1 Week Into It..

OK so we are 1 week into the training now…I had planned to write up my blog last night but got lazy when I got home and watched the telly for a while..it was nearly 9:15 after I got home and had a shower…then hit the hay at 10:40….when we got up to training earlier at 6:20 we ran a quick lap of the tarmacadam and then we headed to Charleville…going out the gate of the harriers the crack was good and the conversation was flowing…John asked how the run went on Sat and I proceeded to tell John about the run to Mucklagh and then change the conversation quickly to another achievement that me and Lynchie had achieved on the same day…we talked about how we went up to the rugby club after the run to watch the Lions take on Australia down in Brisbane..an event run by the Tullamore Lions Club and Tullamore Rugby..enjoyable charity  event and well supported..…I was telling John how great it was to be able to enjoy the large bottles of cider we consumed after our great run (we had run to the Mucklagh bridge and back..about 4 miles with 1 stop..we both were chuffed)…Lynchie told him about his similar day and then I mentioned how I had enjoyed a midday siesta before heading to town to see Offaly play Waterford in O’Connor Park and then in to town to meet a few of the lads…anyway moral of the story…go easy on the drinking stories as John then nicely told us that we’d be doubling our training tonight compared to previous Thursday and he said a GOOD IDEA in the future would be to do a run the day after you’ve been out for a night as it will clear the system…Mental note…not going out next weekend 

1st Week was OK as we were just getting going and thanks to the 7 girls for waiting for us on Sat morning at 8 for the run…I forgot to take a snap of them but we’ll get them next week…they stayed with us until the fingerboard and the company was enjoyable..last week we training Tue, Wed and Thur + longer run on Sat so a big step up from running once every week or two as I was doing..

This week we did a run on Tue and tonight (wed) and Ciaran as usual has all the info on this site http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/2013/06/a-night-in-athlone.htm ......Delighted as well last night to receive our Tullamore Harriers singlet and John presented them to us and we’ll get to wear them for the first time at the Mountbolus 10k run on Sunday 7th July at 12pm…John said for Ciaran and myself to bring them home and see if they fit etc….chatting Ciaran about it tonight and I think we’ll both need to go back to the fitting department as I don’t think the belly top look suites me anyway…

…did tonight’s run on track in AIT Athlone as Mike Murphy a friend and member of the harriers had organised a sports clinic talk with 2 very good presenters from the http://www.sportssurgeryclinic.com/ in Dublin - John Foster and Dr Andy Franklyn-Miller. They were talking about how to avoid running injuries and the myths associated with running injuries..a lot of it very technical for Ciaran and myself as we think the science of running is about putting one foot in front of the other but interesting nonetheless. Tomorrow I'll write about what I got from the talk…very sore as I write this and we have a run along the canal tomorrow to look forward to so going to hit the bed..

Also as I said previously on the last blog entry…I plan to talk to 10 people over the 10 week about different areas that I think would benefit someone that is getting into running/walking....First up we have our coach John O’Connell and we are going to have a chat with him tomorrow and then put the audio up on the blog..he is going to talk to us about our 10 week training plan and what to expect etc..we plan to have a bit of crack with this one so we’ll see how it goes..

Other people I have lined up so far are:

Paul Buckley Runner (Ferbane Athletics Club), Physio and good friend of mine….he is going to talk about how to avoid injury and what to look out for when training.

Carina Haverty: Edgewater Weight Loss & Exercise Clinic Tullamore is going to talk about Nutrition, Diet and how Alcohol would affect our training.

Kate Sheehan: Technical Sales Representative from Footbalance who has given us custom made insoles (available now in Elverys throughout Ireland and Tullamore) and why these are important when running/walking and what is Pronation Versus Overpronation and does it really make a difference

Eamonn Henry Offaly Sports Partnership on how people can sign up for walking/running classes and how OSP can help you.

Pauline Curley Tullamore Harriers..last minute tips coming up to the race

Any other suggestions most welcome 

Slán..

First night in the Harriers

Really enjoyed the night in the harriers…….last time I said that was a Sat night in June 1994 when Ray Houghton scored against Italy in the world Cup…arrived up at 6:25 for training at 6:30 to see the great Lynchie out warming up…jumped in with the group and was introduced to everyone including mens club captain Adrian Martin by Mary Daly as we jogged around the tarmacadam track…did an extra lap then with Michelle Mullaney and Adrian had a chat with the group...congratulating them on the previous weekends runs and introducing the clubs new Guinea-pigs…Lynchie and myself…tonight session for everyone was  on the track..except for the 2 of us…. John O'Connell was assigned to look after us for the evening….Hopper Farrell and Bernie Daly also joined us in Chareville but it was mainly John, Lynchie and myself for the session…Lynchie gives a good account of the session on his blog.. http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/2013/06/first-nights-training.html

John was very helpful throughout the session and he gave us loads of advice and answered any questions we threw at him..we chatted about what to eat before and after you go out to run, the best way to run with your arms, how much water to take on board before/during and after a run and other information that will be invaluable to me and Lynchie over the next 10 weeks…we finished off our 4 mile sessions with a few stretches etc and a chat with some of the club members that came over to see how we were getting on.

