The Peds Peddler - 400m & The Mile

IvoryTower

dna_leri wrote: »

Great time. Sub 2 is in reach

Absolutely dna_leri, summer goal

IvoryTower

National Masters 800 & 400

This deserves a long log but I'm absolutely shattered mentally and physically so ill do my best. On Saturday I felt awful, legs were heavy, tried a few strides and it was a struggle. I hoped it was nerves, was slightly worried i overcooked the shake out the previous day.On Sunday I woke up and i knew straight away i felt great. The missus had given me 2 full nights sleep so i hadn't felt like this since the baby was born! I decided at this point i was going to win 2 gold medals today.

Everything leading up to the race was standard enough so i'll just skip to that.

800m

As anyone in masters running knows Dennis is the man to beat over 800m. But I felt I was likely in better race shape coming into this off the back of seniors. So I had 2 plans, 1. sit on Dennis and if the race is slow kick past him with 200 to go 2. if the race is fast, wait until the last straight to kick. The race was slow, it all felt very easy,in fact so easy coming up to 600m i wasn't sure if it was 400 or 600. So when i heard the bell i opted for option 2, knowing i had a lot in the tank i decided to kick early and this is where it all went wrong. I was obviously a bit overexcited or whatever cause i kicked way too hard, like a kick you would need to save for 100m to go,even though i had created a decent gap my legs blew and i barely crossed the line with Dennis passing me with a metre to go. It was a tough one to take, i instantly knew i had thrown it away. If i had done the same kick at any point in the last 150m i wouldve won easily imo. Anyway, it still stings so i'll leave it at that. Lesson learned and hopefully it will help me going forward. As a 400 runner i think plan 1 should always be my go too unless im running for time.

30 Min break

So I had about 30min until my 400m. I felt awful, waddling around legs full of lactic. Fuming with myself, constantly going over the 800 in my head. I took the shoes off and just walked about for 20min. Stuck the spikes on and tried a couple of strides. My legs felt empty, weird sensation, like thye had used up eveyrthing they had. I headed down to the middle of the track and tried a few more, not much better. At this point i probably would have skipped the race if it wasnt for the 53 i had ran at the aai games. I knew that would win the masters 400 almost every year so even if i didnt do that well, i might still drag myself around for a medal.

400m

Absolutely tried to channel my anger here. I wanted to run this the same as every 400 but the 800m blow up was definitely at me and stopped me pushing hard. I got out smoothly with some guy flying past me on the inside, i didnt concern myself with him as if he can keep that up there'll be no stopping him. At the break i can see there's someone to my left in line with me so i use the hill and pick it up just a little to slot in front of him before the bend. Coming off the other side of the bend i can see the leader is struggling so i pass him with ease, at this point i normally start to pick it up but again with the 800 in mind i played it safe just floating around the bend. I realise coming off the bend i still feel good so decide to kick here and comfortably cross the line in first. Let out a good roar which was really more to do with my 800 frustration than it was my 400 victory! It felt like id made amends somewhat.

After

It was a funny evening, have you ever been really angry and happy at the same time, well that's how i felt! Delighted to win the 400, raging i messed up the 800. Anyway it's been a great indoors, so many good races, pbs, new friends. I feel pretty beat up today, stomach is cramped from the 2 races back to back, achilles is sore, hamstring tight, time to take a break for a couple of weeks before i go again for the summer. I'll be doing daily rehab and will throw in the odd jog, that'll do.

Here's a shakey video of the 400, i'll upload the 800 later even though i'd probably rather it's never seen ever again :pac:

Sacksian

Well done, dude. Nice to come away from an event with a national title AND a burning motivation for revenge!

overpronator

Outstanding again man. Delighted for you.

Cant beat running with a bitta hate either as E says above!

Dubh Geannain

Looks like I picked a good day to revisit the training logs. Delighted to see that.

Congrats on a super run from the outside lane. And you didn't let that lad hotdogging out of the blocks throw you off your rhythm either.

