Rubbish!!

OH... MY... GOD... I'm in so much trouble!

Saturday did the usual disappearing act this weekend but I managed to grab hold of Sunday afternoon and got stuck into the 6 miles it took to cycle the long way to the Curragh (via Athgarvan). I arrived tired but determined to push this weeks running distance past last weeks 6 miles.

Easier said than done, my legs felt heavy & tired and I knew I was in for a tough run; not the best frame of mind to be in at the start of a training session. I ran towards Athgarvan and had to slow to walking pace as I passed "Donnelly's Hollow"... a natural bowl-shaped amphitheatre where the Irish champion boxer Dan Donnelly defeated the English champion George Cooper in 1815... I took advantage of this lengthy text on Donnolly's monument to rest before continuing. I checked the Garmin and was gutted to see that I had only covered a mile.

I turned around and headed back the way I came, taking a slightly different route back to my bike and happily notching up another 1.5 miles. I took on some water and was tempted to cycle home right then and there but thankfully I carried on and headed north toward the Race Course.

It was race day and although I was about a mile away I could see and hear the stands were full of cheering punters as a closely knit line of horses galloped past. I refocused and checked my watch, almost 4 miles done.

Wanting to avoid the mud track that I came across last week I decided to cross and footbridge that spans the motorway separating the Curragh plain from the race course. A quick check of the watch and I had covered over 5 miles. I wasn't sure what was on the other side, it turned out to be part horse training runs and part forest but not really suitable for running so I decided to cross back to the other side. Just then I checked the Garmin... dead as a door nail! The battery must have died.

I decided to run back the same way to get an accurate distance. It turned out to be a little over 7 miles in total, better than last week at least but still way short of what I should have been covering. The cycle home was fast and easy, almost all of it on the level or downhill.

There's not much time left! Only 2 months to the marathon and I can barely run 7 miles!! According to my training plan I should be running 19 miles next weekend... OH MY GOD... what am I going to do...

Running in slow motion...

I haven't run in such a time long... and I'm getting fat! That's not true, I ran the Adidas 10 mile race last weekend, but no escaping the getting fat bit!! I finished Friday great intentions for Saturday; up early, light breakfast, running gear on, out for a 13 miler, home, shower, potter in the garden, dash into town for a browse and a latte or two, etc.

Next thing I knew it was Sunday morning! This happens occasionally... Saturday knew what I had planned for it and it hid behind the sofa until the the next morning. Luckily for me I had no such plans for Sunday and it thought it was safe to hang around.

I had to get a run in today as it has been a week since my last serious run. I really want to avoid road running until the very last moment so I dusted off the mountain bike and rode a little over 3 miles to the Curragh. The Curragh is a flat open plain of almost 5,000 acres (20 km²) of common land. There is a permanent sheep presence on much of the plain which helps keeps the grass trimmed, perfect for running.


The cycle may have been short but took a lot out of me, not a great start. My legs were stiff and I probably should have stretched before running but, you know! The first two miles were on level ground with nice short grass and the odd ruminant obstacle. The pace however was painfully slow, I felt like I was running in slow motion... I just couldn't get my legs to move but bizarrely I was enjoying the run.

Here's a curious thing about sheep... they hear you running, they can see you approaching, they stand there staring at you running directly at them but they stand still until the very last moment when they react with panic as if they've just noticed you. I thought that was a little odd.

By mile 3 and I was getting into the swing of things but by mile 4 grass had given way to muddy track. There was a runner ahead of me that veered to the left while I forged straight ahead... oh well, next time I'll know.

By mile 5 I was back on grass and rounding the military camp. I could have finished at 5 miles but knew that I needed to do more so I carried on past my bike for a mile loop.

After 6 miles I was very tired and faced a 3 mile cycle home. After a rest and a little water I was off. Luckily the ride home is mostly downhill and I arrived home less knackered than expected.

The bottom line? I have a lot of catching up to do if I'm going to beat my Cork marathon time of 4.47 in Dublin this October... a lot of catching up!!

Frank Duffy 10 Mile Race 2008

I've just realised that this morning's race is my first 10 mile race ever... so an automatic PB for me!! Last year my crappy car let me down and sat in the driveway, forcing me to miss the race (secretly I wasn't too upset, 10 miles is a long way).

I ran the 10 miles in 1:34:52, to be exact, and enjoyed it immensely even when I started to fade in the last mile (but I always do!) but a funny thing happened during that last mile that gave me the kick I needed... As we were rounding a corner in a wooded part of the run we heard a distant loud speaker playing a familiar tune but we couldn't quite figure out what it was. It as a slow tempo, downbeat song and frankly the last thing I'd choose to spur on tired legs on for the last mile. As we ran closer to the loud speaker the sound became clearer but we still couldn't quite work out that the song was until the chorus came around... "...Bright Eyes... burning like fire..." We fell about the place laughing, the song they picked was from Watership Down, a film about a bunch a rabbits risking life and limb to get across busy roads with many casualties along the way. That choice was either a bad mistake or the result of a very dark sense of humour!

Here's a link to my route and stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/899692

Don't walk on the grass...

