All Change At Crewe

 "Queen of South Beach, aging blues dinners at six, wear your cement shoes I thought you were singing your heart out to me, your lips were syncing and now I see, a change a change would do you good I think a change would do you good"

A Change Would Do You Good-Sheryl Crow

Another triple digit mileage month but a blown tempo run and blown long run also.......hopefully the last hurrah of the year for the feckin' humidity, come along for the ride as I attempt to make sense of the last seven days........

Monday Sept 22nd A recovery run  hard on the heals of Sundays PDR 1/2 marathon, officially the end of Summer/ start of Fall/Autumn today.....by weeks end I feel Mother Nature had pulled my pants down yet again....but hopefully for the final time this year......

73 degrees and overcast w/ 53% humidity{little did I know this was as good as it was going to get humidity wise all week,,,,,!!!} as I opted for the "road less traveled"  and West River Drive/MLK Drive, which has been off limits below Sweet Briar Drive for over 2.5 years now until the reopening of  Martin Luther King bridge last Friday

It's nice to have a third option now on my lunchtime runs,Schuylkill River Trail down to South St bridge,Kelly Drive to just beyond Girard Avenue bridge and now just beyond the Amtrak bridge the other side of the Schuylkill River on West River Drive

44.01.1 off 8.43 mile pace off splits of:8.11-8.47-8.53-9.15-8.53, if I could've shaved a little off of the 9.15 mile 4 I would've gotten under 44 mins not that that was a pre run goal.....but when ye finish in 44.01 ye tend to think"if only"......or at least I do........the good thing was there were no lingering effects from Sundays half marathon period as I closed in on triple digit mileage for the month the magic number was now 12 miles.........

Tuesday Sept 23rd Ahh the pure unadulterated joy of  an untimed run, pb's and pr's and seasons bests are good craic like but there's something about just being able to go out and run w/out having to worry or focus on speed, pace, splits

85 degrees w/ 55% humidity and the magic number was now 7, the bigger take away from today was my decision to"renew hostilities" w/the hills of the Radnor Run at the end of October, I ran it 3 years ago and recall being grateful to the Kerry DNA in me thanks to "the mother" for the feckin' hills.....shur ye'd want to be part Kerry Mountain Goat to tackle those yokes......in 23 I opted to stay local for the Market Street 5 miler which I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship w/, primarily their refusal to provide a bag check for the runners,I can't always rely on Mrs Shamrock Warrior being w/ me for each race so when the "powers that be" say sorry no bag check it's a problem, in 23 I had to run in baggy shorts w/ pockets for my keys and Septa Key Card, ditch an auld running t shirt b4 the start and since I was sans phone had no idea of the results and had to wait around over an hour after the finish only to discover I was 4th in the 50-59 age group but would've gotten 2nd in the 60-69 age group if it had been another few weeks....... last year on 249 medals and Run For Blue was a week b4 Dublin and that was where I wanted #250 not  the Market St 5 miler and Radnor was the same day as Dublin which is probably why it wasn't originally on my radar this season.....but it is now......better start running up Grays Ferry Avenue bridge  to prepare for those hills over the next few weeks!!!!

Wednesday Sept 24th On a level playing field today was meant to be my Tempo Run......however w/ my upcoming trip to Dublin in 12 weeks time....{yeah I'm counting the weeks.......I've been counting since it was 29 feckin' weeks!!!!!}I'm trying to stockpile my PTO time to cover the trip which meant  no day off after  Bruce Dickinson's show at  The Filmore last nite......trust me at almost 62 I need a day off after a mid week concert, I didn't  have that luxury  where work was concerned so I opted to switch my Tempo and Easy runs, like I always say" it's all well and good having a schedule.....but ye have to allow for flexibility' so easy 5 miles it was

46.12.6 off 9.15 mile pace thanks to splits of: 9.13-9.06-9.25-9.45-8.44 80 degrees and 72% humidity.....and shaggin' rain which required my lightweight Dublin Marathon rain jacket, felt more like Summer than Fall/Autumn  out there........so it was grey and overcast like I said.......shur ye know what's coming........Hal the little bollix Garmin actin' the bollix......

On Monday when I opted to run out and back on West River Drive I made a point of eyeballin' where 2.5 miles was, it was the third street light after the Amtrak bridge, yesterday on my untimed  run that's where I turned......and lo and shaggin' behold when I reached it today  it said 2.37........are ye fuckin' kiddin" me??? I had to continue running till I reached Sweet Briar  Drive for HTLBG to register 2.50....ya little bollix ya!

Despite more shenanigans from Hal, looking and feeling like a drowned rat between the rain, humidity and having to throw on a lightweight rain jacket the magic number was down to 2......maybe if I wasn't balls arsed tired from the night b4 that  might've been something to celebrate......then again "tomorrow's another day!!!!"

Thursday Sept 25th Most, if not all my running posts on Instagram have a music option, the fact I chose the Verve classic "Bitter Sweet Symphony" today shouldn't come as any great surprise{asides from the fact it is a feckin' belter of a tune!!!}

At 87 degrees w/ 88% humidity.......that's correct NOT a typo!!! maybe waiting it out a day was a better option and maybe the lure of reaching triple digit miles today and not tomorrow nudged me to going for the Tempo run rather than waiting it out.......for all my craic about Gypsy Blood I had no way of telling what was  coming down the tracks the following day weather wise.....hindsight as they say is a wonderful thing and I opted to run Thursday, if I knew then what I know now..........but also IF my Aunt had balls, she'd be my Uncle......

