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

Oiriallach

Chivito550 wrote: »

If anybody knows of any other races which could be an option for me PLEASE let me know. There's a bit of a gap in there from mid June to mid July and would love to have more races in there.

If you're interested in travelling northwards on weekday evenings, there's the Louth Championships in Drogheda on Thursday 17th July plus a couple of Lagan Valley AC meets in Belfast (on Thursdays) and North Down AC meets in Bangor (on Tuesdays).

Chivito550

Oiriallach wrote: »

If you're interested in travelling northwards on weekday evenings, there's the Louth Championships in Drogheda on Thursday 17th July plus a couple of Lagan Valley AC meets in Belfast (on Thursdays) and North Down AC meets in Bangor (on Tuesdays).

Thanks for that. Will keep an eye out and see do they have something which fits the schedule.

Yikes, not much turnaround time between Louth Championships and Nationals. Less than 2 days. Strange timing I must say.

Chivito550

Massage this evening, followed by gym session.

Bench Press: 8 x 52.5kg, 8 x 57.5kg, 8 x 62.5kg, 4 x 65kg
Leg Press: 3 x (8 x 130kg)
Stomach Ball Crunches: 3 x 30
Squats: 6 x 70kg, 6 x 75kg, 6 x 77.5kg
Goodmornings: 3 x 10 @ 45kg
Russian Twists: 3 x 40 @ 10kg
Planks: 3 x 60 secs

I dropped the bench press back by 2.5kg across the 4 sets so that I could get the third set up to 8 reps, rather than dropping off at 5. I struggled on the 8th rep but got there.

I dropped the squats right back, from 80-85-90 to 70-75-77.5 in order to focus on depth rather than weight. I went lower by 2 inches than usual which brings me to parallel, and will now build the weight back up slowly. Felt reasonably comfortable at the 77.5kg so there was more there.

Wanted to grab the squat area while it was free, so ended up doing my leg press after the squat and goodmornings again, so I found the 130kg tougher than I would had I done it earlier in the session.

Chivito550

55.88 in the 400m at Santry tonight. That's much more like it. Big season's best and fastest run on Irish soil. Still 0.88 off the PB but only 0.3-0.4 down on what I was running consistently back in Jan and Feb. Getting there. Perfect conditions for it tonight.

Report later.

Maurice Greene.

Good work, keep it going!

Lock

Well done Mr. Chivito!

Chivito550

After 2 disappointing 400m runs to open my season (57.00 and 57.33) I had 2 weeks of hard training leading into this race, and expected a noticeable improvement. Conditions were absolutely perfect, as good as I have ever had really, and very similar to what I had the day I ran my 55.00 PB back in December, except about 5 degrees cooler. It was about 20 degrees at a guess, not a breeze in sight, bone dry track, skies pretty clear. It was living room conditions as I like to call it, so I knew this presented a great opportunity to get a quick time on the board and really kick start my season.

400m:

Strangely there was only A and B grades on this occasion, rather than the usual C. I had planned to enter B anyway, but with no C grade available, the B grade essentially became an "everybody else" category, with runners of all standards from 52 right down to 73. In total there were 4 B races, and I thankfully got by far the strongest of these, though at the time I did not know this.

There was a bit of confusion at the start. Usually the guy with the sheet comes over and we all crowd around and get our lane draws, but on this occasion it was announced over the intercom, which made it hard to pay full attention to what was being said. I didn't catch my lane draw and asked one of the competitors what was the deal with lanes, and he said that we must be able to pick our own lanes. I thought this odd, but with lanes 2-5 already taken I didn't have time to question it, and quickly legged it into lane 6 before I ended up with an outside lane.

After setting up my blocks I see one of the guys holding the sheets and I decided to confirm this strange lane policy, and sure enough my doubts were validated, and I was told I should be in lane 5, so a case of musical chairs ensued. Thankfully I asked, otherwise I would have ended up with somebody else's time!

There were 6 in the race, from lanes 2 to 7, with myself in 5. The gun went off and I got out well, driving hard for the first 60m or so, and still moving strong around the bend. I kept up the strong cruise down the backstraight and notice the lad in lane 2 has eaten up the stagger. Being honest the whole race is a blur that I don't have much recollection of who went past me when, but by the time I am approaching half way, the guy in lane 4 has also comfortably eaten up the stagger. The 2 guys outside me hadn't opened too much of a gap on me, which is strange as the both ended up with a 52!

I felt a bit of lactic in the legs at half way, probably down to attacking the first 200 quite hard, but at the same time I was still feeling comfortable. I gradually wound it up in the third quarter of the race but was still not at full throttle, perhaps being a little bit cautious here, to leave enough left for the last push down the straight. Entering the straight and I am at full pelt now, trying to keep as relaxed as possible, and to make sure my knee lift doesn't stray. They guys in lane 3 and 4 are somewhat near me, with the other 3 finishing together almost in a line. I'm about 25m down when they finish. A small bit of lactic built up at the very end and I finished 6th, about 6-7m down on the guy in lane 3.

