2011: Father, husband, employee, runner; making it all work

W.B. Yeats

5.63 km in 30.51 at lunchtime. Just to loosen the legs from Saturday's efforts- I took it easy enough all the way but it was good to get out. Have had to reschedule next physio session to tomorrow as work getting in the way for Thursday's planned session. Hopefully a bit more work and another improvement will come along. I'm sick of stretching and doing bloody exercises.

W.B. Yeats

Excellent club session this evening
6.44 in 28.53 average 4.29 pace.....:D
Actually this was a mix of 330m loops and 600m loops with a km warmup and down
Found it ok to be honest, was blowing at the end (which I'd expect) - the coach went easy and let us off the last rep of 300 and 600 which I was psyched up for.
Tried to catch Ray on the last 300m- jeez he has speed! Watch the finishing kick in Dunshaughlin

W.B. Yeats

10.25km today in 51 min or so.
Was supposed to be slow and it started out that way, then I just started speeding up and ended up at 4.30/km having started at 5.30/km......:eek:
What can I say? Bored with running long and slow and also knew it was going to start lashig rain so ran on quickly at the end, just made it to the car before it started pelting down.
Hamstring was a bit sore after but I've stretched out a few times today and its alright now.
Heading off tomorrow to East Cork for 5 nights- that's if the missus wakes up tomorrow; she's at Take That tonight. I'm on childcare duty- jeez its hard. I've one in bed, nana is talking to the little one now and then the feeding, minding and getting to go asleep starts. Finally I will look for my phone, its been missing since last night. Can't find it at all- I suspect small hands got it this morning and left it somewhere I will never think of.
Plan for the week is to take it easy, do a few 4 or 5 mile runs- anyone got suggestions for where's good to run in the Castlemartyr area?

W.B. Yeats

5.7km this morning in around 30 min
Took it nice and easy- it was actually a lovely run for a number of reasons:

• I'm on hols
• I didn't run to a time
• I was running somewhere new
• There was a bit of rain and I haven't run in proper rain in a long time
• The legs felt good, no pain really which was surprising

Will stretch and strenghten again today

Off in the afternoon to the pool +/- some craziness in a kids play centre and I'll love it all:D

W.B. Yeats

It's a great feeling having slept a full night's sleep (thanks my little angels), fed and watered the baba, changed the elder and gotten my run in for the day by 9.45am. Aren't holidays magic?

6.4km this morning, done and dusted by 9.45. Took it easy again and have to say enjoyed it again, scooted along and took in the new sites. Also probably got the best of the sunshine.

Got 2x Olympics tickets; 100m finals night!!!!!!!!:D and women's boxing finals when hopefully Katie Taylor will do us proud.

W.B. Yeats

Hols over for the moment- (may have to look for another few days later in the summer...it should be sunny when the kids go back to school right?)

10km in 49.45/ 4.58 pace. I found this a big struggle today for some reason... could have been the few beers/wine that I've had in the past few days. Although it was less than 10 drinks in 5 days.
I didn't want to get out the door first off, but once I did it was fine. First 5 km were fine, but it went uphill after that, Had to really struggle over the last few km to get them home in 4.5xxx odd. I felt like giving up a few times. THat's odd for me because I usually only feel like that when i'm racing. I know I've probably gone back a bit recently but thought I'd be able to knock out a sub 50min 10km without difficulty.
Anyhoo hopefully it was just a bad day at the office.
Plan for next week is to get out tomorrow for a few gentle kms, lunchtime Monday, physio Tuesday, rest Wed, Club Thursday, Saturday again.

W.B. Yeats

Did a v swift 2 miles or so last night-
Tried to get out at lunch and work got in the way
Tried to get out in the evening but was required on baby sitting duty

Eventually got out around 10.30......

