........ WEEK 34, 9 weeks to go!
Monday was the first day back to work after my vacation to Croatia, and it was a busy one! Busy is good though, so no complaints there. Missed Mondays session though, but got back into it on Tuesday and had a good week after that. Great swim on Thursday morning - got up at the crack of dawn and was in the pool by 0615 for 2200 meters (90 laps). Pool was empty apart from three other people which makes a big difference.
Todays run was a good one too - my brother James and I hit the hills of the Pfalz in Ramsen and some some hill trails out there. All in all a good week! With only 9 weeks to go till the marathon I am feeling good.
DONATIONS - very close to the 1000 pounds for online donations at the moment! Big thanks to our friends Mike and Nadine and Auntie Bea who donated this week! Buckets and sponsorship sheets are now in the Rathmore, Labor Club and Cafe Brazil. Will try and get an amount from there to see what the grand total is.
Monday - X
Tuesday - AM: 40 minute light run - http://connect.garmin.com/dashboard?cid=14140216
Wednesday - Dentist AM, overnight in K town eve, no training.
Thursday - AM 2200m endurance swim.
Friday - 8.4km / 50 min run, good tempo - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215332015
Saturday - AM 47 min/ 24km bike ride before work.http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215332081
Sunday - 21.67km / 2.33 hours hill run - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215332117
Total time - 6 hours 10 mins
Weigh in - 91.8KG
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Week 32 and 33 marathon training and donations for Tick Tock - update
.......... 10 weeks to go.
I wont bother reporting full stats for that week but I still managed to squeeze in 5 hours 15 mins! Got some lovely runs in Italy done; here are some pics:
And here is a picture of Henry, me, his dad and Dave currid having a few bevvies at the wedding!
Total time 5 hours and 15 Mins.
WEEK 33 (week starting August 13th, a week in Croatia.
Monday: AM - 40 minute run, then 25 minute sea swim PM
Tuesday AM - up early, 1 hour 15 min run, lovely hills, on trails, then hired kiyaks for the day and toured some islands. very nice! (2 hour 30 mins Kiyaking)
Wednesday AM up early, 15km run out on the island. very warm, very nice.
It might sound like all i was doing was training on holiday but that wasnt the case. we were out having dinner most nights with our friends that came with us (Martin and Sylvia) and having a beer or two in the day on the beach, so it was a very nice week away. After Wednesday the training slid off the schedule anyway!
Some running pics from Croatia:
Total time for the week was 6 hours 40 - not bad for a holiday!
Weigh in - nah next week. :)
DONATIONS:
Since August 6th we have had a few donations online! Thanks to Sylvia, Margaret, Steffi and Rose Coffee! We now finally have the donation buckets and sponsor sheets in the Rathmore Club and the Labor club so should see some monies coming in from there too. Thanks to Pete Wyhnam for the donation behind the bar in the Rathmore!
We are now up to around 950 quid, so getting there!
NOTES: 10 weeks to go, time to get ramping up the miles for race day!
Sunday, August 5, 2012
training and donations update WEEK 31
....12 weeks to go
This week was a recovery week after the previous weeks high intensity training. Was "only" 5 hours 45 mins which meant I felt like I had some time in my life again! In general things are going well and there is now only 12 weeks to go till race day in Dublin on October 29th. Sometimes 12 weeks sounds like a long way away and sometimes it sounds like its only around the corner and I still have loads to do. The training will ramp up to levels I have never ran before soon enough (I have never ran over 27km in one session before) so that is scary, as the last time I ran 27 km my Achilles tore as I was out for months. I hope that the slower ramp up to long distances, the time spent in the saddle and in the pool and the lots of stretching will keep my in good stead and injury free so that I can complete the marathon in Dublin..
DONATIONS - Thanks to Martin Kennedy and Jon Rundal for their donations this week! We are now up to 786 pounds but still have a long way to go....
Monday - REST
Tuesday - PM - 50 minute run
Wednesday - AM - 25 mins on the bike, PM - 40 min run
Thursday - PM - 45 min swim in K town. Nice pool, opens early 2x per week
Friday - REST
Saturday - AM 1hr 33 min bike ride, fast
Sunday - 1hr30 light run.
TOTAL 5 hours 43 mins
Weigh in - 89.2kg :)
This week was a recovery week after the previous weeks high intensity training. Was "only" 5 hours 45 mins which meant I felt like I had some time in my life again! In general things are going well and there is now only 12 weeks to go till race day in Dublin on October 29th. Sometimes 12 weeks sounds like a long way away and sometimes it sounds like its only around the corner and I still have loads to do. The training will ramp up to levels I have never ran before soon enough (I have never ran over 27km in one session before) so that is scary, as the last time I ran 27 km my Achilles tore as I was out for months. I hope that the slower ramp up to long distances, the time spent in the saddle and in the pool and the lots of stretching will keep my in good stead and injury free so that I can complete the marathon in Dublin..
