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

Chivito550

Friday: Massage last Friday, before the weekend's race, which I forgot to log.

Monday: Gym

Only a day after the Munsters and 2 days before the Dublin Champs, I took it very easy in the gym, doing only about half the amount of volume.

A1: Back Squats (very low depth, and faster descent): 2 x 4 @ 72.5kg, 75kg
A2: Rebound Jumps (Standing on bench): 2 x 4
B1: Standing Goodmornings: 1 x 6 @ 42.5kg
B2: DB Split Squats (Front foot on step): 1 x 6 on each leg @ 16kg in each hand
C1: Bench Hip Thrusts (with pause): 2 x 6 on each side
C2: Calf Raises: 1 x 6 on each leg @ 15kg

Running the graded meet in Tallaght tomorrow. Have a day off work, so hopefully will be able to give it a good bash. Would not bother if I didn't have the day off to stay rested for it.

Chivito550

55.96 in Tallaght tonight, a nice season's best, and the first time I have run a 55 since running 54 at Nationals almost a year ago. Big relief after all those annoying 56s. Great sprinting conditions, but not a quick track, so definitely more to come once I start racing at Santry. Four races left this season, all on mondo tracks, so PB is very possible.

Chivito550

Media accreditation for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing next month has been approved The much anticipated sequel to the madness that was Moscow 2013, and of course another chance to disgrace the Irish singlet in the media 800m.

Chivito550

After 5 weekend 400m races, I eventually opted for a Wednesday evening race. I’ve had bad experiences racing at such a time over the last year. Anytime I would work a full day, and then try a sprint race I’d end up calf spasms, either in the warm up, or if I got that far, the race itself. So attempting these graded meets are a complete waste of time for me, and if I was to have a go at one, there’d be no other option but to take a day off work. This is exactly what I did on this occasion.

I woke earlier than hoped, at a little after 9am, but stayed in bed until noon, to reduce my active day, so to speak. After that I just sat around the house. The boredom of sitting around the house, saving my energy for an evening race, was driving my mad. I tried to distract myself by watching Wimbledon, but even Maria Sharapova’s inexcusable grunting was barely catching my attention. Throughout the day I started thinking “this is madness, what a waste of a day off work, talk about taking this sport to the extremes” etc. I had sort of put extra pressure on myself to run well, to justify what felt like a complete waste of a day of precious annual leave.

Fearful of rush hour traffic, I got an early bus, but as it turned out, most of Dublin must be on holidays, as I ended up at the track before the club house even opened, around 2 hours before my race. I had a semi-nap, lying on the grass in the warm and sticky weather. I was actually feeling a bit tired from doing nothing all day, but part of that was the nerves kicking in.

Temperatures were as perfect as you could expect in Ireland. Around 21-22 degrees, although very humid, but barely a puff of breeze. This sort of made the warm up very uncomfortable, and felt a bit sapped of energy during my stretches and drills. The nerves were very much there at this stage. All the negative thoughts start appearing. “Why are you doing this to yourself? Life could be so much easier. How is this level of self-inflicted pressure to run well healthy? Nobody else cares anyway sure”. Thoughts which after the race are dismissed as complete pre-race madness. Wanting it to be all over, hating the pre-race tension, and then enjoying the race, and the aftermath. The tension isn’t always as bad as this, but it was heightened by the fact I was running in the evening. Despite the day off work I was nervous about my calves. I’d had enough bad experiences at graded meets at this point, that the mind couldn’t help but think back to them. But the way I looked at it was, my race at Nationals will probably be at 6 or 7pm like last year, so this was the perfect opportunity to get those thoughts out of my head for once, the perfect practice of running in the evening.

400m:

About an hour before the race, I notice I made a mistake. I completely forgot to pack my running socks. I’m usually so meticulous, so this was out of character. I briefly tried to get a loan off somebody, then thought better of it and just used the socks I had on me. They are socks I wear to work, so a bit thinner than a running sock. It really was going to make no difference.

I signed up for the B grade. Unfortunately there was a lot of standing around waiting for the start list of each race appear one by one. It was awfully drawn out and did nobody any favours. It was said that there were 3 C races, so after the second one and with my club mate who had signed up for the C grade still not having raced yet, I ran in to the jacks quickly to empty the bladder. I come back out and I see they are announcing the start list of the first B race, and my club mate is standing behind his blocks. WTF. Brief confusion and concern, until I find out I am in the second of two B races, and I still had time. Turns out they turfed 3 or 4 C guys into the B races at random to even up the numbers in each grade.

There were 8 in my race and I was drawn in lane 7, and knew nothing about anybody inside me. There was a guy from Bro Pearse outside me, who I was vaguely familiar with. I raced his brother (I assume it’s his brother anyway) indoors and lost to him by a second and a half. I had an idea that this guy would be around the 55 standard. Just a hunch.

Gun went off and I got out very well, driving hard for the first 50 and then relaxing as I came around the bend onto the straight. I kept the Bro Pearse guy in my sights and we were pretty much level. Around half way down the straight the guy in lane 6 has gone past me, but I can’t see anybody else. I chase lane 6 and lane 8, keeping in a fast cruise until I hot half way. I haven’t eaten up the stagger on the guy outside but I hot the 200m line about half a metre before him, at most. I’m feeling confident here that I will take him, as when I am in this position against somebody at half way, I rarely lose, as my finish is very strong.