Today was physio:
Progress at last I think. She loosened out the hamstring in general and then the Physio spent a long long time looking for the place that is still not settling down, seems like she really found it. Then the fun started....
Dry needling of my glutes
Basically a needle in the backside
Strange thing is that it seems to have worked......
So will continue with my stretching/strengthening and then get some more physio next week again to repeat the same on right side and then do my left side.
Progress at last

W.B. Yeats

CAtching up:
Did 5 km on Wed in about 25 min- was v hilly. Was at a conference all day and did this between the end of presentations and dinner. Wanted to take it easy but it was v hilly so had to dig in in places

Thurs was supposed to do a club session but the end of the conference was a hill walk up in Glendalough. We ended up doing 10km+ of a hike. http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=FI_14227 called the Spink. There were a few strenuous bits so I decided against a run all things considered

Did 11km or so this morning. Don't know time or pace as I left the watch at home. There were a lot of runners out in Tymon this morning, lots of folk training for the race series and probably the maraton

W.B. Yeats

Club session this evening:
Bootcamp style, shuttle runs, shuttle runs + sit ups, press ups, star jumps etc. Short laps, medicine balls, relays.
I am absolutely wrecked after it- to be fair I didn't help myself by racing one of the lads at the end....
I thought I was going to puke at the end
It took me a good while to get over myself at home
Physio tomorrow, more needling.....

W.B. Yeats

Club session this evening- think its my first time doing the 2 sessions in the week.
300, 650, 1000, 1000, 650, 650 and 300 all around 4.01/km pace
Happy enough- was v stiff at first but loosened out
Decent crowd down this evening of about 12 or so
If I was able to double up like this every week I'm sure I'd improve immensely, hamstring wasn't too bad, didn't feel it too much.
I'm in a better place than I was a few weeks back- hopefully things will continue to improve in terms of hamstrings/glutes and ability to train

RayCun

W.B. Yeats wrote: »

Decent crowd down this evening of about 12 or so

Everyone else was at home, unable to move:)

W.B. Yeats

RayCun wrote: »

Everyone else was at home, unable to move:)

Where I should have been as well-v stiff but glad I went
There were 2 new chaps there- an auld fella that won a marathon back in the 80s. I'd say he still has serious gas and was only getting warmed up when we were finishing. The other fella was youngish, think he works with Peter, also has v decent pace, looking to go sub 3 in the marathon. They were ahead of the rest of us but were something to aim towards.

W.B. Yeats

Ran 9.5km on Saturday morning- was enjoyable enough actually, think it was around 5 min/km. It was warm but I was glad to have gotten the run in at all. The midlands and Irish countryside looked glorious.
Hoped to do something Sunday morning but the festivities of Saturday (a wedding) meant that I was in bed late. Because the little ones were being minded I didn't want to waste the chance of a sleep in on a few recovery kms
Was back late yesterday and was still stiff after past few training sessions so I decided against a few km last night.
Did 6km or so today at lunchtime- went well enough- body still a bit stiff, hamstring moderate.
Physio again tomorrow.

Got my number in the post for Saturday and the rest of the race series. Not certain how this will go. Don't think I have the endurance to bring this home in 35-36. More likely to be closer to 37-38. 5x7.30 or so.

W.B. Yeats

Club run last night
Was supposed to be easy for those of us in the 5 mile tomorrow.
1.8km easy
6*300
1.5km easy
For some reason I found the 300s easier than normal- probably because there were only 6 of those. first one was 67 then gradually got faster and faster, finished in 60 dead,
Hamstring best its felt in a while but still not perfect- I wasn't going flat out in the 300s. Stiff today so hopefully will improve overnight


Off to bed and then racing tomorrow
Really looking forward to it!

W.B. Yeats

36.20! PB by 5 min or more from last year:D

Headed out the door a little late and made it to the park just after 9, had a bit of driving up and down Chesterfield to find a parking space, stretched, jogged, dropped bag off- met 3 people I knew before the race and got to the start line. Funnily enough though for all my poncing around I didn't feel fully warmed up and ready to belt off from the start- just as well I didn't follow RayCun's advice.....;)

Waited from about 9.50am in the pen for wave 1, but don't think we started until 10.05 or so. Yer man on the PA was getting fairly annoying at this stage- they'd be better off playing some pumping music.

