I can see the sun in wintertime

racheljev

So what's been happening in the last month and a half since I updated? A bit of running and the usual medical emergencies of course. After the Leixlip 5k it took a few days before I felt even halfway decent. I shouldn't have felt that crap after what wasn't a particularly good time so off to the docs for more blood tests. More B12 and a touch of iron required. The running mojo that appeared briefly in Leixlip disappeared fairly pronto after that. Anyway, onto the stories.

A few weeks back I was out running and saw a man with a dog on a lead coming towards me. I thought to myself, it's on a lead, I'm ok. And I was - until the dog started growling and jumping. I thought, he'll pull the dog in. He didn't. The dog snapped at me, I let a particularly girly scream out and jumped sideways to get away from the teeth - straight into a wheelie bin. The owner said, ah would you stop, he's only playing. Adrenaline and anger kept me running for a few minutes until I noticed the blood on my hand and the dint out of my Garmin. Stopped for a minute to catch my breath and assess the injury (to hand and garmin!) and noticed that the watch wasn't working properly and my legs had gone to jelly. Got back home and patched myself up. Not a good day. People were telling me to report the owner but, honestly, if he stood in front of me I couldn't recognise him. I was concentrating so much on the bloody dog. Anyway, hand was ok, garmin in intensive care.

Garmin incident no. 2: Even though I'd no mojo, I was doing the couch to 5k program with a friend, and helping her through it before we collected the babas from school. About 2 weeks ago, on one of the super hot sunny days, we headed down to the seafront at Clontarf. We were running across at the pedestrian lights, I was telling her - you're doing well, we're coming up to 5 mins - while looking at my watch. Did I see the step? No I bloody didn't. Down I went, on my hands and knees. At a busy junction. With loads of cars full of people. With loads of people sitting in the sun eating their sambos. Embarrassed? Yep. I hopped up, said "don't mind me, I'm fine" and kept going. Watch was fatally wounded in the fall. We kept going while I got the stopwatch going on the phone so I could keep a track of our time. And my friend then pointed out the blood running down my leg. She had a bottle of water so I splashed a bit on the knee and kept going. Jeez that was a sore one.

So with the garmin dead and gone, I decided to order a new one. I'm hoping to run DCM this year again so I reckoned maybe a new watch would give me a bit of a boost. I ordered an overhauled 410 from a supplier in the states. It arrived on Monday, hallelujah. Even with duty, it came to 160 euros so I was happy with that. I gave it a spin on Tuesday and I was delighted with myself. I was feeling positive and thinking, ok, maybe things will start picking up now. And then I broke my toe.

It was a stupid silly thing - I walked into the girls room in the dark with no shoes on and walked straight into a step ladder. Cue strangled expletives and much hopping. It was so sore all night, I couldn't sleep properly with the pain. I had an appt with my athletic therapist booked for yesterday to check out a bit of tenderness in the achilles so I asked her to have a look at it. Wasn't sure whether to head to A&E or VHI clinic for an xray. She was fairly definite it was broken, it wouldn't move if I tried to curl or stretch it and it was very bloody sore when she pressed around the joint. The only good thing is that it's not my big toe, it's the 4th one. It's buddy taped to my 3rd toe for support, which is all they would have done in A&E anyway, and the VHI clinic would have charged me 300 euro for the privilege. So no running for at least a week to 10 days, and then we reassess. I've an appt with her for next Friday.

So that's the sum total of my update. Lots of mishaps, a banjaxed watch, not much running, a broken toe, and a world record chocolate eating attempt is currently ongoing. Hope you're all having a better time than me....:(

pgmcpq

Yikes ...you've been through the wars. You're not RQ in disguise by any chance ?:)

But look - you know the mojo is there. Given a chance it came back ... it will do again. Get sorted with the toe and you'll be flying. Hope you daughter is doing ok,

aero2k

racheljev wrote: »

...I was feeling positive and thinking, ok, maybe things will start picking up now. And then I broke my toe.

