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, November 23, 2014

Training Nov. 17th - 23rd

     This week has really messed with my mentally. I was ready to throw up the white flag and say F it I am done.  Last week I was pretty sick, but by the weekend I started to feel better. This week I was looking forward to getting out and doing some light running and lifting before my race on Thursday.  Well my body apparently had a different plan.
 
Monday: All day at work all I could think was finally I am going to get in a workout.  I figured I would go to the gym this day and run the next 3 days.  I ended up doing a mixture of workouts, burpees, push ups, arm curls, crunches, and planks.  I felt really good after the workout, but I could tell taking a few weeks off had some effects.

Tuesday: I go to work and I am thinking finally today is the day I get to run. That was at 9:00 I had that great thought, because at 10:00 I started to feel achy and got a terrible headache. By the time I left work at 4:00 I was on fire and felt horrible. As soon as I got home I jumped in bed. I woke up in a pool of sweat later in the night, but my fever went away and I thought I felt a lot better.  

Wednesday: When I woke up for work I felt terrible.  I was once again hot and couldn't put on enough clothing to get warm. I always thought when you have a fever you would want to lose clothing, not me though I went to work looking like the younger brother from the movie "A Christmas Story".   When I came home I once again jumped in bed hoping the rest would help me feel better.  Luckily I had Kia to take care of me, and by that I mean lay next to me and lick my face every chance she had.

Thursday: I started to feel better, but I still had a sore throat. My lungs once again felt like there was something in them.  As much as I wanted to work out I knew it wasn't worth it. I did however do some light stretching.  This is the day that it really hit me that for the last 2 weeks I haven't been able to do much of anything. It really started to screw with my mind.  I started to doubt myself and was contemplating of pulling out of the Turkey Trot. Part of me knows I can run 5 miles with my eyes closed and part of me is the competitor who wants to go balls to the wall.  

Friday: During work I decided I am still going to do the Turkey Trot and I am not letting this cold stop me. I may have not been able to train the way I wanted to but I still have my training from the marathon.  I knew I really wouldn't throw in the white towel and call it quits that easy, but I needed to convince myself that sometimes sitting out of training is the best thing.  I didn't get to do any real training this day because it was light up night downtown and we went to see the fireworks. I probably ended up walking miles though that night. I wish I had pictures to show you, but it was freezing out and my hands were numb.  

Saturday:  I woke up and went and got a flu shot. I am not playing around this winter, the last thing I want is to get sick like this again. I did end up doing some stretching and light arm workouts at my house.  As much it is killing me not to run I decided to wait until Monday.  For some reason I have this thought that I am going to run and it is going to somehow bring back the cold. Maybe If I wait until Monday I will be okay. 

Sunday: Today Amanda, my friend Aaron and myself had to be at PNC park for 10:00 am.  We were picking our 2015 season ticket seats for the Pirates.  It was great because we got the seats we wanted and our friend Abby who couldn't make it was happy with the seats also. Today I figured I will just rest up and tomorrow I will head to the gym and run and lift.  Hopefully this cold is done and I can get back to normal. Thursday's race will be interesting and I have no clue how it will turn out but I will be sure to let you all know.

How do you deal with a cold that wont seem to go away?
What is the longest you ever went without running before a race?

3 comments:

  1. Ugh! I'm sorry you aren't feeling well - that is the worst, but it's good that you're resting! Coming back too soon, will only do more harm than good!
    Good Luck on Thursday, I'm sure you'll do great!

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  2. I think being sidelined for two weeks is going to give you the motivation to push really hard on Thursday. I wouldn't worry about the lack of running. Your marathon training will definitely see you through. I will look for you on Thursday!

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    1. Are you going to do the 5 mile or 5k? I will look for you

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