Running with the birds or for the birds?

Update to keep my numerically challenged brain in line

Total miles last week 42.87
Total miles February 200.17
Total miles this year 449.87

Wednesday March 6th
Speed session 3 X (800M w/ 2mins recovery + 400M w/ 4 mins recovery)
Total of 9 miles
I woke feeling tired and with a bit of a sore throat but faced with the choice of a speed session or clean the house I opted for the session. Damp misty day and I gradually woke up on the warm up run up to Kilbogget Park. My glutes were very tight and I’m not sure if this was down to the race on Sunday or the hard work I did on Tuesday in the class (or maybe even the bike?). The session went ok but I definitely found it quite tough both physically and mentally. Being on my own didn’t help and the throat and tiredness from Sunday was playing on my mind. I only took half the recovery times as it seemed like I was just prolonging the agony jogging around waiting to start again:) I was supposed to drop a few seconds on each rep but I just didn’t have it in me. Times were
3min 15, 90 seconds
3min 16, 91 seconds
3min 14, 89 seconds. Positives to take from the session are that I managed to maintain the pace but those times are very low if I’m to break 20 mins for the MSB 5K. Next time I’ll take the full recovery and see if that makes a difference.

And of course I cleaned the house when I got home:D



Thursday March 7th
Easy 11.19 miles @ 8.41 pace
75 minute Ashtanga Yoga
30 Minute spinning class
Up bright and early to get some compression socks in lidl so I decided to run up and back and then I joined some pals for a few more miles before yoga. I was in dire need of yoga and the hip stretches were fantastic. I felt much better after the class and popped into spinning to get the heart rate going.

Friday March 8th
Rest
(Junior Stew’s Confirmation@)

Saturday March 9th
Howth to Glenageary run 22.01 miles @ 7.57 pace
A super-dooper fun filled day with lots of super-dooper fun running peeps:D:D:D
Digger has already posted a fantastic report of the day so head on over to his log for more information.....
I really enjoyed the run, first 16 miles avg pace of 8 min/mile and then we decided to try and pick it up to MP, at that stage Mr S and meno were with me and we all decided we were tired from Bohermeen (aka we were being lazy;)) We managed 3 @ 7.30 pace and the wind, rain, cold and tiredness were getting to us all at that stage and I got no objections when I announced that I would do one more fast mile and slow for the last 2. Picked up the pace to 7.08 for that one (not bad at all as it had a hill in it) and then the last 2 were 8 min/mile.
Delighted to arrive home, a lovely lunch with shiny happy people where we all patted ourselves on the backs:)


With 6 weeks to go to London I was keen on a last supper soiree so after a yummy dinner with too much wine Mr S and I joined some fun boardsies for too much beer. We left before the dancing on the tables started, I don’t know if there was any dancing on the tables but I was getting to stage where I was about to suggest it:)

Sunday March 10th
Recovery 3.19 miles @ 9.16 pace
Mr Stew and I dragged the 2 junior Stews out for the first mile since their rugby was cancelled but they weren’t very keen on picking up the pace so we dropped them home and headed down to the coast, WOW! Fantastic waves crashing and wind blowing, perfect for getting rid of the hangover:) Had planned to do more but we had a busy Mother’s Day so we cut the run short.

Total miles for the week; 52.59
Another good solid week's training in spite of the fact that we had lots of family obligations. I'm feeling tired but happy:).

Wednesday March 13th
MLR 14.43 miles @ 7.56 pace
Glorious sunshine:):)
My only goal for this run was to run 14 miles between 8-8.30 min/mile pace and I started it feeling that I would struggle all the way however my legs seem to have woken up after the first slow mile (8.45) and after that I maintained a steady pace all the way into Sean Moore Park in spite of the fact that I was running into the wind.

I had a marathontalk podcast for company and when that was finished I was joined by Justin Timberlake;)

Turning round for home I was delighted to see the pace creep up as the wind was now at my back so I told myself I’d run the last mile at PMP if I was still feeling strong, the last mile and a half were 7.05 pace, it’s amazing what a good night’s sleep can do for your legs:)

Thursday March 14th
Killiney Hill, 6.21 miles @ 8.32 pace
75 minute ashtanaga yoga class
Another sunshiny happy day; I was joined by 3 pals for this run and the miles ticked by as we chatted our way up and down the hills of Killiney. The view from Vico road is always spectacular but particularly so on days like this. Popped into yoga for some much needed conditioning and really enjoyed the class. Then I cashed in my voucher from the gym and had a full body massage:D Very much needed

