We Make Plans ......And God Laughs.........

 "Then I'll rip the head off ya give it a new name buy it an Nintendo get it all the games and I'll make em dance for us to an old tune find a girl to love who'll kinda do I keep on running, planning running planning oh yeah, I keep on running planning running planning oh yeah"

Running/Planning-CMAT

Not the week I thought I'd have in or out of training but that's the beauty of life  it'll throw you a curve ball  from time to time.....question is how you'll respond?........

Tuesday November 11th Perhaps the proverbial  writing was on the wall  for the week when I sat out Monday lunchtimes planned run, the two races on Saturday had been  a challenge and no point fronting my calves were still a little tender from Mount Drago so in that time honoured  adage of " listen to what your body's tell ye" I figured an extra days recovery was called for........however  for all my talk of "Gypsy Blood" had I been able to predict Wednesday was going to get shot to shit because of work I would've taken the option of an easy run......#IfIKnewThenWhatIKnowNow.....

As it was lovingly referenced in my socials post run it was a "Winnie The Pooh" type run......cos t'was a feckin' blustery day I forget the actual temps 45 degrees maybe? but the wind was fair savage out there as I logged a decent 42.39.8 off 8.28 mile pace and also  a negative split out in 22.02 back in 20.37, was it wind aided.....? maybe but I seldom cop a plea when I'm battling strong headwinds out there so " turnaround is fair play" if the wind was at my back today

Thursday November 13th So Wednesday got shot to shit due to work which meant Thursday now became an untimed run, I was happy out to be out running period but given the situation at work it was a much needed stress reliever, w/out going into a full blown diatribe re the work place let's just say  not for the first time this year there is "trouble in the sandbox"  and it's now to a point as well as counting the weeks till my vacation {four as of Wednesday} I'm now counting the workdays till I depart for Dublin, I made a Fenian Advent Calendar w/ a picture of the Samuel Beckett bridge in Dublin covered w/ small yellow Post It  Notes  w/ the days written on them, at the end of each day a Post It Note gets removed and I see a little bit more of the bridge......I just hope I don't throw myself the feck off of it into the River Liffey below when I finally get to Dublin.....tis been a long feckin' year and I would just like to get through the remaining 16 work days till Tuesday December 9th when they can.....and I quote form a line to kiss my " lilly white, South London, mother fuckin' Irish areshole.........BOOM! mic drop.......

Friday November 14th As a rule there's a reason I don't work on my birthday as I like to remove the potential for being aggravated on it.......sadly this year that wasn't an option and what do ye know I was aggravated to the feckin' back teeth all feckin' day........said birthday falls  on the weekend the next two years{thank christ!!!!} but best be sure however many more years I have to work till I retire either in  2030-2033 I WILL be off

When I'm that beaten up/beaten down by work I can't do a full blown Tempo Run there's a problem I settled for a quasi Tempo Run and still managed a semi respectable 42.26.5 off 8.24 mile pace my 4th quickest time of the  thirteen hill runs  I've been doing since Oct 7th  and for good measure another negative split, out in 21.38 back in 20.48

Little did I know this was to be a Porky Pig run ........"that's all folks!" I had hoped to get out at least Saturday or Sunday if not both days....that didn't happen.....and ya know what?.......that's ok.....I have for the last  12 weeks thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at my training, maybe a three day/15 mile week is what I need right now, most runners won't schedule an easy/low mileage week unless they're injured, ill or the weather isn't cooperating, the week of  August  11th-17th I only logged 17 miles  and then went on a run of 12 weeks  where I logged:21-32-21-29-33-22-25-20-28-20-21-33 so if this week is the springboard to another 12 week run like that I'll happily take a  backseat this week and resume things next week starting Monday

I still have 54 miles logged halfway through November so the potential for a fourth  consecutive triple digit mileage months  is  w/in my grasp, shur that requires work to settle down and the universe to stop feckin' w/ me  but as the auld saying goes " hope springs eternal" tomorrow is a new day and a new week......

Shamrocks,{Rocky Run} & Shenanigans

 "And the old religion humming in your veins some animal instinct starting up again and I am wound so tightly,I hardly even breathe you wonder why we're hungry for some kind of release so tired of being careful, so tired of being still give me something I can crush, something I can kill A lightning strike, a fallen tree and I'm afraid oh don't let it find me but you can't outrun yourself, you'll see and I am powerless, oh don't remind me"

The Old Religion-Florence & The Machine

A 5 day 33 mile week for the second time in  seven weeks, three more medals to the collection......oh and a long overdue age group win......not  yer average week for the Shamrock Warrior.........

