That went rather well.

Thursday 10th January 2012

Running (3.34 miles / 00:31:28 / 00:09:25 per mile)

Back on my feet again after a break of a couple of days.
The session tonight was a warm up and cool down with 5 sets of half mile intervals at a goal time of 4 minutes per set.

These all went rather well actually and the 5 sets were pretty well paced at:
3.15 / 3.27 / 3.28 / 3.33 / 3.30

I am really pleased at the average pacing and felt pretty strong throughout.

Tomorrow will probably just be a very easy paced run.

Runuary - Day 7. Common sense prevails and Runuary ends for me.

Monday 7th January 2012

Running (2.30 miles / 00:22:35 / 00:09:48 per mile)

A slow recovery type run at lunchtime in the rain.  It probably did me some good to loosen out the legs as they felt a bit stiff after the longer run yesterday.

Do you ever get one of those moments when someone says something to you and it just makes sense and you question what the hell you had been doing up to that point?
Yes, No?
Well, I had one this evening at the swim training with the Tri Club.
Just before getting in to the pool, Oliver Harkin, our Coach, said to me, "are you mad? Running every day with a dodgy Achilles.)

Now, I made the usual sort of comment about it being OK so far and touch wood, blah blah blah.
However, the more I thought about it the more I started to question my motives for doing Runuary.
I eagerly signed up to run every day as a means to improve my endurance and fitness because of a lack of running recently due to my Achilles injury, which has realistically been ongoing for nearly 2 months.  By running every day I thought that I would strengthen the tendon.

As I contemplated Oliver's innocent and well meaning comment I realised that I am potentially doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.
A recent lack of running, a chronic injury and a marathon looming in 14 weeks is not necessarily a great combination to encourage running every day.  something which I have NEVER done before.

I have nothing to prove in terms of my ability to train and I am not seeking to impress other people, or indeed even myself.  I am simply trying to get fitter and be the best version of myself for the London Marathon and hopefully take that fitness in to subsequent events.

So - with all of that weighed up I have decided to revert back to my original training plan of running 4 times per week and end my Runuary dalliance.

I wish everyone doing Runuary the best of luck and I think in different circumstances it would have been a great thing for me - but it is just a case of priorities and timing.

Swimming (00:50:00 / Sets and Drills)
Tri Club swim session tonight.
This was my first time back at swimming in nearly 2 months and it showed.
Even though Oliver took it pretty easy on us this evening, it was clear that my lack of pool time was catching up on me.

The best thing about it was the fact that I went.  It was a horrible night and I thought twice about going but decided that I needed to go and I am glad I did.
It just served to show me how much work I need to do to regain my swim strength.

Runuary - Day 6. Have I got weights in my shoes?

Sunday 6th January 2012

Running (12.00 miles / 01:51:41 / 00:09:18 per mile)

Long run today - all part of the build up for London in 15 weeks.

I couldn't believe how heavy my legs felt.  This was literally from step one through to my last step. They just didn't ease up at all.  I think this is a consequence of this being my 7th straight day of running. (Runuary Day 6 but I also ran on 31st December too.)

That's a total of nearly 40 miles for the week and that is the most that I have done in a long time.  So tired legs shouldn't really be a surprise.

Despite the heavy legs I ploughed on through the run and was pretty satisfied with my average pace and the fact that I toughed it out.

I hope that Runuary pays off as I don't want to just make myself tired and heavy legged.  Let's see.

Runuary - Day 5. Hard. How will it be in the morning?

Saturday 5th January 2012

Running (3.00 miles / 00:23:52 / 00:07:53 per mile)

Aim tonight was to knock out 3 miles at an even 8 min mile pace.  All went well apart form the last mile which was 8.09 as it is up hill.

It felt like hard work and it will be interesting to see how it affects my legs ahead of my Long Slow 12 Mile run tomorrow morning.

Runuary - Day 4. Steady steady steady.

Friday 4th January 2012

Running (6.00 miles / 00:52:26 / 00:08:44 per mile)

I am so pleased with this run tonight. really steady pacing on an undulating route with every mile split within 2 seconds.  NICE!

Runuary going well so far - admittedly it is only 4 days in - still a long way to go.

Runuary - Day 3 & "If the Shoe fits. . . "

Thursday 3rd January 2012

Running (2.05 miles / 00:20:03 / 00:09:46 per mile)

A really easy run tonight as a bit of a rest for the legs, given that they have now had 4 days in a row of running and have not been used to it recently.

I was back with the Podiatrist today to pick up my new Orthotics.  All was not well unfortunately.

It turns out that my feet are a lot wider than expected for my shoes and the orthotics fit my foot but are too wide to be practical for my current running shoes.
This means that I am going to have to get a new pair of trainers that come in a wide fitting.

Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing as like all runners I love getting new running shoes, however the bad news is that the Asics Nimbus I have been wearing for the last 7 years or more are not going to be right for me now. (Obviously not the same pair for the last 7 years!)

