Random Running Questions

average_runner

Any one running the Dublin Company Relay tonight?

Singer

average_runner wrote: »

Any one running the Dublin Company Relay tonight?

Yep, I did. I saw a few other boardsies there too. I am mildly sceptical of it being a well measured 5k. That said, it was great fun and I got to babble about running to my coworkers a lot, so it was very enjoyable

annapr

Singer wrote: »

Yep, I did. I saw a few other boardsies there too. I am mildly sceptical of it being a well measured 5k. That said, it was great fun and I got to babble about running to my coworkers a lot, so it was very enjoyable

Glad to see you downgraded 'definitely not 5k' to 'mildly sceptical'.. Amazing what a beer or two will do

crisco10

Yeah did it, was good craic alright, lovely evening too.

Whatever else about the course, I'm pretty sure it was shorter than the same event in 2014...:-) was careful to not point out my scepticism to the novice runners who were just chuffed to finish...better to enjoy that than query 200m r so at an event like that!

average_runner

Singer wrote: »

Yep, I did. I saw a few other boardsies there too. I am mildly sceptical of it being a well measured 5k. That said, it was great fun and I got to babble about running to my coworkers a lot, so it was very enjoyable

Yeah it was short, 4.85k, but with the hills and the wind, thank god it was short

Great event though, was expecting the worst, but was impressed, be back next year.

Itziger

Folks, I'm doing the last 2 legs of a 4-person team marathon on Saturday. Total for me will be 22.3k. My question is, should I make a 30 second stop at the changeover point out of courtesy to all those who really will be changing runner at that stage?

I was thinking I could slow down, stop, change the timing tag from one ankle to the other and start off again, or am I over-thinking this?

The team is timed but it states there is no 'classification' for teams. Maybe I should add, the first two in my team are significantly slower than me so we won't be breaking any time records.

Maximus Alexander

Would the disadvantage from running double the distance not already exceed the time that would have been taken to stop and change over?

Clearlier

Itziger wrote: »

Folks, I'm doing the last 2 legs of a 4-person team marathon on Saturday. Total for me will be 22.3k. My question is, should I make a 30 second stop at the changeover point out of courtesy to all those who really will be changing runner at that stage?

I was thinking I could slow down, stop, change the timing tag from one ankle to the other and start off again, or am I over-thinking this?

The team is timed but it states there is no 'classification' for teams. Maybe I should add, the first two in my team are significantly slower than me so we won't be breaking any time records.

I wouldn't. It's already a disadvantage to run two legs instead of one. Even if you did, 30 seconds seems too long? Is it not just a tag thing where the next person sets off immediately or is there some kind of formal process that you need to go through when changing over that takes 30 seconds?

livedadream

Itziger wrote: »

Folks, I'm doing the last 2 legs of a 4-person team marathon on Saturday. Total for me will be 22.3k. My question is, should I make a 30 second stop at the changeover point out of courtesy to all those who really will be changing runner at that stage?

I was thinking I could slow down, stop, change the timing tag from one ankle to the other and start off again, or am I over-thinking this?

The team is timed but it states there is no 'classification' for teams. Maybe I should add, the first two in my team are significantly slower than me so we won't be breaking any time records.

only if you want too, im doing two legs of the cork marathon and im not stopping for ANYONE!
the relay teams are off to the side too so the full and half runners run though so im just going to power though...

Itziger

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Would the disadvantage from running double the distance not already exceed the time that would have been taken to stop and change over?

Do you know I honestly hadn't thought of that!!

Three of the original team have fallen by the way side. I wasn't even part of the line up.

Yeah, screw it I'll keep going! Unless I need the break

mel.b

I am doing 200m intervals tomorrow morning. Doing them on the track isn't an option. I have two routes - an out & back that is basically flat or a loop that has a few undulations, nothing too steep or long. I prefer the loop but would i be better on the flat route or it doesn't really matter?