Friday March 15th
Session in Kilbogget Park 5 miles total
With my sub 20 5K attack on Saturday I skipped the session and went for an easy run around the park but I joined the group for the drills before and after. I love the drills as they really let me know how strong/weak I am feeling and they definitely help with my form and posture. Popped down to Kildare outlet for more asics, the juniors go through trainers at an alarming rate so they know me well in the store:)


Saturday March 16th
MSB St Patrick’s festival 5K
Mr S, the youngest Stew and I headed into this with a big group of pals on a very busy fun-filled dart. We arrived in nice and early which gave us plenty of time to sort out a slight problem with our numbers. Junior will be 10 on Easter Sunday and since he’s the youngest of 3 boys he’s farily tough and easy going so he assured me he wanted to race on his own. I had an adult lined up to look out for him but he told me they would be too slow for him;) It was lots of fun catching up with club members, Meno and his crew and there were lots of people who like us were running en famille; Runningking and Runningprincess and Emer911 and mini-Emer. We headed out to warm-up and I was so happy to have junior with me and I wasn’t nervous at all. We lined up about 6 rows from the front and Junior moved back a few rows behind us.


3,2,1 and away we went…. A brass band lined the street as we started and I saw Mr Stew wrestling with a trombone (well, not quite, he had to duck to miss running into it:)) I had my Garmin set to time only as I knew I basically had to run as fast as I could to get under 20mins. I kept Mr S in my sights and was disgusted to find that I was finding the pace tough right from the start. Passed the 1K marker and was shocked to see 4.13 on the garmin:eek: So I tried to pick things up. 2K marker came at a much better 8.15 but I knew I’d have to really pick it up. At this stage things had spread out a lot so I kept picking people off to overtake and kept telling myself to push as hard as I could. Great support along the route especially from the amazing coach from our club who always comes out to support us, he was joined by a few other club members and they popped up 3 times along the route. As I was approaching I could hear their shouts for Mr S so I knew he wasn’t too far ahead and I just kept pushing myself. I saw the 3 and 4K markers but didn’t bother to look at my watch, by now the annoying voices in my head were popping in... you’ve had a busy week, you won’t be able to pull this off…. You’re too old for this…. 5K is not your distance…. I’d love some chocolate:D

And I kept pushing the voices out and telling myself to keep going. Coming round by The Shelbourne I heard a supporter call out to one of his club members “Come on X there’s a few more places ahead of you for the taking” and that really helped me, I could see Mr S overtake a fellow female club member and just as we rounded the corner to the home straight I overtook her and she was so nice she yelled at me to go catch Mr S:D I tried my best but couldn’t and then she came speeding by with a super finishing kick and overtook me:eek: I saw the clock saying 19.4X and was SO happy! I honestly thought I’d throw up when I stopped but it’s so nice how you then recover so quickly. Chatted with lots of other great PB finishers and Mr S and I turned to head back up to cheer junior in (he said he was hoping for sub 21 but with the crowds and all the turns in the course I thought he’d be lucky to get sub 22) and I spotted junior turning round to shake hands with a boy from his school:D As happy as I had been for Mr S and I, I honestly thought I would burst with pride and happiness for Junior (apologies to everyone I bumped into after, I was shamelessly producing junior for pats on the back:)). He had basically raced against the other kid all the way round and they had really pushed each other on. Junior was thrilled and most importantly he really, really enjoyed it, he said occasionally a runner would tell him “Well done” as they ran by so if you passed a mini-crusader and encouraged him, thanks:)
We turned back to cheer in some friends and then enjoyed a yummy cup of tea with some Chocolate Kimberlys and caught up with lots of pals who all had had amazing results (TRR sub 16, note to self; start eating horse burgers;)). We stayed to watch the prize-giving, took some photos and then headed to the Hurdy Gurdies (this year I had enough sense NOT to go on one) and then rushed home to catch the end of the rugby (we should have stayed in town:mad:)
Chip times;
Mr Stew 19.43
Me 19.48 (second in my AG, close, but no cigar:))
Junior 20.46:D

