Joining The Party (I hope)
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Thursday - 8.5 miles easy with 10 x 30sec on/off
Friday - 7 miles easy pace
Two horrendous evenings got absolutely drenched. Text one of the lads to meet me and he was on for it. 3 miles went round doing laps into light rain but strong wind and eventually 2 of them arrive. They’d done a 3 mile loop. Got 2 miles in with them then ran one home, the other was for doing another mile and I had 3 left when it came on in a full pelt so he ran for cover while I pushed on. Got back up to the field and did the strides. Operation Transformation were up with cameras but mercifully they weren’t interested in me… I must have looked as wretched as I felt!
Friday I said to myself I’d get out during a lull in the rain. Set off and the sun was shining I’m thinking what made me wear the extra layer AND gloves… Anythow I was thinking If the weather would hold like this for half an hour then it can do what it likes. At 28 mins the sky darkened and I thought here we ****ing go. At 32 the hailstones came down like golf balls and seemed to hit me from every side. That subsided after about 10 mins into heavy rain and then sleety snow. 4 seasons in one hour. Got the run in anyhow but it’s another solo long run tomorrow morning cos I can’t align with anyone else’s free time. Dunno how I’m gonna get through it. I checked the HR of the last two nights and I’m averaging above 170 which is a bit annoying. I’m telling myself it’s the weather and on Sunday I’ve planned a rest day… from running.
Cleaned out the calving pens when I got home and sweettalked the girls not to be having any ideas about pushing wee feet out over the weekend. Went to meet a buddy then who is taking the club minors this year and he’s asked me to take them for some running/fitness work. There’s a lot on the plate but it is nice to be asked too. Something to mull over during this long (ish) run in the morning.
Any motivation would be welcome
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😁😁😁😁😁😁 and you like my style of putting down the thoughts 😁😁😁😁.
seems like I’m living in the wrong part of the country. All I can say is, embrace those conditions! Embrace the wind, embrace the hailstorm and snow and rain and everything. It will make you stronger and prepare you perfectly for race day.
with regards to HR. Is that strap or wrist reading? Sounds a bit high to me. 🤔
Motivation I can’t provide. Running is stupid. Running is horrible. Running is painful. Running is …. What makes us feel alive! Always remember, there are people who would love to go for a run but can’t as ie in a wheelchair. So stop moaning and go out there! Embrace the world and don’t sweat it!
oh and with regards to being over or underdressed, just always dress like it’s minus 20 degrees out there even if it’s plus 100. You can always drop clothes when on a run but hardly ever put something on that you didn’t bring with you.
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I got caught i those co ditions Friday. Destroyed. Weirdly I don't mind it though as long as its not sustained for ages.
Does the HR plot look normal when you view it? 170 sounds high but any idea what your max HR is ? I'd be slowing those easy runs down a bit if its genuinely not easy easy.
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Judging by your long run this morning your 170 HR during the week was either fake news (bad reading from the monitor) or nothing to worry about (tiredness or dehydration).
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Thanks lads just the few wee nudges I needed!
Saturday - 15 miles
7:49 average and HR 151 - back to what I wanted to be at. The run didn’t feel great and the pile of coffee last night didn’t help things too much but the numbers are back.
I did a bit of an out and back (mainly and of course the obligatory couple of laps of the Rangers) the 7 miles out was downhill mainly but against the wind for once as it very rarely blows that direction. So I found it hard on a full enough stomach. At the turn I found it easier to hold some kinda pace but kept it around the same just nothing was sneaking over the 8:00. If I needed to allow it I would have there was no issue there the purpose of the run was to hit the miles so I wanted to just do that. Up the hills back up to cross with predictions of what time I’d be at XYZ - got them almost all wrong but that’s not the point.
Hi @Swashbuckler I wonder would wearing the watch on the outside of the long sleeves or gloves give you a bollox of a reading? Maybe that. Hydration should have been decent all week.