When I saw the winning time of 52.1x, I had a feeling I ran a good time and guessed high 55. It certainly felt good, and it was a good race to be in, with those other lads helping to push me on.

Sometime later I got my official time, 55.88 seconds, a big season's best and best time run in Ireland, by 1.12 seconds, and my 8th fastest time overall, and my 9th time under 56. I'm still 0.88 seconds down on the PB, which is a great comparison given the very similar conditions, but am only 0.3-0.4 down on what I was generally running back during the Australian season, as the PB is a bit of an outlier.

Overall I'm very happy with that result, and it is something which I needed. I felt I needed to throw down a good result and performance to help settle myself into the Irish season, as up to now I've been finding a lot of the differences with the track season here to the track season in Melbourne difficult to get a handle of. Hopefully now I can kick on, with the big target being a PB at Nationals in just over 5 weeks time (if it doesn't come before then).

I finished 6th out of 6 in my heat, but 11th out of 25 overall in the B Grade, and 24th out of 38 in total in the men's 400m.

Next up is hopefully the GV Ryan meet on Saturday at Irishtown, and another 400m, which could be my last 400m until July 9th, as I am away for the weekend of the League, and there really doesn't seem to be anything else on during that time.

Chivito550

Gym session yesterday:

Bench Press: 8 x 52.5kg, 8 x 57.5kg, 8 x 62.5kg, 3 x 67.5kg
One-legged Leg Press: 3 x (8 x 50kg on each leg)
Squats: 6 x 72.5kg, 6 x 77.5kg, 6 x 82.5kg
Deadlifts: 6 x 72.5kg, 6 x 77.5kg, 6 x 82.5kg
Circuit Upper Body: 4 x 32 @ 20kg
Crunches: 3 x 50
Medicine Ball Throws: 3 x 25 @ 5kg
Stomach Ball Crunches: 3 x 30

Now that I've gone down to around parallel I am building the weight of the squats back up nicely. The deadlift was increased slightly also. Struggled a bit on the 82.5kg but didn't need to regrip (just about).

Chivito550

56.06 at the GV Ryan meet at Irishtown this afternoon. 0.18 slower than my run at Santry on Wed. Disappointed not to go under 56. It felt faster than that, so maybe it's worth a solid 55 on a better track. In any case it's 1.27 secon faster than my last run at Irishtown 2 and a half weeks ago.

Things are coming along well. The biggest problem is finding races. Nationals is in 5 weeks and the only 400 I have between now and then is a graded at Irishtown which is a massive 3 and a half weeks away. I'm away next weekend so will miss the league and can't find anything else. I can run 54 this year but I need the races to do it!

Maurice Greene.

Chivito550 wrote: »

56.06 at the GV Ryan meet at Irishtown this afternoon. 0.18 slower than my run at Santry on Wed. Disappointed not to go under 56. It felt faster than that, so maybe it's worth a solid 55 on a better track. In any case it's 1.27 secon faster than my last run at Irishtown 2 and a half weeks ago.

Things are coming along well. The biggest problem is finding races. Nationals is in 5 weeks and the only 400 I have between now and then is a graded at Irishtown which is a massive 3 and a half weeks away. I'm away next weekend so will miss the league and can't find anything else. I can run 54 this year but I need the races to do it!

You were in a tough race but you put in a good fight. Did you hear me giving you a shout on the last bend? ;-)
I dont think there is much wrong with your fitness, just your technique may do with some improving and you could nail that 54..

Chivito550

Maurice Greene. wrote: »

You were in a tough race but you put in a good fight. Did you hear me giving you a shout on the last bend? ;-)
I dont think there is much wrong with your fitness, just your technique may do with some improving and you could nail that 54..

I heard somebody somewhere but it was all a bit of a blur.

I overcooked it a bit at the start. The guy outside me was only a few metres ahead of me at half way and he ended up running 53.40, so he took about 2 seconds out of me in the last 200.

Chivito550

Will do a quick report on yesterday's race later but first an update on this morning's track session:

3 x 300m with 7 minute recoveries. Wore the middle distance spikes for these.

I messed up the timing for the first one, but at a reasonable guess it would have been 43 high or very low 44, so I'll take it as 44 flat.

Times were:

44.0 - 44.1 - 45.6

Was told that I needed to relax more during my second rep so made a conscious effort to try stay as relaxed as possible in the last rep despite the pain. Was in an absolute heap for about 15 mins after this session. It really is pointless comparing this session to the ones I did off 10 min recoveries. Those extra 3 mins less rest make a huge difference.

Average was 44.5, which was a small bit slower than the last day I did this session. Maybe fatigue from yesterday's 400m. I cruised a bit too much down the straight in the first rep and maybe could have pushed that one out a bit more but overall happy with the session.

