Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
I can see the sun in wintertime
Options
Comments
-
Monday
Plan: 7 miles easy
Actual: 7 miles in 65:50
Nothing to report about this one. Except that I passed the 1000 mile mark at the 4 mile mark in this run. Probably should have passed it earlier in the year - have to check when I hit it last year. Of course there is the virus, broken toe, total lack of mojo and the fact that I've only really done about 8 weeks of decent training all year.
I'll take the 1000 miles and be happy with it for now 
I've over 100 miles to go hit that mark and I don't have any excuses - one 3 week lay-off in Feb for a ba$tard chest infection is about it. So Kudos for getting there before the marathon!0 -
I've over 100 miles to go hit that mark and I don't have any excuses - one 3 week lay-off in Feb for a ba$tard chest infection is about it. So Kudos for getting there before the marathon!
Yeah but even with low training 3 weeks is still the guts of 70-80 miles. AND the fact that it takes ages to come back from a chest infection and antibiotics. AND if you count all the walls you've been climbing, that's another few (vertical) miles. Don't be beating yourself up, there's enough of us here to do that for you:D 0 -
Tuesday
Plan: 6x400s with 1 mile w/u & c/d
Actual: 5.1 miles with 3 @ tempo pace
Had already decided I wasn't doing 400s when I started - triumph of mind over body unfortunately. Anyway, did first mile w/u and felt grand so went into tempo mile (8:21). 2nd tempo mile faster - 8:04, 3rd one fastest - 7:50. Felt knackered after the last mile, so nice and easy 1.1 miles home. 5.1 miles in 44 minutes/.
Wednesday
Plan: 7 miles easy
Actual: 6 miles w/4 @ mp
Horrendous weather for this one. I was wet before I hit the end of the garden but it didn't bother me too much. I knew I couldn't get any wetter. I even stopped avoiding puddles after a while. Because of the weather, I wasn't really concentrating on pace at all, until I looked at the garmin during mile 3 and saw I was running at marathon pace. So I thought I'd try a few more mp miles and see how they felt. So miles 3 to 6 were all 9:04 avg pace. Got to the end of my road at 6 miles and decided to call it a day instead of heading for another mile. Besides, I was soaking and covered in dirt - some a$$hole in a 12D merc came flying around the corner as the traffic lights turned red in Clontarf. He got around the corner, but almost came up on the path as he turned. He hit the puddle in front of me at speed and covered me from head to toe with dirty water. I roared something very unladylike at him as I tried to get rid of the dirt on my face - scumbag :mad: If nothing else, it ensured a fast enough final mile home
Thursday:
Plan: 5 miles easy
Actual: no run - visit to Athletic therapist for leg massage
Saturday
Plan: 12 miles
Actual: 12 miles
Not too bad, this one. Headed out with no other intention than to get through the miles. Ticked off the miles without too much drama - except for the emergency toilet stop at 7 miles and having to avoid two greyhounds (on leashes, praise be) at 9 miles. 12 miles in 1:54. Wouldn't it be lovely if the weather was like this on marathon day?
