Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Krusty_Clown

theboyblunder wrote: »

fantastic run Krusty. Great time - looking forward to your race report!

Thanks theboyblunder. I'm not reading too much into the time, (but it still made me smile ). I was a little tired and emotional when I wrote that log entry!

Slogger Jogger

Makes me smile reading that too. Very well done. You're looking good. Not you personally, but your training (ahem).

Krusty_Clown

Today: Last long run before Barcelona - 17 Miles.
Plan was to focus on quality, but I also decided early in the run that I'd try to run pretty lean too. I've gotten into the habit of stopping at a shop for water, instead of carrying it, the problem is that it usually takes around 4 or 5 minutes during which time I recover quite a bit. So I skipped the water stops and took a gel at mile 6 instead. Pace felt comfortable, but kept creeping up any time I didn't pay attention, which is a good sign. Wrecked now, after yesterday's 10k and today's 17 (26 miles in total, in 2:58 ), but the mileage continues to take a dip next week, with just 36 miles.

Summary: 17 miles in 2 hours, @7:05/mile, HR=144.

RacoonQueen

You've done some really cracking training Krusty all going well Barca should be a breeze for you.

Peckham

You should be brimming with confidence right now. Here's hoping for a smooth stress-free taper, and perfect race conditions. You've put yourself in a great position.

Krusty_Clown

Peckham wrote: »

You should be brimming with confidence right now. Here's hoping for a smooth stress-free taper, and perfect race conditions. You've put yourself in a great position.

Thanks Peckham. I've been quite lucky so far and have managed to largely avoid injury. Is anybody ever brimming with confidence after dedicating 3-5 months training to a specific race? The build-up takes so long that you can't help but be quite nervous about the whole thing. What will 6:41 feel like on the day? Will this be the first time I suffer cramps during a race? What if I get an upset stomach? Is this the one and only shot? These are the things that I'm trying not to think about. But I guess you can only put yourself in the best possible position to succeed.

I can't fault the program. It ticks all the boxes and develops you in such a progressive way, that you almost don't notice the progress. Before the program started, I was doing 400m intervals at 5:21 pace, and finding it very difficult. Since then I've been doing 1,200m intervals at 5:41 pace, and finding them pretty comfortable. I've done 100% of the runs scheduled in the program (and probably another 10% on top). The program calls for 2x20 mile runs, and I'v completed 20, 21 and 22 mile runs at a good clip. The race I did went very well and the 10k time-trial was an eye-opener for me (albeit over a favourable course). So confident?...Not really.. Hopeful? Absolutely!

smmoore79

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I've gotten into the habit of stopping at a shop for water, instead of carrying it, the problem is that it usually takes around 4 or 5 minutes during which time I recover quite a bit.

At least its not a beer stop

Krusty_Clown

smmoore79 wrote: »

At least its not a beer stop

It could so easily become a beer stop. 16 days off the beer so far, and I miss it more than the kids (that I had to sell for beer money).

Krusty_Clown

Today: 7 Miles easy with x strides
In the wind, the horizontal rain and the crashing waves, I completely lost count of the number of strides. Suffered the usual Tuesday tiredness and hunger, so it wasn't the most enthusiastic of runs, but the crashing waves more than made up for it. I brought the head-torch, and went about a half mile past Bray Head on the cliff walk, which was grand. Looking forward to doing it as part of a longer run during daylight hours later in the year.

Summary: 7 miles in 53 mins, @7:40min/mile, HR=134.

claralara

Krusty I've been reading your log and all the information and support you give other people! I'm so impressed - fair play to you! They are some achievements. I think you'd be perfect as my own personal motivatron if you wouldn't mind me adopting you..cheers!

Krusty_Clown

LOL. Flattery will get you everywhere.

My very first post on this forum was along the lines of:
I've just started running, and I get pains in my shins. I want to sign up for the half marathon in Connemara in April. I currently run about 14 miles per week. Is this a realistic goal?

