It's about time some races started coming up for me. I signed up for the Loughrea10km taking place next Sunday. Last year, this was my first event. I completed the 10km in 57:48. Was proud on that achievement and was looking forward to taking a load off it this year. However, I got ill for a good few months and was back to less then square one.
I did capitalize on my recovery and worked hard and completed a half marathon. I expected my running to get quicker but endurance does not equal speed. So for this 10km, i will struggle to beat my previous time but will give it a go.
Castledaly: Just up near the Windmills
I really only took up the cycling this year and I currently enjoy being out on spins. At most, i max our 50kms. Last week was my first hill spin which I climbed the mountain behind me in Castledaly.. According to MapmyRide.. it has two Cat5 climbs in the 9km upward journey.. Had to say i felt every bit of it but thorough enjoyment when up there. One major problem I was having is my tyres. I though i had my tyre pressure up hard but Aldi quality pumps and hand pumps just not good enough. So I have being riding around with my tyres only at 40psi. Will pay for a quality pump next time.
Getting some pain after 20km of riding in the calves. I have changed my cleats to go back fully. Will give them a try after my Loughrea race. Read up online that cleat positioning is important and it be a trial and error judgement on this basis.
So before the nasty weather sets in, I have registered for a Duathlon in Mullingar on the first Saturday in October. Its said to be 5km/20km/2.5km. will give it ago anyway.. just have fun..
Yes, being awhile since my last post. There has being punctures. lots of close calls and lots of calories burnt. I have being knocking up some 10kms in the running front. Still slow and way off my 57:46min that i knocked up in last years race. Current fastest 10km around the lake was 1:06. I did this with a friend and i think i will shed another min or two when doing it on my own. Roadworks was going on last week so maybe sometime this week i will give it ago.
The cycling then has being going steady. Not knocking up any serious milage per cycle but putting in some 33kms. Will need to go out on cycles over 2 hours but prefer to use the time on long runs.
So the Loughrea Grey lake 10km is on next month. i want to beat my previous time. Maybe if i didn't get sick i would be flying it now but i could also say if i didn't drink every weekend aswell. Anyways 57:46min is the time to beat. I don't know how i pulled that time off last year. think the atmosphere and my first race made me run a bit harder then usual.
The week after the Loughrea 10km, there is a duathlon in Mullingar on the first of the 1st october. A nice 5km/20km/2.5km. I think its only 20euro going to Barnardos. Can't register online and its a sponsership card job. Hopefully my friends Paul and Stephen be around to take part. It could be another battle between myself and Paul while Steve would be ahead taking pictures. Speaking of pictures. Being trying to get the previous duathlon pictures we took part in months ago from Paul. He had finially got them onto his computer now. Fast mover i tell ya. Probably next year he will send them onto me.
Well thats the craic, other key areas i should be looking into is core streatching. Must start doing some. Hope all your training is going well. Think i will head in to watch the Galway Ironman. Going to be epic.
It has being a tough week as I put some session together. I usually take a day off after two or three day session. I had a good Sunday alcohol session so Monday was a cycling day. I had cut down on the cycling to zero when i was preparing for the Achill half. I took the bike out for a few rides since then but Monday was my furthest. I embarked on a 40km journey. I planned the journey in advance so when i rode out, I took it handy and didn't push too hard as i didn't do that distance in months. I brought along an energy gel and took it around the 25Km mark. My cycling computer gave me a pace of 24.7km/Hour and I was very impressed with that.
The following day I wanted to get out and do a 9km run. I wasn't feeling the best and legs were tired but I got out. The heat was blasting down and I guess the previous day cycle really caught up with me. I was planning to pass my house as the route was in a figure eight so when i finished the first loop, i was too tired to continue on and called it a day. 5Km in total, maybe not a good idea to pass by your house on a run. I planned to do a 10km the following day.
