Waterford & Back...sort of & Night running

Seem to have gotten out of the habit lately of posting blog updates, but that of course doesn't mean I haven't been doing some running.  I'll start back with more regular updates from now on.

Callan Marathon Elevation Profile

After Vartry 50mile in March the training seemed to somewhat fall apart for a short but I'm now back doing proper long runs in preparation for Connemara 100 in August.

Last weekend for example I set off with an ambitious plan to run 58miles from Callan to Waterford City & Back, however things did not go as plan as I got little sleep the night before and in the morning I started off around 90min later then expected.

Course Route

Both of these things meant it set back my whole day and by the day I got to 40miles I had to call it a day as I would have been home far too late to get other things done that day.

On Friday after working the entire week and finishing at 7pm I opted to fit in my long run after work rather then doing it on Saturday or Sunday morning.

So I packed up my backpack and decided to run what I like to refer to as the Callan Marathon course.

This route is a nice hilly route that takes me through Windgap, Tullahought and back via Castlemorris Wood to Callan.

For the most part the roads on the route aren't busy but on Friday night it rained alot and by the time I got to Castlemorris wood the battery's in my head-torch weren't doing so well but as it wasn't busy and there was a moon out I could run with the torch off until a car would come so I'd turn it back on.

Overall it was a good hilly training run in wet conditions and it was good to get back into the practice of doing a night run while tired as I've not one of those in many months.

Now, time to get back to a more regular structured training schedule :)

Miles this Year So Far: 683miles

8 days and 2x 10km Races

Waterford City & Greenway

Its been awhile since I've updated the blog but I'm still running miles with some small rest periods due to some muscle issues in my left leg again (its getting somewhat annoying now).

The last 8 days or so have however been pretty productive with 2x local 10km races under my belt and also 2x 20mile runs.

I even managed to include the second 10km into the 20mile run. So to start my 8 days I took part in a Callan AC outing by attending the Church Hill 10k / 5k in Cuffesgrange, co Kilkenny, this race has been going for a few years now and its pretty well supported both by locals and people that travel to the race.

My plan for the race was somewhat ambitious esp given the lack of training for a 10km I've done, despite not having run a decent 10km since July 2015 I decided I'd head out with the sub40 pacer and hope for the best.  It however was not to be as I dropped off the pacer by the 2mile mark.  

I did however manage to keep a steady pace and nobody passed me after this and I even managed to catch a guy 100metres from the finish.

While perhaps not my fastest 10km with a time of 42min 10sec (PB is 40:58) it was still nice to run the course again after previously running it in 2012 just before I took part in the Portumna 50km and I still easily beat the 2012 time I set of 46min 15sec.

As for the rest of the week, I didn't do a whole lot of running outside of club training runs on Tuesday and Thursdays but I did manage 20mile LSR in Waterford as I had time to kill so I decided to check out the new Waterford Greenway. It has some lovely views of the river so far.

While still under construction I ran a section of it out and back from the city and then worked in some miles in the city to total 20miles.  Can't wait to run the entire route to Dungarvan and then Clonea once its completed.

Out/Back & Mullinahone 10km Route

My plan Sunday the 1st May was straight forward enough, I wanted to take part in the 10km race in Mullinahone as there were a number of Callan AC members taking part but I also wanted to get in a LSR.

My solution, run from my house to Mullinahone, run the race to support the club and then run home...so that's exactly what I did.

My plan went fine with the exception of foolishly choosing to wear a long sleeve top on what felt like the most humid day of 2016 so far, by the time I got to the start line of the 10km I was sweating buckets as I had two tops on as I expected it to be much much cooler out.

The race however went fine (I finished in 52:08) and it was good to support the club once again, all in all I had a good week and in the 8 days I managed a somewhat respectable 58miles.

Vartry 50mile 2016 Race Report

Last weekend was my second running of the Vartry 50mile Ultra and overall it was certainly a more positive experience then last years despite the lack of training going into the race.

Before I even traveled to Wicklow for this race I always had in my mind that I honestly didn't care about the time, the aim was merely to put time in the legs and I expected to finish in between 10-12hours due to this.

As always it was an early start from Kilkenny as I left just before 3am to arrive with plenty of time, driving through Glendalough didn't look particularly good as there was seriously heavy rain but as I got closer to Roundwood things started to clear up abit...but still the forecast for the day was pretty much rain so I had ensured to bring changes of clothes just in case I needed them.

