Tuesday 30 July 2013

Cross Training

The Midnight Midlands Sevens was a huge success in the Rugby Club on Saturday. I was there all day and I didn't have to ref, as two extra refs turned up on the day.  I kept the score for all the matches on one of the pitches instead, and then I was an In Goal judge ( just to confirm try's or conversions ) for two of the finals. The day was really well organised with loads of volunteers helping out. When the last match was over, I headed home, my leg and also my back was quite sore. I got to bed around 1am but there are stories that some of the others didn't make it home until 10am, so it looks like I missed a great night. However, waking up with a refreshed body on Sunday morning has its own rewards.

I went to Physio, Chris Coombs today, to get my sore leg checked out. He diagnosed tendonitis, which he says is quite common for people who start running long distances without building up the muscles gradually. His advice was to rest the leg and then continue running a maximum of 3 days per week with recovery sessions in the pool or on the bike in between, until I've built up the muscles in my legs. He gave all my leg muscles a rub, which was sore at time, but the legs were feeling great afterwards.  Chris also advised me to stretch for 15 to 20 minutes each evening, and he gave me some exercises to perform, to increase my flexibility.  I thought it was great that my calf muscles were feeling hard, but Chris described them as tight, and says if I don't stretch them properly, I'll have problems later on.

So, this evening I went for a swim instead of a run. I'm not sure how far I swam, as I lost count somewhere around 18 lengths, but I swam for 40 minutes.  I feel I could have gone for a run, but this time I listened to the advice I was given.  I will probably go for another swim tomorrow, and then I'll definitely go for a run on Thursday. With the Half Marathon so close, I don't want to fall back in training. If I had more time, then I'd ease down on the training, and build it up more slowly, however as I want to run the Dublin Marathon this year, I just have to increase the workload. I think the trick will be in working hard at recovery, i.e. stretching and cross training. That's the update for the moment folks. I'll post again on Thursday after training, until then Slán.

Saturday 27 July 2013

Why Didn't I Listen To My Coach?

John was in touch yesterday, to see how my legs were after Thursday's speed session. I let him know that they were quite stiff and the right leg in particular was sore behind my knee. His advice was to take it easy today if my legs were still sore, and we'd do a long run in the middle of the week instead.  So, bearing that in mind, I went for a run this morning at 7am. My target was 10 miles, first of all  I drove the route taking notice of the mile markers, and then I left some water at the 5 mile mark and drove back to the gates of the Harriers. I was stiff at the start so I decided to do a warm up lap and see how I felt. Despite the the fact that I was a bit tight, I was determined to give it a go anyhow. I still wasn't fully comfortable at the two mile marker and I was thinking of turning around and coming home, but I then I was thinking that my legs have been stiff after nearly all of our training sessions, and I nearly always want to turn around after two miles, so I should quit my whining and keep going.

I had a similar debate with myself at each mile, and then I took a break and stopped the watch after 5 miles. I started to walk back, and then after a minute started to run. My right leg was quite sore, and I felt this wasn't right, it should be fully warmed up by now, and while I'm usually tired by this point I haven't been in pain before. I tried to walk it off, and then run some more, but things weren't improving, so I just walked back. That left me walking around 4 miles in a soaking wet t-shirt, cursing myself every step of the way. Why hadn't I gone on a shorter route? I could have done it twice if I felt like it! Then of course there's the shame of being dressed like a runner, going like a walker. I was tempted to exaggerate my limp, just so anybody driving by would know that I was injured, rather than have them think I'd given up.(I'm sure they probably didn't notice me at all, but these are the things I was thinking at the time). Anyway, I got back to the car around 9.30am, with my stopwatch telling me I'd run for 61 minutes. (I'd been at 52.20 min at 5 miles), my legs were aching, and I was looking forward to a cold bath.

I've had the cold bath, and I'm supposed to be reffing some rugby games this evening in the Midlands Midnight 7's up in the rugby club. I'll have to get a massage and see if that helps, and then if that fails I'll just have to consign myself to the role of touch judge.( It's much easier to hold a beer while doing the touch anyway!) I'm really looking forward to this afternoon and have been for a while. I really hope Mick Glew can work some magic, and there's not too much wrong with me.