That phrasing made me smile!

pgmcpq wrote: »

Yikes ...you've been through the wars. You're not RQ in disguise by any chance ?:)

Snap! I was just about to check if I was really on Rachel's log, then I scrolled down, saw this post, and smiled again.

Good to see you posting in spite of all your woes. Enjoy the chocolate.:D

Younganne

things can only get better Rach, surely;)...mind yourself, the mojo will return...:D

RubyK

Jez, you've had a rough few weeks! Mind yourself

Emer911

Woe's and then some :rolleyes:
Sounds like you have some MAJOR karma coming your way soon though

jcsmum

Sounds like you deserve a vat of chocolate! Mind yourself (no really, mind yourself!)

racheljev

So what's happened since the last post - almost 6 weeks ago :eek: The broken toe has been healing nicely. It hurt a bit for the first few days afterwards but it's doing ok now. We were on holidays in Austria from 3rd till 17th July and we did a huge amount of walking and climbing; there were a few twinges but nothing too major. I ran 3 times on holidays - a grand total of 12 miles - but I wasn't too bothered about it, it was over 30 degrees for a lot of the time and that's just a bit too hot for me. Sure, I'll run when I get back to Ireland, says I, it's lovely and cool there...:rolleyes: Of course we arrive back to the heatwave which, while fabulous, doesn't half interfere with getting a few miles under the belt.

Anyway, when we arrived back I did a quick "how long to DCM" calculation, and it didn't look good - 14 weeks, maybe not enough time to get back on track I decided to take this week as a tester, to see how far I've fallen away on fitness and stuff. A straight forward 25 mile week, with one interval session and a longish weekend run was in order.
Monday - 4 miles easy, no problem
Tuesday - 400m intervals. Wasn't sure about this as I hadn't done any sort of interval/speed work in months, due to the fact that I was as run down as a many-times runover piece of roadkill. Plan was for 6x400 with 1:30 recovery. Managed 5 decent 400s and a final blah 250. But glass half full, got each 400 in the required range. So I was quite happy with that.
Wednesday & Thursday - 3 easy miles, again no problem
Friday was rest day, getting myself psyched up for Saturday's longish run.
Plan for was 9-10 miles. Headed out early enough as far as Raheny, with the plan of getting as close to 5 miles from home as I could. I even brought a gel with me - more to persuade the head that I had enough energy to keep going I kept the pace very slow, between 9:40 and 9:50. It was hot and there wasn't a lot of shade so my goal was just to get the miles done, not go for a fast run. Turned onto the coast at just about 5 miles and ran over the wooden bridge at Dollymount - gorgeous breeze coming off the sea at that point. I felt surprisingly ok for a lot of the time; I stopped at 7 miles for a bit but not for a rest, just to stretch. Got to the end of my road just as 10.5 ticked over on the watch so hit stop and strolled slowly up the road with a smile on my face. 10.5 miles in 1:45:13

I know 10 miles is nothing in a marathon plan and it's not a lot to be shouting about, but it's the longest I've run in about 3 months and it's a teeny bit of a confidence booster. The last few months have been fairly crappy so it'd be nice to think I've turned a corner. The jury is still out on whether I do DCM or not, but based on this morning I'm not as far off as I thought I was. I'll wait another week or so before I make a final decision - another two weeks of decent training would give me a better idea. So long story short, finally, a positive post on my log - yahoo!:D

Solobally8

Woohoo delighted to see u back at it!

Dory Dory

Yep! A whoop whoop from me to you! My fingers are crossed you'll be doing DCM!

racheljev

This week was another "let's see if I can do some marathon training" and it went ok

Monday:
Plan: 3 miles easy
Actual: 3 miles in 28 mins

Tuesday:
Plan: tempo run - 1.2 mile warmup, 3 x (5mins @ 10k pace, 3 mins recovery), 1.2 mile cooldown.
Actual: 5.5 miles in 47:52
This was better than I expected. I'm back training at stupid o'clock because of school holidays so heading out at 6:30 a.m. for a tempo run is not fun Anyway, did the warmup and it was grand. Stopped and stretched for 30 secs and then went straight into the first fast 5 mins. Each section passed nice and quickly - 10k pace is 7:40 but managed to stay at 7:25-7:28 for all 3 fast sections. Felt very happy with how this one went

