Wild and wet and very very windy..

Ok, so far 2014 is turning out to be quite a challenge. I have signed up again for the Kinvara Rock and Road Half marathon. It was fun last year (when I wasn't thinking about dying) and I figured that if I did a little more training and got seriously fit, this year it might actually be lots MORE fun all the way around the course and not just the first 9 miles.
The gods above though are definitely having a laugh. January was one of the worst on record with one Atlantic storm after another and plenty of lovely wet days in between. Getting out for my runs is difficult to say the least and avoiding coughs and colds is equally tricky.
I have about two more weeks left plus a day or two. Long runs are now only at eight and a half miles so that ambition to get fitter than last year is slipping away. Never mind. If I have to I can walk the last few miles but that would be a disappointment. In truth, unless I'm cramping or crawling I will try my best to run every inch.

Still, all this terrible weather is an excellent excuse to invest in some nice technical gear to keep me covered from the elements. I bought a nice new Adidas jacket in bright purple, and my kids gave me a hat for Christmas by UnderArmour. Bright blue it doesn't exactly match the purple but what the hell? It is named 'Storm' and supposed to keep the rain out, it's supposed to roll right off it. Well this has been well and truly tested by now and I have to say an emphatic yes, I have always had a dry and warm head in this hat. My hair has looked like an absolute fright when I pull it off, sticking out at every angle, but that's only a detail. Dry and warm is good.
The time has also rolled around for new trainers and being a big fan of Asics Gel Kayano, I'm coveting the new Gel Kayano 20 but yeouch they are pricey. Will have to invest soon if I'm to break them in for the 1st March.
Work commitments are also increasing, I've just got a promotion. Woo Hoo.
Might have to start rising at 6am to get some decent workouts in. Running has got fit in somewhere, but the summer can't roll around quick enough so there is actually daylight in the morning if I decide to get up at that ungodly hour. Sunshine is probably asking for too much. I'll settle for some good ole irish daylight.

2013 Was a Good Year

2013 is just about gone and 2014 with all it's possibilities is approaching fast.

In March I took part in my first half marathon the Rock and Road Half in Kinvara in Galway.. That's me standing next to my very fit and very persistent friend Sarah who encouraged, cajoled and verbally dragged me over the finish line. I had done what I thought was adequate preparation, I was aware that I hadn't done as much as maybe I could have, I only ran about three times a week and my long run finished at eleven miles a week before the race. Work and other commitments are my excuse and I'm sticking to it. But hey, hey, hey, we came, we ran, we conquered. Crossed the finish line in 2 hrs and 16 mins. Did pay for the somewhat sketchy prep by suffering quite a bit in the last two miles. Kinvara found my weak spots. God bless you Sarah without you I'd probably still be out there somewhere. 

Anyhow fool that I am I have signed up again, and hope for better prep this year at the very least to finish feeling good rather than ready to puke. Rock on the Rock and Road. Saturday March 1st for anyone interested and yes, entries are still open on their website. www.rockandroad.ie

Summer saw the usual June bank holiday jaunt to Dublin for the Womens Mini Marathon. Always a good day out, and a nice manageable 10k distance. Finished in 1hr 4min which fair disgusted me as it's a long way off my PB for this distance of 58.20. But them's the breaks on the day.

Better luck in the autumn with the Tipp Mini Marathon around home turf in Clonmel. This time was I mad with myself, I was hoping to get back under the hour and have a white ticket entry for the Womens Mini in Dublin in June 2014 but nope. 1hr and 26 seconds. I mean 26 seconds??? Come onnnnn!

Think I have to start getting some good speedwork done, something I'm not good at. I'm more of a plodder.

Anyway up to today. Christmas is done and I'm signed up for Kinvara as mentioned above. Training was going great, getting out four times a week and swimming at least once a week as crosstraining, but oops, got myself a right ole dose of flu over the Christmas and I'm still recovering so I haven't been running now for about ten days. I'm working on the neck principle, apparently if you are sick from the neck up eg: sniffles, runny nose, congestion you can run. But if the bugs are in your body below the neck like chest congestion, fever, aches and pains, weakness, then you have to wait and rest up.  I'm waiting and resting up but I'm getting itchy feet and I think I might risk a gentle short two miles or so tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

My superfit ultra-trailrunner brother thinks that 2014 is my year for the big one, the marathon, I'm very tempted, but I won't spend my money on entry just yet. Let's get Kinvara out of the way and see how that goes this year and then I'll have to give Dublin Marathon in October some serious consideration. There is a slight sense of if not now then when? Work commitments will have a bearing on my decision. I usually work late at least three times a week and runs are difficult on those days. I guess I'll just have to get out of bed earlier. Bring it on 2014, lets see what you got!

the honeybadger??

First and foremost..welcome! If you have found your way to my brand new shiny blog congrats. I'm glad to have you. So what's the honeybadger mode??
 Well folks, a few years ago finding myself on the wrong side of forty and about ten pounds (or maybe more) too heavy I decided something had to be done. But what? I'm not a dieter, I like my food too much so the only answer had to be get out there and get in shape. The gym is grand and I have come to the realisation that I actually CAN enjoy working out in a gym but really and truly I like to run. Come rain or come shine, there is something pure and simple about lacing up the the shoes and going out the door. When you get as far as the front gate you have to do the work because you come this far and you might as well.
In the beginning....( oh that sounds like the start of the bible or something ) I wasn't a runner, I was barely a walker. I can admit that now. In my innocence I thought there was nothing to it, all I had to do was go for a little run. Right??
Wrong!
After being a mum and not doing much more strenuous than pushing a hoover around the living room for 17 years or so, I was seriously out of shape. I tried to run and found that I couldn't manage to jog for more than about two minutes. My heart was pounding, my legs were like jelly ,and what the hell boys and girls everything bounced! My flabby belly, and everything else above and below it. Running couldn't be this hard could it? But that's where the honeybadger mode kicks in. "Honeybadger don't care" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg Noone was looking at me, I live in a rural part of Ireland and the roads and byways are quiet. So I laced up the shoes and stuck it out. Honeybadger mode. Get your head down, don't worry about the shit and just keep on,.. keeping on.
Well to cut a long story short that's what I did. Took me the best part of six months to run for a full mile, and what a feeling that was the day I managed it, granted it was downhill all the way home  but it was an achievement that felt really good.
I have discovered in the few years since that that ole honeybadger has a lot to answer for, because I just keep going. Through all that the past few years have thrown at me, running has been a constant. I run about three times a week when I can, usually three miles when I'm just keeping fit and ramping it up from time to time if I'm entering an "EVENT!!!!"
The best way ever to motivate yourself for this running gig is to spend your hard earned cash on entry to something.. anything.. once you've spent the euros, you've got no choice but to show up on the day and do it. And... if you're gonna show up and do it you can't disgrace yourself ( or put yourself through too much pain) so therefore you've gotta train. That's what gets me out the door on wet and cold and horrible days. It's knowing that if I don't do the work I will suffer on the day of  "the event"
Another major motivator is that having worked this long and this hard to get fit, I can't let it slip away. And it does slip, at my age (I'm 46) I find that if I don't run for about two weeks it's just that little bit harder when I do go out, and I pant up the hills instead of fly up them. So I have to keep it up. It's that simple.