It's A Long Way To The Top.....Its Even Further To The Dublin Marathon Finish Line......

 There's a classic line at the start of Woody Allen's movie "Love & Death" where he says "there comes a time in every mans life when he had so die...for me that's 6am.....should have been 5am but got a smart lawyer, got leniency...." that's how this weekend felt.......

I pushed back Saturdays all important " long run" to Sunday if for no other reason to delay the inevitable, I already knew what was in store for me, there was no miracle waiting  irregardless of which day I ran.

Out by 8.10am, I should be grateful after several weeks I had finally gotten out there on the weekend, I have one more weekend b4 Dublin and then it's five successive weekends of races b4 a weekend race free and then the season finale on Sun Dec 8th, conditions were sunny and mild although I did eventually work up a good sweat by the time I reached Fairmount Park

8.10 for the opening mile, a tad brisk but the opening mile often is, I opted for the Powelton Ave route to  31st/Mantua Ave then a left on to 34th St towards to Philadelphia Zoo and the Lansdowne Dr to get up to Fairmount Park, 8.32 at mile 2 and at this point it all felt it was going to plan...... just after I turned onto 31st St at roughly 2.77 miles I began to "suck air" it's possible the 8.10-8.32 opening 2 miles had something to do w/ that but sadly too often in recent weeks/months I have felt I'm struggling to breathe, during the Summer I blamed the humidity but I can't use that as an excuse any longer in mid October, what the issue is I don't know it doesn't present it's self in any other area of my day to day life I live on the third floor I don't get winded going up the steps, I constantly walk a flight of stairs to the 22nd floor at work, no issue and on any given day at work I'm required to walk several city blocks to make deliveries or pick ups, again no issues until I run, the kick in the bollix is I always joke that the two requirements to be a good runner are a good respirartory  system....and a full frontal lobotomy cause we have to be out of our ever loving minds to not only do what we do...but love doing it......

I got going again pretty soon after stopping and clocked  9.37 at mile 3, normally when I stop running I stop the Garmin but I figured I'd just let it run, I was that unconfident of getting 16 miles in.....9.32 at mile 4 again I felt good and hoped the early stop was a result of the opening two splits being a tad brisk.....the uphill on Lansdowne Ave is often a tough incline when I'm 100% today I had to stop and walk b4 making the turn to Avenue Of The Republic, 10.13 at mile 5 the writing was truly on the wall but I wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet so rather than just head home via Belmont Avenue I continued towards the Mann Music Center but after rounding the statue at States Drive I turned back down Avenue Of The Republic rather than my usual route towards Fairmount Park via States Dr and crossing Belmont Ave

10.42 at mile 6 now it was just a war of attrition to make it home I was reminded of a Charles Barkley comment during the 92 Olympics when the NBA Dream Team represented Team USA in the Basketball" no you can't have an autograph, no you can't have a photograph, no you can't have my jersey, take your beatin' and go home"........

12.27 at mile 7 insult to injury I stopped the Garmin at the junction on Lansdowne Ave and Girard Ave to wait for the lights in my favour but upon resuming my run I guess I didn't hit the restart button so the next 400m/600m I ran went unrecorded......great don't even get credit for the distance ran......

12.07 at mile 8 after turning onto Powelton Ave, I had some Pitbull barking at me from the passenger seat of a passing car I did laugh to myself it must've been an Israeli Pitbull  since I was wearing my Palestine running vest to brake it for for Dublin......

10.20 at mile 9 I called it a day there I still had less than a mile to get home but didn't feel like doing loops around the block to round out another mile 1.31.38 in 10.11 mile pace, hardly earth shattering but it is what it is, a classic case of trying to make a Silk purse out of a Pig's ear........