Clearlier

mel.b wrote: »

I am doing 200m intervals tomorrow morning. Doing them on the track isn't an option. I have two routes - an out & back that is basically flat or a loop that has a few undulations, nothing too steep or now. I prefer the loop but would i be better on the flat route or it doesn't really matter?

Generally it shouldn't matter much but if you were doing it as part of specific preparation for a race I'd choose whichever route was closest to your goal race.

28064212

mel.b wrote: »

I am doing 200m intervals tomorrow morning. Doing them on the track isn't an option. I have two routes - an out & back that is basically flat or a loop that has a few undulations, nothing too steep or now. I prefer the loop but would i be better on the flat route or it doesn't really matter?

What's the purpose of the intervals? If it's building speed for e.g. a 5k, the undulations would be better. If it's endurance-building for a 100m target race, flat is better

mel.b

Thanks, it's part of my half marathon (Killarney in July) programme (plans calls for 16 x 200m intervals alternating between 10k and 5k pace) so I'll go with the undulating route.

hot buttered scones

Right boards - make a decision for me because I'm too tired to think for myself. My plan for the week was Easy Tuesday, Easy+6x1 min Wednesday, Easy Thursday, Rest Friday, Recovery Saturday, Race Sunday. First of all my race is on Monday (half marathon), so I was just going to do an extra short recovery run on Sunday.
Now the question - I was going to go and do today's run after work in about 5 minutes, but I forgot my shorts. Do I
a) Find a quite spot and do my run in my boxers and t-shirt?
b) Forget it, slot in a rest day because I'm knackered anyway and just move all the runs a day forward.
c) Head home for the shorts, HTFU and go out about 9pm

I'll be home by 8.30 so if I don't get a response by then I may have to resort to option a (even though I'll be able to get some shorts)

Edit: Meh. Got home and decided it'd be an easy sit and 6× biscuits.

Battery Kinzie

When starting on training plans which have a lower mileage in the first few weeks than you currently run, what do you do? For example, I'm currently doing about 40k a week and still building this up, but a most training plans I've looked at start off lower than this, e.g. Hal Higdons Intermediate HM plan starts off on 27k and doesn't get to 40k until the 5th week. If I were to just run 10 miles for the LSR (which I have been doing all year) for the first 4/5 weeks instead of the 4-8miles the plan calls for, would this be alright?

Itziger

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

When starting on training plans which have a lower mileage in the first few weeks than you currently run, what do you do? For example, I'm currently doing about 40k a week and still building this up, but a most training plans I've looked at start off lower than this, e.g. Hal Higdons Intermediate HM plan starts off on 27k and doesn't get to 40k until the 5th week. If I were to just run 10 miles for the LSR (which I have been doing all year) for the first 4/5 weeks instead of the 4-8miles the plan calls for, would this be alright?

Yeah, you're grand. In fact once you take em easy, I'd say you could add a mile or two to the Long Run instead of just churning out 10 every week. Once the extras aren't tiring you out and affecting the other workouts, there's no need to worry about doing a bit more than stated on the generic plans.

Battery Kinzie

Itziger wrote: »

Yeah, you're grand. In fact once you take em easy, I'd say you could add a mile or two to the Long Run instead of just churning out 10 every week. Once the extras aren't tiring you out and affecting the other workouts, there's no need to worry about doing a bit more than stated on the generic plans.

I had thought as much, cheers!

mel.b

I'm half way through my 14 week half marathon training programme (for Killarney half in July). I had to miss my run tonight which was meant to be a 3 - 8k recovery/progression run. The plan for the week was:
Tues: 3-8k recovery/progression run
Wed: 400 metres at 10km pace, 2 x 400m @ 5k pace, 400m @ km pace, 2min rest between intervals. Repeat series x 4
Fri: 1k warm up, 1.5k Tempo pace, fartlek - 1min hard, 30sec easy, 2min hard, 1 min easy, 3min hard, 1.5min easy, 3min hard, 1.5min easy, 2min hard, 1 min easy, 1min hard, 30 sec easy, 1.5k @ tempo pace, 1k cool down
Sat: 3-8k recovery/progression run
Sun: 16k long run

So do I:
1 - just miss tonights run, continue plan as scheduled?
2 - Do good recovery/progression run tomorrow and miss one of the intervals sessions & if so which one?