DONATIONS - Thanks to Martin Kennedy and Jon Rundal for their donations this week! We are now up to 786 pounds but still have a long way to go....
Monday - REST
Tuesday - PM - 50 minute run
Wednesday - AM - 25 mins on the bike, PM - 40 min run
Thursday - PM - 45 min swim in K town. Nice pool, opens early 2x per week
Friday - REST
Saturday - AM 1hr 33 min bike ride, fast
Sunday - 1hr30 light run.
TOTAL 5 hours 43 mins
Weigh in - 89.2kg :)
Monday, July 30, 2012
training and donations update for TICK TOCK
Its been 2 weeks since i updated this diary/ blog for my training and donations efforts. Week 29 (week before last) wasnt an amazing week. It was meant to be an 8.5 hour training week with 4 of those as a long bike ride on the Sunday, but i went to a party on the Saturday night, had a few too many beers and woke up in no state to ride anywhere! So WEEK 29 was 3hr30m - nuff said.
This week (WEEK 30, 13 weeks to go) was a better week for training. In fact, it felt like all i done was training, working and sleeping. Managed to fit in a nice night out in Mannheim on Saturday night for dinner and drinks without going overboard and feeling rough the next day, so went out for a mammoth bike ride on Sunday into the Odenwald area of hills behing Heidelberg. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day. The route i chose was also beautiful but had a monster hill in the middle of it! If you click on the below link for Sundays training, you will see the elevation profile went from under 100M to over 440m in a fairly short distance. The payoff was the downhill on the other side which was great fun and I hit over 62kmh at one point. ;) The end KM for the ride was 79.5 km which was the longest I have ever done in one session and i needed an ice bath to cool the legs afterwards! Some pics of the ride:
DONATIONS - The last 2 weeks have been a bit slow. Only Eileen Mannion has sent money in since my last update (Thanks Eils!), but there is still plenty time and still plenty of people out there that i know will donate to this cause. We also have the fund raising buckets for the Rathmore and Labour Club coming soon and anyone reading this that wants to donate can hit the purple button top right to do so. Thanks.
Also, the Addaction race pack arrived this week so got my t shirt etc this week.
Training stats:
Monday: 55 minute run
Tuesday: PM - evening bike ride, 1hr 20
Wednesday: Late home, then 10KM fast tempo. 1hr 01
Thursday: AM bike session: 0H53m
Friday: late home, then 14km run 1hr27min. VERY HOT @ 32C at 2030 at night!
Saturday: no training
Sunday: 79.5km hilly ride, 3hr43 mins - http://connect.garmin.com/player/204287348
TOTAL: 8hrs 23 mins
Weigh in: 89.8 (finally under 90kgs... :)
NOTE: need more donations!
This week (WEEK 30, 13 weeks to go) was a better week for training. In fact, it felt like all i done was training, working and sleeping. Managed to fit in a nice night out in Mannheim on Saturday night for dinner and drinks without going overboard and feeling rough the next day, so went out for a mammoth bike ride on Sunday into the Odenwald area of hills behing Heidelberg. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day. The route i chose was also beautiful but had a monster hill in the middle of it! If you click on the below link for Sundays training, you will see the elevation profile went from under 100M to over 440m in a fairly short distance. The payoff was the downhill on the other side which was great fun and I hit over 62kmh at one point. ;) The end KM for the ride was 79.5 km which was the longest I have ever done in one session and i needed an ice bath to cool the legs afterwards! Some pics of the ride:
DONATIONS - The last 2 weeks have been a bit slow. Only Eileen Mannion has sent money in since my last update (Thanks Eils!), but there is still plenty time and still plenty of people out there that i know will donate to this cause. We also have the fund raising buckets for the Rathmore and Labour Club coming soon and anyone reading this that wants to donate can hit the purple button top right to do so. Thanks.
Also, the Addaction race pack arrived this week so got my t shirt etc this week.
Training stats:
Monday: 55 minute run
Tuesday: PM - evening bike ride, 1hr 20
Wednesday: Late home, then 10KM fast tempo. 1hr 01
Thursday: AM bike session: 0H53m
Friday: late home, then 14km run 1hr27min. VERY HOT @ 32C at 2030 at night!
Saturday: no training
Sunday: 79.5km hilly ride, 3hr43 mins - http://connect.garmin.com/player/204287348
TOTAL: 8hrs 23 mins
Weigh in: 89.8 (finally under 90kgs... :)
NOTE: need more donations!
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Training and donation update - WEEK 28 (15 weeks to go)
Another decent training week this week.
Managed to chalk up almost 7 hours mostly running. Made a massive cock up on Wednesday morning though! I stepped out early morning for a 12k run and had in my head that i wanted to try out a new circuit which involved running up to a bridge about 6km away, crossing it, running back the other side of the river and crossing back at another crossing, to total 12k. What I didn't realize what that on the other side the riverbank scoots off in another direction and i was channeled into a small town. I then tried to make my way back to the riverbank route but it all went a bit wrong and long story short is that the 12k morning run ended up over 22km! Didn't eat anything before i left the house either, so was pretty knackered when I got home, but Michelle had some food waiting for me, fair play to her.
