Wednesday June 1st is Global Running Day, an initiative to celebrate the joys of running, and inspire others to get involved. There will be events held all over the world where people will get together to run.
I will be participating in the Run The Kingdom event in Tralee, organised by Marcus Howlett, starting from the Aquadome at 7pm – if you are in the area, come along – there are 3k and 5k options, with medals for all participants, and it is completely free.
Enjoy your run tomorrow, wherever in the world you do it!
On Saturday, I took part in the Tralee Triathlon Club Bootcamp at Banna Beach. Conditions couldn’t be better, with blue skies and glorious sunshine making it feel more like the Mediterranean coast than South-West Ireland.
There was a good turnout of both adults and junior members. Joe O’Connor of Nisus Fitness was our trainer for the day, and he certainly had a few surprises up his sleeve!
Joe really put us through our paces, and we were soon covered in wet sand, and discovering a thing or two about team work. The juniors showed that anything the adults could do, they could do better! A few of Den McCarthy’s pics below, and even more on the club Facebook page.
All in all, a really brilliant day out, and one of the most fun training sessions I’ve ever done – can’t wait for the next one!
Kudos to Joe for donating his fee to help the development of the junior club. A few of us went for a swim afterwards, and the water was like a bathtub (except for the waves!).
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.
One of the trees in the town park
Mazza fades into the background as usual….
Posey starts it off
Some of the huge crowd at the Darkness into Light Walk
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!
Feeling the burn on top of Tonevane Hill!
Sunday was a bit more relaxed, as my eldest son Adam made his confirmation, so the only exercise I got was overeating!
Adam, The Rt. Rev’d Kenneth Kearon, Lee, Catherine, and me.
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.
The annual Darkness into Light 5k Walk, which raises funds for Pieta House, is coming to Tralee this Saturday, May 7th. The walk, which crosses the line just as dawn is breaking, is held at over 100 venues, on four continents, and attracted well over 100,000 people last year. The funds raised helped Pieta House assist those who are in suicidal distress, or engaging in self harm.
The Tralee event is the work of the tireless Colin Ahern, who last year organised the Walk for Life. Colin (or Poshey as he is known to most people) has put in a huge amount of work to the event, and deserves enormous credit.
There is still time to register for the Tralee event, and the registration details are below. I hope to see you there!
This morning I ran the Tralee parkrun as a 30 minute pacer. I usually pace at a slightly quicker time, but given my exertions in the London Marathon last weekend, I was looking forward to a slightly more relaxed pace.
The morning was bright and sunny, and I brought sunglasses as I was sure I’d need them. As it turned out, I didn’t.
I got to Tralee Town Park in plenty of time, and met with a few other runners and pacers. I got my pacer sign attached, and soon race director Pauline was giving her briefing. As she was going through the race briefing, the skies opened and we had a heavy downpour – just what you need at the start of a run! Pauline presented certificates to runners who had reached milestones, and welcomed some parkrun tourists, who today included a couple from Finland.
We lined up, and off we went. It took me about half a lap or so to get my pace right, but once I got it, it felt nice and relaxed. I had 2 or 3 runners with me going for 30 mins, and we chatted away. The rain has stopped by now, and the sun came out again (typical Irish weather), and it turned into a really nice morning for a run.
I had only done one training run since London, a 4 miler on Wednesday (when the leg that had cramped during the marathon gave me some pain), and I had some stiffness in my legs, especially my ankles, that caused some discomfort, but didn’t affect my running too much.
Interesting contrast of running styles Pic courtesy of Tralee parkrun
I discovered at the start of the last lap that I was a little ahead of my pace, so I dropped it off a little for the last mile. At this stage I had only one runner left with me (a reader of this blog – yay!), and she stayed with me until near the end, when she took off to go for a PB – hope she did it.
I crossed the line, according to my Garmin, at 29:58 – another pretty accurate pacing job. For once, I managed to remember my barcode, so I’ll get an official time too!
Well done to first-time race director Pauline, who did a great job, and to all the volunteers who make parkrun possible – and of course, all the runners who braved the changeable weather – another great turnout this morning.
