Its about Time

RedRunner

RunningKing wrote: »

Sat 26th
3.05 miles @ 8:23 pace - easy run just to loosen the legs.

Sun 27th ** Raheny 5m **
Pre Race:
This race was never on the agenda for me, as it was never a 'goal race'.

So why was I as nervous as hell the day before and especially the morning of the race - Cant recall being this nervous before a race in the past? Even my kids asked me why was I taking deep breaths............

I think the nerves were down to registering for a 5m race without having done training beyond 5k for the last month. As I've been following a 5k plan, all my intervals and speed work were geared to 5k races - so I think in my head, once I hit 3.1miles, I'd grind to a complete stop :-)

Race Day
Woke up feeling very relaxed and the legs felt in good shape - the 2 easy runs obviously done them good.
I arrived in good time in Raheny, parked in the church, discovered Spurs were 1 down to Leeds, then went off grumpy to get my number......

Got my number - well organised set up - and back to the car for a while - got myself ready and went back to the course.
Met davemcmahon in the hall again and shared a few words with him - thought I seen Digger & CL in the hall, would have went over to introduce myself, but I hadn't got a pen for an autograph :-), maybe next time.

Went out to do a warm up and met redrunner - good to see him on his feet - his little lad was doing one of the junior races - then it was into the coral.
I thought that I had went fairly high up (as I read about previous races being congested) - but maybe I had got in too early as by the time the race started, I seemed very far back. (good to hear the 1 min silence for Heffo!).

My 1st mile was terrible (6.31)- constant zig zagging through people and trying to find space. I had hoped for a quicker 1st mile as I new I wouldn't have the endurance to hold the pace in mile 4-5.

As we approached the 2nd mile, I was still passing people, but had to chase to pass - it was still slower than planned at 6.25.
3rd mile was much better - could stretch the legs more and managed a comfortable 6:20 - felt great at this stage - passed 5k in sub 20, and felt comfortable doing it.

Mile 4 was done in 6:18 - I was still feeling good at this stage, the burn only kicked in at the later stage of this mile - so maybe I wasn't pushing it hard enough earlier (especially in the 1st 2 miles). I was still passing people and not too many people passing me - so I must have been fairly far back at this stage.

Mile 5 came along(maybe the later part of mile 4), and as I was going up the hill, I lost concentration and settled in behind a group of people, their pace had slowed and I allowed mine to slow as well for a while - but I knocked myself out of that and kept going - turned the corner after the hill and got knocked for 6 with the wind that blowed - wasn't expecting that and my pace slowed drastically.
We could hear the loudspeakers so knew we were close, my legs were burning at this stage but wasn't hearing the negative thoughts that I had before - it was all about pushing hard.
Mile 5 was 6:37 - with the wind and hill, I feared worse but hoped for better!

Came to the park near the finish and tried to move past some people, but the legs hadn't got any more in them - a I rounded the corner I sprinted as hard as I could - passed a few people and finished in 32:24.

I was disappointed with this time as I had done 32:30 in the Race series in june '12 - so really wanted to do 32:00 (or at worse 32:15).

However - now, in hindsight, when I think of my goals - there was no substance behind this goal. Why did I think I could do 32:00, which is Sub 40 10k pace, when I've only done 3 weeks of a 5k training program?
In hindsight, I'm delighted with the time, given the training and the conditions, in all honesty, I only felt the wind on the last mile (maybe a bit on mile 2).

On finishing I met Marthastew - she had just finished her race (33:xx) and was delighted but still remembered my 1st (real) name, despite only meeting her once, and was ever the lady (a legend in my books).

Walked back with Davemcmahon who was still buzzin' on his good time - then got to the car to hear that Spurs had lost to Leeds. Bummer.