Wednesday:
Plan: 3 miles easy
Actual: 3 miles in 29 mins

Thursday:
Plan: Threshold run -warmup, 3 x (1 mile @ 8:30 pace, 1 min recovery), cooldown
Actual: 5.4 miles in 47:38
This was hard. I ran the 3 miles together straight after the warmup - I was having trouble during the first mile so I said to myself, just get to 2 miles. Then it was, just get to 2.5 miles. And then, just bloody finish. Again, very glad when it was over, and very happy with how it felt afterwards but jeez it felt hard.

Friday:
Rest day, yay

Saturday:
Plan: 11-12 miles
Actual: 12.53 miles in 2:02:40
Headed out early this morning with no direction in mind, just strapped on the watch and off I went. I went towards town and onto the quays. At one point I realised I'd stopped the watch to cross the road and hadn't restarted - d'oh! No worries, I'd mapmyrun it when I got home. Anyway, got as far as Phoenix Park so headed in there for a while. Lots of runners out this morning, and nearly everyone said hello - I like that Ended up staying in the park for about an hour before heading for home. Stopped at 5 and 9 miles for a quick stretch. Got to the end of my road at 12 miles on the watch so I knew I'd done at least 12, happy days. Mapmyrun tells me I actually covered 12.53, even better.

Happy enough with this morning, it felt tough at times but not too hard. I purposely kept the pace down; the quickest mile was 9:37. Once again, just like last week, it was all about putting a few more miles in the legs. 29.33 miles done this week.

So another week done. Still feeling positive, DCM could still be in the plans. Another week or so will give me a better idea

racheljev

So, week 3 of "not an actual marathon training program" program

Monday:
Plan: 4 easy miles
Actual: 3 easy miles & 30 min swim.
Bank holidays normally mean an early trip to Sportslink for a swim and a fry up with the family, but I didn't want to miss all my miles. So I ran out and they drove out, 3 miles done, everyone happy

Tuesday:
Plan: 1.5 mile w/u, 6 x 400m with 1:50 recovery, 1.5 mile c/d
Actual: 5.5 miles
As usual, didn't want to do this one. Hadn't actually accepted I was doing 400s till I was in the middle of the first one. It's as if my brain and legs have to be lured into a false sense of security, and then I SPRING the fast stuff on them :rolleyes: Anyway, long story short, the 400s were all around or about 1:50. The recovery was slightly less than it should have been because I couldn't work out the time properly so I judged it by distance instead - about 250m. By the time the session was over I was delighted because it went ok and I felt ok (if slightly pukey after the last 400 because I had to peg it away from a dog)

Wednesday:
Plan: 3 miles easy
Actual: 3.5 miles
Did an extra half mile to make up for missing a mile on Monday.

Thursday:
Plan: Threshold run - 1.5 miles w/u, 2 miles in 18:18, 1 mile in 8:19, 1.5 mile cooldown.
Actual: 6 miles in 54:35
Did this as slightly more of a progression run. At the end of the warmup I was moving fairly easily, so after a quick stretch I just ran at what felt like a 9ish min mile pace. It was actually 8:50 pace so I just kept going. Mile 1 8:47. For mile 2 I picked up the pace a teeny tiny bit and it still felt ok - Mile 2 8:36. For the last mile I picked up the pace again. I was definitely breathing a bit hard and it was very bloody hot but it still felt ok - Mile 3 8:01. 1.5 miles home as a cooldown, followed by a good stretch.

