The Aftermath

Things have been very quite on the running front since Connemara. Recovery went pretty well - starting with a 3+ mile walk (of sorts) in Connemara National Park the morning after the race. My first run, 10 days after the event, was slow but reasonably trouble free.

A few months back I had signed up for one of the company relay teams in the Dublin City Triathlon on 24th August (14 days after Connemara). My job was to run the 4km final leg of the supersprint. I didn't give it much thought until a few days before the event when I was heading out on my second Connemara recovery run and decided to run a "tempo" mile to see what I would be capable of. While I didn't push myself to the limit I still gave it a good effort and finished the mile a few seconds on the wrong side of my 7 minute target - essentially knocking 50 to 60 seconds off what I would have been capable of before Connemara - no more that I expected really. Come race day however, lined up alongside Brendan in the "relay pen" with a number pinned to my chest, the competitive juices started to flow. Brendan got about a minutes head start on me and managed to add 8 seconds to his lead by the time I crossed the finish line, covering the 4 k in about 16:30, not the best recovery from a 100 miler and sure enough I felt a bit of tightness in my right calf over the last 500m.

A hilly 15+ mile long run a week later exposed the weakness in my right leg a bit further with a tightness in my Achilles developing from midway through the run - the hills will expose an weakness in your Achilles. I was reduced to limping for the rest of the day and a week off running. A 9 mile run the following weekend and another day of limping dictated that a longer period of rest was required - typically an Achilles injury takes 6 to 8 weeks to recover from as opposed to the 2 to 3 required for a muscle injury - something to do with the reduced blood flow/access to tendons to effect a repair compared to the relatively accessible capillary rich muscles.

The further layoff didn't bother me too much as I reckon I had my work done for the year and my only targets were "social" races or pacing gigs. A proper rest is probably what my body needed anyway. A few weekends on the bike an a gradual return to running culminated in a 15 mile run @ 7:59 pace on grass today (between 2 miles of walking) with no lingering issues. So hopefully I can ramp it up over the next two weeks to pace 3:20 in Dublin on October 28th - what's the opposite of taper?

Thanks for all the kind comments (on and off line) over the last two months following the death of Cliona - like my running it has been a slow recovery - funny how the body and mind sometimes synchronise.

Marathon Training Week 9 of 10

Final Preparation

Only one week of my marathon training programme remains. Recovery from last Monday's marathon paced "training run" went quite well with a slow recovery 6 mile run on grass on Tuesday. In fact most of my running this week has been on grass with heavy legs for a few days but no niggles or DOMs.

The last two specific sessions of the programme are a 10 to 12 mile long run, 8 days out (Friday) and 2 x 1 mile @ 10k pace, 6 days out (today). I deferred Friday's "long run" until Satuday morning so that I could join the 7:30 pace Club run, only to show up half an hour late. I ran the route in reverse so as to meet up with the group and return with them. The pace was a little faster than planned, hitting 7:13 average over 12.28 miles on a beautiful sunny morning.

I returned to the grass this evening for my last speed session - 1 mile warmup followed by 4 x 30 second strides, 2 x 1 mile @ 10k pace and 1 mile warmdown. I assume the purpose of the session is to get a little speed in my legs in the final build up, without taxing them too much and  ensure they are fully recovered and fresh for Saturday's race. I selected 6:00 pace for the mile repeats, which came in in 5:56/57 with a 2:30 slow jog recovery in between. The effort felt closer to 5k than 10k pace, but i'm not too concerned.

The last 5 days of the programme consist of 13 miles of running over 4 easy sessions, 2 of which have 4 x 100m @ 5k pace thrown in, just to keep a bit of zip in the legs. The work is done all I have to do now is resist the temptation to do something stupid. To be quite honest I have no expectations going into Saturday's marathon, just show up and run a smart race and adjust  my plan for the two unknowns - 

(i) the weather - with a noon start and the recent spell of sunny weather it could be a bit warm out there and

(ii) recovery from the Cork City Marathon - while my legs and body feel pretty good going into the last week, I will not know how well recovered I actually am until I hit mile 20, particularly if the sun does come out to play.

Marathon Reflection

I've attempted to breakdown my splits for last Monday's marathon. The first half in 1:29:43 was at a farily predictable pace of 6:51. The second half in 1:26:19 was covered in an average pace of 6:35 (16 seconds per mile faster) giving an overall average pace of 6:43, only 3 seconds per mile slower than my "training " marathon pace.

