Running with the birds or for the birds?

Marthastew · 09-01-2012 5:40pm #1

Another new person to start a log in January....

Spurred on by the 1000mile challenge and the fact that I have a busy marathon calander this year I've decided to start a log.
The first week of 2012 was possibly the highest mileage I have run in one week so anyone reading this might be misled as to my level of fitness.

Jan 2nd
Here is where the title for my log comes from... kids still off school, visitors staying with us and more vistors on the way meant that in order to get a run in I was up bright and early running at 7.30am. The sound of the birds cheered me up somewhat but it was freezing and I never really warmed up.
Character building

15.11 miles ang pace 9.06min/mile

Jan 4th
The visitors kindly looked after the kids so I could head out on a run. My legs were tired, the overeating of Christmas catching up with me so I was delighted when I bumped into a running pal on Vico Road, he was happy to have company on the hills and I upped the pace.

10.12miles avg pace 8.33min/mile

Jan 6th
In bad need of some LSR endorphins I booked a babysitter for the kids and headed out.
The wind and the hills were VERY tough going (I should never have opened another tin of quality street) this coupled with the fact that I had forgotten to charge my iPod (I usually download a marathontalk podcast to help the time pass) meant that this was another Characterbuilding run. All the time I was reminding myself that Connemara won't exactly be a walk in the park so I finished happy enough.

20.03miles avg pace 9.04min/mile

Jan 7th
Hadn't charged my Garmin and I usually use this as an excuse to skip a run but I needed to do medium long run on top of my LSR as part of my Ultra training so out the door I went. I'm not at all used to running without the Garmin but I felt strong and it was enjoyable. I had a rough idea of the distance and I checked it afterwards on mapmyrun.

15miles in 1 hour 55 minutes.

Jan 8th
Boys back to rugby training so I used the time to do my recovery run, tough going and I really felt the high mileage in my legs, by the end of it I felt better though, I guess that's why they call it a recovery run:)
6.00 9.02min/miles

I topped the week off with a family trip up the Sugar Loaf in the afternoon, the boys insisted we go straight up the middle, great fun but I was a little out of breath, how can that be? I think I'm quite fit, obviously not.
How do people run up and down the Sugar Loaf????

WEEKLY MILES 66.35

Monday January 9th

Joy of joys, the kids are back to school....
I started the day with a reviving dip in the Irish Sea at 40Foot about 7degrees celsius at the moment. Then I headed to the gym to do the stretching I should have been doing over Christmas.
Body Sculpt class nearly killed me, I haven't been in three weeks.

Short run with some intervals
3.7miles avg pace 8.24min/mile

menoscemo · 09-01-2012 5:57pm

Great to see you've got a log.

Lot's of great long runs there, they'll all stand to you come Connemara. You're ahead of me on the back to back long runs.

Marthastew · 09-01-2012 8:36pm

menoscemo wrote: »

Great to see you've got a log.

Lot's of great long runs there, they'll all stand to you come Connemara. You're ahead of me on the back to back long runs.

Yes, but you have a lot more miles and a lot more marathons in your legs:)
You seem to be flying with your training, keep up the hard work.

I'm actually quite surprised how I'm adapting to the back to back long runs, I usually took a rest day after my long runs in my previuos training, I guess I was just being lazy!

brownian · 09-01-2012 8:39pm

Welcome to log-land! Those are some savage runs for the middle of winter - I'm proud if I get ten miles in, never mind 15 or 20! Keep injury free and that'll set you up for some pretty good race results.

Rock on!

Brianderunner · 10-01-2012 10:40am

Welcome to the logs, you had to start one eventually

All those hills will set you up perfectly for those last few hilly miles in Central Park

Marthastew · 10-01-2012 5:06pm

Brianderunner wrote: »

Welcome to the logs, you had to start one eventually

All those hills will set you up perfectly for those last few hilly miles in Central Park

I wish those New Yorkers would hurry up and let us know we are in!
Mr Stew is talking about where we might go on our family Summer holiday this year, I'm not so sure we can afford one:)

Marthastew · 10-01-2012 9:54pm

Jan 10th

Crosstraining day for me;
Quick dip in the sea first thing followed by 45 minute lower body workout class and then 45 minutes much needed Pilates class. I felt about two inches taller on the way out of the gym.

