It's Official

My 100m PB has finally been ratified by the Cork County Board - 16.53 seconds. My third PB of the year after the 39.3 miles and the 100k, and unlike those races I was back running (racing) within 12 hours. McMillian gives me anything between a 3:03 and a 3:15 marathon for my effort - if only I had practiced using the starting blocks (practiced at all) and broke the tape at 14 seconds I'd be on my way to a 2:40 mara (all for the want of 2.53 seconds) - ah well there's always next time. . As I was toeing the line at the start of the race the MC announced over the PA system that the last race that one of the competitors ran was 100k (leaked from the club chairman). As the rest of the guys appeared to all know each other, they all looked in my direction - all I could do was shrug my shoulders as if to say "why not?". At least the spectators knew the reason for the 2 second gap to the guy with all the struggling slow twitch fibres.

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I celebrated my new PB by joining some clubmates on a tempo run this morning, most of whom are training for the National Half Marathon Championships in Waterford on 3rd September or one of the other HM's in Blarney/Charleville a week or 2 later.

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The plan was 25 minutes of fast running sandwiched between 1 or 2 miles of warmup/cooldown. Six of us in all met up in Carrigaline at 8 (Joe, Micháel, Norman, Paul Daly, Paul Hickey - out celebrating the birth of his firstborn - congrats Paul & Myself) for an out and back along the estuary walk to Crosshaven (old rail line) - flat and fast. After the warmup we eased into the faster pace - too fast for me at the start as I slipped to the back with the two Pauls shooting out the front. I maintained a steady pace in the mid 6:20's counting down the minutes to the 12:30 turnaround. Joe had told me on Thursday that the pace was going to be around 6:50 (must have been the salesman in him). with 12:30 on the Garmin we all turned and headed for home (avg pace of 6:24) - some with more ground to cover than others depending on how far they got. The return leg was a battle of mind against body as the rising fatigue in my legs coupled with the slow motion ticking of the clock eroded away at my resolve - yet the pace remained steady @ 6:24 and I ended my 25 minutes within 10 yards of where I started - good solid pacing - any faster on the outbound leg and my pace would almost certainly have suffered on the return.

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A slow warmdown to the cars and we were all set for the day ahead. Where else would you want to be on a warm summers morning.

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Measured my resting HR this morning at 35 (average over 5 minutes - min/max 33/39) lowest ever - maybe my HR monitor is malfunctioning as during some of my easy runs this week my recorded HR shot up as far as 170.

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Speedwork

I took it relatively easy on the running front following the race on Saturday as my quads were sore and achy - downhill running will do that for you. However that changed this evening when I returned to some faster speedwork.

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I jumped into the middle of the Thursday club session with JP, Joe, Eddie, Rónán, Maura, Pat and a few more who had 1 x 3.2k, 2 x 1.6k and 2 x 800m with 3 minute recoveries on the cards. I missed the opening 2 miles, which was run at about 6:10 pace and therefore was relatively fresh for the 2 x 1 miles @ 6:02 pace each and the 2 x 800 in 2:54/52 (3:00/2:58 in lane 3). My legs felt like jelly for the opening 100m of each of the 800s but they rallied pretty well and I was "relatively" comfortable throughout, even managing a sprint at the end of the final one - I reckoned I covered the last 100m faster than my 100m PB of last Friday.

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Given that it is a long time since I churned out 6 minute pacework at the track I was very happy with the session. To be quite honest I think I have been slacking over the last 6 to 9 months opting for slower interval paces and avoiding "short" races - perhaps because history has shown that speedwork inevitably leads to injury. Everything in moderation perhaps.

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Killarney Finish Line (relief)

When is a race not a race

It's not every day you get a PB, certainly not a PB where you come last and definitely not a PB where you come last and are only 6 or 7 seconds outside the world record - top class field. Well that was me in the 100m final at the Cork County Junior & Masters 2011 Track & Field Championships last night. Luckily I did not have to go through the heats and semi-final due to my form coming into the event.

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In summary my warmup strides were faster than my actual race, I couldn't use the starting blocks for fear of falling over 10m into the race and I did not want to DNF, I still had to get down on my knees for the ready, steady, go - flashbacks to racing my brothers on the beach as a kid. I was left standing over the first 20m and never regained my...ahem...lead. There were three in my age group (M45), the rest were older, I think the winner was over 60 - not fair putting the big boys in the same race - still I got a bronze medal for my effort (well I will when they figure out I came third). What possessed me I hear you say - I don't know, unknown territory?

