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Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge
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I told them that if they hit me with a snowball, it would be the last snowball they would ever throw. Then I let them hit me with their snowballs.Toblerone1978 wrote: »What was your answer? :P
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Tuesday 20th: 12 miles slow
The eternal refrain - Another crazy day in work... Plan called for 6 miles + 6 miles, but never got the chance to get out at lunch time, so figured I'd just get out in the evening and tip around for 8+ miles or whatever took my fancy. Weather was cold and pissy, and even the podcast was doing it's best to destroy the mood (45 minute instructional video on the art of juggling
and I was just too dis-interested to change it). But still the miles ticked off one by one, and it was just damn nice to be not in work, so kept going until I had the 12 miles done, at a very humdrum 7:40/mile
Wednesday: Easy run with 60 x 60m sprints + 10 miles easy
Headed to a nearby park with Keith on an uncharacteristically sunny day and jogged a few easy miles with him before settling on a straight grassy patch to do the sprints. Counted off a number of trees that looked like it was approximately 60m and launched into the sprints. These were good fun. Always good to throw caution to the wind, particularly on the forgiving grass. Paces/distances are pretty irrelevant, but it felt fast (but wasn't really!). In a rare moment of little discipline, I decided to tackle a Strava segment that Keith had mentioned to me, and gave it socks from the playground to the fence and hammered it as much as I could.... All for nothing, as the Strava segment ran in the other direction (West to East). I soon rectified the situation to my satisfaction by creating a new Strava segment to match my sprint and my smug self-approval was absolute. Take that athletic community. The gauntlet has been thrown down! Followed up in the evening with an easy 10 miles with Neal. Best thing about these sprint sessions is that as long as you're not carrying any niggles, you can get back out there for an easy run. 10 miles @7:27/mile
Thursday: 7 miles recovery + 9 miles easy
Trying to tick off the weekly mileage before the weekend's race, so an easy 7 mile recovery run (@7:59/mile) on tired legs, plus another 9 very easy mile loop around Bray with Neal @7:52.
Friday: 6 slow tired miles
Adapting again to the higher mileage (and long working hours), legs, body and mind were all tired. Not an enjoyable way to spend a Friday evening. Beer - let me count the ways I miss you. :mad:
Saturday: 6 miles with strides
Final prep run before Raheny so headed out for a few miles (up the Mine Hill lane climb), then hit some strides on the gentle descent back to sea-level.0 -
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<cough> typo! 6 x 60m! I'm no Emil Zátopek!Oregano_State wrote: »60 x 60m sprints???! That's roughly a bazillion metres.
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Krusty_Clown wrote: »<cough> typo! 6 x 60m! I'm no Emil Zátopek!
I was wondering why you were so blase the fact you then did 10 miles that evening had me convinced you were on the gear. If WADA come knocking at your house tomorrow morning, aplogies
How come you are starting to increase the mileage again? Starting a new cycle? What's the goal race?0 -
Sure 6x60 is just a little over two miles. You're getting lazy in your old age! Time to get the thumb out and start running some decent mileage so I have a reasonable target to equal this year (nothing short of sub 2:32:30, mind youTRR_the_turd wrote: »I was wondering why you were so blase the fact you then did 10 miles that evening had me convinced you were on the gear. If WADA come knocking at your house tomorrow morning, aplogies
How come you are starting to increase the mileage again? Starting a new cycle? What's the goal race?
). Tell the WADA lads to come over at 8:10am, as that's usually when I struggle out of bed for my first piss of the morning (oh and if they bring coffee, they can have a solid sample too ).
I'm back on the Steve Magness 5k plan (that I also followed last year). It's pretty tough as the mileage starts at 70mpw and builds to 100mpw over an 8 week period (in two weeks time) so I'm currently running 90mpw. It's a lot of miles, but sure in 'dry January', what else would you be doing?! I averaged around 76 miles per week, all year round last year (just under 11 miles per day), so the body and mind are well hardened up and used to the mistreatment at this point (have added some core and stretching to the weekly routines too, which seem to be helping). Not so much a goal race as a goal time. Every time I mention 15:30 for 5k though, I notice people's eyebrows furrow, as in 'what the fook are you thinking'?! But I'm trying to think of it in terms of a 22 second improvement (7 seconds per mile) and it doesn't sound so bad, particularly in the context of 6 months dedicated training. I may be dreaming, but how do we find out, unless we try?
