Dundalk Parkrun 5k... First Race in Years

Well there it is...after a hiatus of 8 years (which was after a hiatus of 5!) I finally raced again, and set what I will claim as a 'modern times' PB (though not without controversy!).

I was joined by my 11 year old boy, Cuan, who took a wrong turn towards the end and added a minute to his time, and still managed to come in ahead of me 😃

We were meant to be joined by Mikey Minnock, but he took a wrong turn getting to the place and ended up at DKIT Sports instead of the college campus!

I've been back training, on and off for a good few weeks now and I was feeling confident that I could come home inside the 27 minute mark that my eldest, Murty, had set as an end of year challenge for me, so I set off at a tempo that was far higher than anything I've run lately (and against my own advice to Cuan). By the midway point I was beginning to struggle and honestly questioning whether I would finish at all with 1.5k to go. But I kept at it, and my smartwatch shows the pace dropping, but not as badly as I thought.

I crossed the finish line and switched off my watch at 26.15, after which the woman at the line was looking for both my barcode and Cuan's -a conversation that cost us nearly a minute on the official clock. To add to the confusion, the watch shows only 4.96km from start line to finish, so my time of 26.15mins is also in question, but certainly I was faster than the official recorded time of 27.22! Was I sub 27? Surely I was, as I hit my own watch correctly from start to finish, and even if the course was 0.4k shorter than official I would have come home sub 27 (or would I?).

As for Cuan - another contestant said he was like a gurrier flying past them - though I'm sure she meant 'terrier'😃 If he hadnt taken wrong turn he'd be in the 25 min bracket.

As for time? Well, I know for sure I did 4.96k in 26.15 mins. Maybe that's all I can record until I break the 5k 27min mark officially, so Murty's challenge remains.

Back at it (Plodding)

Right, the old blog is getting dusted off. I've started running again, and I need somewhere to be honest about it.

Today's marker: 3.46 km in 33 minutes, about 9:32 per km. At that pace a 5k is somewhere around 48 minutes. It's a long way from the 23:16 I ran in Westport in 2014, and from the 28:20 in Knocknacarra in 2023, but everyone has to start somewhere, and this is somewhere.

The plan is simple: three easy runs a week, log every one, and see where I am come the new year. First target is sub-40.

Let's see how it goes.

Late Night, Early Morning Run in Sligo.

Went down to Sligo with my father on Friday for a weekend of music, drink and meeting up with relations.  It was the County Fleadh - a festival of traditional music and dance, so Dad and I brought the fiddle and banjo and headed down to stay with uncle Marty and his wife Patricia.

The craic was mighty - with a great sing song in The Castle Inn on Friday night in Easkey with Marty, Daniel and Derek, followed by a chat back at home until 3am.

On Saturday morning, I elected to get out of bed early and get the body moving.  So I ran down to Dunalton,   The body wasn't in the most energetic of shapes, but I got down there.  The place is absolutely beautiful - with a serious dip in the valley before you get to 'St Farnan's Shrine' away in the trees.

Further down is Dunalton itself - like a mini version of the Cliffs of Moher.  I sat for a few minutes to take it all in and to call the family at home.  And then started the jog back.  All in all a short run, but given my condition after the frolics of the night before I was happy I did anything.

It left me tired enough for the rest of the day - a sorching hot day where we got to visit landmarks such as the Beach Bar in Aughris Head, before making our way back to the Castle Inn again at around 6pm for more tunes with the likes of Damien, Jason and Lorna McGuinness, Darren O Reagan and others.

We had a great weekend - and at the very least I ticked off some sort of a run!

Warm weather, short run...

 

It's beautiful here at the moment - the sun shining, the flowers are blooming and even old ruins like this one (right across from our house) are standing proudly.

On the subject of old ruins - I, myself, am feeling okay these days.  Today was my first training run since the Park Run 5k on Saturday, and I really am just stealing a bit of time here and there between working, bringing kids home from school, bringing kids to accordion/football/judo practice, calling in to my Mum in the nursing home and calling up to Dad above in the house.

Still - the running is supremely important.  I need to get back to a level of fitness that will allow me to function with intent in everything else.

Today, I just did about 3k, with 1k easy, and 2k hard - at a higher pace than I'm used to.  This meant that, even thought it was a short run, it was tough.  I remember from my old Furman training programme that a tempo run like this can work wonders for your fitness...

Here's hoping!

First Run in Nearly 10 Years!

 Thank God I'm finally, finally, back running (if plodding).