SO where does this leave me? I'm woefully short of miles for Dublin but I'm going to do it, I was already resigned to it being my slowest ever marathon to begin w/ so I may as well try and enjoy it w/out the  pressure of worrying about time, if I was signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon on Nov 24th I may have time to "pull a Rabbit out of the hat" but 'm not and I don't, Dublin will be what it is but it will springboard me to the remaining  six races of the Fall Road Race season

Keep On Truckin' Young Renegade

And there there were six.......miles in my legs and in my logbook....., the fact I had hoped to begin the week w/ six miles but settled for three but slowly worked my way up to it is a testimony to where I'm at right now, Dublin Marathon  aside I do need to prep for the remainder of the Fall Road Race season, Bridge Run 10k Nov 3rd, Italian Stallion Challenge 5k & 10m @ The Rocky Run Nov 9th Penn Relays 5k Nov 16th,Rothman 8k Nov 23rd and after two weeks off the season finale Schuylkill River Loop 8.4m so getting back up to 6 mile runs is good moving forwards the next several weeks

Out the front door at 2pm a mild 60 degrees but sunny as I made my way up the Ben Franklin Parkway towards the Art Museum and Kelly Drive, once again "Hal" the sadistic little bolllix of a Garmin posted a mile split way too early heading to the Art Museum  but I took it in stride, I'd shaken off the over riding feeling of being tired{ this was afterall my 4th  run in 4 days, not something I'd done since March 4th-7th} and feeling hungry, I can ill afford to miss any more training runs between now and the 22nd so all those negative feelings had to go on the back burner

8.40 at mile 2, the plan was sub 9s out and back for a sub 54 min time ,again the miles were more important than the time, that said I wasn't looking at a plod so maintaining a reasonable pace was key,8.54 at mile 3, 25.01, almost 2 minutes under the 27.00 target, as has been my wont this week I continued a little beyond the half way point b4 turning to rule out the potential of maybe having to loop around the 16th-17th street block of Market & Chestnut streets upon my return to work if "Hal" had fecked me, a 6 mile run is 6 miles NOT 5. some auld shite.....trust me I've " looped the loop" more than once to get 6.00 on the run on this route....and may well have to again b4 the start of March.....

9.06 at mile 4 I wasn't too concerned I was 6 seconds over given I had 1.59 " in the bank" to go sub 54.00, this was as good a point as any to get the legs and lungs on the same page thinking ahead to Saturdays long run, 9.21 at mile 5, my slowest split all week but to keep it in perspective my closing mile Monday over three miles was 9.21 and since then I'd managed to increase my daily run by a mile a day

Knowing I had a rest day tomorrow I was able to up the pace coming back down the Parkway.... I also knew at 54 mins give or take I needed to be back at my desk by 3pm  so I picked up the pace, 8.42 for the final mile 52.13.9 off 8.42 mile pace

I'm pleased to be back up to 6 mile runs but I'm not " givin' it the bigun" as far as the Bridge Run 10k and Rocky Run 5k Penn Relays 5k and Rothman 8k this is good prep but I need to remember that Saturdays long run and the Dublin Marathon are still out there to be tackled, to that end I hope getting back into the routine of daily running will motivate and inspire me to get up Saturday morning and go long, the last few weeks I haven't and that may well come back to bite me in the arse in Dublin

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

 Another day, another mile, another boost to my confidence, another deposit into the Dublin Marathon bank

Out the door by 2pm, sunny and warm at 68 degrees as I made my way up the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Art Museum and Kelly Drive, based off the data Tuesdays 4 miler in 34.56.6 off 8.43 mile pace gave me I was looking at 5 miles in under 45.00 off 9.00 min mile pace

Either I learnt my lesson from  Tuesday where my opening mile of 8.26 had me " suckin' air" or I was being cautious w/ the extra mile today but I opened in 8.46, again the more important number was the miles not my speed and pace, 8.59 at mile 2 still sub 9 pace.

As is it's won't the Garmin went garrity on me and gave me a 7.36 split for mile 3...I knew that was bollix but I figured it was an 8.55 split after finishing and adding  the other four splits and looking at the finish time.....at a time when so many other things in my running aren't working the last thing In need is grief from my Garmin......that said I saw "2001 Space Odyssey" I know computers are evil bastards eh Hal???...

