Running with the birds or for the birds?

claralara wrote: »

I read this when I was walking home from work last week and it was snot-bubble/sweaty-eye central!! So so so delighted for and proud of you on such a fantastic run. You are an inspiring positivity machine and deserve everything you have achieved this year without exception!

Now on to more important things? Shall I have a Merlot or a Chiraz airing for you on Sunday?!

Mine's a Merlot:D Although after this past weekend I am a little concerned... In the same way that I feel like I gave everything to the marathon in London I may also have left all my drinking powers in the Coal Hole:eek: My family were shocked at my lack of drinking stamina and the fact that I was the first to bed every night, I'll do my best this weekend to return to my old self

Dory Dory wrote: »

cl.....don't forget her "little" bag of chocolate and Milk Duds!!

How lucky am I????? ..... pacing with lots of fun running friends, a break in the beautiful city of Limerick:rolleyes: AND mountains of chocolate from DD:D:D:D I can feel a diabetic type coma coming on

digger2d2 wrote: »

DD, I will make sure she gets them this weekend as I'm concerned that they may be effecting the foundations of our house!

It'll be a good opportunity for the Officer to show off the guns:D

tunguska wrote: »

Just read your report there for london. Well done that was a solid race. But I have one question in relation to your heart rate. Have you been diagnosed as being a High beater? You clocked a 184 at one stage, which was very early in the race and unless youre 18 years old, thats fairly high. I hit 184 in training but its not pretty. Its eye balls out, on the ragged edge stuff, like Im about to lose consciousness. And you were high 170s and low 180s for the rest of the race. Thats very high beating, have you had any physiological tests done? Whats your resting HR by the way?

Actually I've been meaning to review my heart rate data for the race, thanks for bringing it up.
I'm 46 (for another 2 months;)), female and have been running for 5 years.
I did a basic fitness assessment a year ago in Santry and my Max HR was supposedly 178. I ran Conn Ultra just after that averaging 165 overall peaking at 178 for a few miles towards the end. I emailed the clinic to ask if the test was accurate after and they suggested that Ultra running was possibly bad for you!
I haven't worn the monitor since then as we only have one in the house but since Mr Stew wasn't racing I wore it in London. I have to admit to being fairly ignorant with regard to heart rate and running but I did think my Garmin stats were high. My resting heart rate is 48.

Dory Dory wrote: »

I echo your shocked-and-slow-to-recover sentiment as I am just now getting back into some running. I've been doing plenty of trainer spinning and just last night a nice swim...and been sprinkling in some fun stuff like weights and yoga...but the running is just now coming back into the fold. I'm still nursing this damned glute/hamstring injury that I'm guessing is a piriformis issue. What was your injury that had you out for a while?? Any way...nice recovery discipline MS!! And enjoy your upcoming pacing duties - I know you're always the belle of the ball out there!!

My injury was a trapped nerve caused by a tight psoas, yoga and rest are what cured me. Have you ever had dry needling? I also found that very good for loosening up tight areas, not for the fainthearted but we know you're a tough cookie:D
I hate to mention the A word (and I'm not talking about our asses;)) as I generally avoid using it as an excuse but it's a well known fact that recovery takes longer the older we are;)
I also think (and this may sound like poppycock) that we both were extremely focused on getting to those Finish Lines with not too much lined up in the near future so our bodies are taking this opportunity to force us to rest. I recovered very quickly after Donadea because I knew I had to keep going for London.
PS I think chocolate helps with recovery so I'll be all set after the weekend:)

Friday 3rd May
Another recovery 5 miles, hilly run @ 9.30 pace
75 minute hot Vinyasa yoga
My legs were still tired and right calf very tight but it was a glorious morning and the views from Killiney were fabulous. After the run I booked a dry needling session for next week as the tightness in the calf doesn’t feel like it’s going to go with foam rolling. Yoga was fabulous and my legs felt super after.