8.40 for the opening mile, last weeks opening mile on the Tempo run was a suicidal 8.16 which came back to bite me in the hole so I wasn't overly concerned about it......IF I could maintain 8.40 pace for the next four miles I'd be grand.....

8.41 at mile 2, given it was 87 degrees w/ 88% humidity I had opted for the Schuylkill River Trail for it's proximity to the Schuylkill River and the hope that any breeze coming off the river would help combat the heat and humidity......

9.02 for mile 3 and I was toast, the feckin' heat and humidity had drained me, I wasn't even going to grind through the final 2 miles as I had feck all left in the tank

IF,IF,IF......if Bruce Dickinson hadn't have been Tuesday I could've gone Tempo yesterday in slightly better conditions and just "gone through the motions" today on an Easy run but Bruce Dickinson WAS Tuesday and I elected to switch days so careful what ye ask for I guess......

26.24.8 for a 3 mile Tempo run off 8.48 mile pace, I had " set my stall out"last week to reintroduce the Recovery,Untimed,Tempo,Easy rotation so there's little to no point " throwin' my toys out of the pram" now.....granted on the 3rd full day of Fall/Autumn  who had 88% humidity on their feckin' Bingo card I know I didn't?

#101 miles is not to be sniffed at period,much less 5 days b4 the end of the month however having to curtail a run due to heat and humidity seldom sits well.....it sits less well when the  "Dog Days Of Summer" are in the rear view mirror

Sunday Sept 28th What's the auld adage " when arguing w/ Mother Nature she always gets the final word".....my planned 16 mile long run ended at mile 4 as I never got out of second gear today

Originally the forecast for today had rain ergo why I think I opted to run Thursday not Friday as the prospect of a 5 mile Tempo run Friday followed by a 16 mile long run Saturday didn't seem too appealing, as it turned out Friday was a much nicer day than Thursday AND we didn't get rain today......tis my own shaggin'  fault for putting stock in the weather be it on the local news or my phone

79 degrees and 59% humidity at 1pm......what's the auld Monty Python line" still I was getting used to it by then" just once it would be nice to get up early and knock out or attempt to knock out the long run rather than sit on my hole till lunchtime, it wasn't to be today and a week out from next Sunday it won't be next Sunday either as the humidity levels from 8am thro 1pm read:83%-77%=68%-62%-55%-51%......now alot could change between now and then but I'm struggling to find "silver linings" where Mother Nature and my running conditions are concerned right now.....

8.55 for the opening mile and I was happy w/ that, I didn't want to go off half cocked period, much less when the plan was 16 miles......softly softly catchy monkey......

9.13 for mile 2 and I was a little concerned as the middle part of mile 2 is the downhill of Grays Ferry Avenue bridge, was I just being overly cautious?

9.46 at mile 3 just after the on/off ramp from the South Street bridge on the Schuylkill River Trail.......this ain't my first{or last!} rodeo I knew the further out I went the further back I'd end up walking,one thing about being an auld fart and having done this for almost 50 years ye get a sense of  when it isn't going to be your day.....and today felt exactly like it wasn't  so I turned and began to head back

10.00 at mile 4.......ahh fer fuck sake stick a fork in it!!!!any thoughts of even a 5 miler went out the window w/ a 10.00 mile at mile 4, I know when I'm cooked, my bandana was soaked and so was my Dublin running vest, I called it quits rather than grind through another mile just for the sake of making it 5 miles

W/ 8 weeks to go till the Philly Marathon there's ample time  to get some 16,18,20 mile runs in so no need to hit the panic button just yet, that said the past 8 days have been  a reminder that ye have to enjoy the highs when they happen, cos the lows will hit ye below the belt when you're not expecting them, at least w/ 2 more days in the month I have 105 miles in the books which is what I ran in August, potential for 115 which isn't too shabby,I quote Dolly Parton about as often as I quote the Bible but she once sang "You Can't Have The Rainbow W/out The Rain"......amen to that sister!

Commit,Focus,Believe,Achieve

 "His destiny is not just written in the sand he's got a plan, he's no lucky man ohh Jimmy's winning matches Jimmy's winning matches, Jimmy's winning games Jimmy's winning games, Jimmy's bringing Sammy back to Donegal again"

Jimmy's Winning Matches-Rory & The Islands

Quite the week,  a return to Recovery,Untimed,Tempo and Easy lunchtime runs, my longest week of the year to date, medal#7 of the season, #263 of the career, and a modicum of revenge for last years disaster at PDR.............

