Running with the birds or for the birds?

BeepBeep67

Good to put a face to the name, pity I couldn't stay as I had to fill Abhainn's trough

digger2d2

So, the Zimmer Frame got me thinking.....

Fast forward 45 years and digger and marthastew find themselves in the same nursing home. They are outside having a smoke when it starts to rain, digger takes a johnny out of his wallet, snips the end off it and carefully places it over the length of his cigarette to keep it dry. MarthaStew thought this was very clever, "What's that she asked"?... "It's called a condom, you can get them in the chemist" replied digger.

The following morning MarthaStew grabs the Zimmer Frame and heads off to town remembering days of 20 mile LSR's, Bikram yoga, Spinning classes, dips in the 40 foot, walking to school barefoot, uphill there and back...

Walking through the door of the chemist she asks for a packet of condoms, the assistant, although realising this old woman must be at least 90 but taking pity on her, asks "What type"? to which MarthaStew calmly replies "It doesn't matter dear, as long as they'll fit a Camel"!!

Marthastew

Why do Claralara and Mr Stew get to run off into the sunset and digger and I are banished to the old-folks home? Is it because we're the slower partners? Or maybe it's because we're the older partners?;)
Either way I'm looking forward to my retirement if it's going to be that much fun:)

jcsmum

A, you must have waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time on your hands! :rolleyes:

Younganne

i love a little chuckle in the office and everyone wondering what you're chukling at!!!;) i could visualise that old folks nursing home!!!

blockic

Rice Krispies squares are currently setting Marthastew! Would they hurry up already! Excited!:D

Marthastew

blockic wrote: »

Rice Krispies squares are currently setting Marthastew! Would they hurry up already! Excited!:D

The excitement! It's like waiting for Christmas! Hope you enjoyed them.
I hope you're back to your speedy-self soon, the few days rest will do you the world of good.

blockic

Marthastew wrote: »

The excitement! It's like waiting for Christmas! Hope you enjoyed them.
I hope you're back to your speedy-self soon, the few days rest will do you the world of good.

Haha, they were savage! Thanks for the recipe. All gone already, family devoured them! :eek:

I think it was the rocket fuel i needed. I'll be flying now next week!:)

Marthastew

Ok, not much updating going on here but fortunately a slow return to training….
The tummy bug I came down with unfortunately didn’t clear up quite as quickly as I’d have liked and I wasn’t feeling better for a whole week:eek: I was fine if I didn’t eat but as soon as I’d eat I’d feel horribly nauseous. I managed to keep cross training (yoga, spinning, body sculpt) as the classes really helped with my energy levels but I didn’t risk a run until Thursday:eek: I headed out with my Canadian friend for a nice easy 5 miler and it turns out we were both in a bad way… I was nauseous for most of the run (although I hadn’t eaten before it) and she was shattered tired. Along the way she realised that she hasn’t been taking her iron supplements (she doesn’t eat meat) so I gave her a good talking to. By the end of the run I was feeling much better so it wasn’t that bad;
Thursday 5.2 miles @9.20 pace

Friday I woke still nauseous so no running but a trip to the gym for more Body Sculpt.
I reached an all-time low on Friday evening and now is the time I use this log as a confessional…. I was running around getting tea for 4 hungry boys all the time thinking I might hurl when the doorbell rang and out I went to the door….. I was greeted by 2 small children (nobody I know, although I’m not sure that will make my crime any less heinous:o) with reindeer antlers on and their mum behind them, they launched into “We wish you a merry Christmas…” and instead of smiling and reaching for my purse I yelled said “No thank you” and closed the door:o:o Yes, you read that correctly, I closed the door on small children:o I had officially become the Grinch:eek: In my defence I had had a week of not eating properly and very little running.
Fortunately I have now returned to my usual charming self and am back running. My energy levels are great and I was very glad to be back out in this perfect running weather.

Saturday 5.42 hilly miles @8.18 pace
Sunday 13.76 miles @8.10 pace


I’m delighted to say I got a chance to make up for my bad behaviour; over 100 small children got to visit Santa on Sunday in the rugby club after he arrived on a fire truck, and this festive moment was brought in part to you by Marthastew:D:D

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

RayCun

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

blockic

RayCun wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

+1

belcarra

Marthastew wrote: »

UPDATE.
Mr Stew is tabulating our sooper-dooper Spring marathon plans at the moment, Rotterdam for him, London for me and I can’t wait to get started:D

I'm a bit behind on the logs(!) and have just seen this. Myself and Philip are booked in for Rotterdam also and I'll probably be looking for a similar time as MrStew so keep me updated on his training and target times! I'm thinking 3:15 as my goal but it's a fair bit away yet!

