Well folks,

Sorry - I know it's been a while since my last update but, I had a bit of a set back in training but I've also had some positive news since my last post about the Wicklow Way Ultra.

The week after the Wicklow way ultra I hit a PB (Personal Best) in 5 km - I've been trying to beat 20 mins for a long time now and wasn't feeling comfortable heading into Marley Park. I was picked up by the ever reliant Pegger family Dave, Sandra & Etain. Even the warm up wasn't great, I still thought of pulling out but when I have runners on pulling out is not an option. Thinking to myself anything close to 20 mins would be ideal. We approached the starting line and soon after we were off - I took off as usual like a sprinter doing 100 metres (don't think I'll ever learn) but doing 5 km. As the 1st km went by I felt quiet good so kicked on and next thing 2 km & 3 km were gone too. Coming to 4 km I started to feel pain and decided to pull back a bit. All in all in managed to pull out a 18.54 so I was happy out!

The Follow weekend I was off to Galway to run the Connemarathon 39.9 miles. Myself and Rob Moran headed over on the Saturday afternoon and got there  in good time and everything went according to plan. Race numbers picked up, belly fully fueled and a good nights kip. Up early Sunday morning and off to the start line about 10 miles away. The weather was fit for Eskimo's cold, cold and cold. From the hotel to the starting point is only 1 mile but they still bused us out, that would have been a extra mile though and 40 was enough, I'll tell you.We stayed on the bus for as long as possible and then off the bus and straight into the unknown.
The race started off quiet well and I was enjoying it but that soon changed - the first 15 miles went quiet well and my pace was steady but a bit to hot then this happen,
The Ultra in Connemara was the toughest day I've ever had. My body gave out with 20 miles to go but my mind was strong and I was mentally focused until mile 30. My mind started to wane and not long after it was gone…No body and No mind, I was both physically and mentally broke …New territory for me.  I had to dig deep, very deep and battled for 5 miles and at 35 miles I was a beaten man, so I stood still for a few min’s, thought of why I’m doing this and thought of Super Gavin and the fight he has everyday, I only needed to fight for 5 more miles, come on 5 miles, I can do it and with that I lifted my head looked straight out in front of me, put 1 foot in front of the other and pushed through. A quote from Scott Jurek always come to mind – “Sometimes you just do things”

Since then - I've been out of action with an ankle injury that I picked over the two weeks but I'm back now and looking forward to the next adventure. 

                                                                "Happy Running"

Year-to-Date
Distance	1,144.3 km
Time	105h 23m
Elev Gain	13,815 m
Runs	75