Having only got back into running a few short weeks ago due to a persistent hamstring injury, I have been slowly building up my mileage towards completing the Dublin Marathon.

Last week, however, I became complacent. Just one 7k run in the entire week. Sure, I had a busy weekend with the Playing Fields Festival on Friday evening, American College Football on Saturday in the Aviva and having the folks up to the site and dinner on Sunday… but I am also on a running podcast, advising people throughout the week on doing the marathon and getting ahead of myself by telling people that I am going to do the Dublin Marathon in sub 4 hours.

I was making poor excuses for not running. I still felt really slow, not quite in the running mood or the fitness groove for long runs. What I needed was a kick up the back side.

I knew a race would not help because of how slow I would feel compared to previous performances. I also knew I would struggle on a run longer than 10 miles. One 10-mile run wouldn’t get me back on track with 7 weeks until the Dublin Marathon. I needed a Rocky 2 ‘win’ moment (yes, you can relate ALL running struggles to a scene in a Rocky movie!)

I had read about a previous guest on the Any Given Runday Podcast, Keith Russell, doing 170km last week with no sleep for 40-plus hours. He had also gotten a PB of 2:55 for a marathon… while coming second in a 63km ultra race.

My co-host of the Any Given Runday Podcast, Eric, was about to embark on his toughest challenge to date, the Lost Sheep Triathlon.

I needed to do something to get back into the swing of things. The Garmin Race Predictor had me running a marathon at 4:34… if my legs could hold up for that distance.

So I looked back to 2022 to see what pushed me to drive on towards getting PBs throughout the year, including my first 80k EcoTrail and 3:30 marathon in Dublin.

The answer was obvious.

Last March, I had completed the 4x4x48 challenge. That is running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. And I felt great after it. It had lifted the limitations I had put on myself back then that I was also putting on myself now.

But I also knew that this wasn’t the smartest idea. Having only accumulated a max of 24km over any given week in the last three months, I was definitely breaking the 10% mileage rule per week. Injury risk would be increased by running on little sleep and recovery.

But realising that this Sunday coming was ruled out for a long run (I’ll get into why later…), I knew that it was either this past weekend or I might run out of time for Dublin.

So, 24 hours before my first run, the challenge was set.

Unlike last year, this one would have no fanfare or charity, which meant extra accountability for myself. I only told Niamh what I was planning to do.

”You’re insane”

I knew I could comfortably do the 4 miles. So, foolishly, I decided each run had to be 6.7km to minic a Backyard Ultra lap (early training for next May).

On Friday at 12 p.m., I set off on my first lap in Clane. Comfortable 6.7km run at a 5:36 pace, I felt this wouldn’t be too challenging. I had done it once and was sure I could do it again.

Felt really good and fast after this one!

Lap 2 at 4 pm included some hills, as everywhere you go where I live has fecking hills. But it’s only 7km loop. I’ve done it plenty of times in my sleep. Running up the hills, I still felt good after this.

During lap three at 8 p.m., I felt a little. Pain I recalled not feeling until lap 11 last year. And realisation set in that I was nowhere near as fit as last year. With everything that went into last year, the runs in different areas with different people, I trained my ass off not to disappoint people. Yet, I was only back running and attempting this challenge? Niamh was right, I was insane.

The alarm went off at 11:45 p.m. for my 12 p.m. run. A 10-minute drive awaited so I could run relatively safely under street lights. And then the realisation hit me… no one knows, except Niamh, that I am doing this. I could easily roll over and go back to sleep. Besides, I had already been called out on Instagram to do a 7 a.m. conditioning session that I knew would be incredibly tough. I needed sleep. The runs on Strava weren’t labelled. Sure, Niamh had made a huge lasagna for me to have quickly between runs and rest… would she mind if I said this challenge was not the smartest idea and quit now?

Then, I realised this is exactly why I NEEDED to do this challenge. I got up. Barely. Struggled through the run (of course, there were some hills as well) and went back to bed). Last year, I forced myself to eat pasta at this stage and cramped up big time on the 4 a.m. run! Not this time…

This time, midway through 4 a.m., I was starving!! I needed food badly. The pace dropped. The run turned into a run-walk approach as my stomach rumbled for food. With the slowest run to date done, I had some 5 a.m. lasagna… and a bowl of Weetabix.

