The one of the regular meaning this time, that is. Have we really been married for 9 years? Blimey, it doesn’t feel that long. I really must be getting old! Anyway, we went out for a meal on the weekend; there is a restaurant in Kells that does a Cypriot night, and we very much enjoyed our 15-course dinner (yes, I was stuffed like a turkey by the end).
I expected to feel stiff and tired on Monday after Sunday’s very brisk tempo run, but surprised myself by feeling like flying all the way. The major obstacle I came across was a herd of cows standing in the middle of the dirt road I was running on. What eejit of a farmer left his cows there? Despite the fact that they’re probably 20 times my weight, the animals seemed to panic at my approach and stampeded off along the road. I did follow the rather slow and very smelly creatures for about 5 minutes, but it became clear that they had no intentions of turning off the road as long as I was right behind them. Plus, I noticed that there were a few young bulls amongst them, and I didn’t fancy finding out what would happen once they got tired of running away from me, so I turned around and ran back the way I had come from. As I was unable to follow my planned route, I decided to explore some of the dirt roads between Killorglin and Kilgobnet, where I have hardly ever run before. Of course this meant I was running by time rather than distance again. By the end I called it 14 miles, but I’m pretty sure it was a bit more than that, because I kept going at a fairly decent pace. Never mind, the body doesn’t know what number you write down at the end.
I started August with a 6-mile recovery run today, and once again dropped my record for lowest ever HR during a run. When I started training for Dublin about 10 weeks ago, I just about managed to keep the average HR under 145 for my recovery runs. But it gradually dropped, and today’s HR was 134 – about 69% of my max, despite keeping the pace roughly the same. As long as this keeps going, I know that I’m not overtraining, even though I’m still struggling to get enough sleep (Cian woke at 5 am).
Mileage for July: 285 miles
31 Jul: 14 miles (approx), 1:52, 8:00 pace
1 Aug: 6 miles, 56:28, 9:24 pace
Happy Anniversary! I've never had a 15 course dinner in my life! I can't even imagine what must be in it. Sounds like a fun night though.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you're improvements in hr are great - you are one fit guy.
happy anniversary! 15 courses?! wow.
ReplyDeleteway to go on the hr improvements!
Happy Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteI find it very satisfying to try a new trail every so often, it helps keep the motivation going.
Great job with your running, you're going to do well with the marathon (and upcoming ultra) at this rate.
I haven't had to deal with cows during a run for quite a while--since college, in fact. I went to college in the town which holds the second-oldest foxhunt in the US, so besides the cows, we occasionally had to deal with small groups of horsemen galloping through the trails and dirt roads.
ReplyDeleteHa, I was also struck by the cow sighting, mainly because, having moved to NYC just over a year ago, my running scenery is quite different from yours! Ah, to run w/ cattle instead of an ever-present smog cover...
ReplyDeleteI'd still be at the table if offered a 15 course meal. That's funny. You'd better run mister...all that food in your gut.
ReplyDeleteYou're running some great stuff Thomas. Keep this up and you're going to spank your PB.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary!
ReplyDeleteYou out ran me this month Thomas. I guess I better get above 80 a week so I know I will be safe to get ahead of you next month.
happy anniversary. and way to go toughing out the 15 courses! you are so right about the body not knowing or caring what the number says. i gotta tatto that on my head...
ReplyDeletep.s. a runner here in maryland recently struck a DEER during a run...ended up with a concussion..the runner not the deer. you made the right choice!
Heh, belated happy anniversary. We celebrated ours on the 31st.
ReplyDelete