Running with the birds or for the birds?

Marthastew

sideswipe wrote: »

It was tough, made even tougher by the fact I went off course turning it into a 52.3 mile race:rolleyes: but it was VERY enjoyable. Had hoped to give Dublin a good lash but the heavy(slow) milage took a fair toll and has left me feeling pretty slow and tired:o.

I see you and Joe planning Barca next year. I might be heading out myself for a stab at a PB so hopefully will catch up with ye out there or indeed during training over the winter, still undecided about Donadea...would hate to miss it, really enjoyed last year- just need to learn to run 'fast' again for now!

Congrats on a great race, probabaly a wise move to take it handy in DCM and I'm sure you'll be raring to go before long.
You're proabably tied up with family stuff over Christmas but December 27th there's a nice run along the coast, check out the main forum.
All the fun peeps are doing Donadea so sign up now before it fills up:) after your 52.3 mile race it will seem short! Barcelona comes highly recommended for PBs so hopefully it will deliver for us all on the day.

ultraman1 wrote: »

I cant believe there was only one:)

Surprisingly nobody told me to be quiet on the day, although I'm pretty sure poor Frank has already PMed Kurt with a request never to pace along with me again;)

Marthastew

Time for another update, with a promise to keep my log on track for the rest of the year:)
October total miles; 212.99
YTD miles; 1,698.32

The week after DCM had lots of easy running and lots of eating and drinking. We had a wonderful family break in Enniskerry and the views while running were spectacular. Mr Stew joined me on one of the runs to see if all was well with him after his PB and he felt fine, he is enjoying a 2 week break from running and he has made the most of it enjoying the finer things in life. I’ve used the opportunity to try and get a head start on base building for the Spring marathon Family-PB-Faceoff;) We are both signed up for Donadea 50K and Barcelona and Berlin marathons and Mr S is currently playing with spreadsheets etc. finalising our training plans for the next few months. I’m determined to stick with my plan this time round as I feel I need to keep chipping away at my marathon PB and (as Auldmanking has reminded us all;)) time isn't exactly on our sides


Week beginning November 4th
Monday 4th
Dip in the 40 Foot
Steady run; 10.92 miles @ 7.56 pace
45 min Body Pump class


Tuesday 5th
Dip in 40 Foot
10.19 miles @ 8.44 pace, including 4 X 100M sprints
45 minute Mat pilates class
Legs feeling good and strong


Wednesday 6th
45 minute Body Pump class
I followed this class up with a much needed rub-down from the wonderful Ecoli, he had to work very hard to try and get me back into shape, 2 marathons and lots of training miles had taken their toll. I’m very happy to report that Dory wasn’t lying when she said he is a magic man. I bounced off the plinth feeling 20 years younger (which unfortunately would still make me older than Claralara:eek:).


Thursday 7th
Dip in 40 Foot
Session 6 X 100M @ HMP – 10 seconds + 600M @ HMP + 20 seconds, no rest
Total 10.76 miles incl w/u and c/d @ 7.30 pace
Next race up for me is Clontarf Half on Nov 23rd, I had originally planned to pace it but it’s time for me to start getting back into shape and a Half now will give me a good indicator as to what I should be aiming for in Barcelona.
The above session was taken from a Runner’s World article I found, it actually called for a total of 8 miles but this was the final session in a 10 week plan (this is why I need to follow a plan; I’m constantly jumping in and out of plans;))
I was somewhat dreading this session as I was afraid it would tell me I’m not in great shape so I was pleasantly surprised when I actually enjoyed it. I did it in Blackrock park and I ran by feel so the splits are a little all over the shop and also affected by the wind. I finished feeling good.
HMP 6.52 (I hope@)
Pace for splits; 6.55, 7.21, 6.36, 7.26, 6.44, 6.56, 6.42, 7.29, 6.50, 7.04, 6.38, 6.57

Friday 8th
Recovery run 8.11miles @ 8.33 pace
Dip in 40 Foot
75 minute Hot ashtanga class
45 minute Body pump class

