Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

Swashbuckler · 16-09-2019 6:57pm

healy1835 wrote:

We'll get that showdown one day

We sure will. You'll probably be pacing me but it still counts right?

Lazare · 16-09-2019 8:03pm

Ah massive congrats P, that's great news. Girl and a boy is pretty sweet.

Dubh Geannain · 16-09-2019 8:39pm

Congrats. Lovely news to read.

ReeReeG · 16-09-2019 8:40pm

Congrats on the new addition!
Hope you can get back to the running you want in good time too.

Swashbuckler · 17-09-2019 9:45am

Meant to say I got Pegasus 36 as a gift. Beautiful runner. Almost my ideal type of runner.

eyrie · 19-09-2019 1:04pm

Ah congratulations! Great news. Hope all are doing well

Swashbuckler · 19-09-2019 1:10pm

eyrie wrote:

Ah congratulations! Great news. Hope all are doing well

Completely different experience to last time. Hopefully it continues!

Swashbuckler · 22-09-2019 11:52am

Kept things ticking over this week. Just over 40 miles spread over 6 days. Pretty much capped at a max of 8 miles as the longest run. Baba is adjusting to the real world so some nights have been a write off in terms of sleep. And that's to be expected. What it means is that some runs were probably ill advised albeit still at slow pace.
I recall when we had our first baby just how much sleep had an impact. It's the same this time. If I can keep things ticking over for now then that's as much as I can ask for. It's a fine line though. Found myself so lethargic after 6 miles yesterday. Day off running today. Will be monitoring closely. Won't be doing anything even resembling structured training til I feel the energy levels can handle it. Still off work so that will also be a factor.
Long term plan remains the same. As soon as I feel I can kick on then the plan is in place taking about 6 months.

On the plus side, sitting up at stupid o clock has allowed me to read through some great stuff on here including some very good Spotlight threads. Back when Krusty was thinking he could just about manage a 2.40. Some great nuggets of info on this forum.

Swashbuckler · 03-11-2019 11:27pm

God it feels like a lot longer than a month since I updated here. Where to begin!

Picked up yet another niggle/injury in September. Between the tiredness, running, sitting around with bad posture, lifting babies and changing nappies the right hip acted up this time. At one point I was walking across the bedroom bent over carrying baba coz the whole hip area seized up. Between busy days and evenings and physio on a long break and then occupied with DCM folk it was impossible to get looked at.

Took three full weeks off running and started to easy very gently back into it. Managed to lock down physio and she worked wonders. As always she was extremely thorough and I've been great since. Much like before, weak glutes and hamstrings. Dominant and tired hip flexors and shortened quad especially on the left. I really really have to keep length in that quad and do so at every chance now. So currently I'm back up to 6 days a week (five if I'm feeling tired). Feeling better than I have in ages. No pain and much better flexibility. All easy miles right now with as much stretching as I can manage. Officially I'm doing two stretch sessions and one core/glute strength session a week but adding in stretches here and there while waiting for the kettle or sitting on the couch.. 48 miles this past week. Longest run was ten miles.

Tentative plan is easy miles and consistent mileage to end of December. In January pick up into a 16 week Hudson half marathon plan for Limerick in May. I'm in the lottery for Dublin. Plenty of back and forth on Friday trying to decide what to do. Had a buddies code but decided not to use it for fear of sanctions. So I'll take my chances in the lottery. Had a brief notion of trying a good for age in March if I don't get the lottery but that madness soon dissipated. Cheers to S and L for listening to my ramblings Friday.

Getting much too far ahead of myself but I'm allowing it. I haven't been this enthusiastic about my running in a long long time so will just roll with it. Haven't ran a proper session since July! God what a year. The reports here from DCM have been amazing to read.An inspiring bunch of novices too. Pretty much the reason I really want to take on that challenge next year.

Kellygirl · 03-11-2019 11:31pm

Nice to see you back logging. Hopefully you have a clear run of it now.

AuldManKing · 03-11-2019 11:33pm

Isn't it madness what we put ourselves through in order to get a plan together for 12 months time??

Swashbuckler · 03-11-2019 11:33pm

Cheers K.

Meant to add I am still on Strava. I just set it to private for now. Its not a great place to be when you're struggling but also didn't want to lose miles on my total for the year stats

Swashbuckler · 03-11-2019 11:34pm

AuldManKing wrote:

Isn't it madness what we put ourselves through in order to get a plan together for 12 months time??