I suppose now that I'm having to look beyond the Nimbus the world is my Oyster - what shall I get?

My review of 2012. What a year it was!

2012 promised to be a very exciting year for me from the perspective of sporting endeavours.

Obviously the big goal on the looming horizon was my first attempt at the Ironman in Frankfurt on 8^th of July.  However, in between the start of the year and that event lay another 6 months of hard training and a few warm up events that needed to be successful for me to both learn from and perhaps even more importantly to gain confidence from.

As I look back now on 2012 from the sporting perspective I am spoiled for choice in picking out the highlights.

I can honesty say that every single event that I entered went very well for me and in most cases actually better than I could have dreamed and this led to a wealth of PBs when I really wasn’t expecting them.

The obvious highlight was Ironman Frankfurt in July.  Without going back over old ground again here, the whole experience will stay with me forever and in all honestly I don’t think I will get the same feeling in completing another event like it.

The support and friendship from my Pal Alex Buchner, his lovely family of Andrea Bittner and little Aileen also helped to make the event, not just for me but also the Curry family.

Even if I complete another Ironman, I am sure that the feeling will be one of sheer exhilaration but I know that nothing will ever fully compare to the first time and the special place that is the Romerberg in Frankfurt on the evening of 8^th July 2012.

For that reason I will leave this event in a little box by itself and not try to draw comparisons with any other events as it just simply isn’t fair.

There were many other events in 2012 that delighted me, either for the performance, the event itself or the company I had during the event.

Performance Highlight

Surprisingly this is not a Triathlon.  This is a toss up between the Lisburn Half Marathon or the Seeley Cup 10K.

Both events threw out a PB for me over the distance and both were unexpected.  Lisburn saw me hit 1.50 for a half Marathon for the first time and Seeley Cup saw me crack the 48 minute mark with a 47.45 PB.

Simply because of how unexpected it was and that it was something I knew I was capable of but just not at this time, I would place the Seeley Cup 10K at the top of my performance pile for 2012.  I think that race was symbolic of the “strength” that has become a feature of my running recently.

Iron distance training may not build outright speed but it certainly engenders the ability to hurt yourself for long periods of time and this strength can sometimes translate to speed when you need to call on it.  I think this was one such case.

Event Highlight

I competed in a hell of a lot of events this year and was lucky to have enjoyed them all.
There were straight running events, cycling events, Duathlon and of course Triathlons.
Some of these are made special because of the course, some because of the organisation and crowd.
For me the highlight was the Warrior Triathlon in Camlough.
This end of season event was a complete monster in all respects.
The 2.9K swim was in a stunning location, albeit completely freezing.  The 50K bike was tough and the 5K run up and down Camlough Mountain was one of the hardest runs I have ever done – over any distance.

This race stands out for a number of reasons.  As I mentioned, the course was beautiful but I choose this race for more than that.  This was a test the whole way through and one which pushed me at the end of a hard season. 

Even deciding to get out of the car and do it was tough given the awful conditions but I was rewarded with memories of a great day.

I also choose this one because of the great atmosphere created in a rural environment and the sheer friendliness of the organisers in Camlough and Newry Triathlon Club.

What other event finishes in the beer garden of a Pub and you get your medal engraved as you wait with a bowl of soup in your hand.  Pure genius.

People

Again, it is difficult to pin this down as I have been privileged to train and race with some great friends and also to meet new ones along the way.

Some highlights were:
Lapping the Lough on a training ride with Jim Heaney and Donald Smith.  A great experience and made even more memorable by Jim’s four punctures en-route.

The Dromara Coastal Challenge and North Down Coastal Cycle with Jim Heaney.  Both events were terrific and the great company from Jim meant that they were enjoyable and memorable.

Tri an Mhi Half  Iron distance Triathlon where I met David Patterson and Marie Gorman.  Two fellow Ironman virgins in 2012.

Stena Triathlon in Newtownabbey racing with Paul Brannigan, Donald Smith, Simon Cummings and Stuart Lynn.  A great event and good company.

Tri Limits Duathlon at An Creagan with Mark Vaudrey, Mark Crawford and Darwyn Young from our new Lisburn Triathlon Club and Frank McVeigh a new Facebook friend.

All of these were great but I single out a couple of races as my favourites. 

One of these I didn’t even compete in.
RunHer in October was fantastic as my Daughter Erin completed her first 5K with Keara and she did really well.  She even trained for it and did a great job on what is not an easy course.  Whether she repeats this or not is yet to be seen!  It was also a good day as Ben won the kids race for the 3^rd year in a row after a terrific sprint finish.

The other event  was the Creeslough 5K in August as it was just me and Ben.

Getting to run with Ben is great and he holds a lot of potential and without doubt will be a far better runner than I ever have been or will be.
This is a challenging little route and the last mile or so is up hill on tight little Donegal roads.
Ben worked really hard on this run and was rewarded with a 25.04.  It was great to be there as he worked so hard and pushed hard to the end and was delighted with his time.  Not a PB but it felt like one for him.