And Babs… I love your style!!!
So there’s another week closed out and I’m at 45.95 miles If I’d known I would have gone on for another 20 secs 😂
Gonna have a wee think about what mileage I should cover next week I’ll stick to the one run with pace and flick a coin on strides. My initial thought is to keep it at 45 and play this one at a draw then increase again the week after next. If I were doing Belfast then I’m bang on target for where I’d have expected myself to be. If Cork is a month later then I feel good about things. I will need to move onto that second day’s pace in the week but I don’t care about that until the bottom end of February.
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Is the sensor at the back of the watch face not making contact with your skin?
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I think the motivation is there but it's ok to feel sh!tty running in weather like ours! I've been told on numerous occasions that its character building by @Swashbuckler amongst others😉 It doesn't feel like it when you are in the thick of it! I do believe it stands to you & when you look back on it you believe you were a dedicated, determined hard as$ runner...well that's what I think when I look back on my 2019 Bohermeen training, I really thought at times I was mental training in the dark, rain, wind & sleet 🤣 but I do believe it stood to me as the day of the race included all of the above weather, but I got my PB & was thrilled! Basically what I'm saying is there's nothing we can do about the bad weather but just going out to run in it shows the motivation is there!
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Yep. Even if race day has absolutely perfect conditions, when the going gets tough, as it always does, it's added motivation to push on and suck it up knowing you worked your ass off in awful weather in training...
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With regards to HR - i always suggest a little manual test (and to be honest even 154 I would consider extremely high for a long run). So here is what I do (and figured not to trust the wrist reading at all). Go for a run. After 20min look at what the watch says your HR is. Get ready to quickly find your pulse with your fingers. Stop (keep the watch on so you see the timer) and count your pulse for 10sec. Continue running at same effort as before. multiply your count by 6 and add 5 beats to the total. Now see if that number is within 5 beats of what your watch said before you stopped.
do that on an easy run but also do it once during a harder effort run. What I found is that if the watch is on the arm correctly the reading on an easy run is fairly accurate (if too lose or tight it has an impact already). But on workouts it’s more than just off. It’s unreliable. Tested that with 2 different wrist monitors and same result. Hence i personally gave up on this.
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Opposite experience for me to be honest . Generally my session readings are bang on. Easy can be hit and miss sometimes. But generally accurate. Either way I'm not one for spending too much time worrying about heart rate. It's a handy tool but not one I focus too much on.
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I’d say the older you are the less importance it has. At least that’s what I keep telling myself and as said, no more going by HR but feel.
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My advice is, if you want to run by HR, use a strap. The wrist sensors are not reliable enough. Sometimes great, more often way off, whether you're young or old.
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Funnily I think the only times my wrist sensor is actually accurate tends to be race days for what ever reason.
With that in mind worth nothing that HR can be useful information but it can in itself be highly unreliable.
Look at the things which can affect it; freshness/fatigue, sleep, hydration, stress, time you run at, illness, what food you are that day, conditions, course profile to name a few. Unless you factor all that in it’s as general a guide as pace to be honest.
If you do want to use it however best advice is don’t plan a sordid rendezvous with the neighbours wife pre run if you are aiming to keep the HR accurate for an easy run 😂
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I guess I always assumed its most accurate on race day because the heart rate is so high meaning the sensitivity of the monitor matters less. Whereas with easy running it's a "faint" pulse and harder to detect. Coming from a background in electronics I probably should know the reason. 😅
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But, but, but... isn't it precisely because HR is affected by all those things that it IS an accurate guide. If you're tired/stressed etc HR will be higher, so your pace for a 'normal' effort (under 'normal' conditions) will be slower. So running to HR helps you not overdo (or underdo) the effort.
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I think it depends on if you subscribe to training zone and physiological model training theory.
