Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

Pisco Sour

Body still felt a bit ropey today, in particular the left hamstring which felt a bit weak in comparison to the right one. Wasn't sore though. But I erred on the side of caution this evening. Did about 7-8 run throughs building up the pace. Then I did a 200m in about 33-34 seconds to pace a lad through the 3rd 200 of his 800m rep which he was trying to run in around 2:10 to 2:12. Felt extremely easy. Then I did 3x150m with a walk back 1 min 45 sec break between each. Ran them at 60 second 400m pace.

I probably needed a day like today. A sort of recovery session. Don't have too many of those as sprinters but I really needed it after a tough weekend. Will get back into the gym tomorrow and then track sessions on Friday and Sunday (have to do Friday instead of Thursday as I gotta take the missus out for dinner for this Valentines lark )

I have entered the 400m for the High Velocity meet for Thursday 21st February, but I'm not feeling confident right now of getting a lane. I'm afraid that loads of athletes will pop up out of the woodwork at this time of year (with the State Champs coming up) and I'll get bumped out, even though I've been to 3 of their 4 meets. Only the top 24 based on PBs will get a lane. That's another thing which will go against me. I could be faster than people this season but as they may be in this game longer than me have a better PB as a result. I could have lied and just thrown down 53 or something on my entry and they never would have checked but I'm too honest for that and couldn't deny a guy a race he should be running. Of course you then have the no shows. The top guys who lob their name down but then dont show up. There's no system to have people on standby in the event of this happening. Last year I didn't make the top 24 (much worse PB at the time of 59.44) and then I see the results and only 16 bothered to show up. I don't want that happening again. Athletics should be about people who want to do athletics in the end of the day. Overall it's just incredibly frustrating not knowing whether I will have a race next week or not. They only put up the start lists a day before the meet so I wont find out until the last minute. I'm very fired up to run a 55 which I know was in me at the weekend had I been fresh. But I am running out of races. This is all that remains for me in terms of 400m

1) High Velocity Club meet 5 - Thurs 21st Feb
2) Victorian Champs - Fri 1st Mar
3) Essendon Track Classic - Mon 25th Mar
4) High Velocity Club meet 6 - Tues 26th Mar (can only realistically pick one of these 2 with them being on consecutive days).

So 2 chances, maybe 3 left this season, but one is miles away at the end of March.

I'll probably enter the 800m at the Vic Milers meet for next Tuesday as a back up if I dont get a lane in the 400m, as I dont want to go 3 weeks without a race before the State Champs. No racing for me this weekend as my club didn't qualify for Shield Final.

Day 2 report of decathlon to come soon.

Pisco Sour

After a nice first day I knew that inevitably it would all come crashing down on day 2, and indeed it proved to be a very tough day at the office. Expectations were low given the fact I haven't trained for these events, and with 3 of the most technical events in all of athletics taking place on day 2 (Hurdles, Pole Vault and Javelin) I knew I was rightly screwed.

20-30 minutes or so of Hot-Cold-Hot-Cold bath treatment the night before went some way to allowing my legs to get through the demands of day 2, but I was feeling pretty heavy from the start, and the left hamstring felt a little weak. Day 1 had been incredibly tough and now I had to go through it all again.

110m Hurdles:

There are some events you can bluff your way through. For example you could get some morbidly obese man to chuck a shot putt a few metres, or jump 2 metres in a horizontal manner or jog 400m, but there is no way on earth you can get him over 10 barriers spaced less than 10m apart each with a height of 1.06m. I wasn't exactly high jumping a huge amount more than that. How on earth would I get over 10 of these? I hadnt practiced and you cant do this without practice. The sight of 10 of these things looking down at you as you sit in your blocks is one of the top terrifying experiences in sport. I backed out sensibly out of this and just jogged up to the first hurdle. As I had started the event and simply DNF'ed I was good to continue with the rest of the decathlon. Of course one official was not happy and she wanted me DQ'ed from the overall decathlon for not making a bona fide effort but the rules are the rules and I had done nothing wrong. I got 0 points which was sufficient punishment.

My decision to not attempt them was justified as one of the guys at my club (who is 50 years of age) crashed to the ground at the 3rd hurdle. Rather than drop out he continued on attempting to clear hurdles, but would inevitably knock into more than he would jump, eventually finishing in possibly the slowest time in hurdles history with 49 seconds. It was admirable determination and he got a rapturous round of applause from the crowd and fellow decathletes, but in the end of it all he also got 0 points. That sort of experience would have been the last thing I needed with Vic Champs just 3 weeks away.

So 17th of 17 with a DNF, and a score of 0 points.

Discus:

Last year I threw 14.17m at the decathlon to score 165 points. This time I expected more based on my improved gym strength and targeted 16m+ which would score 200 points. I took some pointers off my competitors to help get some sort of technique going. My first attempt was 15.1x, and my second was 15.4x. I was pretty disappointed though with these. I just couldn't get much force behind my throw. I was told to work the hips with my throw as thats where the power comes from. My 3rd attempt felt and looked noticeable better, as I threw it out to 16.67m, a PB, a satisfactory performance. Given the events which were to come, in relation to these this was a respectable performance.

16th out of 17 with 16.67m to score 210 points.