Saturday 9th
Rest

Sunday 10th
Remembrance Run 5K
Regular readers of my log will know that I lost both my parents when I was quite young and I had some friends heading into the Phoenix Park to do this run so I jumped at the opportunity to join them. Another glorious crisp winter day and as I entered the park I was remembering how much fun I had just over a year ago here during the New York Dublin marathon. This was most definitely a fun run but I felt I shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to race it all out so I left my pal and her family and did a nice easy warm-up followed by some drills. I lined up a good few rows from the back and laughed when I saw a big group of Meno’s favourite club (Drogheda and District)lined up in the second row. I was lucky enough to get chatting with the wonderful Dave Brady from 100 Marathon club and he was looking fresh as a daisy after his 3.45 marathon the day before and told me he’d be leaving the park to go straight to another race in Howth at lunchtime:eek: Frank Greally was on MC duty and the start of the race almost felt like he was the priest and we were at Sunday mass (but without any of the guilt;)). Lovely bagpipes warmed us up and the minute’s silence was a wonderful opportunity to remember those who we have loved and lost. At the start of a race I’m always aware of how lucky I am to have such wonderful family and friends and to be strong, fit and healthy and the silence also gave me a chance to be very thankful.

BOOM as soon as the horn went off I jumped straight into race mode and started picking off people to overtake, within a couple of hundred metres things had evened out and I settled in with a group of about 5 runners. I had run with Meno on Friday and he told me the route wasn’t exactly PB friendly in the second half so I was hoping to bank a few seconds here. I had my Garmin on but didn’t look at it once, not even when it beeped with the mile splits, I know now that I perform much better when I simply race the people around me. I’d love to be able to give a detailed report of the course but I was working so hard I can’t really remember any of it, suffice to say I know I gave it my all, I kept picking off runners to overtake and the central governor managed to keep the demons at bay. Over on the DCM 2012 Graduates thread Pacing Mule has posted a really lovely report of the day, well worth a read and a good outline of the course. Arriving at the Finish Line I honestly didn’t know if the clock would say 19.XX or 20.XX and while I am thrilled with my time I am even more happy with my effort. The last 600M were spent trying not to vomit (that awful feeling when you start to salivate and your legs are turning to jelly) and I was sure I'd hurl just after the finish line but after a minute leaning on the side I was fine (maybe I could have worked harder?;)) Lots and lots of work to be done for me before the Jingle Bells 5K
3.12 miles @ 6.21 pace; 19.51 (just 3 seconds off my March PB in MSB 5K)
I rounded off the day nicely with a nice easy run home (I stopped off in town for a well-deserved coffee and cake) Total 16 miles for the day
Total miles for the week 55.98

digger2d2

Marthastew wrote: »

(that feeling when you start to salivate and your legs are turning to jelly)

I've been having that affect on women for years :D

ultraman1

digger2d2 wrote: »

I've been having that affect on women for years;):D

More like "BOOM and the horn went off"....

Dory Dory

Hey, MS!! Just popping by to catch up on things and to say I miss you and your most-awesome family - all of them!!! Congrats on your hip DCM pacing gig, your hubby's PB, your Remembrance Run 5k and your skilled ability to not vomit during the last 600m. Oh, and well done to you for treating yourself to a little ecoli pampering. He and his magic hands are just one of the many reasons I wished I lived closer!!! Hugs to your hubby and kids!

sideswipe

Marthastew wrote: »

You're proabably tied up with family stuff over Christmas but December 27th there's a nice run along the coast, check out the main forum.

Yeah saw that alright. I would have been a definite were it not for the fact I'll be lying by a pool drinking cocktails:D I'll be thinking of ye all though!

Marthastew

Monday 11th
Dip in the 40 Foot
45 min Body Pump class

Tuesday 12th
Dip in 40 Foot
Track session 4 X 800, total miles 10.1
Splits 3.05, 3.10, 3.04, 3.04
45 minute Mat Pilates class
Glorious sunshine again so I met a pal and ran up to the track, delighted to feel strong on all the reps. A nice easy run back to the gym for Pilates.

Wednesday 13th
45 minute Body Pump class
Tempo run, total 7.23 miles @ 7.36 incl 5 miles @ 7.05 pace
45 minute mat Pilates class
The track session on Tuesday was a nice easy one and I knew I’d be unable to run Thursday so I decided to do a tempo run. I cheated a little, in along the coast so nice and flat (although it was windy) and some speedy fast tunes on my iPod for the tempo section. Another great run which I followed up with Pilates as a cool down.

