My UltraRunning log

mithril

Saturday
Summary 8.21 KM in 50.01 (6:05 pace) recovery run along some boreen in County Limerick.

Down in Pallasgreen for SarsfieldRock's funeral. Very good representation from boards, especially those of us who shared his company in ultras over the last few years. His brother spoke movingly at the funeral about his life and the appalling sequence of events over the preceding few days.

He is buried in a beautiful part of the world amongst the lovely Ballyhourra Hills which some might know from the mountain biking trails. There is a rocky outcrop, which I think is the actual Sarsfield Rock, overlooking the grave.

Sunday
Summary 7.71 KM in 43.45 (5:40 pace) run on the Royal Canal towpath in Mullingar.
The plan was for a half marathon at 5 minute pace as the first half of a double long run. However, I had drunk a half bottle of wine with a large dinner 2 hours previously, and it quickly became apparent that drink and running don't mix. This felt more like 4:40 effort and I abandoned the exercise when it became clear I was not going to burn off the alcohol.

Monday
Summary 42.2 KM in about 3:40 (5:11 pace) Salthill marathon.
I had doubts beforehand as to how appropriate this event was, since I thought the relatives of SarsfieldRock might have mixed emotions about his involvement in running, but we had a good turnout, and dressed in a Tipperary shirt to emulate the shirt he always wore his events, after the minutes silence at the start, it seemed to be the right way to commemorate him.
I had a "small" jersey, and it was still too large for me; they clearly breed their men large in the Golden Vale.

The course, 4 loops along the Salthill promenade, was not suitable for a marathon. It was predominantly concrete, and got very busy in the fine weather, so we needed to continuously weave our way among the pedestrians.
I wanted to use the event as training for the Portumna 100k, so I started very easy with menescemo and Oisin at around 5:20 pace, and then did the second half at just under 5:00.
Stopped the watch somewhere along the way but I think the eventual time was around 3:40.
Afterwards, good crack over sandwiches in the Galway Bay Hotel.

Tuesday
Summary 21.1 KM in 1:41:54 (4:48 pace) around U.C.D.
Wanted to get a second long run while tired from the marathon in preparation for Portumna. Body fresh enough but soles of my feet had taken a terrible pounding from the concrete the previous day and I could not even run on a running track. Switched to grass and coped better, but there are only so many times you can run around a field, even with a MP3 player to pass the time. Started at 5:00 pace and ran the final few KMs at 4:30 pace comfortably enough which was better than I expected.

Wednesday
Summary 8.45 KM in 51:56 (6:08 pace) recovery run around Sandyford.

mithril

Thursday
Summary 16 KM in 1:06:43 (4:08) marathon pace run along the sea-front in Clontarf.
The double long run on Monday-Tuesday is still in the legs and struggled to hit the required pace during my initial 2KM warm-up. When I hit the watch though, found it easy for the initial half of the run, but then tiredness and dehydration took their toll, and pace dropped significantly in last 20 minutes.

mithril

Friday
Summary 8.25 KM in 45.42 (5:33 pace) recovery run around Sandyford.


Saturday
Summary 35.31 KM in 4:18:27 (7:19 pace) long ,hilly, run along the Mourne Way from Rostrevor, Country Down with approx 1000m height gain.

I am not going to run the Mourne Way Marathon this year, since its too close to Portumna, but this recce still makes a nice run and a change from the usual option of the Wicklow Way.

The Mourne Way is marked well up until you leave Rostrevor Forest and then very occasionally. Confusingly, the ordnance survey map I had, showed an old version of the route and some of the paths which I found to be optimal are not showing even in the more detailed 1:25,000 map I picked up last week.
Very easy to veer off the faint path into long grass and needed to re-trace my steps a few times which brought the overall pace down for the run.

Lovely day for a run but hills a lot emptier than last time I was here, probably a lot of people heading away for the long bank holiday up north.

