Regeneration

Mantra Dave

sorry.. on Ultraman's recommendation I bought the salts. although they also recommended them- and were the ones to recommend them to ultraman in the first place!:p

Mantra Dave

well the epsom salt bath was intriguing! thought there was nothing happening at first but after a while the sweat just started pouring out of me! After about 30 mins it felt like I had done an hour of power yoga or a ten mile run.. my muscles felt at ease, loose, and I felt calm yet invigorated.
I followed up with an hour of power yoga, 40 mins using my old slendertone and then went training with the club.. interval stuff - I found it pretty tough but rewarding. Here's to tomorrow.

ultraman1

Mantra Dave wrote: »

well the epsom salt bath was intriguing! thought there was nothing happening at first but after a while the sweat just started pouring out of me!

that wasnt sweat ,it was litres of mojhito's......

Mantra Dave

OK - Did a 6 miler on Thurs with the club... went well. No leg probs and it seemed like I was making much less effort than before and timed much quicker. Has been v hard to get this site to load on my crap conection so couldn't update..
Did nothing since Thurs but bought a heavy punchbag to hang from my chin up bar.. it's a workout just to lift the thing!!! Tried it out last night and it's fun and tiring..

Mantra Dave

Did f%$£k all over he weekend. Fell off the wagon and smoked and drank and ate to my heart's content. Stayed up all night watching DVD boxsets and goin to bed in the early hours. Tues night went training - Ultraman couldn't make it. Reckon he just wanted to go see the spirit of the marathon dvd instead.. felt odd running at first on Tues - like I was running lopsided or something.. but after a while I got into a groove and ran for 40 mins before I had to stop to collect my daughter from her training.
Today I did an hour's Yoga and then a 35 min swim at a moderate to fast pace for me. In bed now but too wired to sleep so may go watch tv and have a couple glasses of wine.
My prep for this mara is th 2nd worst ever. Last time I did something similar was when I ran it after only 3 training runs in total. Took me 5 hrs 15. I know I should beat 5 hours this time but am not happy with myself.

On the plus side I have stayed away from the smokes since the weekend and without any difficulty. I just genuinely want to be rid of the f***ing things now. I used to be able to run even when I smoked but not lately and if I've to make a choice then I choose running. Have a free back up session with the hypno people so I will be going back.
Plus I have made out a training plan which I am going to follow so I have some structure. I am gonna print it out and stick it on the fridge and soon as I am capable of trainhing after DCM I am gonna start working towards other races in the new year.

Plan for the next few days:
Thurs - Yoga, 6 mile run
Fri - Yoga, swim
Sat - Yoga, swim
Sun - Yoga
Mon - run/walk 26.2 miles and then go get pissed!

Mantra Dave

another hour of Yoga vinyasa today, 30 mins of Tae Bo - the basic DVD.. I used to do Tae Bo daily and was at the Advanced video which is 4 after basic. After doing it today I realised how out of shape my legs are cos the exercises in the DVD can be a bit of a killer. No wonder I took to running so easily all those years ago and no wonder now that I haven't been doing them and little other cross training that my running has got worse.
Anyway followed up with another 6 miler with the club. Didn't time it but felt good and was going at a pretty good pace..

Mantra Dave

I wrote a bloody long post on the marathon and this crappy site said I wasn't logged in when I clicked submit! I clicked on the BACK button on my browser and my post was not there but the site said "welcome back Mantra Dave" so obviously I am logged in! Bah f***in humbug I'm not goin through all that again!!!!:mad: I don't believe it! It just did it again!

Short version:
2 days pre-mara: swim and yoga
1 day pre-mara: 1hr yoga
Did marathon in 4hr 51
Thanks to Aimee and Candace from USA whose perfectly toned asses and taught bods kept me going for the first 18 miles.
Have hangover today.
Add your own part(s) to the story as you see fit; it will probably have been true anyway.

Diggy78

did you not stop for a bit of yoga with those asian guys at mile 23 ish?

Mantra Dave

Well Sports Fans! I am back...
Today I did anumber of things...

I bought new trainers.. Asics Kayanos. Normally I spend €60-70 on trainers but for a particular reason I decided to get the best I could and doshed out twice my normal one. WOW the difference! They fit my feet so snugly it's unreal.. Will never go back to any other trainer after these!
This is because I also signed up to do the Edinburgh marathon in March and started training for it tonight with a tempo run with the club..
first time back on the road since the marathon and I did 6 miles in 48'29. My fastest ever 10k was 49'28 so I am quite pleased with tonight's run.
I took a leaf out of Ultraman's book and also used some motivational tools (i.e. I watched the Rocky boxset and have a real mantra to run through my head. As you may know or have guessed about me - I am terrible for putting things off. Now Apollo Creed's creed (sorry had to do that) rings through my head from Rocky 3: There is no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. There IS NO TOMORROW!

