Sunday, February 26, 2006

Sleeping, Running and another Photo

Thanks for all your helpful comments. I’m actually well aware of how you train your children to sleep, and we’ve been through the “bring them back into their own bed again and again and again and again” phase. That’s how we got them to sleep in their own beds in the first place. It’s just that the boys have recently developed a tendency of coming into our bed at some stage. Shea is usually better, he tends to stay in his bed once I bring him back, but Cian isn’t quite there yet. I'll take your comments onboard and try to be more stringent again. But would you believe it, last night they all slept in their own beds, and we weren’t woken until 7:20 am. Anyone who doesn’t have kids will be horrified by the fact that I call sleeping until 7:20 on a Sunday morning a rare luxury, but parents will know exactly how rare that is.

Enough of sleep, or lack of it, this is still supposed to be a running blog. I did my 10-mile tempo run this morning. Well, when I say morning, I mean I left at about 10:30. It is so much easier during the week. The alarm goes, I get up, eat something and head out of the door without thinking. On Sundays, I stay in bed, and “just 10 minutes more” become 30 minutes, then an hour, then 2, and if I don’t get up then I might miss my run completely.

Once I managed to get out, I felt really good though. The last few weeks have been very consistent between 51 and 49 miles each, and I’m probably fitter than ever before in my life. I felt very strong all the way. At some stage I overtook a couple who were gently jogging along. They wore thick hats, gloves, long pants, and several layers on top, including a fleece. Imagine the contrast to me in shorts and t-shirts. When I told Niamh she said they must have been more sensible, but I don’t think so. I wasn’t cold, and I would have felt uncomfortably hot in their attire.

The miles just flew along, and I was back home in 1:15, which is probably as fast as I have ever managed 10 miles. It also gives me just about 50 miles for the week. The marathon is four weeks from today. There is just one more week of proper training, and then the taper begins. My, hasn’t time flown.

26 Feb: 10 miles, 1:15, 7:30 pace

10 comments:

  1. Well, staying in bed is what Sundays are for, right? And 10:30 is still morning. I get up weekdays at 4:50 am to get in my morning runs--although I've been injured recently and am just now getting back, and I relish those days I can sleep in, until 6:30 or 7:00 am. The definition of "sleeping in" has changed since I had kids...

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  2. oh, and about the attire? I never wear long pants until the weather goes below 30°F. Shorts and a T-shirt as much as I can. Unfortunately, in Upstate New York, I get plenty of opportunity to wear long pants.

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  3. yay, they slept! aren't kids' sleep patterns strange?

    One of my running partners goes out even more overdressed than I do - I usually wear a long-sleeve shirt when I should wear a short-sleeve shirt, but she'll wear tights, long john shirt, turtleneck and a sweatshirt! Yikes! :)

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  4. Good luck in your final training week and the taper. From reading your blog and seeing your good paces I'm sure a PR is in store. Enjoy it!

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  5. You've done a great job of training Thomas. The four weeks will be up before you know it.

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  6. Oh, 7:20 sounds luxurious to me! I know exactly what you mean. I hope I didn't offend you with my advice. I hate it when people tell me stuff I already know. I should keep my mouth shut...what was I thinking about, GIVING ADVICE???!!!! I NEED ADVICE!

    Glad you got to sleep. Peace.

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  7. A very solid run, you've done the work, and soon will relax and sleep in, finally!

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  8. Hi - I just noticed this blog so I am saying hi - I have 2 boys who sleep in bunk beds now (ages 5 and 7). Both of them had a history of multi waking, climbing in. I always did what would get everyone the most sleep right then. I got back into marathoning within a few months Post partum, yeah breastfeeding, no sleep ( I mean REALLY no sleep) and everything. So, I didn't really have that available chunk of time (or inclination) for a CIO "training" episode ~~ I always had my next workout to tackle.

    Anyway, although I did at the time worry that they would indeed "never leave", it really wasn't very long until they basically never looked back. Bed Hog #1 now wants a cel phone. A CEL PHONE!! :-)

    Good luck with your training - hey now that I get sleep, I'm training for an Ironman. heh heh.

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  9. I saw a lady running just her sports bra and shorts last week in a 34 degree F weather. I thought it was cold.
    Great running there!

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  10. If you do that on sundays certainly is because of the lack of sleep, but who cares if you are still in such a great shape doing those brief 10 miles, very nice time!!

    Great the children are learning!

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