Be still my beating heart

^^^^ wow!!!😨 Not sure I'd be quite adventurous enough for something like this, but never say never! Thanks for posting links Dub13!!

Monday 27 February
am: 13.4 miles @ 9:45
Easy local. Very windy and cold. I find my eyes are watering a ridiculous amount during cold windy weather running lately. I wear glasses and a cap to protect them a bit, but they’re very sensitive and tears stream down my face for most of the run. Very annoying. If anyone has any advice…
pm: 10 miles @ 9:28
As per usual, always feel much fresher and livelier, and run much quicker for the same effort on the evening run!
 
Tuesday 28 February
am: 12.2 miles @ 9:56
Sometimes when the weather is this bad, I really wish I owned a treadmill. However, the one and only time I have been on one (getting gait analysis for my first pair of runners in Runways a few years back) I fell off it. They had to do some other kind of standing test on my feet to recommend suitable runners as I just couldn’t run on it for the life of me. It was SO embarrassing. The assistant called her boss and they were all there trying to hold the laughter back (I’m sure they weren’t really, but I felt very self-conscious and paranoid:o) as they were watching me attempt to run on the bloody thing and they had never seen the like before. If I could have easily escaped, and run out of the shop without the damn runners, I would gladly have done so and probably now be doing much more useful things with my time than running around in circles day after day, week after week!
Also, if I had a treadmill, I don’t think I’d ever stop running (if I learned how to run on one properly). The lure of it there in the next room would be too great during all those damn sleepless nights. I’d be up early trying to squeeze in a few miles, and a few before bed too, no doubt. So on balance, it’s probably better that I don’t have one:D
pm: 9.8 @ 9:42
As is always the case, once I'm actually out in the elements for about 10 minutes, no matter how bad it is, I'm loving it and am wondering how the hell people run for any length of time on a treadmill! I know I'm running around in small loops on most of my runs, but at least there's some kind of environmental stimulation going on around me! Pete Kostelnick does 60 miles runs on a treadmill:eek::eek::eek:
 
February total: 423 miles (first time in the 400’s)
 
Wednesday 1st March
am: 10 miles @ 10,  inc 8 x 8 sec hill sprints
I felt like shight this morning despite having the first decent night’s sleep in about a week. Legs really heavy, but rhr very low at 45bpm and didn’t feel ill or anything, just tired legs! Did a few miles warmup and felt OK and as usual, things improved as I got through the sprints. I had the option when finished the sprints of just doing a mile back to the car to finish the run quickly, or to backtrack my steps and do a long 5 mile jog back to where I started. I chose the latter option which I felt proud of myself for doing. I started feeling much better on the cooldown. Went home and went to bed for an hour, and had one of those ‘cheeky little afternoon naps’ ;-) I find I'm not usually great at sleeping during the day (surprise surprise:rolleyes:) but did actually nod off for a bit. Nice!
pm: 6.2 miles @ 9:29
Felt A-mazing on the evening run. Dunno what was up with me this morning. Played it safe regardless, and just did a short evening run but ran the last few miles a tad steadier. Maybe it was the nap!
 
Thursday  2nd March
Rest
‘Slept’ really badly last night. Exhausted hitting the hay, read for an hour, dropped off into a lovely sleepy stupor, then wakened again after a few mins, dropped off again, wakened again, stayed awake so started to read, dropped off…. And this cycle repeated itself for most of the night.  Gggrrr..  Today was a planned rest day. I really need to start relaxing a bit more on rest days and to try to avoid thinking and reading and planning my running. I need the psychological break as much as the physical one I think!
Went out on the town Thurs night for the first time since Christmas and well, I’m a cheap date these days as I was plssed after 3 drinks and felt sick the next morning…
 
Friday 3rd March
10 easy @ 9:48
Post work jog. Stomach a bit off tonight from previous night's endeavors. Nice jog all the same.

Saturday 4th March
am: 14.3 @ 9:47
14 local loops. Stomach still not 100%.
pm: 10 @ 9:35
Feeling fanbloomintastic. Had a 90 minute sleep in the afternoon which seemed to work like magic. Maybe the secret is all in the naps!