Tuesday September 16th Yet another week that began a day late as the powers that be at work haven't replaced the yoke who quit and the yoke they send to cover for him keeps calling out......two Mondays in a row now I've had to work through my lunch period much less miss out on a run

Given the grind I had to go through to complete Sundays 14 miler I was eager to get out onto the Schuylkill River Trail and flush the crap out of my legs.....waiting another day wasn't ideal but ney point  bitchin' about it just shut up and run......I forget what the humidity was but it was only 73 degrees at 2pm as I clocked a semi respectable 46.15.4 off 9.13 mile pace w/ splits of:9.30-9.18-9.17-9.16-8.52 after a sluggish opening mile  felt I got my mojo working and saw each split drop not a bad way to kick off my week

Wednesday September 17th  while a lot of my runs of late have been Untimed it's nice to have at least one run  a week now where I'm not governed by the almighty Garmin, just go out run on feel, feels too slow pick it up, feels too fast back off

As I mentioned in my social media posts on Wednesday this run had a bit of everything, 70 degrees but 75% humidity and rain,I almost opted for the rain jacket pre run but thankfully  didn't follow through w/ as the 75% humidity was brutal and honestly the rain by the time I got onto the Schuylkill River Trail was a welcome relief.....I'm Irish.....well used to running in the rain, tis the feckin' humidity that does me in!!

Thursday September 18th Ahh shit, the return of the lung bustin' tempo run, my first since mid April, this was always going to be interesting......

83 degrees but only 50% humidity this felt like idyllic mid September conditions,keeping in mind Tuesdays recovery run kicked off in 9.30 I wasn't too taken aback to clock 8.16 for the opener......however 7.57 for mile 2 was always going to come back to bite me in the hole,and so it did 8.22 at mile 3 and 8.40 at mile 4, granted it's been 22 weeks since my last Tempo run but I'm going to have to re teach myself the art of  going out  at a fast but even pace, by the end of mile 4 I was hanging on for dear life b4 somehow dredging up a 8.03 final mile to finish in 41.18.6 off 8.16 mile pace

Anytime a tempo run resembles a feckin' EKG chart I know I've made a hames of it,it'll get better....it has to I can't be going off half cocked like that again, sure a little " ring rustiness" off a 22 week hiatus was to be expected, I'll give myself an E for effort but be painfully aware it could just as easily been an incomplete......w/ a new record of 33 miles up for grabs making this a 4 miler was frankly not an option...

Friday September 19th Another Friday run brought on out of necessity.....I fully expect to be brought before the Pagan Gods and asked why I continue to flaunt the Pagan Sabbath.......I've been advised to  plead " desperate times call for desperate  measures "  and hope that appeases them........

After a lung buster yesterday at least today was an easy run and also allowed me to kill two birds w/ one stone, the race # pick up for Sundays PDR Half Marathon was at Lloyd Hall at the start of Boathouse Row so since I had to run anyway I figured rather than turn left onto the Schuylkill River Trail I'd go right towards Boathouse Row and Kelly Drive continue till just past Girard Avenue bridge to 2.5 miles turn and head back, stop at Lloyd Hall grab my race # and t-shirt and continue back towards the Ben Franklin Parkway, what could go wrong............

As I made my way under Spring Garden St bridge I had a wry chuckle to myself as the ribbon cutting on the Martin Luther King bridge was taking place, tempted as I was to yell " ye're a feckin' week late!!!!" I kept it to myself......after all tis me who made a balls of the dates not the city!!!!!

Just my luck at Lloyd Hall to get stuck behind  a runner picking up several race numbers, asides from drippin' sweat onto the floor as it was 85 degrees out there and 45% humidity I'm now running late to get back to work,I'm not getting into why I chose to run and pick up my race # other than to say it was the easier option to help streamline my weekend if it was done this way......of course had I been able to run Monday I could've just walked up here from work which is roughly 1.5 miles and made it a 3 mile walk  round trip.........trip being the operative word..........

W/  just under a quarter of a mile to finish the run just below 18th and the Parkway I caught an uneven paving slab and fell.....luckily for me just like last October in the Dublin Marathon when I caught the  rim of an electrical cover and went arse over tit I was able to throw my right hand out and brake my fall....like any runner worth their salt I stopped the Garmin.....no need for it to be running if I'm not!!! a little " road rash" on the palm of my right and left hand but that seemed like the worst of it till later in the evening when my  right hip began throbbing then my right  wrist was sore......thankfully a warm shower then some Ice and some Advil did the trick

I'm very aware this could have been far worse,at almost 62 now I'm no "Spring Chicken" anymore and the auld bones aren't as strong as they used to be, the trip could've been far worse period but two days before a race the timing wasn't lost on me, I forget when I opted for the Ben Franklin Parkway over Market St and then JFK Blvd but never  has that paving slab been an issue until today, I will be extra cautious of it from here on out......

Sunday September 21st This one had been marked on my calendar for a while,I'm not sure how many times I've run PDR but I feel it's the race I've ran the most here{ or anywhere for that matter!} I arrived in Philly in October of 87 and I'm reasonably confident that my PDR debut was Sept 89, it is my favourite race of the year but after last years slowest  half marathon ever in 1.54.44 off 8.44 mile pace there was added inventive to rewrite my history

Like I said I've ran this race more times than I can recall, I've ran several versions of the course{I'm auld school enough to remember when we had to run down the Ben Franklin Parkway to the finish not in front of the Art Museum} I've ran it as PDR then the Philadelphia Rock & Roll Half Marathon, now back to good auld PDR, and I've also ran the traditional third Sunday in September date in all conditions, picture perfect days, days it pissed out of the heavens, and sadly in recent years days of heat and humidity, or just plain auld humidity..........