Thursday 14th
Dip in 40 Foot
Rest
Trip to Kildare to get some new Asics, with so many runners in our family it's always worth my while. They didn’t have my cute grey/pink 2170s so I had to make do with another colour:(

Friday 15th
Dip in 40 Foot
75 minute Hot ashtanaga class
Recovery run 6.25 miles @ 8.41 pace
45 minute Body pump class
After a busy week with lots of tough classes I was tired in Body pump so opted for light weights.

Saturday 16th
Rest
A late night on Friday and I’m making the most of the fact that I’m still not following a plan so I took for a rest day. Although I did get some exercise as I was running up and down the side of a rugby pitch and cheering Junior2 on; they won:)

Sunday 10th
MLR 14.70 miles @ 8.07 pace
Another late night on Saturday but I had eaten lots of food and drank lots of water along with my wine so I was feeling good when Meno called for us at 10am. Mr Stew on the other hand had had a great day, followed by a great night on Saturday so he decided to join us for only half the run. I wore my new asics and they were bouncy and lovely (even if they were the wrong colour;)) I really enjoyed this run, it’s so much easier to keep at a decent clip when you have company.


Total miles for the week 38.37
Low mileage but mostly quality miles and plenty of strength work, another great week for me.

Dory Dory

What color are the new shoes?

Marthastew

Dory Dory wrote: »

What color are the new shoes?

Greyish/white with aqua coloured laces:mad: Although I ran in them again today and they are so nice and bouncy I don't care about the colour anymore:D

Welcome back to running:D
and a massive super-dee-doper well done for listening to your coach and taking the rest you need:)

Marthastew

Monday 18th
Dip in the 40 Foot
5.5 recovery miles @ 8.30 pace
45 min Body Pump class

Tuesday 19th
Dip in 40 Foot
Track session 4 X 1K, total miles 11.1
Splits 3.57, 3.55, 3.51, 3.54
45 minute Mat Pilates class
I met a pal and we ran up to the track nice and easy, some drills and then we got stuck into the session. I was delighted with this one, Maria had told me to really dig deep on the 3rd rep and one of my pals was out on the side for this and gave me some great encouragement during the last lap. I had come through 400 at 1.32 so it was a pleasant surprise when I finished with 3.51. A nice easy run back to the gym for Pilates, I was starving all afternoon.

Wednesday 20th
45 minute Body Pump class
5.21 recovery miles
I was lucky enough to be joined by Claralara for this run up around Killiney and despite the rain we had a great time chatting our way through some nice easy miles. I’m happy to report she has recovered really well from her amazing run in DCM and is currently hatching plans for world domination;) I followed this up with a trip to the dentist and then a trip to Ecoli for a much needed rub down.

Thursday 21st
6.13 miles @ 11.12 pace
What a fabulous run! Ultraman told me he was hooking up with some friends to run a nice easy few miles at Tibradden and I jumped at the chance. A really, really nice group of runners (although they told me they were really swimmers) Chatting with them as we ran along I was very impressed with their achievements; 2 of them had swum the English Channel:eek: I wrapped up well (4 layers on top) which was just about warm enough as long as I was moving. When we reached the turn-around point at Fairy Castle and stopped to take a photo I realised how cold it was, a wind blowing that would skin a cat. There were a few walkers and runners out and about also enjoying the views. Running back down was great fun, I’m not used to running on surfaces like this so I had to watch my footing all the time and a couple of times I nearly tripped but I really, really enjoyed this run and I’m looking forward to my next run with ultraman and friends:)