I think it shows a love of the sport. We're a different breed us runners.

OOnegative · 03-11-2019 11:55pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Meant to add I am still on Strava. I just set it to private for now. Its not a great place to be when you're struggling but also didn't want to lose miles on my total for the year stats

Genuine question, does that mean only your real friends see your runs P?

Swashbuckler · 04-11-2019 12:12am

OOnegative wrote:

Genuine question, does that mean only your real friends see your runs P?

It means nobody sees them B. Only I do. My total miles for the year keep totting up but nobody sees any of my runs. Its a hard one to explain coz it depends on your mindset to begin with but it's really helped me just enjoy running for me and forgetting what people will think

OOnegative · 04-11-2019 12:18am

Swashbuckler wrote: »

It means nobody sees them B. Only I do. My total miles for the year keep totting up but nobody sees any of my runs. Its a hard one to explain coz it depends on your mindset to begin with but it's really helped me just enjoy running for me and forgetting what people will think

My question probably came across as smart ar$ed but it genuinely wasn’t meant that way as i’m still trying to figure Strava out!! Apologies.

Swashbuckler · 04-11-2019 12:19am

OOnegative wrote:

My question probably came across as smart ar$ed but it genuinely wasnâ€™t meant that way as iâ€™m still trying to figure Strava out!! Apologies.

Haha it didn't B. I know you better than that at this stage. I also know your "limited" knowledge of Strava.

Lazare · 04-11-2019 12:31am

Delighted to read that P. Really hope 2020 is a strong consistent year for you.

ariana` · 04-11-2019 3:49pm

Delighted to hear you're back and enjoying it! And big plans for next year too, exciting times! You've been missed around here although i know you've been popping in when you can.

eyrie · 04-11-2019 4:28pm

Lovely to hear that the enthusiasm is back, keep us updated about how it's all going. Hope baby and big sister are doing well too!

Fingers crossed for the lottery outcome for you, DCM 2020 is where it's at

coogy · 04-11-2019 10:13pm

Great to see you starting to pick things up again, really looking forward to following your progress once again!

By the way, did I read it correctly yesterday that you've yet to run a marathon? Not that that's a big deal or anything. I just guessed that you'd already run at least a handful!

Swashbuckler · 04-11-2019 10:23pm

coogy wrote:

By the way, did I read it correctly yesterday that you've yet to run a marathon? Not that that's a big deal or anything. I just guessed that you'd already run at least a handful!

Haha its a running joke on here. Me and Mellow seem to be the only two who haven't. No I only started taking running seriously in 2017 and have yet to commit to 26.2

Damo 2k9 · 04-11-2019 10:35pm

Deadly, delighted to hear your back at it, I knew the injury was at you from reading on other threads (IIRC?), there’s nothing worse.

On the other hand, there’s nothing better than being ready to really get stuck into a plan and have a go at it. I am a bugger for being caught in that ‘no mans land’ in between events in the last two years, and it set me back so much it was crazy, all fitness gained was lost because I didn’t bother my b***ox.

Something I have picked up off the likes of S and a couple of you guys is that easy miles to keep up the fitness are key, and hell, I am even enjoying just getting out and running with no real aim.

Fingers crossed for you for the lottery for DCM!

Swashbuckler · 04-11-2019 11:31pm

Damo 2k9 wrote:

On the other hand, thereâ€™s nothing better than being ready to really get stuck into a plan and have a go at it.

It's also a dangerous place to be where enthusiasm is high but risk is also high so I must keep conservative. Need to learn from mistakes of ramping too fast.

Damo 2k9 wrote:

Something I have picked up off the likes of S and a couple of you guys is that easy miles to keep up the fitness are key, and hell, I am even enjoying just getting out and running with no real aim.

I'm already noticing a difference with all the easy miles. Was a slog a month ago but starting to see light at tge end of the tunnel. Need to kero it sensible and regular physio definitely needed.

Damo 2k9 wrote:

Fingers crossed for you for the lottery for DCM!

Not sounding good from reading the lottery thread! Lots of fomo going on. Won't be a lot of places left.

coogy · 04-11-2019 11:33pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

No I only started taking running seriously in 2017 and have yet to commit to 26.2

Is 2020 the year?

