Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

donothoponpop

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: ...the legs are now feeling 27.35% better... just to fix up the missing 62.65%.

[size=-5]Psst... you're still missing 10% :P[/size]

RayCun

The last 10% is all in the head

Krusty_Clown

Peckham wrote: »

What are you doing for the other sessions? My plan is:
5x1 mile
3x1 mile, 1x2 mile
2x2 mile, 1x2 mile
1x2 mile, 1x3 mile
Race

Hi Peckham, the real goal race is a cross-country in Wicklaw in a couple of weeks time (the week before the aware 10k 5 mile), so the modified plan is really just to get some speed into the legs. So I was gonna do:
Week 1:5 x 1 Mile
Week 2:1x2 + 3x1
Week 3:2x2 + 1x1
Week 4:XC Race
Week 5:Aware 5 Mile

I was also going to do a short tempo session each week, a hilly long run, and fill the rest in with easy/recovery runs (as it'll be taxing enough). I'm just doing the Aware for the craic, as there are a couple of work folks committed. My last 5 Mile was a few years ago in 32 mins, so a PB should be on the cards if I get my sums right.

D'pop wrote:

Psst... you're still missing 10%

Well, that plan's out of the window. :P

Krusty_Clown

Today: Ugly 10k run
Did a warm-up in preparation for a short tempo, but after running the first half mile of the tempo, I knew that something was wrong. Energy levels were down the toilet, and I just couldn't get it going. Looking back, my HR was high for my warm-up miles, so I may be just a little run-down at the moment, or over-tired. After a break, I managed to climb back on to the horse for a bit, and get a couple of miles done at around the right pace. If there's ever a race where you're allowed to stop and take a break before continuing, I'm all over it, like a rash.

Summary: 6.3 miles in 41:50, @6:39/mile

theboyblunder

ahh let he who is without sneaky break on a tough day cast the first stone.

Hilly enough route for a tempo IMO - you should be happy enough with that when you arent feeling 100%!

Krusty_Clown

theboyblunder wrote: »

ahh let he who is without sneaky break on a tough day cast the first stone.

Hilly enough route for a tempo IMO - you should be happy enough with that when you arent feeling 100%!

Don't be fooled. That route is as flat as a pancake (if anything, the faster miles were downhill). I've learned you can't win 'em all, so not too cheesed off. I did notice that my weight this morning was a couple of pounds lighter than my recent race weight, so that plus the higher HR suggests some extra sleep and hydration is required.

Krusty_Clown

Evening:
16 x 15 Core Strength
15 x 2 x 4 Weights

Can't run for sh1t, but core of iron. :rolleyes:

Mr Slow

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Evening:
16 x 15 Core Strength
15 x 2 x 4 Weights

Can't run for sh1t, but core of iron. :rolleyes:

I'm starting your core session this week, looks easy:cool:...........(:eek:)

Krusty_Clown

Mr Slow wrote: »

I'm starting your core session this week, looks easy:cool:...........(:eek:)

Hi Mr Slow, they're tough if you haven't done any core stuff before. I took a lazy break of two years, so found them particularly tough, but they're getting easier. Hip lifts and the bicycle crunches I found particularly tough (and still do) but I guess that points at a specific weakness. Others like the Oblique crunches I find particularly easy, because it's the same kind of movement I would do regularly on my motorcycle, when travelling around corners and roundabouts.

By the way, if you're planning on following the MacMillan 10k program, I'd definitely recommend building up to it, as to jump straight in is very tough (particularly if you haven't been doing much 10k pace work previous to this). So if you have the time, it would be a good idea to do something like:
10 x 800m @10k pace
8 x 1200m @10k pace
In the weeks leading up to starting the program, just to make the transition easier.

Mr Slow

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hi Mr Slow, they're tough if you haven't done any core stuff before. I took a lazy break of two years, so found them particularly tough, but they're getting easier. Hip lifts and the bicycle crunches I found particularly tough (and still do) but I guess that points at a specific weakness. Others like the Oblique crunches I find particularly easy, because it's the same kind of movement I would do regularly on my motorcycle, when travelling around corners and roundabouts.

By the way, if you're planning on following the MacMillan 10k program, I'd definitely recommend building up to it, as to jump straight in is very tough (particularly if you haven't been doing much 10k pace work previous to this). So if you have the time, it would be a good idea to do something like:
10 x 800m @10k pace
8 x 1200m @10k pace
In the weeks leading up to starting the program, just to make the transition easier.

Thanks G,

I had that in mind alright, I'm currently building up to 10 slow miles such is the condition of my legs post DCM

Mr Slow

Bicycle Crunches.........ow!

Krusty_Clown

Mr Slow wrote: »

Bicycle Crunches.........ow!

Glad it's not just me then. Don't double the number of reps every week!