** Learnings from today **
(1) Have real expectations based on recent training rather than on hopefully beating an old time.
(2) Ensure you get a decent place in the pen! - I was too far back - I'd say this cost me 10 secs.
(3) Remember not to constantly talk about loosing 10 secs over a 32min 24 sec race to your family - they just dont get it!
(4) Do a decent rekkie on the course. The hill surprised me as did the many downhill parts and flats.
(5) Respect the full distance of the race and dont loose concentration, especially in a short race like this.

Delighted to read about so many great performances at this 5m, the Dungarvan race and the Hell&Back.
Well done to everyone.

Ave 5:03m @ 6:26 pace

Great Running Sir!

blockic

Great race report RK, always a great read. Good post-race analysis from you also. You are dead right in your findings. You will beat your time handy with the right conditions prep.

And sure the day was a great one after all wasnt it???

RunningKing wrote: »

discovered Spurs were 1 down to Leeds, then went off grumpy to get my number......


...then got to the car to hear that Spurs had lost to Leeds. Bummer.

RunningKing

Blockic, It displeases me that you went to the trouble to do that............ We're still looking down on you in the league!

RedRunner

And as for us poor Liverpool fans...I don't now which was more depressing, not being able to run today or lose to feckin Oldham!

Marthastew

Congrats on a fantastic run! And you are allowed to be annoyed over 10 seconds but as you say, keep the analysis on here, your family are probably considering sending you to counselling;)
Sorry I disappeared off, I went to get Mr Stew to introduce him to you and then we lost you. He was thrilled with his PB so we went wild and devoured the goody bags:D

And BTW, I think tang and the Artist formerly known as Cambo were very uncomplimentary to you, you looked V cute today, even at the end of a race... Runningadonis;)

RunningKing

Ahhhh Jaysus, I'm blushing now........

MisterDrak

Well Done RunningKing, nice running there, you just edged me out (got 32:26 yesterday)...

PaulieC

Marthastew wrote: »

And BTW, I think tang and the Artist formerly known as Cambo were very uncomplimentary to you, you looked V cute today, even at the end of a race... Runningadonis;)

In fairness, I never commented on the looks, I just suggested a new nick.

Well done on the time yesterday btw, The Future Artist that was formerly known as RunningKing

RunningKing

Monday 28th

6.2m recovery run @ 8:19 pace.
Nice run in the Phoenix park - managed to avoid the rain :-)

Legs not too bad now!!

Micilin Muc

Excellent time in Raheny! I'd love to see what 5-mile you can get by the end of the year. After only 3 weeks of 5km training and it not being a goal race, you can run even better times with the training you're doing now.

RunningKing

Tues 29th
Rest day - 1st day in 18 with no running or football. Could've went out for the sake of it, but legs felt like stretched cheese strings - so glad of the rest.
Done 20 mins or so of core work outs.

Wednesday 30th
5 miles. Done 1st mile easy - 2 miles at about 7m/mile - 2 miles easy.
Possibly the worst weather I've ever ran in - Rain was horizontal and stinging the face and legs.
Came home like a drowned rat - even the dog was like a drowned rat.

Still glad I did it.

thats 133.1 miles for Jan - might get a short run tomorrow beofre football??

Its my 2nd highest milage ever and possibly my most enjoyable running month.

RunningKing

Milage Table :-) - Thats one of my goals achieved for the year

Got my Garmin in July 2011 -
1st marathon in Oct 2011 - Nov injured.
2nd marathon in Oct 2012 -Nov injured

Month|2011|2012|2013

January|18|17|133.1

February|15|80.3|0

March|20|88.3|0

April|40|66.1|0

May|44|105.2|0

June|50.1|122.6|0

July|56.1|60|0

August|122|129.6|0

September|125.1|184.8|0

October|126.2|126.2|0

November|23|54.3|0

December|38.5|87.4|0

Total|677.8|1122.2|133.1

RunningKing

Just noticed my October totals for 2 years in a row were the same - not a typo.
Also as my Marathon months they are 126.2

