Perfect running conditions this morning for the first race of the adidas series in phoenix park.

After a good training week i was keen to race. Around 5.000 people lined up for that 5 Miler. The warm-up was pretty short as shane, martin and i had the usual trouble getting to the start area.

I should have learned from the last few races that going out fast is NOT good for me. the gun sounded and i didnt think one second and just ran on. The pace felt alright as the road was going slightly downhill. even after the 1st mile when the course went really downhill i thought the pace is fine – it wasn´t.

i couldnt really relax and i never found my rhythm. the endurance is there but, as previously said, my running technique is a pain in the &%$@65. i stretch and i focus on technique training but it slightly gets better. i need to “de-stiff” that 1,90 meters!

anyway – i ended up with a 29:16 in 60th place on that hilly course. my worst 5 Mile time ever.

Thanks to Darren from RACEPIX365 for the pictures!

if i do track workouts, ill have run them on grass.

the track facilities in ireland are oldskool.

but after a couple of months i have to say i really like them.

Thanks to Britta from Nike UK. Lunar all night long…

After a couple of weeks where i wasnt really happy with my training this week went pretty good. to change my training to the morning is a huge bonus for me. the quality of the workouts are much better and the optional second training is a advantage.

after solid runs during the week i was staying with a friend in west-cork. beautiful area down there. saturday and sunday i got decent runs in and i enjoyed the roads around clonakilty.

next week i have to work on my speed as im racing the adidas Irish Runner 5 miler in phoenix park on saturday morning. the annual irishtown 5k will be on wednesday evening. dont know yet if i should running.

Since I switched my daily training to the morning I (surprisingly) have plenty of time in the evenings. I really enjoy going out early. The streets are empty and the air is even cleaner. My body still needs a bit of time to cope with 5.45am running but is fine overall. My goal for the near future is to get 3-4 double runs in during the week. I don’t put myself under pressure and leave the second run optional.

Currently I’m running up to moderate pace, as my right calf is not a 100% up to speed. The muscle is still very stiff and today my physio stated me muscular disbalances in my legs. I try to work on that with core work and special stretches. the problems are not dramatic but they need to be solved completely before running hard and fast again. NYC is my main goal for this year. Its 17 weeks away.

Again I found the way to the local swimming pool. Its brilliant for the tired legs. At the moment i regularly swim some lanes in the pool. it works fine and my calf seems to enjoy it. Since i don’t “have” to swim i really enjoy it and it seems to be much more easy.

Should i go back to triathlon and just “think” like a runner?

decent weekend. went out to a nice hill run on saturday morning. the weather was hot. sun all the way. a beautiful run. we finished of with a recovery bath in the upper lake at glendalough, wicklow.

after racing ironman lanzarote fernando is back training. today we cycled easy 85k. he is training for challenge barcelona and got a new bike aswell. again beautiful weather.

after a nice massage for my stiff calfs at lunchtime i headed out for a 2:45 hour spin after work.

i pedaled my way on one of my standard routes through wicklow.

on a downhill i nearly made a “Burghardt“. all off a sudden a fox jumped on the street. luckily he was more surprised than i.

…make you want to move your dancing feet
to the rescue, here i am
want you to know, y’all, where i stand

heatwave is here. unbelievable weather since days. perfect to workout. leave the t-shirt at home!

eventually it had an end! Lunar Trainer – 600 k that´s it…

There are certain races you just have to do. The Lisburn 10k is one of those.

Like last year our company had a team lined up. So a 10k on a Wednesday evening is not the worst thing to do – especially when its well organised and a good massage afterwards is guaranteed.

Since Im just back into running training since 2 weeks I really didn’t know what to expect from the race. Havent done any speedwork yet the legs felt good but overall (running) fitness is not up to speed. I decided to participate because of all the colleagues that went to run and the general hunger for races.

The day started of terrible. Storms and rain over the island but once entered Lisburn it all turned out to be a lovely evening with perfect running conditions. The wind was heavy so I decided to hang in a decent group and draft along.

It worked out pretty well. The first few kilometres through the city flew by and on the way out of town I was drafting a guy with a good pace. I normally make the mistake and go out to hard. I tried to learn from this race to settle myself in and just run with a smooth pace. The plan was to give it everything on the last 2 kilometres.

I was passing 5k in high 17 minutes and felt relaxed. We were passing the leading car that was stuck in traffic and I decided to increase the speed a bit. Like last year the 10k race hits the, earlier started, half-marathon runners. I stayed on the right side of the road. The street got crowed and sometimes it was hard to pass the slower half-marathon runners. Eventually it worked out.

Shortly before I reached the 7k mark I got serious stitches. They forced me to drop down the speed a little. I struggled with the pain till 8,5k. After I was relaxed again I gave it everything to the finish line.

I was pretty surprised to run a 36:48 that early and with this lack of training.

Pretty happy with the time I rushed to get the massage. Funny enough the massage girls remembered me from last years race. They weren’t busy so I got a extra long treatment for my right (bad) calf.