Pole Vault:

Just like the hurdles you simply cant spoof your way through a pole vault. The level of technique involved is frightening. We were split into 2 pits and I was asked what starting height I would like. Last year we started at 1.50m and I bombed out. I wanted points this year so after a quick check on the decathlon points app on my phone I was informed that 1.10m would score me 6 points. I decided that 1.20m would be my starting height as this would score 15 points. I had budgeted for 0 points in this event so anything at all would be a bonus.

We had a fairly long warm up and I got a few practice jumps in and familiarised myself with the pole and how to hold it. Then it was time to set the bar to the starting height. However there was a problem. The officials couldn't get the bar down any lower than 1.21m. Absolutely mortifying. I was clearly the only eejit who had ever attempted a pole vault at such a low height. Eventually with a bit of effort they got it down to 1.20m. I didn't care really, but they seemed determined to get it down to 1.20m so I left them at it.

Going into my first jump I was confident I could clear it. I had done so in the practice jumps. However there was pressure on. I was in danger of joining a very elite club of people who could achieve a higher height in high jump than in pole vault.

In the end 1.20m was easy and I cleared it my about a foot or even more according to the official. A shout of "COME ON" followed, much to the bemusement of my competitors who were prepping themselves for 4m vaults. However this was to be my best jump. I did clear 1.30m at the first attempt but my arse grazed the bar, so 1.40m was going to be a challenge. As I attempted this height for the first time I hear a slow clap develop. I assumed it was for the athlete on the other pit. However as I raised the pole to begin my warm up the clap gets faster. "WTF, this clap is for ME". I lost complete concentration and landed very badly on the bar hurting my arm, grazing it badly. My 2nd and 3rd attempts were better but the game was up. I was out before the competition had even begun. But at least I cleared a height this time and by default it became my 4th PB of the decathlon.

So a clearance of 1.30m to come 17th out of 17 for a score of 27 points.

Javelin:

I was now in a good position with regards getting to 2600 points. A throw of 14-15m in the javelin would make this almost a certainty. I got a lot of tips off my competitors. Too many tips and I ended up having information overload. The whole thing was a disaster. The event is astonishingly technical. You can arse your way through a shot or discuss based on strength alone, but not with this. I have never looked like such a fool in this sport so much as I did here. In practice the wrong side would keep hitting the ground first which results in a foul. Eventually I got a few to land, but this was out of luck as much as anything.

Competition started and my first attempt was a foul with the arse of the javelin landing first. The second attempt I decided to throw a "safe" one in. It landed (just about) the right side up this time at the earth shattering distance of 8.37m. I had saved myself the pure embarrasment of becoming no doubt the only human in history who has thrown a shot put further than a javelin, but not by much. Now it was time to let loose, and go for the juggler with the last attempt. I got it about 11m but yet again a foul.

I was absolutely mortified. This was an embarrassment and I did not enjoy it one bit. With the exception of 2 club mates who got it about 20m, everybody else was over 38m. I have never looked so out of place. The guy I beat in the 400m managed 47m. The lads were all very sound about it but God knows what they must have been thinking. I was some sight out there.

I've always liked watching the javelin on TV but now I am in complete awe of the top guys. Such a technical event. I remember woodchopper writing some sh1te on the main forum a few years ago about coming last in the steeplechase is much tougher than throwing a stick. What a complete load of anal discharge!!

So 8.37m to come very much 17th out of 17 to score a disgraceful 14 points.

1500m:

After the disaster in the javelin the 2600 was pretty much gone for me. I needed a 4:57 in the 1500m to get to this target which seemed like step too far. The 1500m was all about respect now. I had made a fool of myself for most of day 2 so I owed it to myself to perform to the best of my ability in the 1500m. Not only did I want a PB but I wanted to beat people, lots of them, and preferably some of the top decathletes. I went into this race extremely competitive. Beating guys was the only way to regain some credibility after the javelin.

My PB for 1500m dated back to May 2003 when off 3 weeks training I ran 5:16 at the West Leinster Schools. A few years ago I ran a couple of mile TTs (famous from that 5 minute mile thread) in 5:56 and 5:48. Then at last year's decathlon I managed 5:28. That was the extent of my metric mileing. Based on my recent 2:23 for 800m I expected to be PBing though, but how close to 5 I could get I wasnt sure. I was looking at sub 5:10 originally but then thought what the hey, just go for 80 second laps and see what I could muster.

The first thing I noticed was the pure apathy towards the event by most of the decathletes. I asked one of them did he want to join me on a warm up and he laughed at the suggestion. In general the standard of 1500m running by decathletes is astonishingly terrible. I know they don't do much training for it as it would compromise a good overall decathlon, but there is serious value to running a good 1500m. The points are weak and it's a great way of catching competitors at the end of the competition. Some guys are good, but some are absolutely shocking. How somebody who can run 52 seconds for 400m can only go 5:36 is incomprehensible.

Gun went off and I slipped at the start but thankfully stayed on my feet. I was wearing my racing flats on this occasion. I used road running shoes last year. All 17 of us went in the one race and there wasnt much space on the start line. I started quick and after 150m was up into about 7th place. The next 300m or so things varied a bit and I slipped down to about 11th place and then things started to settle. First lap was very quick at about 75 seconds. I was going well and feeling pretty good. Went through a tough patch though coming up to the half way mark, but kept the head down and made sure to remain in contact with a group of 2 ahead of me. With about 600m to go I go past the 2 of them and start to do the work hoping to shake them off. In the case of one of them I did, but another lad stuck with me. At this stage I am now picking off athletes in front of me one by one, many of them paying badly for going out at suicidal pace. One guy was up in the top 5-6 at half way and died to around 12th by the end.