IvoryTower

thank lads, definitely can tell the difference in experience in 400 and 800, still have a bit to learn about racing the 800

IvoryTower

Okay so i'm back at it. Took a few days off after nationals followed by lots of easy running.

week 1 - 21mpw easy
week 2 - 37mpw easy, lots of rowing also, too much tbh, working late every night, drinking at home, eating tons, a strange week!

Going to work off the coaches plan but I also want to use these strange times to bump up my mileage. I've plenty of time now with working from home so id like to use it doing what i love most....running every.single.day :pac:

My sessions this week were a write off, likely cause I overcooked last week. Anyway good to be back even if there's no end goal.

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Okay so i'm back at it. Took a few days off after nationals followed by lots of easy running.

week 1 - 21mpw easy
week 2 - 37mpw easy, lots of rowing also, too much tbh, working late every night, drinking at home, eating tons, a strange week!

Going to work off the coaches plan but I also want to use these strange times to bump up my mileage. I've plenty of time now with working from home so id like to use it doing what i love most....running every.single.day :pac:

My sessions this week were a write off, likely cause I overcooked last week. Anyway good to be back even if there's no end goal.

I'm finding I've more time and energy to train now that I'm working from home. I had a 6 day week last week. 4 is the gold standard for me these days.

The hard sand on Portmarnock Beach is the closest thing to a track you will find. Think I'll use spikes the next day.

My motivation is based off believing we will get a July to September season. If they pull that rug from under us then motivation will fall off a cliff.

IvoryTower

I don't think i'll even run if there is a season, there would have to be little or no cases of corona in the country i would say, or a vaccine. Neither is close .

IvoryTower

Mon - 6 easy
Tues - botched pick ups and some easy miles
Wed - 3.5 wasy
Thurs - botched 400s
Fri - 5 easy
Sat - 2.5 @ 6.19 and easy
Sun - 10 easy

Mpw 48

Terrible sessions. Great mileage. I'm working hard on rehab for my Achilles, it's not too bad but worrying nevertheless. If it doesn't improve this week I'll have to cut my mileage dreams.

Changing the plan slightly so i can do a 5k tempo every sat, it will give me something to look forward to. My motivation to run is strong as ever but not so much for the sessions. I'll give it another week and see how I feel about it then.

IvoryTower

Mon - 4m easy, used chest torch and ran around meadowview pitch at night, was spooky but nice

Tues - Mile repeats 6.11, 6.17, 6.19, 6.39, 6.51 On grass, slow but happy out, ill try and beat the average next week and hopefully over the next few weeks it starts to click

Wed - 6m easy grass

Thurs - Rolling hills, about 10, this was a light hill session, again ill build into making it harder, at the moment i'm just enjoying the runs with higher mileage than normal

Fri - 4m easy grass

Sat am mile repeats - I intended on doing 5k tempo but i underestimated how much harder it would be in meadowview, stopped after the first mile and then just done 2 more mile repeats. Will try again next week.

Sat pm - jog with my son 2.5m

Sun - long run about 12 mile, mostly grass

Mpw - 53, 50 really minus the walk/jog with my son. Id like to keep this up, achilles/foot hasnt got any worse, i'm working hard on rehab but i'm aware the easiest fix is probably dropping most of the mileage. If it gets worse i'll just have to accept my faith. Running is such an out at the moment with working from home and being handed the kids soon as it hits 5pm. Mondays i've promised myself to go very easy, make it a proper recovery run.

I don't believe im going to be competing again until the indoors so i'm not concerned about sessions that don't work out or sessions suffering due to the extra mileage. Ideally id like to come out the other side of this with another level of endurance and my body well capable of 50mpw on a regular basis. I want to make sure I'm enjoying all the sessions so if i dread a session its getting binned for something else. For now mile repeats, hills & 5k tempo sounds good to me. All at a lower than normal intensity to allow me adapt to the mileage and doing sessions on grass.