Started out with the wave, took a little while to get going into my pace, rhythm was fine and didn't spend too much time passing people, think I actually started where I should have:). While waiting in the pen I changed the Garmin from km to mile, however it was still giving me km splits so that actually turned out to be a decent thing because it divided the miles up for me and kept me working out my pace vs 5km PB etc and meant I wasn't waiting for the miles to be finished. First mile was around 7.04, second mile same, third I think was around 6.58- it was downhill so I didn't blow myself out.
Around this time a club runner passed me out and then promptly stayed just ahead of me- he had a terrible wheezy breath and was really pounding the pavement, its funny how these things start to annoy you- especially as he just plonked himself in front of me. I actually ended up racing with him to cross the finish line

Up the s bends was fine- I didn't remember/consider that it was so uphill running the opposite direction to last year, but I didn't find it too difficult. Also I had mentally prepared myself to dig in between 3 and 4 as I felt this is where the winning and losing of my time would be. Hit the 4 mile and I was probably on target for a 35.40 or so but the Khyber was still to come. It was slow going on the uphill I have to admit, I didn't feel like I had blown up or was dying but my pace just went down and I couldn't raise it again. Near the crest I was finding it hard going but once I hit the top I tried to up the pace again to bring it over the line. I thought I crossed the line around 37.00 on the clock and 36.22 on the Garmin- results said 37.02 and 36.20 so I won't complain.

Overall v happy with the time and my performance considering a number of things: think the course was more difficult than last year, more crowds, and my training has actually been fairly limited the past 2 months. I was happy with my pacing strategy- its certainly easier running steady than going out fast and looking to hold on, and for sure I think steady pacing was more suitable for this course. I reckon with an uninterrputed training programme I'd finish in under 35.

Now to get a decent few long runs in for the 10mile, audacious target would be around the 75min mark, attainable target sub 80- would knock 12 min off last year!

W.B. Yeats

Recovery in tymon this evening with the dog
3.25miles in around 30 min
Was my first time running with the dog on his lead and it went pretty well.
Loosened out a good bit between start and finish

W.B. Yeats

4 miles at lunch
Nice run
Am hoping to get to the club tomorrow night, and then a long run (for me anyway) of 8 miles or so on Sat/Sun- am heading to the Northwest so will have to find time to fit it in.

Was horseracing tonight with work, was surprised at the decent sized crowd there, seems like there are still folks with money in the country

W.B. Yeats

Club session: Fartlek
Warm-up
1 min fast, 1 min slow
2 min fast, 1 min slow
3 min fast, 90 sec slow
4 min fast, 2 min slow
2 min fast, 1 min slow
2 min fast, 1 min slow
2 min fast, 1 min slow
2,5 min fast
1km warm down
Around 5 miles in total
Tough enough session all the same

RayCun

Are you going to do the mile next week?

W.B. Yeats

RayCun wrote: »

Are you going to do the mile next week?

Not certain yet-
Depends on how well behaved the girls are and the weather- good behaviour and good weather = benevolent family group that will join me in Irishtown
poor behaviour and rain = malevolent family grouping, no fun and no run!

Ah seriously though I'll see probably on Wed- have physio on Tues I think so that may not leave me in great stead- I also have a long day of meetings on Thurs in work so have to be v well prepped so might not be able to get out in time to get back to Dublin for the race

W.B. Yeats

Long run Saturday 8 miles in 70min. longest run since I ran a half marathon last October.
Was in the Northwest so this was run on country roads.
Plan was to run out and do 4, come back to my parents house and collect the dog for one more loop
Ended up running 5.2miles and came back for the idiot dog..... stopped literally for 30 sec to collect him and off we went. He was off the lead so was just running along beside me/near me/ in front of me/behind me- to make a long story painful, he got engrossed in a smell somewhere just as I was getting engrossed in getting to the top of a hill- when I got to the top the fecker couldn't see me and took off back home so I ended up having to follow him back to the village to make sure he had arrived back safely- then had to go back out again to finish the last mile and a half-
Overall it was actually a great run- found it easy, didn't go too fast/slow, enjoyed myself. Lesson learned though- don't let the dog off by himself!

Today: 3.2miles in 29min- with the idiot dog- this time on his lead- was just to loosen the legs after yesterday and the drive home today.

W.B. Yeats

CLub this evening
2*20 min runs about 5 min rest in between

First run was 2.77miles 4 and 3/4 laps. 7.0x/mile
Second run was 2.87miles same amount of laps 7.0x/mile

First one was tough- couldn't keep up with the lead group, second wasn't too bad, kept up with the lead group of lads until the last lap and then I slowed.
I was running close to 5k race pace so was surprised that I was able to keep this going for the second round
Feel very stiff now

Wasn't able to get out before this evening- busy at home and in work

W.B. Yeats

Long run today
9 miles- 75/76 min or so
Found this much more difficult than last week, to be fair it was probably more humid although probably as hot.
Ran from mine to Tymon, 2 and a bit miles, then did the long loop and the short loop to get me to 7 miles and back home to bring me to 9, finished out on the road so had 0.3 to jog into the house at snails pace as a short warm down.
I was covered in sweat and probably lost 6lb in fluid.