Cue the long runs in the park in Jan.:)

Younganne

blockic wrote: »

+1

+1,:eek::eek::eek:
no excuses rubbishing the "joys of Christmas"...im shocked, you must have been in a really really bad place...and you one of Santas helper!!!!!
(oh go on then, you are forgiven:D)

Dory Dory

RayCun wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

blockic wrote: »

+1

Younganne wrote: »

+1,:eek::eek::eek:
no excuses rubbishing the "joys of Christmas"...im shocked, you must have been in a really really bad place...and you one of Santas helper!!!!!
(oh go on then, you are forgiven:D)

Wow. I hope you invited those 2 small children you yelled at and slammed the door on to your Santa shindig. I bet we all know where a load of coal is being unloaded on Christmas eve......;):D

career_move

Marthastew wrote: »

I was greeted by 2 small children (nobody I know, although I’m not sure that will make my crime any less heinous:o) with reindeer antlers on and their mum behind them, they launched into “We wish you a merry Christmas…” and instead of smiling and reaching for my purse I yelled said “No thank you” and closed the door:o:o

That's so funny......Marthastew releasing her inner biatch

Brianderunner

Marthastew wrote: »

I reached an all-time low on Friday evening and now is the time I use this log as a confessional…. I was running around getting tea for 4 hungry boys all the time thinking I might hurl when the doorbell rang and out I went to the door….. I was greeted by 2 small children (nobody I know, although I’m not sure that will make my crime any less heinous:o) with reindeer antlers on and their mum behind them, they launched into “We wish you a merry Christmas…” and instead of smiling and reaching for my purse I yelled said “No thank you” and closed the door:o:o Yes, you read that correctly, I closed the door on small children:o I had officially become the Grinch:eek: In my defence I had had a week of not eating properly and very little running.

Couldnt help but think of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj6Vg5Mirg4

Emer911

Never mind them all MS. We all have those moments...

BTW made some of your Mars Bar Crispie cakes yesterday for a kiddie christmas party. Mmmmmm. They might not make it to the party though :rolleyes::p

Marthastew

Not much updating and only a little running going on here because there aren’t enough hours in the day during this holly, jolly time of year.

Monday 17th December
cycling 16 miles (in and out of town) and 45 minute body pump

Tuesday December 18th
45 minute lower body class
Club 3k time trial and 1 mile warm up with 1 mile cool down
With my boys' GAA taking a break until the New Year I finally got a chance to make it into the club for a session. Having never run a 3K I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach it but I figured I’d just start running and take it from there:) We weren’t allowed to wear our Garmins as we had to predict our time and the winners would be those who got their time right. The main thing I learned from this is that I need to run without the Garmin more often… I had predicted 12.59 and I ran it in 12.25, I was a little cross at myself for not pushing a bit harder but that’s something I will learn with experience over the shorter distances. Training has been haphazard over the last few weeks and I decided to chalk this one down to experience but I’ll hopefully be back in the New Year to do myself justice

Wednesday December 19th
Recovery 6.59 miles @ 9.14 pace
Torrential lashing rain and wind but I actually really enjoyed this, took it easy and listened to a marathon talk podcast.

Thursday December 20th
45 minute Hot yoga

Friday December 21st
Winter solstice sunrise dip
One of my swimming pals had given us a heads up that sunrise was at 8.38 so we timed it that we’d be in the water then, and what a sunrise it was:) Another pal has boys in the scouts and she had brought candles for us to light from a peace light that has travelled all the way from Bethlehem. I’m not sure that our little dip in the sea will have had any impact on world peace but we really enjoyed it and it was a super, super way to start the Christmas holidays.
Friday was also a sad day in the Stew house as we said goodbye to Spanishstew who has been with us for the last four months. I was desperately trying to hold it together as I saw him off at the bus because I didn’t want to embarrass him (it’s very easy to embarrass a 13 year old boy:o) and I was doing fine until I realised he was also in tears. Trying desperately to lighten the mood I decided to remind him of one of the many funny moments we shared and not surprisingly it’s related to running…. He had volunteered with my boys at the Dublin Half in Phoenix park and had heard my boys yelling “Large T-shirts and Goody Bags” so naturally he joined in, after a few minutes my youngest realised Spanishstew was shouting “Large T-shirts and Boogie bags”:D so ever since then goody bags are called boogie bags in our house:)

Thanks so much to those of you who voted for my Dublin New York marathon race report (and even if you didn’t vote for it and just read it) I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the category and I really think all the reports would have been worthy winners.
As you all know I love running marathons and I also love writing about running them.