Clearlier

mel.b wrote: »

I'm half way through my 14 week half marathon training programme (for Killarney half in July). I had to miss my run tonight which was meant to be a 3 - 8k recovery/progression run. The plan for the week was:
Tues: 3-8k recovery/progression run
Wed: 400 metres at 10km pace, 2 x 400m @ 5k pace, 400m @ km pace, 2min rest between intervals. Repeat series x 4
Fri: 1k warm up, 1.5k Tempo pace, fartlek - 1min hard, 30sec easy, 2min hard, 1 min easy, 3min hard, 1.5min easy, 3min hard, 1.5min easy, 2min hard, 1 min easy, 1min hard, 30 sec easy, 1.5k @ tempo pace, 1k cool down
Sat: 3-8k recovery/progression run
Sun: 16k long run

So do I:
1 - just miss tonights run, continue plan as scheduled?
2 - Do good recovery/progression run tomorrow and miss one of the intervals sessions & if so which one?

Option 1 all the way.

mel.b

Clearlier wrote: »

Option 1 all the way.

Thanks, programming the watch now Do you mind if I ask is it because the intervals sessions will be of more of a benefit to me at this stage?

Clearlier

mel.b wrote: »

Thanks, programming the watch now Do you mind if I ask is it because the intervals sessions will be of more of a benefit to me at this stage?

In principle if you miss a run just move on and forget about it. In reality that's not always possible as some runs are more important than others. It looks to me like the run that you missed this evening isn't one of the more important ones. You might want to consider taking a slightly longer warm up than normal tomorrow if you're feeling a bit stiff but my guess is that you'll be absolutely fine.

Rururun

Hi,
I'm looking for advice and support to keep me motivated and doing my best! I'm not sure if I'm in the right place but I really have no clue what I'm doing! I'm wasting training is what I feel!
I've previously completed a half marathon - 2 hrs 4 mins and a PB 10km of 53.45
That was before I had three babies though! My eldest is 4 and youngest is 9 months
Seen my last baby I've found running very therapeutic and can only manage to fit in about 20km per week.
I did a 10 Km in April with no training and it felt awful and finished at 1 hr 12. Vowed to get back to my former self and hopefully a PB
I did a 5km a few weeks ago - 27.40 and mini marathon 10km there this weekend in 60.20
I can see big improvement but really want to use my next six weeks to get as fast a time as I can in the fingal 10km and then the Galway one in October. Max I can fit in a 3 runs per week but I do cycle a little also in addition - twice per week but only to and from work.
I need to strengthen core so going to try Pilates.
But would love advice on how best to use my time over the next six weeks - is a sub 55 10km possible for he likes of me with my time restraints etc?! What three types of run should I do - one long and slow(how slow) , one 5km fast or intervals?, and one race pace?
Thanks so much in advance - any and all help hugely appreciated!

snailsong

Rururun wrote: »

Hi,
I'm looking for advice and support to keep me motivated and doing my best! I'm not sure if I'm in the right place but I really have no clue what I'm doing! I'm wasting training is what I feel!
I've previously completed a half marathon - 2 hrs 4 mins and a PB 10km of 53.45
That was before I had three babies though! My eldest is 4 and youngest is 9 months
Seen my last baby I've found running very therapeutic and can only manage to fit in about 20km per week.
I did a 10 Km in April with no training and it felt awful and finished at 1 hr 12. Vowed to get back to my former self and hopefully a PB
I did a 5km a few weeks ago - 27.40 and mini marathon 10km there this weekend in 60.20
I can see big improvement but really want to use my next six weeks to get as fast a time as I can in the fingal 10km and then the Galway one in October. Max I can fit in a 3 runs per week but I do cycle a little also in addition - twice per week but only to and from work.
I need to strengthen core so going to try Pilates.
But would love advice on how best to use my time over the next six weeks - is a sub 55 10km possible for he likes of me with my time restraints etc?! What three types of run should I do - one long and slow(how slow) , one 5km fast or intervals?, and one race pace?
Thanks so much in advance - any and all help hugely appreciated!

