A Day To Remember

That's the thing about confidence, it ebbs and flows. One moment you're questioning what it is that you might need to change to spark a return to your former level. Not that I felt I had drastically lost form, more a case that I was just lacking that extra gear to move into. So you work harder, you dig deeper and all of a sudden, you wonder what all the fuss what about.

Racing in your hometown is a rarity, so when the chance comes around I look forward to it immensely and last weekend certainly did not disappoint. With conditions looking particularly tricky on the morning of the race, I briefly wondered if the blustery winds would require me to adjust my goal of a sub 65minute finish. The one thing we know for certain about the weather is that we can't change it, so why worry about it. Better to concentrate on things that I could have an affect over.

Trialing some advice received from my coach, I was up before first light for a ten-minute shuffle around the estate I live on. Regularly undertaken by the all-conquering Kenyans who refer to the practice as 'sleepwalking’, it certainly felt early enough in the morning for it anyway!

After the shakeout run, next on the agenda was ten minutes in a cold bath to really wake the body from its slumber before warming up the muscles with a hot shower afterwards. To some it might seem a little extreme or over the top, but I enjoy taking the extra steps in preparation and firmly believe that the more calculated approach develops a sharper mental edge which is paramount when facing any challenge.

Once we got away from the start line, pacing the early part of the race was always going to be important. I often think the second mile of this course to be crucial in determining your finish time. After a fast downhill start, a more conservative effort needs to be applied to the flatter section, which precedes the first of two major climbs. Once the ascent is managed steadily, you can pull back some of the time lost when you get onto the level. Go too hard on the first hill and you'll be recovering until you meet the next one, and you don’t want that!

Running amongst a group of five or six, we got through the halfway point in 31.38, and although this set me up for a sub 63 finish, I felt I had plenty more to give. I went on from the group I had spent the last few miles with and tagged on to the next target ahead of me. Making gains on those ahead of you is a great confidence booster and another reason to temper that earlier enthusiasm which can often lead to feeling like your going backwards in the later stages.

Winding up for a strong finishing mile and a half, finding more as we closed to the line seemed easier than normal with the local streets full of people encouraging you home. I was very pleased to get round this challenging course in 61.47, a marked improvement on last years effort of 73.09. The key to progress is the simple, sometimes boring, things - hard work, preparation, determination, hard work, preparation…

Honourable mention must go to my mother, Phil, who took on the 4mile race with great gusto. Needing little encouragement, she got round with a more than respectable effort which brought a smile to all our faces. My brother, Adrian, made it a real family affair with his own highly impressive time of 70.57 posted for the longer event. If we can get him to do a few extra training runs, he will be passing me out pretty quickly!

To be witness to so many people, young and old alike, each gaining their own sense of achievement from the pure and simple joy of running was a sight to behold. To bring such fulfillment to my family, the people of The Great Island and all my team-mates at Ballymore Cobh AC, while raising funds for the brave men and women assisted by the Irish Cancer Society, made it truly a day to remember.

Home Run

Hard to believe we are quarter of the year through already, how time flies. The two main focuses for the first half of my running year were the Ballycotton 10 and the Great Island 10. Having been unable to fully commit every effort into the former due to a slight calf strain, it’s back to the local roads next Sunday for what should be a decent performance to finish well within 65minutes.

The course itself is challenging and anyone tackling it for the first time will have a good test ahead them. With a fast opening mile, temptation awaits for those looking to burn up early gas – just say no! Saving some energy for the later stages is vitally important on this course. A controlled effort through the first four or five undulating miles should set you up nicely to attack the second half of the course.

An exciting addition to this year’s events in Cobh will be the inaugural running of a four miler on the same day. This will surely be of great interest to people looking to get involved without having to undergo the training required for the longer distance. One such new recruit is my own mother, Phil. Young at heart and full of what life is all about, I’m very excited for her and glad to say preparations have been coming along well for us both.

Another lady of note set to appear on the islands roads next weekend is none other than Sonia O’Sullivan. To have an athlete of Sonia’s illustrious standing amongst the field is something that is quite unique. I can’t think of many sports where you get the chance to line up in the same event and partake alongside an Olympic medalist and multiple European and World Champion.  

Myself, Sonia, Phil + father Joe (Head Coach!)

 

Sunday will mark a break in my longer distance racing, with the ensuing couple of months geared towards building more intense speed work into the schedule. The John Buckley Sports Graded Track and Field League commencing next month will give me an opportunity to sample the track side of athletics for the first time. It’s something I am looking forward to, and confident that it offers me a chance of improving if approached in the right way.

Focusing on shorter distances will add a bit of variety to my training before time comes to begin concentrating on an autumn marathon in Amsterdam. Although a while away yet, I am starting to get excited about the visit to The Netherlands, with a flatter course and the expected mild conditions offering a decent opportunity to break the three hour barrier.

