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, September 14, 2014

5 Weeks Until Columbus

      The nights are getting darker earlier. The leaves have begun falling from trees. The weather is starting to change.  Fall looks like it wanted to show up a bit earlier than it should, but with all that also comes the Columbus Marathon.  We are now 5 weeks out and this week was going to be a great gauge of where I was at in my training.

MONDAY: I ran 7 miles at a 9 minute pace.  Followed by doing some pull ups at the park.  This Saturday is the Gladiator Rock n' Run and I still want to make sure that I am ready for the obstacles that will take strength.  Overall I felt pretty good, but I kept asking myself how will I be able to run 9 miles and do obstacles in 2 weeks when I tackle the Battle Frog Race.  I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't nervous.

TUESDAY: I went to the gym and did a complete body workout. Normally I would focus on one body part a day, but I need to put my body through some torture so I am ready for the obstacle courses. I came home and felt like I was the piece of meat Rocky Balboa beat up on.

WEDNESDAY: I got out of work a bit early so I decided this would be a good day to do a little longer run than normal.  I did a nice 10 miler at 8:40 pace.  I felt good for most of the run except my shins were a bit sore early in the run.  Luckily the pain dissipated and it didn't have any lasting effect on my run.  When I got home I did some push ups and crunches.

THURSDAY:  I decided to use this day as a gym day again. Normally I would run Thursday and Friday, but I figured with a half marathon on Sunday I would only run one of them.  Once again I did a full body workout.  I felt better than I did on Tuesday, but I was still beat.  The one good thing though is strength with help with my running.

FRIDAY:  I wanted to make sure I was on point with keeping my pace, so I just did 4 miles, but the point was to hit exactly 8 minute miles.  I did really well and was only off by a second or 2 for most miles. One thing I noticed was my hips were sore when I was running.

SATURDAY:  Since we weren't heading to Erie until around 3 I decided to wake up and head to the gym.  I did a very light workout mainly focusing on my hips with some core workouts thrown in.

SUNDAY:  I ran the Erie Half Marathon in the time of 1:46:34.  I will write a full recap of the race later this week.  I felt really good most of the race and only had some shin pains early in the race.  I did not set out with a time to finish this in.  I figured with Columbus being in 5 weeks my goal was to just run a smart race. I basically did everything I set out to do, and I am confident in what I can do for Columbus.


This week I am going to work on getting more long runs in and worry less about the gym.  I will still do some lifting and things, but it will be done mostly at home after my runs.  Like I said before these obstacle races are a different thing to do and I am excited to try them, but Columbus is the main goal.

When and how far is your next race?

4 comments:

  1. Congrats on an awesome time! I am amazed that you are now training for a full marathon, 2 obstacle course races (I got an invite for the one but I'm not that brave!), and banged out a kick-ass time on your half. I can't wait to read the recap.

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    1. I am amazed too, amazed at how insane I am for doing this. I honestly think though training for the obstacle races is helping my overall runs.

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  2. Beast mode! Hal Higdon says if you want to run better-run more and get the miles in. I honestly think that is what has helped me this year. I still want to break a 1:45 half and I honestly believe it is possible. Looks like you're on track for a great marathon. Dream BIG brutha...just BELIEVE!

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    1. Thank you Stephanie!!! It is also good when you have people like yourself being so supportive. I still need to fine tune some things but I have already made up my mind I am going to lay all the cards on the table that day and see what happens

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