A/R/Tist in the Spotlight - Swashbuckler

OOnegative

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skyblue46

So my time here is up. Thankfully a reward is that I get to pick the next target!!! :-) I'll throw in a few questions too to get the ball rolling. So without any further ado let me introduce the King of Pain, a man who embraces hurt in a manner which puts the most extreme masochist to shame, a man setting quality PBs for fun, taking on tough courses, a man of many contributions on Boards, a man already a favourite of so many here in such a short space of time, but most importantly he's the man with the baba! Welcome Swashbuckler!!

1. How many more babas would you like to have?

2. What's your favourite TV sport?

3. Were you on any school sports teams?

4. Can you ever imagine having a smile in a finisher pic or would that mean you didn't try hard enough?

5. Have you any plans to take on the deeper fields in Dublin races?

6. Will you run a marathon?

7. Where did you get the idea of having a highly paid coach?

8. Do you watch Love Island?

OOnegative

1. Runner of choice?
2. Stretching waste of time or worth it?
3. Who’s the best runner in Luke’s glue factory(apart from yourself!!)
4. Limerick hurling, where is it at?
5. Performance race wise your most proud of?
6. Soccer team of choice?
7. What do you work at?
8. Best pub in Limerick?
9. Your sporting hero?
10. You have the choice of bringing four women to dinner, who do you choose(can’t pick the missus sorry)?

IvoryTower

what distances do you run?

have you ever raced track?

what are your pbs?

any current race goals?

any long term race goals?

gym/mobility work?

thing you hate most about runners?

Swashbuckler

What an introduction! Raised the bar skyblue. Cheers for the nomination. It's truly an honor.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

1. How many more babas would you like to have?

Haha nice start. How many I want and how many the missus wants are two different answers! I'd love three. A gaggle of three little girls to be honest. My daughter is a gem. I've never known love like it. My wife would be happy to just keep breeding. Haha.

skyblue46 wrote:

2. What's your favourite TV sport?

I used to watch UFC but lost interest when McGregor went full blown scumbag. Love rugby and like watching athletics but to be honest tv privileges are few and far between these days.

skyblue46 wrote:

4. Can you ever imagine having a smile in a finisher pic or would that mean you didn't try hard enough?

Honestly no. If I feel OK with 100m left I'm gonna sprint. I don't think I'll ever cross a line feeling good. It's just not in me.

skyblue46 wrote:

3. Were you on any school sports teams?

Soccer and gaa. Hated it. Wasn't a popular young fella. Quiet mammies boy and picked on. Bad memories of team sports as a young fella.

skyblue46 wrote:

5. Have you any plans to take on the deeper fields in Dublin races?

You mean specifically Dublin? I'm a Limerick lad so travelling to Dublin for anything other than a marathon or the day of irish pbs (gutted to miss it) is a hard sell although I'd love to meet some of the gang on here so I'll make a point at some stage of heading up there. In terms of deeper fields it's funny you ask. My plan is to run a lot more competitive races going forward. I'd rather be running against top runners than being a big fish in a small pond. It's the best way for me to improve.

skyblue46 wrote:

6. Will you run a marathon?

Absolutely. But Luke knows my priority is 5k and 10k. I feel like as time goes on my potential at the 5k/ 10k will diminish so I want to maximize my potential there first.

skyblue46 wrote:

7. Where did you get the idea of having a highly paid coach?

Haha. Believe it or not RayCun commented in reply to a post mentioning the different routes you can take to training and mentioned online training. Mentioned Testosterscone who at the time I presumed was a middle aged strong runner. I was new to the forum at the time. What a shock I got when I saw he was about ten years younger than me. Haha. Messaged himself and was delighted he took me on board. He's single handedly the reason for my progress in the last year. Even the knock on effect in my general wellbeing has been amazing.

skyblue46 wrote:

8. Do you watch Love Island?

Oh God I'm ashamed to say yes.

skyblue46

Great answers!! Very honest and open.