I was seriuosly tempted to head out for a run this evening when I saw the full moon while collecting my 10 year old from GAA training earlier, a beautiful evening for a run, common sense prevailed and I'm home having a cuppa:)

Marthastew · 11-01-2012 8:08pm

january 11th

Lactate treshold run total 12.06 miles

Miles 1 to 5 a 9min/mile pace
Miles 6 through 12 at just over 8min/mile.

Really enjoyable run along the coast into Sean Moore Park and back out to Dun Laoighaire. Finished it off with a half hour spin class and a fifteen minute Abs class.

Oisin11178 · 11-01-2012 10:28pm

Marthastew wrote: »

january 11th

Lactate treshold run total 12.06 miles

Miles 1 to 5 a 9min/mile pace
Miles 6 through 12 at just over 8min/mile.

Really enjoyable run along the coast into Sean Moore Park and back out to Dun Laoighaire. Finished it off with a half hour spin class and a fifteen minute Abs class.

Whats your lt pace there bud?
I read it as just over 8 min miles for the last 6 but you have a run logged futher up 15 miles in 1h55m,thats well under 8 min miles fot 15 miles so im think im getting the wrong end of the stick somewhere.

Marthastew · 11-01-2012 10:39pm

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Whats your lt pace there bud?
I read it as just over 8 min miles for the last 6 but you have a run logged futher up 15 miles in 1h55m,thats well under 8 min miles fot 15 miles so im think im getting the wrong end of the stick somewhere.

Actually you're not getting wrong end of the stick; the 15 mile run was done without my Garmin so I had no way of keeping an eye on pace at all. Also I was in a hurry to get home and was obviously having a good day because it felt fine as I ran it. I was very tired during the recovery run next day.
Today I planned on running 5 miles to warm up and then the next 7 miles at 7.30-8 min mile pace (I'm using a half Marathon time as my LT pace, is this correct?) but I was obviously tired today, only got under 8 min miles for the final mile

Oisin11178 · 11-01-2012 10:46pm

Marthastew wrote: »

Actually you're not getting wrong end of the stick; the 15 mile run was done without my Garmin so I had no way of keeping an eye on pace at all. Also I was in a hurry to get home and was obviously having a good day because it felt fine as I ran it. I was very tired during the recovery run next day.
Today I planned on running 5 miles to warm up and then the next 7 miles at 7.30-8 min mile pace (I'm using a half Marathon time as my LT pace, is this correct?) but I was obviously tired today, only got under 8 min miles for the final mile

Im not really into the faster stuff these days but yeah that sounds about right, somewhere between your 10 mile pace and half pace is my understanding of lt pace. I might be wrong and im someone will say so if i am.
Thats some solid training your doing there, welcome to the logs.

Marthastew · 12-01-2012 11:12pm

January 12th

Quick dip in Sea, trip to Lidl (what a glamorous life I lead:p) then down to gym for foam rolling, as the miles get higher I really start to feel my age.

I had planneda short run but wasn't sure what pace I'd be up for so I took the easy option and headed into Blackrock park. I felt good so this became a general aerobic 6.03 miles, 8.23 min/mile; fabulous day for it.
I arrived back to the gym in time for a half hour spin class, I took it easy enough, treated it as a cool down.

LSR tomorrow and the next day, I've booked a sport's massage for Monday

Marthastew · 13-01-2012 5:42pm

friday 13th (:eek:)

So far so good for me today, not unlucky, in fact very lucky.