Monday November 3rd Off the back of Sundays  brisk 10k at the Bridge Run I needed a shake out run to get any lingering crap out of my legs.....also w/ a rare Saturday race/races on the schedule I wanted to get my reps in Monday through Thursday so I could be fresh come 7am/8am Saturday morning

The morning at work had been a bear so I was only too happy to duck into the empty office I use to get out of my work gear and into my running gear this lunchtime and blow off a little stream, a semi respectable  46.26.0 off 9.04 mile pace which for a recovery/easy  run is fine, having ran my fastest 10k in 2 years the day b4 if ever there was a day to ease off the gas a little it was today

Tuesday November 4th Mercifully a less " all hands on deck" morning in the office and an untimed run on tap......now wonder I was smiling when I did my post run socials, the sunshine and the 62 degree temps didn't hurt either........

Wednesday November 5th NOT the fireworks last weeks Tempo Run produced on  Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night sadly but none the less my second fastest time on this course over the last five weeks

No sub 40 or negative split this week but at 41.21.6 off 8.16 mile pace  it wasn't something to be sniffed at either, having thrown everything but the kitchen sink at the Radnor 5 Miles and Bridge Run 10k in the past two weeks it will be interesting to see what kind of time I can register Saturday in the 5k, the last 18 weeks have seen me rededicate myself to my training and I'm finally starting to see the rewards now in training and my races, granted the season is winding down but unlike last year where I pretty much mailed it in post Dublin and then didn't resume training till late January once December 7th's season finale is ran I don't plan on easing off, even if it means using a treadmill in my hotel in Dublin while I'm away for 10 days

Thursday November 6th The big takeaway from this run was how badly it effected my fingers post run, at 55 degrees it was hardly cold out there and certainly no need for gloves{that friggin' cheque is in the mail trust me,maybe not December  but I'm sure come January!} however post run from my fingertips down to the middle knuckle turned ghostly white and trying to operate the frigging  Remote Data Link handheld on the 4pm mail run was problematic  to say the least......

I know I'm cursed w/poor circulation to begin w/ it's always my extremities, fingers and toes that feel it first on a run......but I wasn't expecting it to happen in early November, reasonably sure HR won't sign off on Whiskey as a " medicinal beverage" pre run so I may just have to keep an eye on this and see if it was a one off or if it happens again

Saturday November 8th For the eighth time in nine years{2020 being the outlier for obvious reasons} yours truly was not only getting the feck up at 5am{I know tis insanity, as a hand held sign between mile 8 and 9 read today "You paid to do this!!!"}  but also was doing the "Italian Stallion Challenge" the 5k and 10 miles......why?..... simple cos they offer a bonus medal......that's feckin' why!

In 2017 when I returned to road racing after 10 very fruitful years running Masters Track my medal count was  #157 I started thinking about getting to  #200 so when I saw that The Rocky Run offered a bonus medal for signing up for the "Italian Stallion Challenge" I signed up......and have kept signing up ever since in 2019 the 5k yielded #200 but since I then turned my focus on #300 so the thought of either the 5k or the 10 miles hasn't really played out,on my current trajectory I believe #300 could come at the end of the 2027 season or early 2028 so that means for the next two years its ye auld "Italian Stallion Challenge"

I paid more attention to the fact it was going to be raining at 5am than what the actual temperature at race time/times was going to be..... it was almost my undoing in the 10 miles as I had opted for a base layer which I actually didn't need but for all my yackin' about being a Boy Scout and "Be Prepared"  I never  brought or thought to bring compression shorts opting instead for my 3/4 length running tights, boy did I sweat in them and the long sleeved running shirt under my running vest......t'was honest sweat in fairness and I'd rather sweat than be under dressed and be cold out there

22.19.8 for the 5k off 7.11 mile pace my second fastest time in the last 2 years, at Cupid's Chase in February of 24 when I was in a rich vein of mileage I logged 21.02.5, this is why the fact the Penn Relays 5k clashed w/ the Rocky Run this year is a double pisser, A one less medal and B the chance to run a 5k w/out holding something back for the 10 miler, guess I'll have to wait 14 weeks till Cupid's Chase  26 to run my next 5k.......motivation to "keep er lit" over the Winter.......

