Here goes...again!

Bally8

Oryx wrote: »

And another imra runner is born....

Oh god no, those mountain running folks scare me and I would never call what I do running.



Actually on second thoughts I wont say never, who would have thought this time last year I would even be triathlon training!

Bally8

Thursday 8th March
Club swim this morning. It still amazes me that I can actually get up at 5.50am. Seriously I have always fought for every extra minute I can get in bed in the mornings. Anyway the session was tough one. And as per usual I just did what I could do. There is no way I can keep up with everyone else so I just dip in and out when I can. Today was better for me though, I managed to do most things and didnt have to rest half as much as usual. Warm up was side stroke then back stroke 4X100. Then the main set was supposed to be 8 X 250 of 4 front crawl, 4 pull and 2 kick. Sometimes I missed 2 front crawl and sometimes the pull but over all I think I did well. Sprints to finish. I think the guys in the fast lane did about 100 lengths. I managed 64. Happy with that.

Went for a sneaky afternoon nap after walking the dog then headed to turbo after dinner. It was a doozie of a session. Sprints warm up, then a 20 minute push at 90% in an out of the saddle with some sprints thrown in if it looked like we were slacking at all. I enjoyed the session. I dont think I've ever sweated as much. For once my puddle matched some of the men around me:D. Its great for the confidence to do a session like that and not die!

Bally8

Quick update as I really should be in bed already.

Friday 9th March
Swim with Mr.Bally8, love getting to spend time training with him. Nice easy session. 1025m

Saturday 10th March
Gaelforce Adventure Training Day - Glendalough Co. Wicklow. Up at 6.10 to get there for the 10am start. Thanks for nothing AA route finder- we got there an hour quicker then it said it would take!! Anyways the short version of the day is that it was great craic, very tough and well worth the journey. We started off with everyone having to change a tube on the mountain bikes and after a few laps of the car park we were off on hilly forest tracks, hilly roads, hilly mud paths and then some sneaking onto private land to use a brilliant but totally scary mountain bike track. I nearly got cleaned off by a tree two times! Great fun.

After lunch was the run where we headed off up hills, then more hills then down some hills then up more hills!! Tough, tough tough. MrBally8 wanted to turn around and walk back but the leader wouldnt let him and he was glad he stayed with us in the end. Its so beautiful around there. We went along some of the WAR route and climbed all those steps to the viewing point. My favourite point was when we came back down one hill at breakneck speed. I have never ran so fast in my life, it was being a kid, flying down with no real control of myself at all- prob not the way you are supposed to do it but all I was focused on was not falling over. Ran through the monastic site and near the roundtower then up some more hill trails and back into the village.

A great day, totally broken but very happy.

Sunday 11th March
8.46km run around Portroe in 54:xx. I took a tough hilly route and took it nice and easy. I just felt my aching body needed an easy recovery run to help it get better after yesterdays trauma.


So all in all a good week. Lots of adventure training between the hill running, kayaking and off road cycling. My running milage was the highest so far this week(17.84 miles) as was my swimming (3875m). Cycling was down but that is as a result of the adventure race training day getting in the way of my long saturday cycle and life getting in the way of turbo on tuesday night. Glad to see my change in circumstances hasn't impacted my training as much as I first feared.

Bally8

Monday 12th March
Brought the girls to the gym for sport this afternoon. While they were shown a programme I hopped on the treadmill and managed a sneaky 2.5 mile run.

Home at 5.15 and back out the door at 5.30 for my first running session with the club. Again I was very nervous as I drove there. I always worry when I do new things- will I be the slowest? Wobbliest? Will I embarrass myself or annoy the others with my slowness?
As usual I shouldnt have worried- I was slow, I was near the back all the time but I was nowhere near as poor as I expected.
There were a good few poeple there I already knew from the club and I met some really nice girls who ended up being a similar pace to me, so I never felt slow or annoying. Of course the fast guys were miles ahead but the good thing about the CBS grounds and track is that you are never far behind everyone else.
We started off with a 2 mile warm up, then strides and stretching followed by 90 second hard running with 45 second recovery x5. Next was 45 second hard with 30 second recovery x 5. I only managed 3 of these and decided to call it a day there. I joined back in for the cool down jog but headed back to my car instead of the last loop of the soccer field. 4.3 miles in total

All and all a great evening. I really enjoyed it, delighted with myself. Also I hit sub 5.30 min mile pace a few times in the sprint sections - wow!!

claralara

Congrats on all the great training going on in here these days B8; great stuff

Your day out on Saturday sounded awesome!

Bally8

Tuesday was a much needed rest day. My legs were very tired from going from very little running to lots of intense stuff over the last few days.

Wed 15th March
Back to the gym with work this morning. Managed 2.88 miles on the treadmil. Swim after work. 5 x 50 front crawl warm up then timed myself for 750m. Delighted to say it took 19:38. Thrilled with that. It's a 3 minute improvement since my last timed session. Cant believe I can do the 30 lengths under 20 mins. And what's even better is I think I have more in me- I can do it faster with more practice.

