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, May 31, 2015

That long lost feeling

     I can't pinpoint it to a day or a time, but I found my passion for running again. Don't get me wrong it was never really gone, but at times I was getting frustrated with workouts and races. After the Pittsburgh Half Marathon I expected myself to be down on myself for not having the race I wanted, but instead I accepted the outcome and made it my goal to work extra hard this summer and accept responsibility for every race outcome.
     Every week I am trying to add a bit more into my workouts. My goal is by mid summer to be running as if I was training for a full marathon, even though it looks like I will be running another half at the end of summer. I think I am going to sign up for the Crawlin Crab Half Marathon in October as my redemption race. So here is how training went down this week.

MONDAY: Since it was a holiday I figured it would be a great day to head to the track. Sure enough I was the only person there, SCORE for me!!!  I started with a light warm up and some stretching, then begun with a 800. My time was 3:23. Then I did 3 X 600's. My times were 2:40, 2:43, 2:39. Then I did 4 x 400's. Times were 1:21, 1:23, 1:25, and my last was an all out sprint in 1:09. I finished with one last 800 at 5K pace and then did a 800 cool down. I felt really good even though this workout beat me down.

TUESDAY: 4 Miles at 8:23.  I ran a fairly easy course, but wanted to do a course that was flat and see what my time would look like at 75%. I feel pretty good about this time and will start using this course as my progress course.

WEDNESDAY: 4.5 miles at 8:40. As I was running the 3rd mile I felt my right leg tighten up again. This is the same leg and pain that gave me problems during the half marathon. I was still able to finish the run, and as soon as I finished I immediately did some stretching. My wife said she could feel a knot in my calf muscle, so she tried to massage it out.  It did feel a little better but I could still feel some pain.

THURSDAY: My sister needed my to baby sit her youngest child while she and my brother in-law went to her oldest schools play. She lives about 5 miles away so I decided to run over. My right leg was sore and about half way there I realized I was over compensating for the pain by using my left leg more than I should of, causing my left to get sore as well. I still ran the whole way and felt good for the most part. I don't think the leg thing is serious this time and will just take a few days of stretching and foam rolling and not running.

FRIDAY: Since I have a race this Tuesday I wanted to let the leg rest. I headed to the gym and did some upper body workouts. I need to hit the gym more soon since I will be doing at least 2 obstacle races this summer and upper body strength is a must for them.

SATURDAY: I helped my buddy who owns a landscaping business get caught up on some of his lawns.  I am so glad I did because all that walking really got my leg feeling loose and good, plus I probably lost 10 pounds of sweat.

SUNDAY: I am helping my friend again do some of his lawns. I plan on not running again today. I want to let the my leg get back to 100% before my mile race on Tuesday. Tomorrow I will do an easy 3 and see how it feels.  

Like I said in this post I am doing a race on Tuesday. If any of you are around I suggest coming to the Gateway middle school and running it as well. It's at 6:00 pm and it is free. They will have a few heats so you can get into one that best fits your time. The school is right off the parkway and is always a good time, plus yours truly will be there.

How did your training go?
Are you planning on a fall destination race?

9 comments:

  1. First of all, good luck for getting back into training! When and where is your race on Thursday? Any detail/link?

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    1. It's on Tuesday, go under runhigh.com and you can see the details there. There is no link but it gives the details under the race name "gateway mile"

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    2. Gasp, this is Thursday - I have a visitor that day! I wish you all the best!

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    3. Thanks, Ya I don't know why I had TUESDAY in my mind.

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  2. Nice work this week. That was really dang smart going to the track on Monday so you could get in that great workout. Good luck at your race! My fall destination race is MCM. I have no other plans other than getting to DC and getting it done. :)

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    1. Don't worry Nichole I have faith in you. You will get to DC and you will run a great race. I wish I could go to the track everyday during weird hours and be the only person there. It was so nice being alone on the track

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  3. Correction gateway mile is Thursday

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  4. I have heard so many great things about that crawlin crab half. Good choice! And glad you got your mojo back!

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