I signed up to the Knocknacarra 5k Park Run on Saturday last, and went in with brother Richie (above)- where we met up with Darach (pic below).  

It was a gorgeous morning - and the turnout was at the high seventy mark.  These park runs are normally well organised.  My last park run, back in early 2014, was in Westport with Big Ron.   I finished that in a time of 23.16 - and by all accounts I was disappointed with my time!  

How times have changed... I plodded through this run and completed it in 28.20 - a full two minutes behind Richie, and well behind Darach.  Even so, I was well pleased with the run.  There were times over the last ten years when I was sure I wouldn't run again.  To be part of a running community is something special.

I now have a marker - I know what I need to improve on.

Back to Saturday runs with Murty

 I got out for a 3k trot on Saturday with Murty... first in a long time, but I'm determined to get back (if slowly) on to the running wagon again.  It was fierce cold, and lashed a little icy rain.  Poor Murty (who is only 10!) felt the brunt of it, and asked to shelter for a minute at the door of an old shed by the beach.

Later that afternoon I indulged in a pint with the aul fella! Not bad for one day's inter-generational bonding!

Slow(ish) run down to beach and back...

 I broke with my original training plan for a new and revolutionary one:  no training at all.  This lasted for over a week before I arrested the slide yesterday with a nice slow 4k run, down to the local beach and around the loop road back.

I felt the excesses of the past two weeks - the beer to welcome returning siblings on holidays, the beer to welcome returning cousins on holidays, and the beer to celebrate Galway reach the All Ireland final for the first time in 21 years!

Okay - too much beer.  The Claregalway 10k looks ominously out of reach - but still I will continue to push on with slow, mid range runs, for the next week or two and see if I'm anywhere near the pace... If not, we can adjust and go again!

Little Kathleen welcomes me back!

5k in miserable weather, with Murty

I finished 'week one' training with a 5k run today, up to the village and back with Murty and our very energetic dog, Lughaidh!

It was great to have Murty for company - and a good achievement for him to run that distance at his age (9).

I felt good today, and delighted the first week of training has been completed. Claregalway is just 7 weeks away... Much to do! 

Day 2 of my 10k programme

I took to the local park for the second day of my training programme - once again, kids in tow!  I had planned on running 4 consecutive laps at a reasonable pace, with one slow lap either side.

However, when I got to the park there was a lot of activity there with kids playing football, so I decided to hop next door to the soccer astro pitch.  It was empty, so perfect!  Kids went to the playground, and away I went on my run.

I managed 4 consecutive laps at a fair degree of pace alright, but to be honest, the pitch is only about 1/2 size of the other one, so I added another 4 fast laps for good measure.

However, the final four I didn't do consecutively - I couldn't!  I broke it up to:  1 fast, 1 slow, 1 fast, 1 slow, 2 fast.  

I consider it a good enough job for the second day of my comeback!  A 5k run now on Saturday and that's week 1 done.  

Intervals - First step on the road to recovery

 I've sketched out a plan for the next 8 weeks, that hopefully should see me completing the Claregalway 10k with some minor modicum of dignity.  The thing now is to stick with it!

Páirc an Cháthanaigh, where I did my intervals, hosted a European Cup soccer match way back in 1986!

I've decided to go with three training sessions per week, that basically follows the following pattern:

Monday - Interval training

Wednesday - Short fast run

Saturday - Long slow run

Intervals were a key part of my marathon training back when I could run well!  I was never a super fast runner, but interval training gave me that sharp burst of lung  busting speedwork that helped bring my time down to 3.43 for the Dublin marathon, way back in 2010. 

Yesterday evening was beautiful - the kids had football training on the park, so Murty and I did 12 laps, 6 fast, six slow.

The first fast lap nearly killed me.  I thought I'd never complete the next 5.  But I did, and actually began to feel a little better after lap #3 of the fast ones.

It feels good to be back training.  Onwards we go!

The comeback 10k has been chosen...

 I've chosen the Claregalway 10k (which takes place on August 13th) as my comeback run...

The last time I took part in a road race (or a race of any description) was the Westport 5k series - with Big Ron, way back in 2014.  Since then - I've had a knee injury that kept me from running, four kids (that kept me from sleeping!), and a business that kept me going!

But (thanks to John Bracken), my knee is sorted, and I'm ready to get going on a training programme to get me up to 10k level for August 13th.  

Looking back at my old PB's - I hit the 10k PB in May 17th, 2013, for the Cooley Coast Run - at 47.32.  I won't get anywhere near that for Claregalway (If I hit around 57 mins I'll be happy!).  