9.27 at mile 4 and again that could be off due to "Hal" being a little bollix, doing some quick math on the proverbial fly I had some time in the bank to stay below 45.00/9.00,however w/ lunchtime runs there's always the need to be back at my desk, toweled off and  a liberal supply of deoderant so as not to offend any of my co workers so I picked it up coming down the Parkway towards City Hall, 8.43 for the final mile,43.32.0 off 8.42 mile pace 1.28 inside 45.00,another good run in the books

Hopefully tomorrow I can get up to 6 miles, it's as far as I can go w/in the confinds of a lunch hour but it would be another building block in the restoration of my Dublin Marathon hopes and dreams, I'm gonna focus on getting 6 miles in first b4 I start to think about the prospect of a long, longer run on Saturday, hopefully getting back into the swing of running during the week will lend its self to getting up when the alarm goes off Saturday morning and taking my chances on a double digit run, I should have been doing this the last few weeks but the motivation just wasn't there, ye'd think the fear of not falling on my hole in Dublin would be motivation enough but when my running wasn't going to plan as I would expect it to, it was very easy not to "put myself out there"......it is as they say time to"piss or get off the pot", at a time when I should be tapering I'm desperate to log longer runs.....live it to himself to zig when other runners zag........

Time Keeps On Tickin'........

 I was tempted to go the Europe route and use "The Final Countdown" but much like if you sing "Happy Birthday" ye have to pay royalties, I'm not giving  Joey Tempest any money.....although I'm sure he could use it since Europe were pretty much  a "One Hit Wonder" back in the 80s.....

So a little "house cleaning" from Monday, after a near 3 week period of inactivity I got my sorry arse out the door at lunchtime, this was my first lunchtime run since March 7th,full disclosure I had hoped to run six miles ....however a mile and a half into said run I was "suckin' air" as a result of my inactivity so I promptly cut my losses and turned around to make it a three miler, rather than throw my toys out of the pram I figured hopefully Tuesday I could bump it up a mile to four and then five on Wednesday w/ a view to getting to six come Thursday, at that rate a mile a day I'd be up to nineteen miles by the 23rd the day I depart for Dublin......not too shabby.......however there is the oh so small matter that this week and next week I'm at work and trying to utilize my lunch hour to run.....not sure an extended lunch to up my miles will cut mustard w/ the powers that be......the man....always keeping me down!

I have to say conditions both days at 2pm in the opening ten days of October were ideal, sunny and warm w/ no heat or humidity to contend w/ as I made my way up to the Schuylkill River Trail via the Ben Franklin Parkway, why I haven't used the Parkway b4 I don't know it's only  a block over from JFK Blvd which I had been using, its less crowded w/ pedestrian traffic and vehicle traffic and also a change of scenery never hurts 

Based off of Monday when I managed 3 miles in 27.25.6 off 9.09 mile pace I was shooting for 4 miles in  roughly 36 mins, opening mile was 8.26 and yet again I was " suckin air" but managed to find a rhythm and clocked 8.45 at mile 2 just beyond Boathouse Row, at this point I was going to be inside 36 mins but given my recent failures to complete runs and the clock tickin' on Dublin I was more focused on getting the miles in, sub 36 was an added bonus if it happened....

9.00 flat at mile 3 as I made my way down the Parkway towards City Hall, did I "let the clutch out" and go for it or keep in mind I have to be back tomorrow to tack on an extra mile......8.43 for the closing mile and a 34.53.6 finish off 8.43 mile pace, lets keep things in perspective it's only 4 miles which would only get me to Phoenix  Park in Dublin however at a time when my confidence is as low as Whale shit at the foot of the ocean I have to take even a small victory and use it

Lets see if I can tack on an extra mile tomorrow and get further thro Phoenix Park.....

Start The Mixer!

 Like a foul oder ye just can't seem to get rid of yer man has returned to the blogaverse w/ more of his auld shite.......

So apologies for the lack of blogging since PDR....this was due in no small part to a lack of running by yours truly, to be fair I didn't plan on being on the sideline for three weeks but here I am, the days of running a half marathon and then going out the following day to " shake it out" seem to be from a bygone era and by midweek the desire and drive to get out there seemed to have escaped me, then factor in the end of Summer and the start of Fall and it being pitch black dark b4 7pm meant evening runs were now a flight of fantasy, I had planned to resume my lunchtime jaunts along the Schuylkill River Trail the first week of October.....however that felt like another week that got away from me......all the while the clock is ticking down to October 27th and the Dublin Marathon, tick tock, tick tock....

