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, August 2, 2015

Buffalo Creek Training: Week 4

For a short week, and I call this a short week because I had a race Friday night so I had to rest more days than normal it actually turned out to be a good week.

Monday: Rest day - I moved my rest day to Monday's because now that I am starting to add the mileage on my Sunday long runs my legs will need a bit of break to recover.

Tuesday: Speed Work: I headed to the local track to run 3 X 1600's.  My first mile was ran in 6:25 and when I finished I was gasping for air. I decided for my next 2 miles that I would use my phone and record myself running. What I found out was pretty useful. When I am alone on a track I will run with my head down as if I am looking at the track. When I am running with someone or in a race I will tuck behind a person and look forward at them.  This would explain why I have trouble running my speed workouts by myself.  Let me explain, put your chin on your chest and breathe in through your nose and out your mouth, now take your head and lift it up and look straight ahead and breathe. You will see that when your head is straight you allow for more oxygen to reach your lungs. This is something I really need to make sure I pay attention too.

Wednesday: Since it was brutally hot out I decided to head to the gym and run my 5 miles on the treadmill. I made sure to be aware of where my head was and where I was looking, and I ended up running one of best 5 miles in a while. I ran at a 8:05 pace but I felt so good and it was such an easy run. After I did a few arm workouts.

Thursday: Rest Day: Even though the race on Friday is a 1 miler I wanted to make sure my legs were fresh.



Friday: THE LIBERTY MILE: during recent runs and having already ran a mile race at 6:10 this year I set a goal for myself of 5:40-6:00 minutes. I was a little thrown off at the start when I realized the team challenge runners were in our heat. In the years past they had their own race. The race director asked them to all come to the front, and I was pushed back to the 4th line. As the gun fired I had to hold my friend Kevin back who was ready to shoot out of the start since we kids ahead of us. Kevin and I both made our way to the bike lane, but it was difficult to get into a steady pace with people cutting everyone off.  We went through our first quarter mile at 1:45, which is slow for me. I don't think we really picked up the speed that much but at the half way point we were at a 3:03. As Kevin and I got to the end I was able to see the clock and tell I missed my goal time. Kevin sped up a bit and finished in what I thought was 6:00, but results say 6:06. When I crossed I looked up and saw 6:08, but results say 6:15.  Overall I don't care too much about missing my goal for this race. I enjoy the race and getting to run in the city at night, and It was awesome to hear all of my friends cheering me on from the sides.

Saturday: I ended up taking a 3rd rest day for the week, not by choice but due to the amount of alcohol I drank Friday after the race. I could tell that I was a bit dehydrated and spent most of the day drinking water getting ready for my long run on Sunday.

Sunday: TODAY: I headed out to North Park for a 90 minute long run. I ended up getting just over 11 miles in, and for the most part I felt really good. I got to see a lot of familiar on my faces including Steph twice as we passed each other on our loops around the lake. After my run I came home and did a few push ups and crunches. I am doing another 30 day challenge and it calls for crunches, push ups and squats. I skipped the squats since I just ran.

Next week I have the Battle Frog race, so this week I am going to really try and get in some mileage. I am doing the extreme race, 6 hours to do as many laps as I can. I still have to find a person to be my crew member and hold my drinks and clothes and help me when I need it the layover part of the course. 

How did you do if you ran the Liberty Mile?
How was your week?

9 comments:

  1. Wow - thank you for the idea to record myself running. I'm definitely going to do that. I know I have some quirks that would be easier to fix if I had that info. You had a good week! Sorry you missed your mile goal time, but like you said you had to dodge people and it's just a great race to do anyway. I'm sad I missed it this year for the first time... but between my husband's work schedule and having one kid off at camp it just didn't work out for us this year. My week was freaking nuts!!

    Good luck at Battle Frog - I am so excited to hear about it!

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    1. Thanks Nichole, I highly recommend recording yourself running, it helps out so much especially if you don't have a real coach standing over you to tell you the mistakes you are making.

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  2. Glad you had fun at Liberty Mile! I was wondering how everyone did with the new bike lane on the course this year. Seemed dangerous! I very much enjoyed watching from the side & not running it. :) The Battle Frog race is 6 hours?! That's serious stuff!

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    1. Ya the bike lane caused some problems, in fact they told us watch out because a car might be parked there. Ya battle frog will be hard,but I am excited to try this type of race and see what I can handle. Thanks for cheering us all on too

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  4. That is so funny that you mention the looking down and breathing trouble thing. When I went to therapy, I found that I do exactly the same thing. What a big difference it makes if you just raise that chin a little. ;)

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    1. Ya such a difference and now I am wondering if I was doing that in my marathons and halfs. I at least am now more aware of it and plan on focusing on it during training and races

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  5. I know exactly what you mean about keeping your head down when you run. The more tired I get, the worse my form gets and before you know it I am a crunched up Baby Sasquatch mess.

    Sorry you missed your goal time at the mile race, but you still had a great time and an awesome week of training! Keep it up :-)

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    1. Baby Sasquatch, I am tears that is so funny!! I am the same way, the longer I go the worst the form gets.

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