Running with the birds or for the birds?

claralara wrote: »

Taper, taper, crazy taper...

Have you got a rough plan for the next 3 weeks?

I was hoping belcara had a sooper dooper plan for us to follow for the next three two and a half weeks:)

My VERY ROUGH plan is to sort of follow P&D three week taper, by that I mean LSRs of 16 mile this week and 12 the next and I'll just run what I feel like on the other days. I generally do better on a heavy duty taper so I'll be erring on the side of caution. I'm still in that happy pre-taper phase where I think everything will be fantastic....

..... The sound of Mr and Mrs Stew on a medium longish slow run
Friday march 16th
16.02 miles avg pace 9.30 min mile

Mr Stew and I have been like ships passing in the night recently; the boys and their sports, work, long runs and the like have meant that we haven't spent that much time together. He's had an extremely busy few weeks in work so when he offered to take Friday off work I jumped at the chance, he suggested a run and I was thrilled.
He mapped out a fantastic run from Powerscourt house and after the boys left for school we headed down towards Wicklow.
We decided to drive as much of the route as possible on the way, I'm quite familiar with the area from my Wicklow 200 training days but it's a lot less stressful if you get lost on a bike than on a run. Luckily we did cos we discovered a glitch in the plan; I had thought Mr Stew was perfect but it turns out he isn't... Part of his route had us running on a road that said Private No Entry when we got to it (Powerscourt Golf Club probably)so we had to rethink our plan a little.
We left powerscourt while it was still dry and headed up past Dun Laoghaire Golf club and took some super quiet back roads. We pretty much had the roads to ourselves and the miles ticked by, even though they were hilly miles. When we got to Kilternan, I popped into the loo and we bought a drink even though I didn't really feel like I needed it, I felt stronger on the run after this so it probably did me good. From there we headed up to Johnny Foxes, Mr Stew was in super form, a busy week in work meant he hadn't run at all so he was flying up the hills. I told him to go on and that worked great as I picked up the pace to keep up with him. Downhill from there into Enniskerry and we arrived back with an extra 3miles to do because of the change in route, it was torture running by the restaurant with the smell of food:eek:, but we managed it and we headed in around the golf course. By now the rain was coming down quiet heavily but we were both still in great form, the thoughts of the yummy Avoca food keeping us going.
Before we knew it we were back at the car getting dry clothes and then sitting in the restaurant:) What a perfect morning.

St. Patrick's Day
7.55 miles avg pace 9.54
Nice easy recovery type hilly run in Killiney. Lots of people out on their way to get the dart to parades etc, I had great fun shouting "Happy St Patrick's Day" at them all


Mother's Day Sunday March 18th;
MSB 5K
3.11 miles avg pace 7.55
Breakfast in bed, balloons and home-made cards made a super start to the day. I was sharing Mother's day with my middle son who was turning 11 so it was a really special day.
My youngest son wanted to do the 5K but the rest of the family decided to give it a miss so we both headed in on the dart. He has run two other 5Ks and is quite a good little runner given the fact that he doesn't run apart from races, he is very active with rugby, karate and GAA. we met loots and lost fo familiar faces before hand, it was a really lovely atmosphere and great fun heading to the start, the weather was paerfect.
I had run this race last year on my own, it's my one and only 5K PB of 22.XX but I was sticking to my son this year; he started way too fast slowed down for a little while but picked it up again at the end. He was wearing Mr Stew's Garmin and was thrilled to get a PB of 24.27. I let him run ahead on the final stretch and I struggled to catch up with him:D Racheljev, RK, DJ, Claralara, digger all had super races and were very, very sweet to my speedyboy, he was thrilled to get all the compliments, we also caught up with Meno who had come to cheer everyone on.
An altogether perfect day which I then went and ruined by heading to the fun fair and letting master PB choose a ride to go on.... I am still green with nausea, it wasn't even one of the really bad ones. Next year we will head into the race and bypass the hurdygurdys on the way home:):)

total miles for the week 49.86 (I know, I know... I should have made it over 50...)

racheljev wrote: »

Great to meet you and your speedy boy today. Hope the hurdy gurdy nausea is settled by some mammy's day wine

I actually couldn't face more wine last night... Only a few glasses on Paddy's Day and I really felt it yesterday morning, I'm such a lightweight now;) The sooner the better I get this Ultra over and done with and get back to the important things in life; wine:D:D:D

jcsmum wrote: »

Ah, how romantic! Jcsdad wouldn't run 10 metres!! Sounded like a lovely but tough route.

