ON/OFF Runner time to take it serious!

king size mars bar

Well done , great result today and great to hear you enjoyed it as well. Enjoy the pints tonight!

Ososlo

well done, great time:D

SamforMayo

Great stuff, the doubts always creep in at some stage but you overcame them today!

irish_bhoy82

Thanks people for the messages of support and congratulations.

I celebrated last night with 5 lovely pints and then i recovered this afternoon with 5 slow km, My dog was so proud of me yesterday so i let her wear my medal from the race, she deserves a bit of the credit.

So today I am reflecting on what I have achieved and what I may aim to next. I have a stag do next weekend that at the moment Im not really looking forward too, like a proper running nut now its clashing with a 8km road race. And Im worried that the day and night of partying is going to effect my training.(I only had 5 pints last night and I woke up this morning saying Im not in a rush to do that again)

Then the wedding which the stag is for is in mid October and is clashing with another local adventure race that I was hoping to do.

So Im a bit undecided to what I am going to do or aim to do next. I do have a Swim Challenge 1500m that I am almost certain to do at the end of September, training for that resumes this tuesday.

There is a Duathlon at the beginning of October that I will probably do.

I am going to up my training runs to longer distances, I would like another crack at a half marathon and get under 2 hours, there is a perfect one in Galway next month but its too soon for me.

Alot of decisions to be made but I need to keep the momentum going forward.

irish_bhoy82

Rest day Monday

Tuesday back in the lake, swam 1200m with the new wetsuit roughly 45 mins.

Tonight I had planned all day to go out and do a Longer than 10k run, but as the day dragged on the opportunity was slipping away. So ended up going out at 9:10pm and ran 7.2km in 38:53 splits
5:18
5:25
5:20
5:23
5:35
5:26
5:36
0:48

irish_bhoy82

Thursday ran a nice steady 5km

Friday back in the water, went swimming, i partnered up on the swim with a lad with a gps watch, furthest I ever swam at the end the lad informed me it was 1750m.

Stag party saturday, fairly tame, golf until 6pm then a good dinner and I suppose the party didnt get going until after 10, so as far as stag partys go it could have been alot worse i.e. drinking from midday ha ha

Monday again another steady 5km

king size mars bar

Started back myself yesterday morning, nice and early for a nice 6 km run, same this morning and the plan is to do the same for the next 3 mornings. Jan2015 won't be long coming around.

irish_bhoy82

king size mars bar wrote: »

Started back myself yesterday morning, nice and early for a nice 6 km run, same this morning and the plan is to do the same for the next 3 mornings. Jan2015 won't be long coming around.

Any Targets for 2015 king size mars bar

irish_bhoy82

Tuesday Night : missed swimming so done another steady 5km with the dog.

king size mars bar

irish_bhoy82 wrote: »

Any Targets for 2015 king size mars bar

Half thinking of doing the national champ duathlon race along with a couple others in the national duathlon series. The NC race is 10/40/5 distance which is a bit of a step up from the 5/20/5 distances I have being doing the last couple of years.

irish_bhoy82

Didnt get out last night, child wouldnt settle.

Tonight 8.20km 50mins nice and steady.

irish_bhoy82

Friday - Rest
Saturday 5k parkrun 23.09 I beat my pb by 12 seconds.
Again happy with this. Getting faster and leaner. Finished strong today I always find it tough at the half way mark, I ask myself why I am doing this to myself but with a km to go this morning I pulled in a runner who was ahead of me all through the race and passed him out. Not sure if I sped up or he slowed down but felt great...my target now is ballyhaunis 8k next sunday to try and take another pb scalp for the year.

Pawwed Rig

irish_bhoy82 wrote: »

Friday - Rest
Saturday 5k parkrun 23.09 I beat my pb by 12 seconds.

Nice going. My parkrun pb's have been few and far between the last couple of months but I was really up for it this morning and got sub 27, which is still nearly a minute off my best, but I am heading in the right direction again. Have been really enjoying my running this week and will assault the pb next Saturday.

irish_bhoy82

Well done Pawwed Rigg keep working at it and you will get there. I am at a stage now where I think I have hit my peak and at the very most will only be shaving seconds off my times. But 5ks are good for building your speed up for longer races like 8 or 10ks so I will still keep doing them.

irish_bhoy82

Sunday: short swim in the pool

Monday: ran 6.13km slow pace with dog 37mins

wet weather is back

king size mars bar

And the dark evenings too!