I think you make a great point about under doing it regards effort and usually HR is a good beginners guide to slowing down but arguably it can also cause people to go too far in that regard and paint by numbers so to speak too conservatively as training age progresses
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To be honest when I personally still looked at my HR and made sure I’m ok HR wise it was always only for easy runs to ensure I’m not going too fast on those. As for workouts it’s always been pace or effort (based on feel) rather than HR. Had it a few times where a session was meant to be something like 10min @ 165bpm and I even struggled getting to 160 as the legs were tired and heavy. So pushing to the limit would have meant overdoing it despite being at the right HR range. Guess that’s what e.coli means (to some extent). HR is influenced by so many things and just going by that (regardless in what direction) could cause issues but also hold you back.
also i know a few “aged” runners who push, run fast and the HR is low. Or some ladies I know regardless on how slow they run, the HR is high. They would have to walk to keep the HR low.
in short, my personal experience is: go by HR at the beginning to get a good feel of your pace & fitness but at some point, turn off the HR reading. It will distract you. It took me a long time to realise that but I’m a lot happier with runs since I don’t have that constant focus on it.
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Some very interesting thoughts from you guys on HR. I’ve never trained to HR I’m more into feel and what I believe are potential goals. If I feel drained then I take a passing glance at the HR just cos it’s there. Something I would keep an eye on. If it looks very high then I’d be checking it a bit tighter until it goes back down and then forget about it, maybe for months! Races I’ve been surprised at how low it’s been, maybe that indicates good fitness and pacing? Eg Dublin Marathon average was 139 and the highest bits were in the first 25 mins, likely a hill or two.
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But back to my original question. If you don't have the watch in direct contact with your skin , in otherwords if you have a sleeve or a glove between the watch and your skin, then your readings will be questionable at best and more likely junk.
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Yea possibly. To tell you the truth I don’t even remember Thursday and Friday how I had it on. I was checking someone else’s HR and then thought I wonder what mine was… then I saw it sky high. Overthinking likely.
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Another wee midweek update to keep in touch.
Monday - 8.5 miles easy pace
8:12 average. Began slow and continued slightly not as slow. Was late enough getting going as a mate text me to meet for a coffee and I said what the hell. So any of you who follow me on strava will have possibly noticed another ‘star’ shaped run on the map. Míle 1 done grand and I’m away so this run is out to the 30mph speed limit signs (which are a guide/suggestion only about here) and on the second mile I noticed a dog hurtling about and he was with a group of people. I couldn’t have been bothered with any shite so I crossed the road and BANG! Down I go, slipped on mud in the dark down on the knee. I was livid “for FFFFFFFF sake, that f**king dogggggggg” anyone about the town is looking over at a runner come sailor and the air is blue. I’ve an awful short fuse for growling and howling… anyhow I got to mile 5 and notice a running buddy (2:43 the animal) and I do a few miles with him to stride it out and talk about my ordeal. Meanwhile at the club there was a talk on about addiction, he said we should have both been on it haha anyhow, worse addictions than running. Fella who was a student when I worked at Irish language summer camp was a main talker on drug addiction. Brilliant to see him nearer the right end of it all. He was always the very best of a fella so well done to him.
Tuesday - 8.5 miles, 20mins tempo
plan 20 mins @ 6:30 pace -
3 mile warm up, then splits of 6:30, 6:25 and 6:26. Well within myself and spent too much time messing around looking at the watch so I’ll kick that habit. Ran 2 miles uphill home at 7:24 to see what the feel was like with just a little gas on. No bother. I feel I’m cooking away nicely. No rush no panic I’m just really lovin being back training something like a programme. The back end 6 months of 21 had my head astray. Nice to have the fast stuff for the week done and from here on in it’s just easy pace. I’m toying with the idea of a stretch of the legs for Carlingford half. No PB threats or anything I wanna come through it at a good grunt and see where that would take me. Think it would be good to go through all of the race rituals. I’m fairly superstitious so I like to do my set routine and even that is vague in my head by now!!