Chivito550

Second 400m in the space of 4 days. After my 55.88 at Santry on Wednesday the night, my hope was to back this run up, with another sub 56.

Conditions were again pretty good. Not as perfect as Wednesday, but not much to complain about. Lots of cloudcover and it was muggy. A small breeze but not much. Quite warm. Good conditions for sprinting.

400m:

Only 5 people entered in the 400m, which is pretty low in comparison to the 100 and 200, and way down on the numbers in the Irish Milers Club 800 and 1500m races. It would be nice to see the Irish Sprinters concept develop over the coming years to have something along the lines of High Velocity Club in Melbourne, sprint specific meets, giving lots of opportunities for sprinters to race, rather than tagging onto the back of the Milers Club, but it appears that there really aren't the numbers in the sprints which is a great shame. Sin sceal eile anyway.

I was the slowest on paper by a good 3 seconds. I was drawn in lane 6, with the guy closest to me on time outside me in lane 7. The 3 lads inside me were quicker again.

I attacked the first 70m very hard, and even after this was still pushing harder than usual. 2 of the guys inside me ate up the stagger within 100m, and another lad not long after, but the guy outside me had not really opened up any sort of a lead on me. I was flying, and in my head had a feeling that I may pay for this overzealous start, but I felt good and fancied a craic at it. At half way, I reckon the lad outside me was only about 4-5m ahead of me. However as we rounded the bend he started to gradually stretch that imaginary elastic band. Entering the straight and I am still within range, about 10m down, with the other 3 lads appearing to be in a line a further 15m ahead. I desperately tried to feel relaxed but I'm noticeably slowing and the lad outside me is pulling further ahead. I gutsed it out as best I could, trying to lift the knees as best I could, but the guy ahead of me was simply fitter and stronger, and finished about 16-17m ahead of me.

This guy has run 52, so to be this close to him was a good sign, but he also ran a low 53 at Santry, so I'd have to wait and see. It felt fast, and being honest felt like an even better run than Wednesday. However the result belied the feel of it, with the lad ahead of me running 53.40, and myself 2.66 back with a clocking of 56.06 seconds, just 0.18 slower than Wednesday. I was initially disappointed to not run under 56, but the reality is that Irishtown is not the quickest of tracks, and it was probably a better run than Wednesday and worth a very solid 55, maybe 55.6 or 55.7 at Santry, all other things being equal.

This result proves I can run well at Irishtown. No doubting that. Just frustrating that whatever I ever run there, there's always that nagging feeling that it could be 0.4ish faster on a better track. But for now it is job done, I've backed up Wednesday's run, so it's now back into some heavy training and build up towards Nationals, where hopefully I'll be in 54 shape. At the moment I'm probably in 55 mid to high shape, so work still to be done.

The biggest problem from here is finding races. At the moment I have no 400m until Irishtown again on July 9th. After that it's Nationals on July 19th. This is too long a gap between races and I really need another in between. I'm away next weekend so can't guest at the League. I'm keeping the fingers crossed that Le Cheile add a 400m to their meet on June 27th, but at the moment there is no 400m on their programme. The only other option is Cork Championships on July 3rd, but being a Thursday evening, this is very inconvenient and possibly impractical. The Louth Championships are a more realistic trek, but being less than 48 hours before Nationals probably writes that off. And that seems to be it. Very frustrating I'll be honest.

Final word about the GV Ryan meet. Was very well organised, and had a nice lively atmosphere. Lots of music being played when there was down time, and the commentator was a total legend, whoever she is. All meets should be more like this.

Chivito550

Am away this coming weekend so won't have access to a track. So to somewhat make up for losing 2 track sessions, I did a session today. Was given another 3 x 300m session but this time with just 5 minute recoveries, rather than 7, with the aim to be as close to yesterday's times as possible off the shorter recovery. I wore the middle distance spikes again, and did the session on my own, which made it tough going, particularly in the heat. Times were:

44.4 - 45.0 - 44.9

Average was 44.7, which is just 0.2 slower than my average from yesterday off the longer recoveries. So am happy with that performance.

Chivito550

Tuesday: Gym

Bench Press: 8 x 52.5kg, 8 x 57.5kg, 8 x 62.5kg, 4 x 65kg
Leg Press: 3 x (8 x 130kg)
Stomach Ball Crunches: 3 x 30
Squats: 6 x 75kg, 6 x 80kg, 6 x 85kg
Goodmornings: 3 x 10 @ 45kg
Russian Twists: 3 x 40 @ 10kg
Planks: 3 x 60 secs

Chivito550 wrote: »

Wednesday: Track

Absolutely filthy session this evening. As soon as I heard what it was I very quickly developed the fear, even though I knew it was something I needed:

500-400-300-200 with 5, 4 and 3 min recoveries.