Friday night I stopped in the Pfalz area on the way home from work and had a good 8km hill run which was nice, and today i found another really cool new place called Ramsen that had an awesome 11km trail run that i ran around a small lake and forest. I am really liking finding these new places to explore in the area around where we live. You have to drive approx 30-40 mins to get there but its worth it. Here are some pics from today:
After my run Michelle and Klaus came out for lunch and we ate at the Hotel on the lake which was very nice. On the lake there were rowing boats to rent and a German couple were getting into the boat, then the man fell in! It was very hard not to laugh out loud but the dude was not smiling so we kept quiet. He just got into the boat all soaked and rowed off as if nothing happened!
Bought a new running rucksack with water bladder on Saturday which is great. only 20 euro too!
DONATIONS - had some more donations this week! Thanks this week to Sarah Perris, Sheila Mitham, Ali Bari, Bridget Keady, Sweetcorn in Aus, Tony Solimeno and Sandra Young! The amount raised so far is now GBP 626.00! Going well but we still need more! We will be making donation forms to put in the Rathmore and Labor Club soon for those that don't get online.
Training stats:
Monday: REST
Tuesday: 1Hr 15 mins Bike ride on the Altrip route. Fast and hard.
Wednesday: 22.5km run in the AM. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199533127
Thursday: Missed the AM run, PM swam 1200m after work
Friday: 8KM hill run in the Pfalz after work
Saturday: no training, went out in Mannheim in the evening for food and drinks
Sunday: 1hr 30 mins trail running in Ramsen. Very nice! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199533206
Total - 6 hours 53 mins
Weigh in - 91.5
Knee and feet all good.
Managed to chalk up almost 7 hours mostly running. Made a massive cock up on Wednesday morning though! I stepped out early morning for a 12k run and had in my head that i wanted to try out a new circuit which involved running up to a bridge about 6km away, crossing it, running back the other side of the river and crossing back at another crossing, to total 12k. What I didn't realize what that on the other side the riverbank scoots off in another direction and i was channeled into a small town. I then tried to make my way back to the riverbank route but it all went a bit wrong and long story short is that the 12k morning run ended up over 22km! Didn't eat anything before i left the house either, so was pretty knackered when I got home, but Michelle had some food waiting for me, fair play to her.
Friday night I stopped in the Pfalz area on the way home from work and had a good 8km hill run which was nice, and today i found another really cool new place called Ramsen that had an awesome 11km trail run that i ran around a small lake and forest. I am really liking finding these new places to explore in the area around where we live. You have to drive approx 30-40 mins to get there but its worth it. Here are some pics from today:
After my run Michelle and Klaus came out for lunch and we ate at the Hotel on the lake which was very nice. On the lake there were rowing boats to rent and a German couple were getting into the boat, then the man fell in! It was very hard not to laugh out loud but the dude was not smiling so we kept quiet. He just got into the boat all soaked and rowed off as if nothing happened!
Bought a new running rucksack with water bladder on Saturday which is great. only 20 euro too!
DONATIONS - had some more donations this week! Thanks this week to Sarah Perris, Sheila Mitham, Ali Bari, Bridget Keady, Sweetcorn in Aus, Tony Solimeno and Sandra Young! The amount raised so far is now GBP 626.00! Going well but we still need more! We will be making donation forms to put in the Rathmore and Labor Club soon for those that don't get online.
Training stats:
Monday: REST
Tuesday: 1Hr 15 mins Bike ride on the Altrip route. Fast and hard.
Wednesday: 22.5km run in the AM. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199533127
Thursday: Missed the AM run, PM swam 1200m after work
Friday: 8KM hill run in the Pfalz after work
Saturday: no training, went out in Mannheim in the evening for food and drinks
Sunday: 1hr 30 mins trail running in Ramsen. Very nice! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199533206
Total - 6 hours 53 mins
Weigh in - 91.5
Knee and feet all good.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Training and donation update - WEEK 27 (16 weeks to go)
This weeks training was pretty good. Only had 5hr 30 on the plan, and managed to do 6hr.13 so happy with that.. Didnt get out Monday or Tuesday due to work, but Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat and today (Sun) i managed to squeeze it all in. Worth noting was the 10k race that James and I participated in on the Ramstein US Air Force Base in Germany. It was to raise money for a soldier that was a friend of a friend. He has a rare blood cancer and so there have been fund raising events to raise money for the family. Approx 100 or so people attended the race and all paid entry fees that went to the cause.
The race was around the air field and it was a nice warm day. This base is huge though! There are nearly 35,000 people working on it so you can imagine the size. Anyway, i ran my best ever 10km time at 55.45! Thats nearly 4 mins off my previous record so i was well happy with that! We got T shirts made with the logo for our new business to wear at the race too - here is James sporting one of the Shirts!
