this weekend there was a huge Ironman competition in Augusta. My hat goes off to anyone competing when the temperatures are in the mid-90's! I think they finished before it reached that temperature though. A husband & wife team won! I think they said that's only the second time that ever happened.
I have been doing a number of 5Ks since June. My time isn't the greatest, but I do tend to place within the upper 50% of participants. I need to get some better running shoes if I'm going to keep this up and I feel that the cheap pair I've been using are taking their toll on my knees.
Get fitted, proper running shop. They will check your gait and roll and get you the right type of running shoes for you. Don't just buy a pair of Nikes off the rack!
Got a new set of wheels this week. Brookes ghost 11. Sweet! Was trying to curb my juvenile thoughts when the hot sales girl in the running shop was telling me these would give me a "smooth stable ride"
So I've been training hard and am now in the peak weeks of my training for Derry marathon on 2nd June. I'm approaching exhaustion some of the time(!) but I think I've rectified some of the issues from last year. Along the way I ran a half at the start of March in 1.34.30 and another last week in 1.31.28. The latter of those was a PB on an extremely hilly course. I'd probably have broken 90 minutes on flat. That's pleasing as it's a long-term goal that I'll hopefully soon achieve and it bodes well for the full marathon in a few weeks. As always I have a few different goals that I can adjust depending on how it goes. First is to beat last year (3.37), then to go under 3.30, then a PB (3.23) and in the absolute best case to go under 3.20 or even 3.15
"curbing my juvenile thoughts" at a minimum - I would be trying to keep myself from an "I got your smooth stable ride right here" crotch grab in that case. Speaking of hot girls, I'm heading off to my gym in a few minutes, where they strictly enforce a "cute girls at the front desk" rule 24/7.
Note that this is in no way meant as an insult. (Because I figure it might be taken that way but. No really, not.) Just a few random thoughts... I have never really been able to motivate myself to do things like running /to become faster at running THE END/ or weightlifting /to lift bigger weights THE END/. Yeah so this is a BIT wrong to say because I actually spent some years powerlifting, but the true enjoyment of it wasn't really there. Still, working to beat your own personal record definitely beats "working out to get muscles and look pretty." Note - I don't disparage that. It's worthy in its own way. And it certainly is healthy being in good condition. But I'm a primitive being, I guess. If I'm to practice running it'd be because I need to run to something (as in the bus) or from something (as in a polar bear trying to kill me. No, there are no polar bears in Scania.) If I'm to practice weightlifting - and I've considered it lately - it'd be to create a strength surplus so the everyday work routine gets less taxing. What I've found fun was "acquiring a new skill". I spent many years fencing. Kung fu. Boxing. Etc. (Yeah guess I'm a violent sort or maybe just compensating for being quite feminine at heart.) But really this is no more useful than you running. Arguably less useful. How often do you need to be able to poke someone with a sharp stick?? Question - do you not get a lot of issues with your knees? I can't imagine running long-distance at my age. I'm more or less half-broken every day from work tho. And sorry for hogging thread...
I don't get any knee issues. In fact, I think that's a myth. Running only causes harm if you already have bad knees.
very true about knee abuse being a myth! If your running form is good , your shoes are adequate, you get proper rest & nutrition, you don't run when already injured, etc.etc. you will be fine. Also true is that the worst thing you can do to a human body is to not use it/work it hard. Humans evolved to be incredibly resilient.
I ran 3.28 at the weekend, which at least puts last years disappointment to bed. I think I fixed a lot of the preparation issues. I went out fast (probably too fast!) and did slow down but unlike last year that wasn't to a crawl, and I still maintained a reasonable enough pace until the end. Six marathons down. I'll be in double figures soon. Now the plan is not to be lazy, to keep the mileage consistent over the summer, do some smaller races and then (if I can get an entry) have a good crack at Dublin Marathon in October.
October is a good time to run! Not too hot, not too cold. I'm amazed at the folks where I live running during late afternoon this time of year when the temperatures are nearly triple digits Fahrenheit .
I broke 20 minutes in a 5K for the first time at the weekend - 19.43 I don't do a lot of these shorter races or train for them in particular. I could possibly push that down a bit more if I did.
A friend of mine was in Youghal this weekend for an ironman competition. She opted not to finish, though, because the rainy conditions were causing too many bicycle wrecks (one observer counted 46 in one spot alone) and she didn’t want to risk serious injury that would sideline her from future competitions she has scheduled.
to protect your own ass, sprinting would be helpful! To protect somebody with you that you are responsible for, not so much!
perhaps not. I did enough group exercise in the military - I can't stand it now. I've always performed my best as a solo act.
New PB for 10K as well - 41.15 I hope to get that under 40 minutes, but it will take some more effort. And I got my entry for Dublin Marathon, despite some drama - there was a limited re-issue of tickets and very high demand which crashed their website. Thus a lot of complaining from people. Dublin is becoming one of the most popular marathons in Europe and they may have to rethink the entry process and potentially move towards a ballot system, I fear.
Dublin Marathon coming up in a few weeks. I had a bad August (holidays & chest infection limited my training) but a really good September (over 350km total). In the midst of that I ran 1.30.11 for the half, which is a big chunk off and within touching distance of sub-90 minutes. I nearly tore myself to pieces in the last 1km of that race but didn't quite get there in time!
Dublin Marathon is 3.17.52 New PB, very happy with that. It wasn't easy but it's the first marathon where I felt that I was fully the measure of the distance, and my last few miles didn't slow down that much. I intentionally went out at a restrained pace, ran my fastest miles after halfway and ended up with pretty much an even split.
awesome! If you paced yourself perfectly (as you did) and still had gas at the finish line that's great! I'm not in your shoes (no pun intended) but that would encourage me because now I know that my running abilities can be replicated - my training regimen works and works well. Your mileage may vary (there I go again) but I bet you are very encouraged - I can't wait to see what your next time is! I have great respect for your epic achievement and all the training you underwent. Too soon for the NYC marathon?
I'd love to do New York (or any of the majors) but the travel is expensive and it's a bitch to gain entry. If it's like London, then there are three ways to get in - qualify with an insanely fast time, raise oodles of money for charity or via the public ballot with something like a 1 in 10 chance.
I did not know that! I had no idea there was a limit on how many could participate. But I imagine the logistics of putting on a huge event could get out of hand at some point.
I haven't been updating this regularly but I think I will after the weekend. I stepped the training up this year and on Sunday I broke 3 hours 10 minutes in the Dublin Marathon. (I also did 1.27 in the half about a month ago.) Now that I've turned 40, this qualifies me for some of the world majors, including Boston and Chicago. Too late to apply for Boston in 2023 but I'm going to enter Chicago Marathon, which is next October.