I gave away all my runners to my brother and have replaced them with Nike Pegasus 36 for miles, Adidas Boost for sessions and drumroll........Nike Vaporflys for eh, races? I don't know, I just had money from the lack of takeaways so decided to try them. Can't wait to give them a blast, hopefully they arrive before the boards virtual 5k

Sacksian

Walks, manually added miles....absolutely shameless.

Great consistency though - will make a massive difference to your 5k and mile.

IvoryTower

Sacksian wrote: »

Walks, manually added miles....absolutely shameless.

Great consistency though - will make a massive difference to your 5k and mile.

The manually added miles were legit! It was actually a 11pm stress run so I didnt want to log it on strava lol. The walk was definitely cheating, I added it to scare me from doing more. Honestly I feel like running twice a day but I know it would break me.

Sacksian

IvoryTower wrote: »

The manually added miles were legit! It was actually a 11pm stress run so I didnt want to log it on strava lol. The walk was definitely cheating, I added it to scare me from doing more. Honestly I feel like running twice a day but I know it would break me.

I'm only kidding - it's very impressive (your mileage is motivating me to get my mileage up!) and it's good to keep track of all activity, especially if you're trying to diagnose anything that aggravates injury. As long as the running's not making your achilles worse and you're keeping up your rehab, I don't think it's a problem.

There's a great book "Anatomy for Runners" by Jay Dicharry that I found really useful for dealing with my achilles problems (which seem to be more or less cured) - get the physical book because the drills, etc are the most useful part of it. He's very much of the belief that achilles problems need activity (within reason).

IvoryTower

Sacksian wrote: »

I'm only kidding - it's very impressive (your mileage is motivating me to get my mileage up!) and it's good to keep track of all activity, especially if you're trying to diagnose anything that aggravates injury. As long as the running's not making your achilles worse and you're keeping up your rehab, I don't think it's a problem.

There's a great book "Anatomy for Runners" by Jay Dicharry that I found really useful for dealing with my achilles problems (which seem to be more or less cured) - get the physical book because the drills, etc are the most useful part of it. He's very much of the belief that achilles problems need activity (within reason).

I haven't read a book in about 15 years but I'll definitely think about it, now is certainly the time to do it

IvoryTower

Mon - 4m recovery[/B]

Tues - 5 x mile w2.30 recovery, 7am on grass, 9m total

6.19, 6.24, 6.24, 6.27, 6.16, 6.17

Wed - 6m easy

Thurs - Hills + Easy

Fri - 4 easy + strides

Sat - 7m run, was going to be a progressive tempo but soon as i started to pick it up i felt bolloxed so just finished out the 7m

Sun - 10m, 3m steady at the end for no reason other than my own entertainment

50MPW

About 80% of running easy on grass. I started to wear a plantar sock to bed and it has almost instantly wiped out any pain i had running. My feet were quite tired and sore the first half of the week but they seem to have come through unscathed. I actually feel more confident now I can handle the mileage. I'm think i'll keep this up for another week then take a down week, do a mile TT and boards virtual 5k in that week then back on the wagon but with new sessions.

I actually think I will keep hills all summer, its the one session at 7am that's very doable, tempos are awful

Dubh Geannain

Great running. I've a suspicion you'll be well under your 5 k target

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Great running. I've a suspicion you'll be well under your 5 k target

I dont know...I kind of tried twice already and gave up...it could be a 7am thing, maybe the idea that this is a "race" will help!