Plan for Saturday is 13-14 miles. If I can get through that without too much heartache, I might bite the bullet and sign up for the Race Series Half and DCM. I might also give the Athlone 3/4 a go as well - that was a great race last year and it got one of the long runs done and dusted. Will wait to see how Saturday goes....

racheljev

Saturday:
Plan: 13-14 miles
Actual: 14.3 miles in 2:20

Phew, long run done. That was a hard one. For starters, I'd the wrong top on - I picked up a tshirt with my eyes half closed and only realised after a sweaty mile that it's one I normally use in cooler weather. D'oh. Then my watch started beeping - I'd forgotten to charge it. Double d'oh. I switched on mapmyrun on the phone just in case and kept going. Just as well as the watch died after 3ish miles. Decided to head out past Raheny this morning, on to Sutton and then back in along the coast. It was grand going out but coming back in, there was a bit of wind in my face the whole way back. At least it was flat

Anyway, long story short, the miles were slow but at least they're done. 32.3 miles for the week. Another week of my "this is not a marathon program" program done

Emer911

racheljev wrote: »

Saturday:
Plan: 13-14 miles
Actual: 14.3 miles in 2:20

Phew, long run done. That was a hard one. For starters, I'd the wrong top on - I picked up a tshirt with my eyes half closed and only realised after a sweaty mile that it's one I normally use in cooler weather. D'oh. Then my watch started beeping - I'd forgotten to charge it. Double d'oh. I switched on mapmyrun on the phone just in case and kept going. Just as well as the watch died after 3ish miles. Decided to head out past Raheny this morning, on to Sutton and then back in along the coast. It was grand going out but coming back in, there was a bit of wind in my face the whole way back. At least it was flat

Anyway, long story short, the miles were slow but at least they're done. 32.3 miles for the week. Another week of my "this is not a marathon program" program done

You're flying missus! You're doing more mileage than me and I'm signed up already . I'm obviously not following the right plan?!

Keep it up, stay healthy and I've no doubt I'll be congratulating you in McGrattans on Oct28th (no pressure!) :rolleyes:

racheljev

Monday:
Plan: 4 miles easy
Actual: 4 miles easy
Exactly what it says on the tin

Tuesday:
Plan: 1.7 mile w/u, 3 x (800 @ 7:40 pace, 2 min recovery), 20 mins @ 9:09 pace, 3 x (800 @ 7:40 pace, 2 min recovery), 1.5 mile c/d
Actual: 9.75 miles in 87:26

This was a doozy. Felt very apprehensive about this session because it was fast (for me :rolleyes:) but also quite a long one. Decided to incorporate it into a route I normally follow for general running - there's a bit of up, there's a bit of down, it's a grand route. I knew if I headed down to the green just down the road - which happens to be 400m - I'd go off my head running around it. So, alarm at 6:05, on the road at 6:15 to make sure session done before hubby goes to work.
Warmup and stretch done, into the first set of 800s -3:52, 3:51, 3:41. Stopped for a very quick stretch and then into the 20 min run. Made a big mistake here by running this at faster than 9:09 pace - covered 2.4 miles in the 20 minutes, which is 8:24 pace. And I paid for that in the second set of 800s - 3:55, 4:12 :eek:, 3:54. 1.5 miles home for cooldown, job done.

I found this very hard. The first set weren't too bad but the second set nearly killed me - a combination of the early start and the too-fast middle section. But - because I'm a glass-half-full girl :P - only the 5th 800 was reeeeeallly bad - 4:12. The rest were close enough to the 3:50 I was aiming for. And I did manage to keep a steady pace for the 20 min middle bit - even if it was a too fast pace . And the session was finished before 8 a.m., every cloud etc etc.

I signed up for the Athlone half yesterday as hubby away for the weekend of the Race series half. Half pb is 1:56:37 from last year's race series, so anything under 1:55 would be good. Just over 4 weeks away... LOADS of time

racheljev

Wednesday:
Plan: 4 miles easy
Actual: 4 miles easy

Thursday:
Plan: 4 miles easy
Actual: Relief that it wasn't another Threshold Thursday, 4.25 miles