As I hit the bell I knew sub 5 was going to be tough. The pace had dropped below 80 seconds on the previous 2 laps and I now needed a 76 to go sub 5. I didnt have it in my legs but I was still motoring in comparison to others. Went past another guy on the backstraight as if he was standing still, but at the same time that guy who had stuck to me used his superior speed to outkick me by 4 seconds. I crossed the line in 9th place out of 17 in a time of 5:04.36, a massive PB. I was shattered beyond belief, but I was quite proud of how I performed. I felt I owed that to myself after a terrible second day.

One thing which I found interesting was the fact that I was able to outkick most of these decathletes in the closing stages despite the fact they are 4 seconds faster than me over 400m. In terms of the overall standings the 3rd, 6th and 7th place guys were behind me in the 1500m. In a weekend of very few victories I was going to claim anything I could get my hands on.

The time itself, while nothing special, is no doubt worth a sub 5 if I ran the race fresh, which would probably equal a 5:20 mile fresh. Interesting that I have managed such an improvement simply off 400m training.

So a time of 5:04.36 to finish 9th out of 17 scoring 535 points.

The aftermath:

I finished in 16th place overall out of 17 with a score of 2561 points, which is almost 300 points better than last year, so overall I was happy, but the javelin experience took some of the joy out of it. Overall though the event was extremely enjoyable. I met a lot of great new people, reunited with old competitors and had a lot of banter. It is a unique event with the level of camaraderie that develops among the competitors. Everyone genuinely wants to see each other do well and reach their personal targets. The whole event is a sort of high and being honest I had the post decathlon blues yesterday. The level of bonding you see with competitors in this event is not replicated in any other event in this very individual sport.

One particular enjoyable moment was during some down time between events when in our recovery room we were looking out at some of the junior races and lots of the decathletes would place bets with each other on who would win, using the decathlon points they had already amassed instead of money (probably the only way I could ever win a decathlon). Just a great spirit about the whole thing.

After the 1500m had concluded there were hand shakes, and words of congratulations going back and forth between everyone. Lots of photos, chat and craic. Logically you could saw it was stupid for me to do a decathlon, but I wouldn't swap the experience at all, and I will keep this great event in my plans for as long as I can realistically manage. As long as it doesn't interrupt my overall goals by more than a day or two then I will always be delighted to support this event.

Now it's fully back to sprinting but for a couple of days I had fun pretending to be a decathlete.

Pisco Sour

Back into proper training this evening. The body seems to be almost recovered now from the decathlon. Did the following:

1) Bench Press 8 x 145lbs, 8 x 152lbs, 8 x 157lbs (up from 7), 3 x 162lbs (down from 4). When I got the 4 x 162lbs last week it was at the end of a shortened gym session while today it was at the end of a full session so perhaps not surprising I was a bit down.

2) Leg Press: 3 x 8 @ 416lbs

3) Goodmornings: 2 x 15 @ 30kg

4) Box Squats: 4 x 10 @ 45kg

5) Deadlifts: 3 x 6 @ 50kg

6) Body twists: 50 @ 10kg

7) Crunches: 50

8) Side sit-ups: 20 on each side

Day off tomorrow and then track sessions on Friday evening and Sunday morning. Full speed ahead towards Victorian Championships now.

Pisco Sour

Moved my session from yesterday to this evening. Coach sent me the session I was to do. Plan was 300 flat out, 50m walk then 150m flat out. Take 10 minute break and then repeat.

There was only 2 people on the track this evening, myself and somebody I dont know. It was so hard to get up for training this evening. Empty track, tired and hungover, 31 degree heat, no training partners etc. Mentally it was tough.

During my warm up drills I felt a sharp pain in my left hip. ITB playing up again after it easing off the last couple of weeks. But after my warm up strides it started behaving itself.

First 300m was done in around low 43 seconds. Didnt stop the watch, just glanced at it crossing the line. Then a 90 second 50m walk recovery and back again for 150m. That's a tough combo. Didn't time the 150.

For the second set I only got through 200m of my 300 rep before the left calf started spasming so I called a halt to the session. Just 650m of the 900m done this evening. Disappointing. But still feel shattered from it.

Day off tomorrow and session again Sunday morning.

Pisco Sour

The Collingwood track is closed for 2 weeks for some sort of a resurface (badly needed though I don't think it is a full resurface by any means), so this morning our session was moved to a footy oval/ training facility. Session was 6x200m at 29/30 second pace with walk back (around 3 minute recovery). Session was to be easier this morning with all the middle distance guys racing on Tuesday. It was done on grass and in a straight line. Felt weird at first sprinting in my flats on grass and in a straight line the whole way but got into it as the session went along.

The first 4 reps I held back and just sat in behind our 2:11 female runner and was about a stride or two down on her each time. I was feeling very comfortable though so upped it on the last 2 and beat her comfortably both times. For the last rep I was 3rd over the line out of about 8 or 9 of us, but it wasn't flat out.