So that's the end of the 6th week of training. This day 5 weeks is the Half Marathon, and what have I learned?
1.  The body reacts quite quickly to training, it's amazing how fast things have progressed.
2.  Running is as much a mental activity as it is a physical battle, sometimes you nearly talk yourself into a "I can't continue" attitude, and when you change that sentence in your head to "one more km", things become easier.
3.  Running with others is definitely better, I reckon it cuts the mental battle in half.
4.  When on a nights drinking, the thoughts of running the next day don't seem too bad.
5.  Running after a nights drinking is torture, The Americans could use it, to get info out of Terrorists.
6.  Listen to good advice when your given it, I know I will be in future.

Well, this has been a long post, one of the side effects of writing in the daytime, as opposed to just before bed I suppose! Until Tue night, Slán.

Thursday 25 July 2013

Speed Session

I'm like a big kid, every time I write or say "Session", I think of a drinking session and dream ( just like Homer Simpson).  Of course a session means an entirely different thing in the Harriers. John had decided, that we'd take a break from the long runs tonight and do something different. We ran 3/4 of a mile, took a minute and half rest, before doing it again. We repeated the cycle 6 times. By the time we had finished, the average pace per mile was 8.25, up considerably from what we'd being doing before.

I ran the first leg in 6 min even, and thought that was quite fast, and I'd have to watch it or I'd struggle to complete the 6. The next leg was faster in a time of 5.52, then 5.48 and then the big one, 5.40. It's easy to attribute the fast pace on this one, Mary Daly ran the last half of it with us, and of course I wanted to impress, and hence I picked up the pace. I struggled on the last two putting in a great deal of effort to run in 5.48 and then 5.43 for the last one. I was starting to wretch with 100m to go, and when I finished, I needed the support of a tree to expel some unwanted bile, that just wouldn't stay down.  It's been while since I've put so much into a training session, but now that it's over I'm gald I did. I've improved hugely after every workout so far, and I've no reason to believe the results from tonight will be any different.

It's getting close to the big day now, and the excitement is building in the club. I'm really looking forward to it, and I hear that here have been people registering for the race from all over the country. If you haven't registered yet, what are you waiting for? log on to www.tullamoreharriers.com and sign up now! The race is on Saturday the 31st Aug 2013 at 12 O Clock. There is a big car park, with excellent changing room and shower facilities, chip timing, free t-shirt for all finishers, as well as water stations on the route, and of course refreshment afterwards.  There's also the option of doing it as a team of 2, splitting it into 10k each. Irish Olympian Pauline Curley will also be running, so why not try and measure yourself against the best?

Tullamore Rugby Club are having a big 7 a side tournament on Saturday evening with the Final to be played at Midnight! I'll be reffing some of the games, and I'm sure I'll be enjoying refreshments until the early hours of Sun. Therefore, I decided it might be a good idea to get my long run in on Sat morning, as the only chance I'd have of meeting John on Sun, would be if I called into the Harriers on my way from the rugby!  John is working, and Ray is still on Holidays, so it looks like it'll be a solo effort. It'll be interesting to see what the time will be for my 10 miles. I'll let you know on Sat, until then, Slán.

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Running without Bubbles

It was just John and myself tonight and we ran 8 and a quarter miles with an average time of 10.25 per mile. The intention had been to run for 90 min, but I had to referee a tag rugby match at 8pm, so I needed to be back a bit earlier than originally planned. I think John was trying to inject pace the whole run, as we ran the first 3 miles at 10.15 pace. My legs were sore, and I probably ate too much too close to training, as I wasn't comfortable at any stage of the run. John was upping the pace and I was struggling to stay with him, but I wouldn't let myself ask him to slow down.  I slogged it out, and it was definitely one of those runs where you're happier when you've finished than you are at any stage during the run.

I should have mentioned last week how Denzil Jacobs, a member of the Harriers ran 10 marathons in 10 days.  It's a massive achievement especially considering the heatwave that broke over Ireland during the 10 day spell that the races were on.  I'd like to offer a big congratulations to Denzil, who was running to raise money for Saplings School for Autistic Children. You can read his story on the Tullamore Harriers facebook page, and if you want to donate he has set up a page online at www.mycharity.ie( search for "Denzil's doing it")

I'd also like to congratulate all the members of The Harriers who organised a brilliant 5k race through Charleville last Friday evening. There was a big turnout for the well laid out circuit.  The race was won by Catch Grennan and I was raging I missed it, I might have given Catch a run for his money, we'll just never know now, as the time has passed!

I'm missing running with Bubbles, I'm sure he's getting on fine on his warm weather training, I only hope the Sun is shining on Aug 31st for our Half Marathon. He's a new post up on his Blog (www.runbubbyrun.blogspot.ie) which is quite good. Can you seriously imagine getting lost in Charleville? Anyway, I'll be going for a solo run tomorrow night, so until then , Slán.