For now though, it’s time for us all to look forward to next weekend and the rare chance of racing on the local roads. So, when it gets tough and the time comes to dig deep, you can think about the many cancer sufferers whose lives you will enhance by helping to raise much needed funds for the provision of palliative care through Irish Cancer Society. Without exception, every family in the land is or once was affected by the illness. Putting your own personal battle with the 10miles in line with that of those whose challenge is cancer can allow you see through a clearer light. Many people would love to take to the roads and run, all of us lucky enough to take part have the choice to do so.

Enjoy and give thanks!

Baby Steps

What a pleasure it was to re-visit Ballycotton to make my debut in the famous ten miler, known through the British Isles and Ireland as one of the best road races either side of the Irish Sea. On first view it was easy to see why, with rugged coastline and long stretching views to welcome the annual pilgrimage for a race that has remained true to its simple values. Pity that a slight calf strain the day beforehand affected my final preparations but with an element of risk I took my place amongst the two and a half thousand strong crowd knowing that caution would be the order of the day.

Taking a chance with an injury so close to the main event is always fraught with danger but as there was no pain on the morning of the race it made little sense not to run. My eagerness for action was tempered by the longer view of the season as a whole. Throwing the dice in situations like this means you have to prepare for the worst case scenario of having to pull up early if things don't feel right. You're taking a chance and if it doesn't work you need to respect that and act accordingly before you do more damage.

Ballycotton Island and Lighthouse

Running one paced throughout in the glorious sunshine that held high above us, I felt good for the most part. Where normally around the seven and a half mile mark, I would look to start ratcheting up the effort; here there was no searching to be done. The mental doubt regarding my calf along with the tough uphill finish in warm conditions gave me reason to think that getting home in one piece would be a success in itself.

Finishing in 63.45 was hard work in the end, with the steady climb to the finish line proving tougher than expected even given my more relaxed attitude on the day. Taking the positive out of each performance while remaining truthful to yourself is key when reviewing race efforts. Learning to accept that not every day is going to be a PB day is another worthwhile lesson to become familiar with (not too familiar though, of course!)

Post Ballycotton week coincided nicely with what is the most enjoyable week of the year for some friends and me. Most people have Christmas in December, ours comes in March and it's called Cheltenham! All the build up and excitement for the preceding 360 or so days never fails to deliver the greatest four days sport of the year. Man and beast running for glory in one of the most spectacular settings I have been lucky to visit.

Cheltenham

Of course, with all the excitement there also comes some time to treat yourself and let go of the usually careful diet. Steaks, chips, burgers, pasties, pork rolls, coca cola, caramel cappuccinos and much more aplenty. You do have to live, as people remind me. I tend to overdo it though, I really do!

So with a few pound gained around the waistline and another few lost from a mysterious hole in my pocket, I attempted to get back into the daily training routine. I can honestly say that I found this the hardest few days training since taking up running twelve months or so ago. No matter how fit or otherwise you are, a break in the manner of which I enjoyed is going to make those first few days feel like you’re starting over again.

Ten-minute miles along the extremely flat and fair Tay Road seemed like torture, having to concentrate on your running form at this pace isn't what I'm used to thinking about. I do have to admit to having doubts during these few days. How would I get back to that pre-Ballycotton sharpness? How long would these seemingly easy runs feel like torture? When could we just get back to normal, I wondered?

Charlie + Alfie

As momentum was gathering in my training, into our world arrived another wonderful little baby boy, a little brother for one-year-old Alfie who we named Charlie. Thankfully the new arrival was delivered with the minimum of fuss by his amazing mother so our time in Cork University Hospital was brief enough. Yet, any small amount of time spent in a hospital has the affect of centering your outlook pretty quickly. You see people young and old dealing with issues far greater than what you quickly realize are your own somewhat insignificant ponderings.

Thanks to Victoria and the help of our family, I've been able to continue building back in to another training phase which will see me peaking for the Great Island 10 on April 12th. This Sunday's BHAA 10km race sponsored by UCC will serve as a good workout in advance of the main event two weeks later. 

Whatever happens this weekend, I'll surely have a PB in the bag by virtue of this being the first time I have raced over the 10km distance! That said, a realistic target here will be to break 38mins which would put me in a good position to run well on the local roads a fortnight later.

Hope your training is going well, don't forget to enjoy it!

A Runners Journey - Twelve Months On (Part Two)

Until you have went all the way down the long and winding road of marathon training, it is hard to fully appreciate the amount of time and effort required to ensure you are fully prepared for the main event. Despite the enormous commitment, this can be justified for the simple reason that the athlete themself has a wish to complete the distance and understands they need to prepare for the challenge as best as they possibly can.