The next day I was expecting to be refreshed as it was a short run the day before but the legs still felt heavy and the heat was beaming down on top of me. I didn't manage that 10km but hit a 7km. I was thinking that cycle had a big affect on me but I didn't want to take a rest day after only completing a12km run in total. i did manage that Wednesday to have a puck around for an hour. More sweating to be done.
Thursday came and I was up early. Following a good stretch of weather, I decided to hit out on the bike and take a new route. Down by Craughwell and hit another back road to Ardrahan and back to Castledaly. Distance was up to 30km and hit a pace of 25.3km/hour. I like looking at Dailymile.com and it notes i completed 82km completed for the week but still only 12km in a run so for the 3rd time this week i set out to do a 10km.
The legs even more tired from previous days but this time i had a plan. I was going to do the route around the Loughrea lake. There is no shortcuts. When i get half way then there is no turning back, might as well continue on since the back half is more flat. I parked the car up at the Lake car park and took off towards the town, nice few flat Kms and let my legs settle into it. I could feel the legs straight away but i wasn't stopping. A fellow took off from the lake infront of me and i thought he might be going around the lake as well. He turned off another way in town. Running in town was grand, so many things grab your attention and i didn't notice that km pass. It was just after 3km when the fun begins. Straight after the turn was a hill and basically 4 to 5 hills over the next 4km with two nice downhill stretches. Once I seen the church i knew the hills are finished. I finished the 11km lake in a time 1:14:10.
There is a shower facility at the lake and even had hot water so i was glad off that. I'm still trying to figure out how I managed to get around the 10km Grey lake race in 57:49 last September. I know i have being out for months at the start of the year but hopefully i can beat that time next time around. Right no, I'm going to enjoy a rest day tomorrow. Wouldn't mind doing a cycle of up to 50km next week. Here is for hoping. All in all its being a tough 5 days but worth it.
The weekend was planned in advance, run a half marathon and celebrate with a good 2 day session. Friday came around and we were ready to leave the beautiful Galway and head to Achill island in Mayo. There was 4 in the car for the spin up. Myself, Paul,Stephen and Sarah. The car boot was well loaded with luggage. We got to Castlebar over an hour and a bit and stocked the car up more. This time it was full of 98 bottles of alcohol. The bumpy road to Achill was well going to be felt in the sporty suspension Golf. Hitting them 'droichead'. We got up there just past 10pm. We arrived at our weekend accommodation in which was Paul's girlfriend's Grannies house. She was great letting us have the house for the weekend and also then stock up the fridge for us. Hospitality at its best. We offloaded the drink and luggage in the car and hit down to register before it closed. We got our numbers and also other treats in a bag and hit back to the house. On the way back we said we got our t-shirt and mug now, we could go back to Galway now. Emmet arrived up from Clare and also stayed in the house. Got a cuppa coffee and a sandwich into me and headed off to bed in order to be fresh for the race.
It took me awhile to nod of, excitement and nerves were kicking in. I did wake 3 times during the night but once 8am arrived I was feeling refreshed. Chatted with Sarah for a half an hour and then got up and got some porridge with banana for breakfast. Paul's brother Brendan drove up that day and we were all chatting away and having the crack. I then began to get into my running apparel. Put the magic Vaseline on to stop the chaffing and also the weather was getting hotter so i threw on some sunscreen. Steve nearly put on the whole bottle on, he looked like Casper. I had everything and was ready and we hit off down to Keel, Stretches was performed, last minute nerves to the toilet was released and we lined up behind the Achill pipe band.
