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 15, 2014

Weekly Review: The good and the bad

     Obviously I have to start this post by saying Happy Fathers Day to all the running dads out there.  And a huge shout out to my father who still gives me words of wisdom to help me improve everyday.

     This week was good and bad weak all in one. Unfortunately most of the goods things actually have nothing to do with improving my running.  If you read my blog last week you know I was experiencing some Gout problems with my foot.  Normally I take my prescription medicine and boom in 12 hours I am back to new.  Well that was not the case this week. Even after taking the medicine the pain got worse and really prohibited me from running.

MONDAY: Since the pain in my foot was strong this day I decided not to run at all.  Instead I went to the gym and did a Arm workout and Ab workout.  

TUESDAY:  Once again I found myself in pain and with every step I took a shooting pain was going across my foot.  I once again found myself at the gym and decided to take a big risk and do a leg workout.  For the most part I was able to get through it. There was a few times when I was doing calf exercises that I had to use my foot more than I would of like to that caused some real pain.  I however finished the whole workout and even left the gym thinking maybe it helped my foot.

WEDNESDAY: So that whole thing about helping my foot on Tuesday at the gym was completely false.  I woke up and the pain had doubled.  I found myself having to take a pain killer just to get through work and decided to forgo any training at all on this day.

THURSDAY: I woke up and felt the pain was starting to go away so I decided after work that I would go for a short run just to see how I felt.  I ran 3.5 miles and my foot didn't bother me at all.  I made sure not to push myself to hard and ran 9 minute miles just to make sure I didn't over do it.

FRIDAY:  I got out of work early and decided to stop at the tattoo shop that is up the road from my work.  I originally was just stopping in to drop off my drawing I finished, and was hoping to get an appointment for the tattoo.  Lucky me walks in and the artist I wanted to do my ink had a cancellation and said he was able to fit me in right there.  I was pretty excited to get this done and I am really happy with the way it came out.  If you ever need a good tattoo and are in Pittsburgh I highly recommend Inka Dinka Doo studio in Lawrenceville. They do quality work and wont beat you over the head with some out of this world price.

In case you can't read what it say because of the lighting when I took the picture it says "I Run This Town"..  great play on words I must say.

SATURDAY:  My foot pain was finally gone so I decided to run 6 miles. I wanted to go longer but I was still apprehensive about what my foot would do if I pushed it to hard.  I once again stayed around 9 minutes per mile, and felt really good when I was done.  After my run I was going to a friends house for a party in Cranberry Township. I have never been to MOJO Running store which is located in the area so I figured I would stop in and see what they are all about.  Well me in a running store is like putting my wife in a purse store. You know something is getting bought whether you need it or not.  I tried on a many shoes and finally found a pair that I really felt good in.  I settled for the Adidas Boston 4's.  Funny thing about these shoes are about 2 years ago I bought the Boston 2's and ever since I seem to compare all shoes to that one pair, so I am glad to be back in them.  Plus it makes sense if I am going to aim for Boston I might as well wear the shoes. Maybe they will be my good luck shoes. 

SUNDAY (TODAY):   Since it was Fathers day I had a lot of running around to do so I didn't get in my run and just did some light stretching.

So this week didn't go as I would of liked but I am happy that pain in my foot is gone. Hopefully it doesn't come back for a while.  This week coming up I will go back to normal training and on Saturday I will run the Oakmont 5K.  My goal for the race is go Sub 22. Every race this summer I want to drop time and hopefully I can get back to where I once was.  We shall see how that goes.
Even though my week was shitty for the training side, I still walked away with some new kick ass shoes and a little piece of art that I will have with me for life that shows my passion for running.

How is training going?
Do you have any race's coming up

  

5 comments:

  1. I hope your foot gets completely better soon, especially before your next race. Great tattoo, and yes, I've heard awesome things about Inka Dinka Doo. Cool new running shoes too!

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  2. Definitely scary with pain ... glad it seems to be subsiding. Thanks for the comments - always great to find new blogs!

    I got edged off the road this winter (intentionally by a car) and the snow was flat but the ground sloped away and I landed hard and my hip took the impact and I had one rest day planned but took a second and was really glad it went away ... I've been lucky with injuries and hope it keeps up!

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    1. I have been lucky with the injuries at least this year. Unfortunately this is one is due to high Uric acid levels in the body, most times it is gone in a day but this one was really bad for some reason

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  3. Cool new art work. Hope the pains return to normal and you can write about kicking ass at some of the upcoming races.

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    1. Thanks, right now all is good and the pain seems to be all but gone

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