Times were: 83.6 - 65.3 - 49.9 - 30.1

Recoveries strayed a little but not by much: 5:36 - 4:15 - 3:45

.

Wednesday: Track

Same session as the one quoted above from this day 2 weeks ago. 500-400-300-200 with 5, 4 and 3 minute recoveries. Disgusting session. Wore the middle distance spikes for this. Recoveries strayed very slightly to 5:10 - 4:20 - 3:30. Times were:

79.9 - 63.9 - 48.0 - 30.9

The 500m was 3.7 seconds quicker, the 400m was 1.4 seconds quicker, the 300m was faster by 1.9 seconds, and I was 0.8 slower for the final 200m on this occasion. Up in 3, down in 1. Pretty significant improvement in 2 weeks.

Chivito550

Good news. 400m has been added to the Le Cheile meet Friday 27th on the new leixlip track, so I'll get that extra 400m I was looking for.

Bad news for beer mile prep of course.

Chivito550

I'm down in South Kerry for a long weekend. No access to a gym down this neck of the woods so took both Thursday and Friday off, and did a quick 10 mins of core on the Friday. Then on Saturday I did a hill session on one of the many isolated roads out here.

8 x 150m with walk back recovery which ranged from 2:24 to 2:45. I think I measured it out too long and was probably about 157m. Times were:

24.9 - 25.7 - ? - 25.7 - 25.8 - 26.0 - 26.1 - ?

Messed up the timing of 2 reps, though for the last one I am certain it was under 26.

Tough hill as it gets steeper at the end and there's a left hand turn in it.

EDIT: Also did some cycling on the country roads down here on Friday.

Chivito550

Another hill session this morning, this time 10 x 100m, with recoveries ranging from 1:34 to 1:45. Same hill as yesterday, finishing in the same spot, just obviously starting a bit higher up. Times were:

16.1 - 16.8 - 16.3 - 16.5 - 16.8 - 16.6 - 16.3 - 16.5 - 16.3 - 16.3

Very happy with the consistency there. Since my last 400 race 8 days ago I've had 2 good hill sessions, along with 3 painful track sessions. Feeling very good now fitness wise.

3 big races coming up now: 200m on Wed, 400m on Friday, then Beer Mile on Saturday.

Chivito550

Back this afternoon from a great 5 days in South Kerry. I went there every year until I was 19 as I have strong family ties to there, and always loved it, but hadn't been for the last 10 years. This visit back was from a different perspective, after all the travel I have done since I visited last. It really is right up there with the most spectacular places I have seen around the World. I don't like to make ranking lists for this type of thing but I have to say that Scellig Michael, which I had never visited before, is right up there with the most amazing things I have seen around the world (Salar de Uyuni, Iguassu Falls, Bungle Bungles, Perito Moreno Glacier, Cesky Krumlov, Florence, Cusco region of Peru and Machu Picchu among others). For those who have never visited South Kerry I'd highly recommend it. I was very lucky with the weather though. It was absolutely sensational, which from experience doesn't happen that often down that neck of the woods.

Anyway back to athletics. Gym session this afternoon:

Bench Press: 8 x 52.5kg, 8 x 57.5kg, 8 x 62.5kg, 4 x 65kg
Leg Press: 3 x (8 x 130kg)
Stomach Ball Crunches: 3 x 30
Squats: 6 x 75kg, 6 x 80kg, 6 x 85kg
Goodmornings: 3 x 10 @ 45kg
Russian Twists: 3 x 40 @ 10kg

Struggled a tad on the 85kg for the squats. Did the Leg Press first this time so felt great during it, but probably suffered a bit by doing the squats after the leg press. I decided to leave out a couple of other exercises as my body was feeling tired, probably from the hill sessions I did over the weekend. This was my first gym session in a week as I missed my Thursday gym session last week due to being away. I have a 400m race on Friday so I will likely skip my Thursday gym altogether this week so I am nicely fresh for it. Before then I have a 200m race tomorrow evening at Tallaght.

Chivito550

25.49 in the 200m at Tallaght from the outside lane with a +1.4 sec tailwind. 0.07 slower than my PB. Conditions were ok, but track was very damp from all the rain today. Actually got called back very late after the gun went off. I had got a good start. Second time around my start was not as good. Frustrating.

Bit disappointed not to go quicker but good consistency anyway. Hopefully sets me up for a good 400m on Friday night on the brand new track at Leixlip.

Will do a report later.

Chivito550

My third 200m race of the season, and the first in 5 and a half weeks. My first one was a 26.13 into a -2.3 headwind at Tallaght. A few days later I ran a PB of 25.42 with a +0.9 tailwind at the AAI Games at Santry. Since then I have run four 400m races. With another 400m to come on Friday the timing of this 200m was ideal as a test of speed in the leadup to it.