The real goal is of course the marathon (likely Dublin in October), but hope to run as many competitive/national races as I can in the interim, as that's where I'm getting most enjoyment these days. Realizing just how crap you are is good for the mojo!0 -
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Monday January 26th: 9 miles grassy recovery @8:23/mile + 6 miles grassy recovery @8:15/mile
No rest for the very stupid (those who race when they shouldn't and still have 90 mile targets), so eased back on the pace and stuck to the grass.
Tuesday: 25 minute split tempo + 5 mile recovery
As I write this down almost two weeks later, it looks incredibly foolish, to run a tempo session two days after a race and it really serves little purpose, as the race would have been an ideal substitute for the tempo session. But I am nothing, if not consistent (consistently foolish), and having a work week that wouldn't support doing this session any other day, I felt it was best to get it done on the Tuesday and sacrifice a little on pace. Kept it relatively comfortable, completing the 15 minute ad 10 minute segments, somewhere around 5:40/mile (with 2-3 minutes rest). A further 5 mile recovery run afterwards, a just reward for my idiocy.
Wednesday: 6 miles recovery + 6 x 10 secs + 2 x 20 uphill sprints
After a further lunch-time recovery run, it was back out into the freezing cold and darkness for a hill sprint session. I decided to head back to the stretch of road which was well lit and offered some safety away from the moving traffic, though it meant sprinting on a hard concrete path. I was a little disappointed to see that the road had been blocked off and closed, but easing past the barriers, I realized that it was a perfect arrangement as the road was closed to traffic, and I had some soft new tarmac for my hill-sprints. Enjoying these hill sprint sessions, particularly as it's a nice short run, interspersed with brief moments of manic eye-popping effort!
Thursday: 3 miles easy + 16 miles easy
Lunacy continues as I planned to run the Fit4life 2 mile race on Thursday evening. Short 3 mile run in the afternoon to flush out the legs and then thankfully, my plans for self-destruction were thwarted, as the weather gods did their merry best to keep me uninjured, covering the ground with a delicate layer of snow, that saw the race cancelled. Frustrated after having built up some pre-race adrenaline, I headed off to Kilbogget with the plan of hitting up some 200m strides, before finally seeing sense (and realizing that Kilbogget was pitvh black), and instead, fired off a text to Peckham, who is now residing in North Wicklow, instead of North Dublin. I underestimated the distance to Bray from Kilbogget, so was both late and a little tired by the time I got there, but had an enjoyable 10k around Bray (despite pretty awful conditions) before parting ways with Peckham and heading for home. Crossing back over the Wicklow border, I realized I had inadvertently covered 14 miles, so felt it made more sense to run two more miles and tick off the week's 16 mile long run. Happiness is ticking off your weekend long run to days before the weekend!
Friday: 7.5 mile easy run with 6x200m strides + 5 mile recovery
If I had to single out a single week where I have been more stupid than any other week, it would be a tough job, but this seven day period would certainly rank right up there. Headed to Kilbogget and ran the 6 x 200m at planned 5k pace (37 seconds), with 200m jog recovery. Hit the strides at the right pace, but it's really begun to hit me, just how quick my planned 5k pace is, and what a massive task lies ahead of me. Followed up with a 5 mile recovery run in the evening, cos what else would you be doing of a Friday evening, when you divide all of your time between working and running.
Saturday: Hartstown Parkrun
Wanted to mark the occasion of the end of a month of hard training (and no beer/comfort junk food!), so headed out to Hartstown to run one of the newer Dublin Parkruns. Ran the route beforehand as a warm-up, and then lined-up at the start, only to be greeted by AuldManKing, who, truth be told, didn't look very happy to see me. As the run started, he sprinted off into the distance and a quick glance at my watch told me he was running at 5:19/mile (which was around Raheny pace). Well, this wasn't Raheny and I didn't have that kind of pace in my legs that morning, so I backed off a little as he pushed on. Eventually he eased off, and I caught up with him after around 800m, but still ended up knocking off the first mile in an overenthusiastic 5:23. After opening a gap, I intentionally took the foot off the pedal a little and relaxed into the run. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have on eye on the course record (think it was around 16:30), but hitting a windy stretch, wisdom prevailed and I eased back a little more (mile 2: 5:32). Complete the big lap, and started into the small lap, catching many of the parkrunners working through their first lap. Tried to pick up the pace a little towards the end (failing miserably!) and ticked off the 3rd mile in 3:34, before ramping it up for a last ditch sprint for the line. 16:49 for my efforts, and was soon joined by the Auld fella, and we headed off for another lap of the park, this time at a far more sociable pace.