Krusty_Clown

Wednesday: 5 mile recovery with 5 x 240m strides

Thursday: No running. :mad: Can't remember the last time work interfered with my running. /angry face. The rest day should've been of benefit, but when I woke up, my knee was throbbing and the achilles were both sore. Rest days suck.

Friday: Again, busy as hell. Couldn't get out for a run, but managed to get everything done by 6pm, so headed home with just a single purpose. Three minutes after arriving home, I was back out with the running gear on. The first three miles were into a pretty strong wind, and it felt great. Arriving at the start of the climb towards Bray Head, I was saddened to have to turn back, with the wind behind me, as the nasty conditions helped to cleanse the soul.
Summary: 10k in 45 mins, @7:18/mile, HR=143

Dory Dory

Thank god for those soul cleansing nasty conditions sometimes. Sort of like a confession and baptism rolled into one gloriously ugly slog.

Mr Slow

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Glad it's not just me then. Don't double the number of reps every week!

5 was easy with the exception of the bicycle crunches, I'll try 10 during the week and build up by 2's then if it's going well.

Krusty_Clown

Mr Slow wrote: »

5 was easy with the exception of the bicycle crunches, I'll try 10 during the week and build up by 2's then if it's going well.

I think they recommended 10 as a starting point. I started at 12 reps, and increased it by 1 every week (dong the session twice a week). I do the weights as part of the same session, so the whole thing ends up taking a good 30-50 minutes. The arms are hanging off me by the end of it.

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: 8 miles with 5 miles steady
My knee/niggles haven't been getting any better, so I'm dialing back the effort levels a notch until things start to feel a little better (when I can face the stairs in the morning without turning sideways). Just going to have to give the races in 2 and 3 weeks my best shot, with sub-optimal training. This run had the right mix of effort and comfort, on the grass with the spikes and was an enjoyable run. Afterwards I put on the running shoes to run home, and the knee wasn't great. Not sure if it was the two minute break or the shoes, but things were fine on the grass in the spikes.

I've also been told I'm heading to 'Fargo' country in a couple of weeks time (around the time of the Aware 5 mile), where it's already covered in snow and currently -6'C (outdoor running will be impossible in a few weeks time), so that'll be two weekends of running scuppered (if not the race itself). So the outlook's not great for the next few weeks. Just have to try and make the most of it.

Followed up with:
Core strength: 16 x 15
Weights: 16 x 2 x 4

Summary: 8 miles in 54 mins, @6:40/mile, HR=145

Krusty_Clown

Dory Dory wrote: »

Thank god for those soul cleansing nasty conditions sometimes. Sort of like a confession and baptism rolled into one gloriously ugly slog.

Absolutely! Nothing better than a bit of Shakespearean weather, when you're in the mood! What's the weather like where you're based these days? Will you have to give up outdoor running for the winter?

Krusty_Clown

Today: 17.4 mile hilly loop
Adapted last week's hilly loop to add a few miles and take me past the same spot a couple of times, so I could deposit some water (which I ignored until mile 14). With the extra miles, this one took me close to the brink and for the last couple of miles, I was running on empty, so the body learned some lessons about fuelling, which is a good outcome. Tough run. Will do it again, but not every week. It's a toughie.

Afterwards: 5 minute plank session

Summary: 17.4 miles in 2:13, @7:36/mile, HR=140

Dory Dory

Hey there! The weather here in Virginia is all over the place right now. Yesterday morning it was 24 degrees and I froze me toes off at a 10k turkey trot race, but today it is 60 degrees and incredibly mild. I've moved most of my weekday training indoors in large part to how short the days are and because of my work schedule; however, come the first of the year, weather will typically become more problematic with snow and ice and will most certainly destroy all hopes for the proper run in the great out of doors. Well, perhaps I should say that it will destroy all hopes unless I am feeling a bit arctic-shakesperean.

Your knee.....what kind of trouble are you having? My right knee has been giving me a bit of a fit so I am curious about yours. My pain is on the outside/outside lower quadrant of the knee and seems to be aggravated by running downhill - I assume the additional concussion associated with downhill. I am starting to wonder if my shoes are contributing to the condition as the pain started after I purchased these fairly new runners.

Mr Slow

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I think they recommended 10 as a starting point. I started at 12 reps, and increased it by 1 every week (dong the session twice a week). I do the weights as part of the same session, so the whole thing ends up taking a good 30-50 minutes. The arms are hanging off me by the end of it.

I used it as a means to entertain the kids, they did what I did, 10 wouldn't have gone down well with them

Krusty_Clown

Dory Dory wrote: »

Your knee.....what kind of trouble are you having? My right knee has been giving me a bit of a fit so I am curious about yours. My pain is on the outside/outside lower quadrant of the knee and seems to be aggravated by running downhill - I assume the additional concussion associated with downhill. I am starting to wonder if my shoes are contributing to the condition as the pain started after I purchased these fairly new runners.

