Moving Forward Faster

blockic

Tuesday 21st May

Na Fianna/Bob Heffernan 5KM, Johnstown Bridge, Kildare

Chip Time: 17:47 - PB
Average Pace:5.43/mile
Result: 65th (TBC)


I was a bit worried about this one yesterday. I had taken Sunday and Monday off after Killarney to get well rested for the race. However my shin has been at me a bit since last Friday so I was icing it in work on and off all day! Don’t think it’s serious...more of a nagging now and then rather than a pain and the run Saturday didn’t harm it a bit. Watching it carefully though.

Anyway put that out of my mind and I hit the road after work. Arrived in plenty time and was good to meet up and chat with tang1 and other boardsies before the race. There was a good crowd around and it looked like it would be a deep and high standard field. Which is what you want as it will drag you around. drquirky ,CL, tang and myself jogged down to the start with about 25 mins to go and done a good solid warm up. I threw in a good few strides and then a good few stretches to loosen out and get in the mood. Leg was feeling grand at this stage (nothing to do with the half a tube of deep heat I put on! ) so I was feeling good.

In hindsight, the blow-up in Lucan actually served me well. It taught me how much out of my comfort zone I needed to be and how not to run a 5km race!

If I had not run Lucan, then I would have likely blown up in this race so it was a blessing in disguise so to speak. Last week I ran the first mile in 5:41 and it killed my race. The strategy for this one was to pass the first mile a little slower in 5:45 and keep this pace until halfway, once I passed the halfway mark, let rip.

I had heard that the start of this race is a bit manic so I placed myself in a good position (I thought) while we waited to walk down to the start. However when we started heading down I was knew I was way too far back cos I saw meno next to me It was difficult to know where you should be to actually get a good position. Luck of the draw really. Nothing I could do now only try get a better position half a mile in. Gun went off and the first 500m was a bit manic and I was well over 6min pace. I was getting at bit jumpy at this point (meno can confirm!) Eventually I found a good gap and I tore off but I was determined to keep it at a hard but controlled pace. It’s a 5km not an 800m race. We rounded the first bend and I felt good. There was now a 3.5km back straight before the turn for the finish. Here I was passing a phenomenal amount of people showing how much out of synch the start was. Passed 1 mile at bang on 5:45 and I soon spotted two bray runners up ahead and they were to be my target men. One which I found out after to be wrstan. I settled into a group to conserve a bit of energy for a few seconds before I kicked on to settle in with the next group. This happened a couple of times and I hit mile two with a split of 5:46. Was a bit disappointed with this and I feared a second blow up.

That was my last look at the watch and with a mile to go, slightly downhill I just tore on and started to pick off runners giving it everything I had left, Legs were feeling the effects at this stage and wanted to slow up, but this time I wasn’t having any of it, this was not going to happen again. Thankfully it was mind over matter and I kept a good pace up. It was now starting to burn and the stomach was getting iffy (why do I run 5ks! :eek:). I was looking eagerly (understatement!) for the finishing turn. Thankfully two more bends and I was there. Entered the hotel car park and saw the finishing straight with 17:42 on the clock, gave one last spurt and crossed with 17:45 on the watch with a third mile of 5:41.

Such a difference a week makes. Unbelievable standard that a sub 18 would have one so far down on the results and goes to show how popular the race is! It’s a lovely route, slight incline unnoticeable for the first half a mile, level for a bit and then downhill to the finish. It would be perfect if the start can be sorted out. The distance also measured correctly :cool:

I’m happy with the result but as always I know there is a couple seconds more in there :rolleyes: but I’m ok to move on to other distances for the moment now that I’ve taken care some unfinished business and broken the 18 mark.

Fantastic running by all the boardsies with the majority coming away with PBs on a glorious summers evening. Great to feel the heat in the air at 9pm!

Leg seems ok today too, happy days, onwards to the next event!

RunningKing

3 x 5.4x miles :eek:. Great consistent pacing.

A well deserved PB. Congrats.

