2013; Eat my dust Meno!

tHE vAGGABOND

Pretty exciting stuff, Boston here you come

Solobally8

Sorry CL just got round to reading your Berlin report there (was in Liverpool for a few days). You are truely inspiring. You are a born runner. I might sound really soppy here but you really are such a motivation and inspiration to me. Keep writing those epic race reports, no doubt you will keep running amazing times!!

And wow Boston, how bloody exciting.



Oh and one more thing- how could you spit? At least you havent progressed to the snot rockets!! There are some things that us ladies can never bring ourselves to do ok! However if spitting and snot rockets give you such outstanding results, I'm off to practice

myflipflops

TRR wrote: »

I was thinking last night and the 3 main things that your massive PB can be put down put are (in order of importance)

Having been following the log, I have to add a 4th: Attitude.

The below piece that you wrote is incredibly important. The amount of time people set goals that actually become limitations is chronic. TRR discussed the dynamic training plan which was clearly key but the mentality to go along with that and continually up your targets is hugely important. Lots of people avoid it because it increases the potential to 'fail'. You were ambitious but realistic. Too much back slapping kicking about the logs in my opinion but in this case it is undoubtedly deserved: Well done/

Keep listening to the coach, he may have sh*t taste in beer but the man talks sense about running. Another 10-15 minutes off that time must be possible in the next 6-12 months and then you are competitive at a national level.

claralara wrote: »

As training was going well, there was a regular revision of training paces and goal paces. I refused to let myself get too caught up in this though, as only time would tell. There was a discussion pretty early on that 3:20 was within my grasp so we adjusted training pace down a little and kept on plodding.

After the Longford Half, there were quite a few discussions about realistic goals; as well as ultimate ‘good-day’ and ultimate ‘bad-day’ results. It was at this point that I admitted to myself that I knew I could run 3:15 (in Berlin) and would be gutted if I didn’t.

banner_phoenix

Great result CL, well done and congrats on Boston

claralara

Monday 1st October - Wednesday 10th October

So, well over a week on, here we are...I've been MIA (and haven't been on boards in yonks) but don't fret, I'm feeling absolutely great!

Immediate recovery went well. On Monday (the day after the marathon), myself and Digger acted blissfully western and ignorant and headed to Berlin's finest McDonalds for a dirty Big Mac recovery meal followed by a trip to Buckies where we sat reading, drinking coffee by the bucket, and eating cake for about 4 hours. The legs felt only a little heavy and tender and I was generally comfortable - except for those times when I'd jump up out my seat only to be reminded that I had run a marathon 24 hours previous!

On Tuesday, the fatigue had lifted and I just had some DOMSy pain right up the back of the legs. We went down to the club to say harrow and report our race times and just went for a really handy 30 minute jog. The club was having it's championship 2 mile road race and it was a shame we had to miss it. Oh well, one can't do everything.

By Wednesday, the legs and body felt even better. I was running up and down the stairs without a bother, much to my surprise and joy! The scheduled 35 minute jog went off swimmingly. No Garmin allowed. I was running completely by want and feel so no idea of exact distance or pace - it felt pretty nifty though - definitely faster than my *old* (;)) recovery pace. I realised during this one how much I love running! I just love it! Hi, I'm claralara and I'm addicted. :-/ Could have gone on and on. Luckily I'm a sensible and disciplined soul so I did what I was told and no more.

On Thursday, I went down to Bushy for a 40 minute run which was just as good as Wednesday's. Loved it. Really comfortable and thoroughly enjoyable

Friday remains Pieday... woohoo!!

Saturday saw my first hurrah into the world of XC running. Myself and Digs headed over to meet the club in the Phoenix Park, brand spanking pink and blue 9mm spikes in tow... They're pretty awesome. And they bring out the colour of my eyes. We're still on recovery so both TRR and Emily had us under strict instructions to take it easy. I did. I just wanted to get a feel for the route and the terrain and I ran really comfortably. In total we did a decent 1-2 mile warm-up, followed by 3 XC laps of about .8 of a mile (I think - still on a Garmin ban), and then a good warm-down with plenty of strides. I really really enjoyed this session and am looking forward to popping my XC racing cherry properly this weekend - it could be an absolute disaster but sure, I've nothing to lose! Hopefully it'll be a great addition to my training in terms of building strength and speed.