Emmet,Brendan, Paul F, Paul Mc, Stephen
I had predicted a time of 2.35 for myself. i was going to say 2.30 but after recent talks on the hills in Achill and how some people rate it the hardest road half marathon in Ireland. I forgot to take a few puffs of the inhaler at the start so that was on my mind. Was starting to panic a bit and then Bang were off. I told myself i will take it slower and just have a natural warm up. I quickly got into a rhythm and settled in with the 1200 other participants. I brought along 3 energy gels and water stops were every 3 miles. After the first mile or two, i found myself breathing hard and had a pain in my left lung. I wasn't too impressed and was questioning my ability to do this. Mile 2,3 and 4 was a steady climb. I came across the first water stop at 26mins thought that was mile 3. I said i have done that too fast only to realise mile 3 was another few hundred yards up the road. It was around 30mins when i crossed the 3mile. Still a bit too fast for me as it was uphill. After mile 4 then it was downhill for a good stretch. I really enjoyed the stretch and downed my first energy gel at 43mins. I just kept my head down and plodded along. When i did hit 6.5mile, I was thinking 'O God im just half way' but just put one leg in front of the other. Knocked back another energy Gel around 1.20 mark.
It was pretty much new territory after the 1h 30min mark. The hills were coming hard and heavy and i knew it was a nasty one for the last one. I found myself to be walking up them. I wasn't losing to much ground and was getting my heart rate down to a normal rhythm. I then try and pick it up on the flat or down slopes. My head at that stage was only thinking of the finish. Then I began to hear the announcer talking on the mic, it began to get louder and louder. I came back running into Keel and was looking for the finish line. Still a few more turns left but with people clapping kept me ticking over and then there was my new friend called 'Finish'. I looked at my watch and it gave a time of 2h 35mins. I was bang on my prediction. Brendan was at the finish line waiting for Paul to come in. I went over to him for a second, Grabbed a water and then went back a few meters before the line to meet Sarah. Paul's girlfriend Danielle came out of the first aid tent and asked me to call her when Paul was coming in. 10mins later Paul and Emmet were coming in together. I went over to get Danielle but them guys were having a race between themselves. Usain Bolt be pretty impressed with there final 100 meter sprint. Emmet got to the line first and we all got around to have a chat about the course even though it was more lying down on the ground and not talking. Energy was sucked well out of me. We got a group photo at the finish line. Will probably be expensive but if it is a good photo then will pick it up.
Pos
Bib
Name
Finish
59
1480
Brendan Fahy
01:33:26
82
Stephen Broderick
01:36:50
1018
495
Paul McDonagh
02:36:21
1065
605
Emmet OHalloran
02:46:24
1066
237
Paul Fahy
02:46:25
We stretched and rested on the beach for a half an hour then went to the food bus for our free burger. It was a long queue but the burger didn't last that long in my hand. Then it was back to the house to start the drinking session. It is amazing the things that go through your head when running. One thing that came through mine and Paul's head is why didn't we put a few bottles of beer in the fridge so it be nice and cold for when we got back. Brendan headed back to Galway and Emmet back to Clare. Dave Boyle came up to join us for the night. There was a BBQ going on in Danielle's house and we were invited. Sure we headed down there around 5 just expecting a burger in a bun. There was a massive spread layed out. Chicken on a stick, Lamb on a stick. Burgers and salad of all kinds. I got myself a good feed and had a couple of beers in the sun then went in to watch TV as Galway beat Clare in a hurling match. It was hard to build up energy that night. Even the Haye versus Klitschko match lacked any atmosphere but that was on there part. We headed to the Achill head which we could barely walk in the pub then onto the nightclub which was also packed. I still managed to head out on the dance floor. Dave dropped us back to house where a good sleep was needed.
Sarah and I took off ourselves the following day after a good fry up. We took a walk along the beach in Keel. Nice feeling of the soft sand and cool water on my feet. It was a nice relaxing day at the beach. We didn't have a car with us so some nice chilled pints were needed by 3pm. Headed into the Minaun pub and watched the GAA match. It was another good session of drinking that night. Felt more fresh and energy was strong so I was on a good buzz throughout the whole night. Paul was shaking the floorboards on the dance floor.