Sunday: 10 miles recovery
Running buddy Neal is still on the road to recovery, so thankfully for me, after a dumb-ass week, this was a nice sedate 10 miles at recovery pace (8 min/mile), to round off a 93.3 mile week.0 -
Monday 2nd: 2 x 15 mins @tempo + 5 mile recovery
Eventually the amount of foolishness had to catch-up with me, and it certainly seemed to, during this session, where the two 15 minute tempo sections were run at 5:41 and 5:44/mile. Made the conscious decision not to watch splits (after the first couple), and just just run at tempo-feel, so it was a pretty good gauge of tiredness. Followed up with 5 miles on the grass that evening.
Tuesday: 10 miles easy (7:29/mile) + easy/recovery run home after work (5.3 miles @7:57
Wednesday: Easy 7.5 mile run to work, + 3.5 miles at lunchtime (with 5 x 100m sprints) + evening 5 mile recovery run
Thursday: 6 miles easy + 14 miles easy w/5 minute pick-up
With Enniscorthy 10k on Sunday, I had to slot in the long run at some point or else face the prospect of skipping it (not really possible for me). With a 95 mile week I also needed to rack up as many miles as I could earlier in the week, so that I could rest up a little for the 10k. I also had to take a spin to that hell-hole (Dundrum shopping Centre) so ran an easy 10k at lunch-time and then ran out to Bray and met up with Neal for 10 miles before parting ways and heading home. I had abandoned the idea of doing the 5 minute pickup as I was pretty knackered, but when I hit the flat final mile back towards home, I did it anyway, notching up a pretty lack-lustre 6:15 pace for the 5 minute segment.
Friday: 3 mile shopping run + 10k easy
Disaster! Out of coffee! Early morning run to the shops ensued, followed by an easy 10k run at lunch-time, as the wind down began for the 10k on Sunday. T'was Emer's birthday though, so we headed out to a fine musical extravaganza, interspersed with an uncustomary number of beers and fruit-based drinks. No great race prep, but some things gotta take priority.
Saturday: 5 mile run with strides
Bit of a dirty hangover, but after a couple of miles and a nice hill climb, the cobwebs were gone, and the strides and gentle downhill back to home resulted in a couple of comfortable 6 minute miles, which is a good mental boost after a week of relatively slow mileage. Spent the day swapping between the foam roller and the stretching mats, trying to work out some knots in the calf muscles, glutes and every other piece of connective tissue in my legs.
Sunday: Enniscorthy 10k
I had rather optimistically hoped to get close to my 10k PB in this race, despite the fact that it ended up being a 100 mile week, I hadn't rested up properly and my PB came from a significantly flatter Dunshaughlin (at the end of my 5k training last year). In other words, I failed... Started the morning with a couple of miles just to flush-out the legs (and pick-up some milk!) and then headed out to Enniscorthy with Emer and a couple of clubbies. A few easy miles and strides and we lned-up near the front of the field.
Race: Plan was to tackle the first hill at around 5:30/mile, and then pick up the average pace to 5:25/mile once the road flattened out a bit. The start of the race was a bit of a disaster though, as slower runners held a position at the front of the field and brought the proceedings to a near halt. It wasn't until we got around the first corner that I managed to navigate into a bit of space. Even then, I was boxed in several times and glancing at the watch, could see I was way behind my target pace. Neal was nearby (still recovering from injury, but showing great progress in his return to form) as we worked up the hill. I was still boxed in and getting frustrated at not being able to make progress, so eventually side-stepped to the curb and pushed-on hard up the hill. The problem was that the next runner ahead was already 200m in front, so I was essentially striking it out on my own. I later found out that the chasing pack didn't really lose any ground on me (maintained the same pace 10-15m back), so the whole process of striking out on my own was probably futile, but at least I was running on my own terms. (Mile 1: 5:35). Eventually I heard a patter of feet and looked back to see an SBR runner tucking in behind me (66_lad), and so we stayed for the next mile (5:31), gradually closing the distance on the Slaney runner ahead who was completely on his own.
