irlchris

This sort of attitude really annoys me

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:51:00 +0000

Came across a link from an internal social networking site we use at work about "plodders". If it wasn't that it was in the New York Times, I probably wouldn't be so bothered.

Thankfully, the same message trail offered a reply by the president of the New York Road Runners association which probably summed up my sentiments better than I ever could.

In any case, all I've to say is that I wouldn't begrudge the experience I had running in NY (and by extension any where) to anyone from the fastest runners to the last finishers. They're all their for their own reasons - sure the finishers medal \ t-shirt are important to some runners, but I doubt anyone does a marathon for just that!

So what next?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:51:00 +0000

Over three weeks now since the marathon and I've done pretty much nothing, save for 2/3 runs. Motivation is pretty low and all I want to do is lounge about and eat :( I've probably put on around 7kg since my low a few months back, with about half that being in the last few weeks. I really need to turn that around, so I'm starting to log my weight daily again (111.7kg this morning).

My other goal is to get back into the pool at lunch-times. My gear has been sitting in the car for over a week now, but between being busy at work and the aforementioned motivational issues, I haven't taken a dip.

I might also try and get a 10km or maybe even a half in before the new year, but only if it's extremely convienient. I still haven't officially broken the 10km hour mark (one of my goals at the start of the year), so it'd be nice to get that in the bag to finish off the year.

New York Marathon Thanks

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Been meaning to write this for a while but been pretty busy (again). I'd just like to thank anyone reading this for the support and encouragement you've provided since I started the marathon training all those months ago. You've kept me honest when it was easier to be lazy and my crossing the line is testament to that.

The support has been expressed in multiple forms, from in-person (Mum, Bart, Eamon, Lisa, Archie, Aoife, Maria, Thomas), text (Tim, Christine, Conor, John, Mauri), email (Brian, Thomas, Tom, Maurice), instant message (Eamonn, Paul), blog comments (Matt, Alan, Andrew (x2)), etc. It was pretty cool getting text messages during the race (Aimee (mile 8), Fintan (mile 15), Ger (Mile 18), Idoia (multiple times with encouragement and to arrange meeting places)) which certainly helped buoy the spirits, even if some of you thought I'd finished. A few people (Declan, Paul, some of Idoia's family) followed my progress on-line which I was surprised at.

I've missed a load, but to the many who I haven't mentioned, thank you - I'd be here all night and I'd still miss people.

Finally, I'd like to thank Idoia for all her support over the last few months - whether it was getting me out of bed (I'm really not a morning person) for early morning long runs, your constant encouragement during the highs & lows. I'm delighted that you were in NY to share the experience with me.

Anyways, time for bed I think :) I'll leave you all with two pictures - first is on the finishing straight (about 125 yards to go) and the second is just after the finish line.

New York Marathon Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:17:00 +0000

So my previous post had me up to the start line on the morning of the marathon. Forgot to mention that the weather was absolutely perfect for running - cool, overcast and dry. Definitely my running weather.

So at 10.20am, we're off. I don't hear the gun \ cannon \ whatever started the race but we start moving - slowly at first, then a bit faster as we get up to the start of the bridge (the starting point for the marathon is on the bridge, which is only nominally in Staten Island). The waves are split into three parts, and my part is on the left hand side of the upper level (the others are on the RHS and the final one is on the lower level). Fortunately we're on the Manhatten side and get some awesome views of the NY skyline. The bridges are the biggest hills on the route and the first one is probably the toughest, but the adrenaline helped make short work of it. We passed the first mile marker while STILL on the bridge (1.6-1.8 miles long in total)! Of course, what goes up, must come down and soon enough we were in Brooklyn.

Once we get of the highway (i.e. the bridge) and into Brooklyn proper, the crowds and atmosphere start to pick up. The next 11.5 miles or so are in Brooklyn and it's sub districts. There's plenty of people around, cheering us on, loads of bands (over 100 on the course! That's over four per mile!). I was going well in the first part, felt great and was really loving the occasion. Probably my most enduring memory of Brooklyn though was the long, long, long straight road we were running down - all you could see forwards and backwards were runners! Pretty impressive.