Myself and JJ after the run Pic courtesy of Tralee parkrun
I travelled with my family to London on Friday evening for the London Marathon on Sunday. We were staying beside the Excel Arena, where the marathon expo was being held, so it was nice and handy for registering (though not so much for actually getting into the marathon itself!). We attended the expo on Saturday morning, and I was very impressed – it was by far the largest marathon expo I’d ever seen, and it was meticulously well organised – despite the huge crowds, (and the fact that I didn’t have the correct paperwork!), I ended up getting my number in a few minutes. We visited a few of the exhibitors, and I got my picture taken with the giant version of the finishers medal.
Myself and Lee writing on the supporters wall
Posing in front of the Mizuno stand in my Mizunos!
At the Children with Cancer stand, for whom I was running
RandRuns on the supporters wall!
I was very disappointed to learn that my finishers medal wasn’t going to be this size
We spent most of Saturday sight-seeing, with me trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid doing too much walking. Catherine and the boys also needed to get their bearings for the next day so they could watch me.
One thing that struck me was that the weather was much colder in London that it had been at home – I had been concerned setting off that it would be very warm for the race, but that certainly didn’t seem to be the case.
Sunday morning dawned cold and bright – perfect conditions for a marathon. I felt very relaxed in the lead up to this marathon, and slept like a log the night before. After a light breakfast in the hotel, we set off on the combination of trains, tubes, and walking, that would get us to the start line in Blackheath.
As we were waiting for the train into the city, Catherine asked why I was wearing different socks than usual; I looked down, and realised that I was so relaxed when I had changed after breakfast, I had forgotten to put on my running socks, and was still wearing the ordinary casual socks I had on this morning. Damn. I considered going back to the hotel, but decided to keep going. They are only socks after all – it would be a good opportunity to test the hypothesis that my feet are blister-proof….
The closer we got to Greenwich Station, the bigger the crowds grew – I have never seen so much lycra in one place in my life. It was like dying and going to runner heaven.
Once again, the organisation was superb – anyone wearing a marathon number didn’t need to pay on the tube, and there were marshals in the stations directing everyone the right way – this is something that other city marathons could definitely learn from.
Once we got off at Greenwich, it was time to walk to the start. The ordinary runners like myself were starting from a different point to the elites. Even without the marshals, it wouldn’t be too hard to find, as 40,000 runners (plus many multiples of that number in supporters) are hard to miss! When we got to the corrals, I said goodbye to my family, and went off to find my starting point. I will never forget the start line – the sheer numbers of runners, along with the colour and pageantry was truly stunning. As were the queues for the toilets, which, thankfully, I didn’t need.
I found my corral, and lined up. I got chatting to some other runners, and we swapped stories and advice as we waited. Some of the costumes were amazing – I started beside Upsy Daisy, and I saw rhinos, tigers, dinosaurs, elephants, astronauts, a telephone, Jesus, a Minion, and countless others. I can’t understand why you would do that to yourself, but you have to respect the sheer insane bravery of it.
Finally the countdown began to the start on Charlton Way, and I braced myself to cross the start line………..and braced myself, and braced myself……..finally, 24 minutes after the first runners took off, I made it across the start line! The crowds lining the route were huge, and made plenty of noise.
It took me a mile or two to get my pace right, and get my bearings, as runners were scattering in all directions, and some stopped in the middle of the road, or worse, ran straight across the road to greet people they knew – this meant I had to be very aware of what was in front of me to avoid collisions. As I came around a bend at mile 2, there was a small group of religious folk of some description, dressed in priestly garments praying by the side of the road – as I passed one of them flung holy water across the road, getting me right in the face – I’m not sure of its religious properties, but it certainly woke me up. We later passed a guy standing with a bible in his hands shouting biblical passages. Takes all kinds I suppose.
