Although I didn’t have any race this weekend, it was still a pretty busy one. I got up at the ungodly hour of 1:30am on Friday night/Saturday morning to help out Mazza and her team get Tralee Town Park ready for the Darkness into Light Walk. Mazza, who organised the decoration of the park did an amazing job, and Poshey did the people of Tralee a huge service by organising this event. I hope the town recognises his efforts in some way.
Once I had finished in the park, I headed home for a couple of hours of fitful sleep, before getting up again at 8:30am and heading back to the park to do the Tralee parkrun 5k with Lee. It was remarkable that there was no sign of all the activity the night before – kudos to the work of all the volunteers.
I had a reasonably alright parkrun – I still had some stiffness from a tough strength and conditioning session on Thursday night, and I was tired before I started, knowing that this was only the first of two runs for the day, so I was happy enough with a 28:53, all things considered. Lee finished well ahead of me for a 27:43, and was happy to beat the old man again.
After the parkrun I headed back home, and just had time to change into fresh running gear before heading out for a tough, hilly 8 miler with Catherine. I knew this was probably not going to be easy, what with the lack of sleep, and having already done a 5k beforehand, but even so, it rocked me a bit! For the first time in a long, long time, Catherine discovered she was able to leave me behind on the hills, as I simply didn’t have the energy in my legs. We climbed the brutal Tonevane hill in the first half of the run, and there were moments I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep going. I stuck it out however, and was glad to get such a tough test under my belt. I was in bits in the last mile or two before we finished, and the Rugby Club Hill never felt so long!
Sunday was a bit more relaxed, as my eldest son Adam made his confirmation, so the only exercise I got was overeating!
All in all, a tough weekends training, that hopefully will stand to me over the next few weeks – I am well behind schedule for my seasons 100k training, so I need a few more of these weekends!
I think I will do the Lakes of Killarney Marathon next week to see where my fitness is – I got a PB there last year, but don’t think I’ll be repeating that feat this year.
RandRuns 