How cool is that..................(am I a nerd)

blockic

You might as well pack in the running now that you have managed to make a table! Lifetime goal achieved!! :P

RedRunner

RunningKing wrote: »

Milage Table :-) - Thats one of my goals achieved for the year

Got my Garmin in July 2011 -
1st marathon in Oct 2011 - Nov injured.
2nd marathon in Oct 2012 -Nov injured

Month|2011|2012|2013

January|18|17|133.1

February|15|80.3|0

March|20|88.3|0

April|40|66.1|0

May|44|105.2|0

June|50.1|122.6|0

July|56.1|60|0

August|122|129.6|0

September|125.1|184.8|0

October|126.2|126.2|0

November|23|54.3|0

December|38.5|87.4|0

Total|677.8|1122.2|133.1

Might rob that table of you, if you don't mind.It'd be interesting to see my comparisons too.

RunningKing

Got myself a shiny new pair of New Balance 1260 v2 today in AK (Ballymount)

Staff there are great. Kevin had me try on about 8-9 pairs of shoes before we found one that was right. Also checked my archs - which gave us another consideration and ruled out some pairs.

These are an 8mm heel drop, which would have meant nothing to me 2 years ago - but am interested to see how the transition from from my normal 12mm.

Wont get to road test them today - footie later.

(nearly bought a pair of racers as well, but he talked me out of it for now..........)

beeduybe

RunningKing wrote: »

Got myself a shiny new pair of New Balance 1260 v2 today in AK

(nearly bought a pair of racers as well, but he talked me out of it for now..........)

What reasons did he give for not buying the racers? I've been considering buying a pair for a while...

RunningKing

beeduybe wrote: »

What reasons did he give for not buying the racers? I've been considering buying a pair for a while...

Well - I asked about them after my purchase - then he went in and brought out a few pairs. I guess he didn't want to seem pushy - told me to do my research on them.

Biggest dilema on choice was down to distance.
Theres some pairs that are good for 5k-10k sort of distance and others that are a bit stronger and are good up to HM and possibly even Marathon. So you need to know what you want.

The ones that are good for HM are more sturdier.

So - once I'm sure why I want them - I'll buy them.

RedRunner

Well done on the new PB today A!

RunningKing

Thurs 31st Jan
Work was a bit mental so didn't make it out for any runs today.

Managed to make it to GAA training with my U13 girls - always enjoy that - one of the highlights of my week.
Then 1 hour of indoor football - I can see a marked increase in my fitness these days - (& my goal ratio has increased - dont think I can put that down to Daniels :-) )

Friday 1st Feb
Nice recovery rn in Phoenix park. 6.26 miles @ 8:29 pace - enjoyable run.

Saturday 2nd Feb

Malahide Park Run - PB in 19:16 (official time) - 6:11 pace.

I had wanted to make a PB today, but due to feeling fatigued all week, wasn't sure I'd make it.
I donr a longer than normal warm up before the race and quite a bit of stretching and felt quite good before the start.
My tactics today were to go off fast(ish) and then try to hold on. I wanted to have a quick 1st mile and not let my 2nd mile slip. I thought that by mile 3 I'd be in the mix and would be racing others - That was the plan.