Saturday
Plan: 14-15 miles
Actual: 15.1 miles in 2:28

15.1 very slow and steady miles. Headed out early into what felt like a gale force wind. Decided to head for the park and got to the NCR gate with 5 miles just finished. Had a quick stretch and a gel and went on a loop of the park by the Magazine Fort, around to the North Road and back onto Chesterfield Avenue. Loads of groups of runners this morning, great to see. Stopped at 9 miles for another small stretch and gel. Left the park at 11 miles and headed towards home, feeling ok. At 11.8 miles stomach threw an almighty wobbler - cramps, pain, the lot - and only for the very nice woman in the launderette on Prussia Street allowing me to use the toilet, things would've been horrendous :eek: Felt quite queasy for the last few miles. Went into a shop at 13.5 miles for a bit of sugar and bought a Caprisun - not the best move as I ended up with a stitch for the last mile. Ah well, all grand now. Home safe with 15.1 miles done. That gives me 37.1 miles for the week, I'll take that

pgmcpq

Catching up ... look's like the chocolate therapy worked !

racheljev

Monday:
Plan: 5 miles
Actual: 5 miles, nothing to see here, move along please

Tuesday:
Plan: 2 mile w/u, 1 mile @ 7:54 pace, 2 x 0.5 mile @ 7:40 pace, 1 mile @ 7:54 pace (all with 2 mins recovery), 1.5 mile cooldown.
Actual: Pretty much as above, I think

Out and about early for this one. Got the warmup done, quick stretch and into the first fast mile. Found it quite hard for the first while but then breathing seemed to ease and the mile went much quicker than expected - 7:54 on the button. 2 mins recovery and into 0.5 @ 7:40 pace. This felt good and ended up quicker - 3:40, 7:23 pace. 2nd one felt ok as well - 3:42, 7:24 pace. Recovery again and into last mile. I really went for this one, or that's what it felt like anyway :rolleyes: Last few metres were quite hellish, but kept pace up to finish mile in 7:42. Last bit of recovery, which included a small almost-puke, then 1.5 slooow miles home for cooldown - 7.2 miles in 65 mins.

Very happy with that session. It was another one of those that I'd made worse in my head before I started, and once I got moving it was ok. And it's soooo lovely to have it done and dusted before 8:00 a.m. - smug? Moi?

Emer911

racheljev wrote: »

Very happy with that session. It was another one of those that I'd made worse in my head before I started, and once I got moving it was ok. And it's soooo lovely to have it done and dusted before 8:00 a.m. - smug? Moi?

Sheesh! A session done by 8am!:eek: Superwoman! (or super nutter? :P)

racheljev

Wednesday:
Plan: 5 miles easy
Actual: 5.38 miles
Got my distance a bit wrong on this. Noticed the garmin going a bit loopy just before it beeped for two miles - avg pace up to 12mins then back down to 6. It did that once before when it seemed to lock onto a signal out at the airport instead of outside my front door. Thought to myself - I know this route fairly well and don't think I've actually hit two miles yet. Did a quick recalculation and amended the route slightly so that I'd get home in 5.3 miles by the watch, which would mean 5 actual miles (still with me???) Anyway, got back to house with 5.38 miles in 49 mins on the garmin. Mapmyrun'd it to discover - yes, I'd actually covered 5.38 miles in 49 mins, d'oh. Looking at the map, the garmin seemed to think it was around Beaumont hospital when it started and then it leapt across hill and dale to meet back up with me in Finglas. I haven't a clue what happened, all I know is I ran enough

Thursday:
Plan: 2m w/u, 30 mins @ 9:09 pace, 1.5m c/d
Actual: 7.1 miles in 65 mins

Emer911 wrote: »

Sheesh! A session done by 8am!:eek: Superwoman! (or super nutter? :P)

Definitely supernutter this morning - tempo run done by 7 a.m. as OH had an early meeting, so hit the road at 5:40. Holy crap it's a while since I was up and out that early. Got my warmup miles done, had a quick stretch and straight into the tempo miles. Pace crept up fairly quickly to 8:30 so decided to see if I could keep it at that. Covered 3.53 miles in 30 mins - 8:34, 8:30, 8:33, last 0.53 @ 8:23 pace. Straight into cooldown, 1.6 miles @ 9:37 pace and home in time to wave OH off to work. Very happy with that session, hard but not a total killer.