Proper taper now. Nice easy runs on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Rest days Thursday, Friday, Saturday. 2 easy miles on Sunday morning. Here comes the madness....0 -
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
It's the day before DCM and how am I feeling? Nervous, sick, apprehensive, terrified - take your pick! I ran an easy 2 miles this morning to see how the legs felt. They felt ok, my back on the other hand felt awful. And it's been achy all day. Hoping it's just a nerves thing and I'll be ok tomorrow. Yet another post about how my body is basically falling apart :rolleyes:
Taper madness hasn't been too bad this time, but it's hitting a peak right now - I'm about to cry or scream if anyone says anything to me! Went to the expo yesterday and got a bit teary when my kids were writing nice things about me on the wall (the Lucozade one, they weren't grafitiing the front of the RDS). Anytime anyone wishes me luck, I get a bit glassy eyed - can't remember being like this last year, but maybe I was Anyway, to sum up, a meh few months of running followed by a broken toe, followed by a few decent weeks of training, followed by a virus, followed by a few shockingly bad weeks of training. And here I am ready to go. I have a 4 hr and a 4:05 pace band. I'm hoping and praying for a sub4, because then I don't have to do another marathon If you're out on the course tomorrow, and you see me (no. 9143, purple tshirt, black shorts, pained expression, trying desperately to keep up with MarthaStew and her gang) please shout at me and tell me to HTFU. I'd appreciate it 0 -
It's the day before DCM and how am I feeling? Nervous, sick, apprehensive, terrified - take your pick! I ran an easy 2 miles this morning to see how the legs felt. They felt ok, my back on the other hand felt awful. And it's been achy all day. Hoping it's just a nerves thing and I'll be ok tomorrow. Yet another post about how my body is basically falling apart :rolleyes:
Taper madness hasn't been too bad this time, but it's hitting a peak right now - I'm about to cry or scream if anyone says anything to me! Went to the expo yesterday and got a bit teary when my kids were writing nice things about me on the wall (the Lucozade one, they weren't grafitiing the front of the RDS). Anytime anyone wishes me luck, I get a bit glassy eyed - can't remember being like this last year, but maybe I was Anyway, to sum up, a meh few months of running followed by a broken toe, followed by a few decent weeks of training, followed by a virus, followed by a few shockingly bad weeks of training. And here I am ready to go. I have a 4 hr and a 4:05 pace band. I'm hoping and praying for a sub4, because then I don't have to do another marathon If you're out on the course tomorrow, and you see me (no. 9143, purple tshirt, black shorts, pained expression, trying desperately to keep up with MarthaStew and her gang) please shout at me and tell me to HTFU. I'd appreciate it
See you tomorrow around the MS gang then.... I haven't declared whether I'll aim to run with the pace group or not, but I'll be there to start with anyway.
Best of luck anyway. You'll do grrrreeat 0 -
-
-
Advertisement
-
WARNING: long pity-filled report ahead
I started today with the hope of a sub4 marathon. I sort of knew that my training hadn't been optimal but I hoped for a bit of luck and for everything to work out to my advantage.
Got over to the start area nice and early, courtesy of the most depressing taxi driver in the history of the world - cancer, death, obesity and bankruptcy all before 7:30 Anyway, I was early so I strolled nice and easy around to the baggage area. After several uses of the toilets, I got myself ready and headed to the corral. I was standing there for a good while, trying to relax myself. I bumped into Emer911 just before the start so we said we'd start together. Got incredibly nervous just before the gun went off but we were all sorted, just in position behind the 4hr pacers. Off we went and we were doing grand for quite a while. I saw loads of my cheering posse on O'Connell Street and NCR. Our time was fine at that stage - we were about 10 secs down on 4hr pace when we hit the park but the flags were still in front of us and we were going well. Emer let out a little yelp when she passed the place she had to pull up last year and we were going grand. Then the water station came up. She said to me, you go left, I'll go right and I never saw her again 
I kept looking out for her but the congestion was ferocious so I hadn't a hope. Anyway, on we went.
The park section was fine. Pace was steady and the pacers were just ahead of me, never too far away. When we left the park, the atmosphere in Chapelizod was fantastic, so many people cheering and shouting. Then, going under the bridge was brilliant with all the roars and shouts of Oggy, oggy oggy Still feeling ok.
The first inkling that it wasn't going to be my day was the hill out of Chapelizod up to Kilmainham. Looking at the garmin reading I kept a steady pace but it felt harder than it should have. Saw Racoon Queen around here and got a shout from her (but no jelly babies, huh typical) The sun was getting quite hot here and I could feel myself heating up quite a lot. But I had my water so kept chugging when I thought of it. I'd brought small jelly babies with me so I could swallow them without chewing - I've found chewing sometimes brings on the gag reflex (honestly, who wants to be me??) I was taking them every mile or so but the dry retching was starting and I didn't want it to get worse (and it did, oh yes it did). Anyway, saw my cheerers again just before we hit the Crumlin Road and it gave me a bit of a boost. The Crumlin road felt long though, very long. The pace went out on miles 11 & 12 but I thought once we got to half way, I'd be grand because then we'd be on the way back and I could try to pull it back in again. Hit half way in 2:01 so not a million miles away from sub4.
