Sub 30 Raheny 5 2012

guapos

I've become pretty addicted to running lately so I decided to write down my targets for the year. My target of sub 30 for Raheny 5 is a long shot but if i stay injury free I'll have a chance. All my previous training has been long runs so with a year of shorter and faster runs behind me i'm hoping for big improvements.

Current Pbs
5k 21.15 Malahide Castle 5k
5m 34.45 Raheny 5
10k 46.15 Movember
Half 1.46.45 Achill Half

My targets for next 2 months are

Bhaa Garda XC 5/3 Top 100, no point aiming for a time because its all about the course on the day and ive let times mess with my head before in XCs. I was 104th last week so its time to break into top 100

Urban Trails Marley 12/5 10.5 48 mins

Dunboyne 4m, 27/3 sub 27 mins, hopefully closer to 26

Urban Trails St Annes 4k 9/4, sub 17.30

Bhaa St Annes 9/4 4m, 27 mins, its an hour after urban series so will be interesting to see how legs respond

Bhaa RTE 5m 30/4 33.30

Imra Howth 4/5 Top 60, 75th place is my best so far and i was 163th last year so its a big ask

I'm sure these targets will change over the next few months and after Dunboyne and Bhaa RTE i'll know if i have any chance.

My aim is to run 4 times a week and race at weekend, 2 easy sessions and 2 time trials, first is over Urban Trails 4k St Annes route and 2nd is 1500m ish lap of park.

Monday
5k easy run home 29 mins

Tuesday
4k trail 19.10

Wednesday
Stuck in work so no run today

guapos

Thursday
1500 in 5.28

6 seconds faster than last week and ive reduced my time by 22 seconds in 4 weeks. I'm hoping to get it down to 5 in 8 to 10 weeks.

I'm going away for the weekend so i'll be nice and fresh for next week.

guapos

Monday
5k very easy run in 29 mins.

Legs feeling heavy after weekend away, would have liked to run for longer but I don't have the time. Reading other peoples logs it pretty obvious i'm going to have to up my mileage if i'm to make my target time.

I was just reading a bit about this coming saturdays BHAA race here
http://bhaa.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?forum=2&showtopic=934&highlight=garda

looking at the results a top 100 finish is going to be tough, if i run really well I'll be lucky to get 27 mins more likely to finish closer to 29.

guapos

Tuesday
4k trail run 18.22

Big improvement from last week but probably a time I should have been hitting before as I ran 18.52, 19.31 laps in the race in December. I think improvement is down to warmer air (less effect on my asthma), the 1500m is getting my legs used to moving faster and a most importantly a lot more effort.

guapos

Wednesday
7 miles in 61.15

Two laps around St Annes in the sun. I seem to have developed an even bigger waddle than usual when i run slow which is a worry. Looking forward to Saturdays race now, hopefully it warms up a bit

guapos

Didnt run Thursday or Friday as I wanted to give it a lash on Saturday.

Saturday Bhaa Garda
Great day for a run not to cold and dry. Signed up and walked up to
the start which took me across some of the course. The hill people had
been talkin about was a steeper than expected so i started to adjust
my expected time up. As i warmed up i heard a coach talking to his team
"theres two breathers on this course, youre to talk it easy on the
downhill, dont worry if people are passing you out, and go for it on
the uphill, head down and push on" this was the exact opposite of my
plan so had me thinking. First time I've seen or heard a coach at bhaa and was interesting to hear his comments to his team during the race.

First lap was 1 mile ish, started off a bit fast so slowed down, overtook a few people and took the pain of the uphill, there was a downhill were i let my legs go and past about twenty people. Felt good coming into end of first lap, id hoped for between 7 and 8 minutes, looked at watch 6.55, was happy but didnt want to get carried away so didnt push it too hard on downhill.

Found uphill grand on 2nd lap and passed 2nd mile in 13.55. 2nd and 3rd laps were longer so ran on, came to end of 2nd lap in 16.55. i picked up pace thinkin i was great and how good i felt. All was going well until the
hill, legs felt really heavy and I let out a sick burp. I knew i was
in trouble but i just hung on to the group in front. At 3 miles i was
at 20.33 so i was well on target but struggling badly. Head down
dreaming of choc and water that was waiting for me at the finish. No sprint finish, under the block in 26.50, delighted with the time. Disappointed later to see my finishing place was 113th.

Sub 26 is my target now for Dunboyne

guapos

Monday
5km in 26

Tuesday
4km St Annes Trail in 18.13 mins, happy enough with that

guapos

Wednesday
7 miles in 61.15 exact same time as last week which is strange as I felt I was running alot faster.

Not sure whether to do short (5.25) or long (10.5) course in Marley Park on Saturday. I'm enjoying running faster over shorter distances but I think a long race would be better in the build up to Dunboyne 4m.

guapos

Thursday
1500m in 5.34

Same as last week but the wind was a real bugger and my breathing wasnt great. Going to run the 10.5km Urban Trail on Saturday. Hopefully the wind stays away and the temp raises slightly.