My fastest miles from 13.1 (1:29:43) to 20 (2:14:23) were at an average pace of 6:29, slowing to an average of 6:42 over the final 10k, although the last 2 miles were slower as I remember looking at my pace band at the 40K and 25 mile marks and concluding that I was 4 minutes ahead of 3 hour pace, which is where I finished - suggesting that the last mile or 2 were at 3 hour pace (6:52) - still not a bad fade. The big unknown however is how bad the fade would have been had I "raced" the entire distance - could I have achieved the sub 2:55 as Thomas suggests or would an opening 1:27 half have been enough to kill my pace over the closing 10k. We'll never know.



3.5 Mile In - Still Comfortable



Mile 26 - Nearly There (Courtesy of PacePix.com)

Weighty Matters

I am now 3 months into my new "diet" and my weight has continued to drop with apparently obvious advantages - with 2 PBs under my belt, one of which came out of the blue. My weight has fluctuated day to day and there have been longer spells of up to a week where I have gained weight, particularly the week before the Cork Marathon where my average weight climbed from 76.1 kg (167.8 lbs) to 76.8 (169.3 Lbs) - I weighed in at 77.5 kg (170.9 lbs) on marathon morning, which I partly put down to taking on more carbs, which promotes more water retention for a well hydrated body. Overall I have lost 7.2 kg (16 lbs) in 12 weeks but would expect it to taper off from here on in. However I will continue with the lifestyle as it is quite easy to follow (only one rule) and see where it takes me.

Weekly Mileage - 65 Miles

Average Weight - 76.4 Kg.

RHR - 39

No Running or Jogging Allowed

My recovery from Connemara has gone pretty well. To be quite honest it is one of the best recoveries I have had after a marathon/ultra, with the sore quads walking downstairs lasting less than 24 hours - maybe the Guinness after the race helped loosen things out.

My first run was on Tuesday, where I joined the Clubs 4 x 1 mile track session - jumping into the slowest pace on offer at about 7:44 miles and while my legs felt a bit tired and achy there were no noticeable niggles. Since then I have run every second day, getting in a reasonably long hilly run with the club on Saturday morning (14.8 miles) with no issues. Today I went out for a impromptu progression run at lunchtime with Brendan (all my runs with Brendan appear to be progression runs) getting down to 6:27 pace for mile 5 before I eased back slightly as I could feel a pain in my right adductor (groin) so i'll keep away from the speedwork or anything below 7 minute pace for a while, no rush.

Given my endurance base I thought i'd look for another ultra to run in the next month or 2 and set my sights on the JFK 50 Mile Challenge in Sneem on 26th May. The only problem is that it is advertised as a walk ,which participants have to complete within 20 hours . No problem there I thought. However I sent an e-mail to the organisers asking was it open to runners and got 2 separate courteous replies saying that running or jogging is not allowed but they'd love to have me walk it. Maybe I could do a Rob Heffernan on it  or it would come in handy as training for one of those 24 hour races that require a bit of walking ;-)

Tue 3rd Apr - 6.70 miles in 1:02:30 (9:20 pace - with 4 x 1 mile @ 7:44 pace and loads of standing around)

Thu 5th Apr - 5.64 miles in 42:33 (7:33 pace - Easy run)

Sat 7th Apr - 14.80 miles in 1:59:12 (8:03 pace @ 135 HR - Long run)

Mon 9th Apr - 9.58 miles in 1:11:11 (7:25 pace @ 133 HR - Easyish run)

Tue 10th Apr - 5.64 miles in 39:36 (7:01 pace @ 136 HR - Progression run)

What's Next?

Recovery from Ballycotton has gone pretty well. While the ball of my left foot was quite tender it did not prevent me from running on it, albeit in normal running shoes. With the Connemara ultra now less that 4 weeks away I have only planned 3 specific runs between now and then.

.

The first and only ultra specific run is this weekends long run, where I hope to run 30 miles or so (3:45 to 4 hours hopefully). This time i'm planning on taking on some fluids and maybe even a gel or 2.

.