A bit concerned about a gorse fire ahead of me but the fire service were on the scene fairly quickly and had it out by the time i was returning. Went as far as the Spelga dam and then returned.
Only incident was a dead sheep which looked to have been savaged only a few hours earlier, surrounded by its lamb bleating pathetically.


Sunday
Summary 24.01 KM in 1:56:26 (4:53 pace) in loops of Blackrock Park.

Legs not particularly leaden after yesterday long run, but general sense of lethargy in the body, and a lot of tightness in the upper body which I probably need a sport massage to sort out before it worsens.
Had no difficulty in hitting the planned pace of 5:00/KM , but even in the sunshine this was 24KM I ground out because I felt I had to, rather than wanted to, and was glad to see the Garmin finally indicate 24 KM which meant I could stop at last.

mithril

Monday
Summary 12.03 KM in 1:21 (6:47 pace) recovery run up Carrickgollogan Hill.
I knew Krusty Clown was a long way away, so went trespassing on his private hill for an easy recovery jog just before the fine weather vanished. Lovely remote feel to his spot so close to Dublin, and the vivid yellow gorse, blue of the sea, and green of the forest idyllic in the cool of the evening.


Tuesday
Summary 7.12 KM in 30:36 (4:19 pace) tempo run on UCD track.

Legs not particularly leaden, and I felt fresh enough coming into this run, but always struggling once I hit the track with every pace band feeling about 5 seconds per KM tougher to hit than the effort would indicate.
Brought pace down to fastest KM of 3:47, and I was surprised I could hit even that on the night, and then decided to cut the run short early and catch the second half of the Champions League.
A lot of mileage in the legs in the last 10 days, and I thought prolonging the run would do more harm than good.

mithril

Wednesday
Summary 24 KM in 1:51.23 (4:38 pace) hilly road run on the loop between Enniskerry and Glencree.

Decent effort but not able to power the downhills as fast as I was managing on the same route before Christmas.

mithril

Thursday
Summary 11.30KM in 59:26 (5:15 pace) run from Marlay to top of 3 Rock and back. Then met Menescomo, Woddle and Sharktale who were doing repeats along a loop in the park and did their final one with them.

Friday
Summary 3.48KM in 22:40 (6.30 pace) even though I had a good night's sleep the body felt very run down and I felt I had missed a few hours. So opted out of the WW relay recce with Woddle and donothoponpop and just did a short recovery run followed by stretching in the gym.

Saturday
Summary 50.01KM in 3:55:04 (4:42 pace) a bit faster than planned race pace from Blackrock to Howth along the coastal route and back again.

If ever a run was going to be abandoned due to boredom, this was it. Horrible slog for first half in the drizzle and regretted not bringing my MP3 player for company. The weather brightened up for the return leg, and with it my mood, as I was knocked off each milestone to the planned 50 Km.
Finished very comfortably with a strong negative split, but then a voice in my head said "Now, do that again!" and I was not so cheerful. Grinding out 100K in Portumna at a pace a good deal faster than my recovery will be no joke.

Oisin11178

mithril wrote: »

Thursday
Summary 11.30KM in 59:26 (5:15 pace) run from Marlay to top of 3 Rock and back. Then met Menescomo, Woddle and Sharktale who were doing repeats along a loop in the park and did their final one with them.

Friday
Summary 3.48KM in 22:40 (6.30 pace) even though I had a good night's sleep the body felt very run down and I felt I had missed a few hours. So opted out of the WW relay recce with Woddle and donothoponpop and just did a short recovery run followed by stretching in the gym.

Saturday
Summary 50.01KM in 3:55:04 (4:42 pace) a bit faster than planned race pace from Blackrock to Howth along the coastal route and back again.

If ever a run was going to be abandoned due to boredom, this was it. Horrible slog for first half in the drizzle and regretted not bringing my MP3 player for company. The weather brightened up for the return leg, and with it my mood, as I was knocked off each milestone to the planned 50 Km.
Finished very comfortably with a strong negative split, but then a voice in my head said "Now, do that again!" and I was not so cheerful. Grinding out 100K in Portumna at a pace a good deal faster than my recovery will be no joke.

