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

Thursday, June 11, 2015

I just can't decide!!!



Recently I have been tossing around the idea of running a fall half. (I am still holding strong on taking a year off of doing another full) I had a goal time in mind when I did Pittsburgh and unfortunately with the injury and the humid weather I was not able to get it that day. I am now setting my sights on a fall race in hopes of getting my goal time, problem is I am not sure which fall race I want to do. Do I go for a fast, flat course and stack the odds in my favor of hitting my goal time? Do I challenge myself and find a course with some hills that will make me work for mygoal time? Do I do a destination race or do I do a local race? The possibilities are endless. I asked my Twitter friends for some help and the suggestions came pouring in. I almost wish I never asked for help because now instead of 3 races being tossed around now there is like 10, but hey I guess the more options the better.

Here is some that are topping my list right now. I still have not committed to one, not sure why though maybe I am waiting for someone to show me one that will really blow me away and then they will tell me that they are also running it. First the in state ones:

Sept. 12th- Montour trail half, Montour Pa.: I have ran on this trail many of times and I would expect it to be an out and back course. The trail is pretty flat, but I am still not sure how I feel about going for a goal when there will be little to no crowd support. The positive beside it being flat would be it is a 30 minute drive from my house and would be fairly cheap.

Sept. 13th- French Creek half, Meadville Pa.: I know very little about this race but from what I have read it looks like it would hit both the roads and the trails. I really like the idea of both roads and trails and I tend to do fairly good on courses like that. Only negative is this is a bit further away and would take me getting up a bit earlier to get to the race and pick up my packet and run.

Sept. 19th- Boston Harvest half, Boston Pa.: I am very familiar with this course since I ran a half there early in the year. I am pretty sure that it is the same exact course. It is very flat and most of the race is shaded by trees. The only thing turning me away from this race is that I did it earlier in the year and what to do a new course. The positive though is I would know exactly what to expect and would make training a lot easier.

Oct. 18th- Hershey Half, Hershey Pa.: I have heard a lot of good things about this race and I do know someone that is doing it. Negative would be I would have to spend the night and foot the bill for a hotel room.

Oct. 18th- Runners World Half: I have always wanted to do the Runners World race, but part of me wants to wait and run the full there. I have heard so many good things though that it is making it one of the top on the list.

Then I have a few out of state races that are on top of my list:

Oct. 4th- Crawlin Crab half, Hampton Va.: I know a lot of people running this race and this right now is at the top of the list. I have heard that it is a flat, fast course. It is not too far and I would be able to drive down Saturday morning and race Sunday and then drive home.

Oct. 18th- Columbus Half, Columbus Oh: I ran the full here last year and I was disappointed with the course. All I heard was is it is so flat and so fast, well I found it not as flat as everyone made it out to be. However it was a great race for a great cause. Now that I know the course I would be able to train properly for it.

There are other races I have been looking at but these few are ones that I keep going back too. Help a guy out and let me know which one you like or is there a hidden gem out there that I don’t know about?
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2 comments:

  1. NicholeJune 12, 2015 at 6:54 AM

    That's a damn fine list, I'd have trouble choosing too. I've heard Crawlin Crab is a lot of fun. Both the Montour and Boston Harvest races are on my calendar as considerations for a test/training run before MCM. There's also the Buffalo Creek Half (mostly downhill and nice shady trail) that's a great local race, but it's the weekend before MCM - believe it's Oct 18 or 19 - so that's out for me this year.

    Good luck choosing! I'm sure you'll have a great time wherever you go.

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    1. UnknownJune 12, 2015 at 7:21 AM

      Last night I narrowed it down to 2...it's either the crawlin crab or the buffalo creek. I will make the final decision this weekend

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