It was this forum that helped me make the progress to where I am today. The amount of support, feedback and information you get on this forum is second to none. It's like having your own personal coach available 24x7. A coach with about 20-30 different perspectives, and as many personalities!

Enjoy Newtownpark Avenue. If I had a Euro for every time I've run up or down that road, I would be a very wealthy man!

Krusty_Clown

Tonight: 8.5 miles, with 3x1mile intervals @5K pace
The legs were still quite tired from the weekend, so I was glad to be able to hit the numbers for the intervals. Despite finding them tough, I recovered very quickly, and felt comfortable enough when they were done (I even threw in an extra 1/2 mile so I could hit 200 miles for the month of February). The last hard run until the marathon. Wahoo! It's been a long old slog.

Pace/time: 5:43 / 5:38 / 5:39
Average heart rate: 160
Ironically this is the equivalent 5k pace for my 10k run on Saturday. Self fulfilling prophecies again?!

Summary: 8.5 miles in 61 mins, @7:10/mile, HR=143.

claralara

I would have 2 euro.

€1 for running up it.

And the following bonuses:
- 50c for not crying when I turrned the final corner and saw the dual carriageway junction about 10 miles away...and uphill the whole way...

and

- 50c for actually making it to the dual carriageway and then not walking the last mile and a half home!!

Krusty_Clown

claralara wrote: »

I would have 2 euro.

Great! well done! It's a tough start. It's no easy hill. Next is Killiney hill!

Speedy44

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Tonight: 8.5 miles, with 3x1mile intervals @5K pace
The legs were still quite tired from the weekend, so I was glad to be able to hit the numbers for the intervals. Despite finding them tough, I recovered very quickly, and felt comfortable enough when they were done (I even threw in an extra 1/2 mile so I could hit 200 miles for the month of February). The last hard run until the marathon. Wahoo! It's been a long old slog.

Pace/time: 5:43 / 5:38 / 5:39
Average heart rate: 160
Ironically this is the equivalent 5k pace for my 10k run on Saturday. Self fulfilling prophecies again?!

Summary: 8.5 miles in 61 mins, @7:10/mile, HR=143.

Going along nicely there Krusty. Just read back a bit over your last few days. Glad to see I'm not the only one that starts getting all emotional when speaking about the long hard months of training in the bag
It'll all be worth it though, enjoy the taper.

Krusty_Clown

Tonight: Just an easy 5 mile recovery run with a buddy around Dundrum, to help recover from yesterday's mile interval session. Nice and comfortable.

Summary: 5 miles in 45 mins, @9min/mile, HR=118

Abhainn

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Summary: 5 miles in 45 mins, @9min/mile, HR=118

Chalk that one down for future years. Running 5 miles and HR 118 only. Never forget it;).

On a side point you did 3 1x 1 mile intervals 10 days before the marathon. Did the plan call for that?

Krusty_Clown

Abhainn wrote: »

On a side point you did 3 1x 1 mile intervals 10 days before the marathon. Did the plan call for that?

Actually, surprisingly it did. The real tough part was that it was four days after the fastest 37 minutes of my life (which was also on the plan). The thing is, it works out very well. After doing 10k @5:55 pace, suddenly 1,600m intervals at 5:40 pace doesn't seem quite so daunting. When I first started this program in December, doing the 600m intervals at the above pace was very difficult. At the time I wouldn't have dreamed that I would be able to do mile intervals at that pace. This was the same situation as last year, when I did this program in the run up to Berlin marathon. Mile intervals at sub 6 minute miles seemed like an alien concept, but by the end of the program, I was doing them.

While the mileage drops (20% week 1, 40% week 2) the emphasis is still on quality. I don't really feel like i'm tapering, despite the drop from 59 to 36 miles, but the legs and body are definitely recovering. By the way, these are the only mile intervals in the entire program.

Just took a sneaky-peek at the long range weather forecast. Absolutely horrendous!

Krusty_Clown

Tonight: 5 mile recovery run with 6 x strides
Nice evening for a run, once I got over the initial discomfort of the cold. Body feels fine. No problems so far. Two miles tomorrow, and 13 on Sunday, and the second last week will be wrapped up. My weight is down a couple of pounds too.