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Great answers!! Very honest and open.

Keep em coming. I'll rarely not answer any question

skyblue46

Re the deeper field the reason I ask is that in many race reports you are in a two or three way battle. In a deeper field there would possibly be more decisions to make in racing terms?

OOnegative

If a mod is reading and wouldn’t mind and split the threads, one for skyblue46 & one for Swashbuckler? My fault to begin with as I didn’t do it last week when starting the thread for skyblue46.

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

1. Runner of choice? 2. Stretching waste of time or worth it? 3. Who’s the best runner in Luke’s glue factory(apart from yourself!!) 4. Limerick hurling, where is it at? 5. Performance race wise your most proud of? 6. Soccer team of choice? 7. What do you work at? 8. Best pub in Limerick? 9. Your sporting hero? 10. You have the choice of bringing four women to dinner, who do you choose(can’t pick the missus sorry)?

1. I'm rotating multiple pairs. For general running I'm using Asics Dynaflytes and Asics GTS . For racing Adidas Adizero and Nike Flex RN. Next pair will probably be Nike pegasus or zoom streak.

2. Personally I don't stretch but that's more down to time constraints.

3. Controversial but I'm not gonna do what skyblue did and sit on the fence. Haha. Has to be Davey. AMK a close second. Davey is a beast of a runner. His training log is the reason I changed my approach to 5k and one of the reasons I want to do cross country. What a comeback. AMK is one of the most consistent guys I've seen. If I could string together his training long term I'd be very happy.

4. No interest in hurling to be honest. See above why I dislike Gaa. Haha

5. Hmm. Tough one. Maybe Ennis 10k. Everything that day clicked. I was so up for it. I ran great splits. I ran exactly how I wanted to. I went aggressive when the group settled at a pace I wasn't happy with. I dragged a lad on with me and we worked fantastically well together. Pushing each other all the way. We're now clubmates. I passed a couple of people who finished ahead of me in the previous two races. Smashed my 10k pb, my favourite distance. Limerick half is a close second purely for smashing a soft pb.

6. Arsenal but lost interest in soccer a long while back. Primodonnas. Love the world cup though.

7. I'm an electronic engineer. Recently promoted. In the last year I've been promoted at work. Had a baby. Upped my running. It's been a mad year.

8. Great question. When I was younger it was Nancy's but it's a cattle mart for singles and people who like bad pints and stinking of fags. For food and Guinness the Curraghgower is a beaut of a place. For a night out with the missus maybe the red hen or cornstore for cocktails. For a night with the lads I like Flas, Glen Tavern for pool. My dream night out these days is having a quiet few at the bar and chatting.

9. Has to be a runner. Kipchoge is amazing. Love watching him run.

10. Hmm. Ariana, Kellygirl, eyrie and ultrawoman coz I follow their logs and would love to pick their brains. If there's another female I follow on here I apologise!

Swashbuckler

skyblue46 wrote:

Re the deeper field the reason I ask is that in many race reports you are in a two or three way battle. In a deeper field there would possibly be more decisions to make in racing terms?

Good point. I ran in a very deep field on Tuesday and was still in a one way battle. One thing I've learned is that every race brings different decisions. Luke said to me in the early days your training won't replicate the decisions you make in races. He was right. Even in shallow fields you get to make different decisions. I love it

shotgunmcos

Lol Nancy's and the cattle mart!

A few Limerick Lads around these parts since I last frequented. I'm following your log and its a great read.

What is the dream 10k time?
Favourite route to train/race in Limerick?
How will Ireland do in Japan next year?
Keith Earls or Andrew Conway?
Contents of a typical Swashbuckler sandwich?
How much sleep are you getting?!

MY BAD

Favourite race distance?

Favourite running surface? Track, road, trails, grass, etc

Your biggest achievement in running?

Easy run on holidays: Exploring the city or head for the trails?