But maybe I went out a bit hard as he seemed to open a winning lead on me between 200-300, and perhaps I lost a bit of concentration. After half way around the bend I notice a lot of guys eat up the stagger on me, but I just kept my eye on lane 8. With about 130 to go my feet start to feel that burning feeling slightly, probably down to not having the thicker socks on. This was only a mild inconvenience and would not slow me down. I enter the straight about 2 metres down on the Bro Pearse guy, and I try to catch him down the final stretch, staying really relaxed, and holding my form well I felt. Maybe even too relaxed, and perhaps I left a bit out there. It’s a tough balancing act. I close marginally on him, but finished between 1-1.5 metres down on him, finishing in 7th out of 8.

The times were written down on the official’s sheet within a few minutes, and despite it not being a perfect race, and feeling a bit over nervous beforehand, I was very pleased to see I had finally got under 56 seconds again, with a clocking of 55.96 seconds, 0.21 down on the Bro Pearse guy. This is actually the first time, indoors or out, since I ran 54.88 at Nationals last year that I have run a 55, so after an endless amount of 56s, I was relieved to finally get under again. This is my 12th sub 56 in total, but only my 4th in Ireland. In addition the track at Tallaght is generally accepted to be a poor track for sprinters, so it is reasonable to believe that this time is worth about 55.6 on the mondo surface. So the time is starting to come down, and with my last 4 races all planned for Santry or Belfast, the quickest tracks in Ireland, the signs are good that I can seriously threaten that PB by the end of the season. It must be said that conditions were great for sprinting. I felt a bit of a wind down the backstraight, definitely feeling the wind sound in my ears, which was odd, as there didn’t seem to be any breeze all night, but it wasn’t overly significant. Hopefully more conditions like that to come, on the faster tracks.

Overall I finished 25th out of the 39 who ran, which is around what I would expect. One guy entered grade C and ran the third fastest time of the night and missed out on a bronze medal in the Dublin Championships because he wasn’t in the A race. Craziness that he entered the C grade, knowing he could run 50/51, being an experienced 400m runner.

I enjoy the graded meets. My pre-race nerves were eased once I was standing around waiting with the other guys. There was a bit of banter, as some guys were very inexperienced, so there were a few jokes being told. This kind of atmosphere doesn’t exist at other meets. I feel like I’ve missed out a bit this year on the social element of this sport by not doing them. I will probably go out to watch the next one, and then do the 800m in the last one. These meets are far from perfect, but they are still a very good place for inexperienced runners to dip their toes in track running in a friendly and non-threatening environment.

Off to Paris this weekend for the Diamond League and some sightseeing. I’ve found about 5 tracks really near where I am staying, all within walking distance from each other and all public, a different world to athletics here. So I will get my two track sessions in. Next race will be the GV Ryan on Saturday week.

Chivito550

Arrived in Paris late on Friday night and left late on Monday evening.

Saturday: Track

I had 2 sessions to do, a speed endurance one, and a more speed based one. I opted to do the speed endurance one on Saturday morning, to get it out of the way, so I wouldn't be thinking about it for the rest of my trip

The track was a short 10 minute metro ride from where I was staying. The track is not perfect, but it is in a better state than most Irish tracks, is open to the public from 8am until around 10pm, and is completely free to use. Quite the contrast to the scrambling for track time we see in Dublin.

The weather was extremely uncomfortable. Even though it was about 10:30am, it was 30 degrees, and very humid. Thankfully there was a part of the track covered in shade, so I hid there during warm up and recoveries. I've trained in this in Melbourne, but I've re-acclimatised since returning home. Usually I look on in disgust at the showboaters who do track sessions with their tops off, but in this case I had absolutely no other option but to do likewise. Session was split 400s:

(300 - 45 secs - 100) - 6 mins - (200 - 45 secs - 200) - 6 mins - (100 - 45 secs - 300)

I didn't time the 100 in the first set, and for the 100 on the third set I ran around the bend. I flat footed the last set to try get through the session given my calf history. Times were:

44.8 - ?
29.4 - 30.5
15.? - 35.? for about 225m

Calf spasmed with 75m to go on the last 300. Was shattered during that rep so would have only managed a 47. Had I ran that set on the balls of my feet I may not have got that far at all, so I wasn't too disappointed. That last 225m felt like more anyway.

I didn't enjoy any part of this session. It was pure misery.

Monday: Track

Was at the Diamond League on Saturday night, followed by several drinks until about 4 or 5am, so my next session was always going to be Monday rather than Sunday. However, we ended up drinking wine and eating baguettes under the Eiffel Tower until all hours of the morning Sunday night, so although I felt fine, I didn't get more than 5 hours sleep going into this session. The session I did was 2 x 200 and 2 x 80. 7 mins after each 200, and then a slow walk back recovery between the two 80s. I used a three point start so no times. Some random old Frenchman who was going for a stroll around the track said to me "vehry guud" in probably the only English words he knew, after my first 200m rep. This was pretty funny and brought a smile to my face. Weather for this session was a lot more comfortable at about 24 degrees and sunny, with a nice refreshing breeze.

The weekend was a bit of an eyeopener. Away on a trip to one of the greatest cities in the world, and I'm off to random parts of it so I can run on a track. When you think about it, it's complete madness, and I wouldn't blame any non-running friends for thinking this too. This sport can become quite all-consuming. It's amazing I went to Paris at all, as I usually don't allow myself any trips during track season. Anyway, that's all for another day. The immediate focus is the last month of the season and the final push towards Nationals.

The Diamond League meet was incredible. Nothing beats major championships, but in terms of times achieved, it was the best 2 hours of live athletics I've seen. The women's 5000m and men's steeple were super events to witness. Great atmosphere too.