Did the guts of that long route about 6 weeks ago with a mate. From clongriffen as far as dunlaoire and a few time up and down the prom to make it 22 miles.
Thats a savage run youve done there at a nice pace.

mithril

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Did the guts of that long route about 6 weeks ago with a mate. From clongriffen as far as dunlaoire and a few time up and down the prom to make it 22 miles.

I enjoy long hill runs on my own, but I think you need company to survive a road run like this, when you are already familiar with the route, and there is no sense of exploring.
You can break up a 50K run around North Westmeath in four pub crawl sections, and its a good bit of fun, but I don't think the busy Dublin pubs would be as appreciative of the custom of a sweaty runner.

Sunday
Summary 20KM in 1:33:13 (4:39 pace) in loops on grass around Carysfort park.

Before DOMS fully kick in, added another run on grass loops around Carysfort Park, this time with the MP3 player as an essential survival tool. The concrete sections on the run yesterday caused a good bit of soreness to bottom of my feet but otherwise felt pretty good.

mithril

Monday 9th
Summary 6.7KM in 0:45 (6:43 pace) recovery run around Sandyford.

Tuesday 10th
Summary 16 KM in 1:14:50 (6:43 pace) aerobic run around Marlay Park.

Wednesday 11th
Legs still tired from week-ends double LSR so took a rest day.

Thursday 12th
12 KM in 1:08 (5:35 pace) run from Marlay to tpop iof 3 Rock and back.
Then joined Woddle, Menescemo and Sharktale for a couple of 1KM repeats in the park which I ran at MP followed by warmdown.

Friday 13th
2 circuits of the Maulin loop in Crone Woods. Took a wrong turning first time so slightly longer.
9.26KM in 47:33 (5:08 pace) and 7.60KM in 38:39 (5:05 pace)

mithril

Saturday 14th
Summary 5.68KM in 38:41 (6:48 pace) recovery run around town park, Uzes, France

Sunday 15th
Summary 22.77KM in 1:59:38 (5:32 pace) following track of ancient Roman aqueduct from its source in Uzes to the Pont de Gard. Brought no water and for really dehydrated in the 25 degree heat by the end.


Monday 16th
Weather too hot to run in middle of day so decided to do two short runs, one morning and the other evening, when it would be cooler.
Morning: 8.34KM in 0:43 (5:09 pace) along a trail to west on town to the Roman bridge.
Evening:10.17KM in 58:29 (5:45 pace) through the forest along the Alazon gorge.


Tuesday 17th
Morning: 12.37KM in 1.06(5:24 pace)along the Alazon gorge.
Evening : 11KM in 54:56(4:59 pace) initially in town park and then pace slowed as I descended along the rough ground into the Alazon gorge.
Calf muscles tight but appeared to loosen up as run progressed.

Wednesday 18th
Morning:5.18KM in 36.02(6:57 pace) in town park. Calf muscles very tight; normally I use The Stick to loosen them up in front of the TV every evening but I did not bring it with me. Abandoned the run early when it was clear that I risked injury trying to run on them.

Thursday.
Tried to loosen up calf muscles by stretching and massage without much improvement.

Friday: 0.69KM in 6.09 (8:52 pace).
Achilles tendon now sore when I tried to run. Abandoned effort quick enough but did some damage.
Now painful to walk. Calf muscle now much looser after a few sessions of massage but achilles tendon still too sore to run on. Will get it checked out by physio later this week and rest until then.

mithril

Rested the legs since I got back from France and had a sports massage last night which seemed to help.
However the diagnosis from the physio this morning was not great.
Severe inflammation of the Achilles tendon which normally takes 6 weeks to clear up and probably rules Portumna out. I want to get some very long days in the hills in in preparation for Kilimanjaro so I will focus on walking instead for the moment which won't aggravate the injury.

brownian

Hi Mithril,

I'd seriously consider little wedge-shaped heel lifts (any chemist, Scholl make them) in your walking boots, just to reduce the pull on the Achilles. I find they make a great difference in my "normal" shoes.