IvoryTower

Mon - 4m easy

Tues - 5 x 1m 6.15 worked down to 6.30 as I got tired. I stood on glass a couple of weeks ago and during the warm up i had really shape pain in my foot, I sat down and rubbed it for a bit and was able to do the session flat footed

Wed - 6m easy flat footed. My missus tried to take the glass out, we spent the guts of 2 hours digging for it, we think we got a piece of it as we heard a crunch at one point. Decided to let it heal now and see what happens

Thurs - hills , went well, cant tell if foot any better cause the swelling is sore anyway

Friday - 6m easy, tweaked something on the way home, I think it's from altering my form to suit the glass. At this point I'm getting worried that things are going to fall apart so I've decided to not change the miles and start my down week straight away. See if I can get the glass out(if it's still there) and let the niggle heal

Sat - 40min rower. When I cross train I simply try keep hr 130-145 for as long as I can.

Sun - 40min bike, tyre was kinda flat so I gave up and done 30min easy run, happy to saw I couldn't feel the niggle but the glass is still likely there.

So my plan was mile TT mid week, boards 5k Sat, just easy running and cross training in between. Will see how the body is. Running is the only thing keeping me sane at the moment so priority is to not get injured.

Dubh Geannain

I saw your post on Strava about the glass. An absolute pain I can imagine. Been there before with countless splinters etc.

It won't heal properly until you get it out or at least I've never had luck on that front. If it gets infected it can get nasty. Make sure you're sterilising whatever you're poking at it with and apply an antiseptic cream afterwards.

Sacksian

Agree with both DG & your assessment.

I think you have to take a long view, especially if you reckon you're going to be training like this for the long haul. Being able to get out consistently for the next few months is the priority (for sanity as much as anything). With that perspective, and with the mileage you have under your belt, a down week or a couple of weeks without sessions, whatever it takes to get the foot right, isn't going to make a difference long term.

IvoryTower

yeah thats it, ill take it day by day for now. A friend told me to leave it in a basin of hot water until my foot is mush like if you spent too much time in a swimming pool so thats tonights plan!

IvoryTower

Mile TT


So i've had a nice few days off, i went for a easy run Tues followed by some strides and my legs were loving the break from miles. I figured at this point i was going to try the mile TT. The glass is still potentially an issue but i cant really do anything about it for now. I'm waiting for the area we cut into to fully heal so i can figure out for sure if there's still something there. My guess is probably something tiny and ive no idea how that will affect me going forward.

I decided to run along the ramparts, it's completely flat and tarmac. Also being along the river the wind is generally going one way so i could likely use it for a wee push. My Vaporflys had arrived the day before so they were getting their first run out. I stuck them on in the car, got out to jog over to ramparts and my god straight away i was like these are insane. I can't believe there was actually a debate as to their benefit in the vaporfly thread, they are ridiculous!

I jogged the route keeping an eye on the distance so i would know where i was. I didnt feel any wind but when i turned to come back i could certainly feel it into my face so i knew what direction i was running, back to the start i go. The plan was simple, aim for 5min pace, keeping an eye on the watch for the first half and then going for it.

Started very smooth, loving the runners, theyre doing all the work i thought! This continued and at half way i knew i was bang on pace. Slowly the pain started to seep in and I really didnt feel like putting up a fight, I just didnt have that race feeling where i had any good reason to suffer. I checked the watch and it was I think about .75, i started thinking maybe i'll just stop at .8, took a look at the time and realised i was on for sub 5 comfortably, so at this point i'm definitely not stopping but i still refused to make much more of an effort,just didnt want the pain, the wind on my back and runners are definitely helping to keep going. I keep an eye on the watch right from .95 to the mile just wanting it to be over. I stop at the mile, delighted with the time 5.53 and tbh i don't even feel too bad, the biggest problem was definitely the lack of racing of late meaning i didnt want to know about the pain.

So there it is, nice wind and Vaporfly assisted sub 5 lol. I will be back to that route as I've no problem with getting a little help in a TT where you don't have anywhere near the fight you would have in a race. Id nearly run one downhill just to see how fast i could go! Without a doubt so long as i stay healthy i will be doing a mile every few weeks, maybe every block of 4 weeks like i just done. 5k on Saturday now all going well, no idea what pace to run, maybe 6.15-6.20 pace. I haven't been able to hold it in training but maybe with this bit of rest, the help of the hill and lets not forget the shoes!