The night before I'd made some loose arrangements to meet up with Idoia at two or three points on the course. We met up for the first time between mile 8 and 9. It was good to see her and I stopped briefly to grab a drink of water and a quick chat(I'd started walking through the water \ gatorade zones which were every mile). Soon enough I was off again, with two thirds of the race still ahead but still feeling good.

Next few miles were ok, settled into a routine of walking through the water zones and running in between. At this point, I'd passed out the 4hr 30m pace group and was still going strong.

My next rendezvous with Idoia was between mile 14 and mile 15 - which was a positive thing to focus on. Another brief stop there and I was back on the road. I was starting to feel a bit bloated at this point and fancied a bit of solid food, but had planned this aspect of my nutrition poorly. Still, nothing I could do about it now but soldier on.

The next challenge was around the mile 13 mark - the bridge over the Pulaski Bridge from Brooklyn into Queens. I decided to follow my usual advice and take it easy on the uphill part of the bridge. This was the point in my mind where it started to get tough, and looking at the split times, they seem to agree. We'd a short 2.5 miles in Queens before we came up to the Queensboro Bridge - quite a sight normally, but really impressive after 15 miles behind you and 11 to go!

I walked up the first half of the bridge which seemed to take ages - was looking forward to the downhill but when that arrived, I started to cramp up - nothing major, just little twinges, but it didn't bode well. Still, I was in Manhatten now, over the half way mark and on the way home. The next few miles were dead straight as well - straight down First Avenue. The crowds here was pretty good also which was great.

At this point I was just in "get home" mode - run a bit, walk a bit - repeat. 19.5 miles in brought us over the Willis Ave Bridge into the Bronx! We only spent a bit over a mile here, but it was good to see a place I probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. I'm not too sure I'd be in a rush back either - I don't mean it in a bad way, the support was pretty good here but from my brief visit, it just seems pretty industrial and even then, a bit derelict. Thankfully crossed the 20 mile mark in this neighbourhood, which is probably the most memorable thing I can say about it.

Crossing over the next bridge, brought me to the 21 mile mark and into Manhatten again. We get onto the iconic 5th Avenue at 138th Street and it's more or less a straight (literally) run home until 59th Street - so I'm counting those blocks down one by one :)

One by one, one by one - its pretty busy in this area and the crowds are picking up a fair bit. The closer we get to Central Park the busier it gets and the more the buzz picks up - its actually exactly what's needed at this point. I'm keeping pace with the same people - I made a conscious effort to finish as strong as possible. I passed a few people I'd been battling with, which help pass some of the blocks.

The 5hrs pace group passed me which was a bit disappointing, I couldn't keep up. I knew I'd a few minutes leeway on that target, as I'd crossed the start line a few mins after they had. At 86th Street, we passed into Central Park itself and soon crossed the 24 mile mark soon afterwards.

I was struggling a bit with borderline cramps, so next two miles were pretty tough, but eventually crossed the 26 mile mark. Idoia had bought a $75 ticket to the grandstands that were erected along the finishing straight and I spotted her pretty easily, giving her a celebratory pose. Soon after, I crossed the line absolutely chuffed with myself.

My finishing time was 5hrs 03mins and 28secs! One or two have commented about the 3 mins or so, but I don't care - absolutely delighted to have finished and those three minutes are the challenge for next time.

I picked up my finishers medal, got an official photo taken, grabbed a goody bag (with a lovely bagel!) and started shuffling towards the baggage collection area. This was probably one of the most difficult parts of the race - huge crowds of runners, down a relatively narrow chute which emergency buggies also needed access to. Finally picked up the bag and made it through the throngs of people to my pre-arranged meeting point with Idoia.

Grabbing a subway back to the hotel was going to be a nightmare so we actually ended up walking all the way back (25 blocks or so) - it probably done me good :)

New York Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:40:00 +0000

Got to bed early the night before the marathon and much to my surprise slept pretty well. I was allocated the catch the 8am Staten Island ferry to the start, which I knew from the Statue Of Liberty sightseeing would take 20 mins on the Subway - I left the hotel at 7am just to be sure. I was in the third (and last) wave and was expecting to see plenty of runners on the subway, but there were only four other runners at my stop! The train took an absolute age to come and I was starting to debate whether or not to go overground and flag a taxi.