Sunday was supposed to be an easy 50-60 minute jog but we decided to go mental and give it a miss after a busy day of contending with a hangover and a family christening. We both could have run had we really really had to but if you can't excuse a session the week after a goal marathon then when can you!!


This week is Recovery Week 2 - the Garmin ban remains. It's quite nice actually. Just going out and running for the heck of it. Some great down time for the mind too. The next few weeks will be easy easy which will see us up to pacing DCM. I'm really looking forward to it now - it should be good craic.

Monday was a nice 40 minute run which was nifty enough but very comfortable.

On Tuesday, I went down to the club to join in the session which was sprints and hills. Unfortunately, I was spotted hanging around the group and kicked out of the session. I was sent off on a steady run with a couple of others who were on recovery instead. I was kind of raging as I was looking forward to it and felt I could have been good for something but Emily knows best I suppose They said it was a 2 mile loop but it didn't feel that long. We did it twice and pace was fairly nifty - high 7's maybe - but it was very comfortable and I was chatting away no problem. There w/u & w/d either side were probably about a mile very easy.

Last night (Wednesday) I was out for a about an hour with a couple of friends new to running and just did a bit of training with them - involved a w/u, a bit of a session with 30 seconds on/off, a minute on/off, 2 minutes on/off, repeat, repeat, and then a very easy couple of miles just trotting around. It was painfully easy for me I did a sneaky extra mile to feel like I'd done something so reckon I did about 6 miles all in.

I think my Garmin got depressed form lack of use and has now committed suicide!! Tear. I'll give it a shot this evening to see what the craic is but I fear it may be going 6 inches under with a sad ceremony to boot!


Apart from running, I've been a very busy lady on the job-hunt. I'd been extremely unhappy in work for quite a while so I made the scary decision to leave and make a change a few weeks back. I've been applying for various positions and the last few days have been filled with intensive interview research and preparation, applications, tests and interviews - it's worse than doing the Leaving all over again! Anyway, things are looking good so fingers crossed


I know my log needs a bit of TLC in terms of replying to people and addressing the next step (eek!!) so I'll get to that asap!

BTH

Hey Claralara, been popping in and out here recently but never had time to stop for long. Just wanted to congratulate you on the stunning performance in Berlin. Very impressive work, and I reckon I'll have to avoid the long distance races from now on for fear of getting chicked! Bet you didn't get a guided tour over there like you did in Longford though.

Dory Dory

Have you guys made accommodations for Boston yet??

claralara

Dory Dory wrote: »

Have you guys made accommodations for Boston yet??

Of course not! Do you not know me at all?!

Any recommendations greatly welcomed!

Dory Dory

claralara wrote: »

Of course not! Do you not know me at all?!

Any recommendations greatly welcomed!

I thought maybe Digger.....oh never mind...

We have accommodations from Friday to Tuesday less than a mile from the finish line. The Boston site has a link to all the hotels in the area with reviews attached.....and I am right now as I type this going through all my emails to try and find the hotel confirmation so I can tell you where we are staying....but, guess what??? I can't find the blasted email!!! OMG....does that mean I'll have to be calling every hotel within a mile from the finish line to determine if we have accommodation there?? :eek: :o:(:mad: Don't they know I'm in recovery!!!?????

Dory Dory

And happy pie day!!!!!

Dory Dory

Found it!!

Here's the official Boston hotel coordinating site...

http://www.marathontours.com/index.cfm/page/Boston-Marathon/pid/10393

And we're staying here at the Four Seasons Hotel. (a little pricey, but we don't get out all that much.... )

digger2d2

Dory Dory wrote: »

Found it!!

Here's the official Boston hotel coordinating site...

http://www.marathontours.com/index.cfm/page/Boston-Marathon/pid/10393

And we're staying here at the Four Seasons Hotel. (a little pricey, but we don't get out all that much.... )

Seeing as CL gave up her job we'll be looking for an all-night bus station with comfortable seating

blockic

Where oh where is claralara gone?

belcarra

blockic wrote: »

Where oh where is claralara gone?