Chivito550

Tuesday: Gym

A1: Back Squats (very low depth, and faster descent): 3 x 4 @ 75kg, 77.5kg, 75kg
A2: Rebound Jumps (Standing on bench): 3 x 4
B1: Standing Goodmornings: 2 x 6 @ 42.5kg
B2: DB Split Squats (Front foot on step): 2 x 6 on each leg @ 16kg in each hand
C1: Floor One-Legged Hip Thrusts: 3 x 12 on each leg
C2: Calf Raises: 3 x 6 on each leg @ 15kg

Wednesday: Grass

240-120-240 - 5 mins - 240-120-240, with 120m jog recoveries between reps. The 240s included a turnaround at half way. Times were:

42.3 - 20.1 - 44.5 - 42.7 - 20.2 - 43.1

Recoveries were: 1:12 - 1:09 - 1:18 - 1:11

Thursday: Gym

Shorter gym session with race on Saturday.

A: BB Front Squat (with faster descent): 2 x 6 @ 60kg, 62.5kg
B: Lunges off step: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 6kg, 8kg in each hand
C1: Incline BB Bench Press: 2 x 6 @ 50kg, 52.5kg
C2: Wide Grip Pull Ups: 2 x 6 @ bodyweight
Floor One-Legged Hip Thrusts: 2 x 12 on each leg

Running the 400m in the GV Ryan tomorrow. I'm in lane 7 in the B race of 3 races. Instead of segregating by gender, they've arranged mixed races, with 2 of the fastest women in Ireland in my heat, with one outside me in lane 8, so that will be pretty interesting. Both those girls are in and around my sort of times (54-55), so they will add a lot to the race as far as I'm concerned, and from their point of view, they'll get dragged along to faster times by a couple of 52 second guys in the middle lanes. Smart move by the organisers I think. You see mixed races a lot in distance running. Good to do it in sprints aswell I think.

Chivito550

56.10 at the GV Ryan meet in Santry. Extremely windy again. Probably worth a mid 55 in still conditions. 3 more races to go this season so will still give that PB a good crack even if it feels a fair bit off right now.

KielyUnusual

Chivito550 wrote: »

56.10 at the GV Ryan meet in Santry. Extremely windy again. Probably worth a mid 55 in still conditions. 3 more races to go this season so will still give that PB a good crack even if it feels a fair bit off right now.

Not good conditions for a 400 today. Very strong headwind in the home straight. Must have been frustrating. There's going to have to be one race this summer with ideal conditions and give you a proper indication of where you're at. Will you be out on Wednesday again to give it another shot?

Chivito550

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Not good conditions for a 400 today. Very strong headwind in the home straight. Must have been frustrating. There's going to have to be one race this summer with ideal conditions and give you a proper indication of where you're at. Will you be out on Wednesday again to give it another shot?

I got perfect conditions at Tallaght at the last graded, ran 55.96, but that track is not great for sprinters, so like today, probably a mid 55. Would be nice to get perfect conditions on the mondo and actually run a fast time, rather than constantly speculating over potential greatness (for want of a better word).

Will be out on Wed but won't be racing. Doing League next Sunday instead. Post work races don't suit me and I've no more annual leave to take now that it's all going towards China.

Saw your time. Close to PB in that wind is great going.

Chivito550

After some good runs in recent races (56.09 and 55.96) on poor enough tracks, it was time to hopefully kick on, now that I'm in the business end of the season, and all remaining races are on the fast mondo surface. This would be my second time running the GV Ryan meet. Last year at Irishtown I ran 56.06 in great conditions. This year, due to the Irishtown debacle, the meet would be held at Santry.

This would be my 7th 400m of the outdoor season. The weather in the first 4 was awful, it was decent in the 5th, and fantastic in the 6th. Unfortunately we were back to poor conditions again on this occasion. I got off the bus at Santry and I didn't notice any wind, and then the minute I walked through the gates to Morton Stadium, by the Clonliffe clubhouse, I was greeted by a massive gust. It was almost comical. I sort of knew that this wasn't going to be PB weather, but given the field I was up against, I was thinking more about beating the opposition on this occasion anyway, and let the time take care of itself, something that isn't always possible, particularly when in a race a bit out of your depth.

I was pretty nervous leading into this, but not as bad as the previous 2 races. Bumped into a mate then upon entering the stadium, so spent a good 45 mins relaxing and having the craic, which took my mind off the race and eased the nerves a bit.

400m:

I was in the B 400m race out of 3 races. The C race was supposed to be mixed, but it ended up being women only due to a couple of no-shows. The B race was also mixed, containing 2 of the top 400m runners in Ireland at the moment. In lane 1 was a lad from Donore who I recognised from a previous race. He beat me by about 1.4 seconds back in the AAI Games. In lane 2 was a female clubmate of mine, who I've trained with a lot over the last year, so figured from that, that she'd probably be about 0.5 - 0.75 seconds ahead of me. The guys in lanes 3-6 I knew very little about except for the fact they were all around 52 second runners. I was drawn in lane 7, and outside me was a girl from Clonliffe, who runs around the 55 second mark. I figured having her outside me would be ideal for me, as our times match up pretty well, and though my PB is about 0.4 faster than hers, she had a faster SB.

Gun went off and I drove off well I felt. Looking at a video a friend took of the race after, it seemed like I reacted to the gun a tiny bit later than those inside me, so not sure if this had anything to do with being on the outside. I stayed in my drive phased for about 50m and then started my cruise. The Clonliffe girl outside me had gone off like a train, and had opened a couple of metres on me as we hit the back straight, while the guy in lane 6 goes past me. A few more of the guys inside me eat up the stagger by the time I reach half way. At this point the girl outside me has opened up about a 5m lead on me. This took me by complete surprise. At this point I hear somebody shouting out to my clubmate, and I really had to stay focused here and not worry about what was going on behind me.