For those of you worried about those poor little singing children at my door (I really did feel bad about being the Grinch:o) they came back again last Saturday and left with a smile and some money:)
I’ll sign off now till after Christmas but will hope to get a few runs in during all the excitement and madness. The youngest Stew has just reminded me that it’s only three more sleeps till Santa is here:D:D:D

Wishing you all a very merry, happy and healthy Christmas.


Ho Ho Ho

jcsmum

Marthastew wrote: »

For those of you worried about those poor little singing children at my door (I really did feel bad about being the Grinch:o) they came back again last Saturday and left with a smile and some money:)

Yeah right, you're fooling no-one :rolleyes::D

(well done on your marathon report victory, I didn't vote myself (as they were all so good) but I actually preferred your Berlin one - no pleasing some people!)

blockic

jcsmum wrote: »

(well done on your marathon report victory, I didn't vote myself (as they were all so good) but I actually preferred your Berlin one - no pleasing some people!)

Me too!:)

Marthastew

Another quick update….

Sat 22nd
Rest (for the following week rest means overeating and overdrinking)

Sun 23rd
14.6 miles @ 8.16
Mr Stew and I escaped the Christmas madness and met up with some lovely Crusaders club members for their long run. Mucky and challenging run around Phoenix park, a great way to burn off some of those Christmas calories

Mon 24th
Annual Family 40 Foot dip
The entire stew family braved the ice-cold sea and a great morning was had by all. Emer911 and the klown were also braving the elements but we somehow missed each other (brain freeze, perhaps?)

Tuesday 25th
approx. 4 miles @ holly-jolly-Christmastastic pace
Mr Stew and I managed to escape and make a dash up to the Goal mile in Kilbogget park, a great way to catch up with lots of friends and spread some Christmas cheer, this became a fartlek run as we slowed to chat to pals and then we would start racing each other. Glorious day, definitely a good-to-be-alive run:D


Wednesday 26th
10.65 heavenly hilly miles @ 8.43 pace


Thurs 27th
3.11 miles @ 8.09 pace
No time to run before a trip down the country but managed to squeeze in a few miles.

Fri 28th
Rest
Too much beer with friends in town:D

Saturday 29th
two and a half hour yoga workshop….
Ohm:)
I set the alarm early in order to get up and hydrate before this so as to avoid sweating booze all over my fellow yogu-bears:D:D I really enjoyed this, it was a yoga acupressure workshop which was supposed to help with detox, I reckon I needed a few more hours to get rid of all the junk:eek:

Marthastew

Sunday December 30th
16.23 miles @ 8.31 pace
Wet, windy and wild but I really, really enjoyed this run. In order to try and shift some of the Christmas excesses I ran this on empty, the only problem being that I didn’t get out the door till after 11.30 so I sneaked a cheeky Satsuma (oh the excess of it all:rolleyes:) and off I went. Even though it was so windy I had decided to run in and out of town along the coast as I knew the views would be super. The first mile was great but half way into the second mile I started to get really hungry:eek: so apart from dreaming of food for a lot of this run everything went super. I was catching up on some Marathontalk podcasts (a really great interview with a yet-again injured Andrew Lemoncello was very inspiring). A few slowish miles on the way in because of the wind in my face but I picked the pace up on the way back, mile 15 was an encouraging 7.10 pace but I slowed to 7.20 pace for the last mile and a bit as I had turned into the wind again.
Monday December 31st
Session with Maria McCambridge
Total of 6.75 miles covered with warm up/cool down
5 X 400m
A friend of mine texted a few weeks ago and said she was trying to set up a session with Maria and would I be interested and I jumped at the chance. Mr Stew and I joined 13 others of varying abilities and I really, really enjoyed this. the session was 8 X 400 but I didn’t want to overdo it ahead of tomorrow as I reckon tonight’s overeating and drinking will be hard enough to get over. It was great to finally run fast again and I’m going to have to try and get into the club next year for some speed work as it’s just so much easier when you have people to race against.
My splits were 89, 88, 89, 86 and 83 seconds we had 100M cool down in between but in reality we had a lot longer to recover as we waited for everyone else to finish. For all of the repeats I managed to tuck in behind Mr Stew (sweet:)) and one other guy and I even overtook Mr Stew on the third repeat. I really enjoyed the warm-up and cool down drills also and despite the inactivity and overindulging over the last few weeks I’m feeling confident I’ll be back in good shape after a couple of weeks of hard work.
Meno, I asked Maria and she said she did run up the hill but it was VERY tough