When did you take up running? Or how long are you running?

Are you a member of a AC?

Long term and short term goals in running?

Advice for newbies to running?

OOnegative

One more from me:

Favourite music genre?

Swashbuckler

IvoryTower wrote:

what distances do you run?

Everything from 5k to half marathon.

IvoryTower wrote:

have you ever raced track?

Never but would love to.

IvoryTower wrote:

what are your pbs?

5k - 17.36
10k - 36.05
HM - 1.21.52
5M is somewhere around 30.08 but I ran a faster 5M in the 10k pb.
10M is around 62ish on a horrific route.

IvoryTower wrote:

any current race goals?

To start winning.
Race in deeper fields.
Cross country.

IvoryTower wrote:

any long term race goals?

Most of my goals are long term. Mainly to get as fast as possible at 5k and 10k. I'd like to get to 15.xx for 5k and 31.xx for 10k. Maybe unrealistic but why limit myself with soft goals. I started the year with softer long term goals than that but seeing my progress has made me reassess. Having a good coach has made all the difference.

IvoryTower wrote:

gym/mobility work?

Not yet but in time we'll see what coach thinks.

IvoryTower wrote:

thing you hate most about runners?

The back patting culture when people train stupidly. I cringe when I see someone saying "great time" to someone's training run. Only coz I don't like seeing people injured but if you keep racing your training you more than likely will end up on the scrapheap

Swashbuckler

shotgunmcos wrote:

What is the dream 10k time? Favourite route to train/race in Limerick? How will Ireland do in Japan next year? Keith Earls or Andrew Conway? Contents of a typical Swashbuckler sandwich? How much sleep are you getting?!

Semi Realistically 31.xx. Dream 29.xx

Favourite route is definitely along the river Bank out to UL and back in through town for my long run.

Ireland have peaked a little early so I'd fear the southern hemisphere teams will dominate. Semi final I'd say.

Earls... No Conway.... No Earls...

Haha I don't eat many sandwiches. But when I do, probably ham cheese tomato and onion toastie.

Sleeping great these days. After about 6 months Ava started sleeping through the night with the odd wake. So now I'm sleeping around 7 or 8 hours.

Swashbuckler

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Favourite race distance?

Definitely 10k but in fond of the different type of pain the half marathon brings.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Favourite running surface? Track, road, trails, grass, etc

Road all day. It's all i run.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Your biggest achievement in running?

I'd have to say 36.05. It was far beyond what I expected.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Easy run on holidays: Exploring the city or head for the trails?

Oh the city for sure. Although I have an awful sense of direction.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

When did you take up running? Or how long are you running?

Took up running in 2009 after 9 ankle twists playing soccer. Decided running in straight lines was safer. Like most people my training was all wrong until last year. I never raced either . Never heard of tempo or interval training.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Are you a member of a AC?

Limerick AC. Joined a couple of weeks ago. Wore the singlet for the first time last week. I can no longer boast of being the only non club runner in the top 5 of races. Haha

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Long term and short term goals in running?

See above.

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

Advice for newbies to running?

To be honest I have so many thoughts on running it would be a constant ongoing conversation. People have come to me for advice a lot in the last 6 months. Main advice has been don't try to run pb's in training. Build the mileage slowly and sensibly. Don't just start running 6 days a week. Tune into your body for any niggles or early signs of injuries.

Swashbuckler

OOnegative wrote:

One more from me:

OOnegative wrote:

Favourite music genre?

Keep em coming. Probably rock/metal. Not a fan of the crazy Cradle of Filth type stuff but Metallica are probably my favourite band of all time. My training log title is one of their songs

Singer

Worst ever race?

How come you aren't doing parkruns?

Most memorable runs (note, not necessarily races)?

Worst runs ever (also don't need to be races)?

What advice do you give to people telling you they've just started running?

Did you enjoy school?

Fave running top?

What have you learned about being a father/yourself that you didn't expect since having a kid?

