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 7, 2014

6 Weeks Till Columbus

This week is the start of my fall "big" races.  On Sunday the 14th I will be up in Erie Pa. to run a half marathon.  I am going into this race with 2 goals: 1. Run about 90 percent of my marathon pace and see where my body is.  I have done the long runs and I feel good after my long runs, but as a lot of us know when you get into a race your adrenaline will take over and you go faster than you practiced for.  2. I am going to work on the hydration aspect of the race.  I am going to act like I am running a full marathon and make sure I take water more often than not.  I have no set time I am looking to get, I am just focusing on running a smart, good race.


MONDAY:  I ran 10 miles with a break at about mile 4.  I ran my first 4 miles to a near by park and once I was there I did some obstacle training. Monkey bars, climbing a rope, and pull ups.  Then I ran another 6 miles to finish up the run.  I have to say I am overly excited for these obstacle races coming up in the next 3 weeks. I still need to do as much upper body training as I can though.  I can see this is going to be harder than I thought.

TUESDAY:  Went to the gym and did a 4 mile tempo run... I ran my first mile at 8:30 pace on the treadmill then dropped to a 8:00 pace for mile 2 and 3. I finished the fourth mile with a 8:30 pace.  I felt really good for running a treadmill which normally gives my shins problems.  I ended the gym with a back and shoulder workout that beat the shit out of me.

WEDNESDAY:  I planned on a 8 mile run at race pace.  Everything was going great until I got to mile 3 when I ran by a friends house and she saw me. She stopped me and asked if I would look at her lawn mower for her. "Sure why not, it's not like I am doing anything at this moment." So I spent about a half hour fixing a mower mid run. Once I get out of my mind set for running it is hard to get back in it, so I came home and went to the gym and lifted for about an hour.

THURSDAY:  I was super excited because football season finally started this day.  I came home from work and quickly got changed and headed out for a 7 mile run. I ran probably one of my fastest 7 mile training runs all year.  I honestly think it was because I wanted to get home and be showered before the start of kickoff.  I felt great though after the run and I am starting to get more confidence in myself.

FRIDAY: I used this day as a rest day and just did some stretching. Even if I am going to take a rest day I still want to stay loose for all these races coming up.  Plus at the ripe age of 35 I know my body isn't what it use to be and doing obstacles are going to be a challenge if I am not in some type of shape.

SATURDAY: LONG SLOW RUN:  That is exactly what it was a nice long slow run.  I finished just short of 20 miles. My legs were sore a bit, but for the most part I felt good.  I didn't want to push it to hard since I have that half this week, but I wanted to still log some miles.  I dropped my pace down to around 10 minutes to make sure I didn't overwork myself.

SUNDAY: TODAY:  I plan on watching the Steeler game. So if your a Browns fan today, I dislike you.  Once the game is over I am taking the dog to the park that has one of those old style obstacle courses.  You know that ones that are numbered and you are supposed to run to each one and then do the workout.  I figure anyway that will help me gain some strength is a good thing.

This week I plan on doing most of my runs early in the week then tapering off a few days before the race. I also plan on hitting the gym hard again this week.

Have you ever had someone stop you mid run to talk or ask you something?  Does it annoy you as much as it does for me?


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2 comments:

  1. This Runners FuelSeptember 9, 2014 at 5:56 PM

    That's a great sign that you got through your 20 with no issues. Right on track. Good luck in Erie, I can't wait to hear how it goes!

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