Friday, May 28, 2010

Trouble!

Niamh: I cannot believe you went running on the morning of the triathlon!
Thomas: You've read my race report, then?
Niamh: Don't you think that was a bit silly?
Thomas: Er, no.
Niamh: Didn't it tire you out?
Thomas: no...
Niamh: And what was that about the happiest day?
Thomas: er... (uh, oh)
Niamh: Bloody Football! And you didn't even mention our Wedding Day!
Thomas: er ...
Niamh: At least the children's births got a mention. But not our Wedding Day!!
Thomas: I said happiest moment, not day!
Niamh: What is it with you and football?
Thomas: I was only joking! And you're not listening to anything I say, do you?
Niamh: Our Wedding Day!!! Bloody Football!!!!

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Sometimes things really come out of nowhere. I didn't see that coming at all. But I did manage to change the subject eventually.

With the marathon only 10 days away, I'm of course tapering. After all the excitement of the triathlon, this week has been rather low-key, and I'm not bouncing off the walls yet. But with only just over a week to go, I don't think I will. Once the countdown hits single digits, time tends to pass quickly enough.

I did 8 miles on Wednesday feeling great. I'm sure Tuesday's complete rest had something to do with that. The pace got rather close to 7:00 while feeling easy before I put on the breaks, just in case. I did a set of 10x100 strides on the way home, which is something I probably should have done much more often, I just keep forgetting about these.

5 easy miles on Thursday were followed by a speed workout of 800s this morning. As ever, my first thought at waking up was “oh no, speedwork”. I don't think this will ever change. The original plan was to do 6 half-mile repeats, but the fifth one was hurting from the first step, so I called it a day after that. This is not the time to wear yourself out and I'm perfectly at peace with that decision. The pace for the repeats was not bad with an average of just under 3:00 per interval, as ever slightly slower against the wind and faster with the wind. I compared them to other workouts before my two fastest marathons, Cork and Dublin 2008, and they stood up well. As long as my legs are able to withstand 26 miles, I'll do well.
26 May
8 miles, 58:40, 7:20 pace, HR 149
27 May
5 miles, 38:39, 7:44 pace, HR 141
28 May
7 miles, 50:52, 7:15 pace, HR 158
incl. 5x800 in 3:05, 2:55, 3:01, 2:57, 2:59

7 comments:

  1. Remember women never 'ever' forget, and she will use it against you at some point in the future :[

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  2. That sounds like almost the same arguement Lorena Bobbitt had with he husband just before....

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  3. What were you thinking of. Although i'd have to agree with Niamh on the football thing.

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  4. My husband always described our first wedding anniversary as the happiest day of his life - he went out with a friend to watch cricket, got to meet some famous cricket player and came home too late to take me out but thought he had made amends by producing a bunch of "end-of-day" flowers being sold by some street hawker! Rick is right we don't forget - but sometimes we forgive...

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  5. You've got to hide the computer from Niamh! Scott Brown has been surviving on a diet of burnt fish ever since his wife found his blog.

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  6. ...you're living dangerously Thomas, you should definetly not talk about football for a while.

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