Friday 22nd
Dip in 40 Foot, Brrrrrr:eek:
75 minute Vinyasa yoga class

Saturday 23rd
Clontarf Half Marathon
Total 15.48 miles
Mr Stew was pacing the 1.45 group and I was delighted to be racing. I’m glad to see my fitness gradually returning after the enforced lay-off over the summer and the Remembrance Run 5K 2 weeks ago was a good confidence builder. My track session on Tuesday confirmed that my goal should be to take down the family PB (1.29.12 for Mr S, Bohermeen this year) and my plan was to run with the 1.30 pacers, the dynamic duo that is drquirky and ecoli and hopefully push on with about 3 miles to go. Cousin Joe was also running and I was hopeful I’d claim the family bragging rights for the day. As is often the case with races, things didn’t exactly go to plan and I didn’t manage to achieve any of the above goals but I nonetheless had a great day.
The windy weather during the week had luckily died down and Mr S and I arrived to a nice calm, crisp sunny day in Clontarf. After a quick catch up with the wonderful pacing team that was Mr S, equirky, ral3, rashers, izoard, killerz, belcara and gijima I headed off for a warm up with cousin Joe. When we turned to head back up towards the start area I realised that we would have a bit of wind to cope with on the return but other than that conditions were pretty perfect. I did a few dynamic drills, dropped off my clothes and lined up towards the front and a quick hello to sideswipe and another pal of mine and within a couple of minutes we were off.
Crossing the start line I felt confident and strong and I settled in for the task ahead. The first few miles felt nice and easy and I introduced myself to another Crusader runner and we chatted and enjoyed the day. We had formed into a nice group with quirky at the front and ecoli at the back. Before long we were heading down to the beach and I managed to tuck in behind a Mr Stew-shaped runner;). We all remarked that the surface was a little difficult but we had no trouble maintaining the pace. The sound of us chatting and huffing and puffing was occasionally broken up by the sound of us crunching on the razor shells and stones. We had one female runner in our group and I had seen at least 4 run ahead of us. By the time we left the beach we had lost one or two runners including the female and I was watching up ahead to see if I could see anymore. I grabbed a bottle of water as we passed the station but I only sipped a few drops before scoring a goal with it in the rubbish skip. Quirky was taking care of us all and offering water etc. and all was well in the land of the 1.30 group:) It was so nice to be off the beach and there seemed to be a wind in our face as we headed up to the cycle lane in Raheny, I remarked to my club mate that we might have the wind at our backs on the return here and he replied “I don’t think it’ll work that way”, he was SO right:eek: The run along the path before the half way turn around was really good fun and it was great to see the leaders running past, I was delighted to see my pal from Raheny was running well. I didn’t even notice the 10K mat as we crossed over it but I’m delighted to say that despite missing out on a Half marathon PB I bagged myself a 10K PB:D 42.32 (PB from WMM 2012, 42.43, I would have called this a soft PB but I ran an abysmal 44.XX in DLR in August so I’m taking this as a nice PB)
I counted 5 females ahead of me and as we turned around one of the marshals very kindly confirmed this and told me I was 6th lady. I was hopeful I’d move up a place or 2 as 4th and 5th weren’t too far away at all and if I’m honest I really wanted a podium place. Still too early in the race to be trying anything radical so I tucked in with our group and had fun high-fiving Mr Stew and cheering on the other pacing groups as they came towards us on the other side of the path. Before long we had swallowed up the 5th female and she stayed with us for a short while but dropped off before we headed back towards Bull Island. I was starting to feel the pace a little so I decided to take the gel I had brought, I would never take anything on for this distance in training but I had taken a gel in Bohermeen at about 8 miles and it seemed to work so if it’s not broken don’t fix it. The gel went down easy enough and I grabbed bottle of water and felt good as we headed back onto the beach again. Quirky told us all we were looking good and I said we were feeling good. I wasn’t looking at my Garmin at all except for when the miles would beep and I was happy to see everything was going to plan. That is, everything was going to plan till we hit the beach again:eek: Holy Merde! I found it really tough going, I could feel the pace dropping and cousin Joe and my club mate picked it up ahead of me and I tried to follow but it was taking too much out of me. Quirky reminded us all to tuck in and work in a group and all I could think was how hard this would be if you were running on your own. The 16K sign was a very welcome sight and quirky told us all to dig in and that we hadn’t long to go, “Just a parkrun left” I shouted, more to myself than to anyone around me. Exiting the beach was draining but I could see the 4th female up ahead with 3rd not far ahead of her so I knew I had to dig deep and work hard, nothing for it but to put the head down and take a chance. I managed to pick it up and pass the first female as strong as possible, making sure my body language would convince her not to bother trying to keep up with me, this worked well but took a lot out of me and I was starting to feel nauseous. The next female was about 200M ahead of me at this stage and I kept repeating to myself as I passed her 3rd place is mine…. 3rd place is mine. Again I made sure to look confident and strong but I really felt sick at this stage and I actually almost started to laugh thinking how morto I would be if I pulled up and hurled having just passed her;) By now I had lost quirky and the group (damn cousin Joe:rolleyes:) and the only thing that was keeping me going was the fact that I needed to stay ahead. I was passed by 2 runners along the last 1 mile and one of them was so kind telling me “Come on, sub 1.30 let’s do this” I managed to stay with him for a small bit but I had a stitch, I was feeling nauseous and my legs were turning to jelly, smiley happy Marthastew had left the building and the only thing that kept me moving was the thought of 3rd place. Finally I could hear the DJ at the Finish line and Meno was a very welcome sight, yelling at me to pick it up, "30 seconds to go" he said and he confirmed I was 3rd female. I couldn’t even manage a smile or a thumbs up for him. I turned the corner to see 1.30.14 on the clock and although my time goal was gone I was over the moon with my result. I stopped to pull myself together just after the finish line and within a minute I felt great again, it’s amazing how quickly the body recovers.
Chip time 1.30.11, 56th finisher, 3rd female:D
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/407678507