I felt really good at this stage – my legs felt strong, I was full of energy, and was running well within myself. I ignored my watch, and ran at a pace that felt comfortable. I had started just in front of the 5 hour pacer, and I assumed I would finish somewhere in the region of 5 hours. Just before mile 3, the elite and “ordinary” runners routes joined up (though I presume all the elites were gone well ahead by now!), and from here on we had a handy blue line on the road that showed the measured route – this is useful when you run an unfamiliar route, as it means you can take the racing line around bends even if you can’t see them ahead with all the other runners.
The next couple of miles brought us through Woolwich and the crowds were amazing – I regretted not having put my name on my top when I heard so many shouts of encouragement to those who had – will definitely do this next time!
Mile 6 and 7 brought us back through Greenwich, past the Cutty Sark, where the crowds watching grew even bigger – the noise at this point was deafening, and it was difficult not to get carried away and break into a sprint!
I was still feeling great, and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself passing the 4:45 pacers. I consciously made myself take down my pace a little, as it wouldn’t be the first time I left it all in the first half of a marathon, but I was definitely feeling great.
The next few miles were fantastic – I lost count of the number of bands and DJ’s I passed, including a guy who had set up on his balcony and was having great interaction with the runners. I have never run any marathon that came anywhere near London in terms of crowd support – not just the number of supporters, but the way they really got behind us, and it really helped to feed off that energy.
Somewhere around mile 9, I stopped for a quick toilet break, and was back on the road in no time. However, my left leg felt a little stiff, especially around the hamstring. I had been having trouble with this hamstring for a while, so I did what I always do – I ignored it.
We passed over Tower Bridge at the 12.5 mile point, and it was one of the most memorable events I have ever had since I started running. Memories of time spent in London with my late mother when I was a small child, and thoughts of having passed over the bridge with my own children the day before, coupled with the huge support of the crowd, and the truly extraordinary view meant it was very emotional moment for me, a feeling I hadn’t expected. It made me fall in love with London a little bit. Strange the stuff that gets you when you run. It’s all part of the reason we do it I suppose.
Tower Bridge (pic mirror.co.uk)
Shortly after this I passed the halfway point, in a time of 2:29. I was happy with this, and felt I might be on for my first negative split – I felt really good, and decided that I would try to speed up a little if I still felt this way by mile 16 or so. My optimism was short-lived.
George the Fucking Lighthouse
The stiffness in my left hamstring turned into pain over the next half-mile or so, and I got a fairly sudden cramp at 14 miles. I had to literally stop dead in my tracks, and I hobbled over to one of the crowd barriers to massage life back into it. This was only the second time ever I’d gotten bad leg cramps, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. I got back on the road, and tried to run it off, but it wasn’t happening. I was reduced to walking for around a half mile, and then the cramp disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. I was able to run again, and I hoped that was the end of that. Unfortunately it wasn’t, and after another mile or so, the cramp was back again, and I had to go through the same rigmarole of massaging it, walking a bit, feeling ok, running, and then cramping again. For the next few miles, I fell into a pattern of running when I could, and walking when I couldn’t. At least I had plenty of company – and no small amount of friendly cheering, slagging, and good-natured abuse from the spectators – my favourite being the guy who shouted “Hurry up mate, you’re being passed by a fucking lighthouse” as, sure enough, a lighthouse went by….
You know you’re in trouble in a marathon when you get passed, in quick succession, by a lighthouse, an elephant, a large green telephone, and a leopard who is desperately seeking a toilet.
I knew two things at this point – I was going to finish, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. I did what I do best, put my head down, and ground it out.
By mile 21, my leg seemed to start loosening out a bit, and I managed to string a few relatively decent miles together, and, despite the weariness in my legs, I actually enjoyed the last 5 miles a lot – the crowds willed us on, and there was some great banter. I passed a lot of runners in the last few miles (according to the timing info, I passed 753 runners in the last 5 miles), including the telephone, and, best of all, Jesus. Jesus was wearing nothing but a loincloth (and a timing chip), and carrying a spectacularly large cross, and shouts of “Jesus is coming” ran through the crowds as he passed. I can only imagine the state his feet are in today.
The Embankment seemed to go on forever, and I was very relieved to see Big Ben getting closer as I neared the final stretch.
