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, July 12, 2015

Training Week 1 For Drum Roll Please........

     Well friendly people after weeks and weeks of searching for the perfect fall race, I have finally made my final decision. Drum Roll Please........ and the race I will be running this fall in hopes of getting my half marathon PR and vengeance from the Pittsburgh Half will be the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon. The decision came down to this race and the Crawlin Crab in Virginia Beach. I heard great things about both of them, but the final decision came down to a race that I think I can really zone out and just run. Buffalo Creek is on a trail with little spectators and it is a point to point race. I always do better at these type of races and with no crowd I will be able to put my headphones in and just run.
With the race now being on October 17th, we are just 13 weeks out. I already have a hand full of races that I am registered for, and they will be great for this training cycle. This past week marked my first week of training. Even before the race decision was made I went into this week with the mindset that it would be week 1 of training. I always take the first week a bit slow and build up from it, and this cycle was no different.

MONDAY: The weather this summer has been nothing but wet and shitty. As much as I hate running on the treadmill I went to the gym and decided to do 4 miles. I paced the 4 miles at a 8:18. I felt really good and if this was day 1 of training then I am really excited to see how this ends up.  Hopefully this time around I stay injury free.

TUESDAY: Normally Tuesday is my track day, unfortunately the weather once again was wreaking havoc and forced me to use the treadmill again. Since I was scheduled for a speed workout I decided to do a tempo run. My first mile was ran at a 8:30 pace, then I ran my next 2 miles at a 7:00 pace, followed by a 8:30 pace to end the workout. 

WEDNESDAY: I saw a break in the weather and thought I could head over to a local field and try to get in some more speed work. The field was a little less than a quarter mile, I used it like a normal track and ran 75 percent speed laps. I got about 4 in when the rains came pouring down and I had to call it quits.

THURSDAY: REST DAY- my legs were a little sore from doing 2 days of speed, normally I would never do or recommend doing that, but I have a mile race coming up and want to increase my speed. It was a one time thing and will not be done ever again in training. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be dedicated for speed workouts.

FRIDAY: Stretching. It was late when I got home from work so I decided to do some stretching and get caught up on some much needed burpee's. With BattleFrog coming up in 4 weeks I am going to need to start doing more of those so I am ready come race day.

SATURDAY: I headed out on a 6 mile run and right before I started I said something to myself. "Run like you use to, run like you know how." I don't know what happened over the past few years, but from some reason I got so involved with holding a pace that I threw everything I learned out the window. This run I when I went down a hill I let my body carry me and I relaxed. When I would go up a hill I would shorten my stride and lean forward. Even though I wore my Garmin I never looked at it until I was done. My final time for the 6 miles was 45 minutes exactly.  This training session I am not going to worry about time as much and I am going to focus on just running like I use to 15 years ago when I was running at my highest level.

SUNDAY: Today is another rest day before I get back into the training full time and with little resting. Even days I don't run I plan on using to stretch and do some lifting. 

Anyone else running Buffalo Creek?
How are you training for it?

6 comments:

  1. Yay! Glad you made a decision! I was going to run that race but I decided on a January marathon so it doesn't fit. I hope to be up and cheering though!

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    1. That would be awesome if you were there to cheer

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  2. Yay! This will be my 3rd year running this race. It's my favorite. You can definitely just hunker down and focus on your run. Plus, it's so scenic and pretty--I have really enjoyed it. I also like your new focus on just running like you know how and not focusing on pace. Can't wait to follow your training!

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    1. You def. Had some influence on whether I would do this race. I remember reading how much you enjoyed it and after talking too people it just felt right. Here's hoping that we kick some ass

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  3. I love Buffalo Creek. It's perfect for zoning out and doing your thing and I think you'll destroy that course. It's a net downhill too - just a little "bump" around mile 12 and then down again to the finish. If I could trust myself to just run it as my long run I'd so be there (especially since I'm living much closer to it than last year), but I know better. If it were a week earlier I'd do it.

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    1. That sucks it isn't a week earlier, this way we could all run it together. I am pretty excited to try a course that is mainly downhill, I never have ran one that usually isn't more uphill than down.

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