Tltr - 4.53

Dubh Geannain

Well done again. Are you one of those blessed with an extremely low heart rate? Looked like you were bopping along in the 160s and cruising

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Well done again. Are you one of those blessed with an extremely low heart rate? Looked like you were bopping along in the 160s and cruising

no im quite the opposite actually, its improved a lot recently with all the miles, I wouldn't trust that wrist monitor at all, on the 235 its well known to be wrong pretty much always :pac: . I wear the chest one on my easy and long runs and its a battle to keep the hr below 150

IvoryTower

Running this for club relay, boards 5k and for a charity nomination. The thought briefly crossed my mind that I should run a more honest 5k route, that thought was quickly laughed off. I got up at 7.30am, i wanted to get out before the roads were busy as it's mostly a main road i'll be on. I eat my breakfast, i take a dangerous amount of caffeine, do some mobility drills as i'm stiff as can be, still feeling a bit of burn from my mile tt. Out the door, I jog to the highest point within 2km, i do some more drills and strides as i prepare my journey to the lowest point within 2km.

The start is a lovely dirty downhill for a few hundred metres, can't really judge this just enjoying the free headstart, out then onto the flat road and my normal pace kicks in, probably 6 - 6.20ish who knows :pac: The decline begins, i check the watch and its sub 6mm, im cruising, its all way too easy. The hill goes all the way to about 2.5km, so i guess you could say this is when the race really starts for me. But of course i've saved so much energy at this point its just fine, im trotting along at sub 6min pace, i dont even feel like trying any harder cause it doesnt feel like a race, i dont feel like stopping like i would in a race, there's a breeze in my face which is making it harder than i would have liked. Then i had a great idea, turn around! So for the last half a mile i now have a breeze on my back lol, it's a bit sore now and i should really kick to the end but i don't want any pain so i just keep going and push a bit for the last .11

18.16. Didn't even feel too bad after which is great. Does it count? nope.Was it shameless? yep. Was it fun? Absolutely. I'm hoping my relay team win the club competition so I can create a solid amount of froth from the overly competitive fun runners among us!

Dubh Geannain

You poor thing. That wind in your face sounded horrible. :pac:

career move

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

You poor thing. That wind in your face sounded horrible. :pac:

I think Hugh should be made to go straight back out and do it again. There wasn't half enough suffering :D

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

You poor thing. That wind in your face sounded horrible. :pac:

I'm just annoyed I didnt think of turning sooner!

IvoryTower

Down/TT Week over.

Mon - Rest
Tues - 4m Easy & strides
Wed - Mile TT
Thurs - Rest
Fri - Rest
Sat - 5k TT
Sun - 7m easy

Mpw - 20-25


A really fun week. Back to the grind now. It looks like everyone who lives near me also ran down the Dublin road for their 5k TT! The plan right now is to repeat the last 4 weeks unless i get fed up or the body is not happy with the mileage. So mile intervals, hill sprints, tempo, long run then test in 3-4 weeks maybe in line with whatever virtual runs are on the go.

IvoryTower

Mon - 4m

Tues - 5 x mile @ 6.15 - 6.25 should be doing better, supposed to be doing 5.50, the grass would slow me a bit l but not enough

Wed - 5m easy

Thurs - was supposed to be 7m steady. Ended up stopping at 4m as hr was too hr. Done some easy miles and some short hill sprints to make something of the day

Fri - 5m easy

Sat - 10 x hill sprints 160m. Wanted to see if I could hit my mac hr, hit 183 at rep 5 and bottled it as I felt body was too tired to get it any higher. Best to try this during rest week

Sun - 10m very easy 9min miles hr about 138

50mpw. Good mileage, no injuries, but not training well. I'm going to try make my easy and long runs even easier, hard days harder. Will see how that goes, if my sessions improve significantly I suppose I'll stick to that.