The forecast today was mixed, 65 degrees at 7.30am which is grand.......not so feckin' grand the 85% humidity,I don't know what weather app this gobshite of an announcer was looking at when he said pre race"I don't want to hear excuses about humidity today's a perfect day to run......" but it wasn't the app I get my weather from............ya feckin' gowl!!!!!

I forget what I used as my seed time I'm guessing 1.45 or 1.50 either way I ended up in corral 3 w/ the 1.50 pace runners since they were going in 10 min groups there was no 1.45 pace  group, not a bother as I tend to run my own race/ pace anyway, 7.47 for the opening mile down the Parkway around Logan Square and back up the Parkway leading to Kelly Drive, 8.06 for mile 2 as I moved in front of the 1.50 pace group, 8.04 for mile 3 b4 a dip in pace and 8.19 for mile 4

Pre race the plan was 8 min mile pace and a 1.45 finish, at this point I was just adding 8 mins to each  split to calculate my next mile mark time, it was going to be there or there about 1.45 if I stayed on pace, however crossing Falls Bridge between miles 4 and 5 I was painfully aware how  much sweat was rolling off my Palestine running vest and onto my Ireland running shorts, ever the Boy Scout I had made sure to drink plenty water yesterday to make sure I was hydrated.......I was going to need it!

8.02 at mile 5 b4  8.22 at mile 6 b4 somehow  dropping down to 7.50 for mile 7, the turnaround on West River Drive was  b4 Columbia bridge, I remember last year making that same turn and waiting for the wheels to come off due to my inability to log a single double digit mileage run which they did at mile 8....I went through mile 8 in 8.07......said wheels felt they were staying in place........

Little bit of a rough patch early on heading to mile 9 saw a 8.29 split b4 dropping splits of 8.19 and 8.10 at mile 10 & 11 at this point 1.46 was looking good but I'm sorry to say the final two miles just got away from me, while I had kept a decent pace throughout finally the humidity caught up to me, I'm pissed I was  so close  to a complete race b4 two stop/start walk/run final miles, I'm not sure which is worse last year when the wheels came off at mile 8 and the final 5 miles were stop/start walk/run or to be 2 miles from the finish line this year and having to walk a little b4 getting going a few times

9.24 at mile  12 and 9.20 at mile 13 b4 a 59 second .1 to cross the line in 1.49.18 off 8.19 mile pace the 1.50 pace group had passed me just b4 mile 13 near Lloyd Hall.........

It's an improvement on last years 1.54.44/8.44 mile pace I'll happily take that but I'm far from happy about being that close to a complete race and a 1.45-1.46 finish and seeing the last 2 miles get away from me, to put things in perspective last year in the entire month of September I managed  29 miles,13 of which were at PDR, this year w/ another 9 days to go I now have 83 miles, hopefully a quartet of  5 milers during the week puts me at 103 miles  b4 I attempt a 16 mile long run on the weekend and still have one or two 5 milers the following Monday  and Tuesday,at 33 miles this week I eclipsed  the previous best of 32 I logged the week of August 25th-31st, that and medal #7 for the season and #263 for the career are all good things to focus on  rather than Fridays trip and  today's humidity getting the better of me in the final 2 miles......we go again tomorrow......or Tuesday if we don't have coverage at work tomorrow.......

{Re}Routin' & Bollixin'..........

"Now warning lights are flashing down at quality control, someone threw a spanner,they threw him in the hole, there's  rumors in the loading bay and anger in the town someone blew the whistle and the walls came down.There's a meeting in the boardroom they're trying to trace the smell,there's a leaking in the washroom,there's a sneak in personnel.Somewhere in the corridors someone was heard to sneeze goodness me,could this be industrial disease?"

Industrial Disease-Dire Straits

It's often said there are three things you can be sure of,Death,Taxes.....and Work fucking your shit up......buckle up dear readers......it was "one of those weeks"............

Tuesday September 8th The fact my training week began on a Tuesday should clue ye in to the kind of week it was going to be,Mondays lunchtime run got shot to shit cos we were short handed at work, I don't want to go into a long work related diatribe however for the sake of context 9 weeks ago were took on this yoke from the corporate office who was relocating to Philly, to use a time honoured expression the auld fellas used to use"he couldn't work his way out of a wet paper bag that one" in nine weeks he managed three whole 5 day weeks,more excuses than Jimmy Carter had Liver Pills/the Bible has Psalms........anywho  late Saturday nite he emailed the regional manager and site manager to resign his position........good riddance to bad rubbish, collect yer P45 and don't let the door hit ye in the hole on yer way out.......langer!

The powers that be didn't organize coverage for Monday so my coworker and I had to work through lunch,no biggie an hours OT for yours truly and I figured I could run on Friday lunchtime......which is slowly becoming a routine of late.........

As for Tueday's run nothing out of the ordinary, temps were in the  low 70s I didn't check on the humidity but it felt non existent......much like Ireland's World Cup Final chances after a brutal  2.1 defeat in Armenia at lunchtime pre run, in a year when they're  more teams than before in the finals The Boys In Green will not be making up the numbers.......

