If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.

Baby75 wrote: »

really hoping it goes quicly K

scotindublin wrote: »

Be careful with that K a time for patience. A sensible approach will hopefully pay dividends. Fingers crossed for a quick recovery.

Thanks guys.

OOnegative wrote: »

Tennis ball is your best friend K, suffered with it for 4 months myself. Roll the hell out of the feet, it will be painful, but it will be worth it.

Yes B, using the tennis ball. Used you roll a few times a day? How often and how long for each time?

skyblue46 wrote: »

Be careful K. From what I have read that can be a fooker. I read somewhere that to stand facing a wall with the toes of the affected foot bent up the wall while the rest of your foot is flat on the ground does a very good job of easing the fascia..

Thanks S.

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Not to overly push the point because I know everyone is saying the same. I have a buddy that got it two years ago and still isn't right because he didn't respect it from the start. Think twice about any sort of steady runs or long runs or anything like that. I know you have Seville but even 21km is a risk. Just my tuppence

I’m still prepared to pull the plug on Seville at the last minute or even just run half of it as it’s a figure of 8 route kind of anyway. I agree with you on that I’d rather pull back and be able to run shorter runs a few days a week than not at all. I’ll definitely be careful. I honestly am not pushed on speed if I can just run.

Mr. Guappa wrote: »

I hope this clears up for you soon K... incredibly frustrating I'm sure.

I have one of these balls and I roll it under the foot for 2-3 minutes whenever I think of it (which is pretty irregularly lately).



It's harder than a tennis ball, but softer than a sliotar. From what I can gather online, some bit of foot rolling is no harm anyway, regardless of whether you have an issue or not.

Thanks a mill A. Seem to be doing ok this week and upped the pace a little this morning and no ill effects. I did roll on the tennis ball as soon as I got home before my shower which may have helped too.

Tuesday Sports Massage followed by 2.2miles @ 10:26
Not in great shape so this was so sore. My quads and calves were ridiculously tight and all coming from my lower back and hips. He told me go for 30 mins very easy after but was up to my eyes so squeezed in what I could.

Wednesday 6.4 miles @ 10:09
Met 2 friends for this and really enjoyed the co any. The run itself was tough as my back was sore from the previous day.

Sunday: Seville Half Marathon: Official time 2:04:18, pace 9:24

My A goal for this race was to finish it and and my B goal was to run a steady pace and not slow down. I honestly didn’t know how I’d cope with the distance on so little mileage. My longest run since Dublin was 11 miles ... at the start of December and 7.5 miles a couple of weeks ago then. I decided I was going to try enjoy the race and run it slow as my foot can’t handle pace anyway.

The advantage of not going for a time was I was able to relax and enjoy Seville a bit more. Had a few (too many) drinks with tapas Friday night and did a Segway tour of the city on Saturday. It’s such a lovely city and that was so much fun and a great way to see the place. I proceeded to fall off the Segway but just bruised my ego more than anything else :-) Behaved myself Saturday evening and went to bed early and watched the last 2 episodes of The Morning Show (brilliant show). Sunday morning, we walked to start line in the dark and got rid of our bags and queued for the toilets .... got stage fright at that point as pretty gross even compare to Dublin and they were bad! Joined the start line with my friend and off we went. It was foggy and quite cold. Queen, Don’t Stop Me Now was playing as we went over the start line which always gives me a lift and I started singing!

I planned to stay at a 10min mile and my friend was planning on running by feel. First mile came in at 9:45 and after that every mile got slightly faster for the first 6 miles. I worried slightly that I was going to pay for that but felt fine. The first 3 miles was along by the river, past out hotel and we ran out of the fog into the sun. The support was brilliant all along there. We ran down into an underpass and back up out of it again, the only ‘hill’ on the route. Turned left over a fab bridge and ran the next 3 miles through a kind of industrial area. Nothing too much to see besides a few cool buildings. We then ran back into the fog and it was disorienting as I had no idea where we were or even what direction we were going.

