[claralara]

A title to motivate the stubbornness within – I do not want to fail on this.

Connemarathon – 14 weeks. It’ll be my first time running in Connemara. It’ll be my first marathon. Will it be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made? Hopefully not. I’ve decided to buck up and commit 100% as I will have only myself to blame if it all goes to pot. So from now on I will train hard, I will eat better, I will drink less alcohol and more water and I will complete Connemara with a desire to run again and not the wish to hang up my runners.

I hope that this time 14 weeks, the discipline will have paid off and the regrets will be nil!

[runrabbit]

Best of luck missus, will be following this with interest!

[maria74]

14 weeks...aghhhhhh!! I think I am having a panic attack (if that's possible while you lie on a couch in front of the TV!)

There seems to be a few of us aiming towards Connemara (although I am only doing half). My wish is to have no regrets also! Are you following a plan?

Best of luck with training

[BrokenMan]

Good luck claralara. See you on the start line in Conn.

[littlebug]

You're doing the full?! Good luck Claralara... I hope you have some good training hills lined up!

[jcsmum]

So a new log eh? Best of luck with the training for Conn. You'll do great!

[shels4ever]

Originally Posted by claralara

A title to motivate the stubbornness within – I do not want to fail on this.

Connemarathon – 14 weeks. It’ll be my first time running in Connemara. It’ll be my first marathon. Will it be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made? Hopefully not. I’ve decided to buck up and commit 100% as I will have only myself to blame if it all goes to pot. So from now on I will train hard, I will eat better, I will drink less alcohol and more water and I will complete Connemara with a desire to run again and not the wish to hang up my runners.

I hope that this time 14 weeks, the discipline will have paid off and the regrets will be nil!

Enjoy the training you will be fine, put in the hard work . just make sure you enjoy the training and for your first marathon enjoy dont stress too much about times ect

[claralara]

So...not a good start. A veritable disaster in fact!

Stomach and chest were feeling a bit dodge the last few days and clever clogs thought ignorance and a run would sort it all out. Turned out to be an awful idea. Went out for the group run with the intention of 10 miles. Bailed out after 3.5 close to throwing up... not the best first impression I've ever made! I have some serious reputation salvaging to do.

I was pretty peeved and decided there and then that Connemara was off the cards. However while I was walking back to the car I gave myself a good talking to - s**t happens, I'll get over it. I'm going to stick with it and train for the full. I may have to reassess before the race but for the next 3 months I will be training for a marathon.

Great to meet a few faces even if it was only a brief encounter. I'm still alive anyway just in case anyone is worried...

[claralara]

The one good thing that came out of today was that the niggles in the feet weren't niggling so hopefully that will remain to be the case.

I'm going to follow a mixture of HH Novice II and Run Republic (Sub 4.30) plans - tweaked a little to suit life, work, current fitness level () for a few weeks. Hopefully I'll be back on track in the not too distant future!

Plan: Week 1/14

Monday 3 miles

Tuesday 5 miles slow

Wednesday 3/4 miles fast

Thursday Rest

Friday 40mins Cross

Saturday LSR 10 miles

Sunday Rest

Monday 3rd
3.5 miles - no idea of time

[menoscemo]

Originally Posted by claralara

Great to meet a few faces even if it was only a brief encounter. I'm still alive anyway just in case anyone is worried...

Sorry you were feeling bad. Don't worry about impressions, I didn't even notice you were gone until a while after . Sickness will come and go but your fitness won't go as quick so don't worry about it. The good news is that the foot felt better, but I would go to a physio anyway just for peace of mind. Good to see you have picked up a plan, best of luck. Myself and RK agreed to do about 16-18 next sunday at 1pm if you're interested (the group will be going for their usual 10). We are also doing some speed stuff on wednesday but I wouldn't do that unless the chest clears up quickly...

[digger2d2]

We all have bad days.....I remember shortly before Marathon taper last year jcsmum had a really tough lsr out of the blue and yet she came out and ran a great DCM...Head down, keep notching the miles, the confidence will flow and you'll be amazed how soon you'll be grinning from ear to ear after completing your first 20 mile lsr....Make sure you come out again with us

[shazkea]

New log girl so don't let one crappy run ruin your motivation - you'll crack Conn no bother to you.

Might see you in the Phoenix Park next week for the long run...and I won't have to worry about making a good first impression ...sorry couldn't resist!!

[jcsmum]

Don't worry, we all have bad days and as digger pointed out, I had a rotten LSR before DCM. It does shake your confidence (and sanity) a little bit, but you have put a lot of good runs in and they all count too. Focus on the positive.

[Cabaal]

Don't worry you won't regret anything just stick to your plan best you can and you'll be just fine, We all have good and bad days.

[claralara]

Cheers for the posts above lads – great encouragement and support to a doubting Thomas.

So... for anyone who’s waiting with baited breath ()... I did make it out for a nice easy run this evening. Only got out after 9 because I was working late i.e. I had a perfect excuse to bail! Dare I say that yesterday may have been a blessing in disguise? It made me refocus, make a plan and realise that I really want to this!

Tuesday 4th January
5.08 miles – 9.25 Pace

I survived. And enjoyed it! Chest still not 100% but a good bit better. No nausea and no niggly feet. I have everything crossed that there’ll be no aches or pains in the morning but if there’s any sort of pinch at all I’ll definitely sort out a bit of physio. Anyway I felt like going on for a little bit longer but the new improved clever clogs said no - the plan is there for a reason!!

Still a fair bit of work to get the fitness levels back and I could definitely feel the turkey and Cadbury roses pounds bouncing along with me but with a bit of luck it’ll all sort itself out soon enough.

Originally Posted by menoscemo

Myself and RK agreed to do about 16-18 next sunday at 1pm if you're interested (the group will be going for their usual 10). We are also doing some speed stuff on wednesday but I wouldn't do that unless the chest clears up quickly...

Cool, Sunday sounds good - I'll aim to join yee for a few anyway. I won't lose the run of myself just yet. And I'll bring my gear into work tomorrow and see how the chest is. If it's alright and I get out on time I'll head up to yee (maybe just for some 400's though...).

Originally Posted by digger2d2

We all have bad days.....I remember shortly before Marathon taper last year jcsmum had a really tough lsr out of the blue and yet she came out and ran a great DCM...Head down, keep notching the miles, the confidence will flow and you'll be amazed how soon you'll be grinning from ear to ear after completing your first 20 mile lsr....Make sure you come out again with us

Thanks for that Digger. It definitely egged me on to get out again today! And i'll certainly be joining yee again - as I said, there's some reputation salvaging to be done!