Pacing Mule

irish_bhoy82 wrote: »

Friday - Rest
Saturday 5k parkrun 23.09 I beat my pb by 12 seconds.
Again happy with this. Getting faster and leaner. Finished strong today I always find it tough at the half way mark, I ask myself why I am doing this to myself but with a km to go this morning I pulled in a runner who was ahead of me all through the race and passed him out. Not sure if I sped up or he slowed down but felt great...my target now is ballyhaunis 8k next sunday to try and take another pb scalp for the year.

Some great improvement there since the start of the log. 32 to 23 in 10 months. Great going.

irish_bhoy82

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Some great improvement there since the start of the log. 32 to 23 in 10 months. Great going.

Cheers pacing mule altho that 32 5k 10mths ago was with a dog. But I have come along way thats for sure. Hope to build on it firther now. Last october I was training to be able to race in january...this october I am already racing.

irish_bhoy82

Tuesday: 7.60km steady pace 46mins

irish_bhoy82

Wednesday:
Went for a run on my own 6.20km 32mins. This was a very difficult run, I went out at a fast pace but still no where near the pace I would be running in a 5k. By the time I got to the 4th km I falt drained, shattered, my legs just were like jelly. At one stage I had to stop to cross a road and when I did, I did not feel well at all. Anyways I made it home with out stopping or keeling over. Not sure where this came from tonight, it was my third night in a row running maybe that was it, I had my usual dinner routine so cant blame that.
Thinking of taking a rest day tomorrow to let my body recover.

king size mars bar

Felt like that on my run this morning , you get days like that.

irish_bhoy82

Fri: 8.10km steady pace 47mins. Felt better tonight. Legs tired near the end but could have kept going.

Day off tomorrow and 8k race Sunday

irish_bhoy82

Sunday: 8k race..
8k race, my previous 8k pb from 3 years ago was over 41mins. lining up at the line before the race, the race director was giving instructions as per usual as directions of the race, I was just waiting there bursting for the toilet but new it was too late, reassuring myself it will all be fine go along with your normal pace, next thing i hear the race director shout "then you turn right and thats where the BIG HILLS are"...now I dont pay much heed but BIG HILLS is a word that I do automatically tune into...All of a sudden this race changed. So the race started halfway up a hill facing down, first 3km were relatively flat and my pace was good very happy hitting around 4:33,4:47,4:50. but on the way out along that 3km section, runners were having banter "ill need a push up that hill" etc etc. I was tempted to ask someone about this hill but I stuck at it, thinking it cant be that bad. To go with that my bladder was letting me know it was half full.

So I took the turn right and there was a gradual climb with 2 big hills which were spread out over 3kms, the last hill was the toughest and it broke alot of people, I told myself not to stop, slow down but dont stop, I passed 3 people walking up the final hill in the section(they must not have been listening to the race director). But thanks to those 3 lads who were having a nice relaxed chat walking up the hill "At least its all down hill after this one"...Music to my ears.. the thought crossed my mind to jump in a ditch and relieve the bladder but I talked myself out of it and said I would manage the last 2 ks. 5:05,5:22,4:50 so as you can see the 5th km was the toughest but I took the turn for home at the 2 km to go mark and I kicked, took 2 people over on the way and again like the 10k a few weeks back I pushed one lad all the way to the line. 4:44, 4:33.
Im still waiting on the official time to come through but when I checked my watch crossing the line it was 39:10. Another pb wooo hoooo, altho I was expecting a better time but that was before I brought into account the hills. Was well tired afterwards, rest up tomorrow i think.

Official time 38:58

king size mars bar

Savage time with the hills and a full bladder to take into consideration. Well done!

irish_bhoy82

Back to it tonight with a nice steady 5.5k run. Felt good.

irish_bhoy82

First run for October done tonight..felt good could have easily gone further but I didnt get out til after half 9. 6km

irish_bhoy82

Leaves and branches on the ground, Wind swirling and a little chilly it will be soon time to throw a few more layers on.
7kms tonight

irish_bhoy82

5k parkrun today..first km didnt feel great but settled into it, I didnt feel as out of breath today the urge to stop never came. 22.47 was my time. A new pb. Feeling good after it..it was bloody cold for the first half of it tho

king size mars bar

Winter is here!

irish_bhoy82

Ok just a quick update, I have lasped on here abit but in truth apart from a week where I was away I have kept up the running at least 3 times a week, not massive distances though.

Went out tonight and done 5km first run in over a week.