It's just a bunch of feet playing with my mind

Ooh thanks for the podcasts. I'll have a listen for sure. Actually I used that stretching app yesterday and the person doing it described a manoeuvre, which I couldn't manipulate myself in to. And he said something like, do it if you can but if you can't today that's grand don't beat your body up it does a lot of great things in a day. Or something along those lines and I thought, that's exactly what I could do with telling myself a little more often!

Changing the way of seeing food is a mega deal. Its kind of breaking the cycle of the convincing 'You deserve/have earned/will be better if you eat it' schpeel you tell yourself. I can't complain about the food I'm eating now. Its simple but delicious. If I wasn't running I don't think I'd be noticing the impact the change is having. In fact, without running I would have accepted my lot and not tried to make any changes at all!

12th April - 30th April

Finished off the 5 days easy. Moved on to throwing a few strides into Wednesdays run. They felt so lovely not panicked or rushed they were calm and a bit fun :eek:

Did the Boards Anniversary 5k TT x 2

Woke up on Monday - tank was empty. Took a day off. Tuesday - tank was empty-ish went for a light jog the opposite way round (route wise not me ). I knew I had no ability to be running up Morton's Mountain so ran down it instead . Woke up in the early hours of Wednesday morning with a horrendous migraine and unable to get back to sleep. Tried a run that day had the post migraine 'brain fog' with zero energy and for the first time since last Oct cut the run short. I was so worried I'd pushed myself back by doing the two TTs back to back and knocked the heart rate out of whack which was going to take going back to 20 minute runs to fix. Mores the point, I had signed up to the Great Limerick 5k a couple of months ago and it was this weekend! I couldn't get another 5k out of myself!!

Early to bed and clean eating all week - no running till Fri and sure maybe things might be better.

Great Limerick Virtual 5k

I know virtual events arent ideal, but I signed up for it as a practice. I was always going to treat it like a race day and try and get to grips with the nerves. At the same time I wanted to do it on the Friday and not have it hanging over me over the Bank Holiday weekend!

Followed the same routine that worked for the TTs - breakkie - coffee - dropped the kids to school and drove into the Phoenix Park. No messing here, if you're going to treat it like a race day then we're going all out and going to face your dreaded nemesis - the Furry Glen Hill!

Mile 1 - warmed up a teeney bit - all very serious and got going. Did the same as last week, without looking at the watch I settled into a pace that was motoring but nothing too mad then gave the watch a quick glance - 10.45. Decided to try and hold it, the engine might fail, it may not, no point worrying yet. There were a few people about to dodge but this was all in the crack! 10:52 - not ideal, but better than the TT so you never know what might happen!

Mile 2 - was heading down into the bowels of the Park and was still feeling ok, but was constantly worried that the engine was going to fail at some stage. I was breathing heavier than I would have liked and that made me worry I wasn't going to last. For the first time I managed to banish the doubts and worries and just went with it. Its all downhill here, try get some benefit from it. If I wane, I wane, but I'm not waning yet. 10:35.

Mile 3 - suddenly there it was! Furry Glen Hill, this is where it was all going to fall apart. I kept repeating 'Its no worse than OBM, no worse than OBM'. And I got up it in one surviving piece!!!! I've never actually tackled it before!! Got round the corner and across the road - I was doing this!!! I'd less than a mile to go!! What do I do now?
Do I try push? Is it too early? Jaysus I'm not sure! I wasnt expecting this! :pac: I suppose that was the handy thing about doing the TT on a route that I knew every lump and bump of vs doing it somewhere unfamiliar. I moved out of someone's way onto the grass and my legs just felt like lead so I decided not to push yet and I lost my 10 seconds here. I should have pushed on, but didn't have the courage to. I turned onto the last stretch and picked it up and I knew it would be over somewhere passed the bollards, but the not knowing of where it would end was hard. I counted in my head, I relaxed my hands, I blocked out everything my brain was saying and went as hard as I could until the beep.

Finished up at 32:51 which is 10 seconds slower than last week, but I'm happy enough. I gave it a good shot on a route that fills me with fear and I think with a bit of practice I could get a bit more confidence to push sooner.
Considering how the week went and that the whole thing was in doubt I'm happy to have done it and given it a decent go. I've started to dream again! :eek:

Laineyfrecks wrote: »

Well done on facing your fear of that route & completing it:)

I believe you should always have a dream, helps push you to achieve it, never stop dreaming

Dream big, work hard...

Congratulations on topping the challenge table!

26th May - 20th June

The great thing about looking back is realising when you’re letting things slip. I see the last four weeks has comprised of 2 weeks of 4 runs and 2 weeks of 3 runs. I can’t even remember the how’s or the whys. I know it’s been pretty chaotic in our house with getting work done and at the beginning of this week I was feeling rough – so much so walking the dog had me breathless and to be fair it does take a lot these days for me to miss an entire run – but if I can’t remember the hows or the whys the reason for missing the rest clearly wasn’t good enough! That said, every week no matter what I miss I generally don’t skip the strides or the hills, bar one.