Wednesday Sept 9th A bit of an anomaly the humidity was higher than the temperature.... 67 degrees and 79% humidity, the fact I never had time to post this run on my Instagram/Facebook page post race due to retiring to some sort of bedlam at work was in keeping w/ my week......and it was only gonna get worse...

Thursday Slightly more conventional temps today 80 degrees w/35% humidity, two things of note it's maybe a tad premature to start packing a short sleeve shirt in my backpack for work but I do feel the temps are about to change, the local weather anchor said  on Monday or Tuesday she's of the opinion we've seen the last of the 90 degree heat this summer{Fall/Autumn} officially begins Monday September 22nd, I'd like to think for September I'm safe w/ running vests/sleeveless running shirts but October could be changeable on a day to day basis......ever the Boy Scout I'd like to be prepared....

The other thing I'd like to do is reinstate the four day rotation of: Recovery Run, Untimed Run,Tempo Run and Easy Run, during the brutal heat and humidity I was more focused on just getting miles in,now that things have cooled off next week feels as good as time as any to reintroduce that,it'd give me six weeks in the lead up to November when my race schedule goes into overdrive to get some fast 5 milers in there's a potential 5 mile race mid October, a 10k November 2nd a 5k{and 10 miler...!}November 8th it does look like the Penn Relays 5k is going to clash w/the Rocky Run on November 8th and not the following Saturday November 15th but I have no say in when races are scheduled, that said I do think Penn have fucked up putting the annual 5k on the same morning as the Rocky Run....but hey!

Sunday September 14th So much for making up for Monday's missed run on Friday........upon returning to work post run on Thursday all hell broke loose w/ what can only be described as the " print job from hell" not only did I stay three hours late on Thursday  sending one of the four components to the copier  I then did my best 747 Pilot impression Friday as my feet never touched the ground from the time I arrived at work{7.42am} till I left {5.25pm} no lunch period much less going for a run on my lunchhour.......

By the time I got home Friday I was fried, mentally and physically, I don't like to play the "age card" period but frankly at almost 62 I truly am" too auld for this shite" I did toy w/ maybe my long run Saturday and then making up for Monday/Fridays missed run on Sunday.......as the auld  expression goes " theory and practice are often a horse of a different colour"...... it was evident when I got up Saturday morning there would be NO run of any kind so it would just be the scheduled long run on Sunday, having bailed last weekend due to hopefully the last blast of humidity I needed to go long today period but also w/ a half marathon next Sunday at PDR {Philadelphia Distance Run} it would be a handy " ace up my sleeve" to have 14 miles under my belt.....

Out the door by 1.15pm, 84 degrees w/ 43% humidity I felt I was well capable to handle that, however rather than go the recent Grays Ferry Ave bridge/Schuylkill River Trail I opted to go up Powelton Ave to West River Drive to do the loop around the Schuykill River it's 3 miles to get there, 8 miles around 3 miles home....bingo! 14 miles.......one slight oversight on my part I was under the impression it was reopening this weekend after 2.5 years of construction.......it's NEXT  weekend.......bollix!!!!!

Now I had to reroute on the fly, one of the reasons I take Hal the little bollix Garmin w/me on long runs in case I have to reroute, it could've been worse but had I know Martin Luther King  bridge wasn't open I would have done an out and back on the Schuylkill River Trail/Kelly Drive instead of the opening 3 miles through my neighborhood/Powelton Ave and then cutting over to Kelly Drive.......shur look it shit happens but it was in keeping w/ a week of feckin' spanners going into the works....

The pre race plan as ever 9 min miles which over 14 miles is a respectable 2.06 finish and the opening 3 miles went:8.45-8.29-8.40,mile 4 was 9.11 since I had to slow on the approach to the Martin Luther King bridge and turn back around 400m in when I was faced w/ an unmovable object blocking me from  advancing any further along West River Drive/MLK Drive......which if they're still working on the construction had every right to be there.....unlike yours truly who'd jumped the gun  and thought it was open this weekend......gobshite!

8.56 for mile 5 b4 a pair of 9.22 splits at miles 6 & 7 which ended up being on West River Drive via Falls bridge, at this point I 'd already committed to going back via Kelly Drive and the Schuylkill River Trail as I figured it'd be more direct

10.07 at mile 8 I wasn't too worried at this point splits and pace were  secondary the only numbers that mattered were the miles at the end and I was committed to making them 14 no matter how slow they might be

I maintained a decent pace down Kelly Drive,9.48-9.43-9.28 as I reached Lloyd Hall and Boathouse Row b4 continuing on the Schuylkill River Trail, not gonna lie or front yes I did stop few times to walk and take advantage of water fountains but here's the thing a year ago I'd reach mile 6,7,8 on my long runs and the wheels would fall off,I'd try and get going again but more often than not I just didn't have it to get going or keep going, it's no wonder last year saw me record my slowest times ever because the mileage wasn't there,ye'd think going to Dublin to run on the 40th anniversary of the auld fella's passing and the 1 year anniversary of "Our Kid's" passing not to mention 3/4s of the Roche,Thomson,Brewster,Coan tribe all pitching up to fly to Dublin { not to overlook Mrs Shamrock Warrior who flew over w/me} would have been enough motivation to dig deep on those runs but it just wasn't there.....fuck knows I tried.....I do think the bitter disappointment of recording those slowest ever times from 5k thro 26.2 miles  last season has motivated me this year to dig deep on days like today when it wasn't going to script and say"I'm feckin' getting my miles  in"