Before the start - I got a good position near the front on the inside lane and shot off (like so many others!!) - going round the 1st bend I heard a shout out "Go on Alan" - must have been RedRunner - he was volunteering today - by the end of the 1st mile I thought I had a sub 6 mile - but in hindsight it was 6:02 and felt it.
Mile 2 went ok - the course was a bit slippy and I had made a decision to go through the muck and water and ice - whatever was in front with out slowing down - and did just that. Theres a guy who has a similar time to me in my previous races - John F - he was just ahead of me - but in the muck on mile 2 I went by him.
Mile 2 was a 6:14 and the fatigue was coming back to haunt me. At this stage I felt isolated - there were a couple of people about 30-40 yards ahead and a couple 40-50 behind - so I was running alone for most of mile 3. This hurt - I had hoped to have company to race with - so better align my strategy next time!! -
Coming to the tennis courts, I had made ground on the 2 lads in front - one had slowed - one went on - I over took one of them and kept going - at this stage John F (from earlier) over took me again - I felt I had nothing left to give chase.
Coming to the hill on the last lap - about 200-300 to go - I wanted to give chase to John F - so I dug in and got nearer and nearer - on the home straight I think he sensed me (or heard the very heavy breather behind him) and sped up a bit - crossing the line 1-2 seconds ahead of me.
On crossing the line I wasn't sure of my time - the last mile felt slow (it was 6:26) - for a finish time of 19:16.
The 0.1 bit of the race was done at 5:45 pace - so I got to thank John for that!!!

MisterDrak was just a couple of seconds behind me - must seek him out because in the 3-4 races we've done (including Raheny) its been a close thing between us - only a couple of seconds in it every time. He had a PB as well today.

Met RedRunner at the end, good to catch up (& thanks for the shout out).

RUN #2
Came home from Malahide and brought the 1st born to Donore harriers for her training, then set off in the Phoneix Park with the dog for a recovery run.
I wanted to bring her down the S Bends and Military hill to see how she was near the road - as I want to run the opposite way up the hill in the coming weeks in anticipation of the GIR. She was fine - so I guess I'll be doing that route in the coming weeks.

Felt remarkably ok at this run - done 6.17m @ 8.20 pace - good total for the day and it wasn't even 12pm yet.
Came home and brought the 2nd born to GAA training and then finally sat down to watch the Rugby!!

Now off to a 21st tonight where I'll walk in feeling young (as I was invited to a 21st) and leave feeling old (as I'll see the real 21 yr olds) !!!

Off to America on Sunday morning with work for the week - so am planning a step back week with only a bit of Dreadmill running and no sessions. Feeling really fatigued this week so hoping the break does me good.

career_move

Savage running there RK Especially after Raheny last week !

RedRunner

RunningKing wrote: »

Before the start - I got a good position near the front on the inside lane and shot off (like so many others!!) - going round the 1st bend I heard a shout out "Go on Alan" - must have been RedRunner - he was volunteering today - by the end of the 1st mile I thought I had a sub 6 mile - but in hindsight it was 6:02 and felt it.
Mile 2 went ok - the course was a bit slippy and I had made a decision to go through the muck and water and ice - whatever was in front with out slowing down - and did just that. Theres a guy who has a similar time to me in my previous races - John F - he was just ahead of me - but in the muck on mile 2 I went by him.
Mile 2 was a 6:14 and the fatigue was coming back to haunt me. At this stage I felt isolated - there were a couple of people about 30-40 yards ahead and a couple 40-50 behind - so I was running alone for most of mile 3. This hurt - I had hoped to have company to race with - so better align my strategy next time!! -
Coming to the tennis courts, I had made ground on the 2 lads in front - one had slowed - one went on - I over took one of them and kept going - at this stage John F (from earlier) over took me again - I felt I had nothing left to give chase.
Coming to the hill on the last lap - about 200-300 to go - I wanted to give chase to John F - so I dug in and got nearer and nearer - on the home straight I think he sensed me (or heard the very heavy breather behind him) and sped up a bit - crossing the line 1-2 seconds ahead of me.
On crossing the line I wasn't sure of my time - the last mile felt slow (it was 6:26) - for a finish time of 19:16.
The 0.1 bit of the race was done at 5:45 pace - so I got to thank John for that!!!

MisterDrak was just a couple of seconds behind me - must seek him out because in the 3-4 races we've done (including Raheny) its been a close thing between us - only a couple of seconds in it every time. He had a PB as well today.

Met RedRunner at the end, good to catch up (& thanks for the shout out).