From 200m to 300m I really upped the effort levels to try close the gap on the girl outside me, so I could start reeling her in down the home straight. But all I was doing was maintaining the gap, stopping her from increasing her lead. As I enter the straight I see the Donore lad in lane 1, and my club mate in lane 2 for the first time. They weren't far ahead of me at all. They were just a slight blur in my peripheral vision. I really didn't expect the Clonliffe girl to be up ahead of those 2 at all, so she was really having a great race. I gave everything down the straight to try catch her but I probably got 1m at most. She was incredibly strong. I was suffering badly during these closing stages, tieing up into an extremely strong headwind. I even got a minor twitch in my right calf with about 40m to go, but it wasn't a full spasm, more like 10% of one, so it wasn't an issue. Despite feeling in bits in the last 50m, the only one of the 3 near me that pulled away slightly from me at this point was my clubmate. I finished about 3.5 - 4.5m down on the 2 girls, with the Donore lad ending up behind them.

I have another video of the race which I can't seem to upload right now, but here's a great video of the race courtesy of East Down AC. Great work by them and much appreciated:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmSzoyHZW-g

Being that close to my clubmate I took to be a reasonable sign of a good mid 55 second run, given what she has been running this season. But I didn't factor in the strong wind. I found out my time when I checked the live results on my phone about 15 minutes later and was disappointed to see another 56, with a clocking of 56.10 seconds, with the Donore lad only 0.4 ahead of me this time, compared to the 1.4 seconds last time, and my clubmate 0.72 ahead of me, and the Clonliffe girl 0.82 ahead. The other 4 guys had their own race between high 51 and 53, so it was really 2 races in one. It was a very competitive race and a good one to be part of.

Reflecting on it a bit more afterwards, the time was worth a mid 55 if I had got good weather. Not only was it very windy, but the wind made it feel a bit chilly too. It was 16-17 degrees, but didn't really feel like it to be honest. It wasn't cold, just not very warm. I was just 0.14 down on my SB, which was run in perfect conditions. However that was run at Tallaght, and this at Santry, so that balances it out I guess. So both of my last 2 runs are probably equal. I'm in mid 55 shape, so it would be nice to actually run a mid 55. Weather hasn't been good this summer for the most part, but there's still 3 races left so I can live in hope that I'll get at least 2 good days out of those.

Great move by the organisers to have a mixed race. I really enjoyed racing the girls. It added a lot to the race, and was a nice change from the norm. I think it would have helped them having faster runners around (not that I was one of them), and it certainly helped me having them there. It would be great to see more mixed races in the sprints. Why not to be honest.

Final word about the meet. As always the IMC organised the event superbly. They have set a good standard which I'm sure they will maintain. My race was 4 minutes late, which as far as I'm concerned is an on-time start. The only negative, and it's not the fault of the organisers, is that by having the meet in Santry, it lacked any sort of atmosphere, with the crowd spread around the place. Last year there was a great buzz at Irishtown for it, which was missing this year.

I've got to run in 3 of the 5 IMC meets this year. I'd definitely love to come back for more next year. As for the more immediate future, my next race is at the National League in Santry next Sunday where I will guest in the 400m, and depending on how the timetable is, hopefully do a couple of field events after for some fun.

Chivito550

A couple of days training to update on since Saturday's race.

Sunday: Track

Back to Greystones for a speed endurance session. 6 x 150m with slow walk back recovery, with an extra 5 minutes at half way. Wore the sprint spikes for these and started from a three point start. Weather was fairly decent once warmed up. Overcast but the wind died down, and temperatures were comfortable. Got through the full 6 reps and was delighted with the session. The 4th rep was a bit sloppy. The first rep after the break at half way I can feel rusty. The last 2 reps I found it hard to drive off hard at the start due to fatigue, but finished very strongly. No times but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all very even.

Monday: Gym

A1: Back Squats (very low depth, and faster descent): 4, 3, 4 @ 77.5kg, 80kg, 75kg
A2: Rebound Jumps (Standing on bench): 3 x 4
B1: Standing Goodmornings: 2 x 6 @ 42.5kg
B2: DB Split Squats (Front foot on step): 2 x 6 on each leg @ 16kg in each hand
C1: Plank (Front/Left/right): 3 x (3 x 30 secs continuous)
C2: Calf Raises: 3 x 6 on each leg @ 15kg
C3: Pull-ups narrow grip: 3 x 6

The first time I have hit 80kg for the squats since adopting the low depth this year. The 77.5kg were tough so I felt 80kg could be a stretch, and my form was straying, and I wasn't quite getting as low as I had on previous weights, so left it at 3 reps, as I wasn't 100% confident in getting the last, and now is not the time for trying anything stupid. Struggled a bit on the 75kg at the end then. Will drop the weight back slightly next week.

Changed around a few of the exercises at the end of the programme to shake things up for the last few weeks leading into nationals. I replaced the bench hip raises with some planks, and threw in some narrow grip pull ups. Since doing the wide grip pull-ups, it's amazing how much easier the narrow ones feel, and how much stronger I feel doing them.

Racing schedule for the rest of the season is as follows:

1) National League Round 2 - Santry - Sun 19 July - 400m
2) YDL Meet - Belfast - Sat 25 July - 400m
3) Dublin Graded Meet 8 - Tallaght - Wed 29 July - 800m
4) National Championships - Santry - Sat 8 Aug - 400m
5) IAAF World Championships - Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium, Beijing, - Tue 25 Aug - 800m media race

Three 400m races remaining over the final 4 weekends of the season. The 800m at the final graded meet is not set in stone yet, but I'm thinking about it. I don't envisage running well in Beijing, based on my experiences in Moscow and Zurich, so it would be nice to get one proper 800m done this season. I plan to finish up training after Nationals.