By the time I had arrived the 100mile racers were already out for around 10hours, I chatted to Dom the race director and various other runners before the race.  As always some runners I'd never met before but there's always a few familiar faces that are always good to see at ultra events and its always enjoyable to share experiences.

Just before the start I met up with JP & Paul who also ran this race last year and who I planned to run the event with, the basic plan for the day was take it relatively easy, have a chat and just tick off the miles and use the whole race as a training run.   So off we went bang on time and he started to endure the rain.

Unfortunately despite the weather forecast showing breaks in the rain before 9am and before lunch time this didn't happen and the wind and rain kept up for pretty much all of the day, so this meant every so often I'd also have to remove my gloves and wring the water out.      Still, despite the rain and wind only my hands and face occasionally felt the cold and I wasn't worried about getting too cold.

The 50mile route consists of 5x 10mile looks with some small out and back sections in order to give an even 10mile on each lap, I've done ultra's before of 5km loops and I honestly find them unbearable but doing 10mile loops is actually fine. Its a nice distance to have for a loop whilst still allowing you to pickup food, clothes etc at the start/finish area.

As time passing went the race flew, although to many such a long time on the feet might seem endless and crazy I honestly found it went seriously fast which was no doubt down to the fact that myself, JP & Paul chatted and joked for basically the entire race.       It was also great to meet up with others taking part in the race to cheer them on and just said hello, shouts out to Ray who also won the 50km race.   I even met up with a fellow ultra runner blogger who's blog I read.

As the loops ticked by I decided that unlike last year I wasn't going to bother with changing socks at the 30mile mark as my feet felt fine, so instead I just changed my t-shirt and long sleeve top and off I went again.

By the 40mile mark I decided I felt pretty good, in fact I felt far better then I felt at this stage back in 2015 so with around 1hr 50min to go I decided to see if I could beat last years time of 10hrs 10min and run the last 10miles....sorry JP & Paul for abandoning you :)

Whilst I did run a lot more of the last 10mile then I did the 30-40mile section I missed out on beating last years time and finished in 10hours 22min 43sec.  Still, I'm not at all disappointed considering I wasn't planning on setting any specific time, the reality is I'm actually surprised because I finished in much better shape then I did last year so that's a nice boost for my confidence.

Finally, for those interested in taking part in the race next year you might be interested in the garmin profile of the race (compare this to the original 2015 looped course which started and ended in Roundwood). I've also included elevation profile and loop profile below:

Race Elevation

Race Route

Last week consisted of:
- Sunday: 2mile walk
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 11miles @ 9:30min/pace
- Wednesday: Rest
- Thursday: Rest
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 50miles @ 12:22min/pace

Miles This week: 69 miles
Miles this Year So Far: 430miles

My home town gets its own athletics club :)

My home town has finally established its own athletics club called Callan Athletics Club, the club has just started and its early days yet but it's currently taking on new members.

Registration details can be found on the Callan AC website or on their Facebook page, the first registration night will take place on Tuesday the 5th of May at 8pm in the Droichead Family Resource Centre in West Street, Callan.

Taper time!

Started last week with another nice long run this time a marathon distance as I ran exactly 26.2miles on Monday morning....nice way to start the week.   Thats my last long slow run before the Vartry 50mile in two weeks.

So now since Monday I'm officially tapering and after the 26.2miles I only did a few more miles to finish the week with a low amount of miles.

I'm never a fan of the taper time before a race as I always feel like I could be training more and this viewpoint isn't helped from the fact that I have had past experiences of still managing to perform pretty decently without tapering. For example during July 2015 I ran a 36mile Ultramarathon and then 7 days later I still managed to set a personal best at a local 10km race.

Still I'm reluctant to over do it and I want to be sure I don't burn out during the 50mile or get injured so I want to take it easy before hand.

Looking forward to Easter weekend,

Miles This week: 36.59 miles
Miles this Year So Far: 366miles

First 30mile run of the year

Its been a good week of training, started it with an easy walk on Sunday with my wife Tramore, Co Waterford and then upped the miles to my first 30mile run on Monday morning...certainly a different way to start the day!

I felt absolutely fine during the 30mile run but didn't want to overdo it too much so I did walk on some hills now and then but finished it in good shape and felt fine.