She must be lying low now that Lance has been found out for what he really is!:D

digger2d2

blockic wrote: »

Where oh where is claralara gone?

belcarra wrote: »

She must be lying low now that Lance has been found out for what he really is!:D

Well, I did notice that the test tubes and bunsen burners have disappeared from our kitchen :eek::D

claralara

blockic wrote: »

Where oh where is claralara gone?

I'm here, I'm here... just keeping a low profile as have had a lot on. Everytime I go near the computer to update I end up finding a zillion and one other things to do. The post-Berlin recovery month which was always going to be a party was going well - just trotting out a couple of miles and enjoying far too much eating and drinking. The plan was to really enjoy October, pace DCM and then hit the winter discipline hard - starting off with a "no alcohol, no chocolate and a daily strength routine November" - there's a chart going up in the kitchen and everything!

Anyway, in the last week, I've been thrown a wee curve ball and am stressed, run-down and a bit achey all over. So I've been concentrating on being sensible and getting myself better - and I didn't want to sound like a big moany hole on my log :rolleyes: Will lash up an update that's been living in a word document since my last one!!

belcarra wrote: »

She must be lying low now that Lance has been found out for what he really is!:D

menoscemo

I just realised that we don't even have an update of your XC exploits from the Dublin Novice :eek: Get to it at once

claralara

Thursday 11th October (light club session)
c.5.5 miles easy with some short fartlek/sprinty enhancments.
Couldn’t make the club session so threw in some faster stretches to see how the body would react. Suffice to say it didn’t like them. A LOT A LOT of 5k/10k work is required over the coming months. I’m looking forward to it in a strange sadistic way.

Friday 12th October (Rest)
Rest… you know the score

Saturday 13th October (30 minutes easy w/strides)
35 minutes easy w/strides. This was grand and handy apart from the fact that grumpy grump Digdig had eaten a durty Burger King meal two hours previous and although I knew he was feeling rough and should have eased off or gone home to try again later, he insisted on wrecking my head accompanying me. Finished it off with a few strides to loosen out the legs for the following day’s race and everything felt just dandy!

Sunday 14th October (Dublin Novice XC Championship)
My first XC racing adventure. I was absolutely terrified going into this. The other girls from my club, although they may be novice XC’ers, are not novice runners. They’re all pretty fast over the short distance and I knew that was not where my recent training would have me. Obviously the approximate 3k distance is not a challenge in itself but throw in some hills, some mud, a crowd with spiky feet, nasty cold air and the task of running this distance flat out and it becomes a different ball-game altogether!! My game plan was basically just to go for it and avoid blowing up for as long as possible. It was two laps of the ‘Munich lap’ and I settled into it pretty quickly – was working hard and passing people but I felt pretty strong. Coming into the second lap I still felt strong enough and realised I had to really push it if I was going to make the most out of the race. At one point my vision went a bit blurry; it was a little worrying but I just powered through knowing that I had a good bit less than half way to go. I wasn’t wearing a Garmin; it wasn’t about time – it was purely a race for places and to represent the team. On the final hill, I dug in and found my strength passing a good few girls who were completely fading. The final stretch was a flat all out sprint for about 500m (maybe?) and I just dug in as hard as I could. Try as I might, I couldn’t shake two girls who had caught me on the flat and were hanging on my shoulder. They passed me in the finishing straight – I was just shattered. My lungs were burning crossing the finish line – a feeling that I hadn’t experienced in a long time! I was really happy and uber surprised with my result – 13th overall out of 74 ladies and 2nd on my club team in a time of 11:40 (which doesn’t mean a whole heap as I don’t know what the exact distance was).

Was a little gutted to miss out on a bronze medal for the team by one measly point and spent while thinking about where I could have made a place or two but I’m over that now. I definitely could have pushed a bit harder on the first lap so it’s good to know there’s a little bit more there. (Although, I may have completely blown up had I done so… All a learning curve I suppose!)



Recovery Week 3

The only striking thing about this week was getting a little more time on the feet and the continued GPS ban. Oh I suppose it helped a little, in that I listened to my body and adjusted accordingly i.e. that elusive theory of ‘running by feel’.