The second, on the following weekend (Bank Holiday Monday), is the Mallow 10, where I hope to break my 10 mile PB, given my Ballycotton performance. I know Paul advised caution so close to Connemara, but I think 13 days should be enough for recovery - i'll see how Ballycotton impacts on this weekends long run and reassess.

.

Cresting the Incline @ Mile 7

.

My third planned run is a final 5 mile constant HR evaluation run a week before Connemara to assess my aerobic fitness before race day. All my other runs will be based on feel with a few faster paced runs if the mood takes, always mindful of erring on the side of caution during the Connemara taper.

.

.

Filling The Void

One thing I had not planned for after the Dublin Marathon was the lack of a medium/long term goal. What am I to do now? While I had planned and trained to break my half marathon PB in Charleville on 18th September there was no target time. The plan, hatched in late July, was still only a diversion on a longer road, something to keep me amused en-route to a greater destination. Where was I really heading - a 15 mile PB 2 weeks later? again another thing to keep me amused (and motivated) on my journey. And then the fog began to clear a little and I could see a greater prize, much closer than I thought. Is this where I was aiming for all along, suddenly within reach, is the pilgrimage over, is this the road I should take, I didn't have much time to think - probably a blessing in disguise - and swerved off the road without indicating and the rest is history.

.

Now that I have arrived do I stop here? final destination, settle down, eat sleep and be merry, content with life. What about the journey? wasn't it fun? isn't that what it's all about? can't stay here forever! But which road do I take? does it really matter? Pick one and the next long term destination will reveal itself when you're ready. One things for sure you got to keep moving.

.

So I am back on the road, after a week of eating and sleeping. 2+ kg heavier, so no shortage of fuel. Before diverting to Dublin I had planned on running the Clonakilty Waterfront Marathon on 10th December and while I haven't signed up yet I think i'll stick to that plan, in the absence of anything else. I had a notion, pre-Dublin, that I could PB in Clon - a tough ask on a hilly course but since I PB'd in Dublin I can relax a little - no pressure - treat it as an experiment - another 6 mile cut-in or maybe a 13.1 mile warmup to a 13.1 mile race. We'll see.

.

My recovery from Dublin followed a predictable enough course and while my HR for a particular pace may still be higher than it was before Dublin everything else appears to be back on track. My speedwork at the track was initially at MP and an attempt to join the 6:00 mile pace group for 3 x 2k last Tuesday was met with a "you're not that good so piss off back to a slower group" from my body which bailed after 400m into the 3rd 2k. To be expected really as I have not trained at that pace all year - shows the importance of specificity. To be quite honest I was aiming for 6:20 pace, but the choice was 6:48 or 6:00, unless I wanted to run on my own.

.

No problem with recovery though as I managed to follow it up the night after with a 39:30 10k (6:22 pace) in the Run for Mark in the Dark Charity 5k/10k in Cork. The race, over 4 x 2.5k laps (2 laps for the 5k) on the flat Monahan Road/Center Park Road loop, was well supported. My reason for entering was to support a worthy cause - something positive in all the doom and gloom. The fact that there were two races with the start/finish at the same location (so maybe not exactly 5k/10K) with a clock to see progress after each lap made it more interesting than most races. My plan was to run by feel, head out at a comfortable pace and see how I get on - certainly not looking for a PB. The clock showed 10:06 after the first lap, which automatically reset my internal governor to a sub 40 minute target. I just kept the pace comfortably hard and the 2nd lap came with 20:01 on the clock - I resisted the urge to chase down a guy who passed me racing for the 5k finish line as I was in a 10k groove. Lap 3 was less comfortable but still manageable - 29:53 on the clock. I continued the pace heading into lap 4. The course got progressively congested between laps 3 and 4 as slower runners running 3/4/5 abreast prevented me from taking the racing line - jumping onto the footpath, splashing through puddles - all part of the fun. I reeled in and passed a few runners on the last lap as my pace increased slightly, crossing the line in 9th place in 39:30 - although the results give me a 39:41 (adding 10 seconds to my first lap)

.

.

Post Mortem

Reflection

.

The results of the Portumna 100k show that my second 50k (4:50:31) took 9.24% longer than my first 50 (4:25:57), which is not too bad considering that out of the 12 finishers I had the smallest positive split (the largest was 56%). However the guy who finished behind me incredibly had the only negative split (4:57:45 + 4:52:21 = 9:50:06) meaning he managed to climb 2 places during the second half of the race. While my pace had reduced to a pedestrian level by the time I had crossed the finish line I could have continued on if I had to, for how long I don't know. However 10 minutes later I could not have walked let alone run.