In any case, got to the Ferry in plenty of time - there was an absolutely huge crowd, mainly all runners. Actually missed the 8am ferry (too many people) but another ferry left about 5 mins later. On the ferry, met up with a Dublin guy who'd been in NY for 20 odd years. This was his third marathon, his first being the 2008 NY marathon - he done so well there that he qualified for Boston which I though was pretty impressive. Had a good long chat about a whole range of subjects, but probably the most relevant was the overview of the route which was pretty good.

After the ferry, hopped promptly on some busses to get to the "staging area" close to the start line. I still had about two hours to kill, so some idle chit chat with one or two people, but nothing much - I thought there'd be a lot more "craic". Still, there was a really good buzz around the place. There was plenty of free coffee, bagels, water, etc there and no end of toilets. At 9.40am, we heard the cannon go for the first wave which resulted in a massive cheer!

Soon enough we were called to our corral. I had been thinking of following the 4hrs 45m pace group but I ended up miles behind the 5hr guys in the corral, so just decided to go at my own pace. AS the second group got underway, we started moving up to the base of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge and our 10.20am start time. At that stage, the elite men would be 1/3 of their way through the race!

Anyways, that's enough for now - will do the rest of the run tomorrow night.

The run-up to the NYC marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:50:00 +0000

Sorry for the delay - had a pretty hectic week since returning to the UK. In this post, I'll cover the few days before the marathon. My girlfriend (Idoia) and I arrived in NY on Wednesday afternoon, with a rough plan which consisted of a few days shopping before the marathon, the marathon (Sunday), suffer like hell on Monday, before flying out on Monday night, suffering Deep Vein Thrombosis on the way home!

First day there we hit an outlet store about an hour outside of NYC - pretty disappointing, but still managed to pick up some stuff. Main problem as far as I was concerned was my legs felt a bit tired that evening, which didn't bode well for the sight-seeing we'd planned the following day!

On the Friday, we'd pre-booked tickets on the first ferry out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The trip down to the ferry was a good reconnaissance of the route I'd have to take the morning of the marathon. Statue of Liberty was pretty cool, if not a bit smaller than I'd imagined. Views back to Manhatten were probably the most impressive thing though. We actually skipped Ellis Island - I'm sure I've had family pass through there, but we'd a fair bit of sightseeing planned for the day and it got cut.

Arrived back at downtown Manhatten and checked out the financial district + Ground Zero. Walked up to Chinatown and grabbed some lunch there which was pretty tasty - absolutely huge portions as well! Rest of the afternoon we ambled up 5th \ 6th Avenues, checking out the different districts \ shops \ etc. on the way.

We finally ended up at the convention centre where I had to register - we'd initially planned on this being a quick in\out job but the place was absolutely massive! Idoia signed up for the International Friendship Run the following morning (I already had an automatic entry). Spent absolutely ages there and just went back to the hotel afterwards. Legs were pretty tired so made the decision to do as little as possible after the IFR in the morning.

The IFR is a 4km run held for international runners (and family, friends, etc.) on the day before the race. It goes from the UN to Central Park, mainly down 6th Avenue, which was pretty cool. Traffic was stopped (though it seemed like life went on as usual). Lots of fancy dress and generally a good atmosphere.

Runners were encouraged to run with their compatriots, but with Idoia running with me, it was always going to be a tough one whether to run with the Irish or the Spanish :P Either way, we just ran together, soaked up the atmosphere and the surroundings. The finish line in Central Park was under the 26 Mile banner.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in or around the hotel - Idoia went off to the MoMA and I just rested my legs and started to get nervous about the following morning.

More about that in the next post.

Prior to the

The morning after...

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Pretty stiff this morning, but thought I'd be a lot worse. Calves and groin are the worst, but I'm up and about. Plan is to do a few hours of last minute shopping / sightseeing in NY before catching an overnight flight tonight back to the UK.

