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, April 12, 2015

3 Weeks Until 2015 PGH Marathon

I don't know about you, but when I get this close to race day I start to get really excited and nervous at the same time. At this point you should be getting ready to start your taper. I have one more week of my hardest workout then it's taper time for me. Since I started the Hal Higdon method one week early I had an extra week to play with. This week I decided to use it as a cut back week and do very little running. Since my next week is going to be my hardest I want to have fresh legs. This is going to be definitive week. It's either going to tell me I am where I want to be or I am coming up short. So here is how my week went. It's going to be a short recap since like I said there was little running.

MONDAY: rest day

TUESDAY: speed day: I had to meet a photographer for the Post Gazette on the riverfront trail. They are doing a piece that should be in the paper this week about runners who have tattoos that are geared around running. After getting my picture taken and giving a short interview I was off running. I did a quick 3 miles. The first mile was at a 8:30 pace then I dropped down to a 6:30 for the second mile and finished with a 8:00 for the third.

WEDNESDAY: rest day: I did some light stretching, but not much.

THURSDAY: When I left work I checked the weather and decided I would attempt to beat a break in the rain and go for a 4 mile run. I ran it in 34 minutes. I felt really good and as I sat in my car the rain started to dump. Had I gone any further than 4 miles I would have been caught in a major storm. Score Shaun 1 Mother Nature 0 this day.  Don't worry she would soon get revenge on me.

FRIDAY: Rest Day

SATURDAY: Most of the running groups in Pittsburgh had their course preview run. I was going to be running the SCRR club. I arrived early and checked in just a little before 8:00 am. As I was walking around I noticed Amanda sitting at a table. She looked very cold. I went over and we were both talking about how chilly it was. There were no Port-o-potty's on sight so I ran over Dunkin Donuts to use the bathroom. The workers were not happy about the runners using the restrooms. As I was walking back I noticed Jennifer had made her way over to meet Amanda. I stopped over and said hello and got to get a quick picture with them before I made my way to my pace group. I was running the 10 mile course at a 8:30 pace.

SUNDAY: Today is my last rest day for the week. Tomorrow starts my most important week of training.

Besides the running part this week I really need to work on mental training. In previous races I would psych myself out before the race even started. I would start to question my training. I would doubt my talent. Yesterday while running it happened again. I knew I was running a pace that is easy for me, but for some reason I started to queation could I go faster. I have gone faster many of times,
but for some reason I was questioning myself.  I need to just run, not think just run. I don't know how I am going to do this but I need to figure it out pretty quick. It's strange because I know what I am capable of and for some reason I just psych myself out. This has been my best training cycle so if I can get the mental part down I will be ready.


4 comments:

  1. Nice cutback week. I hope you're nice and rested up for the big week ahead. Man, I heard those Dunkin Donuts people were really pissed runners kept using their bathroom. I'll be working on the mental training these next couple weeks. The hardest part of taper for me is psyching myself out.

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    1. Nichole I am glad to see I am not the only person that sometimes can psych themselves out. We both have to just stay positive and know we got this.

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  2. Keep reminding yourself how great your training has gone. You're going to kick butt on race day!

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