Sunday 21 July 2013

The Second Ten Miler

Around 14 of us took off this morning at 8am, for another 10 mile run. This was only my second attempt at this distance, and after indulging myself over the last week on Holidays, I was a little bit apprehensive.  Ray wasn't with us this morning, but I believe he's burning up the roads on the continent, with all the running he's doing over there.  John set the route, in that we would run out the Ross road for 5 miles and then turn around and run back. The unfortunate thing for the other runners, was that John stayed running with me, and I was of course, lagging behind the others, so when we'd gone the 5 miles, the rest of the group had gone a good bit further. John let a shout and we turned around and ran home, automatically promoting me to leading the field! I felt strong on the way home, and was able to pick up the pace a bit, and I finished the 10 miles in a time of 1 hour 43 min exactly, 1 minute and 44 seconds quicker than last week. So the progress curve is still pointing up.

I've decided that I'm going to enter for the Dublin City Marathon in October. I was chatting John this morning about what sort of training would I need to do, to be able to finish it. His advice was, once more, fairly comprehensive, but the gist of it is, to continue what I'm doing, but step up the long runs on the weekend.  I've 12 weeks to the Marathon, and The Tullamore Harriers Half Marathon will fit perfectly into my schedule. In fact it's a great spring board, as I'd now be very disappointed if I couldn't finish the Half Marathon, due to the progress I've made to date. I'm completely surprised by that, as only 5 or 6 weeks ago, I thought trying to run a half marathon with only 10 weeks training, was a little bit bonkers.

I've included a few pictures below. The first one is of Hugo and Myself getting out of the sea, after cooling off, having completed a run. I was trying to recreate the Daniel Craig pose from James Bond, but I'm not going to show you those attempts. I guess the camera can only take what's in front of it, and what was in front of it was far from Daniel Craig!  The other picture's are a poor attempt by me to try and capture some of the scenery from where we were running. It honestly looked much better in real life.  Until Tue, Slán.





Friday 19 July 2013

The Ring of Kerry could put you in a Hoop!

The running is still on schedule even if the writing had fallen a bit behind. My brother and myself went for a 5 km run on Wed, it took me 30 min, and Hugo went on and ran a further 3km. You might have noticed that I'm now measuring the distances in km instead of miles, this is due to the fact that I'm fitting in with Hugo's plans and that's all based on km's.

Yesterday we had another crack at the 12km route, and I ran it more sensibly, we started off slower, and I finished it without stopping. We ran it 6 min faster than Tue, and I stopped the watch when we stopped on Tue, so I was quite happy overall.

The holiday is going well, loads of cycling, swimming, surfing and paddle boating. I'm in Dingle at the moment( Dick Mack's pub to be precise). And we stopped just before Connor Pass to climb halfway up a mountain to look at a spectacular lake! There's an easy way to have a holiday and then there's this way. Don't get me wrong I'm thoroughly enjoying it, and the weather is glorious, but I'll need another holiday when I get home.

The next run I do will be on Sun morning with John and the crew in the Harriers. John and Ray have been in touch to see how I'm getting on. Much and all as I've found the training hard this week, I think I'd have found it tougher to tell the lads I hadn't been running. Anyway I'm proud to returning in better shape than I left(I hope). Picture to follow, so until Sunday, Slán.

Tuesday 16 July 2013

In the Kingdom of Kerry

My family and I got down to Castlegregory yesterday evening around 5pm. It was 9pm before Hugo(my older brother) and myself got the awning set up on the caravan, and that surely deserved some holiday pints, to go with the recovery pints from Sunday. They failed to work by the way, maybe I didn't have enough!

Hugo and myself went for a run at 10am. We ran for over 80 min, but the distance was disappointing, only 12km. The route was spectacular in places, but of course that means Hills. There was also a good sea breeze blowing. When you combine these factors along with a warm sunny day, you might be able to understand why I'm a little bit like a Lobster this evening. I meant to go back and take some pictures to post on the blog, but I was wrecked all day. We went for a swim after the run and spent the rest of day playing with the kids, eating and sleeping.

I'm writing this while having a meal at the dog track in Tralee. The reception at the campsite is not great, so my next few posts might be a bit late, and the pictures mightn't appear until next week. We're going for a 5k tomorrow, I hope I don't find it as tough as today, because for a number of reasons I really struggled today. I even stopped once, and that made it more difficult to get going again. Anyway, at least I'm clocking the miles, so until the next time, Slan.