Firstly, we'll done on the progress, you're doing great.

Secondly, what's the rush?
At this stage, improvements will come naturally just by keeping up the milage. Six weeks is very short. Of you embark on an aggressive speed programme a likely outcome us that you'll get injured. You really need to build up a base of milage first. It's a common occurrence that people get carried away by enthusiasm and ambition, patience is a virtue. There would be nothing more frustrating than injury at this stage.

In any case I'll suggest a training regime that may suit. Do your long run nice and slow, 7 mins per km or slower. Do a second run, 5 or 6 km I'm assuming, a little quicker. Maybe 6:15-6:30 per km. The third run can be your "speed session". Run half a km slowly to warm up, then one km at your target 10Km pace, 5:30 per km. Repeat three times so you'll have done 3 slow half's and 3 quick kms, finish with at least a half km slow cool down.

If you stay injury free and patient you'll achieve your target eventually, maybe not in six weeks but soon. You can substitute a parkrun for the speed session if you want to measure your progress along the way.

Also, you say you find running therapeutic. We all do . So don't worry about wasted training. If you enjoy it, it's not a waste.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

jameshayes

Yesterday I went to the trinity college 400m grass track - I ran a fast lap (for me) and I hit a 1:15 - I dont have anything to benchmark that on, is it poor/decent/dreadful? I know I held back a little so I could definitely go faster

(been running since last nov, 31male)

IvoryTower

jameshayes wrote: »

Yesterday I went to the trinity college 400m grass track - I ran a fast lap (for me) and I hit a 1:15 - I dont have anything to benchmark that on, is it poor/decent/dreadful? I know I held back a little so I could definitely go faster

(been running since last nov, 31male)

I run 400m at about 56/57 secs, most seniors racing in leinsters etc seem to be about 50-54 seconds

I wouldnt worry too much about your time, if you enjoy running you should consider joining a local club to get some proper training

Chivito550

jameshayes wrote: »

Yesterday I went to the trinity college 400m grass track - I ran a fast lap (for me) and I hit a 1:15 - I dont have anything to benchmark that on, is it poor/decent/dreadful? I know I held back a little so I could definitely go faster

(been running since last nov, 31male)

First time I ever ran a 400m time trial was on a proper synthetic track I ran 67 high. After a few years of training I got that down to high 54. Wouldn't be put off by a time you ran on a grass track, off improper training. If you want to run 400m then you should do it. Other people's times are irrelevant. And at things like the Dublin Graded Meets there are many runners who don't break 60, so not everyone is running 54 or lower.

But seek the right advice and ease extremely slowly into it, or else you will get injured. I see it time and time again, with people joining our training group all bright eyed and bushy tailed, and after 2-3 sessions, they disappear, and we never see them again. Either they get injured or simply can't hack the training.

Rururun

snailsong wrote: »

Firstly, we'll done on the progress, you're doing great.

Secondly, what's the rush?
At this stage, improvements will come naturally just by keeping up the milage. Six weeks is very short. Of you embark on an aggressive speed programme a likely outcome us that you'll get injured. You really need to build up a base of milage first. It's a common occurrence that people get carried away by enthusiasm and ambition, patience is a virtue. There would be nothing more frustrating than injury at this stage.