Much more of an aerobic session than a speed one. Coach said he thinks the running on grass in a straight line suited me and I was very comfortable getting in amongst the others.

Pisco Sour

Gym session this evening. Almost the same session as the last day except the following changes:

1) Bench Press: Only managed 7 and 2 at 157lbs and 162lbs respectively (down from 8 and 3. Unbearable heat and the guy who was spotting me had to leave so not much recovery before he last one.

2) Box Squats: Did just 2 sets of 10, down from 4. A little easier tonight with a race in 3 days time.

Pisco Sour

Nearly all my training group and the coaches were at Melbourne Uni tonight for the Vic Milers meet so I was by myself for training. I decided to do it at Melbourne Uni before the meet started. Session was a speed one with a race on Thursday. 6 x 60m.

I've managed to get into the High Velocity race on Thursday night so now gearing up for that. Massage tomorrow and will do very little in the gym after.

Stuck around after to watch the Vic Milers meet which had loads of 800 graded races and then Mile graded races culminating in the Victorian Mile Champs. Was delighted to see my club mate smash her own club record with a 2:08.9, and she lost about a second because the pacemaker stupidly stepped into lane 2 when dropping out with 200 to go and so she had to run around into lane 4. She'll be very competitive at the pointy end of things at the Vic Champs, though Tamsyn Manou will take some beating if she runs the 800. She ran a 54 in the shield final last week, in what was basically a time trial, and no doubt she was going easy in what would be a low key race for her.

Pisco Sour

Gave the gym a miss this evening as I have a race tomorrow evening. So just my weekly massage this evening.

Hopefully I can run well tomorrow evening.

Pisco Sour

Disappointing evening at the High Velocity meet. Had high hopes of a sub 56 for 400m but bombed to a 57.18, almost a full second off my best, and only my 5th fastest this season. Not a lot went right. There were 3 scratches in my race leaving just 2 of us, with the other guy being 5 secs faster than me. There were 2 free lanes in the heat before me with everyone being between 51 and 55 secs. Bit of a joke that they couldn't just stick us in that heat but there ya go!

Terribly difficult to run to my best after being up for 14 hours and a full day at work. I tried to shut this out but in the end of the day it does take its toll, especially if the day at work was stressful, which it has been all week for me.

Probably sounds like a load of excuses to be honest. It was more of a glorious time trial than a race. Tried to stay close to the other guy as much as I could but I died a bit in the home straight. Not sure if I have much left in the tank for this season to be honest. Once I get over this disappointment I'll look forward to the State Champs next Friday, but that's the same story with heats not til 9pm after a long day at work. Might be best to forget about the 55 for this season and just go out there and enjoy next week and just give it my best. I'll decide after that whether I want to keep racing this season. It's been a long season. But I don't want such a good season to just sort of fizzle out with some crap performances!

"Race" report to come tomorrow.

dna_leri

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Disappointing evening at the High Velocity meet. Had high hopes of a sub 56 for 400m but bombed to a 57.18, almost a full second off my best, and only my 5th fastest this season. Not a lot went right. There were 3 scratches in my race leaving just 2 of us, with the other guy being 5 secs faster than me. There were 2 free lanes in the heat before me with everyone being between 51 and 55 secs. Bit of a joke that they couldn't just stick us in that heat but there ya go!

Terribly difficult to run to my best after being up for 14 hours and a full day at work. I tried to shut this out but in the end of the day it does take its toll, especially if the day at work was stressful, which it has been all week for me.

Probably sounds like a load of excuses to be honest. It was more of a glorious time trial than a race. Tried to stay close to the other guy as much as I could but I died a bit in the home straight. Not sure if I have much left in the tank for this season to be honest. Once I get over this disappointment I'll look forward to the State Champs next Friday, but that's the same story with heats not til 9pm after a long day at work. Might be best to forget about the 55 for this season and just go out there and enjoy next week and just give it my best. I'll decide after that whether I want to keep racing this season. It's been a long season. But I don't want such a good season to just sort of fizzle out with some crap performances!

"Race" report to come tomorrow.

I'd second that bit.

Pisco Sour

dna_leri wrote: »

I'd second that bit.

I might see if I can take a half day next Friday. Realistically racing after being up for 14 hours and working all day it is very hard to run your best. A full day off I'd be bored senseless waiting around all day, but a half day could work. Either:

1) Go to work from 8.30 til 12.30, come home try and sleep for a few hours (could be hard) and then wake up have some food and go to the track, or

2) Go to work from 1 to 5, have a nice lie in, wake up naturally and refreshed, chill out for the morning, and then after having a good feed, head into work, and then from there to the track

Taking time off work for a race seems a bit much and I wouldn't do it for an oul race but next weekend is the biggest championship I'll ever be in (with the exception of Irish Nationals which I hope to compete in some day) so I dont want to sell myself short with a 57 or even a high 56 then.

Tonight was a dry run of the State Champs and I don't think it worked very well.

RandyMann

If u really want to give it your best, I'd say take the morning off and go in to work in the afternoon. It would be unlikely you could wind down in the afternoon to sleep if you know you have to wake up to race.
Your season has been very busy and you have put a lot into it. A rest after next week may do you the world of good and more rest and less training coming up to the end of March might seal that 55. What is it they say 10% undertrained is better than 1% overtrained?