Sunday 14 July 2013

The first Ten Miler

I got to the Harriers just before 8am, to see a bus ready for departure. For a second I thought this was another new scheme of John's. I was afraid he was going to get the bus to drop us off ten miles away, and then let us work our own way back. However, what was actually happening was a crew from the Harriers were heading to Sligo to compete in the National League round 2.

The 14 of us that were at the back gate for 8am, however, headed off on our ten mile trip, after posing for a pre-run photo. When we got to the Finger Board (about 1 mile into it) we were joined by two others. Ray seemed to like this tactic, and suggested that we try it next week with John by saying something like "We'll meet you at Mucklagh, don't bother to wait for us to start!" I wouldn't have much faith in it working, especially after posting it here on the blog.

The pace for the first 3 miles was around 10.15 per mile, which was a lot faster than I'd intended to go. The group was then split in 3 over the next few miles, with the last group consisting of me and my minder, John.  I didn't feel too bad with about 2 miles to go, and we were running at a pace slightly faster than last Sunday's 10k, and we'd run further. My breathing was also much better. Then, when we were nearly home I heard John's watch beep, signifying the 9 mile marker. I realised that we had further to go than I'd thought, and we had to run a lap of the block, and then a lap of the track to bring up the ten miles. I found that last mile quite difficult, and I haven't yet worked out if it was a mental or physical problem. Anyway, I finished the 10 miles in a time of 1hr, 44 min and 44 sec, giving an average rate of 10.28 per mile, so I'm pretty pleased with myself, although my legs are quite sore.

I'm heading off on holidays to Kerry tomorrow, for a week, and I've been in a holiday mood all weekend. I would have gone for a few pints last night, but I didn't dare risk it before the run this morning. I'm now considering an alternative treatment for my sore legs. The title of this treatment could be summed up by that great advertising slogan - "Guinness is Good for You!" I'll let you know how it works out, but I've a fair idea already. I'm looking forward to going running with my brother in Kerry, I'll post some photos over the next week, so until then, Slán.

Thursday 11 July 2013

Oh The Guilt!

Well, as you might have guessed by the absence of a post last night, I didn't go for a Wednesday run.  I've no excuse, I was home in plenty of time and I didn't feel too tired, but I was certainly very hot. So I called my wife, and we went for two lovely, cold, early pints in Lynch's. It was only this morning as I was going to work, that I started to feel I should have gone for the run before going for the pints. I haven't felt this guilty since I ate all my Mammy's favourite biscuits and blamed it on Emmet (my younger brother).

I suppose because of that I was determined to put in an extra effort tonight, and I did. We ran 3 x 2 miles with a 2 minute rest, each time going faster. We ran the last 2 miles in 19 min. Then I went up to the rugby club to referee a tag match, which lasts for 40 min, So that brought the total time on my feet to around the 2 hour mark today. There was a good contingent training tonight in the hot weather. Jason Donegan was leading the way with his comfortable stride. He looks such a natural runner, it's a style I might try and copy.

We're going for a 10 mile run on Sun. It'll be the first time Ray and myself have ran that far, so I hope it goes OK. We're leaving at 8am, and there are a good few of the gang running as well. John will have to set up a water station every 100m for Ray. He guzzled gallons again tonight. He may give up the salty rashers for lunch I think. Until Sunday, Slán.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Running in Heat

By God that was a tough run tonight.  I was so close to ringing Jon and Ray to tell them I couldn't make training tonight, I really didn't want to go, and I had a good excuse, I've been up at 4am for the last two mornings, and only got home at 8pm last night and 6pm this evening.  I was quite tired, and the temperature is hotter today, than any day in the last 7 years. It was the first time I've had to have a shower before training, I'd been sweating that much.

John said we were going to go on a light run, to loosen the legs after the race on Sun, but I knew we were in trouble as soon as he pulled out a belt which carried water bottles. He'd also stashed a bottle of water on the route to refill the bottles.  It's a good job Ray drank 10 Litres of water during the day today, because he finished all of John's water, and we reckoned, if he didn't have all that water earlier, we'd need to pull a water tank behind us to keep him hydrated. We went for a seven mile run, the same seven mile run I so enjoyed the Sun before last, and we finished in 72min. That is actually quicker than we ran on that Sun, and I had no extra kick left at the end. Looking back, I'm quite happy now that I did go, but I must confess that I wanted to stop many times on the run, and it was another one of those battle of wills, that I suppose are necessary to prepare for the Half Marathon. Andy O Grady joined us for a part of the run, and he ran with me, while John and Ray were about 10 metres ahead. I'm afraid if Andy was looking for conversation he was with the wrong buddy, but I did appreciate him running beside me.