The race was around the air field and it was a nice warm day. This base is huge though! There are nearly 35,000 people working on it so you can imagine the size. Anyway, i ran my best ever 10km time at 55.45! Thats nearly 4 mins off my previous record so i was well happy with that! We got T shirts made with the logo for our new business to wear at the race too - here is James sporting one of the Shirts!
On the way home i stopped in "The Pfalz" which is the Germany wine growing region and went for a 5km hill run. As luck would have it i came across a lovely restaurant in the forest with possibly the nicest beer garden in the country!
Donations for the charity is up to GBP 491 this week, thanks for some donations from people. Still a long way to go, but there is 16 weeks left till the Marathon in Dublin so i am sure we will get to the target. There are plenty of people out there still to donate!
STATS:
Monday - x
Tuesday - x
Wednesday - 40 min run before work
Thursday - 40 min run before work
Friday - 16km ride before work and 2000m swim after work.
Saturday , 10km race, then 5km hill run in Isenach
Sunday, 1200m swim and 1 hour bike ride.
Total - 6 Hours 13 minutes.
Notes - knee and feet ok.
weigh in - 92.1
Another busy work week ahead setting up our new business but no worries, there are 24 hours in the day!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Tick Tock Tommy
Week 26,
well i was meant to do a 10 hour training session this week but work keeps getting in the way. i am getting up at 0600 but still cant seem to fit it all in. will aim to work harder at it next week. I ended up with 7 hours including a big feckin run today!! very happy with that but have not lost any weight this month.
More importantly, this week i decided to commit to a charity to raise money in memory of my ole mate Tommy. This is what its all about after all. I have chosen Addaction, and hope to raise 2 grand for Dublin Marathon and 2 Grand for London next year. I am amazed that in the short space of a few days, i already have donations from John, Scott, Mich, Lea from Cov, Tim Collins, Kathy collins, Mary Munnelly, Nina and Nico! Thanks to you all for your efforts. i will keep running in memory of Tick Tock!
well i was meant to do a 10 hour training session this week but work keeps getting in the way. i am getting up at 0600 but still cant seem to fit it all in. will aim to work harder at it next week. I ended up with 7 hours including a big feckin run today!! very happy with that but have not lost any weight this month.
More importantly, this week i decided to commit to a charity to raise money in memory of my ole mate Tommy. This is what its all about after all. I have chosen Addaction, and hope to raise 2 grand for Dublin Marathon and 2 Grand for London next year. I am amazed that in the short space of a few days, i already have donations from John, Scott, Mich, Lea from Cov, Tim Collins, Kathy collins, Mary Munnelly, Nina and Nico! Thanks to you all for your efforts. i will keep running in memory of Tick Tock!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Week 24 - all work work work..
Week 24 (11-17th June) was a tough one. Not tough training wise, but work wise. My brother James was away on vacation so i had to cover him in the office for the best part of two weeks. As i have been working from the sanctuary of my home office for the last 6 months (internet car sales), this was a big shock to the system! An ten hour day book ended with an hour commute each way meant there was little time to fit in much training. Working from home meant i could plan my day around training sessions and as i will be leaving the internet sales company in a few weeks to join James in our new venture, i need to find a way to fit in the marathon training around work. Being away from home also meant bad food choices as i was eating on the go, so will need to watch that too. Good thing is that i really enjoyed being out of the home office and had a very good work week!
Monday 11 June - REST
Tuesday 12th - 1000m swim late night after work. Plan was for 2000 but i was knackered.
Wednesday 13th - 5km Run in the forest
Thursday 14th - One hour run around Kaiserslautern.
Friday 15th - X
Saturday 16th - X
Sunday 17th - 2 hour bike ride up the Rhein river trail. Very nice.
Total time - 4 Hours 10 mins
Weigh in - 93
Notes - early mornings will be better for sessions than after work. plan runs in mornings and any evening sessions for swimming. Get up early!
Monday 11 June - REST
Tuesday 12th - 1000m swim late night after work. Plan was for 2000 but i was knackered.
Wednesday 13th - 5km Run in the forest
Thursday 14th - One hour run around Kaiserslautern.
Friday 15th - X
Saturday 16th - X
Sunday 17th - 2 hour bike ride up the Rhein river trail. Very nice.
Total time - 4 Hours 10 mins
Weigh in - 93
Notes - early mornings will be better for sessions than after work. plan runs in mornings and any evening sessions for swimming. Get up early!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Training update WEEK 23- a record breaking week!
So things went well for week 23, June 4th -10th. I managed to get three PBs! Got my best time ever in 500m swimming time trail, then also best time for a 5km run mid week and then clocked my fastest ever 1km on Saturday morning before work! i think i also clocked my fastest 1km on a bike on Sunday too, but i wont count that...
The week in general was good; managed to cover more than the full 6.5 hours that were in my training plan, but managed to put on approx 1kilo as was eating some crap in the week. (was working away from home office so had to eat on the go all week).
