The breaks even out in the long run

JohnDozer

You're even convincing me to knock them on the head completely... And that's no mean achievement!

yaboya1

To semi-quote Chubbs Peterson: "Give that sh*t up, concentrate on golf running!

Ososlo

Netwerk Errer wrote: »

Smoking has to go now. The doctor said the last time that the stimulants in tobacco make the heart to go into arrhythmia when put under pressure, like all those stories of tour de France riders on amphetamines and athletes getting into heart difficulty after drinking redbull.

If I know anything about giving up smokes (and I do know a lot!) no amount of preaching by anyone does anything to help you go/stay off them. You HAVE to want to do it yourself and it sounds like you really want to now.
You have to replace the habit/ritual with something (some other habit/ritual you can perform when you want to smoke) and definitely do it cold turkey (none of those stupid inhalers etc.. you're just putting off the inevitable).
Best of luck, although you won't need it as you've made up your mind now so it'll be easy:)
I know you didn't ask for advice:o sorry!

laura_ac3

Sounds scary - hope you're ok.

jebuz

+1 to all the anti-smoke badgering Seriously Netwerk (assuming that's your first name), as P said, you have bags of talent and your hunger to succeed is evident from the log. It sounds like a terrible ordeal and glad you're ok but hopefully now the catalyst for change.

I imagine it's not easy, I used to be fond of the smokes with a few drinks and I even found stopping that habit difficult. Think of not only the inevitable performance gains but your overall health, your lungs can and will eventually recovery to optimal functionality, your skin, energy levels and not to mention the lighter load on the wallet.

Anyway you know all this but I guess no harm hammering it home Looking forward to seeing your progress this year.

Netwerk Errer

I had a big essay wrote but my post was lost so I'm taking another chance with a long, descriptively post. Being having problems where I couldn't login for a week too but that seems to be resolved(something to do with csrf tokens being invalid)

Got the all clear to keep running from the doctor as he now thinks it's only exercise induced asthma. The EKG came back clear as he expected it would but I will still be getting a cardiac stress test to rule out any heart defects. Asthma looks like the most likely cause because of the symptoms showing up during cold snaps and poor winter performances. Who would of known that hearing you had lung problems would be a relief.


Anyway, sporadic at best over the last week and a bit. Got all my workouts in but slacked off a bit on the easy runs.

Thu 15th Jan- 7x1k @ 5k pace w/2min rec

Hit the track in Castleisland with the lads for this session. Luckily the storm had calmed down so We actually got some paced work done instead of fighting a losing battle with effort. We jumped into a training session with the boys with An Riocht which made which pretty much meant this was a solo workout for me as I was off the back and everyone else was running these reps at 3-3.20 per km.

Reps:

1. 3:45
2. 3:43
3. 3:40
4. 3:41
5. 3:38
6. 3:38
7. 3:39

Found this difficult enough at times and was holding on for dear life on the last 2 reps. Feel I need to get used to the mentality of running longer on the track as I find it mentally taxing right now. Time goes faster and effort feels lower on the roads and grass but I'm sure that will change with time and practice.

Fri 16th Jan- 5m easy (untimed)

Just a little trot out to loosen out the legs and free the mind. A little stiff around the medial hamstrings on both legs. Not an issue, just a little fatigue.

Sat 17th Jan- 10m easy (7:53)

all good!:)

Mon 19th Jan- Slacked off


Tue 20th Jan- 8x600m w/60s rec

This was supposed to be 12x600m @ 5k pace w/60s recovery but I went to a group session and they were doing less volume on a tougher surface, AstroTurf so I feel I still got the same benefit out of less reps at the same pace, standing recovery between reps added to the difficulty. Still lacking sharpness at this point on the short stuff but coming along. It's looking more likely now that I will be undercooked for Adare but might just be ripe by the time Munster 4 mile roads come along.

Reps:

1. 2.18
2. 2:14
3. 2:14
4. 2:15
5. 2:13
6. 2:15
7. 2:14
8. 2:12

Wed 21st Jan- 4m easy (7:46)

Time constraints caught me out today but I got a handy 4 miles in. Would have liked more but something is better than nothing right now.