How much time do you spend on the Internet each week?

Do you read any other running forums/content?

iPhone/Android/I don't like smartphones?

Best meal you've ever eaten?

Best holiday you've ever been on?

Best concert you've been at?

What did you want to be when you grew up at 5/10/15/20?

How did you meet your wife?

skyblue46

That'll keep him busy!! Lmao

Swashbuckler

Haha deadly stuff.

Singer wrote:

Worst ever race?

Has to be Lahinch 5M. Had notions I could go up the hill at 5.30 pace. Died a death and stopped twice. Badly managed race.

Singer wrote:

How come you aren't doing parkruns?

Few reasons to be honest. I've really committed to training in the last year so I've prioritized road races. Saturday is usually my long run. Finally, I've made my long run on Saturday more flexible. I run whenever it suits the family. Given my missus works her butt off all week with baba, cooking, washing etc etc I like to take over at weekends a bit to give her a break. parkrun just doesn't fit into that flexibility that's needed.

Singer wrote:

Most memorable runs (note, not necessarily races)?

Ennis 10k purely coz of the shock when I saw the clock. Tuamgraney 10M purely for how difficult it was. The first time I ran a long run along the river bank out to UL. It was just beautiful on a hazy sunny day. Finally an 18M I badly ran in training not long before baba was born. Was absolutely in bits after it. Sums up where I was at with my training and how far I've progressed with Luke.

Singer wrote:

Worst runs ever (also don't need to be races)?

See above. Haha. Lahinch and that badly judged 18M. I haven't many memorable bad runs since October of last year. Apart from Lahinch

Singer wrote:

What advice do you give to people telling you they've just started running?

Build slowly, don't run pbs in training, ignore 90% of what you see on Strava, sign up to parkrun.

Singer wrote:

Did you enjoy school?

I was a smart kid. Did very well. Socially not so much. But I've changed a lot. I'm a social butterfly now. Haha.

Singer wrote:

Fave running top?

Topless. Have you not seen my Strava lately. All joking aside the AC singlet!

Singer wrote:

What have you learned about being a father/yourself that you didn't expect since having a kid?

Oh God so much to be honest. Was just thinking about it today on my run.
I didn't expect the birth to be THAT scary. Nothing magical about it. Very tough seeing someone you love in that much pain.
I'm more patient than I realised.
I look at my wife differently since the birth. She's amazing. Didn't expect to see that change.
Main thing I realised is family is number one for me above all else. I didn't expect to have that feeling of selflessness. Whatever helps my wife and baba I'll do, no question. I also didn't think I'd want more kids. Haha.

Singer wrote:

How much time do you spend on the Internet each week?

Too much. Way too much. Not at work but I have a very bad habit of picking up the phone all the time at home. Mainly Strava, Boards and Facebook. I make a point of putting my phone down when baba is around but my wife and I are definitely phone surfers.

Singer wrote:

Do you read any other running forums/content?

Mainly Facebook articles. I've trained my Facebook to mostly show me running content. McMillian, Magness all post articles I'd read regularly. At some point I'll read some logs start to finish here when I can, especially Krustys.

Singer wrote:

iPhone/Android/I don't like smartphones?

Android. Don't like iPhone.

Singer wrote:

Best meal you've ever eaten?

So many. My wife and I love to dine. Even still we head for a meal with baba when we can. I had fillet steak in Kate Brownes in Ardfert lately. I think its the best steak I've had. We went for an 8 course meal in one of the best restaurants in San Francisco when on honeymoon. Still the most expensive and best meal I've had. I can't even remember what we ate but my God. I think it was 120 euro each!

Singer wrote:

Best holiday you've ever been on?