New runner

Wow amazing! Congrats n well done, delighted for u!

ncmc

blockic wrote: »

Tuesday 21st May

Na Fianna/Bob Heffernan 5KM, Johnstown Bridge, Kildare

Chip Time: 17:47 - PB
Average Pace:5.43/mile
Result: 65th (TBC)


I was a bit worried about this one yesterday. I had taken Sunday and Monday off after Killarney to get well rested for the race. However my shin has been at me a bit since last Friday so I was icing it in work on and off all day! Don’t think it’s serious...more of a nagging now and then rather than a pain and the run Saturday didn’t harm it a bit. Watching it carefully though.

A sub 18 min 5k! That's fantastic J, well done. Glad you had a good race, I know you were disappointed with your last race and I know only too well how it can knock the confidence to have a couple of bad races in a row!

I have a niggle in my shin as well, sometimes when I put my full weight on my left leg, I can feel it 'give' a bit. It's not massively painful, but it's a concern at this stage. This may be a stupid question, but when you were icing it, did you just ice the front of the shin, or the calf? I have a feeling mine could be a calf issue pushing on to the shin, but not sure.

blockic

ncmc wrote: »

A sub 18 min 5k! That's fantastic J, well done. Glad you had a good race, I know you were disappointed with your last race and I know only too well how it can knock the confidence to have a couple of bad races in a row!

I have a niggle in my shin as well, sometimes when I put my full weight on my left leg, I can feel it 'give' a bit. It's not massively painful, but it's a concern at this stage. This may be a stupid question, but when you were icing it, did you just ice the front of the shin, or the calf? I have a feeling mine could be a calf issue pushing on to the shin, but not sure.

Thanks! Yeah finally nice to run a race on your own terms and get out of it what you intended.

With my shin I don't think it's the calf muscle, more a very minor dose of shin splints possibly. Therefore I'm icing the front of it and taking all unnecessary runs off for the next couple of weeks to rest as much as possible. Supposed to do an easy run tonight but will skip it and RICE instead to give the leg a chance to recover. :cool:

TRR

Well done great run. I think the moral of this story and many others that I could recount is "Never, ever, ever, listen to meno, he is full of $hit"

menoscemo

TRR wrote: »

Well done great run. I think the moral of this story and many others that I could recount is "Never, ever, ever, listen to meno, he is full of $hit"

I didn't even listen to myself

Gavlor

blockic wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah finally nice to run a race on your own terms and get out of it what you intended.

With my shin I don't think it's the calf muscle, more a very minor dose of shin splints possibly. Therefore I'm icing the front of it and taking all unnecessary runs off for the next couple of weeks to rest as much as possible. Supposed to do an easy run tonight but will skip it and RICE instead to give the leg a chance to recover. :cool:

My Physio worked on a muscle on the inside of each leg kind of under the shin bone that he maintains is the root cause of shin splints when it tightens. Might be worth getting a rub?

BeepBeep67

Nice running J, more to come I'll bet.
Used to suffer from shin splints, get off the road for a bit and + 1 on what Gavlor is saying, work down the inside of your leg between the shin bone and the calf, you might find some tender areas and some knots to rub out.

career_move

Gavlor wrote: »

My Physio worked on a muscle on the inside of each leg kind of under the shin bone that he maintains is the root cause of shin splints when it tightens. Might be worth getting a rub?

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Nice running J, more to come I'll bet.
Used to suffer from shin splints, get off the road for a bit and + 1 on what Gavlor is saying, work down the inside of your leg between the shin bone and the calf, you might find some tender areas and some knots to rub out.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=78578809&postcount=61

Gavlor

career_move wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=78578809&postcount=61

Have you read every single log on this forum you lunatic?!!

blockic

Gavlor wrote: »

My Physio worked on a muscle on the inside of each leg kind of under the shin bone that he maintains is the root cause of shin splints when it tightens. Might be worth getting a rub?

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Nice running J, more to come I'll bet.
Used to suffer from shin splints, get off the road for a bit and + 1 on what Gavlor is saying, work down the inside of your leg between the shin bone and the calf, you might find some tender areas and some knots to rub out.

career_move wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=78578809&postcount=61

Cheers guys, I'll give it a work out and might book in for a rub early next week. career_move's bookmarks working wonders again! I recall that post now alright a couple months back, thanks for the reminder! I'll give it a bash!

career_move

Gavlor wrote: »

Have you read every single log on this forum you lunatic?!!