Yep, very similar. I think it was brought on by running intervals in racing flats, which I'm not quite used to, and the legs are still a little tender after recent marathons. Pushing the pace on the downhills probably didn't help. I also whacked it off a table leg, which didn't make the situation better. So knee pain isn't entirely unexpected, under the circumstances.

Have you had a gait analysis done? I presume most of the running shops around Virginia would offer a suitably professional service?

Dory Dory

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Have you had a gait analysis done? I presume most of the running shops around Virginia would offer a suitably professional service?

The the gentleman who owns the running store where I purchase my runners always watches me walk and makes me get on the treadmill in the shoes I'm thinking about purchasing and watches me run in them. I don't know if this qualifies as a gait analysis, but that's as close to an analysis as I've ever had done. I did behave myself today and ran an 8 mile recovery jog (and stuck within the specified parameters of a recovery jog as defined by McMillan) and quite surprisingly my knee feels pretty good. Perhaps going slow and taking it easy truly is good for the body at specified times in the training!

Krusty_Clown

Dory Dory wrote: »

Perhaps going slow and taking it easy truly is good for the body at specified times in the training!

No doubt about it. Ryan Hall does his recovery runs at about 8:15/mile (and runs his marathons at about 4:40/mile) so there's a lesson in that for all of us.

Today: 5 recovery miles in Corcagh Park @8:13/mile
Yes, you read it correctly, I ran my recovery run faster than Ryan Hall. Take that, Biatch. Couldn't have run any quicker, after yesterday's tough slog, but legs were feeling infinitely better afterwards.
Summary: 5 miles in 41 mins, @8:13/mile, HR=132

theboyblunder

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: 17.4 mile hilly loop
Adapted last week's hilly loop to add a few miles and take me past the same spot a couple of times, so I could deposit some water (which I ignored until mile 14). With the extra miles, this one took me close to the brink and for the last couple of miles, I was running on empty, so the body learned some lessons about fuelling, which is a good outcome. Tough run. Will do it again, but not every week. It's a toughie.

Afterwards: 5 minute plank session

Summary: 17.4 miles in 2:13, @7:36/mile, HR=140

That is a savage run alright- might be on for doing that with you later in the winter perhaps, once im sure the calf is ok.

Got to be good for you......

Krusty_Clown

theboyblunder wrote: »

That is a savage run alright- might be on for doing that with you later in the winter perhaps, once im sure the calf is ok.

Got to be good for you......

It is quite a savage run, but thankfully, by mile 13 the hard work is mostly done, so you can coast back down to earth. I'm thinking of running the Dublin Mountain Way again early next year (26 miles from Tallaght to Shankill over the mountains), so this kind of stuff is perfect prep. You're more than welcome any time. You might enjoy the variety, but you'll certainly enjoy the views and the rosy glow of exhaustion afterwards!

Krusty_Clown

...and I'm officially out of the Aware 5 mile (and ART beers). Instead I'll be winging my way to snowy Wisconsin for a week of meetings.

Krusty_Clown

Today: Best laid plans
Have had a book sitting on my desk looking at me for the last couple of weeks. I'd promised to post it out, but sure when the hell do I get to a post office to get stamps? So with most of my American colleagues taking a week-long sabbatical for thanksgiving, the office was a little quieter, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone, and get an easy 8 mile run done, and hand-deliver the book. A quick glance at Google maps, and I was sorted. Famous last words.

I arrived at where I thought I should be, only I couldn't find the area anywhere. They'd moved it! My unmanly attempts at asking for directions, fell only on the ears of tourists and new-comers. Eventually, a scouser with a bag of chips pointed me in the right direction, and I set-off hot-footing it to a neighborhood a couple of miles away. The council should really stop up-rooting entire town-ships and moving them to different areas on Google maps. It's frustrating.

Another search ensued, more tourists and new-comers. I was getting tired at this stage, but my run had become a mission and I wasn't giving up after coming this far. Rescued by a granny, I found the right street, deposited the book, and headed back to work, feeling all the richer, for having saved myself 54c. Nothing like a mid-week 13 mile mission to break up the week.

Summary: 13'ish miles in 1:33'ish, @7Min/mile'ish

drquirky

Wisconsin could be very very cold this time of year Krusty- make sure to pack the cold weather gear!! If you are anywhere near Madison - thats a great town to run in as they have really good bike/ running paths!

Krusty_Clown

drquirky wrote: »

Wisconsin could be very very cold this time of year Krusty- make sure to pack the cold weather gear!! If you are anywhere near Madison - thats a great town to run in as they have really good bike/ running paths!

Yep, it's around 0'-2'C at the moment, and will be a lot colder in three weeks time. Unfortunately 240 miles from Madison (30 miles from Minneapolis/St Paul), but I'll bring my yattrax and spikes! Besides, they have a brewery in the town, so it's a good opportunity to drink some fresh new beer.