In any case I'll suggest a training regime that may suit. Do your long run nice and slow, 7 mins per km or slower. Do a second run, 5 or 6 km I'm assuming, a little quicker. Maybe 6:15-6:30 per km. The third run can be your "speed session". Run half a km slowly to warm up, then one km at your target 10Km pace, 5:30 per km. Repeat three times so you'll have done 3 slow half's and 3 quick kms, finish with at least a half km slow cool down.

If you stay injury free and patient you'll achieve your target eventually, maybe not in six weeks but soon. You can substitute a parkrun for the speed session if you want to measure your progress along the way.

Also, you say you find running therapeutic. We all do . So don't worry about wasted training. If you enjoy it, it's not a waste.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

Thanks you so much for taking the time to reply I'm very grateful - you've just explained so much there already - I wasn't sure what pace to be aiming for on long runs and when or if to try "speed" sessions etc - so I totally agree - I've been a long term runner other than the pregnancies so absolutely understand that running is about long term every day life - not PB's and pushing - but I love short term goals as it helps to motivate me to get out on days where I'm feeling less enthused! Or just plain lazy!! In the past I've just run three times per week at what ever pace felt natural - no specific goals of slow, fast etc. Whereas now I'd like to focus on seeing what I can achieve as it's something of a challenge just for me - some self of pride and self esteem I suppose as opposed to being a mum etc. I just want to feel that rush of pride when I cross the line at a time quicker than I have previously achieved! I'm delighted to have your advice to point me in a good direction of how to structure my runs in general - I'll keep the log updated and hopefully we will all enjoy this gorgeous weather and the long days all summer!
Thanks again

jameshayes

IvoryTower wrote: »

I run 400m at about 56/57 secs, most seniors racing in leinsters etc seem to be about 50-54 seconds

I wouldnt worry too much about your time, if you enjoy running you should consider joining a local club to get some proper training

Chivito550 wrote: »

First time I ever ran a 400m time trial was on a proper synthetic track I ran 67 high. After a few years of training I got that down to high 54. Wouldn't be put off by a time you ran on a grass track, off improper training. If you want to run 400m then you should do it. Other people's times are irrelevant. And at things like the Dublin Graded Meets there are many runners who don't break 60, so not everyone is running 54 or lower.

But seek the right advice and ease extremely slowly into it, or else you will get injured. I see it time and time again, with people joining our training group all bright eyed and bushy tailed, and after 2-3 sessions, they disappear, and we never see them again. Either they get injured or simply can't hack the training.

Thanks gents! I'm not looking to start 400m running, I just wanted to have a guide for my pace - I'm currently in marathon training and it was one of my workouts, I'm not too sure if I enjoyed the 400m but I've read its great for you so I'll give it another go when it pop's up on the training plan again! :pac:

snailsong

Rururun wrote: »

Thanks you so much for taking the time to reply I'm very grateful - you've just explained so much there already - I wasn't sure what pace to be aiming for on long runs and when or if to try "speed" sessions etc - so I totally agree - I've been a long term runner other than the pregnancies so absolutely understand that running is about long term every day life - not PB's and pushing - but I love short term goals as it helps to motivate me to get out on days where I'm feeling less enthused! Or just plain lazy!! In the past I've just run three times per week at what ever pace felt natural - no specific goals of slow, fast etc. Whereas now I'd like to focus on seeing what I can achieve as it's something of a challenge just for me - some self of pride and self esteem I suppose as opposed to being a mum etc. I just want to feel that rush of pride when I cross the line at a time quicker than I have previously achieved! I'm delighted to have your advice to point me in a good direction of how to structure my runs in general - I'll keep the log updated and hopefully we will all enjoy this gorgeous weather and the long days all summer!
Thanks again

It's no harm at all to have goals, long term and short term. We all thrive on improvement.
Right now you'll get improvement from increasing weekly milage, gradually, and maybe throwing in a fast mile or two here and there as I suggested.

I'd suggest you start a training log on the training log sub forum. You'll get advice and support from people who know much more about coaching than me. Also read a few of the logs there, see how others progressed.