200m:

Conditions were not the best. The track was very damp from all the rain throughout the day, and while the rain had stopped by the time of the meet, the track hadn't dried up that much. However there was a tailwind, and the temperature was nice, so while it wasn't the best conditions for sprinting, it could have also been a lot worse.

I was drawn in the third of 3 heats in C Grade. For the second consecutive time at Tallaght I was given the outside lane. Lane 8 the last time, lane 7 on this occasion. There were 6 in my race, filling up lanes 2-7. I knew nothing about any of my competitors.

Gun went off and I felt I got a good start. Then about 3 seconds later I hear the gun go again. As I was on the outside lane and blinded to what others were doing I didn't want to take the chance at stopping in case the noise was not the gun calling us back, so I kept running, and it was only about 60m in before I stopped, when I caught a glimpse of the lad in lane 6 slowing up. This was a very late call back, which was pretty frustrating. There was no false start, but one of the guys blocks slipped when the gun went so we were called back out of fairness to him.

Physically, this 60m all out effort would do nothing to harm my race. I thought of it as a hard warm up stride. My heart rate was well up now, and mentally I had to refocus. When the gun went off the second time, my start was noticeably not as good. I felt like I didn't react very well and no doubt lost a good tenth on the last effort.

About 50m in I notice the guy in lane 6 eat up the stagger on me, then the guy in lane 5, and then another lad on one of the inside lanes. As I hit the straight I am well down, but feeling pretty good and feel like I held my form well and started making gains on a couple of those ahead of me, and didn't tie up too bad in the last 20m. I finished about 7m down on the guy in lane 6, who came 2nd. The winning time was 23.87, and soon after second and third were announced at 24.54 and 24.70. I knew then that it would be pretty touch and go for a PB. Alas it was not to be. 25.49 seconds with a +1.4 tailwind to come 4th out of 6, just 0.07 seconds off my PB, and my 4th fastest time overall. I think given the damp track, the awkward lane draw, and the call back, this was worth a PB. I think I am in better shape than my 200m times suggest but it is a frustrating distance and very rarely do I seem to nail the distance on race day. I guess hardly surprising though given I am a 400m runner, not a 200m runner.

Overall I was 10th out of the 18 in C Grade. Not as good an atmosphere on this occasion, probably due to the weather during the day.

Next up is a 400m race at Leixlip tomorrow evening for the opening of their brand new track. I am in a mixed 400m race which is interesting. I am in lane 3, then 2 guys both 52 second runners in lanes 4 and 5, and finally the only 2 female entrants in lanes 6 and 7, both 58 second runners. Good opportunity to knock out a good run.

Chivito550

55.82 in the 400m at the new track in Leixlip, a season's best, in far from ideal conditions (windy and not very warm). Frustrated with the time as it wasn't a fair reflection on how I ran. Was only 2.3 seconds down on a guy who runs low 52, but he only ran 53.48, so surely in better conditions, on a quicker track, the 54 will come. Thomas Barr was a full second outside his NR in the 400m Hurdles, and 0.6 off his time at Euro Teams last weekend, so that might also give some indication.

10th time under 56 and 20th time under 57. The sub 55 will have to wait.

Chivito550

Race report of Friday's 400m and yesterday's beer mile to come, but first an update on this weekend's training.

Saturday: Track

100-80-60, 7 mins, 100-80-60. A speed session. Wore the sprint spikes for this. Was a bit inconsistent in this. Some of the reps were sloppy, others very good. My two 60m reps were my best I felt.

Sunday: Track

Woke up with the filthiest of filthy hangovers after yesterday's beer mile festivities. I still have no idea how I managed to haul myself to the track. The session the others were doing was a split 400 session, 3 x (300, 45 secs, 100) off 10 mins. Coach took one look at me and immediately decided that such a session would not be a good idea for me on this occasion. Instead I did 5 x 200 with 200 jog recovery. Felt horrific during the warm up, and not much better throughout. I stuck to the racing flats on this occasion. Times were:

32.2 - 32.5 - 32.6 - 31.8 - 31.0

Recoveries were: 1:23 - 1:28 - 1:27 - 1:24

Coach awarded me athlete of the day for somehow being able to run that fast in such an awful state. I obviously would have preferred to do the session the others were doing, but happy to make the best out of a bad situation and get a useful session done. I was the butt of all jokes today at training haha.

Chivito550

After a good block of training and a decent 200m race, I felt I was ready to push on from my previous 2 400m races 2 weeks ago, a 55.88 at Santry in perfect conditions, and a 56.06 on the slower Irishtown surface in good conditions.

Conditions on this occasion were not good. It was dry, but it was very windy and the temperatures were not warm, around 14 degrees. Not ideal sprinting conditions.

400m:

I was in the B 400m race which was a mixed race. However one of the women didn't show up so there was only one girl in the race. I was in lane 3, then there were two 52 second guys in lanes 4 and 5, and then the girl in lane 6, who is a 58 second runner. A pretty ideal lane draw for me.