Just looking at the provisional splits on the website - as I knew, very good first half, after which my 5km split times start going out to about 40 mins! Anyhow, who cares - I'm delighted to have finished.

I see the (lottery) entries for the 2010 marathon are opening today - if any of you are interested. I'd highly recommend it, if you're lucky enough to get a place.

Thanks again for all the comments and texts. Will write a proper race report when I get back to UK.

Quick update

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:43:00 +0000

Completed the NYC marathon earlier in 5hrs 3m 30s (by my timing). Will update again when I get back with more details.

Thanks for the support!

Not long now...

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Lying in the hotel, pretty nervous. Legs are a bit tired from all the walking of the last few days. Done the "fun run" this morning, pretty cool running through the streets of Manhatten. Oh well...

If (and I doubt it) anyone wants to follow realtime progress tomorrow, then my number is 56341 - pop that into the website somewhere and it should give you an update.

W6KW#2 - Tempo Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Six weeks to go to the marathon on Sunday - definitely starting to get a bit nervous. Tonights run called for

1 mile easy
5 miles medium tempo (9m 28s per mile)

As usual, I didn't follow that! It was a struggle to get out in the first place, but got out around 10pm and took the first km easy enough. I knew I'd "only" 10km to do, which would have been a fair bit a year ago, but these days I'd consider it my "comfortable" distance - I can keep an intense effort up for this distance, without suffering like I do in the longer runs staying focused.

I picked the pace up over the next few km's and was feeling good - I was considering pushing for a 5km pb, but decided against it about 4km in and eased off a bit. Thankfully the run up to around 6km was out of town (given it was after 10km on a Friday night and the students seem to be back in Cambridge for the new term).

Running through town was actually a bit tough - I usually find it a bit easier as there's generally people milling around, stuff happening, etc., compared to the quieter roads I start off on. However, tonight went the opposite way - too many people, drunk, on phones (and hence not looking where they're going), spilling out onto the road, being cheered on by muppets, etc., etc.!

So like I say, the last two miles were tough but thankfully kept the pace up and finished up doing 10.12km in 56m 36s (5m 36s per km) - for anyone that's been following this blog for a bit might realise that's easily a new (unofficial) PB. Not sure what my previous PB was (official or unofficial) but I'm happy to say this comfortably beats it - I crossed the 10km mark according to ST in 55m 54s - I definitely think a 55 minute 10k is on the cards at some stage.

W7KW#3 - Long Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Plan for last weekends run called for 13 miles at my marathon pace + 15s per mile (approx 10m 25s or 6m 31s per km). For various reasons, I didn't get a chance to go out for a run until this evening, which isn't really good enough, but that's life.

I'd been out for a cycle at lunch as well, but was determined to get at least 10 miles in this evening, ideally beating my 1hr 50m non-stop run last week and \ or it's 11.25 mile distance. Ideally, I'd run the full 13 miles or at least 20km if possible.

Set off deliberately slow to try and achieve these aims and thankfully did. Really started to struggle (mentally more than physically) after 40 mins or so. Really tried to play mind games with myself to spur myself on - the one I settled on was splitting the run into 3 x 40 minute chunks:

first "easy" one - knew I could easily do the time \ distance - absolutely no challenge
second "tough" one - tough in the sense it's be the most boring section. It starts getting tougher, but been there, done it all before.
third "goal" one - the last 40 mins which was where the sessions goals are - getting used to being on the feet for a long time.

Made it into the final section and was starting to get tired, despite the slower pace. Started counting down the minutes and eventually got to my previous time PB - though still a bit of distance wise. Figured at this point I still was good for the full distance (or at least the 20km), but bang on the 2hr mark I lost all energy (or was it willpower).

Still, quite happy with the run. Ran through some nice areas of Cambridge that I hadn't seen before - Claire College in particular, very nice at night. Can't find a pic online but I'll defo be going that way again.

Overall done 18.57km in 2hrs 01m (avg. 6m 31s per km - bang on target).