Long Hiatus - Could I really be back?

 

It's been a long time.  

My last post was back in 2015 and my last run was a year earlier.  

There was a time when I ran and posted constantly - and enjoyed many fun runs, marathons, park runs and street races, but in 2014 I sustained a bad knee injury that put me off the track and road for a long time.

In truth, I thought I wouldn't run again.  My knee was so sore that I could hardly sleep without discomfort - driving was a pain.  Occasionally I would trot a bit just to see if, by miracle, the knee came back of it's own accord, but the pain would emerge after 100 metres.

I went to see a knee specialist who told me I had two options - 1) key-hole surgery 2) more extensive surgery.  Neither, he said, would guarantee any success - and running was definitely out of the equation.

And then - by total chance, I went to see a 'healer'.  This man, John Behan, was reportedly a 'seventh-son-of-a-seventh son'!  He had the 'healing power'.

I went with scepticism, but whatever the man did had me up and running within an hour....I KID YOU NOT!

Having said that - this was about a year ago - and I still didn't push on.  But slowly, I returned to walking and then, hey presto, today I took the plunge and ran for 20 minutes.

It's a start - and I'm excited about it.

Since I can't run.

I've been absent from running since last February, and am still injured (physio reckons it will take another 2-3 months of rehab).  Since I can't run, or blog about running, here's a poem I've written about being injured and not running!

Since I can't run,
I'll watch my boy learn how to walk.
The waddle.
Then run.
I'll listen to him wah.
Then woggle.
Then word.
I'll fit his first shoes on his feet.
And chase him out the door with his unpaid-for clarks.

I'll step him up to bed, one step at a time.
And step down again silently an hour later.
And up again five minutes later.

Since I can't run I'll pass each animated phase:
First Raa Raa, then Olly, then Fireman Sam.
I'll read him every Thomas book that ever was written.
Then I'll read them all again.

We'll visit our neighbours pony and feed him carrots and apples.
And clunks of grass.

We'll laugh like eejits while I purse wind against his neck.
Then I'll worry about paying his keep,
When I know that he'd live in a cave beside us.

Crocked Runner Needs Advice on Other Ways of Keeping Fit!

Happier running times with the brothers...

Since starting this blog back in 2010 this has been the longest period of non-posting.  It's also been the longest period of non-running, and of course both are inextricably linked.  I've been too fed up of this situation to even post about the state of my injured leg.

As is often the case with the male of the species, I've been guilty of putting my head in the sand and hoping the knee problem would sort itself out.  I've also been flat out with work - running my own business now really does mean that 'time' means money!  

There were two physio visits... one convinced me that the swelling would go down and I'd be back running in a month (swelling went down but I can hardly walk upstairs three months later).  The other physio directed me towards a doctor who would refer me for an MRI scan to see what exactly was wrong, and what could be done.   And that's where we are at right now - awaiting a scan.

In the meantime, I've lost a lot of fitness and it has dragged me down.  What to do when you can't run or cycle?  Press-ups and sit-ups don't really cut the mustard for me....

 I may well need some kind of surgery to sort this out, which means that I may be looking at the rest of the year without a run.  Still, I'm a little closer to the scan, so it's time to get positive.  Any ideas on ways to keep fit in the meantime that doesn't involve use of the knee

?

First Three Pints, and a Damn Injury.

The dreaded medial ligament...

I've not blogged for nearly two weeks, though much has happened, and at the same time, little has happened!

First of all, I took a tumble on the treadmill on Tuesday and ended up damaging my medial ligament in the left knee... an old injury and an extremely annoying one.  How could this have happened on a treadmill, I hear you ask?  God only knows... a momentary lapse in concentration and I stepped on to the non-moving part of the treadmill and took a bad tumble.  I'll be out of action for another couple of weeks (serves me right to use the treadmill instead of the road, but the weather has been terrible).

Then, on the following Saturday, I drank the first three of my twenty-four pints for the year... Tasty they were too.  I was in the good company of Benny, while we watched England play France in the Six Nations.  We put a little wager on England to win after they had fallen two tries down and would have collected good money had a fiendish Frenchman not touched down in the very last minute.  Mugs game that aul gamblin'. 

It is frustrating not to be able to get out and run, but I'm due a visit to the physio tomorrow and hopefully that will accelerate progress.

Hopefully.

Swirling Wind.