Sunday March 17th
LSR 22.33 miles @ 8.32 pace
Mr S and I decided a long run on tired legs would hopefully give us a big deposit in the training bank and to get more bang for our bucks we threw in some nice hills to start and we ran this on empty. This was a big ask for me as I love my grub, I did cheat a little by having two cups of strong black coffee and two glasses of water before we left.
Miles 1 -11,
We were like love’s young dream on the first half of the run, chatting, planning holidays, admiring the view and not noticing the miles ticking by. Our route started uphill and took us up to Kilternan so an overall climb of about 500Ft. The pace was slow to start and we even clocked a couple of 9 min miles on the tough parts but we weren’t concerned. As soon as we started running downhill the pace picked up and we made a conscious effort to try and slow.
Road kill en route; A doe (poor little thing, I was very upset for it), a rat (not so upset:rolleyes:) and a blackbird (a teeny bit upset)



Miles 11-22
You know a long run is going to be tough when suddenly you think “Oh no, we’re only half way”:eek: My main concern was I was getting hungry, but I know now that it was all in my mind as I had had plenty to eat the day before (In fact according to My KrustyFitnessPal I had about 1,500 extra calories to spare) But I was still feeling strong. The run along the Dodder was lovely and when we arrived in Donnybrook we headed in towards town and we got to see lots of people dressed up on their way to the parade. Out towards the East Link and we met lots of walkers doing the charity Aware Harbour to harbour walk so that was a great distraction as we were encouraging them along the way. By now Mr S was also getting a little tired but we took turns running up front and our conversation had turned to the odd word (mostly food related). We realised that if we ran all the way home we’d be almost 24 miles so we planned to finish in Dun Laoire and stop into a coffee shop, the last two miles for me were spent fantasising about what I would order in the coffee shop (Hot chocolate with cream and a banana muffin). I was feeling tired but the pace wasn’t dropping too much so I was doing ok. I picked the pace up to 7.20 for the last 1/3 of a mile as a penance for a lack of finishing kick in the 5K the day before:)



Another solid week that hopefully brings me closer to a good PB in London:D
Total miles 70.23 miles

hot to trot wrote: »

Awesome training , awesome running. Can't even imagine what you will pull out of the bag in London.

Congrats on Tralee;) You seem to have recovered well after your wonderful 24 Hour race. I sent you a couple of messages, not sure if you got them?

rasher_m wrote: »

Ive been telling my family about your amazing training and racing. Its fantastic.

Thanks A, I'm delighted with how the year is going so far

Dory Dory wrote: »

This food obsessed log is getting harder and harder for this detoxed-gal to read with all its chit chat about steamy hot chocolates, heavenly banana muffins, extreme Rice Krispie treats, and crazy choco-choco-yum-yum-cocoa-caffe-o'le-frappe-mocha-chino-with-whipped-cream-and-tiny-little-decadent-sprinkles-on-top. If you start posting pics of your vices, I may have to ban myself from this log until after May 5th! :)

May 5th! I thought the sugar-free madness was ending when you crossed the Finish line in Boston:eek: I may have to consider it myself, you seem to be reaping the rewards with super training

jcsmum wrote: »

You are so predictable missus! Amazing race..check. PB...check. Placing in Age Category..check. MrStew amazing run..check. Super race report...check. Insane run the day after amazing race..check. My need to lie down after reading said report....check!

You probably need to lie down because you are training so hard:)

The_Boy_Wonder wrote: »

Fixed that for you!! :D



F'ing unbelievable stuff. My feelings of inadequacy reading your log are unwavering!
Congrats to all the Stews

Coffee is my EPO:)
I really hope you are on the mend, I know only too well how frustrating it is to be out with injury, stay positive, heal well and you'll be back stronger than ever (I'm living proof of that:))

pgmcpq wrote: »

Congrats on the 5k - 2nd still earns a cigar. And a nice 22 miler warmdown .

... but wow, and double wow...congrats to junior stew - that's amazing. You must be feeling the pressure a bit !!

It's only a matter of time before he catches me, I can't wait:)
I'm waiting on a report on Lalaland.....

Cleanman wrote: »

Hey Marthastew, well done on all your progress from the "NY marathon" to Donedea to last Saturday. Yourself and Mr. Stew are flying. I have to say I was gobsmaked with Junior Stews performance. I was telling my girlfriend about it last night. She was out supporting on the course and she said she remembers a wee lad whizzing by her not long after me!! He must be a pure natural. I'll be watching out for his name in years to come!

Thanks a million.
You must have had a great race on Saturday also, well done. We were lucky the hailstones stopped:)
Junior does appear to be a natural runner, he loves the longer stuff and has already asked when he can race his next 5K. He plays with the local GAA and rugby clubs so that keeps him busy but he's really looking forward to getting onto the track in Ringsend in the summer.