Headed into Lidl early this morning (everything is early today ) to have a quick look at the running gear before the hordes descended. Two tops, two pairs of tights, two pairs of compression socks and a pair of gloves for 42 euro -I'm dressed for the winter

racheljev

Plan: 16-17 miles
Actual: 17 miles in 2:45:30

Woohoo! Absolutely delighted with this one. No drama - no toilet issues, no capri-sun related puke, no falls, nothing at all. Just nice steady running. Headed out through Raheny towards Howth with two Second Captain podcasts for company. Stopped at 6 miles for v quick stretch and gel. Hit the Dart Station in Howth at 9 miles and turned around into a slight breeze. Stayed on the coast on the way back, keeping a steady pace. Stopped again at 12 for stretch and gel, and unfortunately phone died soon after so I didn't get the end of the second podcast and I had no company for the last 5 miles. But no matter, it was absolutely fine. Hit 17 miles a bit away from the house so just walked the last little bit - it was as if my legs said, right we've been grand but now we've had enough so you can walk :P

Couldn't be happier with this run. It was predominantly flat, with the odd up and down - mainly at the start and end. I never felt as if I couldn't get through it and that's not normally how I feel. Really really happy with this one, a massive confidence booster. 41.7 miles for the week, happy days. I still haven't signed up for DCM though, another 6 days before it goes up in price and forces my hand....

RubyK

Super training rachel, you sound like you are in great form. Keep up the great work

Solobally8

Go for it!!

Marthastew

Solobally8 wrote: »

Go for it!!

+1, definitely go for it! I'll keep chasing magpies for us both;)

racheljev

It goes without saying that, if I have a good week, it is followed by a not so good one - or as I like to say, a bag of sh**e week.

Monday:
Plan: 7 miles easy
Actual: 7.2 miles
Nothing much to report on this one. Except for the fact that I missed the shooting on Glasnevin Avenue by about 10 mins - the Gardai were still putting up the incident tape when I ran past. I saw two bikes on the ground and thought someone had been run over, as opposed to one lad on a bike shooting another lad on a bike and then shooting himself in the leg. Only on de nortsoide....

Tuesday:
Plan: 2 mile warmup, 6 x 400 @ 7:20 pace with 1:50 recovery, 1.5 mile cooldown
Actual: pretty much as above
Did the warmup, had a quick stretch and straight into the 400s. Each one was slightly closer to 7 min pace - between 1:44 & 1:46 - which gave me an extra few seconds recovery. Each one was ok, last one felt tough but it got done. Cooldown home, no problem

Wednesday:
Plan: 7 miles easy
Actual: 6.6 miles
Didn't feel great for this one. Breathing heavy, legs like lead, generally felt crap. Hit the end of my road at 6.6 miles and couldn't muster the energy to run up and down to make up the 7. Felt shi**y for the rest of the day - bad headache, dodgy tum, general air of crapness. Was in bed at 9 but couldn't sleep. Bad nights rest.

Thursday:
Plan: 2 mile warmup, 4 x 1 mile at 8:20 pace with 1 min recovery.
Actual: unscheduled rest day.
Felt horrendous all day Thursday. Thought at one point I was coming down with my annual dose of tonsillitis. Had to hit the shops with my girlies for last minute school stuff and jeez it was awful. Fell asleep on the sofa and in bed by 9:30.

Friday was scheduled rest day so that was ok. Felt a bit better but still had headache and slightly dodgy tum. Have to assume it was some sort of a virus that hit my system. Which brings me to:

Saturday:
Plan: 18-19 miles
Actual: 18.2 miles in 2:57:13
Every inch of this run was hard fought. From the minute I left the house, I knew it was going to be a struggle. It was the extreme opposite of last week's wonder run. I had originally planned to wind my way to the Phoenix Park, do a lap or so and then head home. That wasn't going to work today. I headed up towards Santry and Ballymun. The hotel near Northwood saw my first stop - a quick toilet and gel break at just under 4 miles. Off I went again towards Finglas and Glasnevin. Another very quick stretch and gel at 9 miles. Onwards towards the Botanic Gardens for another toilet stop at 10.5 miles. Felt like absolute crap at this point and told myself to get to 14 miles, I could go home after that. Got to 14 miles near the City Centre and stopped for another gel and stretch. I got to 16 miles, amazed that I'd gotten that far. From then on, every inch was bonus territory as far as I was concerned. I knew I was just over a mile from home, but I also knew if I ran up one road and down another I'd add a bit more on. Got to the shops near my house at 18.2 miles and literally couldn't run another step. Walked the half mile home, trying to resist temptation to call OH to drive down the road and collect me Anyway, I made it home and I covered over 18 miles.

