Midnight Mover

Sunday September 29th: Loughrea 10km 44:18

All things considered - this must be my best race all year. This is a very tough course (not tough at all really - just relative to all the usual races you get nationwide), this is a little gem of a race I'm going to do each year from now on.

I went out easy 3:30 1st km & as we turned into the 2nd km into the long steep incline up towards Grange Park I was running out of steam but yet seemed to be holding a reasonable pace - I was backing off but the pace was reasonably consistent.

Just a good run I had today - my 10kms during the week as well as cycling are paying off - I felt good in the last 3km - but mentally found it hard to dig in around the 6km mark I Had another runner with me who went at my pace which was great & we paced each other (rare for me as I almost always run on my own - I can't bear run alongside people) - during the last mile I decided to put myself into the red for a little bit & dig a little to see what I had left & was rewarded with a decent time for the 10km - especially for a course like that that was unforgiving - I would say i would have broken 43 mins easily if that was a normal course - this is promising going into the winter & looking ahead for the FOA in December where I might be in a position to PB for the distance - maybe even break 41 - I think it's well within my reach.

I went out last night (Saturday at about 9pm) for a 5km (didn't time it - pitch black & raining - just went out & ran to feel good - even wore a rain jacket as I felt I was about to come down with a headcold)just to ensure I wouldn't die a slow death out on the course as I hadn't any physical activity at all since Tuesday night (I got lifts into work Wed & Thurs & Friday I convinced myself throughout the course oft the day not to run as I didn't get enough sleep - I was scheduled to run Friday but am now glad I didn't - in a way what I did was right....).

The biggest thing that's bugging me now is my gut. I'm about 85 kgs now with a proper spare tyre forming now - larger than I can ever recall (even when I was tipping 90kgs in Sweden I hadn't a gut the size of mine now - not at all good. I could drop 10kgs easy.

This can be resolved with cutting out the crap I eat - which I comsume in copious amounts - I am confident if I increase the exercise & cease my poor eating habits, coupled with decent sleep I'll be down to 80kgs in no time.

If I consciously decide to just take the sport a little more seriously as well as employing a little more discipline (& actually helping myself rather than hindering my progress - reach for an apple rather than yet another bag of cheese puffs etc.) I will succeed.

I am sick & tired of entering these races now for years & not getting the best out of myself. As we fast approach winter training, my attitude is going to change & come next year I'll be in the best shape of my life.

I simply cannot wait - it's a great sport, one that I enjoy dearly & enjoy the races more & more each & every year & with every event the races become more important to me.

I have no injuries to report, my left calf was a little tight coming into this & as I was doing my mile warm up, it was noticeable (just uncomfortable putting weight on it), but didn't effect me at all once the gun went off (well the 1, 2, 3 GO! - Complete amateurs the lot of us!) - great to see a local Loughrea AC lad won the race also.

Focus now returns to the Tamworth 10km next weekend, then Hollymount/Coventry 10km & then the FOA (with a nice 5km in Claregalway 1st weekend in Dec) also.

I must Join SGAC in Jan when I'm around & then target races for Jan, Tuam being the main event in Jan, always.

The other goals are as follows:

• Increase training load further - bed earlier & cycling in a little bit more - Run Tues, thurs & Sun - then drop to 2 days a week - then in November do 3 times a week running for a few weeks in a row - easy increase in milage
• Target races & get my times down - speed work also - hurt myself in workouts
• Have the diet, sleep & recovery done to facilitate the work outs so I want to go hard.
• Cut weight - this will come with better nutrition & sleep as well as resisting to go for the junk food as well as eating less but the quality of the foods that I am injesting are substantial.
• Continue to excel at work 70 hrs minimum just get the sleep required & do the college work on the weekends
• Review daily, weekly & monthly to see what's working - what the pitfalls are 
• I will get there as this is the life I want to live.
• Be cautious of burnout - know when not to run
• Enjoy the sport, as I always have done - it should be comfortably uncomfortable but not torture to the point where you're running yourself into the ground & stressing yourself out even more with the additional demands that are being placed on you unnecessarily. 
• Treat yourself - have the subway on the weekends - have fruit smoothies etc
• On the week ends I don't go into work (very rare) - get the bus into Dordon & raid Aldi for Fruit etc.