Pisco Sour

My 4th High Velocity race of the season took me to Lakeside Stadium at Albert Park. My last race was a 56.39 on the same track at the end of day 1 decathlon with my calf spasming throughout. This gave me confidence that going in fresh I would nail 55. This was to be the evening for it.

Like any week day I was up at 7.15am and worked a full day. My race was after 9pm so I knew tiredness could be a problem but I tried to shut it out and told myself that it cant be as bad as the tiredness after 4 events on day 1 of the decathlon.

400m:

I was originally put into heat 3 of 4 with 7 other guys but on the updated start list I was put into heat 4 with 4 other guys. Frustratingly 3 of these didn't bother to show up meaning I was in a race with just 1 other person. This was made all the more frustrating when you consider there were 2 free lanes in heat 3 and the slowest guy was high 56. This sort of race would have pushed me on a bit more, but instead it was just me in lane 7 and a guy in lane 6 who has a PB of 51:xx. Annoying for me, but even more unfair for him who was essentially running a time trial as a result.

We joked a bit about it (no point in getting pissed off about it). He made the comment about 1 minute before the gun went off that he all of a sudden feels very lonely.

Gun went off and I got out ok, but maybe a bit slower than I liked. The other lad had eaten up the stagger on me within 40-50m. After that it was just a case of trying to stay as close to him as possible. I moved well down the backstraight but as I entered the second half of the race he started pulling away. Coming into the homestraight the lactic acid started shooting up through my legs. I gave it everything but I felt myself noticeably slowing. The gap between us was now very large. With about 60m to go I hear the comentator say he's in a race against the clock now. Thanks for that!! :rolleyes: Not my fault they messed up the heats.

He crossed the line in 52 and the gap felt huge. I knew it wasn't the 3 seconds I had hoped but rather 4 or 5. I expected to hear 56 high called after my name, but when he called out my time of 57.18 seconds I was gutted but not shocked.

I was a bit down about it yesterday and thoughts of ending my season within a week were coming into my head. But now I'm thinking more positively and wont make rash decisions. The main positive is that this race showed me that I cant perform to my best after a full day or work and being awake for 14 hours, so for the State Championships next weekend I am taking the morning off work and will come in for 1.30pm.

My ITB is still an issue. It has sort of come and gone and come again. It was uncomfortable at times during the warm up. And today at work when I turned a certain way on the chair I got a bit of a sharp pain. Hopefully it can hold up for next weekend.

So next Friday evening is the 400m at the State Championships and then the following afternoon is the 200m. The biggest meet of the year is upon me and hopefully I can do myself justice.

For the record here's the video of my race yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwclknkA8iw

Pisco Sour

Training group are out in Box Hill (trek) at 9.30am tomorrow morning so I did the session by myself today on the Melbourne Uni track. Coach told me to do 3x300m with 10 min recovery @ 97% effort. Sort of hard to know what 97% effort is but I took it to be not quite pushing to my extreme limits in the straight and keeping just a tiny bit in the tank.

Was very hot out there, and as always was in my flats (which really need replacing once the season is over). My times were:

44 low - 46 mid - 46 mid

Times are always a bit slower on that track, partly because I'm by myself every time I run there and partly because it's a sh1t track! ITB was a bit stiff at times, and I got a stitch on my left side during the final rep, but all in all pretty satisfied with the session. Was on the floor at the end so that's the important thing I guess.

Boss seems happy to give me a half day on Friday so that will help me perform better at the State Championships.

Pisco Sour

Just seen the current start list (excludes late entries) for the 400m at the State Champs and there's quite a significant number of sub 50 guys, more specifically 47 and 48 guys, and Sean Wroe is on the start list. PB of 45.07!! :eek:

This should be interesting!

Pisco Sour

Did close to a full session this evening. Just left out the deadlifts as I just was not bothered having to take off the big weights and put on my weights (a lot of effort, believe me!). Usually I would but with State Champs on Friday I was planning on leaving one thing out so this was the perfect excuse to leave the deadlifts out.

Bench Press: 8 x 145lbs, 8 x 152lbs, 8 x 157lbs, 4 x 162lbs
Leg Press: 3 x 8 @ 416lbs
Goodmornings: 2 x 15 @ 30kg
Box Squats: 4 x 10 @ 45kg
Body twists: 50 @ 10kg (timed myself today, took 30 seconds roughly)
Crunches: 50
Side sit-ups: 20 on each side

Legs feel a bit heavy now. I suspect tomorrow at the track will be the last tough session before Friday.

There's 40 of us entered for the 400m on Friday which is a huge entry. If 33 or more show up on the day then there will be 5 heats, which I think then means semi-finals will be required. Obviously that wont impact me, but it could change the whole dynamic of the competition and you may as a result have the top guys going a lot easier in the heats which will make me look a small bit more respectable (rather be 6 seconds behind than 8 or 9).

About half the field seem to be sub 50, and just 1 or 2 are really anywhere near my level, and I am the slowest on paper of all entrants. It sort of reminds me of a famous quote from H.J. Simpson:

No matter how good you are, there are always a million guys better than you

nerraw1111

That Simpson quote is great.

Quick question, figured you might know answer/advice.

I only started running on the track over last 2 months. Is it possible/common to get a sore foot from running the bends when starting out? Outside of my left foot is sore and thought the constant pressure from the bends might be responsible as its fine to run on, just sore to walk.

