Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

TheRoadRunner

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today:
The 'going' is pretty firm, so I think 6" spikes are the order of business.

Good luck tomorrow. Are there are any junior or juvenile races on before the senior races? Just bear in mind that the course can get ripped up by races so while it may be firm now it could get messy as the morning goes on. I'd bring longer spikes as a backup just in case.

Krusty_Clown

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

Good luck tomorrow. Are there are any junior or juvenile races on before the senior races? Just bear in mind that the course can get ripped up by races so while it may be firm now it could get messy as the morning goes on. I'd bring longer spikes as a backup just in case.

Yeah, there's a juniors and a ladies race so I should be able to get the lie of the land beforehand (or I can just try and keep Abhainn in my eye-line around the course!). It's only 6k, so I might survive with the 12", but there's a small gravel section and some pretty hard-packed ground. A buddy of mine is emigrating to Jamaica next week and is having going away drinks tonight though, but I'll try and keep it country. :rolleyes:

Krusty_Clown

Well, this race went exactly as I expected it would. Unfortunately, that's not a good thing. Stupidly, I got home from the 'emigration party' at 2am, and didn't show a lot of restraint while in the pub, so the result is a very fair reflection of my preparation. The race started and after a short period a small group broke away, with Abhainn, Finn, Martin Francis and one more runner. I was at the back of a second group, with BeepBeep towards the front of the second group. I felt strong on the gentle uphill climb, going a little faster than most, so pushed past the group to try and close the gap on the first group. I failed miserably. I got a large piece of bark stuck to my spike, and it felt like I was wearing clogs but eventually after 200m, it fell off on the gravel path. Into the wind, my strength and will leaked away and the second group soon caught me, and overtook me. I figured I had to hang onto this group, or I was fooked. I was in around 10th place, a couple of spots behind BeepBeep.

On the second lap, I was feeling each and every one of the previous night's pints, but managed to pass one or two runners who were breathing heavy. At this point my left shoe lace unraveled and I gave serious consideration to stopping to re-tie it, but with 2k to go, wisdom prevailed.

I figured if I was going to salvage anything from this race, I'd have to make a move at some point. I reckoned the best time would be on the gentle hill climb alongside the sea, before we turned for the final straight. I dug in and overtook the three runners getting a much appreciated shout of encouragement from BeepBeep. Someone in pursuit got a shout out, so I picked up the pace so they couldn't close the gap. In turn I was closing the gap on the runner in front, but he too got a shout of warning and picked up the pace. I finished 5th, in a time of 23:01, thoroughly disappointed. I should have been contesting third place, instead of languishing around in 10th spot in the middle of the race, but I got what I deserved (possibly more than I deserved). Last night in the pub, while supping on pints, the race didn't mean a damn thing to me. Suddenly giving a damn at the start line, is a little too late. Lesson learned.

A couple of positives: Great running by the Bray team to retain the club title, with Abhainn (fastest XC master in Wicklow), Finn, and Martin Francis taking the first three spots, and BeepBeep running very solidly in spite of a heap of recent injuries. Also, it's been a good week with 62+ miles and a solid 4 mile tempo session (the race) that'll help move me in the right direction for the marathon plan in a weeks time.

Summary: 9.76 miles including 6.2k in 23:01, @5:55/mile, HR=171

TheRoadRunner

Not bad for a pissed pensioner well done.

Killerz

Fair play to you. You did excellently full stop, never mind for someone who was on the gargle the night before. Sometimes life (social life) takes over and there's no getting around it!

Krusty_Clown

Killerz wrote: »

Fair play to you. You did excellently full stop, never mind for someone who was on the gargle the night before. Sometimes life (social life) takes over and there's no getting around it!

Thanks, but I really didn't do excellently at all (the numbers are pretty flattering). In a field of 30, where a large part of the runners were competing for O50, O60 etc., 5th ain't great. I had beaten Martin (3rd) in a recent 10k XC, so should have been competing with him at the front of the group. Just self-disappointment more than anything, that I had a chance to put in a good performance and get a good result, but I didn't. But that's just being greedy. It's simple cause and effect. Cause = drinking. Effect = bad performance.

donothoponpop

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Cause = drinking. Effect = bad performance.

Sitting atop my lofty perch of nine-day sobriety: how much do you reckon alcohol costs you in terms of training and racing? You go dry for a spell before key races, correct?

Krusty_Clown

donothoponpop wrote: »

Sitting atop my lofty perch of nine-day sobriety: how much do you reckon alcohol costs you in terms of training and racing? You go dry for a spell before key races, correct?