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Unfortunately I didn't have time to wait around for the medal ceremony as I had to head to a funeral and forgo the possibility of more silverware in the shot and javelin, the other events I had entered for. All I can say is roll on 2012, bring it on!.....and who knows the other 2 guys in my age group may not show up.

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. I did come out of the championships with a slightly dodgy right quad (this is beginning to sound like Dervla O'Rourkes' Blog) which wasn't the best preparation for this mornings 15 mile "Maxi-marathon" in Killarney which had a substantial downhill section - not good for quads.

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Question: If a mini-marathon is anywhere from 3.8 (Cork) to 6.22 (Dublin) miles and a maxi-marathon is 15 miles, how long is a marathon?

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Answer: As long as you want it to be.

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Although if you favour the logical side of the brain and a "mini" and "maxi" are equidistant from the "normal" marathon you might come up with 10 miles or thereabouts. Either answer will do.

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Anyways, I was up this morning at the unearthly hour of 4:45 (When Thomas normally returns from his morning run) to travel to Killarney with John D and Donal (thanks for the lift Donal) so that we could catch a bus for the 8 a.m. start of this point to point race taking in the spectacular scenery of the lakes of Killarney.

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Lakes of Killarney (Ladies View)

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Thomas was at the start line well before us anxiously looking for someone to pace off. As John had a camera for taking pictures en route I suggested he track Pat O'Connor who was in similar shape and also intending to race. I did suggest to John that he run ahead of the two lads and take photos of them crossing the line, which they would appreciate ;)

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The day was overcast with a threat of rain, after all we were in Kerry - rain capital of the world.

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Here's how my race went:-.

• Uphill for the first 1.42 miles at a relatively easy pace - Mile 1 in 7:40
• Opened it up a little for the downhill miles Miles 2 to 4 in 7:00/6:15/6:40
• John was lamenting the grey day as he wasn't getting any good photos so I suggested he scoot along to the finish and take finish photos (including mine) - and the fecker did exactly that - releasing the brakes and powering off down the hill, leaving a wake of runners behind him.
• Levelled off a bit from mile 4 to 5 and more downhill until the 7.5 mile mark, which I passed in 49:57 (15 mile 1:40 pace) - I was feeling pretty good at this stage - Miles 5to 8 in 6:46/05/15/40.
• Some of the early mile markers were off (we were told that there were no markers as they had been pulled out by pranksters during the night)- the 10k marker came before the 6 mile one. The later markers appeared ok but were 0.1 mile short compared to the Garmin distance - "good, a short maxi is just what I need as I am beginning to feel the pressure".
• I slowed as the course levelled out - Mile 9 was my last sub 7 minute mile at 6:56. Mile 10 in 7:13 (1:07:38)
• The remaining miles were confidence bashers as those I had passed now began to pass me back as we moved off the road into Killarney National Park where the normally welcome paths killed my pace with the constant minor grade changes. I suffered on resigned to the fact that my legs were not yet prepared for the "speed/endurance" required for the "shorter" race.
• I crossed the HM timing mat in 1:29:12 (although the Garmin displayed 12.99 miles). Shortly after I was passed by a runner and again during mile 14. I could hear the footsteps of another runner behind me coming towards the finish but I managed to stay ahead of him before crossing the line - not that there was any increase in effort from me - just a "I hope to fuck he doesn't pass me" prayer. Can't beat the power of a well timed prayer.
• I finished the 14.91 (Garmin) mile race in 1:43:08 - ahead of my 1:45 target, but had to work harder than I expected - Miles 11 to 14.91 in 7:05/15/16/12/6:38.
• John was on hand at the finish line to take my photo - although he hasn't sent it on to me yet.

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Thomas and Pat had a right old battle for 2nd and 3rd M40 with Thomas hanging on for the win in a very impressive 1:xx:xx (I can't steal his thunder) - 8th overall.

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My efforts got me 39th out of about 700 starters (although this should be put in context - it was primarily a fun event - borne out by the fact that I saw some runners recovering with cigarettes)

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Post Mortem

Reflection

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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.

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Recovery

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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.

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Pain

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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.

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Diagnosis

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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...)

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

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

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"You should have told her" She replied.

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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.

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Science Bit

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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."

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Recovery # 2

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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.

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Running

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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.

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Plans

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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 ;)

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