Last week my sons GAA club had a fundraiser run - 4 laps of the pitch with a few minutes rest in between each lap. I ran higher than my comfort zone for sure but I know I could have done better. The thing was I was running with a friend and although I really felt I could have pushed the last stretch a of each lap a bit harder, it felt a bit rude to do so . Although, I’m not sure what condition I would have been in if I hadn’t been sensible. I would have looked a right t*t if I’d gone flat out, left my friend behind and had to walk the last lap! :pac: Anyhow my legs were sore the next day so postponed the final hills week.

Strides (not all on the same route) :-
Week| Stride 1|Stride 2 |Stride 3 |Stride 4|Stride 5 |Stride 6
1|9.54 |9.14|8.50|8.46|9.24 |8.32
2|8.49 |8.45|7.58|9.33|8.08 |8.31
3|9.13 |8.53|8.46|8.34|9.21|9.23
4|9.54 |9.14|8.50|8.46|9.24 |8.32

Hills (not all on the same hill) :-
Week|Hill 1|Hill 2 |Hill 3 |Hill 4|Hill 5 |Hill 6|Hill 7|Hill 8|Hill 9
1|9.21|8.46|8.59|8.41|8.59|-|-|-|-
2|9.33|9.15|9.33|9.12|10.15|10.15|9.51|-|-
3|9.20|8.35|9.18|9.33|9.43|9.18|9.41|9.43|9.47

I don’t think the above are of any great insight. Anyone can lash out something for 30 seconds/a hill. But I do feel a kind of competency developing with each week.

This weeks hill was hard and I was always going to use it for the last of the 4 week stint. I couldn't have dreamed of using it for anything other than walking up 4 weeks ago so to be doing 9 Hill repeats on it today was a nice achievement.

What I want to try this week is find out how long I can run at a 10:00p/m pace for. That’s the goal at the end of the day. So rather than strides this Wed, I’m going to run at that pace and hold it for as long as I can and see what that feels like. It’s all well and good doing a 30 sec stride at 9:xx minutes, but sure what good is that if I can’t hold it and all the while I’m knocking them out I could be learning what the goal pace feels like. 30 seconds is too short a time to figure it out, so rather than increasing the number of strides, the plan is to run 6 longer stints at a 5k pace. If that makes sense . Hopefully it works!

Non running bit
2 years ago, I left a job that broke me. At the time what I should have done was go to my GP (who now tells me he could have helped me), but I couldn’t talk about it. Which is a common problem for me. I can post things on boards but when it comes down to voicing an issue I just can’t do it. Anyhow I left and my main focus was not to break any more than I already had. Jogging slowly after the school run helped me focus and find a hook that helped with it. I stopped from sinking any further but never managed to get back up for air. When I did the Boards 5k TT last year, there were times where I wanted to stop and walk but I kept pushing on and all of a sudden a little seed was planted that as the cliché goes I'm down but not out just yet. There is a fight left in me. From there I followed plans, got back on my feet, got a little ill, got back on my feet and before I knew it, I was back up breathing free without even realising when it happened. With each plan and each week of ticking every box I was supposed to, I started to get back to myself.

A few months ago a job came up and I went for it. It was the dream job, something I’ve always wanted. I threw in an application, not believing I’d get any where. As it turned out after a long application process, I am top of the list of applicants, got offered the job and I start in September.

To say I’m over the moon is an understatement. To say I owe where I am today to running is no exaggeration. Every step I’ve put into it has given me so much more back in bucket loads and I can’t believe I am where I am today, considering where I was 2 years ago. If I can keep working and get a decent time (for me!) the next time a race comes up, or even just stand on a start line with a smidge of confidence and not sheer dread :pac: that would just bookend this era nicely

OOnegative wrote: »

Congratulations on the new job L, your log is a real bundle of joy an inspiration. It’s clear that you love your running and it loves you, keep it going!!

For the gazzilionth time thanks so much for organising that TT!

Annie get your Run wrote: »

I was briefly in one of those teams, the training sessions took way more out of me than any run, including longer stuff!!! I ended up injured with all the twisting and turning but having said that, I really enjoyed it for the year I was there. Go for it, have fun but maybe just ease off on the running for the first couple of weeks until you get used to being back doing something completely different. Enjoy!

Well this is why I was reluctant to go back because I couldn't walk for 2 days after the training sessions :pac: I know I need more squats in my life, but I flaming hate them :pac: But they all assure me it's changed now and it's all drills and nothing like it used to be. And I like the matches .

Thanks Murph... Hope all is OK for you.