C target 49
B target 47.30
A target 45 (would need a miracle performance)

guapos

Saturday

Urban Trails Marley Park 10.5km in 47.08

Bit disapointed with the course wasnt as interesting as the other two but still enjoyable, mix of path, grass, a little bit of running through the trees and a nice muddy ditch. First lap was 23.22, 2nd was 23.46 which is disappointing, I should have pushed on earlier as I finished with a good bit left in the tank. I spent the last km chasing down a runner from the Polish Running group but I couldnt catch him before the finish line, good fun.

guapos

Monday
7km easy 37 mins

Tuesday
4k trail in St Annes, 18.33

Poor run today, legs felt heavy after the weekend. Was a bit stickier today after rain. Glad I ran the longer race on Saturday, I need to get a few more 10k + races in to build up my endurance.

guapos

Wednesday

7m St Annes in 1.00.14

Legs were heavy again and I really didnt enjoy the run. I'm going away tomorrow so 4 days without running. I think my legs will thanks me for it. Only going to do 3 runs next week in the build up to Dunboyne.

guapos

Tuesday
4k St Annes Trail 19.10

4 days of drinking and 5 days without running so was to be expected. wont be able to make the Dunboyne run so my next race probably wont be till the 9th of April unless I can find something convenient on the weekend of 2nd/3rd april

BeepBeep67

Hey guapos, you're making great progress to date off the training that you are doing.
You should consider adding some structure to training, having target races is one thing, having a training plan to get you to those races in good shape is another.
I see you do alot of your training in St. Annes, you should consider getting down to some of the Raheny training sessions and you'll pick up solid advice.

guapos

Hi Beep Beep,

Thanks for the advice. I work split shifts so can only train in the afternoons so wouldnt be able to make Raheny sessions, which is a pity. Any advice on a training plan to follow? or any tips from your own experience? My training plan is really just based around routes I enjoy running and you're right I need it to be more focused.

Thanks

BeepBeep67

As a starter plan, you can't go too far wrong with the Hal Higdon, the Intermediate one would be a good base for a sub 30 5 mile and you can personalise to suit - personally I would aim to go longer for the Sunday run.
But the basics are there, consistent training, some shorter intervals at faster than race pace, some longer intervals and tempos are race pace and greater and I would alternate your longer runs between the road and the hills.
http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10kinter.htm

guapos

Thanks for that its much apprecciated. Since Im not racing this weekend I decided to start today on the Wednesday of week 2 and use the Urban trail 4k on the 9th April as the 5k and bhaa RTE 5m as the 10k. I'll do my long runs around Howth when I can.

Wednesday

Plan was for 8 x 400m at 5k pace, unfortunatley i had a twinge in my hamstring during the 4th so stopped there. Times weren't great, I was planning for average of 1.35 this week but was enjoying the session till my hamstring acted up.
1.42
1.41
1.38
1.35

guapos

Thursday

6km in 32.xx

Legs are still feeling weird from the days off and the drinking, going to take today off and prob just swim and cycle over weekend.

guapos

Tuesday

7km very easy in 45ish.

Legs havent been feeling right so just went out and ran slow. Found a new route close to the house and it was nice to have a change of scenary.

Found my raheny 5 goodie bag and noticed the gels were going out of date so tried one. Wow theyre rotten, ill have to carry a toothbrush when i take up marathon training.

guapos

Wedneday

9.5km very easy in 60.35

Waddled through the St Annes and onto Dollymount. Thankfully I had the wind at my back, not looking forward to doing Clontarf 5m going the opposite direction. Legs arent in good shape, left calf and right hamstring are sore. Pretty demoralising. Will decide on Saturday whether to take a week off or not.

guapos

Took 9 days off running as my hamstring and calf were very sore. Did a small amount of cycling to keep legs active. Decided to run UTS St Annes 4km and if i felt alright i'd do BHAA ST Annes 2 hours later.

Saturday 9th
Urban Trail series 4km

I run the route in training so didnt want to miss this one. Plan was to go out easy then push on if legs felt alright. I did a 1k warm up and felt grand. Only 50 did the short race so started near the front. Went off in a group of 7 and could see the leaders pull away after a few hundred metres, i was tempted to try to keep up but dont think I would have been able. After the first km i never got within 100m of the others. I got caught behind a few from the longer race (they started 5mins before us) which slowed me down a bit but i was glad of the breather. I came 5th in 17.37. I was pretty happy with the time as its the fastest ive ran the route.

BHAA 4m

Legs were tired but not sore so decided to run BHH, was a bit risky coming off an injury but i enjoy racing in ST Annes. Target time was 26 but with the race earlier I knew I would struggle. As soon as I started my legs felt very heavy and I couldnt get going. Mile times were roughly
6.45
7.15
7.00
6.39

27.39

Two minutes faster than last year but a good bit slower than i should be. Might do Raheny one mile race tonight as im off work. Away with work from tomorrow till Sunday but will bring gear.

guapos

Wednesday

Raheny one mile

The race is a bit of a blur, just when i was getting going i could see the finish line. Still fun though ill definitely have to do more of them during the summer.

5.55ish my watch stopped so i think thats what i heard the steward call out. Pretty disapointed with the time but what can you do.

guapos

Wednesday 4/4

Howth Imra.

Its been a while. My hamstring and hip have been giving me alot of trouble and ive had some heavy weekends away so this was my first time out for a few weeks. Leg was still a bit sore but i was due to volunteer so i decided id give it ago. I started near the back so that i wouldnt be tempted to push too hard and that certainly worked as we plodded around the first lap at a nice pace. As the 2nd lap started i was able to push on a bit and finished with a sprint in a time of 50.58. i finished in 101st place which isnt great but i was happy just to be running again.

The plan is to run the Donaghmede Dash 5km on Sunday at an easy pace and to get back training next week.

guapos

Wednesday August 17th

Finally back trainin again and i loved it. Mix of injury, work and couldnt be arsed have meant i've done very little all summer. Safe to say I wont be going sub 30 but I'll give it a shot anyway.

10 x 400m (200m very easy in between)
1.39
1.37
1.36
1.33
1.30
1.28
1.34
1.34
1.36
1.28

Plenty of room for improvement