Thu 23rd Jan- 7m inc. 2x2m cruise Interval

Hit the track with the lads again this evening for this session. The objective was 10m pace with 3 minute recovery between the reps. Probably a bit quicker than 10m pace right now as 6:31 is PB pace for me over 10 miles but I was still well within the range of feeling comfortable hard and keeping it relaxed.

Reps:

1. 13:01
2. 13:03


Sat 24th Jan- 3m shakeout (untimed)



Have my first race of the year tomorrow. Haven't raced 10k since last August so it should be interesting. Not expecting to pull anything off but setting a nice marker for the year is the main goal. Any suprises would be welcome though.:)

blockic

Great to see you back at it. I had an ECG and echocardiogram last year and would recommend every runner to get it. A piece of mind over anything else!

Best of luck in the race and get rid of those smokes!

Bulmers74

Best of luck tomorrow E - glad to see the doc gave you the all clear.

Netwerk Errer

blockic wrote: »

Great to see you back at it. I had an ECG and echocardiogram last year and would recommend every runner to get it. A piece of mind over anything else!

Best of luck in the race and get rid of those smokes!

Cheers lad! Yeah on both counts. Better to know if there's an issue from a screen test than find out the hard way.

Monday is stop smoking for good day.:eek: I feel like I'm stuck on repeat for the last two years saying that but I think I have an tangible reason now.

hillsiderunner

Good it's not serious.

Netwerk Errer wrote: »

Got the all clear to keep running from the doctor as he now thinks it's only exercise induced asthma.

If is that, they can sort it, the morning/night inhalers are brilliant. I was getting long-term coughing last couple of years, especially in the cold air during winter months; it kept me off running all of February 2014 ... so then I decided it was time to chase it up. Anyway they decided it was mild cough-variant asthma. I was a bit skeptical but I've had none of the coughing bouts since then. It's powerful stuff, officially a steroid, but you don't have to worry about that until you hit international level

Dubgal72

Hey, good news that it's not serious and +1 to all the advice and well-wishes. I know where you're coming from, the only time I didn't smoke was during a run...it took pregnancy for me to give up but you don't need to take such drastic measures
Good luck and think of those times crashing down. You will look back and be thankful that you are no longer a slave.

tang1

One word & am sure you have heard it already, Champix. I went from 40 a day to zero thanks to them, will be 6 years smoke free 1st of March this year.

AuldManKing

Just catching up here - WOW - best of luck on a lot of fronts!!

Netwerk Errer

On my phone so I'll get around to replies when I get to my laptop. Thanks for all the advice and well wishes everyone!:)

Sun 25th Jan- 10k in 41:38

I'll keep it short, this is a decent marker for the year. Some 3 minutes faster than I ran here last year. The plan was to go out at an optimistic PB pace and see how far I could hold on. Went through the first km in 3:50 which was a little faster than my PB but there was a nice downhill section and the wind was behind me. I thought I had cooled the jets for the 2nd km but I actually ran it faster than the first, passing through in 7:38 for a 3:48 split.

The effort got a little tougher from 1.5k where the bottom of the hill that pretty much goes from there to 5.5km with a few short downhills thrown in to briefly break up the climb. A breezy headwind made this the hardest section by a long way and one I have struggled on multiple times in other races. Got a nice boost along the way when I spotted a enthusiastic Bulmers74 cheering from the side of the road, managed to crack a smile and give a salute back and picked up the pace. I was under pressure already at that point though.

Hit the halfway mark in 20:15 and my head had hit boiling point so I was glad to get to water station and dunk the whole cup over my head. Thoughts were already drifting towards just getting to the finish. Finally, a reprieve when we reached the turn at the top of the hill where the headwind was gone and the route flattened out. Any remnant of coordination in my legs had disappeared so it was just a case of throwing a leg out in the hope of it hitting the ground.

6-9km This section felt like it took an age to get through. The reason, it did as they were the slowest of the whole race. I was stuck between doubt and determination with each one seemingly stuck in a one up battle where one would win only to be reined in by the other shortly after. Caught a glimpse of Bulmers again at about 8k but I couldn't offer up any acknowledgment or signal of life in return. I was just fooked!