Got out to a really good start. Felt I drove really well for the first 60, then relaxed but made a conscious effort to commit to the first 200 with the hope that my fitness would carry me through the latter stages of the race. After about 150m I have eaten up the stagger on the girl 3 lanes outside me, and the other 2 lads have not stretched too far ahead of me. At the half way mark they are about 6m ahead of me.

I upped the effort levels with about 180m to go and felt strong, trying to keep my form as best I can. I felt strong and the gap was only growing slightly between myself and the other lads. I felt like I finished very well down the straight but there was no catching the lads ahead of me, finishing about 15m down on the winner and 12m on the guy in second. I said to myself that if I could get within this sort of distance of these guys (PBs and SBs of 52.1 and 52.5 respectively then I would be certain of a PB.

However a look at the clock afterwards lead to real frustration. The winning time was 53.48, a full 1.3 seconds down on his PB and SB. Results were up soon after, with the second place guy running 53.80, also 1.3 down on his PB and SB, and myself in 3rd with 55.82 seconds. This was a SB by 0.06 seconds, but given that my previous SB was in perfect conditions at Santry, this time, in far from ideal conditions, is a significant improvement, which leads me to wonder how fast I could have gone had we got a bit more luck. The 2 other lads were way off their best, and most guys in the A race were down by a good 0.7 also. So this result really gives me the belief that the 54 is right there waiting to happen. Coach says it's not a matter of if, more a matter of when.

Good meet, though the athletes village thing was a bit unnecessary IMO. Nice track also. Some people were saying they don't think it's a fast track, but I prefer to ignore that. The times were down because of the conditions, not the track.

Here's a look at the racing schedule for the rest of the season:

1) Dublin Graded Meets 6 - Wed 09 July - Irishtown - 400m
2) Bertie Quinn Memorial - Wed 16 July - Tullamore - 400m
3) AAI National Championships - Sat 19 July/ Sun 20 July - Santry - 400m & 200m (If 400m is first and events are on separate days. Provisional timetable has both events on same day)
4) Dublin Graded Meets 7 - Wed 23 July - Santry - 100m (With just a 100 on the programme, good chance I won't make the trek for this one, and train through)
5) AAI Combined Events Championships - Sat 02 Aug/ Sun 03 Aug - Tullamore - Decathlon (100m & 400m) (Logistical nightmare getting a pole for pole vault and then transporting it to Tullamore without a car but determined to do this event)
6) Dublin Graded Meets 8 - Wed 06 Aug - Tallaght - 200m
7) European Athletics Championships - Sat 16 Aug - Zurich Letzigrund Stadion - Media Race 800m
8) Dublin Graded Meets 9 - Wed 20 Aug - Irishtown - 400m (after a week in Switzerland, this might have a bit of end of season feel to it)

pconn062

200m and 800m race on in Drogheda on Thursday night just inc ase you're interested. Usually a couple of guys between 24-26 seconds as well.

niall a

Chivito
National League Finals are also on the 3rd August in Tullamore, did your club make the final? if so they could transport the pole to tullamore for you. (Bad timing as a lot of the clubs would use the Multi eventers to pick up points in the league)

worth a shot

Chivito550

Still haven't had a chance to do up a race report for the beer mile. Don't want to rush it as it deserves to be done proper justice.

Update on yesterday's gym session. The last 2 weeks haven't been ideal regarding the gym. Both weeks I have only had 1 gym session, because of being in Kerry the first week, and because of a Friday race last week. So I have missed out on doing deadlifts for awhile now, so decided to take out goodmornings this week and have deadlifts in both my sessions this week.

Bench Press: 8 x 52.5kg, 8 x 57.5kg, 8 x 62.5kg, 4 x 65kg
Squats: 6 x 75kg, 6 x 80kg, 6 x 85kg
Deadlifts: 6 x 70kg, 6 x 75kg, 6 x 80kg
Leg Press: 3 x (8 x 130kg)
Circuit Upper Body: 3 x 32 @ 20kg
Planks: 3 x 60 secs
Stomach Ball Crunches: 3 x 30

Did the squats early on this time so was more comfortable at 85kg than recently, though it was still a bit of a struggle towards the end. The deadlifts I was a bit rusty. Felt fantastic at 70kg, but by the time I got to 80kg I was struggling slightly and had to regrip after 5 reps. The leg press was done at the very end of the session and I was shattered by that point but still managed to complete all reps.

niall a wrote: »

Chivito
National League Finals are also on the 3rd August in Tullamore, did your club make the final? if so they could transport the pole to tullamore for you. (Bad timing as a lot of the clubs would use the Multi eventers to pick up points in the league)

worth a shot

Yeh we did make it, in both men's and women's I think. Definitely in the women's anyway. Good idea actually. I hadn't thought of that. Thanks.