Miles 13 and 14 were ok but the pace was slipping out again. Then mile 15- boom. Wheels off wagon, legs in bits, stomach in shreds. Miles 15 to 20 were probably the worst miles I've ever run. Any pace I had disappeared and I also performed my lovely "puking while running" routine that seems to work so well for me I walked, I cried a bit. I went back to my old trick of counting steps, telling myself when I counted to 200 I could walk again. I tried not to, but it just got so bloody hard. Milltown and Clonskeagh were horrendous. The 4:10 pacers passed me at this point. It was an awful kick in the teeth. I tried desperately to hang onto them for a while, but it wasn't happening. When we got to Roebuck Road, I thought I was going to break down. But I talked and talked to myself - you're on the home straight, what's the worst time you will accept now, even if you run 10 minute miles you should finish ahead of the 4:20 lads. So I ran up Roebuck Road and kept going.
From the 20 mile marker on, I was on the countdown - 6.2 miles to go, 6.1, etc etc. I promised myself that I would not walk again before the finish. Getting onto the motorway at the Radisson was a huge landmark for me, because I knew I only had the UCD flyover and the Grand canal bridge to cope with. Flyover was fine, head down, just keep moving. Down by RTE was ok. My pace was slow but steady. I was passing quite a few people at this stage - a lot of walkers and walking wounded. The road in by the RDS felt very long as it felt as if the wind had made a reappearance. So many people cheering though, it helped a lot. I knew my cheerers would make a final appearance at the Registry office, just after the Grand Canal bridge. And there they were. Of course I was snotting and crying by the time I got to them - the look of relief on my OH's face! He knew I'd definitely finish from here - I'd texted him at 19 miles to tell him I was going to be a long time on the course.
The last few miles were hard but not as hard as the earlier ones. I was still doing quite a lot of retching but no more puke, hallelujah When we reached Pearse Street I was trying to calculate my time and came up with around 4:15 - 8 minutes slower than last year but still my 2nd best time. So I just kept going. Coming around by Trinity college was immense, the crowd were incredible and kept me going. Got a huge shoutout from RayCun here. Nassau street never felt so long though, it seemed to take me about 2 hours to reach Merrion Square. I could see the clock up ahead and it said 4:13. So I decided it wasn't going to tick over to 4:14 before I crossed the line. And it didn't. Chip time 4:13:36
I was of course bawling by this stage and I nearly fell over with exhaustion and emotion. I rang OH straight away and he told me where my gang were. I then rang my Mam and cried all over again when she told me how proud her and my Dad were of me. Got my bag and then I met a few people who had mixed days out. And then I met Emer911, who was beaming with delight at her sub4 pb - so happy for her! Off to meet the gang and home we went.
So what happened? I don't think my head was in the right place to start. The various hiccups in my training schedule upset my head and once the head is gone, the legs follow. When I was getting ready last night, I thought to myself - that's it, don't want to do another marathon no matter what happens in this one. And right now, I'm still of the same opinion. It doesn't matter what I do on training runs, on the big day I have stomach issues - each of my marathons have involved at least one puke
Maybe I'm not designed to run long. So maybe for the next while I'll concentrate on just enjoying my running - no programs, no races, just run for the love of it. Maybe next year I'll change my mind, but as of now, I don't think so. When I first started running, it was with the aim of running one marathon. I've now run 6 and maybe that's enough for me. I suppose I'll just wait and see 0 -
-
-
-
-
-
Sh1t day out there for you Rachel but fair dues, you pushed through! I thought your story about spewing WHILE STILL RUNNING was actually hilarious, if not slightly tragic.
Hope you're feeling better today.
It's still a 2nd fastest time so you have to be proud of that. What a day! 0 -
Thanks for the nice posts, folks. Feeling slightly better about things today.