The key is to work on getting adequate sleep (& get up earlier & go to bed earlier all nights of the week - there is no reason to stay up as late as I do), a much improved diet to where I am at now as well as increasing the workouts & going harder than I have been doing.

Do a few longer runs - every 2-3 weeks for endurance, 8-10 miles & a speed session - hard 4 miler & on the track - Sprints as well as upping the mileage in general slowly as well as doing the runs slower - getting the extra time on the legs weekly is the goal then push yourself on targeted sessions.

I am going in the right direction & have been improving consistently since July, I just need to up the ante now & get onto the next level in the next 6 weeks - & to do so voluntarily as I have been doing so from July to now.

End of September & I am happy out - with all the challenging winter training ahead - go get it - That's Goggins!

Dr Rock

Nice 10km easy run Monday night (made up for my no show yesterday - 6 days on the trot with no run here) - 47:55 - the easy effort is reflected in the time - a good pace for me on this route is 45 mins - the route is 10.4km - worth noting - I can do this route in sub 44 easy if I bombed it.

Took it out real easy - did this on 4 hrs sleep & cycle in & out to work 5km each way after a day of working 08:00-21:30

Was going to do an 8 miler but with the race on sunday I decided not to overcook it & went in home instead of doing the mile out & back after the 10km route was complete.

I went out easy & got into my stride - a good hit out - ran for the joy of it & no pressure whatsoever & got into a nice stride relatively early on - 1st Mile 7:45 - turn at 15:40, loop 1 for 16:40 & loop 2 for 23:45 out at 29:55 & bottom of motorway for 36 flat - giving me a nice 46 min time to chase but I consciously slowed as I hadn't decided yet whether to go for the 8 miler or not at that point.

Run scheduled for tomorrow now - will do a fast 7.1km loop to get the speed up for Loughrea.

Still managed to put away nearly a full pack of biscuits - that's the kicker - I do so well then I blow it.

Legs felt good - no injuries could run afterwards no problems - running like a dream at the moment - I had intial discomfort but by mile 4.5 I was cruising - I was of course tiring & my pace was reducing but in terms of my legs - not a problem.

Living for Tonite

A good run on Tuesday night - 10km 45:10

Good clear night - went off very slowly & picked it up throughout, 15:25 at the turn through the tunnel.

Felt great throughout  - went off slowly & got quick towards the end - beginning to feel a lot stronger as my training takes hold & the consistency is beginning to stand to me

Run scheduled now for tonight [Friday] - another 10km.

Working insane hours at the minute so the running helps alot - I cycle home most nights & to & from work @ the weekends so this really helps fitness wise.

Never liked swimming but the new commercial manager at work says it really helps his running - a 35 min/10k athlete himself - perhaps I should try this myself.

A Challenge at Tamworth AC

Tamworth 8km - 35:44 - Ran like a Girl...

Nice course started out by the athletic track & went out round the outskirts of the town - in the Top 20 for the 1st half mile & then backed off & they all started passing me 1 by 1 :-)

Great to see lots of clubs being represented - I'd a look at the results from previous years & it was clear it's a big enough meet -  Clubs from Lichfield to Derby & Oxford made the journey across the west midlands for the event which was great to see  - the standard wasn't bad at all & made the Nuneaton 10km last weekend look very childish.

A good event with the children's run before the main event so a real family day - glad I went.

I woke up feeling like trash - a big bag of Doritoz & a few bars of chocolate at 1am doesn't help the plight but I just don't seem to care do I - Self sabotage at it's finest... dear oh dear - Imagine how effective I could be if I actually looked after myself - went to be early, ate a little better & had more cycling training under my belt..

I got a taxi in & a work colleague brought me back to the house, had a shower & headed into work.

Had a good battle with a local Badgers runner (Rob) & we traded war stories afterwards. At mile 2 I wanted to stop & on several occasions I wanted to throw in the towel - I'm glad I persevered & saw it out to the end but I was a weak as a cat throughout - At work now as I write this (2pm) - working 14 days straight doesn't help so I intent on taking next weekend off entirely so I can focus on college work which will start for me tomorrow evening.

Went through mile 1 in 6:15 which is nothing special at all but is an OK pace - I can just never hold it.

went through mile 3 in 21:30 so I faded badly in the latter half of the race with my last mile I nearly came to a walk entirely & then rolled into the line back at the track.

