The Qwer Old Fella's Marathon Method

Wed, May 22, 2013

Wed, 22 May 2013 06:00:00

Bobby Dazzler, aka Dave The Dope Taylor, asked for an update. He was going to spread it that I was doing out and backs to Killarney or even Milltown. The Dope's knowledge of Kerry is impressive.

The other week's sickness set me back a bit but I'm up and going well. Here this week's schedule and it's all going to plan:

Sunday 3x(6x30 secs vvo2 max pace strides) jog back rec and 800m jog between sets. To finish off the session, 1200m @ 95% effort. Session done with aplomb, beauty and grace.

Mon - 2x6 miles easy on soft surfaces, untimed.

Tuesday - same as Monday.

Wednesday - 10 miles. First 8.5 done as a progression, followed by 1.5 cool down. Progression was much improved this week (By golly, I think I've progressed).

Thur - same as Mon

Fri - 6 with 8x8 sec hill blasts

Sat - same as Mon.

Mileage works out somewhere in the low 70's and that's without a long run; the progression run will develop into my long run.

So, hopefully that'll keep The Dope happy:)

And just for Brandon, my weight is now 142lbs - only 10 lbs left to shed and then I can get shifting.

Mon, May 13, 2013

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:00:00

Update: did a little session today:3x(6x30 secs) jog back rec and 5 min jog between sets. Felt good, better than anticipated.

Anyway, some news: We're moving to England - my homeland:) In some ways I'll be sad to leave Ireland - it's a great country and the people are tops - but I am looking forward to heading home. We've decided to go back to Oxford and settle ourselves down, for many reasons but mainly to give the kids a better springboard and all that stuff. The kids are buzzing - they want to go today. But we're waiting until July so that they can finish school.

Better try and shed this Irish twang that I've picked up: jakers, I don't want anybody mistaking me for an Irishman.

Thu, May 09, 2013

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:00:00

The girls (Brandon and Dave) wanted an update so here goes... well this is a bit special, I raced last night. I did the Tralee 5k. Finished 2nd in 15:52. Course was a tad long accorcing to the Garmin but I now know that's the norm. Pleased enough with the result as the course is very honest - undulating out and back. Wasn't happy about coming 2nd but then I'm making this up so I suppose I could say that it was an exciting race blah blah blah. No, I've had a cold since Saturday and haven't run a jot. I'll be getting back out tomorrow and doing a 5 miler. I'll take a few days getting back into the swing of things and then I'll re-start from where I was 2 weeks back. I picked up the cold from shedding too much weight too quickly. I'd been dropping 1-2lbs a week but last week I lost 5, which I suspect I've now put back on. I should know better. So nothing exciting apart from the fact that Brandon and Dave wet their panties when they read I'd run 15:52:)

Wed, May 01, 2013

Wed, 01 May 2013 06:00:00

Just to keep Dave The Toke Taylor happy: 10 miles with 6 miles as a progression run. 2 easyish, 6 progression, 2 cool down. Felt like a wounded wildebeest - noticed the excess weight. But that was probably a blessing as it prevented me from going too fast. Good workout.

Anyway, why was the first 2 miles easyish instead of easy? Ladies, please stop reading as you may be offended by what is to follow, especially some of the later stuff.

So, I jog to the bottom of my road and there she is: swoosh - a flash of orange with beautiful flowing blonde hair. My heart skipped a beat and then with autonomic ease I slipped through the gears. As I glided past her I said, 'Alrighty Treacle? Nice morning for it.' She giggled and I carried on. She's in love now. See how easy it is to make a lovely lady's day. Simple. Have I ever told you how charming I am? No! Maybe some day. Note to self - delete this before Old Lady has a chance to read it, otherwise there will be blue murder.

Another point: as many of you know Brenda - I mean Brandon Base - is saving up for the operation (the one where they change him into a her). Well, if you didn't know, you didn't hear it from me, ok? Good. Well, Brenda's gonna need some support over the coming months. If you like Brenda/Brandon and you have no moral objections to his desire to be a woman, please send donations to Dave The Toke Taylor. Dave has promised me that he'll put all monies into a trust fund for Brenda. He has assured me that he will not take the money and visit his good friend and crime lord Pablo (down in Mexico). Dig deep, Brenda's had it tough recently.

Another point. If any of you men folk have daughters who are 8/9 be warned: when they get to 10 they turn into whirling dervish. Man-o-man, Hor[moan]s Almighty. They start to get opinions and what's worse, their opinions are antithetical to yours. I'm warning you, they are little terrors. From the moment the rapscallions wake, to second they hit the pillow, jakers, you are on egg shells.

Never fear, SuperBam is here with top-class parenting gems. Wanna know what to do with them? Bet you do. Drug them. Yep. Drug them. Feed them pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and Brazil nuts (the zinc is great for the little ladies and the big ladies too) and spike their food with smidgens of Maca powder. (Now ladies, I told you not to be reading this stuff - go away, this is a blog for real men; Brenda, that includes you too, go on, off you scoot.)

Fantastic - can't have the old treacles checking out the big man chat. Anyway, this Maca stuff's an adaptogen and works a treat with those cheeky little hor(moan)aly things. It's like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nests - you know at the end. Peace and tranquility.

Anyway kids, see you later. Gotta go buy me some more pumkin seeds...

Tue, Apr 30, 2013

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:00:00

Update - the weight is coming off, I'm getting faster and I feel fully recovered from my injury. I'm optimistic about this summer.

I grabbed this from an Irish site - be warned SlowJoe and I Just Run: your kits are in the post:)

Could an alternative to PEDs be just around the corner?

Interesting study done recently. Link here. More info here.
Researchers have improved the endurance of cyclists by applying electricity to a part of the brain (insular cortex) associated with discomfort.

Quote:

Ten competitive cyclists participated in the study; each completed two all-out cycling tests, after receiving 20 minutes of either real or faked brain stimulation. The electrodes were placed over the left temporal cortex of the brain, which is directly above the insular cortex, so that both regions were affected. The results: After brain stimulation, the cyclists had lower heart rates, slower increase in perceived exertion and produced 4 per cent more power in the cycling test.

It seems there are pretty big gains with little chance of health risks. With the rapid advance of technology it will be interesting to follow this issue and see where it leads.

Interesting... What's that smell? Jakers, my hair's on fire; better go...