Michelle Mullaney, Ray and myself were on Midlands 103, with Will Faulkner, this morning. Will was asking us about our progress to date, and also asking Michelle about the Harriers in general. I was happy enough with how it went, although I'd have liked to get across the point that, while Ray and myself might be going on about our challenge as if it's like climbing Everest, there are loads of people in the Harriers who've started where we've started, and are now running long races regularly and quickly, which just goes to show once again that anybody can do this running lark, and get the benefits from it, if they persevere.

The Harriers posted pictures from the 10k in Mountbolus on their facebook page, I've nicked two of them. The first one show's the crew from the Harriers that ran in the race, I'm not sure if there's anyone missing, but there's bound to be a few, as such a large contingent competed, wearing the Blue and White. The second one shows me finishing the race, and although it looks like I finished ahead of Miriam Brady, I didn't, but I couldn't bring myself to show the one taken just before the finish line, as Miriam had just pipped me.  I'm not sure how training will go for the rest of the week, but I'm sure I'll tell you all about it, one way or the other, in due course. Until then Slán.



Sunday 7 July 2013

Marian Geraghty 10K

Well, as predicted it's a Personal Best, on a tough course. I finished in 62 min and 30 sec, I think. I didn't stop the stop watch on time, so I'll have to wait for official conformation. However if that time is correct, then that works out at 10 min a mile, which is a good bit faster than I'd being going in training. Ray finished about 6 minutes ahead of me, I didn't see him after the first bend. He seemed happy enough with his run, but he did find it difficult. My thinking is that if it wasn't difficult then you didn't push yourself hard enough.

I had butterflies when I got up this morning, I couldn't believe it. It was the type of butterflies I used to get before going out to play a cup match in rugby. The type where you know you've prepared well, and expect a good performance mixed with the fear that something will go wrong and you won't deliver.  There was a big turnout at the race, and it was quite a warm day. I was determined not to go off too fast, and I'm delighted that I managed my pace quite well. John was running with me, he's a one man motivation team. He carried water with him the whole way around( not for himself, but for others, mainly me!) and in the second half of the race when we started passing people who were finding the going tough, he offered some water and advice such as "look at just in front of your feet going up the hills, then it doesn't seem as far to go." and plenty of encouragement to everyone we met. I felt strong the whole way around, and never really wanted to stop. I didn't want to up my pace until the last km though, as I knew there was a long hill climb just before the finish and I had to make sure I'd be able to run up it, however after we crested the hill with about 700m left to the finish I opened my legs a bit and enjoyed running down the hill to the finish.

So three weeks in, and I'm delighted with my progress. I'm still finding it hard to believe how quickly I've gone from not being able to run 2 km to running 10k on a hilly course. I now have no doubts that I'll finish the half marathon. That is of course providing I stick with the training plan. It'll be difficult this week because of work, and then next week I'll be on holidays, so that will require extra motivation to stick to the plan. There's only 7 weeks until the half marathon though, so I can't afford to let two weeks slide, or else I'll be back where I started.

Thanks again everyone for your support, I'm getting a lot of people telling me they're enjoying the Blog, and following Ray and myself as we try to get fit. I Hope you continue to enjoy it, and perhaps if you know of someone thinking of starting running for the first time, you can point them this direction, after all if I can do it, anybody can. Until Tue night, Slan.

Thursday 4 July 2013

Getting in the Groove

I think I've found the pace that suits me. It's not very fast, but I'm able to keep running for 1 hour, and tonight for the first time, I was able to answer questions even after the half way stage. We ran 6 miles tonight in a time of 61 min, and I was quite comfortable for the first 5 miles. I could have finished in comfort, and probably would have if I was on my own, but John and Ray upped the pace and I stuck with them to finish breathless, but finish none the less.

I'm really looking forward to the Mountbolus 10k on Sun. John advised us that it's a great training run, but not a great one to get a Personal Best. I'm pretty sure I'll get a PB though, especially considering I've never run a 10k race before.

I'm heading off now to do a bit of truck driving, as I'm on holidays from College for two weeks. I'll be away tonight, and all day Sat, but I will be here for the race on Sun.  I'm not sure what hours I'll be driving next week, or whether I'll be staying away overnight. I'm hoping to be back for the regular training sessions, but if I miss them I do intend to run on my own for 70 min on Tue and Thur.  We're also going to be on Midlands 103 again next Tue morning, to give a progress report. I'll probably have to contribute by phone, so that might limit the opportunities to slag Ray, or vice versa.