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Wednesday - 6.61 miles at 8:03
Thursday - 6.61 miles at 8:04
Twin easy runs. PM and AM. Felt nice and easy. On Wednesday I met an agey woman with a walking stick who clocked my knee and spent 5mins telling me how to treat it. Nice encounter, there is no wisdom like granny wisdom. Like Fr Ted said “They’re closer to God than we’ll ever be…”
Got out on Thursday morning and did it in the town. My school Year 10s were to be playing the Ulster Final later on at 12.00 in Cross. The guy was organising the scoreboard at 7.19. Fair play to him. Anyhow the boys got trounced. I think boys in the south are a year older at that grade so therefore bigger, stronger, faster, better… Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach
Friday - Long run 16 miles
Plan was to just run it chilled seeing as its 5 days on the bounce (and that’s a lot for me still, not like some of you friggin beasts!). So I had PTM online and opted to take them at home, meaning I could try to squeeze in the long run before 10.00.
Very frosty today so I stuck mainly to the track at the field and the roads round the town then back to the field. Caretakers think I’m bonkers but I enjoy them. Out easy for 7 miles then when I was faced with another billion laps I decided to do 8 steady and then a cool down.
Splits were 7:06, 7:02, 7:02, 6:52, 6:47, 7:06, 7:04, 7:04. Found the going grand didn’t wanna go too awful hard but I was tight for time so I was banging them out a bit too.
Got back at 9:57 so great success! The school formal was on last night and one parent thought I looked hungover! Little did she know I was up at 6.30 fuelling!
So that’s 46 miles this week and I have the option of 2 days off or to do something light on Sunday and I’ll still be on target miles. Can’t wait to head to Cork now tomorrow for a couple of days over midterm. I wanna get a look at the course but it seems largely in the city so driving it might be a pain. Any hilly parts I should have a look at?
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Sunday - 5.2 miles
Yes Cobh is hilly. Very, very hilly! So long spin - 230 miles, Kilcoo match in which we were very invested and then out for dinner… except everywhere had finished serving, so when we went into a pizza place I was ready to break windows but by the grace of God they were serving and were excellent! I needed a drink to get me sorted out but I didn’t need a bottle of wine and 6 pints. So Sunday I woke up in a middlin way. I was ‘on Spike Island’ as the man said, without actually getting on Spike Island… The tours were full up so frig it. Morning run, over by the Titanic memorial, then up the endless hills and over along the schools and the GAA pitch (as a little mark of respect I did a lap round the pitch).
Went out to watch the Liverpool game, 3 points bagged and back to the apartment to wallow in my misery, thank God I did the run early!!
Monday - 8.30 miles Tempo
Plan was to do 6:30s for 25 mins. Went over and back along the gorgeous promenade which is mostly flat. Sun shining, so much for the weather warnings! Splits were 6:28, 6:30, 6:22 and 6:18 so a little faster than the plan but it felt sound. Had loads left. Really nice to get some running done down here, it’s such a great place (cathedral would drive a body demented though) and the people are very charming!! Anyhow good start to the week and the tempo is done. Making me want to do some interval type work as the week goes on maybe Thursday - I’ll get some advice on that though but I feel I am ready to say I’m into marathon programme from next week on. When I began this log I had no confidence at all that I’d be at this stage by now so I’m really pleased with how things are going.
Heading out now for dinner and a few Murphy’s, go on ya boy ya!
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Enjoying the log so far, fair play - keep up the good work
just a side note on the HR, it’s all relative - not sure if you know your max HR (ignoring the 220 - age thing, which is very generic and not something I’ve seen proved correct at all yet) - but 170 might seem high but it’s only really high if you know your zones (which can differ wildly person to person )
having said all of that - wrist sensors are usually off anyway , compared to chest straps
Nice to see the confidence building
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Perhaps not really running related but is there a Murphy’s zero? 😁 would be an ideal option for a recovery drink!