Sunday 5th March
am: 14 @ 9:48
A few miles into this and I meet my Sunday morning running friend. He started running with me a few Sundays ago and we had a nice chat. He used to post here but doesn't much any more, I think, but didn't tell me his username but knows everyone around this place. He's a good bit faster than me and his easy pace at the moment is around 8 min/mile (just getting back into it), so he plodded a bit with me at 9ish pace which was too fast for me for chatting so I was a bit whacked after the few miles with him. I slowed it right down when he left. Lovely bloke and nice to chat and he told me that my very obvious passion for running and beaming smile when he sees me running in the park has inspired him a lot to get back into it. Nice to hear that from a fast runner.
pm: 9.5 miles easy @ 9:25
A bit tired heading out but perked up no end a few miles in and was flying by the end. A great end to the biggest week ever for me.

Weekly total: 120 miles
19hrs 28 mins

I have this idea in my head that I'd like to run one week of 24 hours before Belfast, but that's probably totally ridiculous to even consider:eek::D:) Not sure what I'll peak at but I'm currently listening very closely to my body so as not to overdo things. I have absolutely no aches or niggles or any hot spots, so delighted about that and seem to be able to handle it all physically (so far...), so need to ensure I'm listening just as closely to the mental side of things so as not to overdo it, but feel I have it fairly well balanced right now. The day off each week is a great idea and helps to keep things in check, so I'll be sticking to this religiously going forward. Weight is definitely going down slowly but steadily all the time but still at very healthy levels, but the good news is that I get to eat even more now

Monday March 6th
Took the morning off, more so that I could do some ‘real life’ things like cleaning and tidying and shopping, rather than from necessarily wanting to. Anyhow, got a bit bored of real life after a morning of scrubbing, so…..
pm: 15.2 @ 9:39
Took in my daytime loop until it got dark and then transferred to my night time loop. Loved this run.

Tuesday March 7th
am: 9 miles @ 10:05
2 new pairs of shoes arrived this morning which are a full size bigger than my normal shoe and half size bigger than usual running shoes. I had a small issue with my toenails in Belfast, which I’m trying to avoid this year. They weren’t really hurting me as such, but I could feel them lifting (YUCK and SORRY for the TMI) up from my toes. I subsequently lost most of them in the weeks and months after the event but I’d rather not lose them at all this year if possible. In Tralee, I wore a size 7 for the full thing and didn’t have any further toenail issues, so I’m hoping to wear the 7s for the full 24 hours in Belfast. Took them on a trial run this morning and they felt good after a bit of getting used to. I’ll gradually phase them in over the coming weeks and months.
pm: 7.3 miles @ 10:08

Wednesday March 8th
I set up Strava on my phone today to record how much I walk during the days that I’m working in town. Between walking from car to bus, then bus to work, then work into town at lunchtime and back again, and then walk back to bus and then from bus back to car, it covers about 5 miles! Not logging it on Strava or anything, but it was interesting to track it. I walk at a fairly good clip too at about 13 min/mile. Let’s call it cross training!
pm: 12 miles @ 9:47
Post work easy run taking in my day loop and night loop. GPS is sc*ewed up a lot lately in my local park so was really a bit faster than that I’d imagine.

Thursday March 9th
Rest. Scheduled day off.

Friday March 10th
pm: 12 miles easy @ 9:44
Easy one after work. Great to be able to get in a few loops of the park before darkness sets in.

Saturday March 11th
am: 15.4 miles easy @ 10:01
15 lovely loops of local park.
pm: 10 miles easy @ 9:47
24 equally lovely loops of night time loop!

Sunday March 12th
am: 15.6 miles easy @ 9:43

Nice relaxed run and a couple of loops with my Sunday morning running buddy shooting the breeze.
pm: 9 miles easy @ 9:36
And that run brought me over the 1,000 miles for the year. It’s been a great first ten weeks of the year with no illness or injury or niggles to stop me from training; I really couldn’t ask for more. I think in general, easy pace has gotten quicker, however sometimes it’s still quite slow probably due to cumulative fatigue when increasing the mileage. Over the moon really with how it's all going and how I'm feeling with the increases on last year.

Weekly total: 106

Weekly mileage for first 10 weeks of the year:
2016: 78, 73, 73.5, 64, 77, 70, 51.6, 11, 68, 75
2017: 88, 100, 100, 81.5, 106, 100, 94, 103.5, 120, 106,

Long runs for first 10 weeks:
2016: 28, 26.5, 30
2017: 24, 28, 30.5, 37

Neady83 wrote: »

Love these weekly updates Those long runs are eye watering.

