The Commitments for the Dublin Marathon

No it's not a comeback gig for Neil Jordan's eighties blues band, it's just over two weeks out from my second marathon attempt and the commitment's for the Dublin marathon are all but behind me bar trying to get a few good night's sleep, I'v been laying low trying to train clever and keeping my eye pretty much on the ball. The 26.2 miles is still a trip to the almost unknown but I'v learnt enough from my previous attempt in Cork three years ago to play the cagey game on marathon Monday. That alone wouldn't be enough to drive home the message but I'm lucky enough to share the road's around Fermoy with some very experienced marathoner's and ultra runner's who don't mind passing on the lesson's learned from their own experience's. Any run with these guy's is big benefit country and make's the bigger mileage seem like an everyday thing because as far as they're concerned it is.

More comfortable in the surround's of the shorter stuff I'm still unconvinced about the return you get from the long term commitment to marathon training, maybe Dublin will change that. There are a lot of sacrifices in the form of missed pb opportunities in the shorter race's thro'out the summer, Saturday & Sunday afternoons struggling to keep my normal face on while my leg's beg me to collapse in a heap at the nearest coffee shop. Fatigue seem's to be a constant as you get deeper into the mileage pit.

On the other hand it's normal, a lifestyle thing and maybe it's the fact of focusing on one particular event increase's the intensity a bit. If  it wasn't marathon training I'd still be doing something. Tipping away. The regular training routine is a valuable release valve that's missed when it's not there so it's a big part of the weekly routine. Apart from the long run's which I'v struggled with mentally more than physically the rest of it's been easy. At this stage it's what I do.

Local past-marathon runner described it (marathon training) to a tee, "It's like 12 week's of overtime", while it's not easy to train for a quality five miler it take's far less time and mile's for a much quicker return. Therin may lie the draw of the big one. There's more at stake, getting to the start line in good shape is an achievement in itself with many falling victim to one of a multitude of running injury's. As I write this there's probably 90% of us on the start list for Dublin worried about some niggle in their knee, hip, tendon, IT band or whatever buzz injury of the time. In general though 90% of that 90% have nothing to worry about apart from the suffering over the last six or seven mile's and that's what we pay our money for.

I'v had the Dublin itch for the last few year's so it was just a matter of time before it had to be scratched. Memories of my only other marathon attempt and a clash with the Jazz weekend kept me away from it 'till now. It still clash's with the Jazz weekend but the increase in mileage has decreased my ability to party and Chic aren't on the gig list this year.

Typically for me an unorthodox, unstructured, unplanned training program has been the norm. Most importantly regular routine outing's varying between 40 minute's and three hours have been the order of the day with a religious midweek visit to the track for some intensity work. As part of Grange AC master's I'v been one of the lucky benefactor's of  Clo and Darren's good work in getting Sergiu to the track on a Wednesday night to put us auld lad's thro' our pace's. No rocket science, just hard work at an intensity that I havn't reached for year's (if ever). I'v been treating these Wednesday night session's like a race and if nothing else they've been a great focal point and opportunity to work under one of Ireland's/Moldova's great distance runner's.

So for now it's maintenance & recovery time and time too to remind myself that 'not every pain is important', (That's a Scott Jurek'ism that Maciej threw at me today).  If it hasn't been done by now it's too late. kick back too much and we'll all be stuck to the road on Marathon monday. I went out on the bike last Sunday to nurse my niggle (hmm?, give my back a rest sound's better.) and rode 28 miles on a regular bike route. Now I have the distance in persepective. It's far.

@keelo51

Take the long way home

I'v been laid up for the last few week's, not totally compulsory mind. Sore leg's after Ballyandereen followed by unprecendented good weather has seen my good form disappear for a while. With not a whole lot to write about and getting slightly embarassed about harping on about what I'm at, and still needing to satisfy my urge to push button's, here's something about a few local sporting heroes.

Over the last few year's big distance's have become standard fare around here. 'Ultra' as a word has become mainstream in the club and the one's who choose to take part are no longer seen as freak's. It's become normalised. On hearing it first I thought it was a wind-up, marathon's were the last word in distance running. Now, the joke is they use them for speedwork. Last year the club was represented in the connemarathon (39 miles), Dingle Ultra (50 miles) and the Connemara 100 (100 miles).
           
This week, Fermoy's claw's dug a little deeper into the ultra running scene, with Grange AC's Brendan O Mahoney finishing fourth in the waterfront marathon in Courtmacsherry and first timer Karen Kenny finishing 3rd lady over a 36 mile course on infamously heavy West Cork road's. Story goes, Karen is training for the Dublin city marathon in October and decided to line up to see how she'd get on!

Just last week Owen O Keefe, who made a name for himself a few year's back as being the youngest Irishman to swim the English channel became the fastest man to swim the 41 mile's around the Isle of Jersey in the Channel Islands in a time of 9hrs and 35min. Two week's earlier he was part of a four person relay to swim both way's across the channel, again in record time.

For the last 15 year's a group of cyclist's from Fermoy Cycling Club head for the Alp's and the Dolomite's to cover a few hundred miles over a few day's on some of the most mountainous road's in Europe, while doing the same on less mountainous road's for the rest of the year.

More recently, the triathlon club have had member's lining up in different Ironman competition's in various location's around Europe.

What is it with Fermoy folk and long distance sport?
My own experience on big distance's is more 'toe in the water' than 'addicted'. I can understand the highly desirable meditative state you can get into once you've found your 'rhythm', I can understand the less desirable state when struck with a sugar low (A marathoner's 'wall', a cyclist's 'knock'), a half empty 7up bottle on the side of the road can give welcome relief with 10 miles to go and the thought of a sugary cup of tea if you make it back to base is no more than a hallucinatory dream.

These sport's are great leveller's. Everyone's an island, each one's reaction to the onset of fatigue is different, someone who may not be as fast over a shorter distance become's over a short few hour's a 'giant' of the road who can go all day, while other mortal's fizzle out like a bath ball and limp back to town with their tail's between their leg's.

As a cyclist these distance's were normal and going out for less than a three hour ride was sometime's seen as a bit of a waste of time. After morphing into an old runner, the marathon seemed like a normal enough route to take. Chalk and cheese, a 4hr marathon equate's to a nine hour bike ride, to these leg's anyway, the metamorphosis is ongoing.

My first known encounter with an ultra runner was three year's ago when I was wiring a new bathroom, sharing the space with a tiler. Maciecj, a prominent ultra runner and regular podium finisher at the Connemara 100. That day, he told me he "does a bit of running", squeezing him for more I found out what "a bit of running" meant. It wasn't a bad handle of the English language but running 30 mile's on a Sunday morning equate's to "a bit of running" in Maciecj speak.  Like all great athlete's he acknowledged his achievement's with a shrug of the shoulder. A distinctive sight on the road's around Fermoy, accompanied by his tough little black labrador cross, 'Pepe'. This was Fermoy's first ooltra (Polish pronounciatiation) runner. The meeting's became more frequent after that and the joker came out. An entertainer on the long run's, his infectious enthusiasm has been passed on, I suspect, to more than he think's.

In my curiosity for figuring out the man and the popularity of long distance sport's in the backwater by the Blackwater, we recently spent an evening on our feet shooting the breeze, Keep an eye on the next post for more on Poland's answer to Scott Jurek and the rest of Fermoy's mile munchers.