The Good Mood Cookbook

Oryx

Took a rest day yesterday. Though it would be more accurately described as a Couldn't Be Ars ed day.

Ran this evening for want of something better to do, 8.4k easy with no plan in mind.

Kurt Godel

Tank girl, very 90's. Cool.

Oryx

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Tank girl, very 90's. Cool.

Just love Jamie Hewlett.

But yeah... feeling all Tank Girl at the moment.

Oryx

Swimmity this morning. Not got a great feel for the water at the moment, I'm just not doing enough swimming. 1800 of 100m drills alt with 100m swim. The bi breathing is coming on, though I still have to think to do it.

Oryx

Club try-a-tri this morning. I was there to help out more than to train, and it was a heap of fun. A very short swim (280m) followed by a 20k bike, the first 10k of which was slow, and the second 10k was a sprint as I left the pack and went back to get my car and rescue a broken down bike. Then a nice 4k trot to finish off the day.

And then lunch. Jeez, I could do this every week.

Dory Dory

Is your half marathon next Sunday? A week from tomorrow? Any strategy for it??

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

Is your half marathon next Sunday? A week from tomorrow? Any strategy for it??

Its tomorrow. Its just a training run, I dont care what time I do. I plan to do an extra 10k at the end of it, if that tells you how important it is. :P I'm only doing it for the gorgeous dayglo teeshirt!

Dory Dory

Oryx wrote: »

Its tomorrow. Its just a training run, I dont care what time I do. I plan to do an extra 10k at the end of it, if that tells you how important it is. :P I'm only doing it for the gorgeous dayglo teeshirt!

Yep, sometimes it's all about the t-shirt! Have fun with it!

Oryx

I enjoyed the half mara today, and I don't think thats just hindsight talking. It was simple, no frills... straightforward to register, and a nicely challenging course. Though referring to it as flat was very false advertising. 'Flat, my ar se' as one chap put it around mile 4.

Set off running by feel, right at the edge of my 'this is ok' scale. Not quite as edgy as my 10k pace last week but as hard as I felt able to sustain. Kept an eye on the clock to make sure I was holding pace but I was not running to targets.

The course was undulating which meant you could recover after every hill. It suited me. Mile 6-7 was my promised 'Dory mile' where I tried to channel my inner happy person and just enjoy being there. Other than that I just worried about the strong female runner I kept doing a back and forth with. I think we kept each other pushing!

At mile 10 after much effort I finally caught up with a guy who told me (with pride) that he was 63. What a dude. We ran together for a bit and tbh it took all I had to pull away from him. I hope I run like that at his age. Awesome.

The uphill slog towards the end was hard but I watched pace here and didn't let it drop. Caught a local female club runner in the last 400 that I had been using as a carrot to keep me trying.

Got to the finish in... wait for it... 1:40:02. What is it with these two seconds? They haunt me. I think I was 8th woman overall which is nice, and while not a pb, I'm happy with that time on that course. Didn't do extra mileage afterwards as my mum had turned up so we went for tea.

Oh and the tee is a lovely fit

Slogger Jogger

Nice to meet you today after.
I'm out to get the guy who declared this flat
The hills weren't too bad. The wind was worse.
Nice teeshirt apart from the local panel beaters phone number on teh back

Oryx

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Nice to meet you today after.
I'm out to get the guy who declared this flat
The hills weren't too bad. The wind was worse.
Nice teeshirt apart from the local panel beaters phone number on teh back

I think thats funny as.

Great to meet you too and good running... I think you must have been on flatter hills than me

Slogger Jogger

funny story. A guy emerged from the pub as I made my way from the finish line. Despite the early hour he seemed well on! Saw my panel beater t-shirt and proceeded to ask me advice on a car, whether an opel kadett was a good car as he'd been offered one to buy :rolleyes: I tried to explain that it was a race t-shirt and I knew f**k all about cars. I should have sent him looking for the next nearest t-shirt to ask. Theres Oryx, she'll know.

Dory Dory

Congrats on a fab run! And I appreciate the "Dory smile mile"....which makes me wonder what that smile mile split was? :)

Slogger Jogger

That reminds me. Mile splits. Arrgh. I understand they need mile splits for AAI permit. Annoying if you are a km convert :rolleyes:

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

Congrats on a fab run! And I appreciate the "Dory smile mile"....which makes me wonder what that smile mile split was? :)

No idea. Me being a triathlete and all, my watch measures kms. My splits were between 4.20 and 5.05. Yours was a good mile though. Complete with crop sprayer to cool us all down. (Or maybe that was fertiliser, I'm not sure)

Slogger, thats brill. You shoulda tried to sell him some random car in the car park.

Slogger Jogger

I loved that Agricultural sprinkler. Took me by surprise but the drops of water falling from the sky momentarily were a godsend. Great timing by the organisers!

shotgunmcos

Oryx wrote: »

Oh and the tee is a lovely fit

That is all

Brick Session

Great time Oryx, well done

RacoonQueen

Oryx wrote: »

I think thats funny as.