I don't think there's anything wrong with sitting at home and having one or two bottles of beer (2/3 glasses of wine) as long as you stay well hydrated. It's when you switch to the full bottle wine (4/5 beers) that it has an impact on training and racing. Elevated heart rate, tiredness, dehydration, stomach issues, lethargy; all will have an impact on performance the next day. I'm not saying I need to switch to pious behaviour, but the night before a race or a big training session, anything over 1 or 2 beers is clearly going to be detrimental.

I usually cut down on the beer 6 weeks out, and try and knock it on the head for the final four weeks, but it's more about weight loss and getting better sleep. Look, there's no doubt that cutting it out completely would make one a better athlete; a faster runner; but apart from running, I also like beer, which isn't a weakness, it's a choice. Yes I'll make that sacrifice in the final weeks (I need to, as the gains are not coming as easy any longer) but until then, mine's a beer.

Peckham

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

.... but until then, mine's a beer.

It's Budweiser that you drink isn't it?

Krusty_Clown

Peckham wrote: »

It's Budweiser that you drink isn't it?

Once hell freezes over.

donothoponpop

Yup, good answer ^ above. Your point about diminishing returns and necessitated abstinence is well made. You're right too in saying it's all about balancing hobbies- but it's good to see you beating yourself up over your performance. No way MF was out boozing till 2am!

Krusty_Clown

donothoponpop wrote: »

Yup, good answer ^ above. Your point about diminishing returns and necessitated abstinence is well made. You're right too in saying it's all about balancing hobbies- but it's good to see you beating yourself up over your performance. No way MF was out boozing till 2am!

Boy, is he something to aspire to be like, when you're 52 years old! I hope when I'm that age I'm beating fresh-faced pimply young 40 years olds like myself, and running 2:50 marathons.

Krusty_Clown

Today: 5 recovery miles for recuperation (8:11/mile) and two miles of strides (6:54/mile) to get set for the week ahead. Legs feeling pretty good.
Summary: 7 miles in 54:19, @7:45mile, HR=132

Krusty_Clown

Today: 13.1 easy miles
Ran to Corkagh Park and met up with TheRoadRunner for an easy hour of running, before running the two miles back to work. Didn't notice the miles ticking by with the bit of banter, so was well happy when I realized I'd cover the planned 13 miles and still be back in the office in time for a bite to eat, before my next conference call. Didn't notice a couple of quicker miles sneaking in there too. Perfect way to split up a busy work day.

Summary: 13.1 miles in 1:31:40, @6:59/mile, HR=~150

Krusty_Clown

Today: 5 mile recovery run and 2 mile post recovery steady run
Kind of getting used to doing the easy 5 mile recovery run on the grass, then picking up the pace for the last two miles back to the office. First 5 miles were around 8:04/mile, and the last two miles at 6:24/mile.

Summary: 7 miles

ChickenBalls

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Kind of getting used to doing the easy 5 mile recovery run on the grass...

Your welcome!

Krusty_Clown

keith123 wrote: »

Your welcome!

Any time I need someone to slow me down, I'll give you a holler.

Tonight:
16 x 15 Core strength
16 x 2 x 4 Weights

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: 12 Mile easy run
After a frustrating morning, I set off in the direction of home, once again exploring the 20 mile route that will some day take from from work to home. At the 6 mile point I was at Scholar's Pub, and very tempted to keep running the additional 12 miles to home, but I reckon I'd be missed (and not in the good way!). Not the nicest of routes, but if it kills two birds with one stone, and I can get a long run done during the working week instead of the weekend, it might give me some opportunities to do some races. That's the problem with marathon training and long runs; they are mostly mutually exclusive. Bah. Down with that sort of thing..

Summary: 12 miles in 1:24, @7:00/mile, HR=147

TheRoadRunner

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

That's the problem with marathon training and long runs; they are mostly mutually exclusive. Bah. Down with that sort of thing..

That's half my thinking of trying to get long run done during the week, if I get it done by Wednesday frees up the weekend for a race.

Krusty_Clown

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

That's half my thinking of trying to get long run done during the week, if I get it done by Wednesday frees up the weekend for a race.

The problem is, that running a race with a two or three day old long run in the legs leaves me feeling quite stale. Last time round, I tried to swap long runs for races, doing a few warm-up and warm-down miles before and after to make up the distance, and while I was happy with the races, I don't think it did my marathon goal any good. Now that I think of it though, two of my lead-up races are on Sundays, so I'd better just get used to mid-week long runs.