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Thanks lad. Just some ramblings about rambling but it’s helping to keep me at it and I’m picking up plenty from the few logs I get a chance to read! Aye I’ve stopped thinking about the HR I sometimes keep an eye on it but it’s usually nice and low. Don’t feel any urge to go buying a chest strap at the moment anyhow.
Hoping to keep consistent over the next few weeks and then take stock of things again.
Haha I dunno lad but I don’t think they were pumping zeros into me the other day… blow the heada ya!
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Now, back to the logging
Tuesday - 7.35 miles 8:10s
Last run in lovely Cobh. Nice, mild weather over and back along the promenade. Herself went on her run too but I’m not allowed to be anywhere near her because apparently it stresses! ME?!?!?!?! Anyhow I just stick to the rules for an easy life. Awkwardly met at one point - well almost, I was gaining so I did the gentlemanly thing and took in a hill, there are a few to choose from. Went down to the heritage centre to get a look at the whole Titanic and Famine impact on Cobh and I must say it’s excellent. Didn’t get into the city or marathon route after all (sorry for banging on about it) but did read about the course profile so I’m just thinking whatever will be will be I’ll figure it out. Motorway trip back home was an event too. One wrong turn, 15 mins of turning the air blue and then got stopping at the spot coming into Kildare and it is friggin EPIC! Called to see my sister, husband and their baby in Killiney and on up the bóthar
Wednesday - 7 miles 8:02s
Woke up quite early but was wrecked from the drive the night before so got up and grunted a bit then away for an easy 7 back round home. Arrived down to the oul man in the yard about 10 and his eyes lit up “God I didn’t think I’d see you this early.” At times he makes me feel like a giant. Tagged a few calves that were already entered (shhhhh) and got plenty done.
Thursday - 8.20 miles including 10x1min on/off
Eventful enough. Set out about lunch time (suited me and the boss best) and I got up my lane where I saw two people rootin at a car. FFS I thought but I stopped and asked if they were ok. Few mins later and I’m lying in a bush trying to get a jack under their car. Another neighbour arrives and between us with a bit to do we get the tyre off. They head away in another yoke to get a tyre and I took the spare out which was also ripped to bits (Christ Alive). They head On and I head on, telling them I’ll be back in an hour if they need any more help.
So down to the Rangers 45 mins later that banana seems like a long time ago already! I was gonna work on the straights/lengths and recover for the widths but scrapped that for min on/off. Got 9 done all ok around 5:50 pace it was kinda hard to hold it to that but I had been thinking of 6:00. Last rep I said frig it I’ll do 2 mins to bring me onto another mile.
Back up home and another 25 mins of standing about trying to help these ones with their car. In the finish up there was a spring broken and hanging down and that’s what ripped the tyres so they had to get a tow truck. Anyway, no good deed is wasted even if I was froze.
Saturday - 6.30 miles 7:59s
Long run all planned. Got up to see a white blanket and text the boyo to say we may put it off. 4 inches and snowing heavily. Da couldn’t get over so I went down to the yard and set about doing the turns. Saw on the camera one of the newborn calves had jumped out of the calving pens and into the passage and I was worried he’d jump into the wrong cow and get milled. Down I went to save him, for a wee **** that had bent legs 2 days ago he could fairly throw kicks and buckleap
Against the run of play I got out on the road for an easy jog. Amazes me the hurry people driving be in when conditions are brutal. I got slush skites 4 times. Ah well. On up to HQ to watch Armagh take on Monaghan. Brutal first half performance, terrible officiating including a penalty that was in resulted in a draw. Alright I suppose, still top of the league, bitches!
Sunday - 16.30 miles 7:53s
Text another buddy last night and by the grace of God he wanted to do a few miles. Slow pace in pouring rain. Did the last 4-5 miles around 7:40 pace uphill so I’m happy enough. Groin feels a bit tired but not hurt so I’ll organise a rub down some time next week.