Lambay island

Since you got to ask me a few questions, I have just the one for you please

What is the best way to train or what are the best sessions to build towards a Mile TT?

IvoryTower

Lambay island wrote: »

Since you got to ask me a few questions, I have just the one for you please

What is the best way to train or what are the best sessions to build towards a Mile TT?

I would do something like

Mon - rest/recovery
Tues - tempo
Wed - easy
Thurs - 12 x 400 with 60 seconds rest
Fri - easy
Sat - hill sprints - Lots of ways to do this,my coach has us do 3 sets of 4 x 150m, jog back between reps, 3 min jog between sets. I like this session. Sometimes I just do 12 sprints with slow jog back if i want to get home quicker!
Sun - Long run

Even if you just incorporate the 400s to whatever you're doing, at least your body will get ready for the pace. You could throw in a 200s session the week before, give the legs a taste of some speed. Make sure you're well rested before it, so nothing hard in the days leading up to it.

I'm not a coach though so y'know, might be better off asking one

Lambay island

IvoryTower wrote: »

I would do something like

Mon - rest/recovery
Tues - tempo
Wed - easy
Thurs - 12 x 400 with 60 seconds rest
Fri - easy
Sat - hill sprints - Lots of ways to do this,my coach has us do 3 sets of 4 x 150m, jog back between reps, 3 min jog between sets. I like this session. Sometimes I just do 12 sprints with slow jog back if i want to get home quicker!
Sun - Long run

Even if you just incorporate the 400s to whatever you're doing, at least your body will get ready for the pace. You could throw in a 200s session the week before, give the legs a taste of some speed. Make sure you're well rested before it, so nothing hard in the days leading up to it.

I'm not a coach though so y'know, might be better off asking one

Smashing, appreciate that. 400's makes alot of sense. I tried to do this cold without training a few weeks ago- i blew up after 700/800

IvoryTower

Lambay island wrote: »

Smashing, appreciate that. 400's makes alot of sense. I tried to do this cold without training a few weeks ago- i blew up after 700/800

This will seem overboard to some but not me :pac: Depending on where you are running it, you can mark off the first few 200s with chalk so that you pace yourself correctly. Write the first 4 splits on your hand if you've no memory like me. eg for sub 5 you'll have 37, 1.14, 1.51, 2.28. I might even mark 200m to go so i know to go all out from there if ive anything left in the tank

On the track its easy to pace cause of the laps. On a straight road you will have advantage of wind on back though which definitely gives a few seconds.

IvoryTower

Mon - 4.5m recovery @10.00

Tues - 3 x 12min on grass with 3min jog between

6.57 6.59 6.55

Wed - 5m recovery @9.30

Thurs - 4 x mile 2.30 rest

6.12 ,6.12 ,6.14 ,6.09

Fri - 6m recovery @9.30

Sat - Hills 3 sets of 4 x 160m

Sun - 10m easy @8.30

mpw - 51


A really solid week. Slowed down the easy days, worked harder on the sessions. Same plan for this week. A few of these weeks back to back will have me in good shape. There's a club time trial this weekend but I think it's too soon for me to go again and I'm too busy at home to be bothered. Will decide later in the week but will likely skip it and just stick to my routine.

Dubh Geannain

So, what's happened the glass?

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

So, what's happened the glass?

I can't feel it anymore! My thinking is that Susan got most of it out and what I could feel after that was the damage it had done from running on it. I would ice and then bath my feet in hot water with salts every day and eventually i stopped feeling anything. Maybe it found its way out itself or pushed into a place that i can't feel. Either way it's almost 2 weeks since i felt it. I've kept up the daily foot baths cause i think they help with achy feet

IvoryTower

Mon - 5k recovery @9.30

Tues - 3 x 12min, nice improvement here

6.47 6.47 6.39

Wed - 4m easy @9.15

Thurs - 5 x 1 mile huge improvement here and first time i got the 5th mile in, fairly wrecked after though

