Dublin Marathon, Mile 3

Thursday, May 30, 2013

The 15km "10k race" and my 5 minutes of fame..

Week 21 - the week just gone was a pretty easy one; just 3.5 hours in total. Finally managed to back into the swimming again. My local pool closed down so i was left high and dry (mostly dry!) for a while, but found a pool close to where i work that opens at 0630 twice a week, so that is good. I like swimming and met my brother James there. He's training for a triathlon at the moment and up till earlier this year he'd never swam front-crawl before! Fair play to him; he was doing well when i saw him in the pool last Tuesday.

So last Saturday night we drove down to Switzerland to visit our friends Gavin and Anna. They live in Basel and we planned to stay at theirs on the Saturday and then run the Basel 10km /Half marathon race on the Sunday. As i have the full marathon in Mannheim coming on June 8th i decided not to do the half, but to go for a PB on the 10km run.

We have a few beers the night before but nothing major, and i was feeling fresh on the morning of the race. Anna and my wife were running the 10k race too. It had been raining for the whole week but we were lucky enough to wake up to a dry, if cloudy day.

The race was goind really well and i was pacing myself good, feeling good. We even left Switzerland and went into France which was pretty cool! When the 10km point arrived on my Garmin i saw that i had done it in 54.06 which beat my previous by nearly 2 mins! I was very happy with myself. And then i realized that i was miles away from the finish line.....

Long story short is that at around the KM 3 mark, someone had done a clanger and routed the 10km people the wrong way! So every 10k runner ended up doing 15 KM to get to the finish line! it was ok for me as i could do the extra kilometers, but for those who had trained to be spent after 10km or people doing their first 10k race, it must have been hard. The organizers put their hands up to the mistake and offered a free place to all 10k runners in next years race.

It didnt really bother me as i was there just to do the 10 distance, so i pulled over at 12.5 km when i realized there was another 2k to go, to save my legs for the marathon. It was still a great day and good to see my wife back running races again.

My 5 minutes of fame came to me this week! i was featured in the "Mens Running" Magazine which published in the UK. They run a "Fat to Fit" article each month and this months was about me! I was very proud to be in the magazine and got lots of comments on my Facebook page about it!

Here is a snap shot of the article -

This week i have 10 hours to clock up, including a 2 hour run on Saturday and 4 hour bike ride Sunday...

Monday, May 20, 2013

Last big run before the marathon

This weeks schedule was quite a big one; 8.5 hours planned by my coach. He sent me the plan via email on Monday but I was still travelling back from Sweden then and so didnt do anything on Monday, was too tired to do anything on Tuesday and so started my training week on Wednesday.

With my disappointing finishing time in London still fresh in my mind, I am determined to be better prepared for my next marathon in 3 weeks time, so I done my best to fit in as much as possible into the remaining days of the week. Some days included double session days (one before work and one after) which makes the days very long, but i got in some running, biking and gym sessions before my big run on Sunday. I am starting to enjoy the spin bike at the gym. It makes for a good session before work if you dont have much time and need to get the heart pumping.

Come Sunday, I had a 3 hour run planned. Its hard to find long runs in the city so I got my wife to drive me out to a small town where I biked last year. There is a connecting trail from the town of Speyer through a forest to another town called Neustadt. Its a good 30km's and is mostly trail paths, so was perfect for what i was looking for.

Had to keep the first 1HR 30 at a "light" pace. Light for me is around 06.15 per KM. Then after the 90 mins I had to speed up to 05:45 and keep it there for the next 60 mins non stop. This turned out to be quite tough! Managed to hold it though and then with a 30 min slow pace/ warm down, it filled the three hours.

Total time for the week was 7.10

Next week I am off to Switzerland for the Dreilander Race. Will do a 10km there and aim for a PB, so anything under 55 mins.

Also been looking at Autumn marathons to aim for. Looking at Munich or Pfalzerwald right now.




Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Running in Sweden (and a wedding)

WEEK 19 -

I spent most of last week in Sweden. I was on the island of Hven, near to Malmö for a wedding. Two close friends who also live in Mannheim near me, we getting married. The bride is from the Malmö area and the groom is from the UK, up north.  I only worked Monday and Tuesday and then flew out to Copenhagen in Denmark to make the journey to the island on Wednesday.

With only 5 weeks to the next marathon I had to take my running gear with me; to keep the KM's clocking up and to counter-balance to intake of food and booze than was on the cards! Managed to run 3 of the available 5 mornings which was great as the island was amazing. It was quite small, only 11.5 km in circumference  but the views were amazing. Had a few people to run with from the wedding group too which was nice, as I normally run on my own before work in the morning or at the weekend. Even got the groom out on wedding day morning for a 6K'er!

The wedding was amazing!

Here's a few pics from the time in Hven:

Sponsored by Verve Cliquot

Amazing view of the island when out running

panoramic view of the island, from the hill top church

In total i managed to get in 3.45 hours of the prescribed 4.40 so not bad considering, but i put some weight on and need to shift it again, quick.

Week 20 is this week and i have a good 9 hours of training to get through, for me sins. Big run on Sunday - 3 hours, and a double run was done today (AM and PM).

now 4 weeks till Mannheim Marathon and am planning a half on May 26th in Basel, Switzerland, assuming my coach says that doesnt feck up the marathon plan.

So, onwards..............



Sunday, May 5, 2013

Back training again... kind of

Week 18 - 

After the London marathon my knee swelled up so I was off all of last week. Managed to get some training in this week though, but had forgotten about one little thing - The Stuttgart Beer Fest! On May 1st its a German holiday here so we close the showroom and take a bus load of pals down to The Stuttgart Beer Fest for a day out. Its kind of like the famous Munich Beer Festival but is a little smaller. Loads of Beer, big liter ( 2 pint) sized glasses, fair rides and beer for breakfast lunch and dinner!

We had a great craic and back home on the bus by 2330. i normally feel really rough for days after this but managed to get to work the next day and done a full day.

Some of the mayhem..

Made up for the missed sessions today with an hour bike ride and then 11 km run. Totaled just under 5 hours for the week. My legs were still feeling tired from London i think though, so it was difficult to keep moving on the run today.

Looked at the calendar today and see that its only 5 weeks til the next marathon. I am going to make sure there are no more big (beer) sessions between now and then!