Barcelona: 11 weeks to go!

Christmas is over and New Years is about to begin... and that's all I have to say about that.

Barcelona: 12 weeks to go!

Let me get that broken record out... Yes another week of rubbish running. I missed every weekday run and my first weekend long run BUT I did manage my second (and the longer of the two) weekend long run on Sunday, in fact I ran an extra 3 miles on top of the scheduled 14 miles!! That proved to be a big mistake, by the time I reached 14 miles I was so tired and I had over 3 miles to run/walk before I could stop... heartbreaking stuff but it's amazing what you can muster up when you need to. The full distance was 17.32 miles in 3 hours and 15 minutes. The lesson here is stick to the plan!!

Barcelona: 13 weeks to go!

My resolve to stick rigidly to the plan is weakening as time goes on... in fact the words "plan", "stick" and "rigidly" were nowhere in sight this week, we can probably put "resolve" in that shameful group too... however, "weakening" is most certainly there... sigh...

To summarise... having missed all 3 weekday runs and 1 weekend long run I can safely say this week's training was rubbish! The only run I can claim was a 10K treadmill run on Saturday and that was a guilt run having missed a 10K race that morning.

Santa 10K Dash, Blessington

OK, this was never going to happen... last night we had our Christmas party, my 10th with Cúram Software, and our night in the four Season had no chance of ending early. All I wanted to do this morning was have a leisurely breakfast and very late checkout, both of which were performed beautifully.

Aware 10K

A few months ago I ranted about the accuracy and precision of German engineering having run out of petrol at exactly the same moment that my motorcycles' petrol gauge reckoned it would. The lesson "if it's German you can trust it, it'll do exactly what it's supposed to" had been learned and for months I had trouble free biking until this morning... the trip computer assured me that there was 50km left in the tank and from experience I felt I could trust it.

As I hurtled down the N7 towards the city there I could sense that something was not right... the engine wasn't it's usual smooth self, it felt a little rough, even spluttery at times (technical term you understand). Lack of petrol was my first thought but my trusty gauge looked up at me and said "don't worry, I've got 40km to go, you just carry on". A vision of Chamberlain holding a white piece of paper in London airport sprang to mind as I quickly lost power as the last drops of fuel trickled out of the tank.

The rescue service took about 45 minutes to get to me and quickly had me on my way. Unfortunately I arrived at the race just as the last runners were crossing the line. I was sorry to have missed this one, it's a race I do every year but as a consolation the official I spoke to (when handing in my number) took pity on my story and fetched medal for me. Sitting in the Garda boat club drinking tea and listening to post race analyses I looked out at my once trusty motorcycle and wondered where it all went wrong...

Barcelona: 14 weeks to go!

A less than excellent week of running. Last weeks' 11 mile long run ran into this week and on Monday morning I managed to squeeze it in before work, not to be recommended as I felt tired all day and sleeping at my desk is something I need to cut down on. On the down side I did manage to miss all my weekday runs, only getting out at the weekend for the Jingle Bells 5K because I had promised to be there. I did bolt on another 5K after the Jingle bells to make up my 6 miler for the day so it's not all crap... close but not quite!

Here's a summary of the week:

• Mon 11.36 miles in 2:00:49
• Sat 3.12 miles in 30:53 (quickly followed by a slow...)
• Sat 3.34 miles in 34:09

On the plus side, next week has got to be better!

Jingle Bells 5k Run

Not a great race... arrived on time to find the Police had closed off the long access road to the start line so I had to park the bike about a mile away. Once I had changed and packed my bike gear away I had to run to the start line, literally an uphill struggle. Exhausted I neared the start line fully expecting a few minutes recovery when the starting gun fired and they were off... bugger! I struggle for the first kilometer, meeting up with one of the fetchies who was running a slow one and that suited me perfectly. I left her after a while and really had to work hard until the finish line. Finish time was 30:53, possibly my longest 5K ever.

I had a 6 miler on my training schedule today so I carried on for another 5K to make up, running that one in an even slower 34:09... oh well!