Thursday 16th March
6.30am club swim. There were only 12 of us there so there was no where to hide. It was tough as there were only 4 of us in the slow lane and the 3 others weren't slow at all. Happy with the session. The overall faster pace resulted in me getting 72 lengths done in the hour. Woohoo- most lengths in a session yet. The rest did over 100. The plan is to be like them by next year

Bally8

Just realised the dates in my last post are wrong. Wednesday was the 14th and Thursday the 15th

Anyhoo...
Thurs 15th March pm
Club turbo session, only 10 of us there. These sessions are finishing next week and I really dont know how I'm going to turbo without them. I find it way easier to get them done in a group than on my own. Hopfully the evenings will be long enough soon to cycle outdoors after work anyway.

Fri 16th March
Had planned a long cycle with Mr.Bally8 but wow the rain was something else and we were too soft to bother. My bike wasnt up to it anyway, it's been very loud recently so we took it to the bike shop to be looked at. Guy in shop said its from the strain Im putting on the chain in my turbo classes. Had no idea I was doing anything wrong. Glad to have gotten a few bike care tips from him.

I was considering leaving Friday as a rest day but made a last minute decision to leave our hormone/rage-filled teenager at home with the hubby and escape to a club run to let off some steam. My second run with the club, and boy it was tough. Hill repeats, my first time ever doing them. I hear people on here talking about them all the time but I've never actually done repeats. Thought I was going to puke but managed to hold on and survive the session.

Saturday 17th March
Housebound all day as Mr.Bally8 was busy peeling drunk people off the street (how much fun is it to be a paramedic this weekend!). Decided to do a long turbo set. The plan was for 2 hours but after an hour I was dying of boredom. Just as I was about to give up I came across the Milan-San Remo cycle race on Eurosport and I was off like the clappers again. I've now decided to sky+ all the cycling I can. Its so motivating!
Managed the 2 hours no problem in the end.

Sunday 18th March
Met up with a clubmate (hereafter known as M:)) at the pool where we timed ourselves doing 750m then a quick change and on to the bikes to cycle the 20k route of the North Tipp Sprint. Felt good going out but the wind was a gale against us on the way back in. Hope the wind changes direction on the day of the race!

Bally8

In case you haven't gathered- I'm sooo happy today. Borrisokane 10k I love you!!


I was nervous going to the race as I really really wanted to finally have an official sub60 10k. Apart from the 58:xx last year at the v short Clare 10k, my official 10k pb was 60:54 from Adare in Feb 2011.

It was great being among club members at the starting line- I'm normally on my own so it was nice to have company. Of course they all left me for dust as soon at the race started! The start kind of happened all of a sudden and before I knew it I was off at full pelt. I knew I was going fast but my garmin is in kms now but lapping in miles so I couldnt figure out my pace for the first while. Was shocked to see my first mile time, 7:43:eek: I've never ran that fast in my whole life.

After that I thought 'I wont be able to keep this up' but kept plugging away. It was a very undulating course and the hills just kept coming. Luckily all the hill running I've been doing recently paid off and I managed to keep the pace. Mile 2 was 8:17 and mile 3 was 8: 36.

Reached 5k in 25:34. I was thrilled and knew then that barring total disaster I was definitely on for the sub60. Mile 4 was 8:53,next one was 8:47 and I was beginning to tire at this stage. I got caught by a woman in the middle of mile 5 and we ran the rest together, not saying much just pushing each other on by keeping the pace nice and fast. I'm so glad she was there as I think I would have slowed down otherwise. A few more hills and we were back in the town 8:37 for the 6th mile and then a sprint to the end.

Wait for it.....52:18 :eek::D:eek::D (16th lady, 66th overall out of 172)

A good ole PB if I say so myself.

You would swear I won the race by how happy I am!

I always thought I was a 10 minute mile plodder, destined to be a 10 minute mile plodder forever. Guess that's not quite so true anymore. I seem to have skipped the 9 minute miles and headed into 8:xx territory all of a sudden:D

RacoonQueen

Savage. Well done.

littlebug

Holy Moly Bally8 that's some pb improvement all of a sudden!:eek:

Well done you! Absolutely delighted for you!:D

(all these people getting run pbs after adding in swim and bike...must be a message in there somewhere!)

shazkea

Thats brill A, thrilled for you. Just goes to show how the great training is paying off.

Bally8

littlebug wrote: »

Holy Moly Bally8 that's some pb improvement all of a sudden!:eek:

Well done you! Absolutely delighted for you!:D

(all these people getting run pbs after adding in swim and bike...must be a message in there somewhere!)

I think you're on to something there littlebug:). Even if swimming and cycling isnt making me faster, they are making me fitter and keeping me injury free.

rainbow kirby

Nicely done, you must be absolutely chuffed with that

Dory Dory

Well done there!! You totally deserve to be floating on clouds!

DigiJem

Smashing stuff yesterday. Great to see the results from your hard work over the last while. Congrats!

