Day off

today is my first day off of my new routine , in never realised it would be hard ! I'm sore from yesterday and all i want to do is get out the kettle bells and get stuck in. but i suppose i will just have to put on the kettle , he he.

wind wind and more wind

today was my first day running for over an hour. I had gone out on Wednesday and ran fifty Min's and my knees really were at me from the half hour mark. I was running all on the road for the first time so I put it down to that. The run today was fine , except that the wind was blowing hard, but I had picked a route that kept me mostly out of it . still the last ten Min's were straight in to the wind , and up sand dunes , I know I'm a glutton for punishment . any way , my legs are killing me now , but hobble on I must http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/446434513

INSANITY

OK, I give up. I cant do it, no I'm wrong I can do it. its a tough workout no question of that .but I just don't like it, at all!  one month is all I could stand , might be that its to much cardio for me ,when my overall plan is to get fit for the marathon but also to increase size and strength in my upper body, I actually found that it was doing the reverse.
so this is what I'm thinking of doing ; continue my running as normal, and start back with my kettle bells four days a week starting Sunday or Monday, I might have to do my run on Monday due to bad weather tomorrow, but we will see.
Monday-off
Tuesday-upper body
Wednesday- run
Thursday-off
Friday- lower body
Saturday-abs and core
Sunday- long run
what do people think of this, I use 2x 16 kg kettle bells and follow Steve Cotter extreme workout and I'm going to add on the 7 min extreme beach kettle bell workout (I cant remember the guys name ). but good bye insanity, ya didn't suit me!

Man flu

Enough said!

Activity	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4	Test 5
Split kicks	80	120
Power jacks	37	50
Power knees	99	104
Power jumps	30	42
Globe jumps	10	11
Suicide jumps	15	14
Push up jacks	20	16
Low plank oblique	35	40

the insanity of insanity

Today was the second fitness test, it was hard , i nearly vomited. but i will get to that later. the insanity program itself , i s hard to describe , lots of cardio , lots of shouting ? pretty much it. it does improve your fitness , but as for building size and strength im not so sure. i keep thinking back to when i was doing tapout , i used to look forward to doing tapout and i really felt myself progressing and i noticed a size increase almost everywhere. now this could be for a number of reasons not just the workout. but with insanity i have no will to do it, i force myself every day (nearly every day). it could be that tapout you feel like your learning as well with all the combat type moves and i used to include a heavy bag in my tapout work out. But for my millions of readers i will continue on the insanity path.
           i am following the insanity routine by the day, and on my running days i just run , no insanity. and i take a rest day. one a week . so i am missing two insanity workouts a week . mabey this is a factor as well?

Red necks

You know your a red neck when ?

winter running

So in the last 2 weeks i have managed to complete 1 week of insanity while trying to fit in all my normal stuff. I gotta say, its tough, like lying on the floor tough! im still not sure if i like it , now at this stage of doing tap out i loved it , i jumped out of bed to get it done in the morning . it might be the weather, it is getting harder and harder to get out of bed.
 twice this week i had to put off my runs because of the weather. i don't mind running in the rain but the wind here is mental (as i have already mentioned)

marathon training

so i started  my proper training for the marathon yesterday. that is i changed my routine from beginner to intermediate lol. so headed out for a run when i was in galway, had a great first half but struggled in the second half. and no i haven't forgotten about insanity , its coming next.!
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/427572279

insanity fitness test table

Activity	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Test 4	Test 5
Split kicks	80
Power jacks	37
Power knees	99
Power jumps	30
Globe jumps	10
Suicide jumps	15
Push up jacks	20
Low plank oblique	35

jennifer anistons insanity hair

good morning all, its been 3 days since my last confession. so i headed out yesterday with the intention of getting photos of my normal route and to keep my feet dry(as my normal route involves crossing a river). as soon as  let the  house it started pissing rain and me being in my trail gloves( the rain and puddles are naturally attracted to trail gloves ) i got soaked. i did manage to get one picture which i will stick up here as soon as i can.http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/423551135
           So while i was watching tv last night i came across an advert for insanity, firsts thought : what a load of shite but due to the power of tv, by the end of the ad i had decided to try it out, so today i did the fitness test, it was tough.  ill post the results next. quick question, do my millions of fans want  before and after photos?