You never know... This time last year Mr Stew wasn't a runner, I guess he got tired of being on the sidelines

Monday 19th March
8 recovery miles, avg pace 9.55
Met up with Karen and another friend for the start of their LSR, easy run in towards town and I turned back at 4 miles. I didn't feel great, a bit nauseous and I put this down to the hurdy gurdy at the fun fair and the huge Indian take-away I had eaten the night before.
Foam rolling and stretching followed by 20 minute abs in the gym afterwards.
Tuesday 20th March
no running
Dip in the 40 Foot, the water is definietly getting warmer and it was a fabulous morning for it.
45 minute lower body class; a new instructor who looked, sounded and acted like a drill sergeant, my legs were like jelly afterwards.
45 minute mat pilates class to restore the calm and zen to my life
45 minute reformer pilates to work up a sweat again:)

Wednesday 21st March
7.41 miles avg pace 8.45
I woke still not a hundred per cent, tired and nauseous, I think it's the same tummy bug Mr Stew had last week that I dismissed as him just being a moany man:o I gave the 40 foot a miss but after my breakfast settled I headed out as the weather is just too nice not to run (Plus I hadn't run yesterday and I was getting a bit edgy), I felt fine after I warmed up, so I headed for the hills in Killiney.
Arrived back to the gym to a fantastic half hour spinning class,
Still feeling a little under the weather, my appetite is fine though so I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hey Martha, enjoying that book, so thanks for the lend. Ok if I hold onto it until after Boston? I'm dipping into a chapter a day, which seems to be the right way to approach it!

Hang onto the book as long as you need, it's a great read and perfect to while away the extra time during taper. You must be getting really excited about it now. I'd love to be heading to Boston again, it's possibly my favourite marathon. I'll have to get Mr Stew to train harder and qualify soon:)

Monday March 26th
Rest day
After a hectic, busy weekend of two late nights (well, 1am, which used to be early but it's considered late now) and numerous ups and downs such as my oldest son losing a rugby cup final (but winning the league), my youngest having to defend himself after he was thrown a punch in a GAA match (the karate lessons have paid for themselves:)) and my middle son's birthday party, not to mention the fact that both Mr Stew and I are trying to pretend we have no taper madness, I woke up exhausted on Monday and took a true proper rest day, no trip to the gym and only a very small dip in the sea becasue the sun was shining.

Tuesday March 27th
6.07 miles 8.57 pace
I woke feeling great after my rest day.
Having not really followed a proper plan up to now I decided that I would follow P&D's last week before marathon in order to avoid the panic long run/speedwork mistake.
Dip in the 40Foot followed by 45 minute lower body and core class with the drill sergeant and then a gloriuos run up to Killiney, legs feeling strong and happy:)
Wednesday March 26th
Dress rehearsal race, 7.86 miles with 2 miles at PMP
Dip in the 40 foot and then off I went on my happy way back to the hills in Killiney, I ran the two PMP miles at 8.30 pace even though my ultra pace will be approx 8.45, feeling good:)
Thursday March 26th
3.57 miles, 9.17 pace
Today was supposed to be a rest day but I looked at my total miles for the year so far and worked out that if I added in just over three miles today along with my planned 4miles tomorrow and Saturday then that will bring me to just over 700miles when I cross the finish line after Conn Ultra (so... no pressure then....)
I started the day with a dip in the 40 foot then I had to fly to the shops to buy more food as I seem to think there will be no shops in Galway or food in the hotel we are staying in:)
I arrived home just in time to jump on my bike and fly down to the gym for a lower body class before my run, I was flying along the road, my head full of lists and next thing... Boom, I'm on the road under my bike:eek::eek::eek::eek: I hit a pothole and my left leg slipped off the pedal and I totally wiped out. luckily the car behind me stopped in time and as I picked myself up off the road all I could think was "Please let there be no injuries, Please let there be no injuries...", well the good news is that there are no injuries; some grazes and some bruising but my trusty legs seem to have not let me down yet again:)
I pulled myslef together, making sure that nobody I knew had seen me;) and hopped back on my bike, which apart from a crooked saddle seemed to be fine. I cyclced very slowly to the gym and did the class in order to see if I was ok, I also felt that I'd be better off moving to avoid getting too sore. The class went fine so I decided to head out and run the West pier, my legs were fine.
As luck would have it I had booked a massage so I asked her to take it easy on the bruises and cuts, I ended my morning feeling calm once again....
And then I went to the shops again and bought some more food:)

Mr. Stew, my boys and I are lucky enough to be heading down to Connemara tomorrow, (I've abandoned the packing for a little while) we're collecting my sister and her family from the airport in a minivan and away to the West we go.
We have family in Galway and my other sister and cousin are also staying in the hotel. My youngest son turns 9 on Saturday so it's happy days and lots of excitement in our house:D:D:D

Friday March 30th
4 miles easy as per plan
After a bad nights sleep I was in two minds as to whether to head out the door this morning but I'm glad I did, it was much colder but the breeze cleared the cobwebs and apart from a little soreness after my near miss on my bike yesterday my legs feel great.
The reason for my lack of sleep? I woke during the night to find a text from my favourite sister who was supposed to be landing today, she can't make it home because her son is too sick to travel (not life threatening), along with the fact that I was really looking forward to seeing her I spent the night rethinking the logistics of my three boys getting to the Finish Line etc

After a hectic morning running round replanning, packing, cleaning, counselling the cat we are now on our way to Connemara, yippee:D
I can honestly say that I'm really looking forward to crossing the Finish Line (and even the start line) on Sunday.
And especially the night out;)
Let the madness begin!!

littlebug wrote: »

Good luck Marthastew. If I see you speedy ultras flying past me I'll give you a shout

I won't be doing any flying I'd say but the forecast is good so we should all have a great day, fingers crossed and very best of luck to you too