Last Km. Don't know what happened here. My head just clicked when I saw the 9k marker and It just said go. I started reeling in people and the competitive juices were flowing. Ran the last Km in 3:52 to finish in 41:38. A long way off of PB shape but some 3 minutes faster than what I ran here last year.


Happy enough with the performance. I have never been this fit in January and from what I've learned about myself over the last few years, I always start taking chunks off my times from now on. I did suffer a lot out there today but I always do this early in the year. Definitely need to add more hills to my training as I feel that's a big weakness right now. Other than that, I believe I will be back in sub-40 shape for the Adare 10k in 4 weeks.

Netwerk Errer

hillsiderunner wrote: »

Good it's not serious.



If is that, they can sort it, the morning/night inhalers are brilliant. I was getting long-term coughing last couple of years, especially in the cold air during winter months; it kept me off running all of February 2014 ... so then I decided it was time to chase it up. Anyway they decided it was mild cough-variant asthma. I was a bit skeptical but I've had none of the coughing bouts since then. It's powerful stuff, officially a steroid, but you don't have to worry about that until you hit international level

Haha, Thanks hillside! It's definitely something I'll go to the doc to discuss. I used to be on a ventolin inhaler when I was younger but my asthma became near non-existent. I'm sure the Irish sports council would have a good laugh if I applied for a therapeutic use exemption:D. Next, I'll have WADA on my back.

Netwerk Errer

Dubgal72 wrote: »

Hey, good news that it's not serious and +1 to all the advice and well-wishes. I know where you're coming from, the only time I didn't smoke was during a run...it took pregnancy for me to give up but you don't need to take such drastic measures
Good luck and think of those times crashing down. You will look back and be thankful that you are no longer a slave.

Thanks DG! I doubt I'll go down the pregnancy route. I had to carry around a beer baby bump over Christmas and I found that difficult enough.:D

Netwerk Errer

tang1 wrote: »

One word & am sure you have heard it already, Champix. I went from 40 a day to zero thanks to them, will be 6 years smoke free 1st of March this year.

Yeah, heard of champix before tang. Actually talked it over with the doc last year but he didn't want to prescribe it to me because of my history. Got the Niquitin patches instead. Still have most of them left.

Netwerk Errer

Mon 26th Jan- 4m Rec


Tue 27th Jan- 7m inc. 8x800m @ 5k pace with 90s rec

Did this workout on my own. Supposed to meet up with a group but I had a physio appointment this evening. This was a bust a nut effort with short standing recovery. Re-evaluated after Sunday's race so the paces have been scaled back to a more realistic rep range.

Reps-

1. 3.06
2. 3.04
3. 3.04
4. 3.05
5. 3.03
6. 3.04
7. 2.48 (hammer)
8. 3.03

Solid showing. Cruised through the first 5 reps and added in a hammer rep which got the lungs and heart really pumping.

Netwerk Errer

Wed 28th Jan- 8m Run To The Barn

Been slackin off with the easy runs over the last few weeks so I decided to throw myself a curveball today in the form of a progression run. Last nights massage worked wonders on the burning sensation in my hip and a slight niggle on my plantar thingy which my sports therapists reckons was caused by a lot of running in circles on the AstroTurf and Track. Little things that wouldn't even be called injuries.

Splits:

1. 8:15
2. 8:03
3. 7:48
4. 7:39
5. 7:26
6. 7:06
7. 7:01
8. 6:55

Felt good in otherwise awful conditions and it's probably of note that the wind was behind for the second half on an out and back loop I picked. Kept the pace in the aerobic zone but it was nice to get back up to that kind of aerobic effort.


Purists, look away now

I'm going to be adopting a high-risk(or just plain mental) approach to training over the next couple of weeks. The plan is to race myself into shape. This is something which has worked wonders for me in the past when it was called for. I know my body can take the stress on the injury side of things(It's the long slow stuff that causes me problems for the most part) but I will be cutting a fine line on the fatigue side.

I'm going to be sacrificing an alternate workout every week to balance out the load. Tuesday's short speedwork one week and Thursday's long repeats/tempo the next and so on with an easy run in place instead. My racing skills and sharpness are lacking right now and need work. Plus, I am very much a confidence runner and nothing else builds confidence in me like racing.

