Diary of a middle-age runner

gerard65

Sun 6th Sept.
5mls in 48mins.
Very slow recovery run. Had'nt planned to go run today but I got bored and when the rain cleared decided to get out for a while. Enjoyed the run at 9:34 pace. I'll try this pace for my next long run and see if I can reach the 20 miles.

gerard65

Mon 7th Sept.
Had planned on 10 easy but after 3 my morton's neuroma flared up. Usually takes a couple of days to sort itself out. Not too worried at the moment, as the rest is needed, as long as I'm fixed for Saturdays race.

gerard65

Thurs 10th Sept.
4mls. 2mls easy and 2mls steady.
Needed to test the foot tonight. It seems OK now after been fairly sore for the last couple of days. Not the ideal preparation for Saturdays race but at least I'll be able to run.

gerard65

Sat 12th Sept.
BHAA Pearl Izumi 10k Firhouse.
43:24.
I knew coming into this I was no where near my best 10k. Did'nt realise I was that far away. Two minutes slower than McMillian predicted.
My splits up to mile 4 were OK, after that I died.
Still, it's a good event and the weather was perfect and I met a few more boardies. I now have a BAC official vest to wear with pride.
I'm lacking stamina but have more sprint speed than I've had in years as my last 50m shocked me, did'nt realise I could still sprint that fast.
The next 6 weeks are endurance based as I'm targeting the aware 10k. This will set me up for a few XC races in the new year. Any races between now and then will be 'stepping stones'.
(As long as I can stay healthy).

shels4ever

gerard65 wrote: »

Sat 12th Sept.
BHAA Pearl Izumi 10k Firhouse.
43:24.
I knew coming into this I was no where near my best 10k. Did'nt realise I was that far away. Two minutes slower than McMillian predicted.
My splits up to mile 4 were OK, after that I died.
Still, it's a good event and the weather was perfect and I met a few more boardies. I now have a BAC official vest to wear with pride.
I'm lacking stamina but have more sprint speed than I've had in years as my last 50m shocked me, did'nt realise I could still sprint that fast.
The next 6 weeks are endurance based as I'm targeting the aware 10k. This will set me up for a few XC races in the new year. Any races between now and then will be 'stepping stones'.
(As long as I can stay healthy).

Still a solid run there and a nice base to get start . As you say you havent been training for 10k and compared to 1-2 mile races its a different beast.

gerard65

Sun 13th Sept.
4mls in 32mins. Just a little run out for the legs after yesterday.

gerard65

Mon 14th Sept.
60mins steady.

Tues 15th Sept.
40mins easy/steady.

Wed 16th Sept.
60mins steady.

Thurs 17th Sept.
50mins steady/hilly.

Very pleased with the last few days. Beginning to feel strong. The 'heavyness' that was in my legs is gone. Worked hard on the hills tonight and was able to maintain a strong pace.
I have a rest day schedualed for tomorrow.
Bought a couple of pairs runners today. A pair of racing flats for the track, don't think I'll wear them on the roads as their a bit light for my ageing legs. And took advantage of the Eleverys sale and picked up a pair of kayanos for 100yoyo's.

gerard65

Sat 19th Sept.
90mins very easy.
God, that was tough. Did'nt sleep well last night and felt crap from the start. I'll take tomorrow off.

gerard65

Tues 22nd Sept.
43mins very easy.
Over did it last week and had to take Sun and yesterday off. The rest of the week will be very easy running. Wore my new kayano's this evening, I'll rotate the two pairs I have, as recommended.

gerard65

Wed 23th Sept.
47mins easy. Noticing a chill in the evenings.
The plan for Saturday is to aim for a 1:40 half. This is a pace 7:38min/ml.

gerard65

Thurs 24th Sept.
35mins easy. Well as Bugs Bunny says 'Thats all folks'. Nothing more till Saturday morning. Last year I got caught up in the moment and started at 7min/ml pace. After 8 miles I was a spent force and really hurt over the last 5 miles. An experiment not to be repeated. I hope a 7:38 pace will be OK but I'm a bit concerned about my endurance. Sometime around 11:40am on Saturday will tell its own tale.

BeepBeep67

Good luck with the Half Ger

gerard65

Sat 26th Sept.
Dublin half marathon - Pheonix Park.
1:39:43.
Very pleased with this time. The plan was to start at 7:38 pace, bank a few seconds in the middle and hang on till the end. Started in wave 2 and the first mile was a bit crowded - a 8:00 mile. Second mile was 7:08 but after that I managed to control the pace with the only exception being mile 4 at 7:52. For the next few miles I was 7:32 pace and feeling good including the kyper. Got a big boost at 10mile which was faster than the 10miler a few weeks ago. I was feeling so good I decided to go for home. The 'kick' lasted about a mile when things started falling apart on the long hill - mile 12 was my slowest at 8:05. Got a small 'second wind' on the last mile when I knew I was close to sub 1:40. I'm close to where I was this time last year when I ran a PB of 19:16 for the Rathfarnham 5k which is next week.
After this year I don't know if I'll ever do a race this long again. Hauling 13st around 13.1 mile isn't easy. You can't change your genetic makeup so it maybe time to accept I'm more suited to the shorter stuff.