Cousin Stew had very deservedly got his sub 90 and after we grabbed some soup (YUM!!) I grabbed a hoody and we jogged back to cheer on the runners and look out for Mr Stew and his crew, in our haste unfortunately we forgot to say thanks to our pacers:o. I was cheering as loud as I could for everyone as they ran by as I could remember only too well how horrible it felt along this last part of the route (just as it should do at the end of every race). Mr Stew was delighted to hear he still holds the HM family PB but even more delighted I had come 3rd. He had many adoring fans at the finish line and they had helped a great bunch of runners achieve their goals.
We finished off the day by driving to Howth to support the EOI marathon which was in aid of the hurricane victims in the Philippines and we had great fun beeping the car horn as we passed the runners along the road. We popped down to the finish area to see the wonderful Ruthann Sheehan looking fresh as a daisy having run a 3.20 marathon and were offered lots of lovely cakes and sweets by the organisers, I learned later in the day that they had collected approx. €1,600:)
No trip to Howth is complete without fish and chips so Meno, Mr S and I popped into Beschoffs, YUM! Another great day for the Stews:D

Sunday 24th
6.05 recovery miles @ 9.15 pace
This run was serving as recoveryfrom the half marathon and a late night with a few too many glasses of wine and I started out very easy running on grass in Kilbogget Park, it’s funny how recovery pace can vary so much depending on what you’ve been up to the day before but I had plenty of time and after the first mile the niggles in my shins had faded along with the fuzzy head. A nice fresh morning with lots of dog walkers out and about enjoying the day.
Total miles for the week 49.37
Next stop for me is the Jingle Bells 5 K where I hope to knock some time off my PB

AuldManKing

Great racing MS, sounds like a tough beach run again- well done for keeping it going and chasing those leaders down.

career_move

Lovely stuff O. Congrats on another podium finish

ultrapercy

Well done MS,fantastic time and great to grab the podium place.

Murph_D

Good stuff - the beach is the main thing that stops me doing this one, and your report confirms this for me. Great running, though, nice placing!

belcarra

Was the young fella successful with the rugby captaincy?
(I don't mean Meno...!)

sideswipe

Great race and report O. Congrats on 3rd place. Reading your report brought back how tough I found that beach on the way back!

jcsmum

Fantastic result - super duper performance as you'd say yourself. Sorry I missed you!
people will think we don't like each other!

Marthastew

belcarra wrote: »

Was the young fella successful with the rugby captaincy?
(I don't mean Meno...!)

Close, but no cigar:( Vice Captain for him but he's like his mum and focuses on the positive:) he's not at all disappointed and the young man who got Captain is a great kid.

sideswipe wrote: »

Great race and report O. Congrats on 3rd place. Reading your report brought back how tough I found that beach on the way back!

I'm sure most people lost some time on the beach on the way back. Great run by you and I wouldn't worry too much about "only having run Ultras" in the last year, all those steady miles will really stand to you and a few months of focused training will have you smashing your marathon PB in Barcelona:)

pgmcpq

You must be worn out climbing up and down those podiums!! Congrats.

Marthastew

Monday 25th
Dip in the 40 Foot
45 min Body Pump class
Legs were sore and tired in the morning but they woke up nicely after the dip in the sea. I used light weights for the class; good recovery.