Yep, that was me and I'm always happy to give a shout out for a fellow Boardsie. Great running yesterday. That JF you refer to is a Raheny Shamrocks man and I went out for a run with him on my first venture into club running before Christmas. It was a bit of a baptism of fire for me:) so you are in good company there racing him.

Jesus that a busy auld day for you alright. Luckily all my kids matches were off but ended up in SwiftCare Clinic(Not me for a change) my wife's foot was very swollen , I suspected hairline fracture but xray didn't show it. So she is on crutches now with feet up. I think I might try a short run myself later.

Hope the work trip is not too hectic.That travelling lark can take it out of you.

RunningKing

Sun 3rd Feb
8 hr flight to Philly then a 1 hr flight to Richmond - Bad points about the flight was a crying baby for about 4 hours - good points was I managed to watch SkyFall on the iPad - great film! (No Running!)

Mon 4th
Made it to the Gym in the Hotel - they had 2 treadmills and 1 bike!! - so I knew it was going to be difficult to get on it. No point running outside - it was an Airport hotel with nothing around :-( - anyway time would be against me as my days& nights were already scheduled!

Treadmill run: 3.5m - easy pace. (6:30am - officially the earliest I've ever ran)

Tuesday 5th:
Treadmill run: .5m warm up - 2 mile at 5k pace - .6m warm down: Total 5k
Cut the run short due to the queue building up to use the equiptment.

Wed 6th
Treadmill run: 5k uphill at HM pace - ran at an incline varying between 3 and 5 - found it tough in the later stages. pace about 6:50

Thursday 7th:
Treadmill run: was under severe time pressure for this one so done 4*2 mins interval session. Schoolboy error on my part not doing a proper warm up and no stretching. Quads and abductors were sore from this afterwards - but could also have been DOMS from the hill work yesterday.

Was flying out of Philly on Thursday night, so was watching the weather carefully, Flight was delayed 3 hours, which was a pain as the bar closed early!

Friday 8th:
Made it home eventually about 11am - was funny as the dog wouldn't even look at me when I got back - was as if she was punishing me for leaving her :-)
Went out later in the day for an easyish run, it ws getting dark so I left the dog at home - that'll teach her to ignore me - I followed the route of this years GIR.
The last 0.5m I done @ 5k pace - want to work on the fast finishes to train the body.
Total 6miles @ 7:52

Saturday 9th
Had an event filled 5.3 mile run today. Brought the dog along for this one.
Had planned to do a run that was not quite a tempo, but more than an easy run - I call it a 'Brisk' run.
Set off from Farmleigh along the trail to the furry glen, think I ran by Lizzy C at 1 stage, but wasn't too sure as I just met her once - Went down to acres football pitches and came across a girl tending to a guy who was lying on the floor. I had seen a few people pass by them as I was approaching them.
I offered to help and it transpired that the guy had an epileptic seizure and had no medication - the girl went off to get the medication and asked me to wait with the fella. All I could do was talk to him and make sure his head (& tounge) were ok.

The number of people who walked by and didn't even acknowledge the situation really shocked me. A few people offered help which was great, but I was really disappointed with the ones who just ran or cycled by.
This is my 2nd time in a similar situation and the 2nd time I've been really annoyed at the ones who just run/walk/cycle on.

The girl returned with medication and everything was ok - so I went off. Was in a bit of a hurry myself at this stage due to family stuff - so cut the run short.
Total 5.3m in 40:07


Overall -Happy with my week - 25miles doesn't seem like much - but I ran every day and made use of the treadmills for a variety of workouts - will try to fit in a run tomorrow, before the Rugby.

blockic

25 miles while travelling is great going. You need plenty of determination while away to hit the gym instead of the restaurant/bar!

I know I would be 0 miles if i was away! Nice work!

RunningKing

Sun 10th
Woke up tired. It was raining. Theres a match on. This can only mean one thing...................Session!!

