Up to now

My previous blog was written with an intention of running a sub 3 hour marathon. This goal hit the rocks through my own lack of confidence in my own ability having run a very bad half marathon in Athlone in September, two months before Dublin. Hoping to run close to 1:25, I ran a tired, sluggish 1:28 and dispite being reassured by some including Alan Kearins, a fine runner himself and my coach for the year, I decided to jack it in thinking I wouldn't get close to my intended time. Being a very average athlete with very little natural speed, it was an easy decision. Last year, I ran quite a few races and I have to say, enjoyed it alot. However, this year I'm going to concentrate on what I always wanted to do and that's race long and hard and enjoy the scenery. For me, running is to be enjoyed and it's always fun to run places you wouldn't normaly go everyday. This year I want to push myself mentally and physicaly to the limit and see where it takes me. I might even include Dublin in October as a tempo to see how it goes ! Since that fateful day in September I have just tipped away at 30-40 mile weeks till the end of the year. I basically was just trying to put the dublin disappointment behind me. With the dawning of the new year however and a reassertation of goals and aspiratioins, I have ramped up the mileage since then. Having got used to 60-70 mile weeks in January and February, I have since then focussed on climbing. With Knocknarea on my doorstep, this has been easy to access. Training has gone reasonably well. There will always be good and bad weeks and I've being fairly consistant. Over the next 6 weeks, in which I intend to hit four 90-100 mile weeks before tapering, I will log my diet, core exercises, stretching, runs and how I feel through it all. The minor distraction of my sore foot will hopefully subside with some RICE. My goals in order of importance for this race are A) to finish, B)to finish in under 10 hours, C)to finish in under 9 hours. Here goes !