9.50 for mile  12 , 9.54 for mile 13.....but the bridge connecting the Schuylkill River  Trail to Grays Ferry was getting closer and closer, I cleared the bridge at 13.90 on the Garmin  and was never so happy to hit stop when mile 14 populated a 10.09 split to finish in 2.11.45 off 9.25 mile pace, frankly I didn't give a fiddlers about having to walk over a mile and a half home.......I was too feckin' knackered to worry about that auld shite

It wasn't pretty by any stretch but it was also the first 14 mile run since February 3rd.......of last year 19 months ago,I get a weeks reprieve of sorts next weekend as it's 13 miles for the half marathon b4 hopefully getting 16 miles in on the final weekend of September......by which time the construction on Martin Luther King bridge will be complete and I can go the  Schuylkill River Trail,West River Drive,Kelly Drive,Schuylkill River Trail loop......in a week of so many feck ups I have to own the final one .......when all else fails RTFM.....Read The Feckin' Manual...... as ever I own my mistakes, and hopefully won't make them again.....

Auld Punks Never Die......They Just Have 401K's And Run 10K's.......

 "People have written you off many times but you are a great survivor, and though you have suffered some terrible crimes I know it's just made you stronger, you're standing on your own two feet got a morbid past but you've got it beat got the key for living sitting in your hand now use it while you can, you've got to hold on to how you feel today this is the last train from the wasteland"

Last Train From The Wasteland-Stiff Little Fingers

I should've known a week that began w/ a race on Monday was always going to be a different week than the usual run of the mill weeks.....ah shur feck it isn't variety meant to be the spice of life????

Monday Sept 1st

Fresh off my longest week of the year and my longest run of the year and a return to triple digits what do I do for encore?......I'll kick off the week w/ a 10K race........

The Labour Day 5K/10K on Kelly Drive was a brand new race on my calendar  but since they said the magic word.......not Abracadabra but Medals I was in Flynn......any chance to add another to the collection and get one closer to the target of 300  was worth getting up at silly o clock{5.30am} on a holiday for

Being it was a brand new race and on a holiday weekend I wasn't sure what kinda turnout to expect for a 7.30am gun time, 1432 in the 5K, 286 in the 10K decent enough, conditions were reasonable 60 degrees w/ 75% humidity

I knew when I saw 7.16 for the opening split I'd gone out too quick and as my former coach always said" ye can't put the Genie back in the bottle/ye can't put the Toothpaste back in the tube" in my defense lumping the 5K and 10K in together probably resulted in such a brisk opening mile,the previous Sunday in the Philly 10K my opening split was  7.41....... I was going to have to deal w/ it now

7.52 at mile 2 the field was well strung out and I was kinda in "no mans land" I didn't really have anyone around me to work off of.....then again it's like that on training runs so it's not a big deal

8.09 at mile 3, I began counting the runners ahead of me who'd made the turnaround,I believe I was 45th I may've miscounted and it's always possible there were people running "bandit" it's not an exact science but 5 other runners overtook me on the inbound 5K, two of whom I was able to reel back in, the first was funny he worked so hard to overtake me only to stop and take on water and walk at one of the water stops that I went back in front of him almost right away.....

8.07 at mile 4 I was feeling ok the brisk opening mile hadn't done me in too badly,this wasn't " my first Rodeo" and trust me I've died far worse deaths over longer distances over the years{ the 2017 Oddyssey Half Marathon springs to mind, second race back after  a long hiatus from road races  went out way too hard early on and died a horrible death over the closing 10/11 miles, was just happy to finish that day in a then all time slowest time for the half marathon!!!!!}

8.06 at mile 5 now for the weaving in and out of the stragglers in the 5k, don't get it twisted I admire anyone who'll get off the couch  to tun/walk a 5k period much less at 7.30am on a holiday but please have some consideration for people who are actually running period much less twice as far as ye and don't walk 4-5 abreast on the course and force me and other runners to swing wide to pass ye.....it's a particular bug bear of mine, granted it only happens in a handful of races when multiple distances get ran together and does tend to boil my piss......rant over!

8.08 for mile 6 and more or less job done, so I did say I managed to reel in two of the  five runners who passed me after the turnaround, the second one was just b4 the mile 6 marker, I could see him but wasn't sure I was going to be able to reel him in{this is where the 7.16 opening split comes back to haunt ya!} any ways I start to reel him in and see him talking on his phone..........this truly boils my piss to 212 f  dude you're running a race get the fuck off the phone.....I refuse to lose to someone  talking on their phone in a race......if ye recall last March when I had a "bad day at the office" in the Love Run I knew my Goose was cooked going up the hill from Lloyd Hall towards the finish in front of the Art Museum and a guy ahead of me was yacking away on his phone and I just didn't have it to bury him.....NOT TODAY!......#canyouhearmenow?