Indeed I have......knowledge is power

ncmc

Thanks for that link CM, that's the exact spot that's niggling at me on my left leg, feels like my leg is having trouble taking my whole weight. I'll try massaging it over the next few days and ask my physio to give that area particular attention when I see him on Monday.

Big Logger

ncmc wrote: »

Thanks for that link CM, that's the exact spot that's niggling at me on my left leg, feels like my leg is having trouble taking my whole weight. I'll try massaging it over the next few days and ask my physio to give that area particular attention when I see him on Monday.

I think your problem sounds like over training to me. I know the feeling you're having. You're running and you feel your leg/legs may not hold your weight. You have to shift the weight a bit to other parts of the legs and it gets a bit crampy and can come and go. I'd put a tener on it if you did nothing for a few days and rested up that it would go.

Younganne

ncmc wrote: »

Thanks for that link CM, that's the exact spot that's niggling at me on my left leg, feels like my leg is having trouble taking my whole weight. I'll try massaging it over the next few days and ask my physio to give that area particular attention when I see him on Monday.

NCMC, physio should be able to rub it out for you and give you great relief. I've had dry needling in this area and it works wonders too, but not this week for you, after the marathon if its still giving you a few problems you should try it!!!

TRR

Lower leg pain should not be ignored. I've had shin splints twice and they are an awful pain. Get some physio done and do some stretches. Best one is to kneel down and sit on your heels then lean back. Really stretches the lower leg muscles and to my mind is the only stretch you can really do. Also worth doing a bit of foam rolling but it's a delicate balance as a lot of the time it's the fascia that is inflamed and rolling can aggravate that obviously. Running on grass is also a good suggestion but ideally you want a flat surface, movement of the foot compensating for rough ground can be a problem I find. Best thing though is a couple of non running days with stretching and ice.

ncmc

TRR wrote: »

Lower leg pain should not be ignored. I've had shin splints twice and they are an awful pain. Get some physio done and do some stretches. Best one is to kneel down and sit on your heels then lean back. Really stretches the lower leg muscles and to my mind is the only stretch you can really do. Also worth doing a bit of foam rolling but it's a delicate balance as a lot of the time it's the fascia that is inflamed and rolling can aggravate that obviously. Running on grass is also a good suggestion but ideally you want a flat surface, movement of the foot compensating for rough ground can be a problem I find. Best thing though is a couple of non running days with stretching and ice.

Interesting you should mention this TRR, I do some of my running on a forest path and it is quite rough, noted it in particular last night, so will avoid it til after the marathon.

blockic

Wednesday
5.5 miles recovery / 8:10 average pace

Went down to the club session for this but instead of reps I just done a few easy laps of the track. Kept it handy after the race the night before.

Thursday
Rest

Supposed to have an easy run on Thursday but I cut it off to give the shin a rest. Will only stick to necessary runs until it eases. Iced it and elevated it for the night and gave it a bit of a rub. It seemed to do the trick.

blockic

Friday 24th May

Kilkenny County Track & Field – Day 3

800m – 2:23
3,000m – 10:31

Results: 1st place Novice 800m, 3rd place team – 3,000m

This had been on the agenda all week but I kept it low key in case I made a complete hash of it! :pac: I said after the marathon I’d have a shot off a couple of distances new to me as well as having a go at some track races. When I found out last week that this was on I was only too happy to head down and give it a lash!

So I sauntered down to the track this evening like a rabbit in headlights!:D Didn’t know what the hell I was supposed to do or how the hell I was supposed to do it! I jogged a couple of miles to warm the legs before arrival and not knowing many in the club yet, I was only too relieved that after a couple of minutes I found my go-to guy by the finish line.

800m

The hurdles were still going on so we had to play the waiting game for a few minutes. I was taking in and enjoying the atmosphere, but also completely bricking it, way out of my comfort zone! I had only planned to run the 3,000m but when the 800m race was called I saw a few of the club lads lining up and I was duly told to “get in there, you’ll probably win it!”. I was like, yeah right! But sure I might as well give everything a go while I’m there I thought to myself!