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - gym session, 1 hr
Wednesday - 5km run, 28 mins, 17 seconds! Fastest ever. My old PB was 29.57 so i smashed it! Very happy with that. :) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188095325
Thursday - AM 1 hour swim including 500m time trial @ 10.50, PM bike ride, 2 hours. Found a really nice paved trail that goes all the way to Speyer and beyond. will be using this trail for long distance running.
Friday - REST
Saturday - Speed training. fastest 1km was 05.01, 55mins. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188095360
Sunday - bike ride, 2 hours from Mannheim Altrip to Speyer and back. Found some great restuarants and even a swimming lake that i never knew was there! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188095394
Total Time - 7.5 hours
Weigh in - 93.3
Notes: need to not eat crap when on the road!
The week in general was good; managed to cover more than the full 6.5 hours that were in my training plan, but managed to put on approx 1kilo as was eating some crap in the week. (was working away from home office so had to eat on the go all week).
Monday - Rest day
Tuesday - gym session, 1 hr
Wednesday - 5km run, 28 mins, 17 seconds! Fastest ever. My old PB was 29.57 so i smashed it! Very happy with that. :) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188095325
Thursday - AM 1 hour swim including 500m time trial @ 10.50, PM bike ride, 2 hours. Found a really nice paved trail that goes all the way to Speyer and beyond. will be using this trail for long distance running.
Friday - REST
Saturday - Speed training. fastest 1km was 05.01, 55mins. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188095360
Sunday - bike ride, 2 hours from Mannheim Altrip to Speyer and back. Found some great restuarants and even a swimming lake that i never knew was there! http://connect.garmin.com/activity/188095394
Total Time - 7.5 hours
Weigh in - 93.3
Notes: need to not eat crap when on the road!
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Training Update week of May 28th, WEEK 22
Monday - swim was on the plan but i couldnt get it done due to first day back to work and i was swamped. good news is that the local swimming pool is back open after 2 years! will save me some time driving to and from Schwetzingen where i go to now.
Tuesday AM - 50 min Gym session. Evening - 5.6km run in the forest behind the house. was very warm but a nice run with Michelle. Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183469878 37 mins.
Wednesday AM - 1.30 on the bike. Its tough to figure out where to ride for 1.5 hours just after getting out of bed at 0600. Note to self - plan the route the night before next time. Ended up biking out down the Rhein past the Zollamt, then back past the house and out to Schwetzingen. Was a nice ride, no traffic, sun shining, averaging around 22kmh.
Thursday PM: Finally got down to the new swimming pool in my area! Was very excited about this as i have been travelling 20 mins each way to another pool all year. That makes an hour session into a 2 hour trip which was a pain. Anyway, got to the new pool. All very nice and the two ladies at the front desk were very polite and showed me how the new systems worked for the changing rooms lockers (over complicated).
When i got to the pool it was very nice but it was busy and no dedicated area for "serious" swimmers. You had to fend for yourself amonsgt it all. And it was all going on. there were loads of (dare i say it) youths jumping off the boards going crazy, old couples swimming in tandem at 1mph etc etc. I used to be one of those kids jumping off boards the whole time so i shouldnt really say anything, but it was a bit annoying!
Managed to get in 1500m non stop, then 3min rest, then another 500m and i was done. Had buger and chips for lunch today so i hope the extra 500m burned off those calories. :) Gym session tomorrow AM before i hit the road to work.
Friday AM: Had a nice 50 min before work. kept it "fast" for me and tried to keep to a 05.45per km pace, but it was too tough. not sure i will be running any sub 2 hours half marathons this year!
Friday PM: was a great day at work today! Some very good news so i hit the Champagne after work with some buddies, and well that was the start of a great night out in Mannheim. :)
Saturday AM: Had a run planned but my head was banging so i went to the new pool instead. Had a sauna before and then 1500m to clear out the cobwebs.
Total stats: 6 hours training
Weigh in: 92.5kg
Notes: need to make up more hours next week and leave off the big weekends!
Tuesday AM - 50 min Gym session. Evening - 5.6km run in the forest behind the house. was very warm but a nice run with Michelle. Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183469878 37 mins.
Wednesday AM - 1.30 on the bike. Its tough to figure out where to ride for 1.5 hours just after getting out of bed at 0600. Note to self - plan the route the night before next time. Ended up biking out down the Rhein past the Zollamt, then back past the house and out to Schwetzingen. Was a nice ride, no traffic, sun shining, averaging around 22kmh.
Thursday PM: Finally got down to the new swimming pool in my area! Was very excited about this as i have been travelling 20 mins each way to another pool all year. That makes an hour session into a 2 hour trip which was a pain. Anyway, got to the new pool. All very nice and the two ladies at the front desk were very polite and showed me how the new systems worked for the changing rooms lockers (over complicated).
When i got to the pool it was very nice but it was busy and no dedicated area for "serious" swimmers. You had to fend for yourself amonsgt it all. And it was all going on. there were loads of (dare i say it) youths jumping off the boards going crazy, old couples swimming in tandem at 1mph etc etc. I used to be one of those kids jumping off boards the whole time so i shouldnt really say anything, but it was a bit annoying!