6.5 miles and we were back near the start and running the same route down by the river again with the underpass. Our pace dropped back in mile 7 to 9:31 and we started getting faster each mile again after that. I have to admit I wasn’t finding it that easy. Around mile 8 my right glute decided to cause some trouble and this moved down to my knee and the IT Band. Kept going anyway really just because my friend was like a machine and just running so I clung on. I had taken water at the first 5Km mark and carried the bottle the whole way. Every time my friend took a fresh bottle I’d get to slow down slightly as I’d keep going in the middle of the road. At 9 miles we turned right and into the old side of the city then. Great to know I’d only 4 miles to go at this point and I knew I’d do it. One minute I’d be running so comfortably and the next I’d be struggling a bit. It was annoying. Next thing we were into the real old town and narrow streets of cobble stone. People started running on the paths so we joined them. We then ran through some of the squares we’d been in on the Segway the day before. My friend’s PB was 2:09 and I was figuring out now that we’d be under 2:05. I would have loved to have backed off but kept telling myself not to slow down and ruin her PB. She told me afterwards she wouldn’t have slowed down if I had but was no harm I didn’t know that at the time. We did a lap of Plaza de España which is just beautiful and also the scene of my Segway fall the day previously. After that we’d about 300m to go so we picked up the pace. It was seriously congested though and people the whole way through the race just seem to dart in front of you and push like I’ve never seen before. A girl did just that and knocked me into my friend, we passed her out and she did the exact same thing going over the finish line! Anyway, fab Pb for my friend and I was just delighted I still had the fitness to run that distance. It’s a nice boost.

Off we went for a beer at 11:30 in the morning, showers and back out for the whole day. We were a sorry group in the airport yesterday morning :-(. I highly recommend Seville though as a city and also a race - so wish I’d be doing that race as a Pb attempt. It’s perfect for it and not a puff of wind either.


The foot started hurting fairly soon after but nurofen and beer helped and I’m actually in pretty good shape - much better than I expected. I’d physio booked for this morning. Hip was jammed again and my back but feel great since and my foot is the best it’s been in weeks. She thinks I’m going to be fine. Starting back personal training for strength work next week and have a plan in place as my right glute is weaker than my left which is causing the problems. All slow running for the next month but that’s ok as long as I’m running.

Race Report - Cork City Half Marathon

(As requested by Swashbuckler)

Background:

My PB going into this race was 1:53:04 from the same race in 2019 and that was a very different year. I was in a different place doing regular races and had PB’d that year in 5Km, 5mile, 10Km, 10mile, Limerick HM and then had Cork a month later. Every race I did I based my pacing on the previous race and it worked. This year was different with barely any racing. I did Mallow 10Mile in March, started out at the back running slowly with no clue what I was able for and ended up with a PB. That whetted my appetite and I went looking for the Tinman calculator again and it told me I could do 1:52:xx in a half. I had my doubts but started working towards Cork with that in mind. 

A few days before Cork I started wondering could I get near 1:50. My training has been spot on and May was my highest mileage month ever with some quality sessions there. Instead of wrecking people’s heads with pacing questions I started dithering about shoes. I had just bought the Saucony Endorphin Speed 2 weeks earlier and run about 3 sessions in them and liked them but next thing rain was forecast and I’d read they were slippy in rain so I dithered about those rather than pace for the few days … and drove into the race wearing them and 3 other pairs of runners in the boot … I’m not sure what the thought process was there! 

The night before the race my coach texted me and I asked her if she thought I could do 1:50. She had no doubts whatsoever so I decided I’d go with the 1:50 pacers. She texted me just before the race started saying 1:49. I lined up in the pouring rain (wearing the Endorphins in which I had survived a warmup and strides without falling over) and asked the pacers what pace they were going to do. They said 8:15 so I took out my phone, texted my coach saying that pace would be too fast for me so I’d do my own thing and put my phone away and we started! 

Even though there were waves to avoid congestion, it was a really busy start and I stayed with the 1:50 pacers to see what they would do. I could pull back if too hot. The pace was really comfortable and I just concentrated on getting passed people. First mile was messy with twists and turns round Pairc Ui Chaoimh but felt really easy and clocked in at 8:24. Mile 2 was still chaotic and I just went with it (8:22). They turned out to be perfect warm up miles. I was ahead of the pacers at this point but could hear them chatting. It felt easy and I just kept going without looking at my watch. I was passing people non stop and knew I was pulling away from the pacers but felt I could bank time anyway for the hills in the middle. Mile 3 was 8:02 and I knew after that there were going to be some drags and hills. Mile 4 was 7:59, how did I do a sub 8 mile in a half marathon? Wow! Mile 4 included the South City Link. I was so conscious of the race line here. I seemed to be the only person sticking to the right hand side and everybody else to my left and on the wide sweeping bend! It paid off! In Mile 5 I turned right into Ballyphehane and had a quick look behind to see could I see the pacers. Saw their balloons in the distance but I was well ahead. At this stage I knew I would be staying ahead of them and maybe 1:49 was in the bag. Mile 6 was 8:18 and included Tory Top Hill where I backed off a bit going up. 