LSR for me and my goals were; 21 miles and an avg pace of 9.15-9.30 min mile.
A cold but glorious morning, perfect running conditions.
My past few LSRs have been hills first, then flat in the second half so today I turned it round. However I didnt really hit the hills until about the 17th mile so i'll have to make sure I get more hills in on my next long run.
I usually never stop on my long runs but I'm off chocolate for the forseeable future since I overindulged so much at Christmas EXCEPT for on my long runs:D so today I stopped the timer and flew into a garage for a bottle of coke and a bar of chocolate (Malteser bunny, YUM)
During the run I also had two gels and a bottle of Lucosade sport so I was well fed and hydrated.
I really enjoyed this run, struggled a bit on the hills but I resisted the urge to stop and walk. My quads were sore on the downhills from mile 19 but it was lovely to be speeding up at that stage. Finished it off with a dip in the 40 Foot at almost full tide with warm sunshine, all in all a great way to spend the morning.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/141278400

21.71 miles avg pace 9.13min/mile.

The first part of my run was the same route I took last Saturday when my Garmin was out of battery, I was horrified to learn that my mapmyrun 15 miles was indeed 14.45 miles, I will be deducting the .55 mile from my total update today:o

Marthastew · 14-01-2012 6:42pm

Saturday January 14th

Second of my LSRs and for this one I was up running with the birds, Saturday is always busy in our house with Mr Stew's golf, rugby and GAA for my boys so my alarm was set for 6am. I had wisely made an arrangement to meet a pal for this run, otherwise I would have rolled over for a few more zzzzs...

My goals for this run were 14/15 miles and nice easy pace. I most definitely felt yesterday's run in my legs as I headed out the door. My pal lives half mile away so I walked down and did a dynamic warm up on the way, nobody around this early to laugh at me as I did my kick butts and my John Cleese ministry of silly walks routine.
We headed off and the first few miles passed by easily. I was surprised how good my legs felt. She's just back from Oz so she found it a little cold, it was actually quite mild. With 7 miles down we were rewarded with a magnificent sunrise as we left hilly Killiney and headed towards Sandymount. At about 9 miles she started to get really tired and we slowed considerably, jet lag was setting in. I was happy it wasn't me who was slowing us down. However I was starting to get hungry. I normally never need food on an early morning run under 17/18 miles and I had eaten lots yesterday but all I could think about was breakfast! I left my friend at 14 miles so I added an extra lap to bring my total up

15.02 miles 9.27 min/mile.
I rewarded myself with a huge bowl of porridge, maple syrup, cream, bananas and walnuts, YUM!
I'm thrilled with my two LSRs, a total of 36.73 miles completed within 24 hours (a sneaky night's sleep in the middle of it though), although still not the full ultra distance!
8 weeks to taper so I've a long, lobg way to go yet but I finally feel I'm well on the road to Connemara

Marthastew · 16-01-2012 10:36pm

Sunday 15th Jan
A very well deserved rest day. I managed a two mile recovery walk home from the rugby pitch and then I took it easy for the day.

Total weekly miles 58.52

Marthastew · 16-01-2012 10:41pm

Monday January 16th

Half hour sport's massage, I was advised to stretch more (no sh*t Sherlock) so I spent a half hour doing some gentle stretching afterwards.
45minute body sculpt class.

7 mile recovery run this evening, my legs are tired, but tired all over so nothing to worry about.

Marthastew · 17-01-2012 10:48pm

Tuesday January 17th

Fantastic start to my day; my confirmation of acceptance into the New York marathon email:D My time from DCM has been verified.
All going well I plan to use a friend's UK address next year for London to get a GFA entry and that will be all the majors done for me.

A measly 3 miles to add to the 1000mile challenge this evening, I had to travel back to my home town for a funeral so I spent most of the day driving, sitting in the church and sitting having tea with my 86 year old aunt who (thankfully) is showing no signs of slowing down yet. If there was an Ultra distance in talking she would definitely be first across the line.
I arrived home just in time to bring the boys to karate and tired from sitting all day I used my spare half hour to stretch my legs.