Great to meet you too and good running... I think you must have been on flatter hills than me

Never trust a mountain runner who declares a course 'flat'

Well done Oryx. What are your plans for DCM weekend, are you staying up for the post race beers?

Oryx

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Never trust a mountain runner who declares a course 'flat'

Well done Oryx. What are your plans for DCM weekend, are you staying up for the post race beers?

I'm not staying over the night after, no. I hear the boards crew are rowdy after a few and I would be scared to.

RacoonQueen

Oryx wrote: »

I'm not staying over the night after, no. I hear the boards crew are rowdy after a few and I would be scared to.

Booooo...what about Dory. She'll miss out on your company.

Oryx

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Booooo...what about Dory. She'll miss out on your company.

I'll be meeting up alright, just not pulling an all-nighter.

10k recovery run today. My legs are tired!

Solobally8

Super run yesterday. Well done mrs

RedB

Oryx wrote: »

Didn't do extra mileage afterwards as my mum had turned up so we went for tea.

Oh you're hardcore alright

Great to hear you're still going like the wind. Keep up the good work

Oryx

Kettlebells tonight. I struggled more than usual. The last few days are catching up. It was a tough class anyway, but I always know I'm suffering if I have an irrational hatred of the (perfectly nice) instructor and the (totally fine) music bugs me.

One hour of swearing under my breath, and now I need a rest.

Oryx

Swim tonight. It is such a disgusting evening weatherwise that it is hard to believe that a few short weeks ago we were swimming in the sea. (And the masters swimmers still are).

But I got in the chilly pool tonight and swam some happy clappy no pressure drills, using all my swim toys, just for fun. Paddles, pull, fins, fulcrums. But not all at the same time. 1400m which feels ridiculously short.

Rest day tomorrow. Its needed. More because weve run out of clean socks and I have to sort laundry after work instead of training!

Dory Dory

This is not the first post I've read by you about running out of clean socks!

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

This is not the first post I've read by you about running out of clean socks!

I know. I'm slovenly.

Dory Dory

Oryx wrote: »

I know. I'm slovenly.

I was thinking more in terms of you needing more socks!!

Oryx

Dory Dory wrote: »

I was thinking more in terms of you needing more socks!!

We have plenty of socks. The problem is making an overflowing basket of odd socks turn into four individual piles of paired socks.

I hate laundry.

Oryx

Last night, with rest time over, I went for a loose-limbed run (as in just run in comfort zone). It was pouring with rain, and I got a lot of looks that said 'you complete nutter, you.' But I like running in the rain, splashing in puddles brings out the kid in me. 7.8k.

This morning I was awake before the alarm, which is always a good sign. In the pool for half six, and in a change to my sets lately, I just swam, no drills, few stops, just found a rhythm and kept going. The only change to this was towards the end when I moved from x2 breathing to x3, which made me slower, and clumsier, but has to be done. I haven't swam like that for ages, and it was nice. 2150m.

No times on either of these because they were both moderate anyway.

Slogger Jogger

Agree with you there. Running in the rain and splish sploshing through puddles can be nice. Had a similar run myself in recent nights and it puts a smile on the face.

pointer28

I wish I could do this. The funny thing is, if it starts raining when I'm out I'll just keep plodding along and don't mind it at all.

But the very thought of walking out the door while it's raining just kills me.

Oryx

pointer28 wrote: »

I wish I could do this. The funny thing is, if it starts raining when I'm out I'll just keep plodding along and don't mind it at all.

But the very thought of walking out the door while it's raining just kills me.

Its only a bother for the first ten seconds, literally. But wear a peaked cap or the raindrops in your eyes is really annoying. :P

pointer28

Since the first day I started I was always told a brisk 5 minute walk before running an inch.

It's the 5 minute walk that's the hard part in the rain. Anyway, I'll just have to MTFU and do it, just been so spoilt this year I can't remember the last time I got wet.

RayCun

pointer28 wrote: »

Since the first day I started I was always told a brisk 5 minute walk before running an inch.

an easy 5 minute jog is the same

Oryx

Off to the beach with me today for the surf and turf 10k, my third race in as many weeks. They were also running a marathon and half mara, and while I was tempted by both, good sense prevailed.

Have to say this race was very well organised from start to finish. Lovely course out through my usual saturday morning route, which is very familiar, and back along the beach. Even though the sand was hard packed, it was tougher going than I expected, very sapping on the legs. My pace was nowhere near where it should have been. But this was just a fun run, and I set out to enjoy it anyway. (though I admit the first km gave me a stitch... probably took off too hard) I ran in a cotton tee (promotion for our coach who so deserves it) and good god that thing was warm. I was VERY glad I hadn't signed up for the half as I was coming back down along the beach, and baking in the unseasonable sunshine.

It was lovely having so many different distances on the same course, you could encourage the marathoners as you passed them. Tough people doing a marathon on mostly sand.

I finished in 44:27, and placed 2nd female, 12th overall. My first podium finish. And another girl from our running group came third, so a great result for the coach. Technically that's a pb for me, but the course was quite short.