Managed to get in 1500m non stop, then 3min rest, then another 500m and i was done. Had buger and chips for lunch today so i hope the extra 500m burned off those calories. :) Gym session tomorrow AM before i hit the road to work.
Friday AM: Had a nice 50 min before work. kept it "fast" for me and tried to keep to a 05.45per km pace, but it was too tough. not sure i will be running any sub 2 hours half marathons this year!
Friday PM: was a great day at work today! Some very good news so i hit the Champagne after work with some buddies, and well that was the start of a great night out in Mannheim. :)
Saturday AM: Had a run planned but my head was banging so i went to the new pool instead. Had a sauna before and then 1500m to clear out the cobwebs.
Total stats: 6 hours training
Weigh in: 92.5kg
Notes: need to make up more hours next week and leave off the big weekends!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Marathon training - update
Its been a while since i update this blog - lots of things going on. As this is a running diary, i will fill in the training since last entry:
Week starting May 14th (after the half marathon), was feeling ok in general but quads and Achilles were very tight. Has one 50 min gym session on the Tuesday and then went in search of a Sports Massage place to help with the legs. Found a place approx 30 mins from my house and booked an appt for Wednesday evening. I have to say it was fantastic! The masseuse didn't speak a word of English but i explained to her where to problems were and she done her thing very well. If it wasn't so far away i would book one every 2 weeks whilst marathon training, but i think i have found somewhere more local.
Thursday 17th, first run in a long time without the knee brace! 6km.
Friday 18th an hour in the gym, done. That was it for WEEK 20.
Week starting May 21st (WEEK 21)
This week me and Michelle were in our vacation home in Croatia, a place near Split called Ciovo. Got off to a bit of a dodgy start as i had a few beers on the previous Friday and forgot to bring my passport home from work, which was an hour from home. So, we had to drive to the office in the middle of the night on the way to the airport once i realized i didnt have it with me. (oops).
Once there the weather was crap for the first half of the week but we made the most of it. Hired some bikes and done some good mileage.
Tuesday 1hr30 mins, hilly
Wednesday, no rain! So went running for 1hr40. This was when i realized i didn't have my GPS watch with me, gutted! would have been great to have logged the altitude and route etc. I did have my camera though and took some photos along the way:
Thursday AM - no rain! Went for a pretty extreme ride. Lots of hills up, but an awesome off road trail back into town downhill for 20 mins!
Thursday PM - beer on the beach! OK, more than one. Quite a few but hey, i was on holiday. :) Saw a big storm coming in and caught some cool pics here:
Friday AM - awoke with a little bit of a hangover, but decided to get up and go for a run. So i did, and i ran. for a long time. Clocked up three hours! Thats a lot more than i have ever done but the sun was shining and it was awesome. i didnt have any GPS or music (i normally run with both) but maybe that made it more enjoyable. Was definitely one of my best runs ever and i was very happy with myself for being in one piece at the end..
So seven hours of training whilst on holiday - not bad me thinks.
Home on Sunday and got my training plan for this week from my instructor - 10 hours. TEN! Thats the most ever for me! (Thanks Darryl, if you are reading this :) ) Will give me a chance to run off the calories from the holiday anyway...
Weigh in - Nah, next week.
Week starting May 14th (after the half marathon), was feeling ok in general but quads and Achilles were very tight. Has one 50 min gym session on the Tuesday and then went in search of a Sports Massage place to help with the legs. Found a place approx 30 mins from my house and booked an appt for Wednesday evening. I have to say it was fantastic! The masseuse didn't speak a word of English but i explained to her where to problems were and she done her thing very well. If it wasn't so far away i would book one every 2 weeks whilst marathon training, but i think i have found somewhere more local.
Thursday 17th, first run in a long time without the knee brace! 6km.
Friday 18th an hour in the gym, done. That was it for WEEK 20.
Week starting May 21st (WEEK 21)
This week me and Michelle were in our vacation home in Croatia, a place near Split called Ciovo. Got off to a bit of a dodgy start as i had a few beers on the previous Friday and forgot to bring my passport home from work, which was an hour from home. So, we had to drive to the office in the middle of the night on the way to the airport once i realized i didnt have it with me. (oops).
Once there the weather was crap for the first half of the week but we made the most of it. Hired some bikes and done some good mileage.
Tuesday 1hr30 mins, hilly
Wednesday, no rain! So went running for 1hr40. This was when i realized i didn't have my GPS watch with me, gutted! would have been great to have logged the altitude and route etc. I did have my camera though and took some photos along the way:
Thursday AM - no rain! Went for a pretty extreme ride. Lots of hills up, but an awesome off road trail back into town downhill for 20 mins!