Happy I went, the highlight of the morning for me was the fact that when I went to warm up - My legs felt real achy (classic shin splints) so I took it real easy for the warm up & thought, how can I even run the distance if I can't run without discomfort - thankfully it wasn't too bad so I just jogged a half mile max for a warm up - in between periods of walking.


Once the gun went off it was as if my legs forgot about the discomfort - it's phenomenal really how the body works..

I actually could run after the race too - no problems - discomfort but by Wednesday I should be fine to run again...

So, looking good for Loughrea - get an 8 miler in with some sprints also - some rest & I should be good to go for race day in a fortnight.

So, in summary, I was genuinely tired going into the event & used it as a good training session. Entry fee was £12 so not a rip off either - well done Tamworth AC. I'm looking forward to their 10km now in 3 weeks time.

Live Wire

Another year gone & not 1 post on here - that's the direct result of a chronic case of procrastination which has so often defined my life.

Running is going well, the wheels fell off in 2018 when I was in Sweden, snowing 6 months of the year made running difficult & slowed me down greatly, as well as feeling relatively isolated over there as well as completely unmotivated to run & race - I didn't even enter the SoG in 2018 as I knew my time wouldn't be what I could achieve - I finished up in October 2018 out there & moved to Birmingham, UK & have been here now since.

From Oct-Dec 2018 I worked hard at my new job & late nights were (& still to this day, are) a regular feature, making linking up with local running clubs tough as I clock in 60-80 hr work weeks regularly. I therefore run on my own & the only time I ever seem to run with others is at local road races (back at home) which I book my flights home in line with the Galway road running calendar.

The start of 2019, pretty much from the off, went well running wise, I packed in a MSc in QS'ing my company had put me on & did a deal to put me on a more appropriate course (Construction economics) in Sept 2019 which starts this coming Monday.

Did the usual 1st Jan resolution 5km (21:20). I had a good race at the Coldwood 4 miler at the end of Jan running 27:29.

I'll do a full summary of all my runs in 2019 (as I do have the records to hand somewhere - either on slips of paper, (outlining distance of run, date, time, weather etc as well as how I felt) or between my 2 diary's (work & personal)) thus far but since July I've began to take the sport a little more seriously  - the secret being I'm running regularly & building on the mileage gradually as well as cycling 5km to & from work most days - that has saved me - again cycling being the key to my better results as it was in 2017.

Did a couple of 10 milers in Spring (Craughwell & Tullaroan 10 miler (March & April)), & did the half marathon in Boston scientifc grounds in June (nice race & performed OK, would have to look up the time - did the 1st few laps in sub 7 mins & took my time round the course to talk with the marathon club of Ireland members etc)

I did Headford at the start of July in an extremely disappointing 35:30. Headford was the turning point for me really - back running at least once a week & struggling to get any form in the 1st 6 months of 2019 - So I decided to get a little bit more "serious" with training & prioritising it a little more.

So I entered the Mullingar 10 miler at the end of July running 1:13 (1:15 at the clock as I'd to attend to natures call) v modest (lovely course...) & this time I wasn't getting shin splints (an ongoing theme in 2019 - where I'd have to stop running as my ankle was sore or my calves were screaming from "overuse" - basically if I do anything north of 20 miles a week - I need to monitor the training extremely closely, it's ridiculous, but I've always seemed to react extrelemly poorly/sensitively to additional mileage to anything past going out for a 4-6 miler twice a week - it's infuriating but I've learned to live with it, anything additional is a bonus...), I was even able to go for a 2km jog cool down afterwards - I said, right, maybe 2019 is a year I can target for some decent races.

SoG went well, but overall to me a disappointing race really - 33:45 (considering I ran 32:08 in 2017) but considering everything, it's about right - running's a sport you cannot hide from so I'll have to take it. I went out like a bullet & blew up hard & paid for it big time...

2 weeks later at Claregalway (24th Aug) I was treated in the same vein - I went out hard & paid the price for it, so much so that I decided to walk it in - still got a 48 min time for walking about 2k of the course!

I have settled down into some more regular training (doing regular weekday 10kms round Dordon 2 in last 2 weeks) since then which I'll detail here later for historical purposes (& most importantly of all for monitoring injuries & what training works for me & what doesn't).

I was rewarded with a relatively decent performance at the local Nuneaton 10km (next town over from where I work in the UK) last weekend - nice course too... extremely flat. 8th Sept, Sunday morning at 09:30 - 43:17 - not bad at all - I was 41:40 at the last 400m (the race finished at the local Nuneaton athletics track - pity I can't find any photo's...) - I felt good throughout & knew there was plenty more to give.