Did I mention I plan to complete Edinburgh in under 3hrs 30?
If you're a regular reader then this blog is gonna get interesting over the next few months!

PS - I heard of a Boardsie who participated in the 24hr treadmill session in the UK and didn't call me to ask me to be their biographer for the event! Ahem! Please take note readers that if you want the best article written about you then you should know where to come!

Anyway - dinner is almost ready and I have Rocky Balboa yet to watch,so I bid you 'adieu'

ultraman1

Mantra Dave wrote: »

PS - I heard of a Boardsie who participated in the 24hr treadmill session in the UK and didn't call me to ask me to be their biographer for the event!

you mite of gone to the wrong place

Mantra Dave

Well, did Tae Bo basic DVD yesterday followed by a 20 mins swim.
Could someone explain why guys with their girls want to stand in the middle of a lane forcing swimmers to detour round them and out into the kids section? And then why such afforsaid arseh*les then have to prove to their girls that they can swim further underwater than you? There are other things I'd like to say I prob do better than her bloke but since it's a family show I'll say nothing,but it sure was an irritating swim!

Okay, did the Crookstown motorway 10k today.
As for my performance - if you're reading this from the link on my facebook page then you know why I sucked, if you are reading directly from boards.ie I'll just say Coyote Ugly. The less I go into it the better.

I'm not even gonna bother listing the reasons this was such a bad race for me.

As for the race itself..
Fantastically organised. Really easy registration, signposting was very good, tents and toilets set-up was great (except for one niggle which I will come to).
The medal was very nice - quite unique. Was delighted with it.
The goody bag was great. Delighted with that too. Lily O'brien's chocolate, a reflective armband, an Outsider mag, water, Berocca vitamin, a bag of Tuc minis, a metal box of Silvermints, a Nutrigrain, a small packet of biscuits, and more. It bet the pants off the marathon one, entry to which is more than twice the cost of the Crookstown one. And before anyone points out logistics such as numbers involved,road closures,Garda overtime etc.. the marathon is sponsored by Adidas and I reckon they could afford to put some extra stuff in the goody bag if they cared!
This bag rivalled even the old marathon ones from back around 2000.
The post race stuff was great too. Chips promptly removed. 3 tents full of hot tea and coffee, bananas, crisps, pastry, yoghurts and more that I couldn't see with the crowds. Think a Hogwartz meal!
One slight niggle was that I was dying to use the loo from the 3k mark... not in the way that I could wander over to the side of the road.. I heard there was a portaloo at 4k so I held on. To my dismay the loo wass off the course so that I would have had to climb over the barrier and go out of my way from the race to use it then come back to the race. So I just soldiered on as best I could.
The course was deceptively difficult with a headwind on the return run, freezing temp (I know not the course but it adds up) and rain. It was a well chosen place to run quite a challenging 10k.
I managed to cross the line in 56 mins 40 - quite a bit off the 49 I was thinking of before I was kidnapped and forcefed beer last night, but all in all everything else about the race made it worth doing even if my result was bad.
If anyone involved is reading this - thanks and well done!

ultraman1

Mantra Dave wrote: »

I was dying to use the loo from the 3k mark... not in the way that I could wander over to the side of the road.. I heard there was a portaloo at 4k so I held on.. So I just soldiered on as best I could.
!

shake and BAKE baby:D:D

Mantra Dave

Right, decided to forego any training till I got a pro at my calves. One very painful yet strangely enjoyable sports massage on Monday, followed by 24 hours doing nothing then a 7 or 8 mile (have to drive it and check) run last night. Felt slow to start - still have some pain in my right calf but was told to expect that for a couple of days after the massage - but ran a negative split between the first and second half of the run. Finished feeling very very comfortable and could have kept going.
Bit sore today but nothing much. Physio said there's a possibility I should go back to NOT stretching as have only had this trouble since I started. Have another theory in conjunction with this that I am gonna keep to myself for the moment.
Headin for a few miles in the park with Ultraman in the morning then club tempo run tomorrow night.
Started reading "Born To Run" - very inspiring and awe-inspiring stuff.. and at times both hilariously funny and jaw-dropping. Has really put me in the mood to keep getting out there and keep running.
It occured to me the other night how much I really feel at ease running at night when it's very dark. I think I may do all my runs in the evening in future cos I also slept very well afterwards.
Almost finished "Born to Run" today cos I couldn't put it down without feeling compelled to pick it up and start reading again.. buy it, borrow it, read it - it's the athletic version of Motley Crue's autobiography - 'The Dirt'.
(I should get paid for this).