Hoping to do the long jump after the 400m at the League on Sunday, if I can guest in the women's rather than the men's, as the time suits better for me. I can't imagine that being an issue given I won't be scoring points for anybody.

KielyUnusual

Would you be tempted to sign up this evening with a weather forecast like this?

http://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Leinster/Santry/

Perfect running conditions, if a little cool for you sprinter lot.

Chivito550

KielyUnusual wrote: »

Would you be tempted to sign up this evening with a weather forecast like this?

http://www.yr.no/place/Ireland/Leinster/Santry/

Perfect running conditions, if a little cool for you sprinter lot.

15 degrees wouldn't be perfect. But seems like it will be a nice evening.

Nah I keep getting calf cramps in the warm up if I've been working all day and I try sprinting at that hour. Absolutely no point in racing. Going to get out there early, do a session on the track, and then relax and watch others running the 400 for a change.

Chivito550

With Irishtown not available to us yesterday evening, despite being open now, I opted to go out to Santry, take advantage of its availability, to get a session done before the graded meets started. With the 100m being the first event on the programme, I knew I’d have most of the track available to me. Once I got the session done before the women’s 400m started then it would all be good, which I managed.

Session was 2 x (200-100-200) with 100m jog recovery within sets and 5 mins between sets. I wore distance spikes and ran flat footed. This was my first evening track session in almost a year, so I wasn’t risking having calf issues early on and not getting anything out of the session. Conditions were very nice for training in, bit of a wind coming around the bend, but then nothing in the backstraight. Times were:

29.6 – 14.x – 30.7
29.6 – 14.x – 29.6

Pleased with those times. I expected them to be in or around 30 seconds. The 100m were rough times. This is much easier than doing that session on the grass, although on the grass it’s really 240 and 120, and there’s a turnaround at half way. Not the world’s hardest session last night, but much more beneficial than anything I’ve been doing on a Wednesday night over recent weeks and months.

Stayed around to watch the graded meet after. One lad who was warming up for his 400, saw me doing my session and said to me “that’s a fair intensive warm up you’ve got going there”. A few people were wondering why I wasn’t running, but I’ve had 7 races already, with another 3 to come, more than most will manage.

It was incredibly frustrating to see good conditions for a race I wasn’t running in I’ll be honest. Of all the reasonably possible 400m races I could have run this year, there’s only 3 which I didn’t run, and each and every one of them has had good conditions (League Round 1/IMC Belfast, the weekend I was away for a wedding in May, a graded meet in May which was on my birthday, so skipped as a result, and now this one, which is buried between 2 races, and I’ve written off evening races unless I can get a day off). On the contrary, of the 7 races I have done, I’ve had 1 great day (which unfortunately was on a poor track), one reasonably decent day (again poor track), and 5 crap days (some more crap than others).

For my next race on Sunday, the League at Santry, the conditions are set to be rubbish again. Cool, wind and rain. I’m getting fairly sick of this, at this point, to be honest. It must be pay back for 3 seasons of fantastic weather in Melbourne, and a beautiful Irish summer last year. I’d nearly consider targeting indoors next year, as at least you know exactly what you are getting with that.

I didn't put all that work in over the last 10 months to run consistent 56s in consistently poor conditions. Anyway, got to stay positive. End of rant.

Chivito550

Thursday: Massage + Gym

Shorter gym session again with race on Sunday. With races most weekends at this point, these Thursday gym sessions are really about maintenance at this point.

A: BB Front Squat (with faster descent): 2 x 6 @ 60kg, 62.5kg
B: Lunges off step: 2 x 6 on each leg @ 7.5kg in each hand
C1: Incline BB Bench Press: 6, 5, 1 @ 50kg, 52.5kg, 55kg
C2: Wide Grip Pull Ups: 3 x 6 @ bodyweight
Floor One-Legged Hip Thrusts: 2 x 12 on each leg

Because I got my massage after work, I was about 2 hours later starting this session that normal, so was a bit tired and struggled badly on the third set of the incline bench press, managing just 1 rep.

Saturday: Track

First session at Irishtown in almost a year. With a race tomorrow the session was 4 x 120m out of blocks from the 400m start line. I used lane 6 for this. Slow walk back recovery with a bit longer rest at half way. Speed work on the bend is much tougher than on the straight and was finding the last couple a good deal tougher.

Running the 400m at the National League in Santry tomorrow. Afterwards I hope to do another 1-2 events. Maybe the long jump and 100m.

Chivito550

55.61 in the 400m at National League in Santry today. A big season's best, and although only the 8th fastest time I've run, and 0.73 slower than PB, it's the 2nd fastest I've managed since moving back to Ireland. Nice conditions. A bit breezy but nothing compared to other races this year. 2 more races left, so with a good day, I might yet challenge that PB.

Had a bit of craic with other events after. 13.23 into a ridiculous -4.7 headwind in the 100m, and 4.80m in the long jump, in the first long jump I've done since leaving Australia. Just 3cm down on the PB.

Chivito550

Throughout my time in Melbourne I competed in 29 rounds of AV Shield, Victoria's premier interclub competition. It was this competition which helped bring me from 64 seconds to a PB of 55.00 before flying home in March 2014. Had it not been for this competition, I almost certainly would not be a sprinter today, nor would I have ever become one to begin with. So many great memories of closely fought battles against people who were of my level at a particular time.

This would be my first active experience of National League, the closest equivalent to AV Shield, and it turned out to be a very enjoyable day, probably the most fun of the season so far. But could it be better? Most definitely, but we'll get to that later.