An area of this preparation that can sometimes be overlooked and seemingly go unheralded is the part played by the family of the athlete, in particular the partner of the runner. I was and still am very lucky to have someone so understanding and selfless in my own partner. Believe me, there were days when I got told off for the amount of time I was spending with my new friend, Tar MacAdam, but in general I got off very, very lightly!

With our first wonderful new baby arriving into our lives only a few months beforehand, it was easy to understand how my increased absence was putting extra pressure on Victoria. Thankfully, patience is one of her virtues. I would never have lasted this long if it wasn't, that's for sure!

Parents of newborn children will know that lie ins are a rare thing but they become non existent when your partner is out and gone for a two and a half hour run by the time the little person decides it's time to start the day. Leaving home as a baby is crying or needing a nappy change can only be done so many times before it leaves you carrying a level of guilt out the door with you.

The Black and Amber

Strangely, I think this is where a lot of my motivation comes from. If I'm going to have people I love making such sacrifices, I better make it bloody well worthwhile. I might have been training on my own, for the most part, but I had it my head that I was doing this for far more than just my own satisfaction.

Victoria and my fantastic parents had stood by me when things were not so good during my drinking days and their support throughout those less happier times was now inspiring me to provide to them something that could be considered in some small part as payback. To make them proud, to show them they that all that heartache endured was in someway worth it, above all else to thank them. These thoughts often came to me whilst on my weekend runs and at that moment when your body also felt the strength that your thoughts possessed, you had a potent combination. At times you would feel capable of running through walls, as close as I've ever felt to unbreakable.

Of course, there were times too when you didn't feel so good. When doubt crept in. It was all very well getting comfortable with the planned marathon pace in my training runs but sometimes I questioned if I would be able to sustain this for the full distance on the big day, when it mattered most.

As the bid day drew closer, I began to realize and accept that the preparation was almost complete.  I would enjoy the taper period which saw less running in the last couple of weeks to allow the body recover while absorbing all the training it had underwent. It felt good to feel so fit and healthy, no doubt in the best shape that I had ever been, at 32 years young!

The Bakers Dozen

 

Twelve of my club mates were also on the marathon journey and on the morning of the race we spent some time together where the craic was as good as always but with a nervous edge hidden underneath us all. After the team photo, I headed down to the start line where the atmosphere was building, enjoying the warmup and letting some of the emotion wash over.

After the playing of the national anthem, the gun fired and off we went, swinging across the fair city and on up into a very blustery Phoenix Park. I had soon lost sight of the three-hour pacers who seemed to go off a lot quicker than would have been expected. It's better to make your own decisions; you only have yourself to blame if it goes wrong.

The support along the route was something that I heard a lot about in the build up and gladly it surpassed even what I had expected. Encouragement coming from both sides of the road made you feel like you weren't on your own. Getting to the halfway mark in the ideal time for a good shot at the sub three-hour target added to the quiet confidence I was feeling.

I continued to run strongly all the way up to the twenty-three or four mile mark, although as time went on it felt that I was doing more work to maintain the same pace. What seemed like easy running in the first few miles was now starting to be a real grind. Despite my already limited ability to calculate now diminishing rapidly due to fatigue, it was becoming clear that the goal was slipping away from me the further I went.

Hanging on

Mentally accepting that the target had been missed was soon and not surprisingly followed by the physical pain that comes with hitting the dreaded wall. Despite the noise that the large band of Ballymore Cobh AC supporters were making about a mile from home, I was oblivious to it all as I passed them. Away in my own world fighting a fire that seemed impossible to quench. Heavy legs were cramping badly and this was becoming a real struggle. Stopping to gather myself twice in the home straight before the rousing crowd helped lift me again.

3.06.48

Finishing was a relief and it took me sometime to recover from those last couple of punishing miles. My condition at the finish line reassured me that I had went pretty close to the bottom of the barrel for effort. There was little more I could have thrown at it.

After a few weeks recovery I resumed training and enjoyed Christmas knowing that the New Year would require renewed effort with the main target being another shot at a sub three-hour marathon in the autumn, this time in the flatlands of Amsterdam.

The first half of this years training has been centered around the 'Ballycotton 10' and the 'Great Island 10', and I’m very excited about making my debut in the first named event this weekend, when over three and a half thousand participants line up in the East Cork village for the 38^th running of this famous race. Despite a few interruptions due to sickness, preparation has went relatively well and provided conditions are ideal, I am confident of getting close to the 62minute mark for the 10miles.  

''So we're all here again for the Ballycotton 10'' 

All the best if you're taking part, enjoy!

A Runners Journey - Twelve Months On (Part One)

A year on from my first steps as a "runner" seems like a fair point to review the last twelve months from.