Close second is Florida. We did 11 theme parks in 8 days. Love love love Orlando. But the number one was our honeymoon. Straight to Hawaii for a week. Snorkeling, zip lining, fine dining, drove up Mount Halakalea for sunset, drove the road to Hana, surf lessons, ate ate ate ate and ate more. Then to San Fran. Alcatraz, more dining, piano bars. Brilliant. Drove the west coast highway and went inland to Yosemite. Stunning few days. Then on to Vegas. Helicopter to Grand Canyon. Toured the strip. Went to gigs. Missed our flight home. Epic.

Singer wrote:

Best concert you've been at?

Electric Picnic count? OK lineup but great few days. Best concert is probably between U2 in the three arena a couple of years ago and Coldplay in Dublin. Probably Coldplay.

Singer wrote:

What did you want to be when you grew up at 5/10/15/20?

I always wanted to be a pilot weirdly enough but never materialised. I ended up as an electronic engineer by fluke really.

Singer wrote:

How did you meet your wife?

I'll get a slagging for this but I promised to be honest...haha.. We met in Limerick Musical Society. Yes I have taken to the stage several times! I had just broken up with an ex and my buddy said I should come along to rehearsals. I reluctantly did. Loved the atmosphere and the comeradery (spelling).. We met in 2009 but didn't hook up til 2010. Never looked back. Engaged in 2012. Married in 2014.

Thanks for the questions.

eyrie

Love the answers so far! Missed my chance with Skyblue so I'll have to make up for it now


How do you always have such a positive attitude? Have you always been like that?

If you could be world class at any sport (or event if you pick running) what would it be?

You can win olympic gold and set a new world record at your chosen event but never run again, OR keep going as you're going. Which do you pick?

Favourite subject when you were in school?

Thanks for the dinner invitation :P Most important question of all: are you a good cook?

Testosterscone

You can win one Irish Race. Which one?

Favourite current Irish Athlete? (excluding Duanington of course :P)


Guilty pleasure? (food)

Which would mean more to you, you/Ava Olympic Gold?

Ever consider going down the coaching route?

Favourite session?

Least favourite session? (bar today :P)

Greatest Irish Sporting moment?

Weirdest pre race ritual?

ariana`

First AAI road race & time?

5/10k PBs pre-coaching with Luke?

Limerick born & bred?

If you had to move country in the morning where would you choose?

Favourite take-away?

Favourite TV show?

Favourite movie?

Do you think you'll run forever (body permitting of course)?

Swashbuckler

eyrie wrote:

How do you always have such a positive attitude? Have you always been like that?

eyrie wrote:

If you could be world class at any sport (or event if you pick running) what would it be?

5k/10k for definite. I dream of kicking on the final lap of an Olympic final 10k.haha

eyrie wrote:

You can win olympic gold and set a new world record at your chosen event but never run again, OR keep going as you're going. Which do you pick?

Id definitely keep going as I'm going. I enjoy running too much. For my own physical and mental wellbeing. Although if someone told me I could never run again I'd start figuring out what physical sport I could move onto. I'll always want to be active or pushing myself in some way.

eyrie wrote:

Favourite subject when you were in school?

Hmm.. I loved languages so maybe French. But my background is engineering so maths would have to get a mention. I was particularly good at languages tho.

eyrie wrote:

Thanks for the dinner invitation Most important question of all: are you a good cook?

I presumed we'd order from Deliveroo? I'm an OK cook. Not great. My wife can cook for real...

Damo 2k9

Pizza, chinese, or a good oul chipper?

Favourite drink?

What made you go with 5k/10k over long distance? And do you ever see yourself running a marathon further down the line?

Favourite piece of running apparel you own?

Do you use any running supplements? Recovery drinks etc.

Do you mind training as much in the winter?

What got you interested in Electronic Engineering?

Swashbuckler

eyrie wrote:

How do you always have such a positive attitude? Have you always been like that?

Somehow missed this one. It's funny. People have said to me I come across as positive. I'm not always positive to be honest. Haha. With running, because I love it so much I probably come across that way. But I battle with the same negative internal dialogue that most people do. Difference is I'm tuned into it and aware of when it is happening. I'm also a problem solver. So I'll always look for the positive outcome as opposed to moping about. I'm very tuned into mental health.