What I got from my fist night in the harriers is that they are a very friendly group and everyone was very hospitable to us….I was surprised as well the amount of people I knew up training and I’m sure this will increase over the next 10 weeks….I have been running by myself mainly since I started and doing the session with John and Ciaran tonight the time just flew and I did more exercise compared to if I was on my own so my first tip if you are starting to walk/jog or run…get a run buddy as it’s a lot more enjoyable and you’ll get more from it…..

Since Lynchie and myself will be together for all the sessions there is no point us both blogging the same information etc so I’ve decided I’m going to approach my blog from a different angle..I’m going to speak to people in the know about everything we need to do over the next 10 weeks to put us in the best shape possible for the run and then I’ll put up the information so that it might be beneficial to others…the guys up in the harriers are very knowledgeable about running/walking so if you have any questions either post them on the comments area on the blog, on the harriers facebook page or email them to me at raybellireland@gmail.com and I’ll get your question answered..you can follow Ciaran's blog here http://fatdadrun.blogspot.ie/

I am open to any suggestions but here are some areas I’d like to get more information on. I’d like to talk to people about…..

1. How to get the correct gear...foot ware, insoles etc..what to look out for and avoid..
2. Pauling Curley mentioned on the radio the importance of a visit to your doctor..what will I get from a visit…what will they check/test and the benefits of a visit
3. Diet & Nutrition and where Alcohol fits into this area
4. Physio & Rest and how to avoid injury
5. Hydration: Why is this important and how much water should you drink each day, before/during and after races

That’s it for tonight…chat soon

So we’re off

….…well sort of…Met up with Pauline Curley and Ciaran Lynch in Radio 3 today to have a chat with Clara Walshe (Midlands Radio 3 Presenter) about our challenge…to run the Tullamore Harriers 1/2 marathon in 10 week’s time...Mary Daly (Clubs Ladies Captain) and Darren Butler were also there but didn’t join us in the studio…think we’ll have to bring them in the next time..have a listen to our interview here  http://www.midlandsradio.fm/custom/public/files/tullamore-harriers.mp3

Background to this is, Tullamore Harriers are having their first half marathon on Saturday 31st August to celebrate the clubs 60th anniversary and they were looking for a few non athletics to set themselves a challenge and run the half marathon in 10 weeks...the 2 Guinea-pigs that are going to give it a go are Ciaran Lynch aka Lynchie and myself…

I was asked last Thursday would I be interested in doing it and the main reason for getting involved was that I felt it was a great opportunity to learn how to run properly and to see if I’d be able to run the full 21.0975 kilometers or 13.1094 miles….I was never a runner and always found it a very boring sport but I’ve got into it over the last few months and I think I’m starting to enjoy it…

I started doing some exercise after Christmas this year as I had just turned 37 and over the last few years the pounds had been creeping up…when I looked at the weighing scales in Jan and was over the 14 stone I knew it was time to make some changes….my height is 5’6’’ on a good day and I’m married to Fiona with 3 kids..Aaron 5, Katie 3 and Lucy who is 8 months so Daddy needed to get into some shape J….i started in Jan doing short walks around Tullamore and then it progressed to running a bit and walking a bit…and eventually this built up to a 5K in Kilbeggan in March and I did the Tullamore Camogie Club 5K in April..since then I did a 6K, 8K and finally did a 10K..I’ve done 3 10K’s since I started..the first one took me over an hour and my last 2 were just under the hour..doing the 10K in under an hour is a was a huge milestone for me considering where I’d come from…during this time the weighing scales started to look a bit better and this morning I was down to 13st 5lb…not bad considering where I was only 5 months previously..

Since I’ve done the 10K’s I’ve gotten lazy as this initially was my goal and now most weeks don’t do any training during the week but I try and book into a race at the weekend because when I sign up to one I feel I have to do it and that’s where the motivation is…deciding to take the challenge of the half marathon means that I’ll have to train at least 2-3 times during the week and do a longer run at the weekends if I want to complete it so I’ve no choice now but to put the effort in…

The target I’m setting myself is that I want to be able to finish the half marathon in less than 2 hours..Tomorrow is when the fun starts..

Here we are this morning