Emer it was actually funny in a very strange way. I had felt ok for a while and then all of a sudden, I thought to myself, oooh feel a bit crap. Had barely thought the thought when whoosh, out pops the puke. Luckily enough, I was on the outside of the road and far enough away from the person in front to splash them. Frightened the bejeezus though out of the woman beside me. She said are you ok? I shrugged and said, happens all the timeI thought your story about spewing WHILE STILL RUNNING was actually hilarious, if not slightly tragic:D 0 -
Thanks for the nice posts, folks. Feeling slightly better about things today.
Emer it was actually funny in a very strange way. I had felt ok for a while and then all of a sudden, I thought to myself, oooh feel a bit crap. Had barely thought the thought when whoosh, out pops the puke. Luckily enough, I was on the outside of the road and far enough away from the person in front to splash them. Frightened the bejeezus though out of the woman beside me. She said are you ok? I shrugged and said, happens all the time
Seriously - you are just AMAZING! With a joke too! I am in awe of your abominable spirit and determination! :eek: :P0 -
-
Advertisement
-
-
Solobally8 wrote: »You could buy a bike or start swimming if you fancy a change
Ehhhhh.... no. Sorry. I fall off bikes and I swim about as well as a brick.
Anyway... recovery from marathon continues. No running until Friday, when I went out for a nice easy 2 miles. All ok, DOMS well gone, just a small tightness in the right calf which I noticed from about halfway in the marathon. Plan was for another few easy miles on Saturday morning. And then....
Ah come on, you know something medical is on the way:D:D
My shoulder and back froze completely. I woke up on Saturday morning and stretched. Through the haze of sleep I registered a strange pull/ache around my shoulder blade. Got out of bed and pain, pain, pain. Spent most of Saturday and Sunday trying to find a comfortable place to sit, stand, lie, whatever. Upper back and neck were very sore, left shoulder incredibly painful, and lower back painful because of trying to compensate. No sleep on Saturday night and not much last night. Went to my doc this morning to see if she had an idea. And apparently I have a severe one sided trapezius muscle spasm. She said the whole area around the shoulder blade is like a rock and as a result the rest of my back is swollen and pulled out of wack. She's put me on anti inflammatories and valium (which I really didn't want to take but she took no sh!t - they're the best muscle relaxant, she doesn't give them out unless they're needed, I won't get addicted in 5 days and basically cop on and take the bl**dy medication) She also gave me a referral letter for a physio in Blanch. Gave him a call and got a cancellation for tomorrow afternoon. So, no running for a week to 10 days - although she said that it might help to run a little bit when the spasm starts to loosen itself out.
It's all fun and games in this log 0 -
-
-
It's just one thing after the other over on this log! Reads like a medical journal
Seriously though - take it handy, take the medication and get yourself sorted. We've a few shorter distance PB's to get stuck into over the next few months, don't ya know? That 10K one is getting stale :rolleyes:;)0 -
-
Marthastew wrote: »Any improvement Rach?
Sorry, not been on here in a few days. Yes there is improvement, hallelujah!
Went to physio last Tuesday and he basically beat the crap out of me for an hour (or at least that's what it felt like) He found spasms and strains all over, such fun! The main action was centred around the shoulder blade and vertebrae 4 and 5 (or was it 3 and 4?) in my neck. The spasms were quite bad but he was happy that there were no nerve or joint problem, all muscular apparently. Anyway he gave me some exercises and stretches to do, and I did them.
I didn't take a lot of the mammy's little helper valium, I only took it going to bed to get some sleep. And I stopped the anti inflammatories last Saturday. Went back to physio yesterday and he was happy with progress, and cleared me to go for a gentle jog this morning. Which I did. Yay, finally some running on my log! 3.3 slow easy miles done, with no ill effects. It's a bit achy now but I haven't done my stretches so hopefully they'll help. Another thing he recommended was some strengthening work on the shoulders and core, so I've some new exercises to get used to - more fun and games, yay Another gentle jog planned for tomorrow, looking forward to it already 0 -
Eeek, 6 weeks since my last post. I'd almost forgotten my Boards password So what's been happening? Some running, some more shoulder spasming followed by no running and intensive chocolate eating. A bit more very slow running, a bit of weeping and crying over correlation between loss of speed/fitness and amount of chocolate eating, followed by another spasm and more chocolate. Ah, you get the picture :rolleyes:
November was my lowest mileage month EVER (I think. I'm not counting the time off for stress fracture in 2010 as I was swimming and cross training) - a grand total of 44.3 miles. December has been slightly better - when I run tomorrow, I may actually break 65 miles:rolleyes: But I've enjoyed the few miles I've done. There hasn't been a formal program to follow so I've just been closing the door behind me and running for 30 or 40 or 50 minutes, nothing major. But it's been ok. I'm working on a running streak at the minute - my own (very poor!) version of twelve runs of Christmas.