3.05 miles avg pace 8.43 min/mile

Brianderunner · 17-01-2012 11:03pm

Great news delighted for you

Dyou know how long it took for it to be ratified?

neilc · 17-01-2012 11:06pm

Hi Martha, just seen your log. Best of luck with it, your getting some miles in lately.
Congrats on New York too, great news. I actually entered the lottery myself, still haven't told herself though

Marthastew · 18-01-2012 12:38pm

Brianderunner wrote: »

Great news delighted for you

Dyou know how long it took for it to be ratified?

I emailed them last week on reghelp@nyrr.org to ask why it was taking so long and they answered saying it would take about three weeks to verify all the results.
Maybe drop them an email, perhaps they verify full marathons first then halfs?

Marthastew · 18-01-2012 8:20pm

neilc wrote: »

Hi Martha, just seen your log. Best of luck with it, your getting some miles in lately.
Congrats on New York too, great news. I actually entered the lottery myself, still haven't told herself though

Delighted to see you're back on track, the rest probably did you good, as I always tell Mr Stew; the missus knows best:)
If you do get in to New York in the lottery I'm sure it will be a well deserved break for you both, she can shop while you run.
Mr Stew has also entered the lottery, end of April is when they let people know, fingers crossed

Marthastew · 18-01-2012 9:58pm

Wednesday january 18th

Plan for today was 6 miles easy followed by 7 miles LT pace; I was meeting a friend for the first 10k and she likes an easy enough pace. She was having so much fun she decided to stay with me but that meant no fast miles for me. I suppose I could have suggested I head off on my own but I was so happy to have company I stayed with her. I used to think I really enjoyed running on my own but now I've increased the miles I realise I'm not that good company after all....

13.19 miles avg pace 9.24 (:eek:)

Marthastew · 19-01-2012 4:26pm

Thursday January 19th

Busy week with lots of last minute changes have meant that I havent had any real structure to my runs and today was much the same, found myslef with an hour free so I decided to just run for fun and didn't allow myself to look at pace distance etc. Really enjoyed it in spite of the wind along the coast and I even got to run with a rainbow as backdrop.
I follwed this run with a class in the gym becasue I missed pilates on Tuesday and was badly in need of a proper stretch before my long runs tomorrow and Saturday.

6.09 miles avg pace 8.37min/mile
45 minute lower body class

Marthastew · 20-01-2012 5:40pm

Friday January 20th LSR,

I was meeting my friend for most of this run so I decided to head to Killiney and get some hills in to start and then headed back to Sandycove for her. The wind on the way into town along the coast was horrific at times and I kept thinking we should head inland but I love running by the sea and it was somewhat sheltered in parts. I acccidentally stopped my Garmin for a portion of the run but since we basiclaly did a loop I was able to figure out our distance/time. It was the first time I have run into the city centre on a training run and it was really enjoyable except for the traffic lights around Pearse street although lots of happy memories around Westland Row from DCM:)

Another longish run tomorrow and then a much needed step back week for me, I'm feeling the high miles in my legs and I don't want to arrive at the start in Connemara to find I've used up all my energy by the sea in Dublin

23 miles avg pace 9.45 min/mile

Marthastew · 22-01-2012 8:22pm

Saturday January 21st

I had planned 16mile LSR but I decided not to set the alarm early and catch up on some sleep after a very busy week. the whole house slept until 9am, in fact I had to wake the boys for GAA. My ten year old has moved back to Shanganagh Park so I decided I'd run while he trained. In spite of the strong winds I really enjoyed this run. Having only ever stood on the sidelines of the pitches at the front of this park I never realised it went all the way back to the sea, there's even a field with cows, lots of other people of all shapes and sizes running and plenty of dogs not to mention the fantastic surfaces. I'm looking forward to next week already! I did a couple of loops and then headed out and down to Bray, I'm usually in a car or on my bike around this part of county Dublin so it was fun to be running here.