So that’s it for 2012 for me, I’m delighted with all the hard work I put in and really feel that I still have more to give in terms of PBs. When the boys go back to school next week and the tree is taken down I’ll have a proper chance to sit down and write out my goals for the year.

A very brief look back on 2012
Highs;
I’m very, very fortunate to have so many….. Donadea 50K, Howth to Bray run, Conn Ultra, Kildare Half, WMM (yes, you read that correctly:)), Docklands 8k, Berlin, Dublin, Central Park and the perfect end to the year; New York Dublin marathon:D:D
Lows;
Dun Laoire Bay 10K, I stupidly raced this even though I knew I was injured, this resulted in 7 weeks of no running, some lessons are learnt the hard way.

Total mileage for the year 1,849.36

Plans for 2013
I’ve signed Mr Stew and I up for the Tom Brennan 5k tomorrow as I feel it’ll be the kick up the ar*e we both need to get back on track, I’ve no idea what kind of shape I’m in but I’m going to head out at sub 20 pace and see what happens (we’re out tonight so it may end in tears:)) I’ve also decided I need to cut back on the crap and eat more healthily (I wonder how many of us feel the same way at this time of year?:))
My main goal this spring is a very, very ambitious sub 3.15 in London marathon (a lot of work to be done:eek:) with Raheny 5 mile, Donadea 50K and a few other races along the way. After that I hope to work on my 10K PB and I’m not yet sure what I’ll do for Autumn, I have the option of New York but I’m toying with the idea of getting a refund and qualifying again another year.

Happy New Year and warmest, warmest wishes for a wonderful 2013 and thanks so much to all of you for the never-ending encouragement and advice.

menoscemo

Marthastew wrote: »

Meno, I asked Maria and she said she did run up the hill but it was VERY tough

Thanks for that

Dory Dory

Marthastew, Marthastew!
Thank you for being you.
You are an incredible running machine...
Here's to your quest for three-fifteen.

Cheers darling. You're a pretty special lady who's helped make my 2012 a nice year to remember. Happy New Year.

Marthastew

Well the tree is down and the Stew Boys returned to school today so all is back to normal in The Stew household.....

Tuesday January 1st
Tom Brennan Memorial 5K Race
Chip time 20.19, 111th finisher out of 452, 3rd in F45 Cat (no prize though)

2013 didn’t get off to a great start for our youngest boy, he headed straight to the bathroom to be sick and as soon as he was finished he was insisting we could head in to the Phoenix Park and he’d be fine on the side-lines (how sweet is he?:)) we could easily have gotten Auntie Stew to pop up and mind him but Mr Stew was only too happy to wave me off and settle in on the sofa so no showdown between us now until Raheny.
I had a slight wardrobe malfunction on the way in; I hadn’t closed the lid on my bottle properly and my drink leaked all over my warm clothes so I did a slightly longer than necessary warm up as it was cold and windy (but dry) in the park. I met up with lots of boardsies and some fellow club members and then I lined up a good few rows back. BIG BANG from the start gun (definitely got rid of the cobwebs!) and we were off.
Overall I’m very happy with how the race went for me, I didn’t get my sub 20 but it was highly unlikely given the level of my inactivity and overindulging over Christmas. The first 1K felt quite tough and I looked at my watch as I passed it 4.02 mins, I decided from then on to just run as best I could without looking at the watch and although the legs and lungs didn’t do me proud this time I am very proud of how I stayed in control of the Central Governor during the race (except for the last 20 metres where she appeared to have run ahead of me across the line:))
Mile splits 6.30, 6.31, 6.30 and once again I forgot to stop my watch at the Finish line. I spent the entire race keeping those voices at bay that tell you to slow and I kept picking off runners up ahead. Some great support out along the course and I passed one of our coaches as I rounded the corner to the last stretch and she told me I had about 400 M to go, I picked things up after I heard a super shout out from Claralara and managed to overtake a guy and I was just about to congratulate myself on a great performance when I caught sight of the clock saying 20.21 and for some reason I slowed and let the guy I had passed overtake me as we crossed the line. Stupid central Gov, nowhere to be found in my head:rolleyes:, obviously the sight of 20.XX had annoyed me more than I care to admit!