I've a bit of Achilles issue at the mo, myself, and went walking over the weekend - even though it's not running, I was still fairly sore afterwards.

Must put some heel lifts in my walking boots!:)

mithril

brownian wrote: »

Hi Mithril,

I'd seriously consider little wedge-shaped heel lifts (any chemist, Scholl make them) in your walking boots, just to reduce the pull on the Achilles. I find they make a great difference in my "normal" shoes.

I've a bit of Achilles issue at the mo, myself, and went walking over the weekend - even though it's not running, I was still fairly sore afterwards.

Must put some heel lifts in my walking boots!:)

Thanks Brownian.
I have taped the back of the ankle and used ice, and I will try your suggestion as well.

Oisin11178

Hard luck about portumna mate. Its such a fine balance between training hard and injury. Don't give up yet.

mithril

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Hard luck about portumna mate. Its such a fine balance between training hard and injury. Don't give up yet.

That's the way I look at it as well.
I suffered in the second half of the Wicklow Way Ultra through not having the miles in the legs, but I think I pushed it a bit too far in the other direction for Portumna.
I have been breaking down every 4 months like clockwork for the last 2 years. I did a few things differently this time (less racing , more stretching, more recovery) and thought I might break out of the cycle, but it was not to be.

Application of industrial quantities of ice courtesy of Molloy's Liquor store seems to be gradually reducing the symptoms, but I am still a bit away from even recovery running.

mithril

1k recovery pace Sunday, 2K Monday, and 3K today.
Definite signs of improvement, but not quite there yet.
Still running a bit through pain, and this is more noticeable today than on Sunday.
No point in pushing this since I am not targeting anything in the near future. I don't expect to race again in Ireland this year. I tentatively penciled in the IMRA Dublin Plod on July 17th but the schedule no longer works for me.
Will try and pick up again in Argentina in the Autumn with the focus on getting a long spell on injury free running under my belt rather than taking out any particular PBs.

mithril

Friday
10.06 in 54:13 (5:23 pace) in laps of Carysfort Park.

Saturday
10.06 in 51:24 (4:58 pace) along Royal Canal, Mullingar.

Good results after a long session on the calf muscles with "The Stick" , and now can pass the key functional test of hopping on the right foot without pain.
Once again, I drag my ruined, middle-aged body back from the brink to inflict even more pain and damage on it.
A few pounds overweight, and panting a bit when I briefly hit 4:20 pace, but a few weeks regular training will sort this out. Hope to knock out another sub 3 marathon in the second half of the year and finally break under 39 minutes for the 10K.

liamo123

Good 2 c u back running Mithril.. U've been really unlucky with injuries .... Hopefully u can now look forward to pain free ( well almost pain free ) runnning.....

mithril

liamo123 wrote: »

Good 2 c u back running Mithril.. U've been really unlucky with injuries .... Hopefully u can now look forward to pain free ( well almost pain free ) runnning.....

Thanks Liam. There is no other buzz that compares with completing a long run under your target. Cross country skiing is the only other sport I have tried that could give me a similiar thrill, but I am living in the wrong country for that.
Accumulated damage over the years means I am never too far from an injur,y but I will keep going as long as I can. Even 6 months on, 6 months off is worth it.

Sunday
10.23 KM in 46:29 (4:33 pace) along Royal Canal, Mullingar

jeffontour

Good to see you're back on track Pat.

mithril

Monday
13:01 KM in 1:01 (4:42 pace) around Marley park.

mithril

Tuesday
15 KM in 1:28 (5:54 pace) from Marley park up and over 3 Rock Mountain along the Wicklow Way and back again. Very easy since some tendontitis still in the back of the ankle and don't feel I can "push-off" agressively without risking it going again. This pace though felt fine and builing up time on the feet and some aerobic stuff is all I need at the moment. Good to be back in the hills again.

Wednesday.
10.11 KM in 57:35 (5:42 pace) along the Royal Canal.