With my club taking part in Athlone, and with my good self not even close to being selected for any event, I saw no real reason to trek up to the midlands, opting instead for the familiarity of Santry. I would be competing as a guest in the 400m, and once that was done, I'd look at competing in other events.

400m:

The programme was running 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule which threw a few people off. Fortunately I was aware of the events ahead of me, so started my warm up in plenty of time.

Conditions were pretty good. The sun started to creep out, and though it was quite windy early on, it started to die down to a manageable level in time for my race. It was about 17 degrees. In terms of conditions, while not perfect at all, it was the second best I've had all year.

I was in the guest race which ran after the Premier and Division 1 races. There were 4 in my race, occupying lanes 2-5. In lane 2 was a guy who was in my race last week, running 52. Outside me in lane 5 was a lad from the North who runs 48 seconds when in form. I was in lane 4, and it was the guy in lane 3 who would be the most relevant with regards me, a lad from Donore, who I've raced twice this year so far. At the AAI Games he beat me by 1.4 seconds, and last week at the GV Ryan he got me by around half a second. At first I was hoping he'd be outside me so I could chase, but having him just inside me was fine, as I knew he would go out hard, would probably go past me, and then I'd latch on.

I was nowhere near as nervous for this race as previous ones, and I made a conscious effort to not let myself get too wound up. I had a chat with the Donore lad, and a couple of others which helped ease the nerves too.

I got out pretty well, and tried to generate as much speed as I could, but it wasn't long before I heard the Donore lad eating up the ground on me, and at around the 100m mark he was past me, meaning he was already 4m up on me. I maintained a steady cruise down the backstraight, trying to keep in touch with him, and by the time we hit half way he's about 6m ahead of me, and I'm feeling good. I start to increase the effort levels and expected to start clawing him back at this point, but the fact he had the inside lane on me, meant that I didn't feel like I was getting any closer to him. Coming around the bend I kept telling myself "relax relax". I really believe I did this well and did not strain. I enter the straight about 3-4m down on him.

As I enter the straight I really kick, but again, keep relaxed. This was something I was really thinking about. Don't tense up trying to pass him, just keep doing what you are doing, and let him come back to me. For the first half of the straight I wasn't closing that much, but come the last 40 I am keeping my form well, and I start to make inrodes. With every stride I am closing. 3m becomes 2m, which becomes 1m, but I ran out of track, dipping about half a metre down on him, if even that.

I was absolutely delighted with how I executed the race, and having the Donore lad beside me really pushed me on, helping me to get that little bit extra out of myself. I knew that it had to be a season's best as it felt like the best I had run all year. I secretly hoped it would be a PB, but realised that was probably wishful thinking. The lad who won the race in 50 seconds, informed me about 15 minutes later of my time, which I confirmed myself to be 55.61 seconds, just 0.09 down on the Donore lad. This was a season's best by 0.35 seconds. It was my 13th time under 56, and my 5th time since moving home to Ireland. While it is my 8th fastest time ever, it is my 2nd fastest on Irish soil, and excluding my top 2 times which are slight outliers (54.88 and 55.00), it is not that far off my 3rd fastest time ever at 55.34. It's pretty much the type of time I was running consistently in the second half of my final season in Australia, so it feels good to be running such a time again, and in inferior conditions to that of an Aussie summer. It's been a frustrating summer with bad weather, but finally a get a time which is more deserving of how I have run in races this season

I was absolutely shattered afterwards. It took awhile to recover. Myself and my competitors sat around chatting afterwards, barely able to move anywhere else. Slowly but surely the energy came back.

I have 2 400m races left this season, so I hope to keep bringing that time down. I'm not thinking about my PB at the moment as it was adding too much pressure. I'm focusing on doing all the small things right and letting the time take care of itself, which is precisely what I did a year ago to the day, when I ran that 54 at Nationals. I'm now 0.73 down on that time. If I can get conditions as perfect as last year, then who knows what may happen.

100m:

A couple of hours after my 400m I jumped into the 100m. I was in the first of 2 guest races, drawn in lane 5. A quick look around me confirmed that I was quite out of place among my competitors. These guys were absolute tanks, and looked like proper 100m runners. This didn't bother me and I just focused on my own race. There were no nerves beforehand really. The main job of the day was done and this was just a bonus.

Gun went off and I tried to drive as hard as I can. I lift my head to find myself way down on what looked like a wall of 7 other lads ahead. The wind was insane. It was incredibly strong, blowing into my race, the entire way. It did not let up. Despite this I stayed relaxed and held my form well. Towards the end, one lad to the left of me, somewhat came back to me, but it was all a blur, and I was a comfortable last. I needed to get over to the start of the long jump so didn't stick around, but I found out later than my time was 13.23 seconds into a -4.7 headwind, the strongest headwind I've ever run a 100m into. My first reaction was that this was a complete rubbish result. Anything beginning with 13 is not acceptable. But upon inputting my time into the wind adjustment calculator, it comes out at a nice 12.62, which is the second best wind adjusted 100m I've ever run, just 0.06 down on my best from Leixlip last month. So, in real terms, I've run my two best 100m times this year. That has to be a good thing.

Long Jump:

I was eager to give this a try. I used to do a bit of long jumping for fun in Australia, and competed in roughly 14-15 competitions over my 3 years there. But since coming home I have not attempted it, with the exception of last year's decathlon, which due to horrid conditions, barely even counts.

Unfortunately the men's long jump clashed with my preparations for the 400m, so I asked would it be ok for me to guest in the women's instead. The officials were very accommodating, and for that I cannot be more appreciative.