Ye would think the prospect of a marathon would be enough of an incentive to shake me from my malaise and get cracking, and yet therein lies the rub, it's fair to say I have struggled almost all year in training and in my races, and were this a normal Fall Road Race Season I'd have time to get my mileage up to where it needs to be for The Bridge Run 10k, Penn Relays 5k, Rocky Run 5k and 10 miles, Rothman 8k and Schuylkill Loop 8.4 miles, the prospect of 26.2 miles w/ the lack of miles under my belt is not one that fills me  a great deal of hope that this will be anything other than a dumpster fire.....that said I'm fully committed to going and giving it a lash, and in the immortal words of Noel Furlong '' Just Fuckin' Drive It"

I have 2.5 weeks to log what miles I can b4 flying to Dublin in the hope I can be if not in typical marathon shape, run a marathon....the over riding fear is a Dublin City Council workman behind me at the finish pushing a broom waiting for this gobshite to cross the finish line so he can go home long after everyone else had made it back to Merrion Square, hopefully the next two weeks at lunchtime I'm out getting miles in and on both weekends hopefully something resembling a long run, w/ the prospect of the day b4 flying home to Dublin one final long run, to that end I will do daily blog updates, if I have to be tortured and tormented then so should ye!

Slow & Steady.....Won't Win The Race......But Will Get Ye To The Finish.....

 So apologies for no blog last week, in the build up to PDR off the back of another two failed attempts to get double digit mileage runs in I opted not to post anything, hoping some positive vibes would magically  appear in my legs for Sundays all important Philadelphia Distance Run......

In the week leading up to Sunday I didn't get out along the Schuylkill River Trail/Kelly Drive, a late start to work on Monday put me behind the proverbial 8 ball and then Tuesday when I was quite gung ho about getting after it I waited an age for the trolley home, another nite it was close to 6 pm when I got home w/ the evenings drawing in now and it getting dark by 7.30pm I need to be out the door b4 6pm if I'm going to be out there for 90 mins/10 miles etc.....an excuse that would hold water in late September early October I know.....part of my reluctance I felt this week was my piss poor form of late since mid July I have only logged two 10 mile runs July 13th and July 28th like anything when your form isn't there the desire and drive to get out and get after it tends to be in short supply.....even if I had magically managed a 10 miler on Wednesday or Thursday I doubt it would have made a can of beans worth of difference to how Sundays race would play out........

For the umpteenth time since my PDR debut in 1989 I was up at the arse crack of dawn to get to the Ben Franklin Parkway by 6.30am for a 7.30pm start, while waiting in line for the portajohn on Eakins Oval I saw 59 degrees displayed on trusty Peco Tower a good morning for a race I have faced all manner of conditions over the years in this race, hot and humid, gray and overcast, pissed out of the heavens and idylic today was close to the later although the sweat off my running vest into the top part of my shorts indicated a reasonable amount of humidity along the out and back course, like last year it was down the Parkway, round Logan Circle back up the Parkway, up Kelly Drive, over Falls Bridge, down West River Drive making the turn b4 Columbia bridge, back up West River Drive, over Falls Bridge, down Kelly Drive and finishing in front of the Art Museum

Corral 3, I fear my days of the 1st corral are behind me, in fairness I don't recall what time I put for my seed time but I was a bit concerned to see the 1.50 pace group behind   me , again off piss poor form coming into the race I had no overriding concerns about my finish time, speed or pace.....on Saturday nite I did wonder what if?.......what if like my recent attempts at 10 mile runs I got to mile 6-7 and ran out of steam.......long feckin walk back to Eakins Oval to get my bag........I quickly dismissed such thoughts I was reminded of an old Usain Bolt quote on my living room door I see b4 each training run/ race " worrying gets you nowhere, train hard show up for your race and run your best" sage advice......easy for a 100m/200m runner to say not so easy for a distance runner but worrying wasn't going to help me get to and from the finish so why use up nervous energy?

Clear enough start, was cognizant that I " wasn't ripping up any trees" w/ my pace, sadly a theme of my last 4 races{Love Run Hot Choc 15k Broad St Run Philly 10k} since late March, 7.52 for the opening mile I hadn't given any real thought to pace so sub 8 seemed ok if I could maintain it.....I'm painfully aware of the old adage ' if my Aunt had balls she'd be my Uncle" so ......... 7.57 at mile 2 and 8.06 at mile 3, I vaguely recall 25 mins plus at 5k, at this pace I'd be lucky to break 1.50.......