Thursday PM - beer on the beach! OK, more than one. Quite a few but hey, i was on holiday. :) Saw a big storm coming in and caught some cool pics here:
Friday AM - awoke with a little bit of a hangover, but decided to get up and go for a run. So i did, and i ran. for a long time. Clocked up three hours! Thats a lot more than i have ever done but the sun was shining and it was awesome. i didnt have any GPS or music (i normally run with both) but maybe that made it more enjoyable. Was definitely one of my best runs ever and i was very happy with myself for being in one piece at the end..
So seven hours of training whilst on holiday - not bad me thinks.
Home on Sunday and got my training plan for this week from my instructor - 10 hours. TEN! Thats the most ever for me! (Thanks Darryl, if you are reading this :) ) Will give me a chance to run off the calories from the holiday anyway...
Weigh in - Nah, next week.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Weekly recap and Mannheim Half Marathon
Recap -
This week was pretty quiet on the training front, in anticipation of the weekends Half Marathon in Mannheim. Monday was 1 hour light bike ride, Tuesday was 50 min gym session. Noted a pain in my Achilles (old reoccurring injury that comes back to haunt me all the time). Lots of knee/quad stretching as my knee hasn't been 100%. Wednesday was 5km run; knee was ok with this. Not perfect, but was good enough for me to decide to run the Mannheim Half. Thursday was run/walk with stretching and using the new "blackroll" self massage thing. This is sore as hell, but works well!
Mannheim Half Marathon - Saturday 12th May 2012
The Mannheim Half and full Marathon is in the evening, so i worked Saturday morning from home, and then went shopping for a new camelback to use in the race. (i know you shouldn't try something new on race day, but it had to be done). The weather was changing all week from rain, to wind, to 34C so i was happy to see that come Saturday lunch time it was sunny, dry and around 18C. That was perfect for me.
The Mannheim race is organized really well and has around 12,000 runners. The start was a bit congested but i got off ok. Looking back though, i could feel the pull on my Achilles right from the start.
Pre race i was hoping to do this race in 1 hour 59 mins and for the first ten km i was keeping a pace of approx 05.45-05.50. But half way through the achilees was getting sore and i needed a toilet stop. After the toilet stop at 13k the achilees was getting more than just uncomfortable, so i decided to pull back the speed so as to avoid any injury. My pace time dropped down to approx 7mins+.
Final time was 2 hours 20 - ten mins slower than the weinstrasse race 3 weeks ago, but the good news is that i am still in one piece and can continue the training for Dublin!
Post race was a good craic - there was a good gang of us having a few beers. Friends had come from Ireland, England and Switzerland. Will need to find another race to put in the diary now!
NOTES:
Total training time for the week: 7 hours and 7 mins
Weigh in: 92.kg
This week was pretty quiet on the training front, in anticipation of the weekends Half Marathon in Mannheim. Monday was 1 hour light bike ride, Tuesday was 50 min gym session. Noted a pain in my Achilles (old reoccurring injury that comes back to haunt me all the time). Lots of knee/quad stretching as my knee hasn't been 100%. Wednesday was 5km run; knee was ok with this. Not perfect, but was good enough for me to decide to run the Mannheim Half. Thursday was run/walk with stretching and using the new "blackroll" self massage thing. This is sore as hell, but works well!
Mannheim Half Marathon - Saturday 12th May 2012
The Mannheim Half and full Marathon is in the evening, so i worked Saturday morning from home, and then went shopping for a new camelback to use in the race. (i know you shouldn't try something new on race day, but it had to be done). The weather was changing all week from rain, to wind, to 34C so i was happy to see that come Saturday lunch time it was sunny, dry and around 18C. That was perfect for me.
The Mannheim race is organized really well and has around 12,000 runners. The start was a bit congested but i got off ok. Looking back though, i could feel the pull on my Achilles right from the start.
Pre race i was hoping to do this race in 1 hour 59 mins and for the first ten km i was keeping a pace of approx 05.45-05.50. But half way through the achilees was getting sore and i needed a toilet stop. After the toilet stop at 13k the achilees was getting more than just uncomfortable, so i decided to pull back the speed so as to avoid any injury. My pace time dropped down to approx 7mins+.
Final time was 2 hours 20 - ten mins slower than the weinstrasse race 3 weeks ago, but the good news is that i am still in one piece and can continue the training for Dublin!
Post race was a good craic - there was a good gang of us having a few beers. Friends had come from Ireland, England and Switzerland. Will need to find another race to put in the diary now!
NOTES:
Total training time for the week: 7 hours and 7 mins
Weigh in: 92.kg
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Training Update
Unfortunately for me, on the Wednesday after the half
marathon 2 weeks ago, I injured my left knee. Not out running, but getting in
and out of the office at work! The step is higher than normal and I felt it was
uncomfortable at the time, and by evening when I got home and sat on the sofa,
it was swelling up. GUTTED! How could it be that I ran the race so well and
then injured my knee at work??!! (As it turns out, I probably aggravated the
knee in the race from a lack of warm up and stretching pre-race, and the injury
was a result of that).