Kellygirl · 04-11-2019 11:35pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Not sounding good from reading the lottery thread! Lots of fomo going on. Won't be a lot of places left.

Amsterdam is on the week before and there’s a group of us heading over so that option could be there. Mainly flat too.

coogy · 04-11-2019 11:38pm

Kellygirl wrote: »

Amsterdam is on the week before and there’s a group of us heading over so that option could be there. Mainly flat too.

Ah, you've been sold then eh???

Swashbuckler · 04-11-2019 11:42pm

coogy wrote:

Is 2020 the year?

It was meant to be but low and behold DCM changed entry requirements!

Kellygirl wrote:

Amsterdam is on the week before and thereâ€™s a group of us heading over so that option could be there. Mainly flat too.

Will you speak to my missus and explain why I'm leaving her and our two babies at home to go to Amsterdam? Ledge thanks

Joking aside I'm ruling out a foreign marathon next year . Slim pickings in Ireland in october time frame tho outside of dublin

Kellygirl · 05-11-2019 12:00am

coogy wrote: »

Ah, you've been sold then eh???

Just the half for me!!!

Swashbuckler wrote: »

It was meant to be but low and behold DCM changed entry requirements!

Will you speak to my missus and explain why I'm leaving her and our two babies at home to go to Amsterdam? Ledge thanks

Joking aside I'm ruling out a foreign marathon next year . Slim pickings in Ireland in october time frame tho outside of dublin

Ah yeah I figured. Funnily enough I’ll only be gone the same amount of time as I would be for Dublin. I make that a 3 day event though

Wubble Wubble · 05-11-2019 9:26am

Great news P. Try everything once, as they say :pac:

How can we rig the lottery to make sure you get in?

Swashbuckler · 05-11-2019 12:21pm

Wubble Wubble wrote:

How can we rig the lottery to make sure you get in?

It's sods law isn't it. We'll see. I was toying with switching to Limerick marathon if I didn't get into the lottery but I need to make sure I learn from what's gone wrong in the past. Gut says take it slowly next year and that's what I'll do

Kellygirl · 05-11-2019 2:40pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

It's sods law isn't it. We'll see. I was toying with switching to Limerick marathon if I didn't get into the lottery but I need to make sure I learn from what's gone wrong in the past. Gut says take it slowly next year and that's what I'll do

Galway is only 3 weeks before Dublin and a lot flatter. Worth considering if you don’t get Dublin I think?

MY BAD · 05-11-2019 3:54pm

Kellygirl wrote: »

Galway is only 3 weeks before Dublin and a lot flatter. Worth considering if you don’t get Dublin I think?

The weather is a issue. Almost guaranteed to be raining and it can be quite windy on a good day there

Kellygirl · 05-11-2019 3:59pm

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote: »

The weather is a issue. Almost guaranteed to be raining and it can be quite windy on a good day there

Always a possibility I suppose. It was exactly that this year actually but I loved it - I was only doing the 3/4 marathon as a session though and not racing so I wasn’t affected. 2016 was amazing with clear blue skies and absolutely perfect.

Swashbuckler · 05-11-2019 6:15pm

Kellygirl wrote: »

Galway is only 3 weeks before Dublin and a lot flatter. Worth considering if you don’t get Dublin I think?

Yeah thanks for the suggestion K. It was one that stuck out alright but i had the same concern as Mellow over weather by the coast. I had forgotten you ran it. Was there many signed up when you ran it?
I wonder how isolated you'd get. Good thing about Dublin is not getting isolated.

skyblue46 · 05-11-2019 6:19pm

P, I'd say your chances of getting in to DCM are reasonable. There can't be too many left to enter the lottery when the last 3 years participants are taken into account. I'd wait until after the lottery before worrying about alternatives.

Kellygirl · 05-11-2019 6:21pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

Yeah thanks for the suggestion K. It was one that stuck out alright but i had the same concern as Mellow over weather by the coast. I had forgotten you ran it. Was there many signed up when you ran it?
I wonder how isolated you'd get. Good thing about Dublin is not getting isolated.