Caught up with lots of pals afterwards (Officer Digger's Guns looked as fab as ever ladies;)) and headed home to finish watching the box-set of Love/Hate the Mr Stew had gotten me for Christmas:)

Wednesday January 2nd
30 min Spinning class
15 mins abs
Up bright and early for the 7am class and then I headed home and spent the day taking down the tree and cleaning the house:)

Thursday January 3rd
Sugar Loaf trip with my boys
Club session; 2 mile w/u, 4 X 1 mile with 1 min recovery, 2 mile w/d
This was TOUGH but I pushed myself as I won’t be able to make it in for any more sessions when the boys get back to GAA, rugby etc. Mr Stew joined me for this and it was the kick up the ar*e he needed;) We headed out with a group who were (supposed to be) going at 7 min miles. I had forgotten my Garmin so I had to hang on. We finished the 1st mile in 6.55 (Mr Stew was further back than me and told me he thought he was going to die:)). The 2nd mile I struggled to keep up with the 2 guys up front but I didn’t want to drop back but this lap was feeling more like 5K pace and when I finished it turns out I had done it in 6.29 so I decided to stick with Mr Stew for the next 2 miles (he only did half a mile for the second one) miles 3 and 4 were a much more realistic 7.03 and 7.09 and I was very glad to head into the cool down:)
Friday January 4th LSR 18.03 miles @ 8.44 pace
I had arranged to meet up with a pal for this run, out to Bray and back with lots of hills along the way to keep us honest. I really enjoyed the company and the miles ticked by nicely. We stopped to get a drink on the way and I was shocked to discover that Powerade has much less sugar in it than orange juice, who knew?;) I was enjoying this run until we hit the Bono hill at about mile 14:eek: I can honestly say that if I were on my own I would have walked:o This was luckily followed by lots of downhills and before we knew it we were finished. My longest run since the Dublin NY marathon and I really enjoyed it. I love LSRs:D:D
While running this my pal pointed out that I had been over-doing it this week: 2 speed sessions (I wasn’t really counting Monday as it was last year) and then an LSR so….
Saturday January 5th
recovery 6.31 miles @ 9.19
Sunday
recovery 6.05 miles @ 9.09


Total miles for the week 50.61@

a great start to the year:D

menoscemo

Marthastew wrote: »

While running this my pal pointed out that I had been over-doing it this week: 2 speed sessions (I wasn’t really counting Monday as it was last year) and then an LSR so….

That's one wise pal you have there

pgmcpq

Marthastew wrote: »

Tuesday January 1st
Tom Brennan Memorial 5K Race
Chip time 20.19, 111th finisher out of 452, 3rd in F45 Cat (no prize though)

a great start to the year:D

An AG podium finish. A great start indeed ! Happy New Year ... any thoughts on the NY marathon options ?

Marthastew

And Happy New Year to you also:) A super, super start for you with your sub 40 10K PB Very, very best of luck for the rest of your training over the next 10ish weeks

pgmcpq wrote: »

An AG podium finish. A great start indeed ! Happy New Year ... any thoughts on the NY marathon options ?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a refund and run New York in a few years (an incentive to stay in qualifying shape:)), I think it would be a great trip for Mr Stew and I to do together. What are you going to do? You could come run Dublin instead, that's where all the fun is at:) Is Mrs P racing on Paddy's day with you?

jcsmum

Brilliant start to the new year O and I'm just talking about your reports!

pistol_75

jcsmum wrote: »

Brilliant start to the new year O and I'm just talking about your reports!

Are you sure K? Doesn't feel like a normal week without any of that funny named yoga.