Because I haven't jumped in so long I was very rusty, and I only had one warm up run through. Thankfully we had 4 attempts which allowed me time to feel my way into the event.

For my first attempt I started my run up 25m back from the board. It was a poor 4.19m, and I left a good bit of centimetres on the board.

I brought my run up back to 30m for my 2nd and third attempts, and the extra speed no doubt helped. For attempt 2 I improved to 4.57m, again leaving distance on the board. My third attempt was 4.80m, which is just 3cm down on my PB. I was told I was perfect on the board, and that I actually broke it, but my spikes didn't leave a mark. I said to him that that is known as perfection, in a joking manner. He said back "more like having all your prayers answered". Good banter.

The part that connects my left hamstring and left calf was feeling tight so I made an effort to not sit down for too long between jumps, and keep moving about for about 4 minutes before each jump. For my last one, I thought I would go for broke. I brought my run up back to 35m. I flew out to what was over 5m. There was no doubt in my mind at all. But I fouled. I was a few centimetres over the board. It wasn't a marginal foul. But it was a big jump, and I stood there staring at the sand, wondering what might have been. A part of me wanted it measured to see what it was, but the more logical part realised that would only piss me off knowing. I said to the official that I reckoned that was my best jump, and he said "well yeh, but it doesn't count, over the board. That's no good in this game". Can't beat it when they say it as it is. So a jump fo 4.80m, my second best ever, which has me hungry for more. I really enjoyed this. It must be mentioned that all these jumps were probably wind assisted, as we were running in the opposite direction to the 100m, not long after, but they didn't take wind readings for this event, so there's no way of knowing.

The atmosphere at the League was really good. It's great seeing such a great team vibe about the whole event. Even though I was only a guest, I really enjoyed being around the whole thing, and I loved being able to multiple events. But could it be better? Most definitely. I'm not going to go into the minor details about why I believe the AV Shield is a superior competition. What works in one country may not work in another. But the big thing that stands out for me is simple. Why are there only 2 rounds of this? Why is this only an occasional gathering? Why not more rounds? Why not make interclub competitions more of a backbone of the year. People seem to like the team element, so why not have more of it? Can something really be described as a league, if there are so few rounds? I left feeling a bit sad that I wouldn't get to experience this type of competition again for another year, and even then, only twice.

So future appearances in the League will have to wait. Of more immediate concern is my next race, a trip to Belfast for my penultimate 400m of the year next Saturday.

Chivito550

Tuesday: Gym

I was feeling fairly wiped on Monday after Sunday's endeavors at Santry, so I moved Monday's gym session to Tuesday. I dropped the weight back a bit from last week for the Back Squats.

A1: Back Squats (very low depth, and faster descent): 3 x 4 @ 72.5kg, 75kg, 75kg
A2: Rebound Jumps (Standing on bench): 3 x 4
B1: Standing Goodmornings: 2 x 6 @ 42.5kg
B2: DB Split Squats (Front foot on step): 2 x 6 on each leg @ 16kg in each hand
C1: Plank (Front/Left/right): 3 x (3 x 30 secs continuous)
C2: Calf Raises: 3 x 6 on each leg @ 15kg

The gym sessions are fairly quick at this time of the year, at no more than 40 minutes, compared to around 60 minutes in the winter.

Dubgal72

Really enjoyed reading the above, well done on the progress/season's best and all the best for the rest of the season. Here's hoping it all wraps up nicely for you, the heavens know you've worked for it!

Chivito550

Wednesday: Track & massage

First Wednesday evening at Irishtown in almost a year, on my 3rd last Wednesday before the season ends. Suppose better late than never.

Session was 2 x (6 x 60), with 5 mins recovery between sets, and a quick 20m jog turnaround within sets (probably no more than 15-20 secs recovery. Ran fast, but stayed more flat footed in the distance spikes for this, given the time of the year. Not the time to try anything funny in these evening sessions now, given we haven't done any evening track work all year. It was a sort of mix between speed and endurance. I didn't find it overly hard to be honest, but after a tough day racing last Sunday, and with the body still feeling it, it was an ideal session.

Fairly painful massage afterwards.

Chivito550

Thursday: Gym

A: BB Front Squat (with faster descent): 2 x 6 @ 60kg
C1: Incline BB Bench Press: 2 x 6 @ 50kg, 52.5kg
C2: Wide Grip Pull Ups: 2 x 6 @ bodyweight
Floor One-Legged Hip Thrusts: 2 x 12 on each leg

Nice and short this evening. Winding down the gym sessions now so I am fresh for racing. It's all just maintenance work now.

Off to Belfast early Saturday morning for my last 400m race before Nationals. The YDL have senior races in certain events for anybody interested in getting a race in. Seems to be 200, 400 and 3000 on the track.

IvoryTower

Hi chivito, followed your log there. How often do you train a week including the gym?

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Hi chivito, followed your log there. How often do you train a week including the gym?

Generally the week looks like this:

Monday: Gym
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Track
Thursday: Gym
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Track
Sunday: Track (Hills in winter)

During the early part of winter I throw in some long runs of around 5k too. 5 days a week for most of the year though.

happygoose

Have you details on your gym programme Chivito? Are you that familiar with programmes that you know what you need to do when you go to the gym or is it prescribed? Any good resources on gym work / weight cycles for track?

Chivito550

happygoose wrote: »

Have you details on your gym programme Chivito? Are you that familiar with programmes that you know what you need to do when you go to the gym or is it prescribed? Any good resources on gym work / weight cycles for track?