W7KW#2 - Tempo Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:26:00 +0000

The plan called for 10 miles at PMP (projected marathon pace) which is 10m 13s per mile. I got back from work a bit late and was a bit hungry, so a 1hr 40m run didn't really appeal, so I left the house thinking I'd give it a go and see how I got on.

Set off at a pretty fast pace, initially aiming to do two miles fast, followed by an easy mile and repeat as necessary. First two miles went great, averaging 8m 56s for the distance. Dropped back the pace a bit, but still took 9m 32s for the next mile before upping it again.

Mile four was pretty tough (9m 01s) and I finally cracked half way though mile five - I came to a darkish section and just decided to stop. It's a bit disappointing, but still happy enough with the run up to that (7.43km in 42m 27s - 9m 9s per mile).

A brief walk and I cracked on again. This time the aim was to keep the pace up and decide when I got close to home whether to extend the run a bit. In the end, I settled for a 10.09km run (which got me to my doorstep) in 58m 05s - another sub 1hr 10k! Garmin reckoned I crossed the 10km point at 57m 36s, so don't think it's quite a PB but very close.

W8KW#3 - Long Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:09:00 +0000

Once again, failed to get out for a (long) run at the weekend, so defaulted to Monday night. Plan for the long run was 16 miles at MP + 30-45s, so for me that's 10m 43s to 10m 58s per mile.

Set off, same as last week determined not to look at the Garmin for as long as possible. Another tactic I used was to take a different route than normal, so I didn't know the distances at certain landmarks just to keep me on my toes. As I wasn't using the GPS, just set off at what felt like a normal pace and let the body dictate.

The route was pretty un-inspiring, pretty much flat as a pancake and with some dodgy paths and no lights in places (as I was heading out of Cambridge between villages). I almost ate path on two occasions but thankfully avoided any serious problems.

First glance at the watch was when I got back into Cambridge - I'd figured I'd done a nice distance and basically needed to decide if I needed to start heading for home or to extend the run! I was absolutely disgusted to note that I'd only clocked up a little under 8 miles. The only upside to that was that I'd actually done it at quite a good pace - averaging 9m 33s per mile, considerably faster than my target pace.

Things started to get a bit tougher after this, with the miles clocking up agonisingly slow - I kept making deals with myself, hoping \ willing myself to the 13.1 mile mark and a non-stop half marathon. In the end, I ended up doing 11.25 miles before stopping (1hr 50m), still a non-stop PB.

My pace was slowing down a fair bit though but I was still looking at a HM PB - I started into a run \ walk and eventually crossed the HM mark at 2hrs 11m 28s - 92s faster than my Reading Half Marathon PB. I'm pretty sure with other runners and a crowd, I could do better :)

Struggled on until 15 miles but called it a night at that point - I was pretty tired and starting to get miserable (runners nipple!).

Overall: 15 miles, 2hrs 35m 26s (10m 18s per mile)

W8KW2 - Tempo Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:21:00 +0000

Going to keep this one short as it was a bit of a disaster. Knew I'd struggle to get out for a run on Friday evening, so I set out at lunchtime for this session. Lovely day and the plan was

1 mile easy (10m 43s pace)
4 miles at medium tempo (9m 28s)
1 mile easy

I absolutely messed up the tempo session - started off way too fast, misreading my 8m 10s pace as being about right! Needless to say, one mile in, I'd blown it and that was me done, so called it quits!

Distance: 3.74km
Time: 22m 05s
Pace: 5m 54s per km

W9KW#3 - Long run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Missed out on the tempo session on Thursday as I was absolutely up the walls at work at the end of last week - probably should still have went for a run, especially as a form of stress release but didn't get a chance! Was flat out tidying up the house and my room on Saturday, as I'm moving out at the end of the month, so no long run on Saturday - motivation was starting to lull and basically crashed on Sunday, not getting out of bed until late.

So managed to get out Monday for the first run in almost a week - going out the door, I was in two minds between a short jog and trying to do the long run I'd missed at the weekend. I've actually changed to the FIRST's "First Marathon" for the long runs as I was really struggling with their normal plan. This called for a 12 mile run at MP + 20s per mile (~ 10m 35s per mile) instead of 18 miles at MP + 30s.