Prior to my new departure I had taken the wise yet long overdue decision to curtail many years of alcohol abuse and smoking. Going to the gym at my workplace gave me a focus for cleaner living. With the assistance of a well recommended personal trainer, I began to feel the pain that all those commencing or returning to physical activity are likely to initially endure.

We soon established that the main weakness was my body strength which was particularly lacking in the core and upper body areas. This was balanced by a relatively high level of endurance stemming from strong legs and reasonably functioning heart and lungs, a pleasant surprise given the years of self induced punishment.

Paying a fitness instructor to watch me pound out an hour on a treadmill seemed pointless, so instead we took the decision that I would use the once weekly gym session to improve on building strength in those weaker areas while aside from this I would continue to steadily increase my time spent running.

The Operation Transformation 5km fun run in Glanmire seemed like an appropriate place to begin my racing days. I enjoyed the fulfillment that you absorb after taking part in a mass event like this. Everybody plugging away at their own pace, just looking to push themselves maybe a little further than they have gone before. The simple but overwhelming joy to be gained from such an exercise is what ties all runners together, whether you are setting out on your initial Couch to 5km program or pushing towards your first Olympic Games. 

Gradually building my mileage was something that I was often reminded about in those early months and I'm glad now that I adhered more often than not to that advice. My natural tendency would have been to push on when feeling good and to hell with tomorrow or the consequences of running hard. Understanding that how I run today affects how I will train tomorrow has helped me enjoy a relatively injury free year which has seen more or less continued improvement.

Aside from this, the best advice to anyone embarking on their first few runs is to not scrimp on footwear. Seek to save elsewhere, by all means but don't look to take shortcuts when it comes to the tools of the trade. What you could save on lesser brands, you will eventually hand over with interest to your physio!

The ill fitting shorts in all their glory (404) - enough said!

After enduring a torturous debut in the brilliant Great Island 10, I made a pact to myself to never let my choice of running shorts impact my performance! Ever since I have worn the skintight style shorts. Seven or eights miles of constant chaffing around the roads of Cobh saw to that. With running, like life, you are always learning - sometimes it just has to be the hard way.

Joining my local club, Ballymore Cobh AC, as they made a return from a period in the wilderness helped me mix with and learn from more experienced runners. The camaraderie within the group was helped by the fact that nearly all of us were new to the club. Monthly visits to East Cork became the norm on summer’s evenings where we would take part in the four race Ballycotton 5mile series. The number of people attending these events was startling and I began to notice that this running thing was pretty popular!

Beautiful Ballyheigue Bay by The Rock Rolling Sea

With the confidence gained from taking on a challenging yet hugely enjoyable half marathon in Ballyheuige I began to look further down the road and with the enthusiastic backing of our club coach a number of us decided to embark on a training program for the Dublin City Marathon to be staged in late October.

Things seemed to be happening pretty quick, too quick at times! I'd only been at this since early March and now we were seriously talking about taking on a marathon and not just getting round, I was going to run the fabled 26miles and 385yards in less than three hours! Firmly believing in the idea that if you tell as many people as possible that you are going to do something, you are then more likely to carry through on your intention, I began to make known my goal. I'm sure some thought I was daft but if I didn't believe I could do it, how could I expect others to believe me!

After following an online training program for a few weeks I made the decision to contact the person who is now my coach. I have benefited greatly from receiving a personalized training plan specific to what my body is capable of. With a blood lactate test and a heart rate monitor they would be no stopping me, until I got to about a mile or two from home that is (more of which later!).

Running being different from team sports in the sense that you train a lot of the time on your own, means that a coach can have a huge impact on the development of the athletes they work with. In the simplest form, I took confidence from the fact that I had someone looking in on my training data and providing valuable feedback as regards my progress. I was leaving little to chance and this is the way I felt was best if I was going to beat the clock. 

Myself and a number of the Ballymore Cobh AC Dublin City Marathon 2014 Crew

As the marathon crept closer, our club launched a Fit4Life program which encouraged members of the local community to get active by walking, jogging or running. In a lot of the participants I saw a mirror of where I had been only a few months previous and that served as a useful reminder that aswell as always looking to improve on my times, that I should try and appreciate my running also. I guess it wasn't that I no longer enjoyed running, just a case that I realized I should appreciate a little more the fact I could run.

Beneath the surface the three hour goal consumed me, no waking hour was free of a self check on preparation. Was I doing enough, could I be doing more. I found most enjoyment in the marathon specific runs that took place every second weekend. During these I would run at the desired marathon pace while interspersing this harder segment with recovery periods at a slower pace. Fast, slow, wind up, wind down and so the rhythm continued, the hard section growing longer in time as the weeks went by. Most of these sessions took place towards the back of the Great Island, running strong with no one around for company, few cars or pedestrians to worry about, just my own effort and the beautiful surroundings to consider. Just perfect.