The pace had dropped by nearly a minute since the first lap in Clane

I needed to be in Clane in 90 minutes for the 7 a.m. session. I had a shower, a 20-minute nap and a toasted bagel, and I was out the door for the session. ‘Why did I commit to this class on Thursday morning?’

I was tired, indicating at bends for no reason. I knew I was in trouble. I went straight into the gym early for a coffee and a 20-minute loosening out session before the 7 a.m. class, and it was TOUGH!!

Renegade rows into thrusters, burpees into lunges, heavy sled drags, 20kcals bike etc. But ABC Gym was packed, and the buzz was great! So much so that I flew through my 8 a.m. run after it. The pace was back. There was no stopping now! No walking was necessary, I was going to crush this day!

Especially after the class I had just done, I did ’t expect to be faster (without trying to be) than 4 hours before!)

Well, that feeling left me by 12 a.m. Saturday. The pace slowed down again. And continued to slow at 4 p.m. By 8 p.m., I knew that if I was going to complete this injury-free, I needed to approach it like a backyard ultra. Steady pace on the flats and walk the hills.

And that was what I did when I lifted myself out of the bed for the 12 a.m. run. Running back through Kill, I passed people leaving the pubs, getting off the buses from a night out. It wasn’t like this last year when I ran the same route I thought. Into Kill car park for the end of the 6.7km run, I was wrecked.

As I drove out the ‘in’ only way on the car park, because of the sheer laziness to go around for the extra 30 seconds to the proper exit, a Garda car drove past… and then reversed back, heading in my direction.

They pulled up beside me,

“Where you off to?”

”Eh, just back from a run”

”Just back from a run?!”

My mind started thinking of ways to prove that I was running. Thank god I recorded this run on my Garmin I thought, completely obvious, that my face was red and sweaty, and I was in a luminous long sleeve yellow running top under a campo running shirt.

”Just back from a run,” I repeated, pointing up and down the road, showing my route. God, I needed sleep.

”Right, off you go,”… or words to that effect. I can’t even remember if I responded, but I was on the way back home. I couldn’t face more lasagna, so it was a bowl of cornflakes and a nap before 4 a.m.

The last two runs were a struggle. Had it not been a challenge, I would have stopped by now. Now, it was just stubbornness to finish the challenge. More walking and barely jogging were needed to get the job done and reduce the injury risk, which became a concern.

Run 11, by far my slowest. A Garda car did pass me as I slowly jogged back towards Kill, I like to think it was the same Gards that stopped me (rightly by the way) a few hours earlier. Would love to hear that conversation if they copped it was me!

At 8:50 a.m. on Sunday morning, run 12 was complete—roughly 50 plus km in less than 48 hours. The Garmin Race predictor has me down to a 4:06 marathon.

Longer runs are needed now, and sleep-deprived runs are needed soon for the BYU next May. But for now, it was a big breakfast and nap.

My body was sore, but I felt I was back on track with my marathon training. Despite the struggles at times, I’m delighted I took the risk and did this challenge… but I could not recommend it without proper training and preparation. I must capitalise on this and get a good running week until Sunday.

Because on Sunday, my biggest challenge begins. A challenge I’ve had in mind for nearly two years. The hamstring injury took me out of running and cycling, so I built on my upper body strength over the summer. My bench… and my pull-ups.

On Sunday, I aim to do 2,000 pull-ups in aid of Jigsaw. While the previous week was a poor training week for running, it was a successful week for pull-ups.

To get to 2,000 pull-ups, I have concluded that I need to do 4 pull-ups on the minute, every minute for 62 mins, to get to 250 pull-ups and rest. But I had no idea how long I could go using this approach.

So, last Friday week, before Playing Fields in Clane, I attempted 750 pull-ups that morning. Starting at 9 a.m., I banged out 250, rested 30 minutes and went again. While the hands got pretty sore, I managed the 750, feeling a little stiff at the end. The body felt good the next day, so it was now or never to finally do this challenge.

My hands after 750 pull-ups, even with the covers (in background)

Have I done the 4x4x48 Challenge as marathon prep and a big lead into this Challenge?

Yep!

I will have more details on the challenge and how you can support it throughout the week on my Insta page @coach_seanc as well as my GoFundMe Page HERE

I’m nervous as hell for this one, but that’s just the excitement that a challenge like this can bring!

#LetsGoGetEmAgain

4x4x48: Round 2 - Getting my running mojo back

Sean Coffey