Tuesday 26th
Dip in 40 Foot
Track session 2K time trial, total miles 11.1
I woke feeling tired and sluggish but again the dip in the sea did the trick. A nice easy run up to the track in Kilbogget with a pal, a few drills and then Maria told us a 2K time trial was on the cards. She told me I should take it easy as the Half would still be in my legs and Barcelona is a long way off yet. Not wanting to miss out on the fun she gave me to ok to run the 2K on the track, jogging the bends and I was allowed to pick it up on the straights, this was a great way to wake up the legs and a I finished in 8.45 feeling good and we followed this up with some more drills and then a cool down run home. Another fab day weather-wise, still lots of beautiful leaves left on the trees although the footpaths are like obstacle courses.


Wednesday 27th
45 minute Body Pump class
16.89 @ 8.45 pace
I headed off on this run for no other reason than I wanted to;) I had the morning free (aka I was avoiding the housework) I did a loop down to Dalkey and then headed into town along the coast and back out again. I really enjoyed the first 11 miles of this run as I was catching up on some Marathontalk podcasts, the last 6ish miles were tough going as I was STARVING, I had eaten breakfast at 8 am so I thought I’d be fine and even though I had money with me I felt there was no point in stopping at that stage. I had planned to run 17 miles but as soon as I saw the welcoming sight of Insomnia coffee shop I hit stop on my Garmin and treated myself to the best recovery drink known to man….. A Lily O’Brien’s Hot chocolate YUM:D:D


Thursday 28th
3.17 recovery miles @ 8.55 pace
45 Minute Circuit training class
I had had a bad night’s sleep (the cat somehow managed to sneak onto our bed last night:() and I’m probably still tired from the half marathon at the weekend so I decided to take it easy today. The circuit training class was great as I had noticed my shins were tight during the run but I felt much better after plenty of calf raises and some great stretches. I’ll see how the legs are feeling after the weekend, I might need to book in with ecoli again, although rumour has it he costs an arm and a leg now that he is qualified;);)

jcsmum

Just when I think I'm working hard............MS updates her log! :rolleyes:
What is with the 16+ milers mid week? I must have missed what you are training for. Then again maybe it's just become the norm for you.

Deedee2012

Nice you meet you, Mr Stew and Junior Stew this morning at Marlay....felt a bit of a weirdo asking a stranger if she was Marthastew!

ecoli

Marthastew wrote: »

I’ll see how the legs are feeling after the weekend, I might need to book in with ecoli again, although rumour has it he costs an arm and a leg now that he is qualified;);)

After the cake last time think you have earned a discount

RacoonQueen

Maybe I'll book in with ecoli myself now he's qualified, I might half trust him now :P

ecoli

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Maybe I'll book in with ecoli myself now he's qualified, I might half trust him now :P

Ha we both know a piece of paper wouldn't help in making you trust me

ultraman1

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Maybe I'll book in with ecoli myself now he's qualified, I might half trust him now :P

U shud probly do some actual runnin first.....

RacoonQueen

ultraman1 wrote: »

U shud probly do some actual runnin first.....

woah you saw me running a out two moths ago, that not count?

Dory Dory

Getting caught up on your antics - congrats on yet another podium win. And between the cake and raving advertising, I'd say ecoli has found gold in you. (Ecoli does have magic hands - I can vouch for that!!!!)

Marthastew

jcsmum wrote: »

Just when I think I'm working hard............MS updates her log! :rolleyes:
What is with the 16+ milers mid week? I must have missed what you are training for. Then again maybe it's just become the norm for you.

You know when you're about to start a diet, or give up the booze you have one last night of over-eating/drinking too much? ......... I'm starting a proper training plan for Barcelona so this run was sort of a last supper:)
Looking forward to seeing you Sunday K

Deedee2012 wrote: »

Nice you meet you, Mr Stew and Junior Stew this morning at Marlay....felt a bit of a weirdo asking a stranger if she was Marthastew!

I also find it hard asking people if they are "my internet friends";);) but I'm really glad you said hi. How did junior get on in Tymon? Thought I might see you there, it was mayhem, fab day for it.

Dory Dory wrote: »

Getting caught up on your antics - congrats on yet another podium win. And between the cake and raving advertising, I'd say ecoli has found gold in you. (Ecoli does have magic hands - I can vouch for that!!!!)