The numbers for 2012

Swimming: 60 Swims covering 84 miles

Cycling: 98 rides covering 2498 miles
Running: 120 runs covering 728 miles

Overall 336 Hours of training to cover 3310 miles.

PBs set in 2012

5K                               22:40
10K                             47:45
Half Marathon          01:50:57
Sprint Triathlon        01:20:08

The biggest thanks of all for the support in allowing me to do all of this goes to Keara.  I have put huge demands on family time through 2012 and it simply would not have been possible without her amazing support and patience.

2013 will not be anything like 2012 in terms of training demands and time but the ongoing base levels of training and the odd Marathon or 2 and triathlons still eat up quite a bit of time, and the ongoing love and support is worth everything to me.

2012 also saw a bit of a dream come true for me with the creation of Lisburn Triathlon Club.  Having a new club full of great people in my home town is amazing and I am delighted to be part of this new adventure.

Huge thanks to Neil Beck and Arran McKee for all the hard work in getting it up and going and I am really looking forward to racing in the club colours in 2013.

Looking ahead to this year, I have some goals in mind and the main one is to go Sub 4  Hours in a Marathon.

Hopefully it will be at the London Marathon on 21^st April but if that doesn’t work out then I will look at another one and have another crack at it,

Having done 4H44mins for the Marathon in Ironman, I can’t help but think that a stand alone Sub 4 must be achievable for me.

I will continue to do Triathlons and cycling sportives through this year and the hope is that I will gain entry to Ironman Kalmar (Sweden) for 2014 – entry opens in July but sells out pretty damn quick.  If I am lucky enough to get entry, I will start training for that event in November / December of this year.

It has been a wonderful year full of highs and I look forward greatly to the year ahead and the challenges that it brings.

Runuary - Day 2

Wednesday 2nd January 2012

Running(4.00 miles / 00:35:20 / 00:08:50 per mile)

A little session tonight working on runningat tempo speed.

4 X 3/4 mile with 2 minutes recover in between - done at a goal pace of 6 minutes for each 3/4 mile set.

The whole thing went really well and I managed the 4 sets in 5.30 / 5.22 / 5.32 / 5.53.

It was fairly tough going on the last set which was up hill a bit and I started to feel myself slowing down quite a bit.

I am going to the Podiatrist tomorrow to get my new orthotics and I am pretty excited to see if these will make a difference to my long term outlook for lower limb injuries.
hopefully it works.

Runuary - Day 1

Tuesday 1st January 2013

Running
(2.41 miles / 00:21:20 / 00:08:52 per mile)

I have agreed to participate in an event called Runuary through a group on Facebook called MX12 VIP. (Set up by the legend that is Chris McCormack - 2 times Ironman World Champ)
The idea is to run at least 20 minutes every day in January.
As I will be increasing my running volume in January I thought I might as well try to do this.
Not entirely sure that I will be able to make it fit but I will give it a bloody good go anyway.

The run this evening was just to get me out the door and run a bit of the stiffness from yesterday's 10 miler out of the legs.

All worth it for a fry up.

Monday 31st December 2012

Running
(10.00 miles / 01:33:12 / 00:09:19 per mile)

The very last run of 2012.  Hard to believe actually and I managed to recreate the same run from exactly the same time last year.
We were staying in the Burrendale Hotel in Newcastle (Co Down) for the annual family New Years Eve celebrations and I had a fantastic run from the hotel.

Much o the disgust of the family I set my alarm for 7AM and got out the door for 7.30 to get the run in early so that we had the rest of the day for family things.

I remembered this run very well from last year and I knew that the first few miles up the road into Castlewellan would be tough as it is a pretty gradual incline all the way up.  This incline combined with my lack of breakfast, windy conditions, effects of wine and cider the night before and it being really dark made the run up the road seem a lot harder than it should have been.  I was beginning to doubt the sanity of my decision.

Once I got up in to the Forest Park and around the lake all doubts disappeared and I really enjoyed he run round the lake as the sun was coming up.  Although dark in the trails around the lake the growing sunlight was incredible over the lake and at the far end I took a seat on a boulder for a moment just to enjoy the sight of the lake with the rising sun and a little fog over the water.  It was lovely and almost spiritual.

(The lake - it started to get a lot brighter and looked nicer than this pretty soon after.)

The benefit of running up for the start of the run was that the last 3 miles back were back down the gradient and in face were the 3 fastest of the run.

Back to the room and the family were getting dressed to head down for breakfast.  A quick shower and I was able to head down with them and enjoy a pretty guilt free fry up knowing that 10 miles were in the bank.

Perhaps the most pleasing thing about this run was that this is the furthest I have run in quite a while and firstly the Achilles held up well and I was pain free, but also that I am able to fairly comfortably knock out a 10 mile run at a steady pace without any real recent base of run training.  I take this as a positive for the rest of my London preparation and it was a great way to wrap up running in 2012, which has been an immense year for me.