Krusty_Clown

Today: 5 mile recovery run plus strides
The near default recovery run, of 5 miles around sloppy Corkagh in the spikes, followed by two miles of strides back to the office. My pattern has become to count strides like: 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3..... 20... So 80 strides in total, which I reckon is around 150m. But that'd be a stride-length of nearly 2m, right? (which would be nearly impossible). Probably closer to 100m. Must measure at some point. Anyway, it feels fast (around 3k pace) and it feels good, so I'm sticking with it (even if my math sucks).

Summary: 5 miles recovery + 2 miles of strides (5)

Krusty_Clown

Today: 2 mile + 5 mile recovery run
Started the day with an easy two mile run to pickup the car from whence it was abandoned last night. Followed up with a 5 mile recovery run, which was a miserable failure, as I was unable to remain at recovery pace. I also explored some routes for potential 'Newton-like' hills, to incorporate into my long runs at around mile 17, to simulate the Boston route.

Summary: 2 + 5 miles, HR monitor = broken.

Krusty_Clown

Today: 17 Mile long run with alternating pmp miles
Haven't run long long in almost a month, so with marathon training starting tomorrow, it was time to get back to the grind. A perfect route, that apart from the initial 4 mile climb, closely emulates the Boston descent and subsequent climbs. I haven't run at pmp pace in some time, so I decided to alternate PMP-paced miles with easy miles, just to get the feeling back into the legs. First couple of pmp miles were downhill, and felt easy enough. Next couple were uphill into the wind, so it got a bit tougher. On number 6, running slightly uphill along the N11 into a head-wind, I was delighted when my shoe-lace unraveled, and it took me some time (cough) to get the laces tied again. Finished up with my simulated heart-break hill at around mile 16, which climbs around 170 feet (50m), which is a greater climb than the Newton hills. So I'll keep this one on the route for long runs, for the forseeable future. The pace slowed but I maintained consistent effort, up over the gentle hill, before finishing strong, at close to 10k pace.

I think it's important to go into marathon training in an optimistic frame of mind, and this last week, with 70 miles in total and a solid long run has really helped to get me back into it, with the right attitude. And so... Once more unto the breach.

Summary: 17.2 miles in 1:56, @6:48/mile

Peckham

How are you judging the elevation profile of your runs? All based on Garmin and comparing it to the Boston course profile map? Or is there some geeky mathematical thing going on?

Krusty_Clown

Peckham wrote: »

How are you judging the elevation profile of your runs? All based on Garmin and comparing it to the Boston course profile map? Or is there some geeky mathematical thing going on?

Just using approximates. Boston has a downhill bit, followed by an up bit, then a down bit, an up bit, some more down, more up, and finally some down, then beer. The Garmin is generally quite accurate, if you enable the Elevation Corrections. Not too worried about a metre for metre mapping..

Krusty_Clown

Tonight:
16 x 15 core strength exercises
16 x 2 x 4 weights

Mr Slow

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Just using approximates. Boston has a downhill bit, followed by an up bit, then a down bit, an up bit, some more down, more up, and finally some down, then beer. The Garmin is generally quite accurate, if you enable the Elevation Corrections. Not too worried about a metre for metre mapping..

I trust you're keeping the beer consumption training going alongside the running?

Krusty_Clown

Mr Slow wrote: »

I trust you're keeping the beer consumption training going alongside the running?

Absolutely! My commitment to that cause is unquestionable! I stuck my second home-brew on last night (it was like a second core workout!), so should hopefully have some fine results in about 5 weeks time (ironically, around the time I'll be giving up beer!).

Krusty_Clown

Today: 6 mile recovery run
Feels strange to be back under the cosh of a formal training program once again, but here goes, for marathon PB attempt #6. As per previous attempts, I'm starting a week early, to allow some contingency for work travel/illness. Unlike previous attempts, I'm not starting on the back of a shorter fast program (e.g. 5k/10k), instead hoping that my most recent bout of marathon training hasn't deserted me completely. Strategy is to follow the P&D 70-85 mile 12 week program, but will be adapting it, to do more agressive long runs, as that's an area that I feel I didn't have enough intensity on my last effort. So will try to steal from Daniels and Canova for the P&D straight long runs.

Back to today: Had to call into a bank to lodge my race winnings (from back in September; now the money is more important than the sentimental value of keeping the cheque!), so, I ran down to the bank in Clondalkin on a pleasant sunny afternoon (and was far from being the smelliest/sweatiest person in the queue!) before running back through Corkagh to work.

Summary: 6.54 miles in 49 mins, @7:30/mile (too fast; need to slow down).

jfh

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Tonight:
16 x 15 core strength exercises
16 x 2 x 4 weights

Hi Krusty,
would you mind detailing the core exercise that you do, i'm training for a marathon myself and would like to improve core strength
thanks