running to a standstill...

Had to turn back friday evening after 10 minutes as could feel ankle playing up again... need to have this seen to!

injury, watches and little running...

The posts are sparse on the ground for a reason at the moment... without the daily routine of running to and from work, it is hard to find the time to get some miles in to the same extent! Also I am still wary of overdoing it as my ankle continues to give me a little nagging feeling after exercise - and I don't want to feck it up!!

Looking at the positives, I have bitten the bullet and asked for another LARGE chunk of money to be sent to pay off my balnce w.r.t. the North Pole marathon... better to bite the bullet now!
Secondly my new "running computer" (thats what they call it!!!) has arrived (go ebay!)... anyway it is the nuts... On a short run Sunday I knew how fast my heart was beating and how far I had run... I have ordered a gadget to send the data to the pc so I can track my progress etc... but think will be very cool when I get used to it...
Thirdly, Jan from work has lent me "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer... He told me about this book during a game of golf in the summer... he even had me running leaning forward down a hill on a fairway - suffice to say I was a skeptic... but after reading Katerina McKiernan's book I decided I may as well read it and judge for myself (even more so now that my ankle is an issue!)... stay posted!!!!

Jonnsie's NY time of 4:11

Dublin - Result

Dublin: Smile when you're winning!

Dublin: check out the laughs of the guys behind me... they obviously thought I had lost the plot!

Dublin: The home straight (how finishing a marathon is meant to feel like!)

Dublin: still raining...

Dublin: The drowned rat look...

Polar s625x

On a much happier note I've splashed out on a new watch... I have always been a skeptic of these heart monitor type watches - especially after running with Kenneth a year ago and hearing it non stop beep beep BEEP... annoying! Well after reading "Running for my life" by Catherina McKeirnan (famous Irish runner) I got thinking it was time to reconsider... She noted how running to certain percentages of your max heart rate would help in determining if you were pushing too hard etc... And how some days you would ease off as you weren't meant to be pushing so hard etc... What also looks great about this watch is you can load the data up to a pc and track progress or lack of it over time... sounds nerdish, but I think over the coming COLD months in Copenhagen may add some interest to otherwise mind numbingly bitter cold runs!

This note may be a touch premature - as I've bought the watch on ebay and you just never know if things will show up... here's hoping (watch this space!)

first injury?

On my second run back after the marathon, 10k down to the sea last night, I was really struggling by the end of it. My right ankle has something niggly wrong with it - it doesn't seem to be muscle problem and is sore to touch near the bone... worrying as have no clue what I should do!? For starters will pare my runs over next few weeks back to short 5k type, and not to push if it gets sore again...

back training...

well, after the elation of Dublin it was back to the slog of training last night! We have moved house to Lyngby (a small town about 10miles from the centre of Copenhagen). The upside is we live next to a very large park called Dyrehaven - perfect for running in... but the downside is I can no longer run my daily 5ks to and from work!

Last night I was able to run down the main road from our house to Klampenborg which is on the coast - its 5k down to the sea, and almost a constant hill on the way back on a large sweeping tree lined road... I think I'm going to have fun on this hill!!

Dublin...

Well, in a lot of ways Dublin was make or break time with regards to my running "career"! Having run/walked two marathons in close to 5 hours was time to get a more respectable return on my training efforts...

The morning of the race was wet and blustery, typical autumn weather in Ireland... And perfect for running in. After a 6am breakfast (bananas, cereal, toast and tea) I headed down to the start with Mel and Cora... Cora was taking all the crazy people running around covered in black bags in her stride... After brief good byes I pushed my way to a point for under 4 hour runners and stood under some scaffolding trying to stay dry...

As the gun went off, I had Jumpin' Jack Flash pumping in my head and there was a relaxed feeling among the runners standing around... Took about 3 minutes to get through the start marker and then the space opened up to allow not a bad pace splashing through puddles with few and far between spectators braving the elements... I felt very fresh and relaxed and was sticking to footpaths and edge of the road... As we ran down the quays we hit the one mile marker - 8:09 faster than I thought would be possible as starts are usually slow, so I tried to consciously slack off and not over do it...

The back streets of north Dublin aren't glamorous, but the rain and the odd spectators - plus the sounds form the ipod kept the streets passing... The first off script moment was a quick stop in the phoenix park to empty the bladder... I was worried about the hills before the race but found the first hill, the run up through the Park was very steady and not much of a problem this stage in the race! Turning out of the park at mile 6 I felt good - and with the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" pounding we started heading downhill...

It was the next few miles which were my fastest - mile 7 at 7:54 and mile 8 at 7:51. These were both downhill toward the Liffey and I remember hearing an old man shouting some along the lines of "take it easy, they'll all come back to you"... Despite feeling great, I took his words to heart and let people move away from me on these downhill miles - despite the urge to run on!

As I approached 10 miles there was a short steep hill up from the Liffey which caught a few people by surprise (I knew that from the colour of the language as we rounded he corner at the bottom of the hill!) Half way up that hill I passed a wheelchair competitor struggling to push his chair up the slope... Although I didn't envy him I figure when he got to the summit he would have been a happy man indeed!!

The big hill was on the crumlin road around miles 12 and 13, and I had been dreading this ever since I talked to Alan about his race the year before, but the hill again was nothing too painful and I got up the road without much hassle... One observation was that there was no one really cheering runners on outside the Crumlin hospital - considering a lot of people were running to raise money for the hospital you would have thought the management could have made an effort to get some support there?! Maybe I'm been over critical but couldn't imagine same happening in NY!

Every 6 miles I had some energy gel and was drinking a half bottle of water every 3 miles... About 16 miles in I started to notice sore legs and knees - nothing very bad but noticeable all the same... I also had a cramp - I suspected this was due to the energy gels but who knows... It eventually went away, thankfully! As we ran down hill after Rathgar I was on roads I had cycled in my College days, and was a nice feeling to be back again... What I wasn't looking forward to was a hill I knew near mile 20 on Foster's Avenue.

That last hill was as I had remembered it.. Short and steep, but this time it was lined with people brought out by the clearing skies and cheering everyone on! It was a great feeling to get to the top of that hill - my splits had steadily been worsening with Mile 21 coming in at 9:15, but now I knew it was downhill then flat and only 5 miles left so my spirits picked up no end, and I started to pick up my feet!

The miles now were back to 8 minute miles and I was passing people out on every street... I was very tired but was now focusing on what time was on the cards... I knew I should come in about 3:45 but started to realise a time in the thirties was possible... The penultimate mile was sailed along to the sounds of Moby's "God moving over the water".. And as that song ended I put away my earphones and started cheering on the crowds...

Rounding the corner at Trinity College down Nassau street I started shouting "I can't hear you" and beckoning the crowd for support... They loved this interaction and I was really pumping along now... Turning into Merrion square again I was roaring at the crowds and on the final straight caught sight of Mel and my Mum cheering along !! The finish was great, smashing the 4 hour mark and getting into the three thirties... A super and emotional feeling, I'd finally crossed the finish line smiling and feeling proud!!

3:38:13

What a great feeling! knocked over an hour off my time and had a great time!!

more details later...