Monday 15th October (30-40 minutes recovery NO GPS)
40 minutes recovery – no Garmin
Absolutely no recollection of this run apart from the fact that I have a note of having it done sprawled across a piece of paper in the kitchen…

Tuesday 16th October (90+ minutes easy NO GPS)
95 minutes – no Garmin
This was the longest outing since Berlin and a ‘get some time on the feet pre-DCM’ run – don’t want the legs to get too much of a shock next week! Had a day trip to Cork for a family funeral so had to get up bright and early for this one. I headed out on empty so was starvin marvin by the time I finished. I never thought I’d see the day where I’d enjoy the triangular sangwich and homemade pie feast that folk lay on at a funeral!! This felt alright – not one of my best runs and I was tired by the end. It wasn’t an “I never want to run again” run, but the body definitely reminded me that it’s still in recovery from Berlin and that I had run a XC race 2 days previous.…there was the odd reminder from the right foot that it had taken a bit of a battering at the XC on Sunday so was cautious with that. (I’d also be lying if I didn’t admit to a wee loss of fitness, a touch of weight gain and feeling the excessive consumption of post-marathon alcohol and junk food!)

Wednesday 17th October (30-45 minutes easy NO GPS)
45 minutes easy - no Garmin
Don’t really remember this – it was dark and it started to rain towards the end. It felt alright though the right foot was a little niggly by the time I finished (it had been grand walking around all day).

Thursday 18th October (45 minutes easy NO GPS)
Unplanned rest day…shock horror! Was really busy and had evening dinner plans so I decided to switch Thursday’s 45 easy minutes with Friday’s rest day.

Friday 19th October (Rest)
As I said, I was planning on doing Thursday's run and just switching the rest day around. The alarm went off at 6:30 and I got up and was half dressed before I made the difficult yet correct decision that my right foot just was not 100%.

Saturday 20th October (2 hours easy)
I was feeling a little hoarse and sniffly and not at all happy with my fricking foot. I was in terrible form though and I really needed to get out of the house so I went for a good long walk (in my running gear) and threw in a mile or two of light jogging to keep me sane.

Sunday 21st October (40 minutes easy)
The head-cold had gotten worse and I sounded like I was sporting the 21st century version of TB so another rest day and an appointment with the doc made!


Pre-DCM week - there's a lovely training plan for this week but I am refraining from lacing up the runners too early as it could only be a bad idea.

Monday 22nd October (5miles @ PMP)
Went to the doc instead. I have a little infection in my sinuses and throat and was given an antibiotic. I'm happy now that this will clear up really quickly. I caught it before it got green (nice!) and went into my chest and already after one day's worth of the drugs I feel ten times better. I reckon I won't know myself in another 24 hours I'm not a bad patient per se - I just hate being sick! I'm not into this 'duvet day' and sick note cr*p and all I want right now is to be busy! I'm an impatient patient!

Tuesday 26rd October (2 hours easy)
Obviously I won't be doing this either. This will be 5 days rest in the last 7 and I am going out of my mind. I am DYING to get back on my feet. I'm going to see the physical therapist this afternoon just to put my mind at ease re the right foot and will check in here afterwards.


In the meantime, let's hope I don't pile on the pounds or do any further damage over the things I can control! I know this is a blip but I am so looking forward to Monday and I'm devastated that I can't get out for the head-clearing runs that I love so much

Younganne

Mind yourself and rest up, catch up with you on Monday for the Post race party!!!

career_move

I wouldn't worry about 'piling on the pounds' if I was you......I bet you're one of those really annoying skinny people who can eat their bodyweight in one sitting and never gain a pound


I believe the scientific explanation is a "high metabolic rate"....pfft

macinalli

Looks like you completely neglected last weeks Pieday, and then a couple of days later you pick up a sinus infection. Connected?

Marthastew

macinalli wrote: »

Looks like you completely neglected last weeks Pieday, and then a couple of days later you pick up a sinus infection. Connected?

Most definitely a connection; Piedays are even more important than rest days:), in fact there is a whole chapter on the science of piedays in my version of P&D's Advanced Marathoning:D

Fingers, toes and everything crossed for a super,speedy return to the roads, on the plus side..... Your body very kindly got the sinus infection in conjunction with the sore foot; two birds with one stone;)

claralara

macinalli wrote: »

Looks like you completely neglected last weeks Pieday, and then a couple of days later you pick up a sinus infection. Connected?