I won't lie, I had some concerns about the 10 miler going into this, since PDR on September 21st my longest run  was 8 miles on October 19th as I opted to focus on the shorter distances but again in "full disclosure" the plan is 10 mile long runs between now and years end minus my time in Dublin so that come the first weekend in January I'm ready to step up to 12 miles and  by late January/ early February I'm upto 14 miles as my sights will be on the Love Run half marathon on March 29th

8.04 for the opening mile,I was hoping for something around 8 min mile pace/1.20 finish....give or take, when I logged back to back 8.08 splits for miles 2 and 3 it felt like I'd gotten into a good rhythm and 8.10 at mile 4 confirmed that

Not sure how or why mile 5 ballooned  upto 8.23 pace......I suspect I was preparing for "Mount Drago" a series of up hills that would make or brake me, again this is why I've spent several weeks on the hills of Sedgley Drive,Lemon Hill Drive and Kelly Drive doing hill work........although in fairness those hills have feck all on these yokes, sweet mother of God these are some serious feckin' hills to begin w/ and it's just over half way in the race/races for those of us insane enough to do both distances

9.11 at mile 6 just after the final uphill now I don't quote Sir Isaac Newton that often.....if ever........however "what goes up must come down" and I knew there were downhills back onto West River Drive so the fact mile 7 was a 7.53 split shouldn't come as a great surprise

Maybe it was the momentum of the downhills and the decent mile splits at mile 7 but mile 8 was another 8.08 split, there was no doubt in my mind now I was finishing this and doing so w/out stopping, I don't know what the official temperature was at 8am-9am but it was warm and sunny and in the second weekend of November ye'd take it every time

8.02 at mile 9, granted my average mileage per week of late has been  mid to low 20s but I had racked up some decent longer weeks at the tail end of August, early mid September when the Philly Marathon was a consideration so I had that "muscle memory" in the legs

7.32 for the final mile as I crossed the line in 1.21.41 off 8.09 mile pace.........remarkably quicker than Broad Street in May which was 1.24.29 on a very  humid  morning, last year post Dublin Marathon I ran 1.30.27 here which was my slowest ever time for 10 miles.......what a difference a year makes!

I won the 60-64 age group in the 5k, got 4th  in the 10 miles{at least it wasn't feckin' 5th for a third week in a row!!} 2nd in the  Italian Stallion Challenge and 5th in the Mount Drago challenge ......not a bad mornings work if I say so meself!

Normally I'd be half way through a five week cycle of Fall Road races,next weekend would've been the Penn Relays 5k and the following weekend would've been either the half marathon or the Rothman 8k neither of which are happening this year......which is grand as I can hopefully log three 10 mile long runs the next three weekends b4 the season finale Schuylkill River Loop on December 7th and finish the season on a high note not the bum note last season ended on and the fact it took till the last week of January to get back into the swing of things......a fully motivated Shamrock Warrior is a dangerous Shamrock Warrior....

Revenge Is {Almost} A Dish Served Smoldering.......

 "Burning  drives me wild yearning for the snow child blind men cry but shed no tears see no evil but speak in tongues and hearsay all lovers leap 'cause there's no other way across waters deep fuel the fire and the fool is learning to run from flames of bridges burning"

Bridges Burning-The Mission

A couple of missed runs but still managed another triple digit mileage  month b4 another missed podium at this weekends race......all  grist for the mill for the Shamrock Warrior.........

Tuesday October 28th So stop me if ye've heard this one b4.......but I missed a training run at lunchtime because of work......... hence why my week began on Tuesday

As I say when it happens my running schedule  has to fit around my work schedule not the other way around.......however that said I would've liked to have gotten out Monday as it was the 41st anniversary of the auld fella dying and it would've been nice to honour his memory w/ a run  period but especially over 5 miles as that was the distance he chased me and his godson Liam home in the middle of a particularly  rainy night back home in Berrings County Cork in August of 72...........were he still alive today we'd probably joke about it but trust me it was no laughing matter that night, I was convinced he was going to kill the pair of us

As for Tuesdays run I went the untimed route and even though it was a day later than I had hoped for it was good to get any lingering crap out of my legs from Sundays race,at 55 degrees and overcast it was short sleeve weather the thought I might get away w/ sleeveless the final week of October was wishful thinking

Wednesday October 29th On the 38th anniversary of leaving home in South London for Philadelphia a run for the record books

I was planning to make this a tempo run to begin w/ but I decided it would be a tempo run on the hills, last week in a quasi tempo run over the hills I went 41.24.8 off 8.17 mile pace w/out truly  droppin' the hammer today I was channeling my inner Thor" to me,my hammer!!!!"

A brisk opening mile on the Parkway in 7.43 I then dropped an 8.03 on Lemon Hill, I clocked 19.57 at the the turnaround near Lemon Hill Mansion, if I hadn't gone  off half cocked this was going to be fast 8.31 at mile 3 one final downhill on Lemon Hill Dr/Sedgley Dr b4 an uphill on Kelly Dr upto the Art Museum,7.54 I knew this had potential to not only be fast but maybe sub 40.......