I had forgotten just how hilly this course was, but the legs were strong from the weeks of high-mileage mistreatment and rather than struggle up the climbs, I seemed to negotiate them, which was a positive change from the same race the previous year. Still the SBR runner was tucked in slightly behind, with the Slaney runner gradually coming back to us. Kept a good racing line and that helped to reel in the Slaney lad, who largely kept a position in the middle of the windy road, and we had caught him by the time we hit the down-hill patch. Given my weakness on downhills, I thought this would present the two runners with an opportunity to open a gap on me, but neither runner seemed intent on taking advantage, and maintained their positions just behind (mile 3: 5:25). Hitting the 5k mark, I glanced at the watch and saw 17:08, and knew that I had a hell of a lot of work to do in the second half, if I was going to break 34 minutes (not to mind target the PB).
The next kilometer features some ill-timed climbs, and I sensed rather than heard one of the runners drop off the pace a little. Arriving back on flatter ground, I glanced back and saw that SBR runner was still with me. I was tired of leading the charge and needed a break, so hoped that 66_lad would take a frontal position and give me a chance to take a breather and recoup, but hugging the ditch and glancing back, he didn't act on the visual cues and stayed where he was just behind me. Eventually the patter of his footfalls seemed to fade away also, and I sensed that I was on my own (mile 4: 5:32).
I figured I lay in about 6th/7th position, and was probably leading the M40 charge, but breaking 34 minutes was now the primary goal, so I maintained a steady effort, waiting for the visual queues that we were back on the downhills towards the finish. I could make out the next runner in the distance in his Rathfarnham singlet, but he was too far ahead to have any impact on my race. My breathing was sounding a little rasping, so I eased back slightly, knowing that the final downhill mile was an important one (mile 5: 5:25). One more gentle drag and I was finally on the descent to the finish line. Kept a good line and tried to run as fast and comfortably as I could, waiting for the sights and sounds of the finish. glancing at my watch, I could see I'd passed the 30 minute mark, which meant that Fagan had already finished, and I had just another 3-4 minutes of pain to endure. Past the 9km sign, keep going, keep going... Now the landmarks were familiar, and I knew I was getting close. I didn't look back back, but knew there was no-one near me, as I was getting the occasional cheer and didn't hear any cheers for my pursuers. Temptation was to step off the gas, but I knew that getting under 34 minutes was going to be really close, so I couldn't afford to. Finally the finish line came into sight and I gave it all that I had left, crossing the line with 33:57 showing on the clock. I finished in 6th place and took the M40 category for a second year in a row - much to the chagrin of one of the pursuing SBR runners, whose first comment after crossing the finish line (before he'd even caught his breath), was 'Are you over 40?!'.
It sounds a little greedy (being the second fastest 10k I've ever run), but I wasn't really happy with my time, largely because my performance in Raheny suggested I should be able to do better. It was around 18 seconds faster than last year, but I just couldn't explain why I had not been able to run faster. My head was in the right place and despite the high mileage, my legs were in pretty good nick - I just didn't run fast enough. Neal ran a stonking race, finishing 20 seconds back in 7th place, showing that his patient 6 month return from injury is paying off. Additionally, from his vantage point, he was able to provide some valuable feedback: firstly that I was checking my Garmin almost every minute, and secondly, that my uphill charge nett'ed me very little in terms of performance gains. After getting home, I went back out and ran the additional 3.1 miles to bring my weekly mileage up to 100 miles, but truth be told, the only purpose it served was to give me a mental excuse for not performing as well as I had hoped. It's a judgement error in terms of cause and effect. Instead of thinking 'I ran a poor race because I was running high mileage', I should be thinking 'I'm doing high mileage - what do I hope to achieve from running a race?'. Much food for thought. Puts TRRs fine performance on Saturday (10k in 33:16) into perspective. Must avoid meeting him between now and June, at which time he'll be back to normal weight. 0 -
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"much to the chagrin of one of the pursuing SBR runners, whose first comment after crossing the finish line (before he'd even caught his breath, was 'Are you over 40?!')."
He must have been in a bad way if he couldn't tell by looking at you
TbL0 -
People who live in glass mausoleums, shouldn't throw stones.ThebitterLemon wrote: »He must have been in a bad way if he couldn't tell by looking at you 0 -
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note to self - start drinking strong beerKrusty_Clown wrote: »You drink five bottles of strong beer the night before, and go and run 16:40, when you should be in bed, sounds asleep. I'm exhausted just reading your log - amazing going 0 -
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There's a good reason we only run together one or two times a year and that's because one of us would soon be found dead on the side of the road, with a Garmin watch shoved up their bum. Unfortunately, that 'one of us' is me.The couple who run together...happy anniversary you two I'm not going to let Himself in on this little key to marital bliss as that might take away some of my running time :eek: 
Best of running in BC.0 -
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