Marthastew wrote: »

Most definitely a connection; Piedays are even more important than rest days:), in fact there is a whole chapter on the science of piedays in my version of P&D's Advanced Marathoning:D

Oh dear Lord... This intention of a 'clean November' could be my ruin... maybe I should reconsider this foolishness?!!

Marthastew wrote: »

Fingers, toes and everything crossed for a super,speedy return to the roads, on the plus side..... Your body very kindly got the sinus infection in conjunction with the sore foot; two birds with one stone;)

Well that's one positive way of looking at it - how very thoughtful of my body!!

In anyways, all is not quite lost... Nothing overly serious wrong with the foot. Stress fracture ruled out thank baby Jesus. There is some tendon damage/inflammation/overwork from the XC running and runners so it's just a matter of seeing how well/quickly that recovers. PT gave it a good 60+ minute seeing-too yesterday and sent me home with the instructions to rest today. (That wasn't hard with the antibiotic related disaster I'm also suffering from!)

This morning I wasn't too happy - foot was sore and had localised bruising. That was from the PT yesterday though. Once I put shoes on, the pain subsided a heap and it was pretty good walking around for the day. The sinuses/throat etc are ten times better today already. Another good sleep and day's dose of the antibiotics and I'm confident I won't know myself in that regard.

As it stands now, the foot feels ok and the infections are clearing up and I'm trying to be confident, without counting my chickens. I'm being very sensible - actually veritably pedantic - about resting and recovering so hopefully that will serve me well.

All that said, I'm still very cautious about making a bad decision about Monday and doing damage that could be grounds for 6 months of regrets, so I'll be doing nowt without due and careful consideration. I'm expecting to receive an ear-bashing coffee-ruining reality check (!) from God in the morning so I'll check in again after that... ;)

claralara

career_move wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about 'piling on the pounds' if I was you......I bet you're one of those really annoying skinny people who can eat their bodyweight in one sitting and never gain a pound


I believe the scientific explanation is a "high metabolic rate"....pfft

Oh how wrong one could be... so many examples of an absence of anything 'high' or 'speedy' within my metabolism come to mind. I refer (without a hit of pride!) to one specific J1 example where I discovered Toronto, Canada and doughnuts discovered me...Shudder!! Nuff said :D:o

RubyK

Sorry to hear you are in bother with your foot and sinuses Re. Pacing, do the right thing for you, and don't take any chances Mind yourself.

claralara

RubyK wrote: »

Sorry to hear you are in bother with your foot and sinuses Re. Pacing, do the right thing for you, and don't take any chances Mind yourself.

Cheers Ruby. I'm being VERY sensible - too much to lose otherwise

Thursday 25th October
Antibiotics working well
Foot a lot better. A bit of discomfort walking barefoot but absolutely nothing when wearing shoes.
Iced and rested a good bit yesterday evening and got another good night's sleep

Friday 26th October
Infections reduced to a mere sniffle
Tentatively stepped out of bed...nothing...walked to the bathroom...nothing...back into the bedroom...nothing... let a wee bit of positivity in
Not a bother on the foot so far today - have been walking around a bit and am pretty happy with it. Icing it now as an extra precaution and will do so again a couple of times this evening.
Not running on it today though - another day at this stage won't kill me!
A couple of tester miles in the morning and will make the call then. Fingers and toesies crossed!

blockic

Hopefully you will be able to pace claralara. Will you be at the pacer stand over the weekend?

claralara

blockic wrote: »

Hopefully you will be able to pace claralara. Will you be at the pacer stand over the weekend?

Certainly will - we're up tomorrow afternoon for a few hours. Currently studying my answers to the FAQs

blockic

claralara wrote: »

Certainly will - we're up tomorrow afternoon for a few hours. Currently studying my answers to the FAQs

Bummer, i'm not there until sunday. Hopefully see yourself and diggs in McGrattans so instead. I'll bring my permanent marker so ye can sign my tshirt. Star struck!

claralara

blockic wrote: »

Bummer, i'm not there until sunday. Hopefully see yourself and diggs in McGrattans so instead. I'll bring my permanent marker so ye can sign my tshirt. Star struck!

I wouldn't do you the disservice of wasting your ink...!!