Cheers!

Pisco Sour

nerraw1111 wrote: »

That Simpson quote is great.

Quick question, figured you might know answer/advice.

I only started running on the track over last 2 months. Is it possible/common to get a sore foot from running the bends when starting out? Outside of my left foot is sore and thought the constant pressure from the bends might be responsible as its fine to run on, just sore to walk.

Cheers!

I haven't experienced that myself, but it wouldn't be surprising at all that that would be caused by bend running. It surely places more demand on your left side than right. Been having ITB issues on my left side of late but nothing on the right. Prob wear and teat after a long season on the track.

Pisco Sour

We were training out at the Lakeside Stadium this evening which was nice for a change, although the track was super busy. Coach told me that this evening would be my last training session before Friday's race, and that I'm not going to get any fitter at this late stage and it is time to rest up ahead of the State Champs. So for this session he had me doing 4 x 120m flat out with 5 minute recoveries. I felt good during these. Felt a bit sloppy for the first 40m of the last one but besides that am happy.

Coach said that I looked good and that I am ready to go for Friday, and he said 55 is on the cards. Hopefully I can bring it out on the day.

Massage tomorrow and then taper* madness.

*For want of a better word

Pisco Sour

An unexpected number of entries for the men's 400m this weekend means that AV have added semi-finals to the schedule and so the heats have been moved forward to 7pm on Friday evening, the very first event on the track. Good news for me as it means not having to sit around waiting for my race. The earlier the better as far as energy levels go. Also with there being semi finals the qualification from the heats becomes much easier so I would be surprised if the 47/48 guys will run those sort of times with a semi the next morning and then final the day after that, therefore I should be a bit closer to them than if they were going gung-ho to make the final.

Plan is to sleep in as long as possible. Relax in the morning, have breakfast. Then have a lunch before starting work at 1pm. Leave work at 4.30pm to get to the track for around 5pm. Eat something light at 4.30pm.

Pisco Sour

Had my last massage before State Champs this evening. Now there's nothing left to do but race. Pumped and nervous. But it's still 2 days away so best to try not think about it too much.

ecoli

Pisco Sour wrote: »

An unexpected number of entries for the men's 400m this weekend means that AV have added semi-finals to the schedule and so the heats have been moved forward to 7pm on Friday evening, the very first event on the track. Good news for me as it means not having to sit around waiting for my race. The earlier the better as far as energy levels go. Also with there being semi finals the qualification from the heats becomes much easier so I would be surprised if the 47/48 guys will run those sort of times with a semi the next morning and then final the day after that, therefore I should be a bit closer to them than if they were going gung-ho to make the final.

Plan is to sleep in as long as possible. Relax in the morning, have breakfast. Then have a lunch before starting work at 1pm. Leave work at 4.30pm to get to the track for around 5pm. Eat something light at 4.30pm.

Cushy number

dna_leri

Relax and enjoy it, you might be surprised with the result if you don't worry about the times.

Pisco Sour

Bit of a disappointing result tonight at Vic Champs. Felt I ran well so was surprised to see my time of 57.56, the slowest I have run since mid December. The dreaded lane 1 didn't help and conditions were very windy but a bit baffled by the slow time. Overall a big disappointment. Such an anti-climax.

I finished just 1 second behind a guy with a 54.00 PB who was in lane 2. Not sure how much I can read into that as I dont know how recent that PB was, but he was a good 2 and a half seconds down from his PB, so maybe the wind didnt help.

Results here: http://athsvic.org.au/images/uploads/links/vic_open_t__f_champs_day_1_results.pdf

Anyway onwards and upwards to the 200m tomorrow.

ecoli

Hard luck but put it out of your head for now and just focus on tomorrow. Plenty of time to reflect on it after the weekend

Pisco Sour

ecoli wrote: »

Hard luck but put it out of your head for now and just focus on tomorrow. Plenty of time to reflect on it after the weekend

Yeh thoughts are now fully on the 200. Not an ideal night of sleep as I got up in the middle of the night to watch Derval's semi and final. I still got around 7 hours in total, but I couldn't miss Derval!

Hoping I get some good luck with a nice tailwind today. I think I deserve it after being given lane 1 yesterday!

EDIT: Had a look at the forecast and it's another headwind, pointing diagonally across the track into our faces around the bend. The worst type of headwind for a 200m as its in your face the whole way. Ah well, haven't got a single tailwind on that track this year so don't know why I'm expecting that to change now!

Pisco Sour

26.80 for 200m today, the slowest time I have done since October. Had a -3.0 m/s headwind which felt worse than that. Was going ok for the first 100m and then hit a wall of wind in the homestraight. Have never experienced anything like it. Lactic acid shot through my legs and felt like I was running on the spot. Usually the second 100m is my strength. I didnt expect to get near my PB in that wind and I'd have been happy with a 26.3, but 26.8 is just too slow even in that strong wind.

Overall a weekend to forget. Confidence has taken a bit of a knock. Think I peaked a few weeks too early. I was probably in my best shape the day of day 1 decathlon. Ran 56.39 on battered legs. I was certain after that that 55 would be a formality going into a race fresh, but the last 3 weeks of training has been so disrupted. The decathlon left me battered and I couldn't train properly for about 5 days. Our track is being resurfaced so training has been at different locations which has resulted in me doing some sessions by myself which isn't ideal. And despite not running to my best this weekend I got no luck with lane draws and weather.