Our lillie

Happy holloween

up yours wind

so i went out. it was quite windy , with drifting sand and spray flying for about 50 feet , but the sun was shining so who can complain. ME, thats who! my recent inactivity has come back to haunt me, i struggled on this on , might have been the sand drifts or the strong winds or the fact that it wasn't flat, but i really struggled. any way heres the details http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/420565639

Waiting on wind

So I'm here sitting in the house waiting for the wind to die down and I was wondering if many people are affected by the wind when they go running. I live on an island on the west coast of Ireland and the wind effects everything we do. Plenty of times I haven't been able to run as it's just to windy. The nearest gym is half an he away by car. So what do I do? What do you do?

Rock and roll baby

HITTING THE HILL

i went up the old mountain bike trail again today as im heading back over to achill tomorrow. i had intended to run it twice or take a different route when i got up in the forest but the best laid plans and all that. i was quicker this time than two days ago but thats understandable as the last run was more of a social run. and i was 1 min quicker than the first time i ran it.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/413825633

post san fran

yesterday was my first run since san fran, where i hurt my knee, well the good new is that all is good, i was out yesterday for a run up round the mountain in forkhill and it as great, no problems at all. long may it continue i say. had a great run yesterday with my cousin bernice. its not to often that i have a running partner and its a nice change . we talked the whole way round and our time suffered for it. 5 mins slower but i ran most hills this time. so there!
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/412320339

TV American style , 78 ins

Not so hard Clint

Went to Carmel today and two amazing things happened; first I met Clint Eastwood then he got into a fight with a sea otter so I jumped in to help, to cut a long story short I got arrested for punching Clint Eastwood in the face. Apparently he's a national monument or something . So I'm now on two strikes and I'm heading back to San Fran tomorrow ? 

Lost boys

Went to Santa Cruz yesterday and two amazing things happened: first I met kieffer Sunderland and then he got into a fight with a sea lion , so I jumped in to help him , to make a long story short I ended up getting arrested for punching a sea lion in the face!

Lost boys

The hobblit

So when I was out this morning I had a little twinge on my right knee. So I stopped running for a bit. Felt the same as what I did to my left knee a few years back , and now I can't walk up of down stairs. It's defiantly the same injury but on the other knee, so looks like I have to lay off the running for awhile . Boohoo. Any ideas what it might be ? 

San Francisco

Had my first run in San Fran this morning , it's crazy for me to meet so many other runners , I'm usually the only one crazy enough to go out in the mental Achill weather .! https://twitter.com/diarmuidthemad/status/385071971009953792

Leaving on a jet plane

Sitting Here in Dublin airport bound for San Francisco , roll on the USA

don't tell pockets

had my 30 min run this morning , i decided to run an old route that used to take me 30 mins( when i was doing 7 min miles) and see how fast i could do it. 35 mins 53 sec . not bad , and i felt fine . still had to walk for awhile, but much less than before. i had my breakfast before i went out which i haven't been doing lately because it repeats on me. i didn't notice any difference energy wise and it did repeat on me the whole way around. so what do you think breakfast before or after a morning run ?
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/392937859
oh and i didn't take the dog so don;t tell pockets

tapout!

I was having a lazy morning, didn't get out of bed until ten, and i was going to  leave a workout till tomorrow. but then i thought fuck it and got up and put on tapout. now i haven't done a tapout workout in about two months. jesus i struggled! you forget how tough they are. anyway got it done and feel great now. i'm trying to get as many as possible in before i head out to san francisco, because when i get there i don't know what will happen.

People have been looking for pictures of where i run so ill try and take some today. see ya!

all ireland winners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2DnId0JtDQ funny shit

naked man

bang the summer is back, went out this morning for my long run, sun was splitting the rocks but it was windy. headed out over the beach and through the river up across the headland heading for the far beach. came up a rise where is was planning to take a breather and have a drink, and there below me on the beach was a fat naked man striding down the beach towards me with not a care in the world. ah well , i just ran past him with a friendly good morning lol, had a lovely run , took my time , the dog really struggled. think i might start leaving her home for the long runs.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/391050435