Crazy that National multis are on the same weekend as the League Final it has to be said. It really doesn't make any sense, as like you said, the multi-eventers are the people who are most valuable in inter-club competition!

pconn062 wrote: »

200m and 800m race on in Drogheda on Thursday night just inc ase you're interested. Usually a couple of guys between 24-26 seconds as well.

Thanks for letting me know this. Probably a bit late notice as planned to just train this week in prep for some big 400s over the next few weeks, but will give it some thought.

Chivito550

Background:

This would be my 4th beer mile. My first was the 2012 Parkville Beer Mile where I recorded a 9:20 with Hahn Super Dry (4.6%, 330ml). 7 months later at the 2013 Autumn Classic I recorded a big PB of 8:19 with Hahn Super Dry on a famous night in Australian sport when Josh Harris broke the world record.

Both the above performaces were recorded with "pussy beer", so I decided that for my third beer mile, the 2013 Parkville Beer Mile, that I would be fully compliant with Kingston Rules. I chose the truly awful Coopers 62 (5.0%, 355ml) and managed 8:27, not beating my unofficial PB, but recording an official PB, and a better overall performance give the beer difficulty. The greatest day in my beer mileing life.

Beer of choice:

This time I decided to go for an Australian beer from Tasmania, by the name of James Boags Premium Lager. With an Australian beer mileing background, the importance of twist off bottle caps has been ingrained in my mindset. All the greats use twist off: Josh Harris, Ash Watson, Charlie Blanch, stalwarts of this most technical of track and field disciplines. Being able to waste as little time as possible in transition between run to beer is talked about very rarely, but it's often where the game is won or lost.

With that in mind I went with the only beer I could find which met the Kingston Rules criteria, but also had twist off caps. That beer was James Boags, 375ml in volume, more than necessary, and 5.0% ABV.

Preparations:

On the previous 3 occasions I was able to train hard in preparation. The timing always suited - either at the end of the track season while I was on a break, or a few weeks before a long track season started (end of the Cross-Country and Road season). For the Irish Beer Mile Championships I would have no such luck, with it being held smack bang in the middle of the track season.

As a result there would be no beer 800 and no beer 1200, sessions which have become hugely park of my training programme. In addition there would be very little base mileage. I couldn't be going out on mad nights on the lash with important track sessions being held on both Sat and Sun mornings. So I had to make the best use of what I had. My training was as follows:

Tuesday: 2 x 1 beer with 60 sec recovery

Wednesday: 3 x 1 beer with 60 sec recovery

Fr:day 2 x 1 beer with 40 sec recovery

I had a disaster trying to open the caps off the bottles on Tuesday. For whatever reason, possibly due to air pressure if imported by air the caps were about 20 times harder to open than when on Australian soil. So for my first 2 sessions I loosened the caps gently, without letting the gas out, before beginning my session. However on further inspection this appeared to be against Beer Miles regulations, so for my Friday session I used a bottle opener. It was a nightmare, as a 40 sec recovery became 55. I ditched the bottle opener idea promptly, and opted to use my t-shirt for grip on the day. My confidence was a little shot and feared that this issue may rear it's ugly head again come race day. I wasn't rehearsed enough in the technique of opening these beers.

But my drinking was good. The beer slid down well, and I expected a big performance come the day in this department.

Conditions:

It was perfect beer mileing weather. Comfortable temperatures, a bit breezy, but not a cloud in the sky. No doubt this would spur on some big performances.

Expectations

In the past I have used racing flats and spikes on the Melbourne University track, but on this occasion, on a cinder track I opted for the road running shoes. I didn't expect to run as fast as a result, even though I am much fitter than when I ran my last beer mile. Overall if I could get somewhat close to my 8:27 PB I would be very happy, with a solid sub 9 being a reasonable target.

The Race:

13 brave souls toed the line in this year's Irish Championships, perhaps a bit smaller than hoped, but still a very respectable number. Only seconds in and disaster strikes, the stupid cap will not come off. 5 seconds were wasted before I was away. In these early stages I heard somebody say "feck off" in a very squeaky voice, which turned out to be a Podge & Rodge bottle opener, setting the tone, so to speak, for the rest of the evening.

The first beer went down well, in 26 seconds of actual drinking time, but by the time I have finished it I am in 12th out of the 13. This didn't surprise me as I am usually slow off the mark with the first beer. I didn't panic and knew that others would come back to me. On the first lap I went past about 3 runners, nestling in behind DrQ with 100m to go in the first lap. Lap 1 was recorded in a solid 84 seconds.

The second beer, and further misfortune, this time 12 seconds squandered before I get into beer 2. I need a couple of breathers here, and manage to empty the bottle in 44 seconds, not the finest display of speed drinking, but solid enough to eat up ground on the weakest drinkers who were ahead of me at this point.