I'm going to go for a "glass half full" attitude for this week. I felt like crap for quite a lot of it, I missed one of my sessions. But I covered just over 38 miles for the week and ground out 18.2 miles today. I've a feeling that today's crappy run will be just as important as last week's fab run when 28th October comes around. August was my biggest month this year - 167 miles. Happy enough with that.

And yeah, I'm biting the bullet. I'm registering for DCM today

career_move

Wow rach :eek: I can't believe you even attempted 18m after feeling so bad all week!!! Fair play for getting through it. I'm sure it'll definitely stand to you

racheljev

Monday
Plan: 6 miles easy
Actual: 6 miles easy
6 miles, done after the school run as opposed to stupid o'clock. Happy days.

Tuesday
Plan: 2 miles w/u, 2 x 1 mile @ 7:57 pace w/1:30 recovery, 30 mins @ 9:20 pace, 2 x 1 mile @ 7:57 pace w/1:30 recovery, 1.5 miles c/d
Actual: pretty much as above.
This was labelled in my program as a "big workout" so it was looming over me for the last few days. It's quite hot out today so that was my only concern but I had a route planned in my head that would enable me to hit the fast miles on a fairly flat part, so happy out. Headed out after the school run and just at the end of the warmup, my phone rang. It was my Mam, telling me that firstly "he's ok" (my brother). Last night, as he was driving home from Templemore, some little shower of b*st**ds threw a concrete block off a bridge on the N4 and it landed on the car bonnet and bounced through the windscreen. Praise be to whoever was watching over him, he's okay. Incredibly shaken but ok. He was more worried about getting home to my sister-in-law and telling her, because they're due a baby in a few months. Anyway, needless to say, that completely banjaxed me. My legs actually went slightly jelly-ish in the middle of Collins Ave. Talked to my Mam for a little bit longer and then had to decide - do I give this session a go or do I give up and go home and try again tomorrow? I swallowed a quick dose of HTFU and started a quick mile. The route I'd planned had completely gone for my head so I just started to run - Mile 1: 7:51 1:30 recovery and into mile 2: 7:55 1:30 recovery, quick stretch and then into the 30 mins steady. Unfortunately, after the phone call, I couldn't remember whether it was to be run at 9:09 or 9:20 pace so I aimed for 9ish to be safe. I covered 3.3 miles in the 30 mins so that was 9:05 pace. The last two fast miles were horrendous. I ran them together because I knew if I stopped for recovery, I wouldn't restart so Mile 3 & 4: 8:07 I had to work so hard to keep the pace from creeping up. Had to keep telling myself, "less than half a mile, just 0.4, just 0.3, less than a quarter" to get it done. Finished it with a large sigh of relief (actually a large gasp) and then headed home - 1.2 miles cooldown. So a total of 10.7 miles in 1:35:02. The "Big Workout" is done - phew

career_move

Holy sh!t. What a pack of evil little cun!s :mad: Glad your brother is ok and well done on doing a nice little session after that news!!!

racheljev

career_move wrote: »

Holy sh!t. What a pack of evil little cun!s :mad: Glad your brother is ok and well done on doing a nice little session after that news!!!

He's ok, got an awful fright. He rang the Guards and told them, they've gotten reports of stuff being thrown off that bridge - he's the first one they've hit, little ba*ta*ds.
I'm a bit happier with the session now, it was bloody hard but at least it's done

Emer911

Jeazuz - what scumb4gs!
Hope the brother is OK. That must have really shook him up.

That was some session you did! What plan is that coming from? Fair feics for getting through it. You'll blast through Dublin no bother at this rate :P