KARL LACEY HAS yet to wear the Donegal jersey in 2016 as Rory Gallagher’s side have started life in the Allianz League Division 1 on the right foot.
With his club Four Masters, the 31-year-old concluded a frustrating season domestically six days before Christmas at Munday’s Field in Ballyshannon, where the normally placid Lacey was red-carded late on as the Donegal Town side fell through the trapdoor of relegation against Bundoran.
“You get to know your body better and what you can take on. Nobody knows my body better than myself,” Lacey told Colm Keys of the Irish Independent.
“I feel I can judge pretty well the timing of when to get back. It was a no-brainer for me finishing club football on December 19 and going straight into county football. There was no way I was going to get past April.”
Having completed a Masters in Sports Performance at University of Limerick, Lacey knew what would work for his own body and discussed the matter with Donegal manager Rory Gallagher and the strength and conditioning coaches headed by Paul Fisher.
“For me, I never thought, ‘That’s it’,” Lacey added. “Not at one stage did I even doubt that I would be back.
“So I sat down with Rory and the strength and conditioning coaches. I was already two weeks behind at that stage. I thought it was no good for me.
“I had gone back ahead of the previous season in December 2014. That made it a full 12-month cycle. There was no way I could have gone on.”
They plotted a programme that would give Lacey a break before being reintroduced at the latter stages of the league. So while Donegal have won three from three, the 2012 Footballer of the Year has been working away in the background.
Lacey stepped away from employment last year while completing his studies. He’s now lecturing in strength and conditioning and performance analysis two-and-a-half days a week in Blanchardstown Institute of Technology while also overseeing a new partnership between Letterkenny Institute of Technology and Donegal GAA.
“It’s crazy stuff what’s going on and what’s being asked of lads,” Lacey added of the strains being put on youngsters forging a way for themselves in sport. “You can have a player out every night for two hours. Bodies can’t go through that, bodies break down and managers don’t see that.”
Please click here to read Colm Keys’ interview from the Irish Independent with Karl Lacey in full
