{Therapy} Couch To 5K 2025

Monday January 27th

Welcome to the next few weeks/months, lunchtime 4 mile runs out and back along the Ben Franklin Parkway and Schuylkill River Trail/Kelly Drive

Temps were in the low 40's just gone 2 pm when I made my way westbound on the Parkway, there were still patches of snow and ice from last weeks snow as temps failed to get above freezing till the weekend, thankfully they were patches and not sheets of ice, I just had to exercise a little caution as I navigated them.......not that I had a full head of speed up......

I had no time target for this run....hell I wasn't sure I'd get 4 miles in but I did.....sucked a lot of air in doing so but I got there

36.17.9 off 9.02 mile pace.....hardly gonna strike fear into the hearts of my opponents but for the record an improvement on my previous 4 miler on Jan 14th of 37.23.7 off 9.20 mile pace......all great journeys have to start somewhere I guess this is mine

Tuesday January 28th

Three things ye can rely on.....Death, Taxes and my Garmin acting the bollix!!!!

When the opening mile came up way too early on said little bollix I knew mile 2 would be off also, to combat that I paused the fecker at mile 2 but continued my way along Boathouse Row and turned where I turned the day b4 to at least give me a fairly accurate closing 2 miles

For the numberphiles  out there among ye:34.31.4 off 8.38 but w/ a huge feckoff * next to them

Wednesday January 29th

First three in a row in long time and to mark the occasion a bastard wind to contend w/......nowth like adding a degree of difficulty to proceedings eh?

8.08 to open things, maybe a tad too brisk as mile 2  was 9.19 2 seconds slower than Monday,mercifully mile 3 is coming down as my levels of S&C {Strength & Conditioning} begin to slowly  return since Jan 13th my splits have been:10.33-10.01-9.51-9.57-9.42

The final mile down the Parkway to 16th St is getting easier and quicker:9.42-9.23-8.50-8.53-8.7 overall my time was 35.37-4 off 8.53 mile pace, IF Saturday was the Cupid's Chase 5k I don't think I'd be pulling up any trees, however I have another 6 runs till then hopefully I can continue to lower the 3S's...Speed,Strength,Stamina

Thursday January 30th

4 in a row hasn't happened in almost a year but so I could've been forgiven if I'd just " mailed it in today" and logged 4 easy miles.......nah.....feck that auld shite!!!!

When "Life Gives You Lemons Make Lemonade", fair to say work has been a major source of irritation of late and today was no different so when I headed out at 2pm I had the proverbial " full head of steam up" and any thoughts of " mailing it in" went for a burton....w/ a 7.39 opening mile....which was always going to comeback to bite me in the arse

8.47 for mile 2 and 9.23 for mile 3....a far cry from the 10.33 3rd mile back on my debut on Jan 13th, closing mile was  a modest 8.44 as I finished in 34.33.1 off 8.26 mile pace

What I can continue to do next week w/ my times and splits remains to be seen? it's the week of a race where I need to "keep my powder dry" it may behoove me to take my foot off the gas a little and just focus on logging the miles

Sunday Feb 2nd

Somewhat churlish to call 7 miles a long run but when I've  only been logging 4 milers in January I guess this is a long run as I plan to up my mileage over the coming weekends to get ready for the Love Run 1/2 marathon in seven weeks time

Out the door by 1.30pm, hopefully in the coming weeks Saturday will be my default day to " go long"but given my struggles w/ that most of last year I'm just happy to have gotten out today,next Saturday is my race but from Feb 15th to March 22nd I hope to "go long" in prep for the Love Run 1/2 marathon

Opted for the "short loop" Baltimore Ave,South St bridge,Schuylkill River Trail,Powelton Ave,I may need to tweak it slightly to make it it 7 miles as a loop or make it an out and back 7 miles minus Powelton Ave on Monday but for today I threw in a slight detour to get it to the required 7miles

Time, speed, pace were secondary aims, the primary goal was 7 mile and...to that end it was a success 67.7 off 9.35 mile pace w/ splits of :8.48-9.19-9.32-9.20-10.06-9.43-10.19 the step up to 8 miles hopefully on Feb 15th should be a little easier

Overall a  good training week back to back to back to back for the first time in almost a year, a five day week also for the first time in almost a year and a weekend long run for the first time since 2 weeks b4 the Dublin Marathon in October, 24 miles for January,meager but a step up from the paltry 8 miles I managed in December { which was my race at the Schuylkill Loop} November was only 25 and 22 of that were my 4 races so the 23 I logged this week feels like a quantum leap, on a level playing field I could have 25 miles next week........more that I logged in the opening month of the year......motivation for the next  6 days....

 

Is It A Bird?....Is It A Plane??.......NO!!!!! Tis Only Himself Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

 

 

 Greetings sports fans.....just when ye thought it was safe to check the blogisphere.....this auld bollix decides to start running and blogging again.....

A fair amount of water has gone under the bridge since my last entry and not much else, following the Penn Relays 5k on November 16th I failed to register a single mile in training and promptly got my arse handed to me in the season  finale Schuylkill River Loop,I got what I deserved....feck all ,a finishers medal and race t shirt and boot up the hole for not running for three  weeks it felt a fitting anti climax to a season that began so well w/ such high hopes only to unravel b4 my eyes over the course of the year, there were a few highs and a few age group awards but there were also some big lows including recording my slowest ever times over 5k, 10k,10 miles,  and the marathon and only the mother of all shit shows in the 2017 Oddyssey  half marathon spared me from the Love Run and PDR being my slowest ever half marathons......as the saying goes when you hit rock bottom there's only one direction to go and that's up.........

When I failed to be motivated to run on New Years Day so often in the past  my symbolic " start the year off on a positive note" mindset/mantra I knew I still wan't ready.....thankfully a pair of lunchtime 4 miler on Jan 13th and 14th, kicked off the shackles....albeit for 2 days,circumstances beyond my control scuppered the following two days then we got snow and below freezing temps on Jan 19th which stuck the proverbial fork in another week of training.....however things took a turn for the better last week and for the first time since Feb 19th-25th last year l logged a 5 day training week, also I managed a non race weekend run for the first time since October 13th, time for yours truly to stop feeling sorry for himself and for my opponents to start feeling sorry,I'm not saying 2025 is the year of The Shamrock Warrior kicking arse and taking names  but it is I hope  a return to better things for my running

Despite Dublin being my slowest ever marathon I plan to celebrate the 40th anniversary of my debut marathon in November at the Philadelphia Marathon on November 23rd,42 weeks, to that end I have 9 races lined up between Saturdays season opener the Cupid's Chase 5k and the Penn Relays 5k on Nov 15th I also need to reverse an annoying trend of seeing my yearly mileage drop well below triple digits  769 in 2025, 723 last year,I know when I'm fully motivated and training to the full range of my talent the sky is the limit for me, somewhere in the last 2 years that has slipped between the cracks......time to reclaim it, the blood of my forefathers that pumps through my veins, nothing came easy to them, they had to fight for what was theirs had gone cold...it happens,what happens next is up to me,time to reclaim what's mine, it won't be handed to me, nor do I wish it to be, I'll reclaim it the old fashioned way.....I'll fuckin' earn it...