7.30 for the final mile 39.41.9 off 7.55 mile pace AND for good measure a negative split out in 19.57 back in 19.44.......no wonder I looked like the Cat that got the Canary all afternoon at work........ also I was now at 98 miles for the month, another triple digit mileage month was there for the taking w/ two days to spare..........

Friday October 31st So I'd know most of the week that Thursday was going to get rained out which meant Friday would be my last chance to get miles in to maintain my run of triple digit mileage, that couple w/ it being Halloween or Samhain as we refer to it back home and the fact the new Florence & The Machine album "Everybody Scream" not only got released but was having a listening party on South St after work probably all put a little pep in my step at lunchtime

While not as blisteringly fast as Wednesday 42.58.5 off 8.36 mile pace ranks as my third fastest time on this course over the last three weeks, it was also another negative split out in 22.23 back in 20.35

#103 miles for the month, glass half empty less than August #105 and September #110, glass half full first time since November/December 23 January 24 I've logged back to back to back triple digit mileage  months.....for the record my record  is four months as in February 24 I added a fourth triple digit mileage months so no prizes for guessing  that triple digit mileage is firmly in my sights  for November...

Sunday November 2nd The Bridge Run 10k in Camden has become a regular fixture on my race calendar the past few years and is already penciled in for 26.....shit last year I ran it a week after the Dublin Marathon such is my love of this race!

Sadly 10k has almost become  obsolete in the realm of race distances,back in the day it felt like the distance du jour as there we several 10k ran throughout the year,these days not so many,my theory was then and is now  most weekend warriors knew they couldn't bluff their way through 6 miles.......however if ye make it a 5k and 3 miles more participants are likely to sign up, kind of a win/win  except for runners like me who really enjoy 10k, I usually earmark the Bridge Run  10k to be my seasons best given it's later in the year and the training has hopefully been done,plus first Sunday in November weather tends to lend it's self to great race weather

This was another year when the weather gods smiled on the over 1700 runners who showed up at 8.30am on the Camden side of the Ben Franklin bridge, 46 degrees and sunny but given the opening three miles are all over the bridge  and back and the final mile is  along the Delaware River I opted for a base layer under my customary Shamrock bandana, Palestine running vest and Ireland shorts #Represent

7.42 for the opening mile which is mostly uphill, over 5 miles last week at Radnor my mile pace was 7.41 so I'd started how I meant to go on,6.57 for mile 2 which is mostly downhill once ye crest the top of the bridge and begin your way down to the Philadelphia  side b4 making a sharp turn and heading back up hill to the Camden side of the bridge

7.14 for mile 3 they hadn't put clocks on the bridge for fear of the wind maybe blowing them over so I was having to do math on the fly to workout my overall time......math isn't my strong suit period as was underlined during the week when I realized my trip to Dublin that I've been counting down to since it was 29 weeks is actually 6 weeks not the 7 I had it at..........ok I can't do basic math but my go to defense in a case like that is"in my defense I was left unsupervised and it was a full Moon".........

7.00 flat at mile 4, 28.53 off 7.41 mile pace I was thinking  high to mid 44 mins so now it was a matter of hanging on, I was kinda in "no mans land" there was a cluster of runners ahead of me if I could reel them in 

7.47 at mile 5 I was afraid I was going to give some time back but as long as mile 6 didn't get away from me something in the 44-45 min range was there for the taking,7.35 at mile 6 as I dug in, a few runners had gotten by me in the last mile I was determined not to let anyone else pass me,I love races that finish on a track, probably harks back to days as a track athlete  and I made sure whatever was left in the tank got left on the track......

45.43.1  off 7.20 mile pace, not only a seasons best but also my fastest 10k in two years since I ran 45.15.7 probably here, 114th out of 1702 runners  but for the second week in a row 5th in my age group,meh! big whoop I missed the podium again, last week I was a tad salty at missing the podium as the prize in the age group award was a medal, I don't know what they were giving out here, a mug, a glass.....I don't need either to me it the prestige of "being on the podium" the prize outside of a medal is neither here nor there, last year at the Penn Relays 5k I finished 3rd in the age group and my prize was a pair of plastic Penn Relays Sunglasses.......I don't they ever made it out of the box they came in........

The bigger takeaway from this week is that three months of 100 plus miles is beginning to  yield negative splits and fast times in training and my races,motivation to keep my foot down this month, three races to go another triple digit month and hopefully three fast times over 5k, 10 miles and 8 miles