Mile 7 started with a nice downhill and I headed towards the Lough. I was fairly delighted with life at the point and loving the rain keeping me cool. Everything was working out. I’d brought a 300ml bottle of tailwind in my pocket and was sipping that every mile or so and didn’t take water once on the way round. I drink minimum 3litres water daily anyway and 4.5Litres on Saturday with salt tabs so I was well hydrated. Ran the drag up from the Lough to Magazine road and saw another 7:xx on the watch - how did I manage that on a hill? Nice downhill next down Orchard Road watching the race line again and across to Farranlea road … the last hill and oh … another 7:xx mile - is the watch right? Up the last hill to Model Farm road and got a shout out from a friend and now I’d some downhills before the last 3 flat miles. Miles 7-10 turned out to be 7:51, 7:54, 7:50, 7:48. I’m still in shock at those miles to be honest. I thought they’d be my slowest, not my fastest. 

Now on the Straight road and normally I hate it but I knew there was a slight Easterly wind which would keep me nice and cool and it was still raining I think. I was constantly passing people out still and wondering was I going to do 1:48. God, I couldn’t wait to text my coach and tell her I got sub 1:49. It was going through my head that she gives me these hard sessions sometimes but even when they look unachievable I always finish them and she just seems to know when I can do something so she must have been right that I could do 1:49 no problem. Mile 11 was 7:59 and I was heading for the Mardyke. This is where the runners were slippy so just prayed I wouldn’t have to suddenly dodge anybody. Was still passing out but working a bit harder. 8:05 min mile and I was talking to myself at this point as I’d slowed down. Music was blaring from a house playing Simply The Best and it was like it made me change gears and I took off. I knew I’d less than 10 mins to go so needed to started pushing a bit. I did think I could walk and still get a PB but kept pushing and passing people wondering how my race line was and how much further I’d to go. North Main Street was fairly awful with the cobbles and ramps and puddles but suddenly I was onto Washington street and so nearly there. Got a shout out and barely looked sideways and I was just going for it. Round onto Patrick street and I remember my watch going for mile 13 (7:50) and I started sprinting. Over the first mat, over the second and stopped my watch at 1:45:27. I was in absolute shock and I still am a bit. I cannot believe I ran that time and so comfortably too. Don’t get me wrong, I worked for it and I’m not sure I could have gone any faster but I honestly think I worked harder in 2019 to get 1:53 … I remember the last mile then being much more of a struggle at least. 

Got my medal and water and bars etc and first thing I did was I text my coach just saying ‘1:45:27’ and she was on the phone in seconds so so excited. 

Official results have me at 1:45:25, 12th female in O45 and 91st female out of 1270 … very pleased with this as normally I sit somewhere in the middle. I also PB’d a 10Km and 10mile in the half so I should probably race one of them if I can at some point. My 5Km in the middle is faster than my Parkrun PB too so maybe I should make a bit of an effort there one of the days. 

So the racing buzz is back. I loved every minute of that. I’ve been loving training and not doing too much racing but that really showed me where I’m at and I think finally a sub 4 is on the cards in Dublin if I can stay injury free …just a small matter of the Kerry Ultra Lite to do at the start of September but I’ll have the distance training done for that and can work on speed afterwards for Dublin. 

I’ll try to get back into the habit of logging and to summarise the last couple of years leading to Sunday’s PB over the next while. I’ve started browsing Boards again recently and slowly being reeling in again :-)

Thanks a mill. Just read your report too. It’s great reading other people’s reports from the same race or route.

After much dithering! I did like them besides the fear pounding down hills and sharp corners at the bottom of them - I was terrified they’d turn into ice skates. I’m not 100% sure I’d wear them for a full marathon as afraid the lack of stability would lead to injury but have until October to wear them a bit more anyway and see. My calves were quite tight Sunday eve which is unusual enough for me and I did feel my left calf from mile 8 or so but no harm done anyway. May not even have been the shoes.

Ha ha. Much as I’d love to try them I’d be terrified from a stability point of view! I read a funny post about them earlier costing €2:50 per mile and being 8 times more expensive than petrol!

Thanks a mill D. I’ll certainly wear them for my next race anyway whatever the weather.

Ha ha. I know that. I need to update my log to explain what I have been at for the past year as that will explain quite a bit. I completely tidied up my diet by watching macros and also introduced strength work finally which I’ve been doing fairly consistently 4 days a week. Throw in trail running then as well and I’ve gotten much stronger than I used to be.

Thanks E. Only thing is I normally wear a stability shoe so slightly wary but I’ll give them a break for a couple of weeks and try them for sessions then again.

That’s very interesting. I’ve been wondering whether it really is a big deal or not. It’s been years since I’ve had a gait analysis anyway. Do you mix and match now to suit yourself?