Garmin was on the blink for the first two miles though, and was telling me that I was running at 10 minute/mile 250 metres below sea-level?!, and the tracklog is telling me I ran cross-country, hopping over fields and walls.

Summary: 5 miles in probably around 40 mins (bloody Garmin) with hearr rate around 135 (bloody Garmin again!)

Krusty_Clown

This morning: Three mile walk (how's that for dedication!). Left the watch at home, just to be sure. Might go for a swim later, to keep the crazies at bay.

Krusty_Clown

Today: 13.1 Mile taper run.
Actually didn't have a great run today. Felt quite tired throughout, and the first few miles into the wind were quite a struggle. Took a slight detour along the new section of LUAS track past the Lehaunstown station up to the bridge in Cherrywood, then into the parks in Kilbogget, finishing with a nice run along the cost from Bayview to Shankill. Lovely day for a run, but the heart wasn't in it and it felt alot harder than it should have (though the heart rate remained low). There are currently gales ravaging France and Spain (140mph winds), but hopefully things will die down before next weekend, or I'll be signing up for the Rotterdam marathon in April!

A quick change, and then into the car to watch my daughter win a gold medal in the nationals (Gymnastics), representing South Dublin. Woot!

Summary: 13.1 miles in 1:33, @7:06/mile, HR=141

BeepBeep67

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Garmin was on the blink for the first two miles though, and was telling me that I was running at 10 minute/mile 250 metres below sea-level?!, and the tracklog is telling me I ran cross-country, hopping over fields and walls.

Summary: 5 miles in probably around 40 mins (bloody Garmin) with hearr rate around 135 (bloody Garmin again!)

2 watch strategy on race day?

Krusty_Clown

I'll definitely be carrying a paceband on the day, and even the Garmin can't go wrong as a simple stop-watch (famous last words!). I bought the OH a 405 for her milestone birthday, so I suppose I could cajole her into letting me borrow it from her along the way (she'll be spectating) if I run into any problems.

I had bought a simple LIDL stopwatch as a backup when I was pacing Dublin marathon, but the damn thing was losing a couple of minutes every hour! The last thing you need on the day is two watches that contradict each other!

Krusty_Clown

Jaysus, you take one day off and just go for a swim instead of a run, and you have to root out your training log from the bottom of page 4. :eek:

Last night: Swim - 1 hour
Today: 6 mile recovery run. A few small twinges from the right achilles (taper craziness?). Calf muscles are a little tight too, so have scheduled a massage for Thursday morning. Weather forecasts for Sunday in Barcelona is 28km/hr winds, so hopefully the forecast will improve over the next day or two, or it'll be time to re-assess the goals.

Summary: 6 miles in 46 mins, @7:40/mile, HR=129

misty floyd

Thats mad, even you are having negative thoughts. Well not negative but not as positive as many previous posts. I doubt myself even when things are going well, which is dumb. Best of luck on Sunday, I'm looking forward to the race report.

Tapas and beer after. Deadly.

Krusty_Clown

misty floyd wrote: »

beer after. Deadly.

Screw the tapas.

Woundedknee.

All the best in Barcelona KC and here's to a quick recovery.

Krusty_Clown

Woundedknee. wrote: »

All the best in Barcelona KC and here's to a quick recovery.

Thanks Woundedknee. I'm only partially devoid of common sense. If the repair after Barcelona doesn't go to plan I won't even consider Connemara for a second. So fingers crossed. Are you pacing London this year?

Woundedknee.

Yes I'm pacing London but not sure of what time just yet. I'm expecting 9 or 10 min mile which suits me as will be using it as last long training run before next race.

No comment on the going from Barcelona to Connemara:)

--amadeus--

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today:

A quick change, and then into the car to watch my daughter win a gold medal in the nationals (Gymnastics), representing South Dublin. Woot!

Nice, you must have been head over heals with that.

As for the rest - Taper madness has got you I see