Theres no wind like home

I'm back on achill after my weekend away in the northern territories, due to exams and having to drive across the whole width of ireland i missed a run and a workout, so i decided to go for a run this morning, it was sunny so hey what the hell!. the beach section was fine , i started off fast as i wanted to improve on my time. hit the bog track, turned and headed up for the road to head home and kablammo, the wind ! the wind! damm the wind. running on achill is like running no where else, you have to try it to understand. i'm pooped .
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/388625261

Over

My test is over so hopefully I can get stuck into the running and workouts  and remain injury free. Fingers crossed

mountain run

I decided to head round the old mountain bike track up on slieve gullion, thought it would take me about an hour, it only took me 35 mins but it was really tough, uphill for the first half all on forest track then on a road, and back on to forest tracks. the run was hard , i walked most of the uphills but really enjoyed the track running. the merrell trail gloves were a little slippy but i think that was due to the way i was running . any hoo i enjoyed it , so the marker has been laid down . so if any of the cousins want to give it a go lets start a race!
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/385235615

a sense of calm

lovely calm morning here on achill, i headed out for my 30 min run, i decided not to take the dog and see how fast i could do the same route that i did a few days ago, so i managed to knock 3 mins off my last time and i'm dosed as well. just don't tell pockets!
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/383144555

Snot running

The only thing thats running today is the snots out of my nose!, lucky its my day off. but i have 30 mins to do tomorrow and a 5 hr drive. what do you think? should i run? if i don't i know i will feel guilty and i find that if i miss one it's really easy to miss two and downhill it goes from there!

man cold

So you might have guessed it already, but i'm dying! i have man cold. not just normal man cold but man head cold, i pushed through the pain and went out for a 30 min run yesterday, and i was fine until the afternoon when i had to have a nap, or whatever the man equivalent is. I did an hour of tapout today as its my cross training day, and i think i might have to go for a sauna, hot tub combo in the mulranny hotel this afternoon as the weather is SHITE!

How I'm feeling

http://youtu.be/VbmbMSrsZVQ

what a difference

Out today in the howling wind and driving rain. made a good pace at the start across the beach as the wind was driving me on, then i got stuck in a bog, haha. i was pooped anyway needed the break, my legs were sore the whole way, i really doubted my self , i didn't think that i would be able to run back the whole way into the wind and rain. even pockets was struggling, i had to keep pulling her lead so she would keep up. but i ended up finishing really strong, i think i would have made a good time if there was no wind. i use my I phone to log my runs and its really starting to annoy me any suggestions, should i just bite the bullet and buy a gps watch
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/380729209

walking

so after the success of my big run yesterday, today i can't walk! i'm not injured.its just  my legs that are killing me, i suppose thats the barefoot way#calfsofsteel

The big one

today was the big test day, My training plan was to run for 45 mins today, thats the longest i've ever ran for. i was worried that my knee wouldn't stand up to it, but it was grand , the trail gloves were great as well. i think that i broke pockets she was really struggling at the road section. its only when i have her on the lead that she struggles?. anyhoo it was a lovely morning, no wind! i headed down across the beach in front of the house up over the headland and then across the second beach, up across the dunes up  a bog track and on to the rd and back to the house. i felt really strong at the end and i enjoyed myself. its funny i struggled more on the 20 min run i did on sat than i did today. but i was slow 9 min miles, thats 2 min slower than i was before i got injured . is it the new running style? will i get faster as my fitness improves? #whatadifferencethewindmakes
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/378689225

Diet

So I'm training to run a marathon this. Time next year with a few half marathon's thrown in but I also want to increase my muscle strength and size all over,  I think I have the workout side sorted what I'm wondering about is diet . I'm doing an hr max a day running, cycling, swimming, tapout or kettle bells. I have plenty of energy ( not always will power) but I can't shift body fat . Any suggestions please 

Day off

Exactly what it says on the tin

Running partner

winter is coming

so i decided to bite the bullet and i went  out into the biting wind, i took the dog and the new trail gloves with me, it was a 20 minute run on the beach in front of the house so i knew i could walk back if they were to much (the wind and the trail gloves). but it was grand the wind on the beach wasn't as bad as i thought and the trail gloves were nice, i didn't even notice the trail gloves. until i ran up a few sand dunes then i noticed them. they were great the stayed with my foot when i went through the deep sand, i have to say i like them. one thing you have to make sure your socks aren't pulled to tight across your toes as the shoes fit your foot so tight that they stay like that the whole run. the next time i will have to open the shoes completely when putting them on and not jam my foot in (which pulled the socks tight in the first place). i was worried about the sizing as the size seven is 25.5 cm and my foot is exactly 25.5 cm, but when you lace em up good and tight they fit like a glove#merrelltrailglove
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/376914985