I knew wifey wouldn't be walking the dog today & I didn't fancy an easy run in the rain, so zipped up the mansuit and went out for the start of my 10k plan. I had a 3x1m planned for tomorrow - but thought nothing of pulling it in til today. After the 5k/3k sessions - 3x1m @10k pace would be a zinch.......................WRONG!!

Went on the warm up run and found that the MSB kids were doing a training session, so there were plenty of people about on the paths, so would have to do a bit on the mucky grass - the bits of the path that were 'empty' were full of water!

Rep 1: 6:26 - slower than I had hoped but still at sub 40 pace (only just)
Rep 2: 6:25 - Getting into it, but tired about 400 from the end - struggle to hang on.
Rep 3: 6:18 - Well not really - I stopped for 20 secs during the rep - legs were heavy - never felt anything like it before.

Was going to do the warm down mile at this stage, but thought to myself that I'd be cheating myself with that last rep. So took a longer recovery and went at it again.

Rep 4: 6:27 - took everything I had and more - was outside Sub 40 pace, but you know what - I was delighted!!

Total miles (inc WU/CD 6.5)

Thats another 30+ mile week as I start my 10k Plan.

The plan will be a mixture of the structure of a plan I have from 'Running Planet' & the McMillian Best 10k workouts.
I'll obviously be pacing using VDOT etc and throwing in a bit of Daniels now and then.

Nearly 3pm.....................'Mon Ireland

ecoli

RunningKing wrote: »

Sun 10th
The plan will be a mixture of the structure of a plan I have from 'Running Planet' & the McMillian Best 10k workouts.
I'll obviously be pacing using VDOT etc and throwing in a bit of Daniels now and then.

Nearly 3pm.....................'Mon Ireland

Be careful with the Running planet stuff there are some good ideas for variety to be got from the website but to try and follow the plans makes Daniels Elite plans look tame and can be an injury waiting to happen.

My advice would be to use the sessions from that very sparingly

Edit: Just looked at the actual 10k training plan and actually doesnt look too bad

pconn062

Good session RunningKing, I've done the McMillan plan in the past and the one thing I would say is be honest with yourself with your target pace. It's a very tough plan and it's important to pick a pace that is sustainable throughout the tougher workouts. As McMillan says, if you are still finding the pace really tough by the 2x2 mile, 2x1 mile session then you should adjust the pace at that stage. Good luck, will follow with interest.

RunningKing

Looking at my last session again, there was obviously a large element of fatigue, looking back on a 4 x 1200 session a few weeks ago, I was at 6:05 pace.

I think I need to time and plan my sessions better to get full value and confidence from them.

digger2d2

Just noticed your recent 19.16..... Excellent stuff!!

RunningKing

Monday 11th Feb
5.05 miles @8:04 pace - nothing special.

Tuesday 12th Feb
6.8m@7:55
Brought the 1st born to Donore and went on my usual Tuesday evening run from Donore to Parkgate st - back up Chesterfield and down Knockmaroon to pick them up. Nice Run - the incline on Chesterfield is very misleading sometime!

Wed 13th Feb
12x400 (+ WU/CD)

Great session this - I looked back on my last 12x400 (13 Jan) and only 1/12 of the reps were under 6:00 pace - for this session 11/12 reps were under 6:00 pace.

For this session the reps were

Time Pace
1.26 5:46
1:30 6:03 (thought I should slow it down)
1:29 5:58
1:26 5:45
1:29 5:59
1:28 5:55
1:24 5:37
1:25 5:42
1:23 5:32
1:22 5:29
1:27 5:51
1:20 5:21

took 200 recoveries - walked the 1st 100 and jogged the 2nd 100.

Was delighted how I felt during this session - didn't purposely set out to do this pace, but it just felt natural doing it and after 3-4 just felt like I could hold on.
Happy that the 2nd 6 reps were faster than the 1st 6.



Weekly Mileage|17.8 miles

MTD|63.5 miles

YTD|196.6 miles