The next entry I make will be after the Race on Sun, so until then Slán.

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Running Solo and the stuff you think about (Mainly Brian O Driscoll Tonight)

I ran 5k this evening in 31.05 I'd set out just to run for 30 min, the distance was secondary. Ray wasn't with me, and I found this run completely different because of it. First of all, it didn't matter what time I went, so a 5pm start as intended, turned into a 7pm start because I was watching the Tennis. Secondly, when I got to the Harriers, there was one other person running on the track, and Pauline Curley was finishing her session, so I set off on my own. And thirdly, I found it harder to get the rhythm going and the first 3 laps were difficult but once I got into the grove, I really enjoyed the run.

I have an exam tomorrow, and I'd intended to think about questions likely to come up and how I might answer them, but I couldn't get the news that Gatland had dropped O'Driscoll for the last Test match between the Lions and Australia out of my head. Rarely has a selection decision annoyed me so much that I think about it all day, but that has been the case today.  Primarily I was annoyed because it seemed to come out of the blue, B.O.D hadn't been playing badly and I, and a lot of others, expected him to be Captain. Then I was disappointed for the man himself, A man who has won a Grand Slam, Heineken Cups, Celtic Leagues, Captained the Lions, The most capped player to ever play for the Lions, Six nations player of the Year, Idol of a Nation, and so much more. For Brian to be denied the chance to finally achieve one of the few milestones missing from his resume, because of a jumped up Kiwi, who's made some appalling decisions on this tour right from the selection of Captain for the tour, just further increases the outrage.

Then I decided to take a more balanced view, and I took off the green glassses, and I tried to go through the thought process of the man the Aussies were calling "Sideshow Gat" earlier in the tour, might have gone through and I still can't get it. I ran 2 laps and wasn't able to come up with a single rational reason for dropping the only chance for inspiration the Lions backline had. When you consider his experience in winning tough, back to the wall matches, his determination to never miss a tackle, his leadership which will now be sorely missing and his ability to create opportunities out of nothing, The decision to leave him out of the whole squad is even more baffling.

I could go on in this vein for the whole night, (I've already edited my blog, cutting it in half) but I don't want to bore you with my rugby views, but suffice to say, I'm still bloody vexed. I was hoping the run would calm me down, but it's only seemed to increase my discontent. On the plus side, the half hour seemed to fly by! Anyway, until tomorrow when hopefully I'll have calmed down, Slán.

Tuesday 2 July 2013

The Summer League Has Started

I may have come last, in the slow race, but it was a Personal and Season Best for me tonight.  The Harriers Summer League has started, and tonight there was two races, 3000m and 800m. Ray and myself ran the 3000, and skipped the 800. I ran a time of  16.51, which I know is no great shakes, but considering the first mile was ran in 8.33 when I couldn't run a mile in 10.33 this night two weeks ago, I'm delighted with the progress.  John didn't leave it there of course, he had the clock on from when we started the warm up, and made sure we were running right up until our race, and then he kept us running after the race, all in his best effort to keep us running for around 60 min in total.

The atmosphere was brilliant again, The races were split into ability with anyone hoping for a sub 12 minute 3000m, going first, and then the rest of us. There was a lot more women than men in the second race, and I was slagging Bubbles saying he should be wearing a skirt, but when I trailed in last he had the last laugh. There was also a bit of crack on the start line, as one of the women said they were looking forward to the next picture on the blog, I was going to tell them that the next naked picture would be a full frontal by Bubbles, but I didn't think they'd be as keen for that one! the encouragement everybody gets as they run is great to see, whether it's the leader chasing a personal best, or last place just trying to finish, you really feel part of the club on nights like these, long may it continue.

After training, Bubbles undertook an informal interview with John, Mary Daly and myself, which he's going to put up on his blog as an audio file. There was a bit of crack in that aswell, although I'll be looking forward to see what makes it through editing. Ray's blog can be followed on www.runbubbyrun.blogspot.ie  I also have to say thanks to Catch Grennan, he ran the last lap with me tonight and after training he gave me a bag of protein which should aid recovery after training. I haven't tried it yet, but he did say it might be hard to get down. Anway I'll be going for a solo run tomorrow as Ray wants to try cross training as a means of loosening up, and then on Thursday I think John has another long run in store for us. So until Tomorrow night, Slán.