I thought after the 5mile that I might sneak 75 min for the 10 mile, I'm reassessing that now and reckon 79.59 would be a big achievement, I've got next week to go 10 miles and then 2 weeks after that is the race, I'll be glad to have the next few weeks to go long and build a bit of endurance into the legs.

Bloody drains are blocked in the house so am waiting for some "inspector" from the county council to arrive, I reckon that we'll be lucky if he arrives by 11 tomorrow when he will probably tell me that its my problem and not his..... any good suggestions for someone to unblock drains that isn't a cowboy?

W.B. Yeats

4.15 miles this evening
4 miles in 32.06- started out easy, and then ramped it up a bit, was through 2 in 17 min or so, eventually finished off the last mile in 7.15 ish/
Felt happy enough barrelling along on the last mile, but i never cease to be amazed that I can run 5 miles at 7.16 in a race and find it really difficult to get near that when I start off slow/

Physio tomorrow and maybe running again Wed lunch and Thurs evening

Council arrived this morning to look at the drains- wasn't to do with me at all because the mains were blocked, however it did result in some of the paving in my back garden lifting as a result

W.B. Yeats

4.15miles this evening 33.4x

Started out meandering along and gradually increased pace, looked at watch coming to last mile and said that I wanted to come in near 34 for an average of 8.30 miles- think the last mile was 7.10 or so- shows how far out I was before that.....

Physio yesterday which was fine, but stiffer today than yesterday- loosened out a piece on the run.

W.B. Yeats

Club this evening
Decent crowd- missed the warm-up again- its hard to just run in the door get changed and run out without having a quick chat to my ladies at home.
Anyway training was structured something like:
100m 75% + 100m jog
200m 75%+ 200m jog and so on
300m
400m
650m
1000m except the rest jogs were never longer than 330m

then a break and came back down
1000m
650m
400m
330m
200m
100m

Was wrecked at the end- another v good session, hamstring v tight during and now,,,,,,, ffs I'm getting really sick of not being able to go full out

We did something like 5.2miles in total (more if I'd done the warm up)

W.B. Yeats

Long run this morning
10 miles: from mine over to Tymon around the park and back:
10 miles in 82:40- probably a good minute to knock off due to waiting for traffic lights crossing the dual carriageway.
More confident about getting sub 80 after today's session, I'll be on track for it up to 8 or 9 and then it will depend on how much I can dig in to bring it home. I started out slow today and that was probably the reason for not breaking 80 as well as the fact that I'm running longer than I have in a good while. I was surprised that I was able to stick an 7.4x mile in between 8-9, I did pay for it on the last mile but was happy nonetheless that I had the ability to run out strong with so little long miles in my legs.

Deciding what I need to do next week- could bring it up to 11, run 10 again or step back to 9. 11 would be nice as it would leave only 2 miles extra to have the half distance but I don't want to push too much.

Happy though where I am today: sitting watching the London Grand Prix, have a bit of DIY to do later and then bring on the Boys in Blue this evening on the TV as well as a few beers with some friends that are coming over to watch the game with us

W.B. Yeats

4.15 miles in 36 min or so.
Went for a recovery run after watching the hurling. Muttley came along too on his lead. Ran down in Cherryfield where we run with the club. Realised that there are no bins at all in the park so had to carry muttley's deposits with me in a plastic bag on my run:eek::eek:

It rained a decent bit- first time I remember running in the rain in a long time- and I don't avoid the weather. Has been dry for a long time.

Run was nice enough- loosened the legs out a good bit. Overall happy with my week's exertions. Hopefully I can keep that up for the next few weeks.

The Dubs were great last night- but its only a QF, bigger challenges await.

W.B. Yeats

5 miles this evening
No Garmin so no idea of time
Was really demotivated doing this- first time in a long time- didn't really want to be out at all.
Just plodded along with no purpose except to get the distance in
Hamstring still bothering me

jcsmum

W.B. Yeats wrote: »

The Dubs were great last night- but its only a QF, bigger challenges await.

Yes they do!