Saturday 4th May
Foam rolling and stretching and rest

Sunday 5th May
Great Limerick Run 2.15 pacer:D
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/308888634

I drove down to Limerick on Sunday morning and joined Jcsmum for a lovely breakfast at our hotel before we headed in for our briefing with Captain Pacer Meno. As part of the pacer deal we got gear to wear, I was delighted to see it was puma and it fit great (although the shorts were a little on the short side but I’ve been working on my farmer’s tan so they weren’t too bad). The weather was absolutely perfect for pacing and it has been a long time since I’ve lined up at the start of a race without shivering. I was lucky enough to be pacing with Dev123, we had met in the pub in Berlin last year and we were both relaxed and happy at the start. Lots of nervous questions from some really nice runners and before we knew it we were lining up and the gun went off bang (pun intended:rolleyes:) on time. Belcara found a photo online of us heading to the start and it’s clear from the picture just how happy I was, I LOVE pacing! In fact Claralara and I decided that pacing is the new racing… You get to do what you love under relaxed, fun circumstances and you might even help some people out along the way, what's not to love?:D

We had a super group with us, lots of locals and they were all happy and a little nervous. Within the first mile I lost my balloon:( Although I had checked a zillion times that it was tied to my belt properly I had not checked that the balloon was tied properly to the string (The shame:eek:, I won’t make that mistake again) We had been warned that the mile markers might be out as in previous years but after about 3 miles we both confirmed that they were bang on. We settled into our pace (10.10 min/miles) me at the front of the group and Dev towards the back and I was extra careful about keeping an eye on the pace, it was very easy to let it drift too fast but having paced 4.15 in DCM I knew that all I had to do was keep checking the Garmin. There were a lot of bollards along the route and we had to keep warning people not to trip and also to warn them to move over when a car would come on the other side of the road. I was very impressed with the local support not just in the town but out along the course in the housing estates etc. I was chatting away encouraging everyone and generally having a great time. The miles ticked away nicely and Dev suggested we slow a little during the hilly miles of 9, 10 and 11 as we had a few seconds in the bank. We really wanted to hang onto our pacees:) We passed a few marathoners from about mile 10 and I made an extra effort to give them loud cheers and encouragement. At this stage we also started picking up some of the half marathoners who had gone out too fast and although we lost a good few of our original bunch we still had a good group around us. Just before we reached the 1 mile to go gantry we passed Anto and Cabaal, the 5 hour pacers and they were delighted to see us go past as they were sick of the sound of my voice (imagine how poor Mr Stew feels;)). With one mile to go I could see a good few struggling so I kept encouraging them to hang on to us. There were two girls who were doing ok and I convinced them to push on ahead. The last mile was so much fun, lots of music as we came up to the bridge and I was dancing along telling our group to just keep putting one leg in front of the other and telling them that the finish line wasn’t far away at all. We picked up two marathoners who were walking and I convinced them to join us and the girl managed to stay with us and the guy actually pushed on, I kept shouting “We’re nearly there, I promise”. With a quarter of a mile to go we realised we were doing great time-wise so we slowed a little and started yelling at people to push on and dig deep to the Finish Line. The last stretch was great fun and the cheers and support along this route were fabulous. Crossed the line with a chip time of 2.14.32 for an average pace of 10.14 min/mile:D As they say on marathontalk Get in:D:D Lots and lots of hugs from happy pacees and the lovely 2 hour pacers (jcsmum, chinuguetti and ger) were awaiting us and we headed back to the bag drop, everybody had had a super day. Jcsmum and I headed back to our hotel and my calf was in bits by the time I got out of the car:eek: A dip in the pool, Jacuzzi and steam room and it was feeling much better. Unfortunately Jcsmum wasn’t staying the night and I was seriously tempted to order room service and enjoy some peace and quiet but I knew I’d miss a great night in town celebrating with the 4th fastest female marathon runner in Limerick (well done careermove:D) Obviously what goes on tour, stays on tour but I can confirm that Gary O’Hanlon did make Meno’s day by arriving to the pub, there were very many air-guitars and indeed air-drums played, lots of dancing and a trip to a chipper that rounded the night off nicely.
Total miles for the week 23.56