North side

It's windy, really windy, and it's from the north which means its really really cold, but I need to try out my new trail gloves, will the tread mill do ? Might just man up and head out #I'mtocomfyinside

At last

A Lonely orange cloud

Out my front window

chain reaction

lovely and sunny this morning on achill so i headed out on the bike to cycle the half marathon course. i got bored half way and took off down a bog track to liven things up. then i snapped my chain ! SHIT! , so i had to throw the bike on my back and run/walk/freewheel back home, ah well at least its sunny. #camelbak
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/375168863

Winter

I see the winter is back 

so if i don't mention wind, just assume it's windy

took pockets(the dog) down the beach for a nice run, got sand blasted most of the way but ozzy and dave mustaine kept me safe, i'm trying to take pockets on all the runs on the beach (shes starting to get fat) but don't tell her i said that. i ordered a pair of trail gloves off amazon on monday and they haven't even got round to dispatching them yet #amazonfail, hope they get there thumbs out soon.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/374080893

Diarmuid's Blog: Gotta love those bells

Diarmuid's Blog: Gotta love those bells: My day off from running so a nice handy upper body strength and size workout , 2 x16 kg for 45 mins about#stevecotter

New baba

Hello brosive

Hello to Ciaran all the way from New Zealand 🏄

Gotta love those bells

My day off from running so a nice handy upper body strength and size workout , 2 x16 kg for 45 mins about 

wind rain and more win

so im back home in achill, back to the unforgiving wind! you forget how tough it is, i was heading out and felt great, i timed my strides, i'm hitting 176 per min , must check and see if this is ok forhttp://www.barefootbeginner.com/training-log/ . this is the first time ive hit 3 miles , since i started working on my foot fall. and i gotta say it i really felt it in my calf's , they were burning by about half way, and i even had to walk a bit. (more to do with the wind than anything else) it might have something to do with running in my ascics still as i have yet to get new trainers? http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/371982579

Home sweet home

Back after our trip to Galway , I've missed you guys!

barefoot

http://www.barefootbeginner.com/training-log/ anyone ever tried these guys?

art

and the odd painting

diy

i'm also fond of making the odd thing like

 campervans

procrastinating

so i'm supposed to be finishing my final project for my degree course in health science but as usual i'm trying my best not to do it?
went out for a run this morning and i'm convinced that the next running shoes i get will have to minimalist or barefoot type shoes, since my unknown knee injury i'm running completely , i land fairly flat with no heel strike. this seems to be something that my body has started to do on its own. i noticed it when i started back a few weeks ago. but it was only yesterday that i heard about barefoot running. im looking at getting a pair of merrell trail glove http://www.merrell.com/UK/en-GB/Product.mvc.aspx/23456M/70130/Mens/Barefoot-Run-Trail-Glove?dimensions=0 anyone else wear them , or have any tips.
      I'm also trying to teach a three year old how to use a swing on her own , tips for that aswell please.

Diarmuid's Blog: the start.

Diarmuid's Blog: the start.: So this is the start, what do people usually write about? i don't know! i have never even read a blog before never mind wrote one.  So ...

the start.

So this is the start, what do people usually write about? i don't know! i have never even read a blog before never mind wrote one.
 So here it is , my name is diarmuid and i live in the west of ireland in a beautiful place called achill island. im married to siobhan and we have a beautiful  daughter called lillie who is 3 and a half, and another on the way. I have spent the last ten years working as an outdoor instructor on achill. for five years i was a volunteer with the mayo mountain rescue and i currently volunteer with the achill order of malta.
                   So what am i into, I like to surf, shoot, fish,mountain bike, kayak (occasionally) and i have recently started training for my first marathon, which i hope to do this time next year, I'm in no way a runner , i tried it a few years ago and done in my knee so this is me starting again. at the minute i'm running for 15 mins about 3 times a week im starting to build up my time and distance. www.mapmyrun.com/account/my_profile