.

.

Recovery

.

My recovery has taken a circuitous route. Naturally my legs were achy and stiff for a few days. My left quad in particular did not function particularly well – to get into bed or a car I had to use both hands to lift my leg from behind the knee. I also had a blister on the side of the base of my right big toe, which I had to lance. All good recovery stuff.

.

.

Pain

.

However as the aches and pains subsided on Sunday and Monday a new pain was developing in the big toe of my left foot. I assumed it was a sprain resulting from the race that I had not previously noticed but by Tuesday night the pain had got so bad that I could not sleep and had to hang my foot out over the edge of the bed as I could not tolerate anything touching my toe – water falling on it in the shower was enough to cause pain – it was red and swollen and walking was only possible without shoes and with a distinctive limp.

.

.

Diagnosis

.

So on the Wednesday morning I ended up at the Doctor, who promptly proclaimed “that’s Gout” when I revealed the throbbing digit. I had to tell her that the purple toenail was due to an unrelated previous “injury”. Yet she took precautions and prescribed antibiotics in case of infection, an anti-inflammatory for the gout and told me to avoid purine rich foods in my diet (alcohol, read meat – particularly organ meat, mackerel, sardines, tomatoes...)

.

All Abina said is "It can't be Gout. Did you tell the doctor the distance you ran? "

.

"She didn't ask but I did tell her I ran a very long race. If she though it important she'd have asked"

.

"You should have told her" She replied.

.

When picking up the drugs she even asked the pharmacist what he thought, filling him in on the details -"How long?" he asked - "no it can't be gout" - I think he just didn't want to contradict her - by the time I hobbled up he was more interested in where I ran and whether or not it was an organised event.

.

.

Science Bit

.

To be honest I was surprised with the diagnosis as I understood that gout was associated with a rich diet and copious amounts of alcohol but apparently other factors include a genetic predisposition ( I have a younger brother who suffers from gout) and an under-excretion of uric acid from the kidneys (quite possible given the reduced kidney function associated with endurance events). Also an excessive breakdown of cells (muscle breakdown in this case) can lead to uric acid build-up and uric acid crystals can become deposited in tendons, joints, kidneys, and other organs. This accumulation of uric acid crystals is called gouty arthritis, or simply "gout."

.

.

Recovery # 2

.

The meds appeared to work for a while but the pain was nearly as bad on Thursday night, which forced me to consult Dr. Google on Friday morning. After viewing a few sites I was almost resigned to a life crippling pain and no hope for a cure until I happened on this guys site proclaiming the benefit of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), which essentially increases the alkalinity of the body (blood/urine) thereby reducing the production of uric acid. After a day or two of self-medication I was on the road to recovery.

.

.

Running

.

I was sufficiently recovered by last Tuesday to venture out in a pair of runners, perhaps unwisely selecting the clubs track session for my first run. However I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to complete a ladder session at a decent enough clip (for me) - between 6:00 and 6:40 mile pace - but I could feel the dull ache in my legs during the 2 minute recoveries. I continued running for the rest of the week culminating in a hilly club run this morning over 11.7 miles @ 8:30 pace and while I can run I’m still a long way from full recovery. Plenty of time.

.

.

Plans

.

Apart from being accepted this week to pace the 3:30 group at the Dublin City Marathon at the end of October I have committed to no other race and so my current “training plan” is primarily recovery based – muscle recovery first followed by recovering some of the speed lost over the last 12 months. As Thomas is also pacing the 3:30 group in Dublin it will be our closest race to-date – forced to warmup over 40,095m for a 100m sprint ;)

.

.

Transition

I did nothing for the whole week after Connemara - I didn't even ice my calf - i'm lazy when it comes to things like that. I did give it a rub of the foam roller which helped loosen some of the knotted tender muscle fibres.

.

My active recovery began today with an easy paced cycle around the hilly loop to Crossbarry followed by a 2 mile run and while my calf was a bit tight it did not hurt and the distance was short.

.

A big congratulations to Thomas on getting his well deserved sub-3hour marathon in Vienna this morning and to Rick on his 2:49 result in London and best of luck to clubmate Colin and Jamie running Boston tomorrow.