Due to it not being Dublin all the Seniors, Novices and Juniors ran in the one race. We lined up at the start and thought how the hell did I get here!! I didn’t have long to think because we were off in seconds.

Here I was, first track race and no idea how the hell I was supposed to pace it. I hadn’t even stepped foot on a track to even train until 2 weeks ago! I went off hard enough but I didn’t want to blow it all after one lap so I kept it fast, but controlled. 2 junior lads up ahead absolutely flew off , no way I was sticking with them but I did have a nice position further down the field. Completed the first lap and I had something left in the tank, which is what I wanted. I passed a few lads at this point and down the back straight I slotted in behind a guy to catch a bit of breath before the final kick. Lungs and the back of my throat absolutely burning at this stage, I have never felt a feeling like it!! Coming into the final bend I kicked on Sonia O’Sullivan style and I finished pretty strong crossing in 2:23.

First Novice! and about 4th or 5th overall. My first ever track athletics medal and it was gold! :cool: I was buzzing, loved every minute. However, it did take a good 15minutes for my lungs to recover. A serious burning sensation. I can’t even imagine what 400m is like!

3,000m
There was a bit of a wait for the 3,000m and I was only too delighted to have it. We had a good few for the team lining up for this so I was hoping to contribute in some form! This distance would probably be more suited to me so I was less nervous. Again, race started and a bunch of juniors tore off again! Forget that I said to myself. Why didn’t I start running when I was younger! (thought ye’d like that one ). Myself and a second lad tipped along the first 2.5 laps as the second group. However I knew I started a tad fast as the guy I was with this time finished a bit ahead of me in the 800m. Soon my laps were slowing slightly.

I was second for the team at this stage but then I was passed by a more experienced (but younger!) track clubmate, he knew what he was doing. Before long I was in no man’s land with a good gap in front and behind me. That was pretty much it until the final straight when I heard a guy creeping up behind so I added an extra spurt to get in over the line at 10:31. Was a bit disappointed with this time as the fact could accelerate so easily to hold off the lad at the finish means I had more left in me. I was hoping for in around the 10:10 -10:15 mark but that said it was a great experience and that 3k time is something that I can now work on. Found out after that we got 3rd team so second medal of the night!! This lark is mighty altogether!

Went for a nice cool down after. So the verdict?

Really liked the track meet and had a good night seeing at it was my first ever go at it! I will definitely go to another one and keep it up where possible. It’s good to have something different than the roads to mix it up now and again!

Good week so far and a day off tomorrow. Leg much better and seemed unaffected by tonight. However I now feel something flu like coming on since I got home! Hope it’s gone tomorrow!

Pacing Mule

Wtf are you doing up this late. Elites like you should be in bed well before midnight !!!

blockic

Pageant Messiah wrote: »

Wtf are you doing up this late. Elites like you should be in bed well before midnight !!!

Feeding the baby! :D

Nah, Bloody flu!! :mad:

career_move

Sounds deadly

Well done on all the medals

Runchick

You are meant for speed I reckon Blockic, the thought of running that fast makes me shudder!! Well done, that club are lucky to have you

RunningKing

Great work Blocky! No end to your talents in all things running.

Was their an 'Auld man' category? I'm Contemplating joining a club.

thewolf_ie

Well done!

Gavlor

Great going j, are you on a mission to try every distance over a a 3 week period?!

blockic

RunningKing wrote: »

Was their an 'Auld man' category? I'm Contemplating joining a club.

There was indeed O40 now last night, that would have suited ya perfectly! Although it's nearly more competitive than senior i reckon.

I can hook ya up with a club if you fancy a trip to Kilkenny every Wednesday night!

Gavlor wrote: »

Great going j, are you on a mission to try every distance over a a 3 week period?!

Haha, aim is to try out things now before the marathon training starts up again! I'm probably only missing a 5m and a 10km. I'll have a look around! Surely there must be something in the Guinness World Records for something like this! :pac:

tang1

blockic wrote: »

Coming into the final bend I kicked on Sonia O’Sullivan style

You were still in nappies & a pram when Sonia was kicking on the final bend!! Great running again J, look after that man-flu hopefully see you tomorrow.

New runner

Wow that's some running blockic! I'm sure the club can't believe their luck having u on board. Congrats n well done.