It's wild out here in the west.  Trees are toppling like dominoes, it's bordering the ridiculous.  I did manage to get out on the road a few days last week in slightly stiller weather.  Nothing too strenuous - a leisurely 6 miler and a stroll of a four miler.  An then a gap while I took the cowards route of staying in curled up by the fire rather than getting out into the wilds. 

My vegetarian diet is still on track - as is the 24 pint plan.  So far I haven't had a pint at all, and I'm aiming to see January well gone before I even think of lifting Arthur's sweet tonic to my lips.  

We've been busy playing... 'drama' that is... Prior to the Christmas break I wrote and directed a comic 'panto' called 'Enda Lofa & Róisín Bán', and God knows we had some craic performing.  We took the play on the road this weekend to Gaoth Dobhair in beautiful Donegal, as our band 'Rís' were performing at the Cabaret.  Bhí an-time go deo againn, mar a bhíonn i gcónaí. 

Back to the 'running blog' side of things:  must do better, must not be a coward!

Going Veggie, Back Running, and Back to 24 Pint Plan!

Big Ron and I take a 'selfie' after the Park Run 5k

2014 has started with a ferocious bang.  Storms have lashed the west coast of Ireland - flooding the dock area in Galway, uprooting concrete promenades along Salthill, Spidéal and further west, and causing untold damage right around the country.  Doooomsday scenario!

Time for a change.

So, I'm going veggie for 2014:  no meat, poultry or fish!   

And, I'm going back to the 24 pint plan... that's right, circle the year on a tiny alcohol allowance of only 24 pints of Guinness!

On top of this I mean to get back running in a meaningful way.  To emphasise the point Big Ron and I left the house at 7.30am on Saturday morning to make the trip north to the beautiful town of Westport, where we participated in our first official race of the year, the Park Run 5k.  Just 5k I hear you ask?  Well, the small ones can be the toughest, especially when you are not, I repeat, NOT, fit.  I started off briskly, running at the low 7 min mile pace, but I died a death at the 3k mark and slowed considerably, coming in at 23.46mins, and nearly vomiting!  Big Ron was miles ahead in the low 20min mark.  Still, I have my barometer for the year and can only get better.

Delicious veggie burger I prepared on Friday night.

As for the veggie diet - why I hear you ask?  Well, I've always wondered about going vegetarian, for all the health and morality reasons, so this year I'm plunging straight in and so far enjoying it.  

Health and happiness to all in 2014.

Back on the Road.

Following my longest absence from running in years (over two months), I took to the roads yesterday evening as the sun was setting.  A beautiful evening it was too... strange days for November.  The route was simply down to the pier, up to Cóilín Daddy's house and then back - three miles on the dot.  To be honest, I thought I would suffer a bit more for my absence than I did, but having said that it was still tough enough from the two mile mark onwards.

Why did I abstain?  I wasn't carrying an injury, I wasn't sick and I didn't have a death threat hanging over me from the anti-running terrorist group.  Simply, I felt like taking a wee break.  Hopefully this has enthused me to get back in love with the open roads.

Now I'm targeting the Tombrack 4 miler in Wexford, on December 14.  Away we gooooooooooooo.... 

Stabannon 10k

My blog posts have been running low of late, and I'm considering that it may be time to call time on this project at the end of the year.  I'll continue to check in with all the great running blogs that I've grown fond of these past years - especially Old Running Fox, Coach Dion, Giorgio, Will from an Ultra Runner's Blog, Ian from Just us and a Few Friends, and many more.  I've enjoyed the experience of being in the running blog brigade, and I intend to post about races run, but only that I feel.

My last race was the Nicola Barry 10k for Cancer Care, in my wife's beautiful home village of Stabannon.  It was a great event - extremely well organised and with a great spirit of togetherness.  Nicola Barry, a local woman who has made a full recovery from that dreaded illness, was the instigator and inspiration for this event.  Teresa, my sister in law, was chief organiser - no one does it better!

As for the run itself, I just jogged it with Benny and came in around 56 minute mark.  I know I could have run considerably faster, but the day called for an enjoyable trot and it certainly was that.  I hope to take a short break from racing between now and Christmas in order to get the spirit going for a good year of running in 2014... this past year has been a disappointing one on the racing front.

Back to Interval Training...

Hopefully last night's session will mark the start of a good stint for me... I did intervals as follows:  one mile easy, one mile hard, break, one mile hard, break, 0.5 miles hard, and finally one mile easy.  Nearly killed me but I felt great afterwards.  I'm gearing up now to do the Nicola Barry 10k in Stabannon on October 3rd... I've lost a lot of training so the mind is now focussed to try to better my PB for that race.