The marathon was sold out a good bit in advance. That starts at 8:30am and it’s just the marathon group out at that stage. It’s 4 loops out by Salt Hill and 2 shorter loops which I presume are done first. The 10km group started this year then at 10:30 and I started at the back of that. While we were waiting there were some marathoners that looked isolated but pace groups too. It got quite congested then while the 10k did one lap and it was very quiet as I did my 2nd lap. You are constantly passing people coming the other direction though. The Half started then at 12:15 and that was very congested for me but sure you’d be finished by then or nearly so I don’t think they’d be a problem for you.

Swashbuckler · 05-11-2019 9:39pm

skyblue46 wrote:

P, I'd say your chances of getting in to DCM are reasonable. There can't be too many left to enter the lottery when the last 3 years participants are taken into account. I'd wait until after the lottery before worrying about alternatives.

100% S. No plans on signing up for anything reactionary. More to do with assessing options for the craic.
Forgot I had a deferral to great north run but I think that's off the table.

Kellygirl wrote:

The marathon was sold out a good bit in advance. That starts at 8:30am and itâ€™s just the marathon group out at that stage. Itâ€™s 4 loops out by Salt Hill and 2 shorter loops which I presume are done first. The 10km group started this year then at 10:30 and I started at the back of that. While we were waiting there were some marathoners that looked isolated but pace groups too. It got quite congested then while the 10k did one lap and it was very quiet as I did my 2nd lap. You are constantly passing people coming the other direction though. The Half started then at 12:15 and that was very congested for me but sure youâ€™d be finished by then or nearly so I donâ€™t think theyâ€™d be a problem for you.

Cheers for the info K. I'd definitely consider it. Nice and close to home too.

Swashbuckler · 10-11-2019 1:11pm

Second attempt at this after losing the last update. Nothing major to report.
Six days of running totalling 49.5 miles. That's two weeks in a row of same mileage . Some decent distance runs thrown in this week. Mostly all easy running although I threw in some steady and/or tempo miles at the end of a few runs. Hard to know what tempo or steady is at the moment as anything faster than easy feels like effort. Haha. But very happy with the last two weeks. Still paranoid about the hips but that'll hopefully leave in time!

Lots of stretching of the piriformis, hip flexors and quad any chance I get. My missus is getting a good laugh out of it. Any time she looks at me I have my leg pulled up behind me stretching the quads. One strength day this week focusing on glutes and core. For now the physio has limited which exercises I can do as some of them (donkey kicks for example) are easy to get wrong and could easily end up with arched back and exercising the exact muscle I don't want to (psoas). This means exercises like glute bridges, planks etc are a little risky for now. In fairness she has done a great job telling me what I can do and there are plenty of alternatives. For anyone interested there's an excellent app called "Keep". Have a look. Free option and paid option. The paid option offers a lot more but the free version is definitely worth a download. Hope to get two strength sessions this week. It's basic stuff and not very taxing (no extra weights for now). I'm heading back to her the week after next to top up and get some more length in the quad. My plan is every six weeks to head back to her til May and reassess then.

Plan for this week,
Add in some strides on one day.
Add in a couple of short hill sprints on another day.
Get long run to 12M.
Monitor how the body feels and step back if needed.

At the moment my week is a little offset with helping out at home on the weekends (giving the missus a full nights sleep and lie in) so long run this week will hopefully be Wednesday morning. Building up a second longish run too and that will hopefully be Saturday (10M). When I start the HM plan proper there will be a long run and midweek long run so I want to build up to close to that.

On the family front all good. Little fella is a dream. Work is busy but managing that ok. Sleep is decent during the week.

Swashbuckler · 11-11-2019 10:49pm

GAMETIME22 code will get you 22% off on Nike site. Big saving on the Next %

Treviso · 11-11-2019 11:49pm

Swashbuckler wrote: »

GAMETIME22 code will get you 22% off on Nike site. Big saving on the Next %

I'm sitting here debating whether wearing pink Next% is worth the 60 euro off

:D

MY BAD · 11-11-2019 11:52pm

Waiting on the white ones...

Swashbuckler · 12-11-2019 12:09am

If I was willing to pay that money and someone told me they were 60 quid cheaper with a code, I wouldn't be waiting! Pink is the new black.

MY BAD · 12-11-2019 12:15am

I have the green ones, I hope to get a few more miles out of them

€215 isn't bad for what you get in return tbh compared to other top end racers. They're a great shoe

Treviso · 12-11-2019 12:16am

Took the plunge - thanks for putting the code out there!