I am still following your log DD, not necessarily understanding it but still following it. Keep up the good work, those sessions on the turbo sound horrendous. Norris sounds as cute as ever:)

Marthastew

Friday 29th
75 minute Vinyasa yoga class
A late enough night out on Thursday (although I drove, so no vino) and the cat escaped into our room AGAIN so another night of the interrupted sleep so I took it easy again. I almost fell asleep in Shiva Sana (relaxation) in yoga:eek:

Saturday 30th
Marlay Parkrun
Total 5.1 miles
The good news is that the cat has not developed opposable thumbs, the door to the room where she sleeps is broken, the bad news is that I discovered this on returning from another night out on Friday (I drove again so still no vino). After another bad night's sleep I was very unenthusiastic about parkrun but Mr Stew wasn’t golfing and Junior was volunteering and the weather was fab so we all arrived bright and early in the park. A nice very slow 2 mile jog for us and the legs started to wake up, although we joked about the fact that we would have to be running at least 3 minutes per mile faster in order to do ourselves proud.
I love parkruns, everybody is so friendly up in Marlay and we were delighted to catch up with pals and also meet Deedee and family and after another great warm-up from the good folks of DSD we lined up. Mr S told me he wasn’t in the mood and said he might just jog around and I said “yes, that sounds like a great plan” knowing full well that the competitive streak would kick in as soon as we got going.... It did and I tucked in behind Mr S and occasionally would overtake him but he was having none of it so we ran as fast as we could until we got to the finishing chute. Splits from my Garmin (although I never looked at it while running) 6.23, 6.42, (must try harder) 6.11, (.11 of mile) 4.49. 2nd female finisher, 19.49:) mr S was just ahead of me, 19.48:)
We were both delighted with the run and after checking junior was ok barcode scanning I dragged Mr S away from chatting and we got stuck into token sorting.
If there was a soundtrack for this day it would be the Benny Hill tune (no bald men though and I wasn’t dressed in a French maid’s outfit) as I had started it in the car at 6.30 am dropping the oldest junior in to a bus as he had an away match and I spent most of the rest of the day as a taxi driver... pretty much what most parents of sporting kids do on a Saturday:D

Total miles for November 236.35
YTD 1,934.67

Sunday 24th
4.62 recovery miles @ 9.15 pace
Dublin County XC championships in Tymon Park for junior and I was between 2 minds whether or not to let him race, like most 10 year olds he has grown a lot over the last few months and as is often the case with growth spurts he has had some growing pains/problems, in his case more correctly known as Osgood schlatters (or as we like to pronounce it in our house, Oscar Slatterys;);)) He hasn’t been running since the end of October, we cut back a little on GAA, rugby and karate for a while but to no avail and he had been off all sports for the last week. In spite of all that he still really wanted to run and my only concern was that he would be upset if he finished well down the field. He assured us he didn’t care and when we woke to another fabulous day we decided to give it a go. On the way out in the car he was complaining of an upset tummy and I told him it was just nerves. We arrived nice and early so I headed off for a few recovery miles and left coach Joe in charge. Junior was relaxed and calm and we enjoyed watching the other races and before long it was time for him to line up. We met up with plenty of pals, including Raycun and family, his little guy ran a great race all the while managing to keep his hair looking perfect, maybe he is a friend of statts?:rolleyes: Boom and they were off, junior had a bad start and was well back in the field, I caught up with him half way through the 1st lap and encouraged him to pick it up but he seemed to be struggling. I caught him again as he headed into the second lap and he was doing better, overtaking lots and seemed to be enjoying himself, in the end he finished 16th and I brought him off for a cool down run expecting him to tell me he was upset, his first words were “I really love XC, I can’t wait till next year” :D


Total miles for the week 40.88
A nice easy week after the half, feeling good and confident for Jingle Bells now:)


Monday December 2nd
unplanned rest day
Proper swim in the sea brrrrrr:eek:
Turns out junior’s upset tummy wasn’t nerves as he spent most of the night vomiting:( I was fairly tired getting up this morning after a night as Florence Nightingale and I knew the only thing that would wake me was a dip in the sea. During the summer we swim round from the 40 Foot to the beach, its only about 600M and we decided to give it a go today, even on a mild December day it was COLD, I’ve just about thawed out now:)