There was no hangover effect the following day despite the 12hour drinking session. No one was in a rush to get home so we head to two beaches. We didn't bring any swimming gear to the first one so we headed back to the house and grabbed our togs and then hit some waves. We couldn't resist not getting into the gorgeous beach in Achill. Then myself and Stephen hit out for a 5k easy run on the beach followed by another jump into the sea. The stomach was roaring to be fed and to finish of the trip, we hit to .Mastersons bar where the quality and quantity of food was unreal followed by a delicious desert. We then set off back to Galway and I doubt any of us will forget the great time we had in Achill. Thanks to organisers for holding a great event and to Danielle's family for there hospitality.
A few photos are down below and also a YouTube video of the start where ya can see us around the 19 second mark.Click Here for more photos
Stomach bug and a sore throat has hit me since the start of the week. I couldn't afford not to go out running today so I was on my way out and my friend Paul rang me and said do ya fancy a run down in Clare. I knew the run be slow but after so many days off, a nice run and a chat would go down great.
So we took off down to Clare to run with Emmet. Emmet has signed up for the Achill half but did leave it on the back burner so he has only managed up to 6 kilometers. We picked him up at Spancil Hill. Big horse fair on their today and we just passed through the tail end of it. Got to Emmets house before 6, changed and did a few stretches and took off in the middle of in a fine summers day in Clare.
I brought along my water belt as the sun was scorching us out there. I also brought an energy gel but did not intend to use it. I wanted to see where the best place was to carry the gel. I put it inside my compression shorts. The place worked perfect. I didn't notice it there and that should be the storage place for the half marathon.
The run itself was grand. Nice quite country roads. Pretty much flat. We chatted among the run and I took the scenery in. The Emergency helicopter flew by, we joked it was called out for us. We finished the 5.9mile route in 1.08.
Back in Emmets house, his mother dished out some grub. Home buns went down a treat. We had a chat and took back to the road of Galway. We will all meet up again for the Achill half. Should be a great day.
With a good few runs this week and a nice rest day, I was ready for my next long run. I picked up some energy gels and planned to test them out on the run. An hour previous to the run, i downed a delicious orange,grapes, and strawberries covered in yogurt. It went down a treat.
I took off at a nice steady pace, legs felt heavy again but i knew that would go away just like the last time. It was a very uneventful run this time round. I took my first energy gel around 45mins into the run. When i usually take them high sugared isotonic drinks, my stomach never really settles to them and I usually throw up a few mouthfuls. I was expecting the same taste from the energy Gel but it was nice and delicious.
I took the kinetic orange flavour. In the shop, the store assistant said the cola flavour was the most popular and i guess that's why they were sold out. I will have to get my hands on a few more as today I just officially signed up for the Achill half marathon. It is a tough course with a category climb at the end. I hope to get around the course in a time of 2hr 30mins. Main thing for this one is to finish it. Only 7 weeks ago i could only run 3.6km.
I will go on a recovery run now tomorrow. Legs very stiff at the moment. Hopefully a good night sleep tomorrow will ease the pain. Only two weeks now. Scary thought. Below is a short video of the last years Achill half
Today, i took a visit to the hospital. My appointment was to see to see the specialist who focuses on the lungs. it was a nice 9.30 am appointment so i made it in around 9.45. I did run about 2km to get in for that time but sure there was a good few people already ahead of me and it wouldn't have mattered being late. So for all my hard work getting there, I was waiting for another hour before i met a doctor. I was quite happy just to be waiting for only that time. Doctor performed some physical tests, and lots and lots of questions. In there for a half an hour before the specialist came in and perform more tests. He is the one that makes the decisions.
He pointed out that since the x-ray performed over a month ago did show up some nodules on the lungs, he does expect it to be Sarcoidosis. So what they are going to do now is more blood tests, TB test, lung tests and a few more tests. i will return to the specialist in 10 weeks or so to analyse the results and take it from there. So plenty of more visits to the hospital to come.
The main thing i can take from this is there is no more pain. I want to keep it that way. I would hate to think of being in pain so much and having to wait.
I returned home and managed to put in a 9km.. During the run, i did think how this condition could have being worse and there be no way Id be back out running. I thank my lucky stars for that and will make the most of what I got.