This was my first training run in weeks and it showed. It was a really hard run and I was way out of my comfort zone for the entire run. We ran a little over 4 miles in a little under 40 minutes on grass in an effort to reduce impact on knees and ankles. I'm going to try to stick to grass from now on and limit road running to races.

Tour of Kildare 2008

This is an annual tour and my first time taking part. It's a 100K cycle which starts in Naas, travels North to Maynooth, then West to Kildare town, then East towards Newbridge and finishes back in Naas.

I arrived in Naas early and wheeled my bike through the crowd to get to the registration desks. It was a friendly crowd and one guy commented on how new my bike looked, little did he know that it was so new that I hadn't spent any serious time in the saddle.

Almost everyone had proper gear; proper cycling shoes, shorts, jerseys, gloves, even aerodynamic sun glasses. Some guys had aerodynamic clear glasses; I could understand the sunglasses but why would you want flashy clear glasses? The end of mile 2 answered that question as yet another fly bounced off my head... Note to self: buy some cycling glasses.

The first stop was 25K after an easy run to and through Maynooth. The weather was good, no rain or wind to speak of. I though it was a little early to stop but was glad to get out of the saddle for a rest.

The next stage was harder as we hit some rain and strong wind that broke up the pack. It was no surprise that I was bring up the rear with only a handful of riders behind me. As time went on the wind slackened but we did get caught in some serious downpours.

The second half of the race was a struggle but I was in good company and chatted most of the way with a variety of people. All chat came to a stand still when we reached the dreaded hill; I'd heard about this hill and thought we'd climbed it a few miles earlier outside Robertstown. A car would have trouble getting up that hill and I had no chance so for the first time during this race I had to get off the bike and walk. After cycling non stop for some 30 miles walking was quite a challenge, it was yet another comedy moment as I struggled to put one foot in front of the other... but ooohhhhhh... the relief of getting out of the saddle made up for it! By the time I got to the top of that hill it was time for an energy gel, some water, a lash and I was on my way.

The next couple of miles were bliss, a slight but consistent downhill slope meant that I could coast all the way to the next village. I caught up with the next group of riders and stuck with them for the journey to Kilmeague and onto Kildare town where I stopped to help a guy out that had a puncture. He needed a pump and I had one but we couldn't figure out how to use it. In my defence it was a new, compact, lightweight, incredibly tiny gadget that had a complicated connection sequence; that the official story and I'm sticking to it! We managed to stop another couple of guys who had a proper old fashioned pump that worked. The guy with the puncture kept apologising for holding us up but we were all glad to get out of the saddle for a few minutes.

Reinvigorated by the rest we all took off with enthusiasm. I shot past the second and last stop before I noticed it but decided to keep going, everyone else in my group did the same. At about 4K enthusiasm was dramatically replaced by despair as I realised just how far I had yet to cycle. The last 20K were very, very tough and I was so sore all over. The only thing to do was to keep going and ignore the pain...

Before I knew it I was approaching Naas and the finish line was only a few Kilometers away. Entering Naas was fantastic, just a couple of kilometers to go and it would be all over! I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 6 minutes. An awesome time for 100K. Getting off the bike took a little longer that I expected, yet another comedy moment! I parked the bike against a wall and hobbled into the reception area to sign in.

The reception are was a hive of activity. There were freshly made burgers (2 for me please), drinks, t-shirts and smiling faces all around, and curiously a lot of empty seats... most people choosing to stand. I joined them, some things and best left behind.

First proper cycle on the new bikes...

The key word here is Ouch! I love the new bike; it looks great, works well and is very fast but why... OH WHY do racing bikes come with a saddle that resembles the thin edge of a stick. After a few hundred meters I'd had enough... but kept going in the hope that the discomfort would fade as time when on. It didn't. We cycled a little less than 10 kilometers, and when I got off the bike the relief was instant and overwhelming.

I'm taking part in the Tour Of Kildare 100K on Sunday... that's in 2 days time and yes, I'm worried.

Chain Reaction...

Myself and my mate Joe have been talking about buying road bikes for weeks. Since the burden of ownership of his mountain bike was relieved when a couple a scallies nicked it last week we decided it was time to bite the bullet; not literally of course although our destination (Belfast) could be the place to do it.

Belfast is a 2 hour journey from my house and we left early with the idea that we'd get to the showroom as it opens, take the bikes out for a test ride, pay for them, chuck 'em in the boot and be home for lunch. We arrived on time and took the bikes out for a test ride as planned but were given the option of a disassembled bike or the easier option of an assembled bike. Naturally we opted for the easy option and had to add 2 hours to our schedule. 2 hours was perfect for a quick jaunt into Belfast city to visit a motorcycle clothing shop that I've been dying to get to for some time.

After trying on leathers, helmets and other bike essentials we'd exhausted our 2 hours and made our way back to the bicycle shop to pick up our shiny new bikes. We stuffed them into the back of the car and eventually arrived home 5 hours late (a Starbucks stop didn't help but sometimes I can't resist).

When I got home I clicked the front wheel into place and took it out for a spin. Apart from the saddle feeling like an implement of torture the bike rode beautifully. With the Tour of Kildare 100K in less than a week I'd better find a solution to that saddle problem; the general rule is that it's good to have your problems behind you but as with all rules there is a exception...