26.2 Ways to Run

I've been a competitive athlete all my life. I've been involved in different sports at different levels since the age of 8 and along the way, a lot of coaches have spoken to me or my team about visualization. "See yourself scoring that try" "See yourself winning that match". Only now I realise that I never understood what they meant. It's easy to close your eyes and see yourself scoring a try, a winning goal or whatever, but all boys do that when they play footie on the street. So how does that help you achieve anything in a proper competition? That's the piece I never understood and maybe my coaches never did either. I think the confusion comes from the overlapping of two concepts: imagination and visualization. Imagination allows you to see yourself on the pilot seat of a spaceship to Mars to rescue Lady O'Mygodyouregorgeous but has nothing to do with reality. Visualization on the other hand, is about seeing yourself achieving things that you...

A week ahead of the 2018 Mexico City marathon I know there are thousands of runners out there pounding the pavement 5 or 6 days a week to fullfill their goal, whether it is to get a new PB or simply to complete it without walking. Sadly, there are some others that are preparing themselves in a different way. They are studying the course to see where they can take shortcuts. They are checking metro stations where they can jump in for a few stops and re-join the race. Or simply, they are just thinking "hey, I can join the race half way through, run a half marathon and still collect my t-shirt and my medal". Win-win situation all around isn't it? Only it's not. I'm not naive. I know that cheating happens in every race, specially the big ones. I suppose the same motivation exists for cheaters in the Boston marathon as it does in the Mexico City marathon. What's annoying is the scale of cheating at Mexico City. Marathon investigations published a really detailed ...

I have to admit that the  Rotterdam marathon  felt a bit disappointing after all the training I had put into it just to finish 6 seconds slower than the previous one. There were a lot of positives to take out of the experience but those nuggets only surfaced after the sulking had subsided.  A week after the marathon I did the Great Ireland Run. It was supposed to be an easy-to-moderate run (I had planned to complete it in 55 mins) but on the day the competitive side of me won the argument and decided to give it socks and "see what happens". In my mind the worst case scenario was that i would have to stop and walk at some point or slow down considerably. Well, that didn't happen! What happened instead was that: 1) I didn't have to slow down at all 2) I didn't have to stop (in previous years I had had to stop and walk for a few minutes) 3) I came only 14 seconds short of my PB of 46:02 What I learnt that days is that all the training for Rotterdam had in fac...

When I started this blog I has the idea to use it as a way to keep me honest in my training by forcing me to log every (or almost every) session including mileage and how the session went, and a lot of things have happened since my last post back in April: - I did my first night run on the trails, head lamp and all. - Went on holidays and tried to run an "easy 10k" in 30 degree heat and nearly died - Started exercising for 10 minutes every morning before work - Ran the Born to Run 10k series around Dublin (none of the races were actually 10k) - Ran the South Dublin 10k race in July - Started training for the Dublin City Marathon in October Sadly, writing hasn't been one of them. I fell into the trap of wanting to be read people other than myself and my imaginary friends and I realised that the most popular blogs have content and knowledge. I just have stories... and excuses.

Last Sunday I ran the Great Ireland Run in Phoenix Park. It was the first time I've raced so close after a marathon so I wasn't too sure how the legs would be. The original plan was to run it as an easy race and enjoy the experience... yeah right! The closer it got to the day the more I started thinking maybe aim to run it under 55 minutes, maybe a bit faster but definitely not faster than 50. Anyway, race day arrived and once I was in Phoenix Park I decided sod it! Run it like a proper race  and see what it feels like. Go hard or go home! I started relatively slow but by the time I was passing the 6km mark I was still feeling strong so sped up to full tilt. In the end I ran just 12 seconds outside my PB of 46:06 but I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it. I just need to find another 10km race to finish that business...

Right so, where to begin? I ran the Rotterdam Marathon last Sunday in a decent 4 hour time (decent for me)... and I should be happy... well, I am... sort of... The thing is... I was hoping to do better! You see, for the last 2 years the 4 hour barrier had been my target, but reaching that target was like climbing Mount Everest on a treadmill. The peak is there in the distance but no matter what you do, you still don't get close. Finally, last November I did it! At the Amsterdam Marathon I finished in 3:59:09. 51 seconds are still 51 seconds on the right side if the barrier. So this time I fine tuned my training programme, worked more on strength, looked better at my nutrition, the works... But it wasn't to be... I'll think of the learnings and post once I figure them out.