Felt good after the first few miles (don't know how far as I was playing a mind game with myself - tried to not look at time \ distance until I absolutely HAD to stop) and took a different route than usual, running directly out of Cambridge, which I figured would force me to have to run back (or be out on the road all night). I'd set myself an "ideal" turnaround point which had a few other landmarks where I could quite happily turn-around and aim to better next time on the course - in the end, I made it about 60% towards my ideal point and turned around.

Run after this was a bit of a struggle - I probably ran another 1.5 miles before I stopped for the first time - 7.7 miles in and 1hr 21m's. I was a little disappointed with the distance \ time and the run home from there was a bit of a struggle - plenty of run \ walking. I seem to be really struggling at the moment with the mental toughness of the long run - whether its boredom (I don't feel particularly bored), the lack of a running partner or just plain fatigue I don't know.

One thing that really annoys me is that I can happily run a comparable distance to the 7.7 miles at a quicker pace without too much problem - my last tempo run was 8.25 miles at 9m 42s pace! OK, it was extremely tough and there's no way I could keep that up for another 18 miles but surely I should be feeling a lot better on the slower runs!

Anyways, enough whinging - here's a Sport Tracks screenshot with splits and route.

August Report

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Overall a disappointing month. Weight wise, I actually put some weight on - not a massive amount but still.

02/09/09: 106.07kg
31/07/09: 105.72kg
30/06/09: 108.95kg
29/05/09: 109.40kg
30/04/09: 108.79kg
31/03/09: 108.87kg
27/02/09: 108.62kg

Exercise wise totals were down a fair bit on July. This is mainly down to being back in Ireland for the last two weekends in August and essentially doing nothing (besides Gael Force).

Training-wise, July consisted of the following (June in brackets):
Cycling: 98.58km (243.33km)- 4hr 37m (8hrs 52m)
Running: 100.51km (162.19km) - 12hr 52 (18hrs 25m)

W8KW#1: Intervals

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:16:00 +0000

Well, it's the first of September - exactly two calendar months to New York! Pouring rain and getting home late from work this evening had me inclined to stay in, but the reality that I've done little over the last two weeks coupled with the T-2 months mark forced me out the door into the rain.

Last two weeks have been pretty poor training wise, mainly due to me being back in Ireland for the last two weekends. Weather at home has been pretty miserable and the roads around my home place aren't really ideal for running - I'm more likely to get run down by a tractor going at high speed around a blind turn.

So back to the UK today and back to my usual routine. I'd assumed there was 8 weeks left (= 2mths) but just after checking the calendar and there's actually 9! Yippee, an extra weeks training :) I done the Key Workout from week 8 tonight which entailed:

20 min warmup @ 10m 43s per mile
1 mile @ 8m 35s per mile + 3 min recovery
2 miles @ 8m 40s per mile + 4 min recovery
2 x 800m @ 8m 20s per mile + 1 min recovery
10 min warmdown

Was slightly slow on the first run (got slightly lost) but averaged 8m 28s per mile on the 2 mile section! Very tough going but got through it! The last set of 800m runs were hell! Calves are a bit tight now, but hopefully should be ok in the morning.

Gael Force 2009 - Summary

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:36:00 +0000

I done Gael Force 2009 on Saturday - the event had tripled in size since last year, with 2500 entrants this year! I was a bit disappointed with some aspects of it, some things which were under the control of the organisers, others which weren't. In any case, I made it around the course three minutes SLOWER than last year, which believe it or not, I'm actually relatively happy with.

The main problem I had this year was with the bike, but comparing times against last year, I'm now not too sure it made a huge difference. The main reason I blame the bike is that it was really heavy (compared to my road bike, not last years bike) and the seat was way too low, so I really struggled getting any power. I felt like I was ambling along the whole time.

According to the Garmin, I only lost 9 minutes on the bike leg this year, which considering I was hoping to really knock some time off on the bike is disappointing. Lesson for next year is to bring my own bike - one of my friends here in Cambridge who I trained with was over 24 mins faster than me on this section (which also included a short run and the kayak in this years timings). He'd brought his own bike over and while my average speed was around 16kmph, I'm pretty sure his was more like our normal training speeds of 26-28kmph!