Sunday 17th April

2.13 miles @ 7:52 pace & 135HR.

.

Recovery Week #1 (Run 2.1 miles, Bike 21.3 miles, Swim 1 km)

.

.

Back? Almost!

The €30 red racers I bought in Barcelona served me well in Connemara - not a blister or black toe nail in sight. My first "recovery" run in them consisted of 2.1 miles around the block after a 2 hour cycle on Sunday. Unlike the equivalent run a week after Barcelona it went off without a hitch at a tad under 7:30 pace.

I returned to the track on Tuesday where 5 x 1k was on the cards. I ran with a group targeting 96 second laps in lane 3 (4:00 for 1,040m - about 3:51 per km). The first rep felt good but the 4:08 time explained that. The next few were on target at 3:58/58/59 and while I had to concentrate on keeping pace the effort was manageable. A sprint over the last 200m of the final rep brought me home in 3:46 - closer to the 3:50 target time of the faster pacing group - although I remember targeting 3:43 when these sessions started a few weeks ago.

My next run was in the park on Thursday with 3 sub-7 minute miles (6:54/46/43) sandwiched between a warmup and warmdown mile (overall avg 7:03 pace). Again my legs felt fine with no residual issues apart from some tightness in my calves this evening during a 21 mile bike ride.

A long run (well 11 miles) tomorrow with Eagle should complete my return to normal training. Next race will still be a few weeks off though.

Finally, the best of luck to Rick who is targeting 2:45 in the London Marathon on Sunday, Mike in the Big Sur marathon also on Sunday and John who is running the 53 mile Highland Fling tomorrow between Milngavie and Tyndrum on the West Highland Way in Scotland. If you think that's long he'll be running the full length of the West Highland Way to Fort William (95 miles in all) in June.

.

Paying the price

My legs are certainly paying the price for last Sunday's run. Surprisingly (or maybe not) it is my left quad and calf that give the most pain when walking. Perhaps they were compensating for the under performing right calf for the last 17 miles of the race. Certainly as the race went on my legs began to stiffen up considerably, with the last 5 miles being a real drag. I know this is quite common in marathons but when I initially slowed down I thought that the overall trauma to my legs would reduce (apart from the right calf strain).

My 5k splits (adjusted for the difference of 44 seconds between clock and chip time) are:-

5 km - 00:21:20 10 km - 00:21:04 15 km - 00:21:22 20 km - 00:22:38 25 km - 00:22:51 30 km - 00:23:20 35 km - 00:23:22 40 km - 00:23:42 42.195 -00:10:49

My target 6:45 pace for the first 20 miles equated to 20:58 5ks. The opening 5K in 21:20 was a deliberate slow start that went on for a bit longer than anticipated. By 10k I was almost on target pace and feeling good. The 21:22 for the 3rd 5k included pulling up before the 15k mat to apply bio freeze to my calf and after that it was pretty much downhill.

Overall the Garmin recorded 26.54 miles which is a 1.2% error. While this appears small it is equivalent to 5 seconds per mile which could lull you into a false sense of security if relying solely on the Garmin for pacing. For example the average pace to mile 8 on the Garmin was 6:43 as opposed to the real pace of 6:48.

Well done to Gary (recent commenter on my blog) who pulled off a great time of 2:55:15. What's even more impressive is that his last 5k was his fastest. To answer your question(s) Gary/(Frank) I started in the 3-3:30 pen, but had no problem getting up to pace once I crossed the timing mat. I caught up with and passed the 3:15 pacers somewhere during the 2nd mile. I do indeed intend to run the Connemara ultra in just over 4 weeks time but don't know what shape i'll be in by then. The target pace was always going to be well down on MP - so hopefully my endurance will be enough to carry me through. However I have the small matter of the Ballycotton 10 on Sunday week, which I hope to run at an easy pace if my legs are recovered.

An easy swim on Monday helped alleviate the stiffness. I followed this up last night with an easy 20 minutes spinning on the turbo trainer. My left calf and quad continue to throb along with a slight discomfort in the right knee, which reared it's ugly head while on the bike. However i'm confident that these are temporary niggles. As I haven't run, and won't until after the weekend, I don't know how impacted my right calf is from the pull on Sunday.