Who Am I?

I am an avid runner and have been running since I was 15 years old. I began running low to medium distances while on my high school track team, running the 800 meter and 1600 meter races (I was a sub 5 miler and a 2 minute 800 runner). In addition to the track team, I also joined the cross country team. After high school I still wanted to run and decided to start doing road races. I have probably ran a couple hundred 5k races (16.29 PR)along with many 10k's as well. In 2009 I decided to step up my game and try to tackle my first marathon. I will be honest; the only reason I did this was because my father ran a few and I wanted to show him that I could do what he did. I trained poorly for my first one and regret it. If you are going to run a race, train like you want to win. I still continue to run marathons and other distances as well, and every race is a chance for me to better myself.
I started this blog to hopefully communicate with other runners and to shed any knowledge I may have about the sport that can help other runners. I believe running is the best sport and can be a great stress reliever. I encourage all runners to spread the word of our sport and show people why running is so good and why the community of runners has such great people. You can follow me on twitter @byrne1324 or find me on facebook- Shaun Byrne

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Affirmations : Weekly Recap

AFFIRMATIONS: These are positive statements that describe a situation, which are often repeated, until they get impressed on the subconscious mind.

                         “The body is tougher than the mind”


     It is time for me to get serious. This week I took a long hard look at myself and my previous races, and I had to come to the realization that I am to blame for my short comings. I have no one to blame but myself for things that have gone wrong. Pittsburgh Marathon 2011, I didn’t train even close to what you should for a marathon. Pittsburgh 2014, I got dehydrated from not taking water. I was over an hour off of where I should have finished. With Columbus in my head lights I have decided to really go for it. I want, I need, and I will get my Boston qualifying time. This training session is going to be different from the rest. I am taking different measures to ensure a good race. No more relying on raw talent, this time I earn my time.  

      During previous training I have ran into some mental problems more than the physical. I would let my mind tell my body to shut down. So this time around I have started to tell myself “The body is tougher than the mind” anytime I want to call it quits on a workout. Affirmations are a great way to keep you motivated. You pick a saying that is short and easy to repeat, example would be “never give up”, and you keep saying it throughout your training. Eventually your mind will pick up on it and you will start to almost trick your body into keep working. 

      I am going to call this past week my first real week of training for the Columbus Marathon. This will be the base of improvement from here on out. 

     Monday: I ran 4 miles. My goal for this run was to work more on stride. I felt really good the whole run and I even started to pick up on how to lengthen my stride. It’s still going to take some time but I think I can maybe save some energy by doing this. After my run I came home and did my workout for my 30 day Ab challenge. I started the challenge last Wednesday and I can already feel some improvements in my running from it. At this point I do not see any change in my look from it, but I can feel a tighter core and it has become easier to do.

     Tuesday: There was a storm when I got home from work so running was out of the question. I headed to Planet Fitness or as I like to call it the Average Joes Gym for some cross training. I did 8 miles in a half hour on the bike, followed by an arm workout. My wife was with me and after the workout she wanted to tan so I decided to do my Ab work out at the gym. It was very difficult since I increased the weight in my lifting. My body was tired and I knew it would be a battle. “The body is tougher than the mind”. I finished the workout.

      Wednesday: As usual this day was my rest day so my wife and I could go to the movie. We went to the theatre but didn’t stay. Let’s just say we walked away laughing with a funny story, and came home and ordered a movie on demand. 


     Thursday: I was excited for this run all day. I have decided to not wear my compression socks when running. However I know they are a key ingredient for recovery and I put them on every night while I sleep. This was going to be my first run to see if my ab and cross training workouts were going to have an effect on my running, and it was time to see if the compression socks while sleeping helped. I am pleased to say I had one of my best runs in a while. I did 6 miles and my legs felt great the whole time. I was moving fast and I think I may have found what works for me. Go hard at the gym, do the abs and wear my compression socks at night. 

      Friday: This was a disappointing day for me. At work I did not have time to take a lunch and was out of the office most of the day. Therefore I did not eat or drink for almost 10 hours. When I came home I had all intentions of doing a 4 mile tempo run. Something told me to play it safe and don’t hurt myself with running on empty. I decided to forgo running this day and I made a big dinner and filled up on water for the night knowing tomorrow would be my long slow run. I still did my ab workout though.

      Saturday: Long slooooowww run day. This time around I really need to focus on the slow part. Previous training sessions I would say I am doing my long slow run and end up with just short of race pace. So I set out for 10 miles and my goal was to stay around a 10 minute per mile pace. I started the run at 7:45 am and the humidity was already high. Once again I did not bring water with me and on mile 6 I felt like I was going to pass out. Thank god the course I chose ran pass Tru Runner and they have water and energy gel outside for free for runners on weekends. I stopped, took some water and a shot of the Cliff energy gel. I felt good enough to finish the rest of my run but realized I need to get serious and buy something to carry water on my long runs. Except for the dehydration part of the run I felt really good, there was no pains in my legs and I felt like I could have went longer. Not bad for not having done the long run since the marathon.    


      After my run I had to go back to MOJO running store to return my Adidas Boston shoes. After wearing them for a few days around the house and on 2 runs, I can tell they just aren’t a good fit for me. I exchanged them for the Mizuno Wave Inspire 10’s. They are a much better fit and I can tell they are going to work better for me. I also purchased a 10 oz. water bottle that attaches to your hand. No more going waterless on long runs now. 

      Sunday (today): I woke up today and normally I would expect to have some sore legs. I do not though and I credit that to sleeping with the compression socks on. I will be doing some swimming today since I will be attending a party of my cousin’s house. Every month we try to have a cousin’s party and all get together and just hang out. Swimming is great for cross training I plan on taking full advantage of the pool. When I get home I will still do my Ab workout.

       Week 1 of training for Columbus was a good one. I ended up with 20 miles logged and got in some really good cross training. I am happy with a solid base to go off of for the rest of training. Every week I hope to add more miles and add weight in my cross training. Columbus take note this runner is coming for you!!!! “The Body Is Tougher Than The Mind”


Do you use an affirmation to get you motivated? If so what is your saying?

6 comments:

  1. Great affirmation. I need to start using one. That is cool that True Runner has water & energy gels for free for runners!

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    1. I use to never think they would work then last year while training I started to say one when I hit a hard spot and I would run through it. They really do work and i agree it is awesome true runner does that for the runners

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  2. For a long time, I've used the words "strong body, strong mind" as a mantra during runs. Depending on which feels weaker on any given day, I'll switch around the order of which goes first, in an attempt to have the stronger part of myself elevate the weaker, rather than being brought down to least common denominator.

    I'm totally with you on slowing down the long run. Training for Pittsburgh marathon, I know I didn't do my long runs slow enough. In the two months since, I've put lots of focus into slowing down, which feels totally backwards but I've been liking it.

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    1. Ya I am with you on definitely liking the slow run now since I am actually doing it right. I like the strong body, strong mind!!! Works nice when you can switch it up based on what you need to motivate you for the day.

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  3. Congrats on your first week! The first step truly is a positive, "failing is not an option" attitude. Rooting for you all the way for that BQ

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    1. Thank you, hopefully the rest of the weeks follow suit and go as good. Positive attitude is then only way to go, once you doubt yourself you already set yourself up for failure

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