Krusty_Clown

Well done gerard, great running. Is that a PB for the half?

gerard65

Thanks. No its a minute slower than last year (my only other half) but I was much better prepared last year and if I had paced it better last year I'd been much quicker. But I'm very happy with that considering the year I've had up to now.

osnola ibax

Nice to meet you today, great time, sub140 is a major goal for me.

kennyb3

Nice to meet you today Ger. great running today, you ll be spot on for your goal in 2 weeks

gerard65

Tues 29th Sept.
75mins with 60mins at a steady/comfortable pace, the last 15 fairly quick.
Good session. I took 48hrs off after Saturday, beginning to realise rest/recovery is the most important part of any training program.

Sosa

Just catching up on you gerard,well done on sub 1:40 at the half.

Rest is great,i love it.
I have no interest in running every day.

gerard65

Thanks Sosa. Yep, pleased with the half.
I think 3 good quality sessions a week is better than 6 medicore runs. I'd always made the mistake of doing my recovery runs too fast, I'll now just go for a long walk if I've any doubts.

Sosa

gerard65 wrote: »

Thanks Sosa. Yep, pleased with the half.
I think 3 good quality sessions a week is better than 6 medicore runs. I'd always made the mistake of doing my recovery runs too fast, I'll now just go for a long walk if I've any doubts.

Thats the way,you will reap the benefits.
I always take nice spells of rest,have seen to many friends and others get injured,i suppose i have learned by that

gerard65

Sun 4th Oct.
Rathfarnham 5k.
19:34. Don't really know how to take this - not 'over the moon' but not 'sick as a parrot'. I did'nt train since Tues due to an ongoing foot problem - nothing serious but decided to take the time to see if it would clear up once and for all.
I supose this time is a fair reflection of where I'm at the moment, last year I'd had much more consistancy for the previous few months. After next week I'm taking a break from racing for a few weeks so I can get in some solid training.

gerard65

Mon 5th Oct.
60min steady, finished fast.

Tues 6th Oct.
50mins steady in the rain.
Two good days training.:)

gerard65

Wed 7th Oct.
60mins steady.

Thurs 8th Oct.
40mins brisk.

Fri 9th Oct.
30mins easy.

Very good week. All sessions endurance based. I feel I'm slowly getting stronger and the weight is still on the downward slope. Rest tomorrow with a BIG race on Sunday.

gerard65

Sun 11th Oct.
Dublin Novice Xcountry Pheonix Park.
3.62miles in 24:12. Position 85th.
This was'nt about racing for me, it was about survival. Looking around at the start and seeing that most of the other guys seemed up to 25 years younger I realised this was going to be very tough. First 1km was way too fast and I paid the price. I never wanted to quit as much as I did on the third lap. Looking behind I could'nt see woddle or shels so I reckoned they must have quit and I could'nt remember if it was 3 or 4 to score for the team, so I just kept going, plus if you DNF once for no other reason than just been tired, it sets a domino effect in your mind - one DNF will lead to many others. I was never so glad to finish and I wasn't last (5th last maybe). Still, I'd do it again, God, I love this madness:p

shels4ever

gerard65 wrote: »

Sun 11th Oct.
Dublin Novice Xcountry Pheonix Park.
3.62miles in 24:12. Position 85th.
This was'nt about racing for me, it was about survival. Looking around at the start and seeing that most of the other guys seemed up to 25 years younger I realised this was going to be very tough. First 1km was way too fast and I paid the price. I never wanted to quit as much as I did on the third lap. Looking behind I could'nt see woddle or shels so I reckoned they must have quit and I could'nt remember if it was 3 or 4 to score for the team, so I just kept going, plus if you DNF once for no other reason than just been tired, it sets a domino effect in your mind - one DNF will lead to many others. I was never so glad to finish and I wasn't last (5th last maybe). Still, I'd do it again, God, I love this madness:p

Vey sold run today, well done.

gerard65

Mon 12th Oct.
50mins steady - brisk finish. Good session.

Tues 13th Oct.
30mins easy. Woke up with a head cold so backed off tonight.

gerard65

Sat 17th Oct.
40mins steady finishing brisk.
Off for the last 3 days due to a stubborn head cold which finally broke today.
Started tonight with the idea to take it easy but began to feel good after a mile so picked it up, finished the last couple of miles at just over 7min/ml pace.

gerard65

Sun 18th Oct.
75mins steady hilly run.
Only 3 decent sessions this week because of a head cold, would have liked a better week but what can you do? Start an 8 week countdown to the aware10k next week.

gerard65

Mon 19th Oct.
45mins easy.

Tues 20th Oct.
10 x 1min fast - 1min slow.
Had a track session planned for this morning but I knew from the weather forecast this wasn't going to happen, but this circuit session this afternoon in the park is just as good at this stage.