Since then I have ran 10km on Tuesday in 45:45 - felt good & going off more slowly also has really helped + Ran last night Friday - my usual ~ 4 miler (7.1km measured really) in 32:49 - I had a terrible stitch which forced me to a halt in Polsworth so I lost 2-3 mins there so would have been sub 31 mins if I hadn't had that disruption.

As I've now been running reasonably regularly since Summer of 2011 - training hard since 2008 at something (Taekwondo - then later Muay thai - then running), my 8 years of running is finally starting to pay off & I've seen it all now really - the only unknown for me is marathon training & racing - maybe as I approach my 30's my body may start saying yes...

So for tomorrow, I've a 5 mile road race planned for Tamworth & the rest of the years running calendar goes something like the below:

In addition to last nights run, about 10 mins in I did feel a twinge coming on in my left calf - complete over use & am surprised it hasn't affected me until now as I've been running the last 6 weeks with no issues -  the only solutions (for me) is rest - I was tempted to stop - turn back & go home but figured if I do that then what will I ever achieve etc, so I finished out the run but was sore enough at the end & rubbed it out afterwards - nothing at all a couple of days rest won't sort but I expect to be out of action until Thursday of next week once I give Tamworth a good go tomorrow.

It'll be important how I deal with this overuse injury now next week as this has been putting me out of action intermittently all this year - there's nothing I can seem to do with it - only when you feel it coming on - you simply need to listen to your body, rest it & hop on the bike in the meantime as I don't want this to effect my target race at Loughrea at the end of the month.

• Headford 8km  - Done
• Mullingar 10 mile road race  - (end of July) 2019 - Done 
• SoG 8Km - Done 
• Claregalway 10km - Done
• Nuneaton 10km  - 8th Sept  - Done  
• Tamworth 8km  - 15th Sept - To Go (Tomorrow)

Weekend off (21st Sept) racing will give me time to do a sprint workout as well as a longer run 8 miler in prep for Loughrea - All Pending how my legs hold up now :-)

• Loughrea 10km  - 27th Sept  - To Go (Goal race)
• Tamworth 10km - Sun 6th Oct - To Go - only discovered this race was scheduled today!

No race then until end of November as well as no Flight booked home either so focus on consistent mileage as well as getting college coursework complete,

Other races to focus on for closing out 2019:

• Run for Mary 5km - Sat Nov 9th 
• Coventry 10km - Sun 17th November  - Also Balindereen 10km (SGAC Home race) or Hollymout 10km (still awaiting to hear formal confirmation)  - I have the flight booked so whichever event I end up going to - I'll have a 10km race on the 17th regardless.
• Claregalway 5km - Sun 8th Dec (Claregalway community center)
• FOA 26th Dec - 11am

Then Jan 2019:

• 1st Resolution Run 
• Tuam 8km

etc, etc, etc,

There's a couple of races I'd like to go to - namely the Raheny 5 miler (End of Jan - clashes with Coldwood though ), Dunshaughlin 10km (June) amongst many others - I've holidays to carry over from Work etc, so be sure to take advantage of this...

Ones not to miss either are:

• Gort 5km in Feb
• Listoonvarna 5km, 25th Jan (clash with Coldwood + Raheney)
• Kilnaboy (Sonny Murphy) 10 Miler 12 April

Amongst a dozen others....

I think maybe I could try a marathon next year - maybe I need to give it another couple more years of solid running then jump to the distance.... 

Time will tell.

Anyway it's good to be back to what I'm happy doing, which is running.

I need to drop weight also - I'd like to be hovering around 70kgs - I'm tipping 82kgs at the moment - not bad considering I was almost 90Kgs in Sweden - 35Degree summers, Lidl donuts & Dennis' dinners didn't help the plight but sure made me happy out...

It's time to get serious about my training & my life now so I' looking forward to this now - I had always said I was looking forward to the winter season this time round, I will be now.

Last October when the nights were rolling in it didn't happen for me - I hadn't the fire in my belly - the desire to hurt myself - this time round however I do - I want it again, badly. whatever it is - it seems to bring me closer to the truth.

Donagh.

A Picture of me at Mullingar back in July, at the turn heading into Mile 2 - all ahead of us yet...