Do you think you're feet will swell as the day goes on in Belfast? Could be worth starting off with you're regular fit runners and increasing size as the day wears on? So you have enough support all day and your toes aren't jingling about the place when they're in a bigger sized runner for the first few hours. Just a thought.

Thanks, Neady! I'm determined to continue logging in the build up to Belfast this year as I didn't last year and have nothing to look back on:( I have the stats alright, but it's not the same as logging in a narrative form.

I don't think the feet swelled necessarily last year, and they certainly didn't appear to, it was maybe just the very slight friction of the nails and the top of the toe box after so many hours. I wore the 7s for the full 12 hours in Tralee and they felt great so I think I'll do the same again. The toes don't really feel like they're jingling around the place really. I'll do a very long run soon in the 7s and then make the final call. Thanks for the feedback though as it's good to get another opinion on this. I might change my mind again, and wear the smaller ones for the first 8 hours or something before the problem has time to manifest itself. It's definitely worth considering.
At the end of the day though, they didn't cause me any pain during the race, and if I lose them all again in the aftermath, it's no big deal really, and if I achieve a good pb, I won't give a toss at all I'm sure and would probably sacrifice a few toes too if I had to

Neady83 wrote: »

+1 to this. Could you tell us how you fit this all in and have time to work, eat and sleep? oh and log and spend time with people, spending time with people is important

It is Maybe..... :)

The Black Oil wrote: »

What's your am routine/rising time, btw? I'm a morning person, don't mind that aspect. Not that I'd keep up with the bar you've set.

I'm very poor at managing my time, and am actually working on this with my coach from this week, as I was finding lately, that running was taking over my life, and real life stuff was starting to slip and suffer a bit, and I cannot let running take over completely:o. I have a ridiculously addictive personality, and even compared to past addictions, running is by far, the biggest addiction yet. A lot healthier than the previous ones, but I guess it could get to a stage where it's not healthy anymore... if I let it.
So, I'm trying to regain a bit of control.
I'm going to start my runs earlier, and do the second one later (bright nights will help) so that there's a bigger gap in my day for the real life bits.
I'm not an early riser, at all, at all at all, so instead of starting the first run at 11.30-12 which I was doing, I'm starting at 10ish now and will start doing the second run at 7 (on days off work). That's the plan anyway. The problem is my insomnia though. If I'm awake most of the night, and I'm not working the next day, then I just have to make the most of a lie in and get a few hours' kip (I generally sleep best from 5am onwards) so this messes things up big time... Ideally, I'd like to start the first run at 9am and will do if sleeping patterns imrove:rolleyes:
I'm only working 2-3 days out of 7 at the moment so I don't have the pressures most people have of a full-time job, so I can be a bit more flexible than most with my schedule, but it does need more structure as other things need attention that I've been neglecting.
Oh and Neady, finding time to eat is never a problem I'm constantly snaking all day long!

Monday March 20th
am: 13 miles @ 9:47
pm: 11 miles @ 9:42

Tuesday March 21
Went out to do my morning run and mentally felt awful. Today I had to NOT run. My head was not in the game at all so did an about turn and went home, and tried to put all running related stuff out of my head for the day. It worked out quite well actually, as had a meeting tonight which turned out to be extremely eventful and very stressful, and lasted for 5.5 hours with cops eventually being called to sort it out at 1am when things got very hairy... Crazy **** night… but I did forget about running for a bit!

Wednesday March 22nd
Was wrecked today, emotionally and physically and had had no sleep the previous night, and a few drinks were had in the wee small hours. After a full day in work, I was fit for nothing more than collapsing on the couch when I got home.

Thursday March 23rd
13 easy @ 9:26
Felt fantastic tonight and a nice state of equilibrium reached, both physically, emotionally and mentally

Friday March 24th
Due to OH's birthday celebrations tonight, and the shenanigans earlier in the week, I had to buy myself a little bit of running time, so took leave from work today to squeeze some decent miles in.
am: 13 @ 9:26
Lovely
pm: 10 @ 9:31
Was jogging along in my local park when a familiar looking fella comes running towards me. T’was only himself, Murph_D ambling happily along in the sunshine. Hadn’t seen him in a couple of years. We had an enjoyable little jog and a lovely chat over a couple of laps. Great to meet you again, Sir! Hope Saturday went well, Doc!