I don't want such a good season to fizzle out in a whimper like this so back into it on Monday and I'll look to one final 400m race in Essendon at the end of March. This Thursday an Irish mate is going to pace me to hopefully a sub 2:20 for 800m (he can run 69-70 laps for significantly longer than that) so that hopefully will be an opportunity to get the confidence levels back up.

Will do a report of the championships soon.

RandyMann

I know how bad that must feel, athletics is cruel to your confidence when you are not performing as well as you can.
Just pick yourself up and dont overdo it in training cause it would seem you have accumulated tiredness over a busy season.

Pisco Sour

RandyMann wrote: »

I know how bad that must feel, athletics is cruel to your confidence when you are not performing as well as you can.
Just pick yourself up and dont overdo it in training cause it would seem you have accumulated tiredness over a busy season.

It'd hard to know whether I was overcooked or undercooked going into the champs. I'm siding towards the latter. Just 1 gym session for each of the last 3 weeks rather than 2 could have had an impact. Hard to know.

Pisco Sour

The State Championships, for many in Victoria the biggest event of the season. 3 days of action at the Lakeside Stadium at Albert Park. 3 days of glorious sunshine, but 3 days of strong headwinds to accompany it.

Last year I competed in the State Championships running a PB of 58.68 in the 400m, and a clocking of 27.13 (+0.5) in the 200m which was my second fastest ever at the time. Overall it was an extremely positive experience. I ran well, and I learned a lot being around so many top athletes. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fast forward 12 months and the experience couldn't have been more different. It turned out to be a weekend to forget with not much positives to take from it.

My season on the whole has been excellent. I have run sub 56.60 on 4 occasions this season and have managed 2 sub 26 clockings for 200m. I had a poor run at the High Velocity meet for 400m 8 days previously (57.18) but overall I felt good, confident and rested (after the morning off work) going into my 400m heat on Friday evening. I felt 55 was there for the taking.

400m:

I felt good in the warm up, not suffering from much fatigue thanks to having a nice lie in that morning and only a half day of work to endure. There were 38 on the start list but only 32 signed in (Sean Wroe was a no show this weekend). My initial thoughts were that if one more person had shown up we would have had 5 heats and everybody would be spared the misfortune of lane 1. But as it was there were enough for 4 full heats. Still though the chances of lane 1 were slim. I didn't care what lane I got as long as it wasn't lane 1. I had never run in it before. Just my luck so as the lady calls out the athletes for heat 3 and yours truly is given the inside lane. Frustrating but I didn't get annoyed about it. I couldn't afford negative thoughts running through my head. I was stuck with the terrible lane now so had to deal with it. Sure Angelo Taylor won Olympic gold in lane 1, and Michael Bingham denied Gillick a medal from the same lane in Barcelona 2010. How bad could it be eh?

My assumption was that everybody in my heat would be well ahead of me and I'd be last by a considerable margin. The lad who raced me in that farcical 2 person race at High Velocity last week was in my heat. We shared a joke about the previous week in the call room. I find chatting to others helps relax you a little. But I was pumped, very pumped. There was no doubt I was up for this. I had to force the food into me all day long I was so nervous. It's torture trying to get through work when you want to get to the track and just let the waiting be over and get on with it.

During a few strides out of my blocks I noticed how sharp the turn was from lane 1 at the very start. I have run a couple of times in lane 2 and quite like it, but lane 1 seemed just that bit sharper. In addition there was a sort of curb like structure on the inside lane of lane 1. If you step on the line in any other lane you'll get DQ'ed if you get caught by the judges, but in lane 1 if you do likewise you will be on your arse. I didn't think of this as too much of a worry but I was quite mindful not to get too close to the inside of the lane.

Gun went off and I got out very well. I lift my head after 30m to see that I have eaten up some of the stagger on the lad in lane 2. This surprises me. I didn't know anything about him but just assumed he'd be much faster than me. Coming onto the backstraight I settle and ease back the effort. I'm a bit worried I may have gone out too fast. Down the backstraight the lad in lane 2 starts to pull a bit away from me, but not by too much. I dont notice anybody else in the race. Eyes are firmly fixed on the guy outside me. With 200m to go I up the effort levels. I giving it everything now, but feel good, but I am not gaining on the guy in lane 2. Coming into the straight and he has around an 8-10m lead on me. I also see the lad I raced last week in the distance and he looks like he is a similar distance ahead of me than last time. I didn't think much of this though. He could have been having a great run for all I know. I feel like I am finishing strong and my form feels good but I do not gain on him. The gap remains pretty much the same at around 8m.

I felt I ran well. I really did. Then my coach told me he clocked me at 57. I was gutted. I was confused. The results came up on the screen moments later and sure enough my time was 57.56 seconds, only my 7th fastest clocking I have run, and my slowest since mid December. Everybody was talking about the wind and yes it was extremely windy but the whole thing was a bit of a blur and I was so focused on the race I can't honestly remember where and when or if the wind affected me. The guy in lane 2 ran a mid 56 and I found out later he had a PB of 54.00. That was from last year though so I can't assume he was in that sort of shape this season.