8.12-8.06-8.17 for the next 3 miles and over Falls Bridge, by now there was a steady flow of runners coming back up West River Dr towards Falls Bridge......I remember those days running 1.18-1.20 for a half marathon..... sadly from a bygone era I fear, made the turn on West River Drive b4 Columbia Bridge, mile 7 was 8.29.....ever so slowly my splits were creeping up but I was still moving.

Between mile 7 and 8 I stopped briefly to walk b4 getting going again now was when I would have to dig in mentally and physically w/ just over 5 miles to go, unlike my recent incomplete runs I had other runners to work off of, and to put things in perspective as bad as a day I thought I was having I was about to hit mile 9 crossing Falls bridge, there were runners who had yet to hit mile 5..... and further down Kelly Drive I saw the 2.45 pace group w/ a few runner behind it.....that takes some doing to not only commit  to a 2.45 half marathon but also know you'll be so far behind everyone else who's finished but also watching runners on the other side of the road heading towards the finish when you haven't even made the half way mark/turnaround.....mad respect to those runners

9.14 at mile 9 this was "survival mode" I went about each mile knowing I was closer to the finish. 9.08 at mile 10 by this point I'd stopped calculating what each mile would be, just take one mile at a time and keep making my way towards the Art Museum and the finish line, whatever  my 10 mile time was {1.24 I think} I was slower than my time for Broad Street in May when I ran 1.14, each mile resulted in a brief stop b4 getting going again, the longer I walked the harder it would be to get going again, unlike those failed runs in August & early September when I had to endure the walk of shame I was going to finish this race running...no matter how slowly! 9.29 at mile 11 but 10.29 at mile 12 as I stopped twice now for the final 1.1 mile at this point  the goal was to break 1.55....I always knew there would come a day when I'd end up running a 1.55 half marathon.....I had just hoped it would be later in my 60s......

9.42 at mile 13 b4 a 58 second .1 to cross the line in 1.54.44 off 8.44 pace.....well at least I finished period and claimed medal #6 for the season and #249 for the career albeit w/ my slowest ever time for a half marathon but now in the cold light of day comes the inquest......unless in the next 38 days b4 I board my flight to Dublin I can somehow pull together some serious double digit mileage the Dublin Marathon  WON'T happen, it's one thing to grind thro a half marathon when the work hasn't been done but I'm NOT subjecting myself to that over 26.2 miles nor fair on me not fair on my family to wait around four hours for me to cross the finish line

Hopefully finally getting a double digit run in albeit w/ the aid of  6 walk brakes yesterday triggers something this week as I look to build on that at this point I'd settle for one 20 mile run b4 Dublin but I need to get to 20 first, we'll start slowly this week and hope and pray the miles come

August......Don't Let The Door Hit Ye In The Hole On The Way Out.......

 Seldom have I ever been so happy to see the back of a month as I was on Sunday morning when the calendar said September 1st, tis a far cry from my days as a young pup when August meant the end of summer holidays and the dreaded "Back To School".........

Sadly the feckin humidity scuppered  another week of training, I'm not nieve enough to think cos we're into September now that's it w/ the humidity{ this coming weekends plans to " go long" are in jeopardy already!} but I only managed a mile on Tuesday at 6pm as it was 87 degrees w/ 39% humidity, I felt I was breathing through syrup w/in the opening mile so called it quits off an 8.37.5 mile

Sadly the weekend didn't yeild any respite w/ the humidity although the heat was beginning to drop sadly  as it's been well documented in the blog this summer my issues are w/ the humidity and not the heat so that was the proverbial fork in that......like I can afford to be missing any runs right now  let alone the long runs on the weekend

So I think I misspoke last week when I said Dublin was ten weeks away...it was actually nine and now w/ this lost weekend it's eight.....the feckin sands of time are slowly getting away from me.....as of right now next weekend looks questionable for a long run as the humidity ramps back up so I'm reliant on midweek 12-14 mile runs to try and bridge the gap to 16-18-20 the final six weekends in September/October, as fickle as fate can be the weekend after next is PDR so no long run that Saturday b4 a half marathon on Sunday......can't win for losing at the moment can I???

In the back of my mind is the fact that in 1990 I only had 6 weeks to prep for the New York City marathon and back in 1985 I logged a 20 mile run the week b4 my marathon debut in Harrow it looks like I will have to rely on the glories of marathons past if Dublin is to come to fruition this year......