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

Monday, November 10, 2014

Gearing up for another race!


It has been a little over 3 weeks since I ran the Columbus marathon and a little over a week since I ran my 24 hour fundraiser. The next race on my schedule is the Pittsburgh Turkey Trot 5 miler on Thanksgiving morning, which is a little more than 2 weeks away. This is my last race of the season and for once I am happy to get it over with. After the Columbus Marathon I only ran 2 times before my 24 hour run. I wasn’t sure how my legs would hold up and wanted to let them rest as much as possible. My legs were able to hold up for the most part, but after the 24 hour run they were very sore and I knew I would not be running for a few days until they felt better. Around mid-week my legs finally started to feel better and I was starting to get anxious to get back on the road and go for a run. Then as luck would have it I got sick. I started to feel sick at the beginning of the week, but it didn’t really hit me hard until Wednesday. I guess being out in the cold all night for my 24 hour run finally took its toll on me. A small price to pay for doing something good, but when you are wanting to get back on the road it’s not what you want. Instead of getting progressively better I have got progressively worst. What started as achy pains and a headache is now a sore throat, congested and constant wheezing. Having asthma makes it almost impossible to even think about trying to go for a run.

This week I planned on really hitting the training hard in hopes of getting a PR for the 5 miler. Five miles is not a normal race distance for me so I only have a few times to go off of. Last year I went with no expectation and it was brutally cold out, yet I still was able to run 40:00 minutes. This year all of my times have really started to improve and I really wanted to push for 35 minutes or faster. I still need to get some good runs in if I have any chance of doing this. The distance is no problem at all. I could do 5 miles in my sleep, the speed however is going to be a challenge. I haven’t ran a short race in a few months and all my training has been geared toward long distance. I have devised a short little training schedule for the next 2 weeks, and this is all assuming I recover from this cold by the weekend. Let me tell you if I am not recovered I am going to be one pissed off person. Forget the race, I got a wedding to attend on Friday night and I plan on letting loose. I don’t know if I have ever told you people this but these legs can do a lot more than just run. I have been known to get on the dance floor and break it down.

So this what my training schedule for the next 2 weeks or so:

This week I will rest and do some stretching. If for some chance I start to feel better by midweek then I will go to the gym and do some lifting. Nothing major because I want to make sure I am 100 percent better before I go hard. Next week I will start the beginning of the week with a 5 mile slow run then I will do a speed workout followed by a 4 mile run at just short of race pace. Cross train one day, with a rest day before a long 10 miler on Saturday. That will leave 5 days before the race. Actually that will leave 4 days I can work out and 1 day to rest. I am hoping that all that marathon training comes into play on race day and those 5 miles seem like a breeze and I am able to really push myself. I say I am happy to get this race over with because this year has been great for me. I improved a ton since last season. I found a new passion in obstacle racing. But most of all I got the hunger back in my blood and the confidence to really go for it next season. I don’t plan on taking much time off during the off season because I have high hopes and want to do everything to get even better. BIG GOALS, BIG DREAMS, BIG RESULTS!!!!

Next Sunday when I do my weekly report on my training (Last 2 weeks I have been off schedule, but I will be back on next week) I am hoping to report good things.

How do you deal with being sick and training?

4 comments:

  1. I'm just getting to the "catching the fall cold" status. Not thrilled. I'm pumping the vitamin C and drinking tons of water!

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    1. I take vitamin C gummies every morning and drink a vitamin c all day long at work and I still got it. I hope you dont get it cause it sucks!!

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  2. Sucks to get sick just when you're ready to get back out there. Rest up this week so you can get a good week of training in next week!

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