What a feeling it was coming past the gleaming Victoria Memorial and seeing the red carpet on The Mall with the finish line ahead! For once, I didn’t have a sprint finish in me, and I jogged to the line, relieved and delighted to get to the end of this wonderful marathon.
Job Done!
I collected my medal, and wandered off towards the finishers area to meet my family. It felt like an extremely long walk, and I considered simply sitting on the ground and resting several times. Eventually I met up with Catherine and the boys, and they helped me find a friendly masseuse to knead some feeling back into my aching legs.
Ouch!
Incidently, despite my incorrect socks, I didn’t get any blisters – maybe I am blister proof.
This will definitely go down as one of my favourite marathons ever – my time was poor (5:23:57 for the record), and I did plenty of suffering, but the atmosphere, the organisation, the wonderful location, but most of all the sheer goodwill and humour of the Londoners make this an amazing experience, that I would advise any runner to try.
At no stage did I feel I was suffering alone, and there was plenty of water at every aid station I passed – there were sports drinks and gels also, if that’s your thing. All the marshals I met were friendly and efficient, and the course was fantastic. I cannot think of a single thing about this marathon that I would change – a great credit to the organisers.
I would like to offer a huge thank you to Children with Cancer UK, for offering me the opportunity to run this marathon on their behalf – if you can, please donate here – any amount, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. Thank you to all those who have donated already. Thank you to the Mason family for allowing me to run this marathon in the name of their wonderful son Eric.
Thanks to Catherine, Adam, and Lee for traipsing around London with me. Thanks also to my sponsors Elivar.
I would like to offer my condolences to the family and friends of Captain David Seath, who died while taking part in the marathon. RIP.
I really hope I get the opportunity to run this amazing event again.
At the Children with Cancer stand, for whom I was running
This morning I ran the An Riocht Kingdom Come 10 Miler. This was to be a last minute warm-up for next weeks London Marathon, so I wasn’t planning on breaking any records!
The last time I ran this race was in 2013, when it was my fourth ever race. An Riocht (which means The Kingdom in Irish) is an athletics club based in Castleisland. The registration and number pick up is based in the clubs impressive facility in the middle of the town, and the race starts a few hundred yards away on the main street.
Chatting with David before the start (pic by Peter Murphy)
There was a very large crowd at registration, both for the 10 miler, and the 5k which runs at the same time. Registration was well organised, and I was very impressed with the goody bag we received, which included a medal holder.
Love the medal holder I got in the goody bag (even though my son took it off me when I got home)
As usual I met loads of runners I knew, and had a great time catching up with those I hadn’t met for a while. Conditions were excellent – blue skies, and sunny. It was soon time to get ready for the off, and I joined a very impressive crowd on the starting line. After the formalities (and some photographs) we were off.
Ready to go! (pic by Colin Aherne)
The first section of the race brought us down the main street, before doing a short circuit of the town, and then we turned North out the old Limerick road. I took this section fairly easy, as I knew that there was a fairly horrific hill coming up – something that quite a few others either didn’t know, or ignored. Sure enough, from mile 2 on, the road began a steep climb. With one eye on London next week, I decided to run/walk this hill, as I knew it would make little difference to my time. I was passed by a few runners, but I passed a lot of runners as the hill went on and on. By the time we got to the water station at the top of this hill at 3.5 miles, there was a lot of suffering going on around me.
pic by Peter Murphy
I met a girl on this section who told me she was going for a 1:40 finish, and we would pass each other about a dozen times of the course of the race!
From here, we turned south West, and we had a nice long decent of almost 2 miles, back towards Castleisland. This was a big relief for my legs, and I picked up the pace a fair bit. I’d had the intention of finishing just under 2 hours, but as I came to the 6 mile mark, I realised I was a fair bit ahead of this target, and my legs were still pretty fresh, so I decided to revise this to finish under 1:50.
The last few miles brought us on a large loop east of the town, and I was surprised at mile 8 to find I still had a good bit of running left in my legs – in fact I did miles 8 and 9 at almost exactly the same pace as miles 1 and 2 – very unusual for me!
