It was one of those days when you question everything.

The training miles are flying by at the moment and running is just pure fun for me. After a change of diet (Thanks to Orla) my stomach problems are history and the form seems to come by nicely. I felt great while warming up on a beautiful sunny day in Larne. My expectations on the race were high. After last week i knew that i had a low 1:18 or even a high 1:17 time in my legs. My Half Marathon PB (01:18:32) was about to fall – i was confident.

On a day that could not have been better for running i catched a nice group just after the 2 Mile Mark. As we were running along the impressive Causeway Coastal Route everything felt so easy and relaxed. The group was a little hoover. We catched guy after guy. As good as possible i was drafting in the middle of the pack. Shortly before the half-way mark the route turned away from the coast. A long “grinder” was on the agenda and the tempo suddenly did not feel easy anymore. I could not hold the group and on top of that i got stitches.

This part of the course was the crucial one for me. The next couple of kilometers were just uphill with some short steep enough climbs. My legs could not respond to that and the stitches got worse. I could not get any leg turnover and tried to relax on the long downhill back to the coast road.

As the stitches went on. I had to stop for a walk to be able to breath again. After that my motivation was gone and i made the best out of it running home with a miserable 1:22:01.

Time to reset the central governor – Rotterdam 21 days…

I do not really know what my three moroccon friends where telling the organisers. Properly they threatened them to blow up the place. At least what they were saying, in a typical italian style “discussione”, worked for me at the end. I got a bib-number and was allowed to run the race.

When running a race in italy you have to be associated with the Italian national athletics federation (FIDAL). As i am not a member of a italian club it was hard luck for me in this case. “Fuori competizione”, out of competiton, was the solution for me on this foggy and chilly morning in the trashy sea-side town of Civitanova Marche.

Together with 2.500 “corridori” a bunch of “local” kenyans and morrocons lined up for this “Mezza Maratona”. After a stunning long run around Cesena on satuday morning i wanted to use this half marathon to work on my pacing. The two loops around Civitanova where not spectacular but i was happy to get a fast long run in and shape up towards Rotterdam in 26 days.

The race itself went OK. As the legs and head were tired from saturday it felt a bit like the second half of a marathon. Most of the time i was running on my own which was not easy. Shortly after the 17th kilometer mark my Garmin was tired as well and switched off. The results are not up but i think i came in with a high 1:18 time.

Beside the great goodie bag (see picture above) the finish line feed station was something else. Great local food made me forget the run in seconds. And again my three morrocon friends helped me as they motivated me to stride out with them along the sea front. In my head i just had one desire – molto veloce back to the cibo and vino.

Italia ti amo!

As we opened the door of the local coffee shop the girl behing the till was asking “How did it go?”. Shane replied with the usual irish “grand” but my answer was not really what she was expecting “Two shits and a puke!”

I get the funny feeling that the 10 Miler in Ballycotton is not my lucky race. 2 years in a row i failed to make the startline. This year i made it .At least good for a start.

After going comfortable and controlled through half-way in low 28 minutes i was expecting to finish within 58 minutes. My stomach had another idea. 2 stops and a final stop to get the breakfast out was too much. My stomach cramped up and i had to jog home from the 7 Mile Mark.

Once the triathlon virus is in you, it will always stay there. Triathlon was my start towards endurance sports and it will be the end one day.

These days it is a strange way the sport is aiming for. With silly rules and cheating competitors, i do not get the full excitment out of Ironman racing, and everything that is associated with it, anymore. Still there are some races which make my thinking.

Since i was reading an article about the Norseman in 2003 the race is pure fascination for me. The above clip of this years race is more than just a good commercial.