Besides the bike, I'm pretty happy with how things went - I was around 8 mins faster on the first run section, which includes a big hill that I essentially had to hike up and carefully descend. My ascent of Croagh Patrick was over 10 minutes faster than last year which I was really happy with, but my descent was about 11 minutes slower! So that overall balanced out.

Oh well - happy to have got around and surprised how close I got to last years time - I thought at the end I'd be close to 15 mins over it (forgot to factor in the downtime at the kayaks). In reality, those 3 minutes were probably wasted while waiting for some water at the foot of CP before the final bike - if I'd know that at the time!

2008 2009
Run 1: 1.37.29 1.29.43
Kayak: 9.32
Run 2: 32.17 32.57
Cycle 1: 1.39.34 1.48.37
Hike(U): 1.01.21 50.32
Hike(D): 33.57 45.15
Cycle 2: 41.19 38.54
======= =======
6.15.29 6.18.17

W9KW#1 - Interval

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:31:00 +0000

Done this session last Tuesday, but only got a chance to upload it now. Session was a twenty minute warmup, followed by two sets of 6 x 400m with 1m 30s rest between intervals and 2m 30s between the sets.

It was an absolute killer session - I found the fifth interval the toughest for some reason, only doing 1m 30s and almost throwing up \ fainting! Still managed to pull through the lot (considering I thought I'd call it a day if I got to #6 after the first one), which I was happy with.

Was back in Ireland on Thursday for Gael Force 2009, so between the travelling and catching up at home, didn't get out for the tempo session. Will repeat Week 9 this week (I'm off to Ireland again on Thursday) but I'm out of spare weekends, so have to ensure I get out for the runs!

W10KW#3 - Long run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:29:00 +0000

This weeks long run was down for a relatively easy 13 miles at 10m 28s per mile. Relatively easy in the sense that it's short in comparison to the 20 milers I've supposed to been doing over the last few weeks (and failing miserably). It's that "relatively" word that's the issue though...

Once again, an early start on Saturday morning - I was out the door around 7am. Nice morning for running and I decided not to bring the Camelbak. Parked the car up outside a friends house and set off around 7.30am, on a new route just for a change. Fortunately, the majority of the run was downhill (actually it was really just the first mile or so - the rest was flat). Everything was going well until about 3 miles in and I got slightly lost but soon found my way.

Another slight wander of the track shortly after didn't help, but overall, things were going well up to around 7.5 miles in - pace was slowing but I was still ahead of the target pace. I was struggling a bit here and decided to stop at a (donout) shop for some water - I was seriously tempted to have breakfast there :)

After the water, struggled on, but I'd got a bit stiff and it was a real struggle. Fought numerous mental battles with myself to push out to the 13 miles, but eventually called it a day after 12.2 miles. I'm actually happy enough with the run, but it obviously could have been better - I think if I'd carried on for the full half marathon distance, it would have been my second fastest HM time!

Total distance: 19.62km
Total time: 2hrs 15m 38s
Average pace: 6m 55s per km

W10KW#2 - Tempo Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:46:00 +0000

Easiest way to describe tonight's run is that I'm back on track. Plan for tonight was as follows:
1 mile warmup \ warmdown @ 10m 43s per mile
6 miles long tempo pace @ 9m 38s per mile

After abandoning my W10KW#1 session on Tuesday night, I was a bit worried about tonight's session - it had a make-or-break feel to it. Decided on a change of tact, bringing my running gear into work with me, for an evening run after work (went to the pool at lunch).

It was a lovely evening for a run - one of the nicest evenings we've had in a while. Set off on a nice back route, kinda of across the fields (well between) to a neighbouring village, then a nice run along a perfectly smooth cycle track.

Next bit of the run was pretty interesting - I ran down part of the yet to be opened guided bus route between Cambridge and St. Ives. Pretty cool but wouldn't fancy it when it's opened (though I believe there'll be a cycle track alongside).