Swashbuckler

Testosterscone wrote:

You can win one Irish Race. Which one?

DCM of course. It's the biggest of all! You'll need to up your coaching game.

Testosterscone wrote:

Favourite current Irish Athlete? (excluding Duanington of course )

Haha I'm pretty sure Davey is in fact a Kenyan wearing a mask. I'm a fan of Scullion. He's a beast of a runner. And his sessions are incredible.

Testosterscone wrote:

Guilty pleasure? (food)

I have many and it's probably to the detriment of my running. Very bad sweet tooth. So I love chocolate and biscuits. Also love crisps. I try to be good but do treat myself from time to time

Testosterscone wrote:

Which would mean more to you, you/Ava Olympic Gold?

As in me winning Olympic gold or Ava winning Olympic gold. Oooh tough one. If it was her real passion in life I'd want it for her over me.

Testosterscone wrote:

Ever consider going down the coaching route?

Would love to but don't have the knowledge to mess with people's bodies like that. It's such a complicated thing. So many variables that I don't understand fully. I semi coach a friend of mine but I'm very careful. I'd hate to be responsible for someone getting injured but I also hate to see people struggle when I can clearly see what they're doing wrong.

Testosterscone wrote:

Favourite session?

4 x (400/300/200)
Or 16 x 300
Or the hills
I like sessions that make me suffer coz I know I'm improving something if I don't find it easy.

Testosterscone wrote:

Least favourite session? (bar today )

I can't honestly say I have a least favourite session. But I will say the 6x1M when I was running stupidly last year weren't pleasant.

Testosterscone wrote:

Greatest Irish Sporting moment?

OH so many... But I'd have to pick between Bonners save vs Romania and OGaras drop goal. Given the World Cup is the pinnacle of soccer Italia 90wins it for me.

Testosterscone wrote:

Weirdest pre race ritual?

Haha I'm not sure I have weird ones. Several visits to the toilet might be considered weird I guess? Watching Disney with baba no longer happens. That could have been considered weird.haha

Swashbuckler

ariana` wrote:

First AAI road race & time?

If I remember correctly it was great limerick run 6 miler way back and I ran it in 44 minutes or something like that. Up to March of last year my 10k pb was 42.xx. Lots of progress can be made with a change in attitude and a good coach.

ariana` wrote:

5/10k PBs pre-coaching with Luke?

I had got my 10k to 37.44 and the 5k to 18.05 but that doesn't tell the full story. I was falling off a cliff in those races. Hitting a wall and struggling badly with just grit getting me through. I'd imagine if I tried longer distances you'd have seen a huge drop off in my times.

ariana` wrote:

Limerick born & bred?

Limerick County. Moved to the city in 2005 after living in Mullingar for a year.

ariana` wrote:

If you had to move country in the morning where would you choose?

Oooh. Despite the nonsense I love America so maybe there. If in Europe then Italy or France.

ariana` wrote:

Favourite take-away?

Ah memories of takeaway. Domino's used to be one of my favourites. Lately every now and then maybe Ramen. I don't eat many takeaways these days coz I'm rarely in a chipper at 2am. Haha

ariana` wrote:

Favourite movie?

Shawshank Redemption was for years. But in the last while ones like The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar stand out.

ariana` wrote:

Favourite TV show?

Love Island..... Nah.... Best TV series I've watched was Breaking Bad. I never miss Home and Away. No joke.

ariana` wrote:

Do you think you'll run forever (body permitting of course)?

Absolutely. It's why I'm waiting on the marathon. Haha. I want to be one of those old men than breaks weird marathon records. If I don't run for the rest of my life I'll be disappointed. But I'll branch out into different stuff when I'm older like trail stuff. Easy things like the Barkley Marathons. Haha

OOnegative

Mullingar, thoughts?