Preparation for the Dublin City Marathon

Well, I have kept you all waiting long enough for this first blog.  I had to get over a few hills with work and running and niggles and life in general. So here I go.......

Firstly, thank you to all who voted and help select the title of this Blog - There will be Hills, to Sandra Byrne and others for the gentle persuasion to actually write a blog.  I'm not one to seek the limelight but if this helps one person on their running journey, then, it will be a success and as Gillian Wharton-Slattery said

"we all meet 'hills' in life and it can be a challenge to climb them - can't go under them, can't go round them, MUST go over them"

Now when it comes to me and running, I love hills.  There is no better way to get the strength needed to complete a marathon or any run for that matter.

A brief look back....

After completing my first marathon in March at the Tralee International Marathon, my goal was to run the Limerick and Dublin marathons with my brother.  Tendonitis put pay to the Limerick marathon as I pretty much took April off.  The rest helped as I was able to complete the Limerick Half marathon comfortably.  I enjoyed running in May and June and really felt that I was invincible. But, this ol' body of mine soon brought me back to reality, as my Achilles and lower legs began to ache.  Coming down the stairs was almost a reminder that I should be applying for the old age pension. I continued to run through July and August as I wasn't in too much discomfort after I had warmed up. 

Winning an entry to the Dingle Marathon at the start of September was a lovely bonus. While I was always going to do the Half, I was now going to treat the Full as my first long run for Dublin.  There was much talk beforehand about the difficulty of the route and of the massive hill at mile 23.  I drove the route the week before and was taken by the beauty of Slea Head. Yes, there are plenty
of humps and hollows but nothing too serious. And the hill at mile 23, I did not find this bad at all.  To quote the motivational poster, "It's a hill - Get over it".  In fact, it was the long, flat, straight road into Dingle that was more of a test - mentally and physically.

After Dingle, I needed some new shoes as both pairs of ASICS Foundation Gel II were over due for replacement. I went for Mizuno Wave Inspire 10, being a wider shoe and a little less structured. I was told it would be more difficult to wear down the outside heel part of the shoes. The first couple on runs were great but doing the 21 miler out Farmers Bridge way, I really struggled.  It's not the first time I struggled doing 21 on that route, as my preparation for Tralee marathon was the same.  It has to be one of the best long run routes, as there is plenty of challenges going up and coming down the many undulations.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes....

The chorus from David Bowie's song "Changes". 
I needed to make some changes to help me get back on track for Dublin or at least be confident of putting in the miles.  I booked an appointment at the Tralee Physiotherapy Clinic with Derek Griffin.  Before I go any further, I have to thank Derek for a truly wonderful check over and analysis of my running style.  I was in fairly good nick but had some inflammation on my Achilles tendons - easily sorted.
Now to my running style and what was the reason for the inflammation? - Using an app on the iPhone, it was easy to see that 1) I was over striding, 2) leaning forward and 3) not lifting my legs enough.  These all combined to put extra pressure on my lower legs.  I reckoned that my cadence was about 160. This needed to increase it a small bit but not too much as I could injure myself.

So, armed with some exercises from Derek (and accompanying YouTube videos) of what I needed to do, I invested in a second pair of runners - going back to the ASICS Foundation Gel II.
I also downloaded this app to help me with my cadence. Metronome Ϟ by ONYX Apps

It would be another week before I could run due to work and wanting the inflammation to reduce.
Was I going to do 13 miles with my Born To Run friends? Aaah, no! I needed to work on my new quicker higher stepping style. In all seriousness, I ran at a comfortable pace and when warmed up, I counted my steps per minute on four separate occasions. I was averaging 170.  I set the Metronome on the phone to 170 and it really helped me to concentrate on lifting the legs and run more upright while keeping the pace steady.  After a while, I reduced it to 160 to see if I could run as comfortably. I was all over the place and found it difficult to lift the legs and stay in time. Reverting back to 170, I finished my 13 miles at an average of 8.39 per mile.  I felt really good. The following morning, I walked downstairs and had no pains in the Achilles.  My calves were stiff but with a change of style and a good pace, that was to be expected. A small change but a big thank you, Derek.


Now, those of you that know me, know that I am not into gels or sports drinks and would rather make my own formulations.  Well, I invested in a Juicer because I made up my mind that I am going to run Dublin on the power of vegetables. I gave the next week going through huge amounts of carrots, apples, pepper, cucumber and beetroot. Absolutely gorgeous.


Galway Bay Half Marathon and Red Cross 10Km.

Feeling good after my 13 miles, I signed up for the Galway Bay Half Marathon and a few days later, the Red Cross 10km.  I was going to run two races over the weekend,  at a good pace, instead of doing the 21 miles.

With the race not due to start until 11.15 but having to pick up my number before 9.00, I set off for Galway on a light breakfast but I did bring my porridge and veggie juice to have after I collected my number. The route was a looped and consisted of once around the park at the start before heading out to do the 10km course twice. It was a mixture of footpaths (because of parked cars), road and gravel (ongoing repairs after the storms last January). There was a good atmosphere at the start as the crowd was swelled by the 10km finishers. With the metronome beeping in my ear, I was able to maintain a steady pace and finished just under 1 hour and 40 minutes, taking over 4 minutes off my previous best.  Was it the metronome, the juice, the confidence of the previous weeks good run or the Dublin training? What makes a run into good run?  

October 5th Tralee - Red Cross 10km.  I felt quite good on Sunday morning, still floating after the result in Galway. The legs were behaving themselves.  With the usual top class organisation by Marcus Howlett and the Run The Kingdom team and a nice crowd at the start, we set off at 11.00 and for me, probably a bit too quick.  I had my beeps in my ear and was able to run quite steadily. I did waver a bit around the half way point but continued on to finish in 46m38s. The most pleasing part was the fact that my pace for both Galway and Tralee was exactly the same at 7.34 per mile and no pains in the Achilles.

And to answer the question above, I think it is a combination of the training, having a great bunch of people to train with, diet, confidence and something to help you focus, be it metronomes or music. 

Well the preparation for Dublin is nearly complete.  Tapering will continue. I look forward to telling you all about my first Dublin Marathon.


Den