The gym work has always been prescribed. I had a gym coach down at our club rooms in Melbourne so he did programmes for me. I kept with that in my first season back home, but since last September I've had a S&C coach here. There's been about 6-7 phases throughout the year. Have a scroll through the gym posts since late September last and that will give you an idea.

Chivito550

56.40 in the 400m up in Belfast. Tough conditions with a very strong headwind down the back straight. Everyone seemed to be around 1 second down so won't lose a night's sleep about the time. Another wind inhibited 56 to add to the collection. Bit mentally exhausted from the racing now. 9 down, just 1 to go. Time to regroup and get ready for Nationals in 2 weeks time, and end the season well.

Myles Splitz

happygoose wrote: »

Any good resources on gym work / weight cycles for track?

Might be of some use.

Oiriallach

Have the results from last Sunday's National League been published anywhere online? Can't find them on the AAI website.

Chivito550

Oiriallach wrote: »

Have the results from last Sunday's National League been published anywhere online? Can't find them on the AAI website.

They don't seem to be. How it takes a week to get results out is a mystery to me. The scoring system is fairly basic too so it shouldn't take long. The scoring system in Melbourne was way more complex and yet they'd have draft results and draft standings out the next day usually. Then if there were any corrections needed results would be amended.

As I'm a guest, and have no real loyalties with regards the League, I'm not that bothered, but it is ridiculous and must be frustrating for the clubs involved, particularly with the final only a week away.

Chivito550

After last weekend's league meet, there really isn't a lot of available races out there leading into Nationals for an athlete of my level. Not wanting to go 3 weeks without a 400m leading into Nationals, I made the journey up to Belfast for the YDL meet, which had some senior races on the programme over 200, 400 and 3000, along with some field events. A round trip of 10 hours and 30 minutes for less than a minute of competitive running. The taxi driver who brought me from Lisburn to the track found that to be quite amusing.

400m:

Conditions were a bit all over the place. During the warm up it would go from warm to nippy to warm, to cool again, all depending on whether the sun was out or not. It had been a bright sunny morning, with the sun absolutely baking me on the bus up from Dublin to the point of discomfort. However, once I reach the track the clouds have come over, and the sun only manages to creep out for brief spells. Temperatures were about 15 degrees, so not warm when the sun is hidden, and the breeze was really picking up.

Made a concious effort not to get too nervous for this one, but they will still always be there regardless to a degree. Got chatting to a lad from Cavan who I raced last time I was up here, which helped ease the nerves that I was feeling.

16 of us signed in for the senior 400m and I was put in the A race. However 3 guys didn't show up, so there were only 5 in the race, while the next race had a full 8. A little frustrating but nothing I could do about it. I was in lane 4, with only one guy inside me, in lane 2.

Drove out well, but I seemed to get forced towards the very right edge of my lane over the first 30 or so, possibly due to the strong wind. After about 60m I began my cruise period. As I enter the backstraight I get hammered by a huge headwind. This was very noticeable, so early in the race. Usually I don't notice them as much in the backstraight as I do in the homestraight as I am still feeling fresh at that point, but I sure did feel this one.

The 3 guys ahead of me are pushing ahead, and I can hear the footsteps of the guy 2 lanes inside me come up on me. He ate up the stagger on me just before I exited the backstraight, so I'm about 8-10m down on him at half way. The guy in lane 8 seemed to be a bit behind the other 2. I felt reasonably in touch, but seemed to lose them coming around the bend, with the guy in lane 2 opening up a more noticeable gap due to the stagger unwinding, and the lad in lane 8 not falling back like I thought he may have. I try to keep relaxed as best I can coming around the bend. I found this part of the race very tough. I may have used up a bit more energy in normal fighting through that headwind from 100 to 200.

I hit the straight well down on the rest but I battle well, and don't let the gap open any further. I keep relaxed and am making concious decisions regarding my form, trying to stay relaxed, lean the head a bit more forward, and keep the hips high. It's hard to remember all the little things when in the heat of battle but I did my best here. I finished well, but couldn't make any real ground on the lads up ahead. I finished about 13-15m down on the lad in lane 2 and a similar distance to the guy in lane 8. There was another guy who was 2nd, about 3 seconds ahead of me, who said beforehand to me that his PB was 52.3, and was hoping for a 51. Afterwards he said he reckoned he ran a 53. I feel I ran pretty well, but felt it was definitely a 56. This proved correct, with my time being 56.40 seconds, 2.3 seconds down on second last. In one way, being a bit behind the rest like this was good practice for what Nationals will probably be like, and is good practice for running your own race despite being dropped. On the other hand the seedings seemed incorrectly done. The lad from Cavan who has run 53 this year, and ended up running 54.1 in the B race, should have been swapped with me I guess. My time would have beaten everybody else in the B race except him, and with the other guys in that race running mid 56, I'd maybe have been pushed on to quicker to make sure I stayed ahead of them and won that race. I finished 6th out of the 13 who ran the 400 overall. 11 of the 13 were under 60, and I think 10 were under 58.

Regardless, the time itself, while always frustrating when it is 56, is pretty irrelevant given the tough windy conditions. Everyone seemed to be the guts of a second down, or not far off, so it's another solid 55 second run in terms of quality. I think most of my runs this year have been 55 second quality runs, yet only 2 have actually been sub 56 thanks to what has been a poor Irish summer weather wise.

Had a good chat with other competitors afterwards. Fairly low key and relaxed meet, but well organised, despite a bit of a wait at the start line for them to figure out the lane draws. I think having the senior meets in with this YDL competition works well, and was certainly embraced by the senior athletes with good numbers turning out.

So that's 9 400m races done this outdoor season, just one remains, the Nationals in 2 weeks time.