It was quite hot for the past few miles, and there was a few sneaky hills to test the legs, but I passed a surprising number of runners on the last 2 miles. I definitely felt mile 10 though – there was a small but testing hill shortly before the end, and I seriously considered walking it.
The last section brought us back down Main Street, and there was a sharp turn in to An Riochts grounds, before running the last few hundred yards to the finish on the race track.
I glanced at my watch as I crossed the line and saw that I had come in at 1:42 (my official time was 1:42:40) – not bad at all considering I hadn’t pushed myself terribly hard at any stage. Incidentally the girl who I’d met on the hill near the start came in just behind me – close to her goal of 1:40.
There was lots of food and refreshments available in the clubhouse after the race, though I had to rush off to a prior engagement.
Overall I really enjoyed this race, and I hope it will stand to me in next week’s marathon. Well done to An Riocht on a very well organised event, and thanks to all the volunteers and marshals who made it happen. Well done to Lee Strand on a very generous goody bag!
Congrats to everyone who ran today, and also to my fellow Tralee Triathlon Club members who competed in the Joey Hannon Triathlon in Limerick today – some great performances I believe.
If you can, please give a donation, no matter how small, to Children with Cancer, who I am fundraising for in the London Marathon – the donation page is here. Thank you.
I will be running the London Marathon on April 24th this year to raise funds for Children with Cancer UK, in memory of Eric Mason. I would appreciate any contribution you can give to this charity – ALL donations go directly to the charity, I am paying all my own costs. I realise that everyone has lots of calls on their income right now, and there are many worthy charities seeking funds, but I would ask that you keep this cause in mind for a donation, no matter how small, as it is very important. You can donate on my fundraising page here.
My youngest son Lee wanted to do the Tralee parkrun this morning, so I dragged myself out of bed to join him. In the event, Lee decided that he was going to have a lazy morning, and refused to get ready, so I decided to do it myself.
On my way in to Tralee, it started snowing, and I realised that a light running top and shorts were probably not the smartest way to go. Too late to worry about it now though.
It had stopped snowing by the time I lined up at the start, but it was very cold. This didn’t seem to deter the runners though, and there was a good crowd at the start line.
We set off after the usual preliminaries, and I almost ended my race before it began, as a lady at the front of the starting group decided to stop dead in the middle of the path after 3 or 4 paces to fiddle with her watch, causing a bit of a pileup – I had to jump sideways to avoid her, and had a sudden twinge in my ankle. It soon went thankfully, and I did a fast first lap by channeling my rage at her into running! If you are going to stop to play with your watch, enjoy the scenery, check Facebook etc. PLEASE don’t start at the very front of the line!
The second lap went a bit more uneventfully, and I soon felt my lack of fast running of late as I slowed quite a bit. It was great to see the amount of kids running with their parents, a great sign for the future of Tralee parkrun. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a few people I would know who would never have run before giving it their all – I would love to know how many people have taken up running because of parkrun, I’d imagine it has to be quite a number.
I started the last lap fairly slowly, and was definitely feeling the pace, but halfway around I decided to push it a bit to the finish, and found I had a bit left in the tank. I finished quite strongly, coming in at 27:37 according to my Garmin (I forgot my barcode!), which I’m happy enough with, considering I have no speedwork done this year. I think the core work I’m doing in Strength and Conditioning with Nisus Fitness is helping offset my lack of fast running.
Another enjoyable mornings running with Tralee parkrun, thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who made it possible.
I came across a very interesting little device this week, called the Kinematic TUNE. The device consists of a pair of electronic insoles that go in your running shoes, and connect with senders that clip onto your shoe. These then send information on pressure points, land time, dwell time etc. to an app on your smartphone.
This information is then used, via special software, to build a personalised running plan for you. It also claims to detect asymmetries in your running form, and can advise on specific improvements, and exercises to improve your form.
I have been asked to trial this device, and I will report back on how I find it, and whether it helps to improve my running or not. I am certainly keen to try it, given the work I did on my running form in recent times.
RandRuns 