By the time I am into my second lap, the whole field is spread out. Now I get the feeling of the Loneliness of the Beer Miler. However 200m in I pass somebody who is now feeling the pinch, and with a long way still to go I fear for him. At this very point Timaaay comes storming past, with the look of a pure middle distance runner about him. How can somebody run that fast with beer in the gut I ask myself? It was very Josh Harris-esque (minus the ability to actually drink the beers quickly!). Lap 2 was 92 seconds, with DrQ moving a bit ahead of me by this point.

Again, more poor bottle opening technique led to 9 seconds being spent opening up the bottle. This beer is starting to hurt but I just throw the head back and get on with it. No point feeling sorry for myself at this point. As Harris famously said "the 3rd beer is the one that separates the men from the pussies", so I just had to power through. 49 seconds of pain, and I was off again, this time completely isolated from the everybody else, with the red t-shirt of DrQ well ahead of me.

Lap 3 was a bit of an uneventful one, which I can remember very little of, but the pace remained steady, at 91 seconds. At this point I assumed my finish time would be well outside 9 minutes, and at times I feel like I didn't push the pace as much as I could have in the running department as I felt the PB chance was gone. Mentally I was struggling a bit, and just really wanted to get to the end at this point.

Beer 4 was my one and only good opening, taking 5 seconds, which is what you would expect it to take, by the time you pick up the beer, compose yourself, and then open the bottle. I had finally mastered the specific technique needed to open this type of beer. Too little, too late though, as 15 seconds at least had gone astray over the first 3 beers. Beer 4 felt a lot like beer 3, with a few breathers, before grinding my way through in 48 seconds. As I started the first beer TRR comes through to claim back to back titles in a hugely impressive sub 7. I vaguely recall the second place runner coming through a bit later, which turned out to be dublin runner, and just as I finish the beer, Krusty finishes out the podium.

Entering the final beer I was well down on DrQ, but by the end of it he had vanished. He was nowhere to be seen in front of me. I had a clear track in front of me and it was just me against the clock now. I see 7:45 on the clock and I felt then it would be a tough ask to get a sub 9, but thought I may aswell give it everything and have no regrets. I look behind me with 350m to go and it appears that somebody else is finishing (turns out to be a battle for 4th and 5th). There is literally nobody else ahead of me for the rest of the lap. I up the pace significantly, trying to utilise my speed, not that it is much use in an event like this. With about 200m to go I feel the stomach issueing gentle warning signs. I ease it back slightly around the bend, before going hell for leather down the finishing straight, finishing in 9:07, a pretty average time by my standards, but given the bottle opening fiasco, and the slower track, was a pretty decent performance. Final lap was 82 seconds.

I was in a bit of a daze after, as I shuffled my way over to a group of others, who I could only assume in such a hazy breathless state, were the other finishers. I counted 5, so made the very intelligent guess that I must be 6th, as I joined them in watching the rest of the field endure the closing stages.

The official results confirmed I finished 6th of 13, well down on 5th, so the bottle mishap made no difference to my overall placing, and well ahead of 7th. I was sort of in no man's land really - not good enough to challenge the likes of TRR and Krusty, far superior to the poor drinking endurance of DrQ and Timaaay among others. Overall, I was very satisfied to finish 6th in what was a fine fine event.

Aftermath:

A great night was had in the pub in Leeson street and things started to get very hazy. Most of the 13 of us were there along with significant others of some. The hangover the next day was among the filthiest I have had in some time, and the grind at Irishtown the next morning had me crying inside.

A big thanks to everybody who took part, particularly DrQ for organising a great event, and also to those who helped out with timekeeping, video-recording etc.

I look forward to the next edition.

Chivito550

Wednesday: Track

Back to backs as it is called. Basically 4 x (4x50m) with 3 mins between each set, and about 15 secs turn around and walk within each set. Wore the middle distance spikes for this. Found the first set tough going, a bit of a shock to the system, but then I think my 400m fitness kicked in and felt relatively stronger towards the end of the session compared to the 100 and 200 guys. Intense enough session but not the type of one that would have you on the ground like a 500-400-300-200 would. A different kind of speed endurance. Found it difficult to focus on my form at times, particularly during the 3rd and 4th rep within each set, when tiredness would kick in.

Thursday: Gym

Bench Press: 8 x 52.5kg, 8 x 57.5kg, 8 x 62.5kg, 5 x 65kg
Squats: 6 x 75kg, 6 x 80kg, 6 x 85kg
Deadlifts: 6 x 72.5kg, 6 x 77.5kg, 6 x 80kg
One-legged Leg Press: 3 x (8 x 50kg on each leg)
Circuit Upper Body: 3 x 32 @ 20kg
Medicine Ball Throws: 3 x 25 @ 5kg
Stomach Ball Crunches: 3 x 30

pa4

Are those 4x(4x50) flat out sprints? I remember doing 50m sprints at the end of a session, think I had 5 of them to do. Way harder than they seem! The hardest part is to keep your form.