Younganne

Congrats Bally8 you really smashed that old PB.....thats a fantastic PB and shows all your hard work is paying off. Well deserved, Enjoy:D

RubyK

Brilliant running Bally8, well and truely deserved. Bet you are on some high after it

Bally8

Jeez guys thanks a million for all the support I'm still buzzing, cant believe it really.

Hamstrings hurting a bit today so I'm taking an unplanned rest day, enjoying relaxing on the couch catching up on all the logs instead of being at turbo class.

Nules10

Bally8 what a fantastic run. You must be well chuffed with yourself. A well deserved rest day today enjoy it.

BTH

Bally8 wrote: »

Jeez guys thanks a million for all the support I'm still buzzing, cant believe it really.

Hamstrings hurting a bit today so I'm taking an unplanned rest day, enjoying relaxing on the couch catching up on all the logs instead of being at turbo class.

Its an incredible feeling when you completely surpass your expectations in a race. Congrats on the massive PB.

racheljev

Congrats on the pb, brilliant! Delighted for you

earnyourturns

Not on here much anymore, but DELIGHTED for you Bally8! You are such an inspiration!

claralara

Bally8 that was an immense race! Well done you. There was nothing lucky about it - all down to your determination, dedication, attitude and great training through everything you've had to cope with over the last 12+ months. Absolutely delighted* for you, you deserve to lap up every ounce of the joy of a brilliant achievement.


*Although I'm delighted for you, I'm pretty jealous as you have not only blown your own PB out of the water, you have also smashed mine! :cool:

insinkerator

Smashing race Bally8! Great to see you are doing so well. Starting to turn rather green with envy

Bally8

earnyourturns wrote: »

Not on here much anymore, but DELIGHTED for you Bally8! You are such an inspiration!

Hey stranger we miss u!!

Bally8

claralara wrote: »

*Although I'm delighted for you, I'm pretty jealous as you have not only blown your own PB out of the water, you have also smashed mine! :cool:

Ah now! You will take a further 10 - 12 mins off mine when you get round to doing a 10k this year

Bally8

insinkerator wrote: »

Smashing race Bally8! Great to see you are doing so well. Starting to turn rather green with envy

You will be right back at it insink once your college work is done and the shin heals. Stop all that cycling!!!!!!!!!

Bally8

Friday 23rd March
So after my great day on Monday I took a rest day Tuesday and intended to get right back into training from Wednesday on. Things didnt work out to plan though and all I did on Wed was play a game of soccer with the students at work. I was lucky to get a days subbing on Thursday but it was a 3 hr round trip followed that evening by a very long parent teacher meeting.

So today was my first day back at it instead:)

Pool first for an easy swim. I have a club duathlon tomorrow so didnt want to tax myself too much today. All front crawl 5 x50 wu then 4x 100 and 3 x 150,finished it off with 1 x 250 and had to head out as there were a million babbling school kids coming in.

After lunch I headed up the hills with Tyson dog. He really has it in for me in these runs. Again he was sideswiping me, running behind me under my feet and stopping all of a sudden when he was running in front of me:mad: I got really mad at him at one point then told myself to cop on- he is only a baby after all (a wild 4.5 stone baby:)). Used donotpop's uphill running technique and it did help but I'm still breathing very very heavy on the uphills but I felt stronger today then the last day. 5.95 hilly, muddy miles covered- 4.28 of it running.

Maybe forest hill running was not the best thing to do the day before a race but I couldnt resist going when I had the chance

littlebug

Bally8 wrote: »

After lunch I headed up the hills with Tyson dog. He really has it in for me in these runs. Again he was sideswiping me, running behind me under my feet and stopping all of a sudden when he was running in front of me:mad: I got really mad at him at one point then told myself to cop on- he is only a baby after all (a wild 4.5 stone baby:)).

Take care... I'm convinced my knee problem has been caused by being suddenly twisted to one side or other when the dog suddenly jumps into hedges/ over walls etc :rolleyes: have had a few hairy moments running downhill too when dog stopped suddenly in front of me.... downhill hurdles

What's the race tomorrow?

Bally8

littlebug wrote: »

Take care... I'm convinced my knee problem has been caused by being suddenly twisted to one side or other when the dog suddenly jumps into hedges/ over walls etc :rolleyes: have had a few hairy moments running downhill too when dog stopped suddenly in front of me.... downhill hurdles

What's the race tomorrow?

Thanks littlebug, I will be very careful when I'm out with him.
I laughed out loud at the downhill hurdles!!

I did worry today about what would happen if he knocked me. I was running on very uneven shale/slate/rock? surface at times today and wondered if he knocked me I could have been hurt badly and would have been all on my own in the middle of nowhere. I might have to rethink running up there with him on my own.

The race is the Nenagh Triathlon Club duathlon, its the 3rd one this year. I've done the first one but missed the second. It's on about 10 mins from my house which is great. There should be about 25 of us at it. I really expect to come last but its all about the experience. It's also a very challenging run section so it's good training for my adventure racing too.