It’s just under 16 weeks out from the Olympic marathon on 12 August, and I’m sitting writing this first blog entry from a training camp in Auburn, Alabama, USA.
I’m currently preparing to run a marathon for the third time, but for the first time in the Olympics.
In 2011, I decided to make the move up to the marathon from 5,000m and 10,000m on the track.
I had been running these distances, as well as cross country, with some degree of success for eight or nine years.
I’d been sixth at European Under-23 level in the 5,000m in 2003, and I’d run a European 5,000m standard in 2009 and finished eighth at Euro XC in Dublin that year, as well as winning a number of national titles and medals.
However, I felt that although I could probably get myself in shape to run qualifying times for global major championships, realistically I wasn’t going to be competitive over these distances.
Longer distances, however, were always something of a strong point for me in training – so making the step up wasn’t that hard a decision.
That being said, the marathon is a completely different ball game.
My first attempt at the Olympic qualifying standard of 2 hours 15 minutes came in Vienna last April.
Everything was going swimmingly well, until that point people talk about around 21 or 22 miles called ‘The Wall’. At that point the wheels came off.
I’d been on course to run 2:12 or 2:13, but was reduced to a jog and struggled home in 2:17.
It sounds okay, but not when you lose five minutes in the space of four miles.
After looking at what went wrong, and working on a number of these areas, I approached my second marathon in October 2011 in Amsterdam feeling much better prepared and confident of getting the time.
The plan was to be somewhat conservative to ensure qualification, but I felt pretty good - despite a problem with my drinks - and came home in 2:13.55.
Obviously I was delighted, but there were a number of other athletes who were going to try to achieve the time also, and to be honest, I couldn’t relax, as there was always the possibility that I would need to go again if a few people ran faster.
As it's panned out, I unfortunately remain the only Irishman with the time. We have four women qualified - leaving a selection dilemma there.
Which brings me back to now. Sixteen weeks is still a relatively long way out. There is a lot of training to be completed and a need to stay fit and healthy despite the heavy work to be completed.
Specific marathon preparation will begin 12 weeks out, so up to now I’ve been mixing marathon-pace running and 5k- to10k-pace running.
Between now and the Olympics, I will be dedicating as much as possible of my own time to preparation, but in the real world I am a chartered physiotherapist with my own practice based in Celbridge, Co Kildare.
I do receive a moderate grant from the Irish Sports Council, and I am grateful for the support I receive from Brooks by way of kit, and a new Irish brand ROS nutrition for supplements and drinks, but finances dictate that I will have to keep ticking over work-wise between now and July.
But I’ve been doing it for five or six years now, and have a pretty good routine worked out.
To be honest, I find full-time training quite difficult year round.
Having only one stimulus can make you feel mentally stale and a bit boring, which can have an adverse effect on my running.
At the moment, however, I am training away full-time in the heat of Alabama.
My day starts with a short 30-40 minute run, followed by a gym session, then food and recovery, before an afternoon session either on track, trail or road of 60-90 minutes, followed by more food and rest.
Like I said, not that exciting. I came here having had a bit of an injury niggle for about a month in March, which restricted me a little from full training, but last week I ran my first race of the year in the Phoenix Park - the Great Ireland Run 10k.
It actually went a little better than expected and set me up nicely for this stint of training.
I’ll be home on 10 May and will probably do another road 10k in Manchester on 20 May, followed by a track 10,000m in the Netherlands around 30 May.
After that I’ll be back with another update. Until then, good luck.