1.28 for the final .2 of a mile to cross the line in 49.07.0 off 7.53 mile pace, 36 seconds slower than last Sundays time at the Philly 10K......however  in the Philly 10K I had to settle for 10th in the 60-69 age group today I was a comfortable winner by 5.23 and 44th overall

Not a bad morning's work if I say so myself  to begin w/ but medal #6 for the season and #262 for the career put some extra gloss on it, there's potential for 8 more medals between now and the season finale on December 7th, finishing the year w/ 14 medals for the season but more importantly 270 for the career is solid motivation for the upcoming  12 weeks

The rest of my week probably isn't worth blogging to be honest I managed back to back easy 5 milers on Tuesday and Wednesday b4  another rare run on a Friday where I didn't observe the Pagan Sabbath, this was a result of late night on Wednesday seeing Stiff Little Fingers at Underground Arts,I'll willingly lose sleep for a good concert and while I had every intention to not only run on Thursday but also  bookend the week w/ a pair of 6 milers either side of a pair of 5 milers as the auld expression goes " the road to heaven is paved w/ good intentions"...... the time honoured Irish expression of Notions springs to mind also....

I reluctantly passed on the weekend long run, Saturday it was muggy as feck and I didn't fancy tussling w/ my nemesis the humidity the hope was it wouldn't be as bad Sunday....76% humidity at 1pm and a less then settled stomach  decided my fate, a 4 day/21 mile week sans long run it is, again another nugget of wisdom from my former coach" listen to what your body is telling you" no point going out there half cocked on a long run, sure I could've gone shorter but  said feck it, keep the powder dry, ok  it's one less potential long run in the build up to the Philly Marathon on November 23rd but a little self preservation today hopefully yields a solid week next week,not sure about the auld" w/ age comes wisdom" line but once again  it's probably prudent to give myself a slightly easier week so I can ramp it up and go at it hard again next week.

The Boom Is Back/Start The Mixer

 "Oh, the craic was good in Cricklewood and they wouldn't leave the Crown, w/ glasses  flying and Biddys crying sure Paddy was going to town, Oh mother dear,I'm over and I never will go back what keeps me here is rake of beer the ladies and the craic.....and down the glen came McAlpine's men w/ their shovels slung behind them twas in the pub that they drank the sub and up the spike you'll find them they sweated blood and they washed down mud w/ Pints and quarts of beer and now we're on the road again w/ McAlpine's Fusiliers"

McAlpine's Fusiliers-The Dubliners

Jaysus, what a week,much like waiting for the Luas or the DART{Dublin Area Rapid Transit} ye wait for ages for one..... and three show up together.........

Monday August  25th Into the final week of August......thank christ says I!!!!! still officially Summer but feeling like Fall and  w/ so much at stake, I began the week on 73 miles w/ a chance to not only eclipse March's tally of 78 but also potentially log my longest run of the year w/ a 12 miler on Sunday......this would give me 105 miles for the month something I hadn't done since February of last year,the weather gods looked like they were on my side all week but the auld chestnut work.....always ready, willing and able to bollix up my runs at the drop of a hat, ergo the watchword of the week was caution, take each day as it came and hope that the running gods, the weather gods and the work gods were on  the same page for once.....

Monday was an easy/recovery 5 miler off the back of Sundays 10k so no need to time it, three 5 milers last week along the Schuylkill River Trail meant I knew where the 2.5 mile turnaround was and I was able to enjoy some easy miles in  83 degree heat w/ only 38% humidity

TADA!!! Officially 78 miles tied w/ March, if I only got a mile tomorrow that would be enough for a new record.......but I was eyeing the other two targets, after  a 28 mile week in the final week of March and another three weeks later fast forward 18 weeks, after the near miss three weeks ago when I toiled in unbearable heat & humidity Monday thro Thursday I had to settle for 27 miles w/ a hard fought 10 miles on the Sunday......remember kids Close only counts in a game of Horseshoes........

Tuesday August 26th BOOM!!! A new monthly record of 83 miles thanks to a 5 miler but of course seldom does anything go to plan in the realm of the Shamrock Warrior......

Firstly a typo on Monday of 68 miles not 78 miles  on my social media outlets had me scrambling to my PC at work post run to go back and re add up the previous 3 weeks......mercifully it was just a typo and I was still on pace for a 32 mile week and longest month since Feb 24 and a return to triple digit miles, secondly Hal the little bollix Garmin  decided today of all days would be gas to act up and act the bollix on the day I was looking to set a new record

When mile 1 came up too early I knew the rest of my splits would be off so I kept going along the Schuylkill River Trail past where Hal indicated 2.5 miles,it was off by 15 ticks or whatever unit of measurement a Garmin uses, subsequently when Hal  indicated mile 5 on the Ben Franklin Parkway I kept running till 5.15 to give me 5 miles on the nose,my subsequent splits and pace have an * next to them for this run....and any other run Hal has acted the bollix....it was 78 degrees and 33% humidity.....and  barely a cloud in the sky which is what usually fecks up the Garmin....not sure what Hal's issue was today.?......the little bollix.......

