Tis himself back from the ould country w/ grand stories from me week in Ballybunion,since this is a running blog and not a travelogue I,ll stick to the running and not regale you w/ the breath taking sights.....and that was just the three cute waitresses I met at Ballybunion Golf Club,Kenmara and Valentia Island................those details will remain in my diary thank you very much...... :)Sun July 13th,needing a 6 mile run to round out my weekly milage at 30 miles I lucked out that when I reached the Cashen River I looked at my stop watch to see 18 mins and change,6 minute mile pace would mean this was 3 miles and a built in turn around,36.16.
There was naturally an element of "Chariots Of Fire"running along the beach at 7.40am on a sunny day and clear skies to admire the surrounding hill sides in the distance,how awe inspiring to run and only hear the sound of your own breathing and the waves crashing to the shore.
Mon July 14th,a slightly later start than yesterday,8am and a misty morning which negated the scenery I,m sorry to say,a slight head wind untill I reached the turn around at Cashen River,and then had it at my back for the second half of the run,36.26.
Tue July 15th,a 9am start since I wanted to say bon voyage to my nephew Tom who was flying back to London at lunch time and was heading upto to Shannon by 8.45am.
Another misty morning this time accompanied w/ a slight drizzle,time to don ye olde baseball cap and long sleeve dri fit,37.23.
Wed July 16th since a driving tour around the Ring Of Kerry was on tap at 8am yours truly was up at 6.05am to conduct this run,the sun was out but the tide wasn,t,there was enough room to run however,just not out as far as I had been on the three previous mornings.
600m into my run w/ the cliff w/ what,s left of Ballybunion Castle rapidly approaching I wondered if I,d be able to negotiate it....ah at worst my feet would get wet.....SPLAT!!!! a face plant right into the Atlantic Ocean,if I wasn,t fully awake 5 minutes ago I was now!!!!,undetered I was back up on my feet and running,at 6.10am trust me nay bugger was around to witness my mishap!!!
35.01 but probably requiring an * next to it due to the tide.
Thur July 17th,10am,clear skies,tide out,no dips in the Atlantic and my fastest time of the week 35.26,by now I was ear marking and eye balling my points along the out and back route today w/ a mile and a half to go I began to crank up the pace and passing Ballybunion Castle w/ 600m to go I began to visualize the finish of the 800m and 1,500m at Nationals in Spokane in three weeks time as I drove to the finish.
Fri July 18th,having stuck to 6 milers I went into today knowing I,d forfill my weekly 30 miles by today leaving me w/ hill repeats tomorrow morning,my final run out to Cashen River and back,35.44 a run marred only by some yappy dog w/ 800m to go,not content to keep yapping he seemed hell bent on getting under my feet,having just read in my Steve Ovett biography the day b4 where on a repeat run he told told a dog owner if his mutt interfered on his next repeat both dog and owner would be minus some teeth I thought about running out towards the ocean and seeing yappy get swept away by a wave,mans best friend me hole!
Sat July 19th,w/ heavy heart I undertook my final run at 6.10am,time meant a beach run wasn,t on the cards and the tide took care of that anyways,plus I already had 30 miles in so I opted for hill repeats.
10 times up a steep path from the beach to the top of the road,eyeballing it I,d say 180m,I opened in 24.40 and then aimed to get the remaining 9 at 25 seconds or under I went:25.16,25.65,25.00,25.82,25.79,25.87,25.57,25.62,24.22.
Job done,I took a final walk along the beach and gave a heavy sigh as I glanced one last time over the view that had been my training home for the past week,fingers crossed I,ll reap it,s rewards in Spokane at Nationals and 5th Ave Mile
Slainte.
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