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, August 31, 2014

A MIXED BAG OF TRAINING

     Let's just call this week training for a mixed bag of races.  The Erie Half Marathon is 2 weeks away. The Battle Frog Race is 4 weeks away, and the Columbus Marathon is 7 weeks away.  Luckily while training for Columbus I basically was training for Erie. In fact the Erie race will be a nice little gauge of where I am just a few weeks out.  The Battle Frog Race is something new to me and I just found out I would be doing it on Wednesday so I have just begun my training for that, which in this post you will see I am out of my element as of right now.

MONDAY:  So if you read my post on last Sunday, you know I was nursing a shoulder/neck injury.  When I woke up Monday I felt pretty good and decided running after work would be my true test to see how I really felt.  I wanted to push it a little hard and see how it felt so I did 10 miles at a medium pace.  I finished just a bit over 1 hour and 30 minutes on a course that can be challenging.  I felt good mentally and physically. My neck and shoulder help up for the most part, there was times when it would get sore.  This actually helped because I would focus on that and forget about running all together and it made the time go by quickly.

TUESDAY: One thing I noticed during my 10 mile run was my hips were a bit sore when I was finished so I wanted to do some cross training and work on them.  I did a leg workout at the gym, followed by an Ab workout.

WEDNESDAY:  This was an exciting day for me. I was contacted by the Battle Frog Race Series and it was confirmed that I will be running their 15K Obstacle Race September 27th.  It is a day before the Great Race so it looks like I will be selling my entry.  Normally I would be pissed about missing a race but I get to do the BattleFrog for free and have the perks of media. Pays to blog people.  Now I know I can run 9 miles no problem but the obstacles will be the challenge for me.  I have made it known that I will not deviate from Columbus training so on this day I did a 7 mile tempo run.  My legs were sore from the workout yesterday but I pushed through and still managed to get a decent time.
I am still pushing for someone, anyone to do this race with me.  It may be a little pricey but the medal is nice, and all funds go to a great cause.

THURSDAY:  The more I thought about the Battle Frog race the more I started to question the physical aspect of the race.  Now I am ready for Erie so that is not even a concern, but Columbus means a lot to me.  I redesigned my training program and will throw in 2 days of cross training instead of 1.  I will just make my runs more productive from here on out.  No more junk miles as people would call them.  I headed to the gym again and did a arm workout followed by a core workout.

FRIDAY:  With Erie only 2 weeks away I wanted to get in at least one more really good speed workout.  I headed to the track and did an hour of all different things.  200's, 400's, 100's, 1600's, and I even did some speed work on a hill.  I felt really good, and I even walked away thinking the old Shaun is starting to come back.  I am now excited to see what I can do in Erie.

SATURDAY:  Lets just call this day an eye opening experience.  I woke up and set out on a 18 mile run.  The weather was perfect, overcast and a nice little breeze.  I felt really good for most of the run and I was really paying attention to when I take water.  My lungs felt really good and I had no trouble breathing through out the run. My legs did start to ache towards the end and once again my hips seem to be at the center of the pain.  When I got home all I wanted to do was lay down, but after talking to my cousin Chris my plans changed.  Chris informed me he and his wife would be taking their daughter to the park.  Normally I would make fun of him for going to the park, but on this day I invited myself to go.  I figured what does a park have that I need? The answer my friends is monkey bars. I mean if I am going to train for an obstacle race why not train on things that will be on the course. So if you drive by a park and see a 35 year old man playing with kids, don't call the cops that's just me training.   Anyway, as I am at the park my cousin is coaching me along this climbing/hanging thingy we will call it.   Now let me first say, I always was the athletic type. I have played sports probably from the time I could walk, so I just assumed I still have it.  Ya, I was wrong.  As I am hanging from this thing trying to get across (which I did) this little girl comes over and goes across this thing like it was easy as can be.  This is the point I realized I am out of my element.  So I am going to still train my normal way for Columbus, but I will throw some after run activities in to help build strength.  Like I said I live for a challenge and this is just what I need, plus this will actually benefit me for Columbus.  A stronger, leaner body will only help.

SUNDAY:  Normally I would call this my rest day, but with all these races I have decided to skip the rest day once in a while.  I headed to the gym early and did some shoulder and back workouts. Once again this helps for all the races.  The rest of this day will be spend doing Fantasy Football Drafts.  I have 2 today.  One live one and one online.  I look forward to this day like it's Christmas.

All these races have me very excited, but I have my eyes set on Columbus.  The other 2 races are ways to help me along the way..

Do you have any fall races coming up, and how is the training going for you?

4 comments:

  1. Interesting way to get your training in for all three races. For the Erie half, are you going to race it or run at your marathon pace? I'm always curious to see how people weave races into their main training plan.

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    1. I think for Erie I am going to push it and see what I can do. Since I am only doing the half I think I can go race speed and be okay. Battle Frog I am going to go and have some fun and be careful I don't hurt myself before Columbus

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  2. I love racing during marathon training! It's the best time to run PRs!

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    1. That is what I am hoping for, well that and not killing myself on the obstacle races

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