30mile Run Route in Co Kilkenny

 Over the next few days I did have some niggles in my left leg muscle, this teaches me a very valuable lesson for not stretching properly after such a long run!.     But after I did some stretching throughout the day over the next few days as well as a walk on Thursday that cleared up and I felt fine again by Friday, thankfully.

I really have to make sure I'm stretching enough or this muscle pain is coming to come back to bite me again.  I finished the week with a nice fast 8mile run this evening to finish the week with just over 60miles.   All in all a good week training.

I have the Vartry 50mile run in two weeks time so I'm going to start winding down the miles next week after one last long run and then take it easy ahead of the race. I don't think I'm in as good a shape as I was last year going into the 50mile race but it certainly reassured me to get that 30mile run under my belt before hand.

This week consisted of:
- Sunday: 3.02miles @ 20:16min/mile pace (walk)
- Monday: 30miles @ 9:53min/mile pace
- Tuesday: 4miles @ 8:28min/mile pace
- Wednesday: 10miles @ 8:58mine/mile pace & 1mile recovery walk
- Thursday: 4.15mile @ 23:24min/mile pace (walk)
- Friday: Rest
- Saturday: 8miles @ 7:09min/mile pace

Miles This week: 60.22 miles
Miles this Year So Far: 330miles

Connemara 100 is Happening!!!

Connemara 100 Route Map

Its finally happened, I've committed to running the Connemara 100 in August of this year.  This is a race I've been hoping to do since I did my first 50km Ultra back in 2012 and I honestly can't wait!

Still have logistical issues of sorting a crew to work  out but other then that I'm very confident that my training will go to plan.

I've not yet sat down to work out a more concrete training plan but I already have a 50mile race at the end of this month and I'm planning a Kilkenny to Waterford and back run sometime in May or June which will total approx 60miles.

Welcoming back the bigger miles!

Tuesday's 20mile route

The last 7 days have been a high mileage week and it felt good to be back into the 50's, while I didn't run everyday I double my mileage when compared to numerous recent weeks.

I did my second 20mile since October 2015 during the week and it certainly went much better then the first I did, I also just pushed it to just short of 21miles. My next long run will be 26miles in around 7 days time.

On Thursday I foolishly tried for a 5mile run after a big'ish meal, this wasn't the best plan and I just ended up walking some of it, but I finished with a much stronger 10mile run on Friday evening with a nice 1mile recovery afterwards.

Not to overdo it, next week will be much easier but with some speed work and then its back to another higher mileage week again which will include the 26mile run.

Last week consisted of:
- Sunday: 5.21miles @ 7:58min/mile pace & 310miles @ 25:14min/mile pace
- Monday: 10miles @ 8:02min/mile pace
- Tuesday: 20.78miles@ 9:53min/mile pace
- Wednesday: Rest
- Thursday: 5miles @ 10:20min/mile pace
- Friday: 10miles @ 7:28min/mile pace & 1mile @ 8:37min/mile pace
- Saturday: Rest

Miles This week: 55.11 miles
Miles this Year So Far: 250miles

Getting back into the groove!

Starting to feel like I have my mojo back when it comes to running, I'm back to running 10miles at sub 7:30min/mile pace again and it feels great!  Still have some weight to shift which I gained over Oct-Jan but that will come as the miles increase over time.

I started last week with a really enjoyable loop of Slievenamon where I ran with a group from the South Leinster Trail Runners, certainly more enjoyable to run this type of trail with a group and it makes the time go a bit faster.  I also didn't suffer anywhere near as bad compared to when I ran the same loop two weeks previously.

After that I took it "relatively" easy during the week between rest days and a 10mile and 4.5mile run to finish with a faster 10mile run on Friday.   Next week however is going to see a big increase will mileage.

Last week consisted of:
- Sunday: 12.46miles @ 14:11min/mile pace
- Monday: Rest
- Tuesday: 10miles @ 7:36min/mile pace & 1mile @ 9:41min/mile pace recovery
- Wednesday: 4.57miles @ 8:16min/mile pace
- Thursday: Rest
- Friday: 10miles @ 7:25min/mile pace
- Saturday: Rest

Miles This week: 38.08 miles

Slievenamon Circuit Video

So recently I picked up a GoPro Session and I finally got to have a decent outing with it over the weekend when I joined a group run with the South Leinster Trail Runners to do a loop of my local favorite mountain Slievenamon.


Its my first attempt at editing video footage together and I've already learned a few things in relation to managing the camera better for future use.