Saturday March 25th
am: 13 miles easy @ 9:41
Hungover
pm: 6 miles @ 9:44
Slightly less hungover

Sunday March 26th
am: 6 easy @ 9:45
This was at 8am (old money) which is extremely early for me to run! I know it’s not considered early for most people, but I just feel awful in the mornings and avoid early morning running if at all possible, but had no choice today. Felt horrible. UGH, and had loads of pressure on me to finish quickly so not the most enjoyable run ever.
pm: 8 miles @ 9:47
Spent 5 hours on my feet assisting my ma with her shopping and had a glass of wine at lunch, so was not feeling full of the joys on this run. Cut it short and that was a poor end to a less than wonderful week.

90.4 miles weekly total

So, a bit of a messed up week, with only 5 days of running yet again. Real life impacted a lot on running but I tried not to stress about it or try to make up for any of the missed runs which I’ve been warned not to do. This week is going much better, so far, with far less disruption and I’m up to 60 miles already. Alcohol is completely out the window now, and I mean it this time

In other (very good) news, I’m now getting supported/sponsored by Tailwind Nutrition UK http://www.tailwindnutrition.co.uk/

^^^^

Thanks so much, kind folks!  Really appreciate the comments. diego_b, I'm working on the shoe thing;), as yes, I am burning through them like there's no tomorrow, and it's hard to keep up with it (great clip btw:D!)! I might have to go barefoot in Belfast yet! Barry, next target is definitely Jacob's Creek; super idea! Watch this space:D 

Can't believe I'm actually managing to get an update in on a Sunday evening for a change! A nice stress free week on the personal front was had this week, in contrast to last week, which was very very welcome indeed!!! 

Monday 27th March
am: 13 miles @ 9:52
pm: 10 @ 9:58

Tuesday 28th March
am: 10 miles @ 9:52
pm: 7.7 @ 9:51
Very tired for all the previous 4 runs. Breathing quite laboured and generally felt a bit lack lustre, but all was fine once I kept it nice and easy and kept the heart rate nice and low. 

Wednesday 29th March
am: 10.5 miles @ 9:46 incl 6 x 8 sec hill sprints
It became apparent why I was feeling so tired recently this morning. I thought maybe I was verging towards overtraining or something but it just turned out to be women's stuff which is gone haywire these days due to training. All fine now though.
pm: 9 miles @ 9:46
Some lovely easy miles in the evening sunshine. 

Thursday 30th March
Day off. Didn't feel I needed it necessarily, but just obeying the rules, and I'm sure it'll stand to me in the long run!!! Had a lovely chat with the Tailwind guy today and went though my training history and upcoming race and goals and short term and long term targets etc. Super interesting guy and sure isn't it always lovely to chat running with someone who's happy to listen!!!! Hopefully the beginnings of a beautiful friendship :-)

Friday 31st March
11 miles easy @ 9:36
Feeling fantastic this evening after the day off. Really had to hold back on miles and pace. 

March total: 438 miles (highest ever)

Saturday 1st April
am: 13 easy @ 9:38
Feeling lovely and lively so threw in a steadier last mile. 
pm: 8.7 miles @ 9:44

Sunday 2nd April
am: 9.5 miles easy @ 9:54
A bit 'ploddy' but fine once I was a few miles in. Took myself to the Phoenix Park for a change.

It was exciting to follow the American 24 hour Run4Water online yesterday and today, which is the last race for qualification for the American Team for Belfast. Gina Slaby breezed through with 143 miles to make the last spot on Women's Team and there was a right old battle going on for spots on the Men's Team with 2 going through from this race and one guy missing out on a spot for Belfast by 200 yards! Gut-wrenching stuff to watch someone put their body through that much stress and pressure for the last hour of a 24 hour race (when one is in such pain anyways) and then to lose out like that with such a paltry distance left to run. Oh the drama!
pm: 7.5 miles easy @ 9:48
Just a few easy miles to cap off the week. 

Weekly total: 110 miles 
18hrs

Am DELIGHTED with this week, as I really could not be feeling fitter and stronger right now!! I keep expecting it all to fall apart (illness, injury etc), but touch wood, it's all going as planned so far. I've had some great epic sleeps this week and even managed to throw in the odd cheeky little afternoon nap;) Some bad habits have been creeping back in with the sweet stuff so that's the next thing to get a handle on, as D-Day draws ever closer... Can't believe it's only 3 months away now!!!!!