53 miles for the week and just under 7 hours. Happy with the way the miles are totting up, pace still not there but I feel I’m getting stronger.
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Felt on the back foot, catching up all week after having had to do the long run last Sunday. Legs were heavy, motivation low and I just seemed to never have any time so I was snatching at my runs. Anyhow I’ll throw them up here with a few thoughts and insights as to the billion other things going on.
Monday - 7.4 miles at 8:08
Fresh enough night, long out haul in work but got out and punched it in. Uneventful.
Tuesday - 8 miles at 7:50
Weird run. A pal who also does a bit of farming (so we’re on a hotline) and has come close to sub3 a few times without getting in under the line (6 f**king seconds) suggested we do a run some day. So I asked him if he wanted to meet me after school.
Planned session was 2 wu 4 at 6:30 2 cd
Turned out that Séamy is just a little off fitness so we did a 6:58, 6:47, 7:30, 7:30 and cool down. Did rightly and felt easy, I’m not sure breathing fire to eek out 6:30s would have done my legs that much good anyhow.
Wednesday -
Rest. Sorted cattle early to let the oul man have an evening off. Got on the foam roller.
Thursday - Intervals 10 x 500m at 6:00 pace
Got home, looked at camera, cow in the middle of calving. Rang the oul man and said we’ll handle her before I go away. I march down to the yard and there’s a pillar and chunk of the wall along with the sliding shed door lying in sh*te. Da was cleaning out a shed with the teleporter and took it with him. I feel bad but I was cursing and grunting about every day having to have some disaster to come home to… not very nice but then I told him as long as no one was under it and none of the animals were hurt we can always replace it some way. Got the pen of lucky ones swapped, one wild bitch jumped a gate and over the lane so Stephen got to run after her (no warm up) and get her rounded up. Back to the cow that’s trying to calve ‘f*ck me she’s still in the headgate’ had a feel, all ok just needed time. so I went on for my run and said I’ll be back in an hour.
Run
Think that pace works out at 1:53 per rep. Rotten night and in fairness I had more tailwind than headwind but a mixture on each rep. Got 9 done bang on 1:50 each time. 20 sec (guessed) walk and then 60 sec recovery. On the last rep I was closing on a mile marker so banged out 1 800m rep at the same pace. Got 8 miles out of it. Cow calved and then went up to pick on my nephew who I’d promised I’d take to my house to watch the Liverpool Leeds game from the night before. I was buckled but I showed him ‘where you put your hands’ for YNWA and taught him the Salah song. Great fun ok run.
Friday - 6.40 miles at 8:04
Easy run. Seconds team were out doing 3/4 pace (it looked) intervals round the track. Lovely evening and I just moseyed around my loop keeping out of their road. I like using the track when the lads are training something motivating about it. Always some wee bit of a jibe to be thrown or received. Another cow calved, wretch of a miniature calf and she’s as ignorant - hook.
Saturday - 17.20 at 7:44
Met a couple of the lads for this one. Went out very easy with a mixture of over and under 8s the two boys were doing 12 I think so when I got away on my own I lifted it a bit and did the last 4 at 7:41, 7:09, 7:04 and 6:48. Nice and solid. Lovely morning for it. Another lady had the tail up when I got home so had to get the maternity ward cleaned out and do a bit of swapping round. When she got some space she fired out a lovely heifer calf that was up sucking in 20 mins. I call this cow ‘Star’ and for good reason.
Groin a bit tight all day afterwards.
Sunday - 5.60 at 8:21
Finished the week. Nice and easy. On ahead to Dr Hyde Park to see Armagh take on the bridesmaids… Bridesmaids won. Better team but it was there for the taking. Into mid table madness now. Need to beat Kildare now who are going well.
52 and a bit miles for the week
Tick.
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Under the circumstances that's some achievement getting 52 miles including a long run and a decent session
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Jaysus that was a busy week for you! Fair play getting some decent training in there too!
Great to see you have good taste in football too 😀
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