It's been a long time since I adopted an approach like this and I don't plan on doing this for a long period and neglecting my aerobic fitness.

The racing schedule is as follows:

Sun 1st Feb: 5k resolution run, Ennis.

Sun 8th Feb: Tom Walsh 10k.

Sun 15th Feb: County 4m

Sun 22nd Feb: Adare 10k

Then, back to normal buildup.

Netwerk Errer

Thu 29th Jan:

AM: 7m easy (8:03)

Battered by hail and wind. Had a chat with one of the clubs elder statesman who was a 28 minute 10k and 48 minute 10 mile runner who straight up said to HTFU. He said to go out and run in the worst conditions everyday and eventually motivation will not be a problem. Took him up on that advice today and went out in conditions that would have made Tom Crean and Ranulph Fiennes have second thoughts.

Got through it but without any feedback from the body, I couldn't feel anything.


PM: 41km Easy Bike (106 mins)

Nice to get out on the bike this evening. Something I haven't done very much since the summer and it really loosened out any lingering stiffness in the body. Feeling fresh now.:)


The 5k resolution run is actually on Saturday and not Sunday so tomorrow is going to be a handy aul shakeout to keep the legs ticking over.

KielyUnusual

Can't beat a good Tom Crean reference. What a man!

You should read The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard if you haven't done so already. That will make you feel about ever complaining for having to run in a bit of cold and wet weather.

JohnDozer

Netwerk Errer wrote: »

The 5k resolution run is actually on Saturday and not Sunday so tomorrow is going to be a handy aul shakeout to keep the legs ticking over.

Apologies that I didn't spot that and say it! What time you gunning for? Just trying to figure out how long I'll have to watch you disappearing off into the distance for before I can focus on my own race??

Netwerk Errer

JohnDozer wrote: »

Apologies that I didn't spot that and say it! What time you gunning for? Just trying to figure out how long I'll have to watch you disappearing off into the distance for before I can focus on my own race??

No hassle JD. I've a feeling I won't be doing much disappearing off into the distance. I'd be ecstatic with a sub-19 at the minute so if it goes well for both of us, there won't be much between us.:)

Netwerk Errer

Fri 30th Jan- 4m shakeout (untimed)

Feeling really good today. Like hillsiderunner, I've had a falling out with James Dunne but for a different reason, It's now 58 days since I signed up for the 30 day challenge and he keeps spamming my email everyday so we had to part ways. One for the Rave thread: clicking unsubribe has to be up there with some of the best simple pleasures in life.

On my sports therapists advice, I have started doing yoga followed by Galen Rupps dynamic stretching routine. It was a struggle to get through them and I didn't realise how clumsy and inflexible I am. I'm mainly focusing on posture, hip openers, hip flexion and extension, it felt like a workout and struggled with my breathing at times getting into some of the positions but was definitely worth it.

I would usually feel stiff as a poker after a demanding day like yesterday but I felt as solid as a sponge this morning. I felt like I lost 10lbs. Definitely a routine I going to get into and keep up. Namaste:D


Raceday tomorrow. I learned what was too fast last week so hopefully I don't get delusional PB fever on the startline in the morning and blitz the first mile. The more often than not elusive sub-19 is the target again but as I keep telling the lads at training, a broken clock is right twice a day, Someday, I will go out too fast and hold on. Twisted racing logic but that's my atitude.

ThebitterLemon

Best of luck with the race NE

Must really look into some ofcthat flexibiluty stuff myself.

TbL

Dubgal72

Best of luck NE, fingers crossed for the 18:xx on the race report

Netwerk Errer

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Best of luck with the race NE

Must really look into some ofcthat flexibiluty stuff myself.

TbL

Jaysus TbL! From the sounds of things over on your log, I'm not sure yoga would help you out with that kind of stretching. I've heard Thai massage is good for that sort of thing;)

ThebitterLemon

I can unequivocally assure you NE that it was the most unhappiest of endings

TbL

SamforMayo

Best of luck tomorrow!

tang1

Best of luck tomorrow NE.