Hot soup afterwards was fantastic, and I have to say the organisers were some of the best Ive seen, full of smiles and making sure every single competitor got recognition as they finished, no matter when they finished. If this is on again next year, I think it could be my marathon for the year.

Dory Dory

First podium finish?? Super congrats!!!! You're on a roll! You very well may nail DCM!!

Oryx

Today I had to get a long run in, my last one was two weeks ago. It all felt fine and dandy till I had the wind in my face at 23k along with hitting some nasty hills. It started to hurt quite badly then. My legs were (and still are) shot. I did 33k in 3h 16 but good god I lost a lot of pace towards the end. Just took one gel and 300mls of water along the way which will be one of the reasons it was hard. Adding to the misery were the twin skin socks I wore even though I never get on well with them. I should know better, my toes are blistered to hell - and I never usually blister. The stupid socks are now in the bin.

I don't think I've had a tougher long run but its done. One more to go next Sunday and my quick-fix marathon training plan is over.

Oryx

I was tired on Monday, so took a rest day.

I swam on Tuesday evening, our last 'free' club session before the coach is back next week, and my god you could tell he is back soon. It was like the last minute diet panic before a holiday. I've never seen such dedication and so little chat. 2050m

Wednesday morning I got up and swam again as I knew I would miss today's (Friday) swim. 2k.

Thursday I jogged/ran/made running type movements. Legs are heavy and I am stiff as a board. I am also generally too heavy, due to doing 6 hours per weeks av instead of 10 or so! Don't fancy carrying extra weight around the marathon, but how much of a fix can I do in two weeks? We will see....

My weakest discipline is cycling, and what is missing from my log for the last 6 weeks? Yup. Cycling. As soon as this marathon is over, I have to hit the bike hard. Right now I feel the constant drag of cyclist guilt, which is like catholic guilt but you can still have sex.

Oryx

Short swim tonight while my kids had lessons. Somewhere around a km. Bilateral breathing is beginning to feel less awkward, though 'natural' is still a long way off. My catch seems better though and my son coached me on tumble turns. 'Closer to the wall than that, Mammy!' It was fun though I still can't really do it.

Brick Session

Oryx wrote: »

Right now I feel the constant drag of cyclist guilt, which is like catholic guilt but you can still have sex.

I don't think I am old enough to understand that

Oryx

Brick Session wrote: »

I don't think I am old enough to understand that

If you don't know what Catholic guilt is be very, very grateful.

Brick Session

Oryx wrote: »

If you don't know what Catholic guilt is be very, very grateful.

RacoonQueen

Oryx wrote: »

If you don't know what Catholic guilt is be very, very grateful.

Catholic guilt will never leave this country.

I always feel like such a rebel eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday especially since Mammy still scolds me for it.

Brick Session

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Catholic guilt will never leave this country.

I always feel like such a rebel eating meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday especially since Mammy still scolds me for it.

Ah now I understand, like eating a burger on a Friday, totally mad rebel stuff. It was just that foreign "sex" word I didn't understand as I was raised Catholic.

Oryx

Today I did the run of the lost souls. No religion was involved, just me, getting continually lost. I misread the text reminder for todays xc run and when I arrived at the meet point (close to home so I ran there) not a sinner around. Oh, I thought, must be the other meet point today. Its 3km away. I ran there. Nope. Still on my tod. I was now late but to make something of the wasted morning I ran back to the original point just to do some mileage anyway. And there were all the cars, dammit. So I ran onto the trails and caught the tail enders finishing their first lap. Trouble was, I had missed the recce and hadn't a clue which of the maze of interlocking paths we were taking, and todays route seemed a complicated set of loops. No matter which way I went, I kept deadending or meeting other runners coming towards me cos I'd gone wrong again. After two laps I gave it up as a bad job and jogged home. Got back having done nearly 16k which is way more than planned.

I'm off to pray to St Jude now. Patron saint of hopeless cases.

Oryx

Long run today. I didn't do 20 miles because of yesterday but did 18.75 and it was okay. I tried a new gel today as a test, powerbar hydrating, orange flavour. It was an interesting experiment, tasted like orange vomit. And it disagreed with me so badly I'm lucky I didn't taste it twice. Ho hum. So another run with feck all to eat. I should just stick to jelly babies.

So that's it done. Just 12 miles next week and then we see how Dublin goes.

Oryx

Kettlebells tonight. They felt easy, for two reasons. I wasn't lifting very heavy, and compared to pre vitruvian, I'm really well rested. To not have residual fatigue in my legs when squatting felt weird. I'm probably more rested than I should be at this point pre marathon but in my head this is down time anyway.

Oryx

Oh christ, the swim coach is back. Tonight was purgatory, and he was even being nice. Wait till the bugger settles back in.

To the fish among you, this won't sound hard:
400 w/u
8x 25 IM legs off 60
8x 50 IM arms off *80
100 easy
16x 25 IM off 60
200 sd

(*times varied 60/70/80 depending on stroke)

But to a flounder like me who barely learned
front crawl and never learned the others it was tough. Butterfly? More like drowned moth. Ten women getting changed afterwards and no chatter showed how tough it all was - we were too knackered to speak. A rare occurrence.