Overall I was quite baffled by the result. It felt a lot better than the High Velocity meet yet the time was slower. Clearly there is something lacking at the moment and I'm just not quite at my very best. Hugely disappointing.

Overall I finished last of the 32, but there were 3 guys on 56 and had I run my best I could have got ahead of a couple of them. I feel like I didn't do myself justice.

The standard in general was much higher than last year. In 2012 sub 50 made the final. This time 50.5 was needed to make the semi finals and a 48 was needed to make the final. I don't know where all these guys were last year!

200m:

I had a night of interrupted sleep as I got up in the middle of the night to watch Derval's semi final and final at the Euro Indoors, but I still got about 6 and a half hours. I did my best to shut the 400m disappointment out of my mind and was now fully focusing on the 200m and redemption. You have to believe you can run well, otherwise what's the point. The reality though is that athletics is not one of those sports where you can just turn it back on the next day if you are obviously not quite at your very very best. I didn't let myself think like this though and felt I had nothing to lose and wanted to give it a bash.

I enter Lakeside Stadium and I am greeted as ever with a headwind upon my entry. It's becoming a farce at this stage. I haven't got a single tailwind at that stadium all season. I knew that a PB was not going to happen in this weather so I just wanted to run something good given the conditions, and a sub 26 would have been a great result, and a low 26 would have been satisfactory.

In the call room I am told I am in lane 4 heat 1. I sit in the appropriate area and see that there are only 4 of us there. With top 3 plus 4 fastest losers going through to the semi finals one of my competitors makes a joke that before I showed up he was in a position to make the semi finals as there were only 3 there. I told him not to worry as I wont be affecting his semi final ambitions. All a good laugh and I got chatting to him. Nice guy, and with a PB of 24.7 in lane 7 this was a good I could chase, as he wasn't too far ahead of me. I was happy with this. However our tongue in cheek semi final plans were dashed when 2 Nigerian lads showed up and took their seats beside us. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted! Needless to say those guys went 1 and 2 in our heat.

We were kept in the call room quite a while, but eventually it was time to go out to the track. I hadn't had any nerves all morning, unlike the day before for the 400m, but now they were starting to creep in thankfully. You need that adrenaline to run well.

Gun went off and I felt I got out pretty well. Focused on driving as hard as I could, keeping the head down, and I felt I was going pretty well. The guy in lane 7 had a bit of a lead on me, but felt I was placed nicely to attack down the straight. However upon entering the straight I was greeted with the most ridiculous headwind I have ever encountered. I've never experienced anything like it. I felt like I was running on the spot, my form went to pot, and lactic acid was shooting up through my legs (perhaps a product of fatigue after the 400m). The other lad seemed to be stretching away from me, though my mate said to me after he didn't really, it probably just seemed that way because I was slowing so badly.

I crossed the line about 12m down on him. I knew my time was going to be rubbish. I looked over at the wind gauge and saw -3.0. I was actually shocked that's all it was. It certainly felt far worse than that to me!!

My time came up pretty quickly and as expected it was poor. A clocking of 26.80 seconds, the slowest I have run all season, excluding my very first race. Of course the wind had a big effect on the result. With fair conditions it probably equates to a 26.4 which is around the level I was at back in November/ early December. Just not good enough. The lad in lane 7 was not happy with his time of 25.1 but I actually think that was a great run to get within 0.4 of his best in that gusty wind!

What went wrong?

I genuinely don't really know. I can make guesses on why I was below par but it's not easy to find the exact answer. While I ran my PBs for 200 and 400 back in January I feel I was in my peak shape for the Decathlon. I ran a 12.82 PB for 100m which if adjusted to a 0 wind would have been 12.75. Then at the end of a tough long day I ran 56.39 despite being knackered and getting calf spasms. I know I was in 55 shape that day. But I think think the decathlon, while a lot of fun and camaraderie, MAY have messed up my body a bit after. I couldn't train properly for about 5 days. However there are other things too. The track being resurfaced meant training hasn't been as routine the last 2 weeks. I've done a good bit of training on my own also for various reasons which may not have helped, but at times it's unavoidable, depending on other life commitments. Also I have only had 1 gym session for each of the last 3 weeks, instead of 2. Not sure what effect that would have had but worth noting anyway.

What next?

Overall I am gutted with how this weekend went. Granted for somebody at my level it's not as big a deal if I peak a few weeks too early as I wont be challenging for medals or finals places etc, but you still want to do your best at the biggest meet of the year, or come close to your best. To under perform like I did is very unsatisfying.

However I do not want a great season to end like this so I need to pick myself up and get back into it. This Thursday an Irish friend of mine, who was a very legit runner a few years back (still is to be honest) is going to pace me to hopefully a sub 2:20 for 800m. There's no more 800m races left for me this year so I am treating this as if it is a race. We're looking at maybe going for 2:18, with two 69 second laps. With a knowledgeable pacemaker (can go at that pace for way longer) I just have to sit in behind him and not worry about the pace and just run. I ran my 2:23 PB doing a fair bit of the work from the front. With a proper pacer I'm confident I can nail a sub 2:20.

After that I will look towards the 400m at the Peter Norman Track Classic on March 26th which will be my last 400m of the year more than likely. There's a High Velocity meet the day after also so still keeping my options open.

55 may not happen this season but I want to go out on a positive note but at least nailing my 5th 56 of the season.