Wednesday August 27th Decided Hal could stay on the charger at home, the next two days speed, pace, splits were immaterial what was golden was the miles,at 77 degrees and 42% it really did have a Fall feel to the run,I believe I said this either last week or the week b4, September may have one {god forbid} two final "feck yous" w/ heat and humidity b4 it's done .......I hope I'm wrong I can attest to running a handful of PDR's {Philadelphia Distance Run's} in mid September that were humid as fuck so let's not get our hopes up too much just yet.....that said feck yeah let's enjoy these Fall like conditions at the tail end of August

At 15 miles for the week but more importantly 88 for the month I had the safety net of knowing if work threw a spanner in the mix tomorrow yes it would feck me for my potential 32 mile week but still have me on pace for a triple digit month....providing Saturdays long run went off w/out a hitch.......for once time to channel my "Inner Barbie".......this bitch wants it all..........

Thursday August 28th Not even " copy and paste" conditions as the humidity was down by 10% for 32% but identical temps at 77 degrees compared to yesterday

It's been a minute since I last logged four 5 milers Monday thro Thursday......wanna hazard  when it was....???? try the second week of April when I was on pace for 32 miles only to have Sundays planned 12 miler end at  mile 8........ye just couldn't make this shite up could ye???

At 93 miles now going into Saturdays scheduled 12 mile long  run the safety net was IF it went tits up at least let me get 7 miles in to return to the realm of  triple digit mileage, at this point w/ conditions cooling off I'm confident that beating 28 miles for the week would eventually happen sooner rather than later if not this week.....that said the chance to land The Grand Slam" longest week,best monthly mileage, longest run and return to the rarefied air of triple digit miles for the month was there for the taking.......and I wanted it!!!

Saturday August 30th It had all come down to this,12 miles longest run of the year {technically the Love Run 1/2 Marathon in March is my longest run but in terms of long runs in training I have two 10 milers under my belt one on March 2nd in prep for the aforementioned Love Run 1/2 Marathon and the other three weeks ago on August 10th}

As has been my won't on the weekends for my recent long runs I had to wait till lunchtime for more favourable conditions w/ the humidity, w/ so much on the line today flying in the face of it or playing fast and loose wasn't an option, I would like to eventually be in a position to knock out the Saturday or Sunday long run in the morning but  today felt like caution was the better part of valour so 12.40pm it was when the temps were a comfortable 70 degrees  and the humidity an even more comfortable 40%

As w/ most double digit long runs the blueprint is 9 min mile pace.....12 x 9 = 108....or 1.48 in running terms if ye'd offered me that b4 I set out I'd have willingly taken it,that said anything slower but still a complete 12 miles would still be acceptable also

8.31 for the opening mile happy out w/ that, 8.17 for mile 2.......which in fairness has a major downhill off the Grays Ferry Avenue bridge into Grays Ferry Crescent hence the faster split,now onto the extended Schuylkill River Trail

8.38 at mile 3 b4 a pair of 8.53 splits for miles 4 and 5 and a 8.48 split at mile 6, 50.40 at the turn roughly a mile and a quarter from Lloyd Hall and the start of Boathouse Row, at this point I wasn't thinking about a potential 1.41.20 finish based off the first half,first order of business mile 7 and triple digits for the month

8.40 at mile 7.....BOOM!! a smile and a fist pump for yer man here as I'd finally  returned to the "promised land" of triple digit mileage per month, go back to August of 2023 when I logged 103 miles I then went on to record  6 triple digit mileage months in the next 7 months the outlier being  October when I had to settle for 87 miles.....could I do that again? let's take one month at a time and see,the more  immediate  issue was could I nail a 12 miler to not only log 32 miles for the week but also record my longest run of the year period but w/ one eye on the upcoming Philadelphia Distance Run a 12 miler this week sets up the potential of 14 miles next week and IF that goes to plan hopefully a 16 miler the week after, it would be nice heading into PDR on the front foot after a few tough summers

8.42 at mile 8 and 8.34 at mile 9 heading over the recently opened bridge that extends the Schuylkill River Trail into Grays Ferry I started  to ponder how to handle the last 2 miles......

8.44 for mile 10 the knee lift and leg turnover were beginning to get away from me, as is my won't I like to increase my long runs in 2 mile increments, had I more time {ie if it hadn't been such a bastard summer, again and my shorter long runs hadn't gone tits up I'd have that time .....but I don't}I could up them by a mile,the step up from 6 to 8 miles and then 8 to 10 miles was a grind so I didn't expect any less today going from 10 to 12 miles.....to that end like I did three weeks ago rather than tackle the steep uphill  of the Grays Ferry Avenue bridge.....and still have a mile to go along 49th street I remained on the flat comfort of the the Schuylkill River Trail doing an out and back that gave me my final 2 miles

9.16 for mile 11.....hey ho there went keeping everything at sub 9 min mile pace, a battle for another day, now the focus was on the final mile,9.33 as I did exit the trail and begin the climb up Grays Ferry Avenue bridge at 9.90 and get the final 10 clicks to finish in 1.45.30 off 8.48 mile pace

BOOM!!!!/Start The Mixer.......longest run of the year,longest mileage week of the year, best monthly mileage, and a return to triple  digit mileage after 18 months...........what's the craic!!!!!!!!!!

It's taken a while to get there but I always felt in my black Celtic born again Pagan heart it would happen, the fact I got them all in one week was sweet, the fact I had to wait and work my hole off to get them even sweeter.....in the time honoured question" what the fuck do ye do for an encore?" hopefully what I did back in 2023/24 and string together  six or seven months of triple digit months, lets see what September has to offer?????