Left lower calf felt very tight so could not risk anything faster than a jog. Sports massage booked for this evening which hopefully will restore some more functionality.

mithril

Summary
6.2KM in about 30 minutes (4:50 pace) in Moshi, Tanzania

Spent Friday evening in Nairobi but neighbourhood around the hotel too dangerous for a run. Less than 1KM from the notorious Kibera slum and 3 layers of steel gates and guards between us and the outside world.

Arrived in Moshi, Tanzania Saturday and atmosphere is entirely different. It's a much more prosperous place because of the rich volcanic soil and tourism and very friendly.

Stretched my legs in the stretch in front of the hotel for about 30 minutes to the great amusement of the locals.
Accompanied for last KM by a local lad about 10 years old who asked could he run with me and by the way he went up the final hill would have destroyed me in a race.

aigster

mithril wrote: »

Summary
6.2KM in about 30 minutes (4:50 pace) in Moshi, Tanzania

Spent Friday evening in Nairobi but neighbourhood around the hotel too dangerous for a run. Less than 1KM from the notorious Kibera slum and 3 layers of steel gates and guards between us and the outside world.

Arrived in Moshi, Tanzania Saturday and atmosphere is entirely different. It's a much more prosperous place because of the rich volcanic soil and tourism and very friendly.

Stretched my legs in the stretch in front of the hotel for about 30 minutes to the great amusement of the locals.
Accompanied for last KM by a local lad about 10 years old who asked could he run with me and by the way he went up the final hill would have destroyed me in a race.

now that is a good one, Im on way to a half mar.was packing a neurofen and it reminded me of your blog....and your post came thru...
Stay safe over there, you'll have plenty of competition I'm sure!

mithril

Sunday
Summary 7KM in 50 minutes cautiously down a slippy trail off Kilimanjaro mountain.


Most enjoyable training run in my life, off Kilimanjaro mountain from Mweka Huts (3106m) down to the park exit at Mweka Gates.(1633m). Even the few up-hill sections seemed easy after the acclimatisation of the previous days at 4,500m. Vegetation continuously changing , initially barren rock, then heath, cloud forest and finally deciduous.

One of the porters ran with me for a bit after I think a bet from his colleagues as to whether he could run faster than the Mazungo. It was a little ambitious though to try and match me when he was carrying 20KG on top of his head so he gave up after a few hundred meters and stopped for photos.

Not so much fun was the 3 hour wait for the others to catch up while I was pestered to buy every kind of knickknack at the bottom.

Krusty_Clown

mithril wrote: »

One of the porters ran with me for a bit after I think a bet from his colleagues as to whether he could run faster than the Mazungo. It was a little ambitious though to try and match me when he was carrying 20KG on top of his head so he gave up after a few hundred meters and stopped for photos.

You should have played fair, and also carried 20Kg on your head.
Sounds like you're having a ball.

mithril

Working as a porter on Kilimanjaro must be one of the toughest jobs in the world.
Some nice things to do out here alright, but I would not go back to East Africa again. You get too much harassment as a Westener as soon as you leave your secure accommodation and can never fully relax.

Back to Ireland on Friday and running the Monaghan 10 mile race on Sunday. The last 3 weeks have been pretty much a clean break from running so fitness has suffered.Disappointingly, my ankle injury is still niggling despite the rest and I need to return to the physio, but should be Ok for a relaxed 10 miles.

mithril

Summary
10.05KM in 45:50 minutes (4:34 pace) in loops of Blackrock Park.

Very enjoyable run in the park although this felt more like 4:15 effort.
Very little running in the last 6 weeks and lack of fitness really showed today.
Ankle injury still niggling but seems to be responding to IbuProfen so will see where I am on Monday and if necessary head back to the physio.