Swashbuckler · 12-11-2019 12:30am

Mellow Yellow 26.2 wrote:

I have the green ones, I hope to get a few more miles out of them â‚¬215 isn't bad for what you get in return tbh compared to other top end racers. They're a great shoe

I just can't justify it to be honest. Not after spending what I've spent on runners this year

Laineyfrecks · 12-11-2019 12:46am

Treviso wrote: »

Took the plunge - thanks for putting the code out there!

Did ye get the pink ones

there'll be no stopping you now:eek:

AuldManKing · 12-11-2019 11:27am

Apologies in advance for the segway and possible derailment.

In all honesty - when I was racing on Saturday I was debating if I would wear the Nike's given all the crap you hear about them recently.
But I wore them.

I'm also debating if I should give more $$ to Nike by buying the Next% - more than likely I will, but anyone else having this dilemma?

NB bringing out a shoe / Hoka Carbon X is out there /Adidas bringing out a carbon plate shoe - are these more morally ethical companies or do these things happen in every shoe sponsored team (dont think so - look at Hoka & NB in Manchester) & are Nike just getting bad press (I seriously doubt it's 'just' bad press).

healy1835 · 12-11-2019 1:18pm

AuldManKing wrote: »

Apologies in advance for the segway and possible derailment.

In all honesty - when I was racing on Saturday I was debating if I would wear the Nike's given all the crap you hear about them recently.
But I wore them.

I'm also debating if I should give more $$ to Nike by buying the Next% - more than likely I will, but anyone else having this dilemma?

NB bringing out a shoe / Hoka Carbon X is out there /Adidas bringing out a carbon plate shoe - are these more morally ethical companies or do these things happen in every shoe sponsored team (dont think so - look at Hoka & NB in Manchester) & are Nike just getting bad press (I seriously doubt it's 'just' bad press).

Yeah it is something I've thought about over the last little while. The NOP seems to be an absolute sh&"show and I imagine there's a lot more to come out into the public domain yet. But they're just a small piece of a larger multinational company I suppose. You've used the New Balance group in Manchester as an example, but I'm sure you wouldn't have to go too far to find a Nike training group that avoids the toxic stuff that went on in NOP. I'm happy enough to keep wearing Nike shoes, although I know there's others out there who aren't.

KSU · 12-11-2019 1:41pm

AuldManKing wrote: »

Apologies in advance for the segway and possible derailment.

In all honesty - when I was racing on Saturday I was debating if I would wear the Nike's given all the crap you hear about them recently.
But I wore them.

I'm also debating if I should give more $$ to Nike by buying the Next% - more than likely I will, but anyone else having this dilemma?

NB bringing out a shoe / Hoka Carbon X is out there /Adidas bringing out a carbon plate shoe - are these more morally ethical companies or do these things happen in every shoe sponsored team (dont think so - look at Hoka & NB in Manchester) & are Nike just getting bad press (I seriously doubt it's 'just' bad press).

For me I won't buy Nike Shoes (my track spikes are Nike but they are also +10 years old at this stage but that is just down to not repairing)

This does not stem from the recent stuff but realistically it is tip of the iceberg stuff

- Nick Symmonds legal battle over Worlds in Beijing and his subsequent boycott

- Allyson Felix/Alysia Montano treatment during pregnancy

- Nike’s global director of athletics threatening to kill whistleblower

- Overall treatment of athletes with regards to contracts.

Despite them sponsoring the large majority of athletes in the sport I don't feel that supporting such a brand is supporting the athletes they sponsor. I like what the likes NAZ Elite, NB Manchester, Brooks Beast are doing but I just don't get that same feeling from the likes of NOP, Oregon Track Club and Melbourne track club etc (the exception being Bowerman track club however you could argue that they are benefiting from alot of the same infrastructure as NOP.

The Carbon plate thing is something that personally I never want to feel like the benefits I make are down to the shoe (perhaps that is down to being self coached at the moment in that I would take a good coaching performance over good athletic perfomances mechanical aided) That being said if the likes of Brooks or Saucony release their version I wouldn't be against trying them any more than I would be in trying other models within the brands but I have never worn Nike runners (outside of testing the Mayflies back in the day as a Novelty when the Nike Vans used to come round to clubs) so I would feel disingenuous to suddenly try them for the sole purpose of short cuts.

(Just my opinion though not a judgement on others who use them)

Chapter 2 - Finding Nemo

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