Overall, kept a good pace for the most part - had to stop 6.5 miles in briefly as I was struggling and again once I'd completed the tempo part, but finished the warmdown (was considering skipping it). Overall, pretty happy.

Shocking bad month so far

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:39:00 +0000

Title says it all - took all of last week off after playing a football game the previous Sunday - I'd blisters on both my feet and basically wasn't able to train until Wednesday. I then wussed out (using the convenient rain as an excuse) from further training the rest of the week.

Tried to go for a long run on Saturday - hoping from somewhere between 13 - 20 miles depending on how I felt. I'm not even going to comment on how far I actually went out of pure shame, suffice to say, I'd similar problems to my previous long run attempt.

Got out for a cycle on Sunday - the only noteworthy exercise last week, but even that was less than I'd hoped for.

To cap it all off, my W10KW#1 (intervals) was abandoned during the first interval tonight - just didn't have the energy. I need to harden up ASAP.

Also, you'll see from the graphs at the RHS that my weight is going in the wrong direction - so far I'm a week into my 30's and it's not been good!

July update

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:31:00 +0000

July 2009 is probably my best month of training and weigh-loss ever! I guess I'll start off with the weight-loss:
31/07/09: 105.72kg
30/06/09: 108.95kg
29/05/09: 109.40kg
30/04/09: 108.79kg
31/03/09: 108.87kg
27/02/09: 108.62kg

My weight chart stayed green for the ENTIRE month - a first for me!

Training-wise, July consisted of the following (June in brackets):
Cycling: 243.33km (174.86km) - 8hrs 52m (6hrs 48m)
Running: 162.19km (99.24km) - 18hrs 25m (11hrs 03m)

You can probably throw in a few swimming sessions as well, but they're not really done at any intensity.

The main difference as far as I can see is the massive hike in running time and distance - over a 50% increase.

W11KW#3 - Long run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Saturday's run was supposed to be my second 20 miler. It went better than the first, but still got nowhere near completing it. The day started off at 5.30am when I got up for a quick bowl of cereal before going back to bed for another 90 minutes - so far so good. Was out the door around 8am - lovely morning for running - slight drizzle, overcast, cool.

Decided to follow the same route as my "long" run the previous weekend (all 8 miles of it). All was going well until 7 miles in, when I had the most urgent need to get to a toilet. Fortunately, I was only a mile or so from civilisation, so a run \ walk later had me at a local supermarket, taking advantage of their facilities.

Debated at that point calling it quits (cold, wet, miserable, disappointed, etc), but decided to stick with the plan and set off again. I've started listening to my iPhone on the long runs which helps pass the time, but it also leaves me open to the possibility of a call - sure enough, a mile or so into part two of my run and I get a call which I had to take (well - maybe I was looking for an excuse).

Just done another half mile or so and called it quits. Still happy enough with the run, but I seem to be taking the easy option a bit too much these days!

Left the connector for the Garmin in Reading, so no uploading of runs for now.

W11KW#2 - Tempo Run

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:54:00 +0000

Absolutely great run this evening, despite finishing work late and having an absolute nightmare getting out the door, which I managed a bit after 9pm. Absolutely perfect weather for running, despite some heavy showers earlier in the day.

Plan for this evening was 5 miles at mid-tempo pace (9m 23s per mile). In my eagerness to get out the door, I was belting down the road and the first time I looked at the Garmin was about 1km down the road and I was seeing a pace about a minute faster than the target pace! Decided to keep the tempo up for another bit, as the longer interval sessions were making the first mile seem rather easy.

Got the two miles in and pace hadn't dropped significantly - I was even looking at a 5km. The next mile was pretty tough and pace but passed the 5km mark at 26m 37s - a new PB (previous 27m 30s).

The aim for the following 2 miles was just to stay under the target pace which I did ok, though the last mile wasn't easy. Finished up doing 5.02 miles in 44m 08s which I'm pretty happy with (over 30s faster than target pace).

I was also down at the pool at lunch and done 1000m for the first time ever - done (2 x 5 + 2 x 3 + 2 x 5 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2) x 25m - sweet.