Next up, Monaghan 10 mile race on Sunday which I plan to run at MP, injury permitting.

mithril

Monaghan 10 Mile Race

Summary
16.09 KM in 1:06:16 (4:07 pace)
29/145 Winning Time: 52:58

All I know of Monaghan I have learned from the perhaps unreliable accounts of an alcoholic poet. Those of us who were enriched/traumatized by studying Paddy Kavanagh' poems for the Leaving Cert. know that Monaghan is characterised by stony grey soil and lots of hills.
So I was well prepared in advance for hard labour and lots of small, long, hills as I headed north to Monaghan for this 10 mile race.

It's not far on the map, but the roads have missed the Celtic Tiger upgrade most of the country has managed and it took over 2 hours before I completed the journey up from Mullingar and pulled into the registration point at the Four Seasons Hotel outside town.

I was not expecting the sun, it was surprisingly hot and sunny, still only around 19 degrees, nothing compared to the 30 plus degrees of Tanzania where I have just come from, but enough to have an effect on a hilly course. Counteracting this, the field of approx 200 was small enough for congestion not to be a factor.

I am still struggling to shake off tendonitis in the ankle but had taken 2 Ibuprofen first thing in the morning and this had dampened down the inflammation to the point it barely registered on the day. I had barely run for the last 6 weeks due to a combination of injury and travel so deliberately had set no goal for the race other than completing it without injury and about LT pace.

The start was a short walk from the hotel, we assembled 15 minutes beforehand, and the race kicked off promptly at 12:30. We had the benefit of a predominently downhill stretch for the first KM but I was still pleased to see 3:55 showing on the Garmin, and when I ran 4:01 still fairly easily for the second KM, I thought it might be possible to run a PB for the distance which for me was set in the Adidas 10 mile in 2009 at 1:05:20

I was worried though at the lack of proper training in the build-up to the race, and I feared blowing up or getting injured if I went out too aggressively, so I decided to stick to the plan of taking it easy until the half way mark. I was overtaken by about 10 runners in the next 5K, but I was running comfortably within myself and was not concerned.

Once we reached the 5 mile mark, I started to burn the reserves and reel in the runners ahead of me one by one; first a surge to overtake and open a gap of about 10 metres, then ease off, gradually close the gap to the next runner until close enough to overtake and then repeat the manouvre. In this way, I managed to move up about 10 places i.e. regain the position I was in after the second KM.

If the race had ended at this point, I would have been very happy with my day. However, once we hit the 8 mile mark, I lost the forward momentum I previously had; I closed to the next runner but did not have the pace to overtake and he shortly afterwards opened a gap of about 30M. The pace on the Garmin dropped alarmingly as I went up the last couple of hills, properly called drumlins and probably less than 100 feet height gain but I could no longer handle the constant undulation of the course. Several people mentioned to me afterwards about the village with the lovely stone bridge we passed through but I don't even remember it. I got overtaken twice in the final run-in and was prepared for worse as the Garmin indicated still another 500M to go and I knew that I had weaved quite a bit to avoid traffic so the true figure was probably more.

One of the marshalls told me the finish was around the next corner - it was not - but I was able to relate at last where I was on the course to the route we had taken outward and knew we did not not have as long to travel as I had anticipated. We reached the top of what I knew was the final hill and I could see the starting line we had passed earlier. I knew there was another 400 m after this to the finish but it was easy now. I weas able to power my way home and felt fairly fresh coming over the line as I opened a commanding lead on the challenger behind me who moments earlier looked certain to overtake.

15 Eur for race entry, water, bananas and a rare luxury of hot showers afterwards made the entrance fee extraordinary good value.
Still digesting the race outcome; satisfactory time but I rarely blow up like that in a race and no obvious excuse for it.
Next up is the Midlands Half Marathon on Portlaoise next Monday where I will be targeting 1:27:xx.

mithril

Monday
8.17KM in 45:30 (5:34 pace) recovery run along the Royal Canal, Mullingar

Tuesday
12.04KM in 55:49 (4:38 pace)
Seemed to be finding it a lot more difficult than it should be at the start but got a lot easier and faster as the run progressed.
Aerobic fitness has gone back a bit during lay-off, body feels very fresh , ankle still niggling though and not sure I can target a competitive marathon until this goes away.