Had a few days in the UK to see family and friends from 26th
– went to the Isle of Wight which was awesome and then to a mates party on the Saturday
night which was great fun too, and then on to Cambridge to see the family. No
training at all that week as the knee was still too sore.
Managed to get a swim in at Parkside Pool on Tuesday May 1st.
Must have been 20 years since I was there last so it was a bit weird but cool at
the same time. (2000m good form).
Got another swim in on Saturday back in Germany (1500m) and
this morning done a gym session with knee/quads exercises, weights, Cross
trainer, and finally some running. J
(90 mins total).
Need to keep working on the knee/quads/hamstrings this week
to make sure am fit for Saturday’s half marathon in our “home” town of
Mannheim. There are some other friends running and my mum is coming from the UK
too! Its an evening race starting at 1830 and should be good fun afterwards…
Was aiming for 2 hours so will see how that goes. J
Note: time this week – 4hours 30 mins.
Weekly weigh in -
92.0KG.
Ordered this item to assist with the knee/quad rehab: http://www.blackroll.com/home/
Monday, April 23, 2012
Weinstrasse Half Marathon 12.4.2012
April 22 2012 was the Weinstrasse Half Marathon and Full
Marathon.
I got up early and had my usual scrambled eggs with bacon
bits and brown toast with coffee. The start was at 1000 so Michelle and I left
home around 0815 then picked up our friends Carsten who was also running, and
then Sylvia who always comes and supports us. It turns out that Carsten was out
on the beer the night before so wasn’t looking 100% when we met him!
The weather has been terrible for the last few days; rain,
wind, hail etc and the forecast for Sunday said there was a 50% chance of rain
later in the day, but that between the hours of 1000-1300 it should stay clear,
perfect!
I wasn’t sure what time to expect to come in at as the last
time I ran this race I was in good shape and ran it in 2Hrs 20 mins but I was
injured for most of 2011 and haven’t ran a half marathon since May last year,
so I thought If I came in somewhere around the 2hr 20min it would be ok.
Heres a picture of me setting off, waving to the fans!
Got off to a good start; the road at the beginning was a
little tight for all the runners as it starts off in the village of Bockenheim
which is really old so all the streets are narrow. But after a while it thinned
out and I could concentrate on keeping my pace up. This was the first race I ran
with my Garmin 310XT sports watch and I loved it! It shows you what time you
will complete a KM in if you keep to your current pace so I was able to be
consistent most of the way through. I knew it was going to get hilly in the
middle part of the race so I went out quite quick (for me!) at the start but
was also holding some back too. Then when I got to the hilly bit I done that no
problem and carried on, still feeling good!
At KM19 there is a monster hill climb for the best part of a
kilometer and it’s bloody tough. A lot of people were walking up this but I could
see that I was on for a good time if I didn’t slow down, so I kept on pumping
and got to the top without walking. Then looking at my clock I could see that if
a went like a bat out of hell I might get in around 02.12 so I started running
as fast as I could. Luckily the end is either flat or slightly downhill so I managed
to pull off the fasted 2 laps of the whole race and landed in at 2 hours 10 mins!!
VERY HAPPY with that!
I normally have a beer or two to celebrate after a race but I
am off the beer for now so it was an alcohol free hefe weizen and then round to
our friends Garret and Maike for a BBQ which was great. I fell asleep there for
a bit but all in all I was feeling good, with no injuries or issues to note.
All in all, a fanstatic day and looking forward to the Mannheim Half Marathon
on May 12th.That race is much flatter so I will hopefully have a
faster time there… 2 hours maybe?
Notes: 21.1 Km, 2 hours, ten mins
Food - eggs and toast, coffee for BF, energy bar in run, orange power drink mix in camelback which worked great.
Cals burned - 2063.
Garmin Stats: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170718524
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Training
On the run up to the half marathon this week, the training has been tapered down. Tuesday was a 5km run at 31mins 48 seconds and this evening i done a 7km run in 45 mins. Tomorrow is a swim day for 40 mins and thats really it till Sunday.
The Weinstrasse half marathon is set in the wine growing area of Germany and is quite hilly so i dont expect to run any PB's. Its also the first race since the Mannheim half marathon last May where i messed up my foot big time. This is the first race since then, and i am excited to be running it. Not really too bothered about the time; i just want to cross the finish line injury free! Its been a slow and steady ramp up to this date..lets get it on!
Training today - 7km, 45 mins, 668 calories
Food muesli, banana, chicken sandwich.
Weigh in 94.2 KG
Garmin Stats - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169407057
The Weinstrasse half marathon is set in the wine growing area of Germany and is quite hilly so i dont expect to run any PB's. Its also the first race since the Mannheim half marathon last May where i messed up my foot big time. This is the first race since then, and i am excited to be running it. Not really too bothered about the time; i just want to cross the finish line injury free! Its been a slow and steady ramp up to this date..lets get it on!
Training today - 7km, 45 mins, 668 calories
Food muesli, banana, chicken sandwich.
Weigh in 94.2 KG
Garmin Stats - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169407057
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)