10.37 miles 8.42 min/mile. Not an LSR but I've 10 more weeks of worrying about my training plan, a change is as good as a rest:-)

Marthastew · 22-01-2012 9:39pm

Sunday January 22nd

TOUGH recovery run in a very windy Kilbogget Park. The only reason I didn't give up half way through was because the far side of the park was sheltered and also I couldn't give up on my run while my boys played rugby in the same horrific conditions
6.07 miles, avg pace 9.12min/mile. I felt a lot better at the end of the run, not just because it was over; I'm really starting to see the value of recovery runs. I managed to escape to the gym later this afternoon and I did lots of stretching and foam rolling. My legs feel like new again:)

total weekly miles 68.87

Annual miles 193.74

I thought I had been updating the 1,000 mile challenge on a daily basis but I've just added up my last three weeks (with a calculator, where has my brain gone??) and I've more miles. I'm really glad I started this log, it really helps to see the miles adding up. Although I'm well aware that it's still only January and a long way to go to Connemara (10 weeks in fact) via Donadea (4 weeks).

This coming week will be a step back week for me. Also Mr Stew and I are doing the Raheny 5 mile on Sunday, he caught up with me at the Aware 5 miler, I reckon this will be the race he overtakes me. Nothing like a bit of competition to spice up middle aged suburban matrimonial life;)

menoscemo · 22-01-2012 9:41pm

Marthastew wrote: »

[
This coming week will be a step back week for me. Also Mr Stew and I are doing the Raheny 5 mile on Sunday, he caught up with me at the Aware 5 miler, I reckon this will be the race he overtakes me. Nothing like a bit of competition to spice up middle aged suburban matrimonial life;)

Men are generally quicker at the short stuff. You'll still get him at the longer races

Marthastew · 23-01-2012 8:25pm

Monday January 22nd

Rest day for me today so I headed down to the gym; crosstrainer to warm up for 20 minutes and then I spent half hour stretching and foam rolling. Followed this with a 45 minute body sculpt class. My legs are feeling much better, I almost feel like going out for a run now:)

I made the mistake of lending my copy of Advanced Marathoning to Mr Stew.... I've created a lycra wearing monster who now talks more about running than me. What have I done??

Marthastew · 25-01-2012 10:15pm

Tuesday Jan 24th

Lower body workout 45 minute class followed by 45 mins Pilates for some much needed stretching of my legs.
Despite having a bowl of porridge with a banana and some toast for breakfast I was starving during both classes and all I could think about was lunch. I had intended to run after the classes but I was too hungry and tired so I decided to go out at 6pm while the boys were at karate. Lovely easy run up Vico Road (well, Vico road was not easy obviously) for 7.42 miles, the weather is so fabulous at the moment. This time last year we were all cracking up after weeks of interrupted training becasue of the snow:(

Marthastew · 25-01-2012 10:28pm

Wednesday Jan 25th

Medium LSR.
I was not really in the mood for this run, work was annoying me and I had a million things to do but I started the day with a 40 Foot dip to clear the cobwebs, tackled some of my jobs and then I headed off out to Bray along the coast before the rain arrived.
Fabulous run, tough going on the hills but lots of downhills also and it gave me a chance to practice what Mr. Stew has been reading up on hills and how to tackle them.
It was quite windy but this meant fantastic sounds from the sea and when I got bored with that I popped on a Marathon talk podcast for inspiration. The anniversary show had some repeat interviews (Ron Hill, MacMillan, Matt Dixon, Steve Jones) and lots of useful information. Matt Dixon was talking about nutrition and I realised I really have not been eating/drinking properly during and after long runs, I really need to address this and I plan to be extra vigilant on my LSR tomorrow.
Spring is on its way:) I passed snowdrops, crocuses and cherry blossoms.
As I'm allowed chocolate on my long runs I went for a Malteser Bunny again this time, YUM!

16.11 miles avg pace 9.12min/mile

Younganne · 25-01-2012 10:55pm

fair play ....you will have no bother in April with the hills...you weren't in the mood to start with but i bet you enjoyed the run...you paint a lovely picture!!

yes i noticed the snowdrops at the weekend...hurray spring is definitely on the way!!!

Running with the birds or for the birds?

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