A while ago I signed up to the Lord Mayor's challenge - 5 races, finishing with a 4 mile challenge in Raheny. I kinda hoped it might give me a bit of a kick. There was an introductory meeting a few weeks back, with a pep talk and a tshirt. It was quite interesting and I was going to do at least 2 of the races anyway. So race 1 is Wednesday - the Tom Brennan 5k in the Park. I have absolutely no expectations of a decent time from this; with the size of my a$$ at the minute, I'll be lucky to break 25 minutes :eek:. Honestly though, I'm not that bothered. I'll trot around and then try and do a few decent weeks of training in time for the Raheny 5, which is race 2. Hopefully that will give me a boost for race 3, the Operation Transformation one in February. Race 4 is the MSB 5k and then the final one in Raheny. So goals for the new year are to shift some of the post shoulder spasm lard, reignite the mojo and get a bit of speed back in these old legs. Not too much to ask for, right? :rolleyes:0 -
-
Advertisement
-
2013 - what happened? 2013 started with my mother-in-law being taken to hospital by ambulance from our house. Thankfully she got better but it wasn't a good omen for the year. Not many races - a very meh Raheny 5 in January, an alright 5k in Leixlip in May and not much else. The Athlone half was one of the worst races I've ever done, and mile 19 in DCM was the closest I've ever come to DNF'ing - that race has, for the moment, killed any desire in me to complete another marathon. I managed 1171 miles but that's less than 2012. Why the lower mileage? Total loss of mojo / any speed I ever had, broken toe, shoulder spasm, viral infections, etc, etc, etc. So 2013 is best forgotten, definitely.
2014 started bright and early with a 5 a.m. alarm call - had to bring the boys to the ferry for The Boy's Christmas present trip to Anfield. Proper Irish mammy behaviour - sandwich making at 5:15 a.m. Back to bed for an hour or so, and then up and out for the Tom Brennan 5k in the park. Got up to the park in plenty of time, collected my number and met Career Move and her sister. I wanted to get in under 25 minutes - which is almost 2 minutes slower than my best 5k time but which was an achievable goal, considering the amount of weight I've put on over the past few months. And it was my first race since DCM :eek:
Start time came around soon enough and off we went. I had an avg pace in my head of 7:55/mile, once I kept to that I'd be fine. First km or so was ok. 2nd and 3rd were into the wind so by the time I got to the 2nd lap of the course I was struggling a bit (but not too much). Km 4 was a bit crappy but the avg pace was hovering nicely around 7:55/7:56 so I knew I was ok. Picked it up a teeny tiny bit for the last km and finished in 24:39 (chip time). It wasn't a balls-out effort by any stretch but the last km and a half were definitely uncomfortable. If I'd pushed it, I probably could've gotten closer to 24 but I honestly didn't think it was worth it - and I was completely knackered from the early start.
So, not a great time for a 5k but at least it didn't make me want to never ever run again (which was how I felt after DCM) Next up is the Raheny 5. I'm kinda sorta looking forward to this. I ran this route quite a lot as part of training for DCM so I know it quite well. And this will be my 5th time to (hopefully) complete it. I signed up for Jantastic under the Boards.ie team so that's another incentive to get out in January and run. And I'm currently on a 12 day running streak at the moment - jeez, how did that happen?? So, glass half full, accentuate the positive, carpe diem, etc etc etc. May the good vibes continue 0
Advertisement