me will definitely vouch for the fact I'm not a morning person, so was pleasantly surprised to see myself get out of bed at 7:40 (not early for some I know) to sneak a quick run in before work. I have taken a break since Tuesday's run as I've been feeling a bit under the weather and figured it'd be easier to get a run in this morning as I won't be home in the evening.

Short Run this morning

Out the door I went at 8 am, figuring a short run this morning would do me the world of good to get back into it. Looking out i figured a t-shirt, hoody and shorts would be the order of the day, as it was a bit breezy,overcast and pretty much crappy all round weather. Out i went and started on my way, still a bit of soreness in my legs for some reason - i really need to start stretching on the off days just to make sure i'll be okay for my longer runs. Any suggestions for good stretches would be much appreciated.

I made it to the main road and i'm always surprised how quiet Carraroe is at 8 in the morning, i would expect plenty of activity but all I met on my first two miles was a council truck resurfacing the road  and that was about it really, but that said i love it when its like that, makes the run all the better when the place feels like it deserted. Only when i got into my third mile at about 8:20 that things started to get busy and I was heading back towards home that time. It was a nice way to start to morning, but i regretted the hoody in the end, was cooked by the time i finished the run. Ah well live and learn.

Location: Carraroe
Distance: 3.11 miles (5.01 km)
Pace: 9:01 p/mile
Time: 28:05

Help me to help them

While Western Alzheimers are partially state funded, the majority of funding comes from people like you and me who help this organization give top quality care to people with this condition. If you can help me to help them with a donation, you can do it online or leave me a comment and i'll get in contact with you with information.

http://www.mycharity.ie/event/mairtin_o_mochain_half_marathon/

One Blustery Run

It looks like the Winter has finally arrived on the West coast, although depending on who you ask they would insist it never left in the first place. It was a combination of elements last night that made for a pretty rough run, and reminds me that I've been very lucky with the weather so far with regards training, although I get the feeling that's about to run out.

Am pretty sure this should have wet and blustery added to it

I was wondering as I finished work yesterday would the wind let up a bit and allow me on my way, it didn't inspire me when i was driving home that i could feel the wind beat the side of the car and push it slightly from side to side. All i could think of was where would the wind launch me if it got half a chance :)

I sat about till about 8 p.m and figured things were not going to get much better, so on with the hoody and hat (this looks like its going to become a regular feature, bye bye summer) and off I went. I opted to do two loops locally stretch the run out for 9km, as any hope of travelling to Inverin for some runs seems to be gradually fading, much like the length of the days at the moment.

I took off anyways, and got onto the road, i was feeling fairly sore still from the run on Saturday and I reckon that was down to a lack of stretching on my part, ah well live and learn. The run itself was fine to a point, anywhere that had cover was relatively comfortable to run but when I got into the open areas I could feel the crosswind pushing me to one side and slowing me down, especially anywhere that a slight incline was on the road.

As i was into my second loop, pretty fed up with the wind at this point, just to add a little bit more of annoyance to the fact I had another 3km to go I could start to feeling drops of rain that eventually turned into a pretty heavy shower. At this point i could do nothing but trudge on and attempt to get to the end, eventually coming back to where I started my run -  and am pretty sure somebody up there was mocking me, because as soon as I got back and finished my run didn't the rain stop. Still another 5.5 miles done in what could only be described as blustery,wet,windy and cold - can never be accused of lack of dedication I suppose :)

Location: Carraroe Loop x2
Distance: 5.61 miles (9.03km)
Pace: 10:02 p/mile (so so so slow)
Time: 56:19

10 Miles and an Ironman(Not Me!!)

As I only had one run done last week I was a bit worried about hitting the 10 mile mark in my training and probably couldn't have picked a harder route to have done it in (although difficulty is relative to the person doing it I imagine :) )

Anyways I arrive in Galway early on Saturday morning, fully conscious of the fact that the half-Ironman competitors were arriving and was greeted by a form of chaos and cheery individuals all rolled into one. I was even mistaken for one of the athletes doing this incredible feat - which did my confidence the world of good as well as my ego.

That long long route

So I got down to the Prom in Salthill, had a quick stretch and off I went. I have to say I was fairly distracted by the activity in Salthill but loved the buzz, plus you could only imagine my envy at the bikes on display as I jogged by thinking "I want one of those". I eventually negotiated my way out of Salthill and off I went, into town and out towards Renmore which is a nice change of scenery for me, even if the inclines killed me a little, but i know thats going to be my weakness when it comes to running, but something to work on in the next year or so. I reached Renmore and turned back towards the roundabout which lead back towards the Headford Road and out towards the Quincentenary Bridge. Out past the hospital i went and out towards Taylors Hill (God I'm really beginning to hate that hill), which is about 10km into my run i slowed to a walk for 90 seconds as the hill finally beat me. That hill is now my challenge to beat in the future, i was not happy having to slow down to a crawl to beat it.

As i finally reached the top of Taylor's Hill I proceeded across to the Knocknacarra road, and plodded along, grateful to finally see the road back into Salthill :) It never ceases to amaze me when you know the end is near that you can find an extra gear in your legs to finish the run. As i landed back at where i started I felt a great degree of satisfaction, even if the walk up Taylor's Hill felt like a bit of cheat in my head, hopefully that was a once off and won't happen again :)

Location: 10 mile loop - Galway City
Distance: 10.14 miles (16.32 km)
Pace: 9:24 p/mile
Time: 1:35:20

Ironman(Not me!!!)
I was lucky enough on Sunday to catch the tail end of the Ironman in Galway on the Sunday, have to say it would inspire you to watch people give it their all for 70.3 miles and the joy on their faces when they complete it.

One of the many finishers on the day

Just have to say congratulations to all the finishers and competitors, it was an amazing achievement and would inspire anyone to get out and run, cycle or swim. Well done!!

Best laid plans

I had everything planned out, do 10km run and be set for 10 mile training run on Saturday. Ah so much for plans!!

Last night the run didn't go ahead, had planned to head out about 9 p.m but between one thing and another it was 11 p.m when i arrived home and at that point I just thought "sod it".

The only upside would be that at least I should be in good stead for a long run tomorrow, with a longer than expected break this week. So 10 miles tomorrow, should be interesting.