6.22, 6.17, 6.15, 6.16, 6.08

Fri - 5m recovery @9.30

Sat - Hills 8 x 60s

Easy miles were on the plan but i wanted to do hills, kinda regret it cause im really feeling it now

Sun 10m lsr @9.00

50mpw

Tough week, likely done too much, hills maybe step too far. The long run was tough work even crawling, maybe a day off tomorrow. Nice improvement on the early sessions though, happy out. I think I will slowly drop the amount of mileage over the next 14 weeks and focus more on my sessions. The base is there now to run some nice TT's. Boards mile on the 30th and something else.

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest

Tues - 3 x 12min @6.44

Damn this was hard, glad to be back on our training ground but having a hill every lap made this more painful than i had become accustomed to at the football pitch

Wed - 5m recovery

Thurs - 4 x 1m

6.08, 6.13, 6.19, 6.31

Butchered this. Forgot my racers so wearing heavier runners, again the training ground track harder with the hill, the sun was beating down, was dead by the 4th rep. Not to worry, still a half decent blow out.

Fri - 4m recovery

Sat - 6 x 100 2 min rest

12.4 , 12.3, 12.6, 12.8, 12.9, 13.2

Looks at those times! The wind was insane. Felt amazing. Still have doms! Was up at the training ground and my group were training away, social distant training, weird but great to see everyone all the same.

Sun - 10m easy in Oldbridge. Beautiful run, still very stuff afterwards. Here's hoping i've shaken them for my time trial Wednesday.

Down week with 2 time trials. 5k on Wednesday, Mile on Saturday, easy running, strides and rest in between. Haven't decided on route for 5k, maybe just a repeat of my last one to check for improvement. Getting itchy feet to run faster, even just for the time trials. Would like to switch out the 5k TT for 600m TT, don't really fancy it on the road though. I have 4.48 down on the mile thread as my guess but would obviously be happy with any improvement. The plan is aim for 4.50 and see what happens.

Dubh Geannain

What's your best 100? Those times look nice alright.

IvoryTower

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

What's your best 100? Those times look nice alright.

I dont think I've ever ran it. I wouldn't pay much attention to those times as its rolling start with amazing wind on my back but its still fun to run at that pace. If I had spikes on a track it would have been even more fun

IvoryTower

5k TT


Soooooo I really bolloxed my legs on Saturday doing the 100s. I went for a jog Tuesday and I still had that full on burning doms feeling in my hamstrings. Decided I would wait and see Wednesday morning if I could run, but with the day booked off work I knew it was likely I would run no matter what. Wednesday arrived and the hamstrings were still quite sore. The traffic was way busier than I had imagined, I guess last time I ran on a Saturday morning when the country was in full lock down. This put me off the idea of running down the Dublin Road like last time. The weather was very calm so I decided to head the the Boyne walk instead, no cars, just walkers to deal with.

I got down to the start of the walk, I couldn't tell what way the breeze was going, it seemed to be a cross breeze that was more in my favour.

Mile 1

At the very start of the walk there's downhill footpath of about 30m, i decided to use this for a wee kickstart....well...bad idea, my hamstring tightened up when I got to the bottom of it, I just kept going not really sure if I was going to have to stop, just keep going and see if it loosens out. My watch seems confused due to the downhill start that goes under a bridge and it can't seem to figure out my pace, I'm huffing and puffing a bit so I have a suspicion i've gone out too hard, the watch beeps 5.36, ****e.

Mile 2

I knew I needed to pull back here, I eased into my target pace which was 5.50, apart from having to weave through a group that had stopped to talk this was a relatively smooth mile, I could feel breeze in my face all the way but I knew if it was gentle it was likely doing more good than harm. Hamstring was tight but had loosened enough to keep going. 5.52

Mile 3

So it started to hurt here and I really didn't want to know. id say at about 2.3m onwards I had kinda given up, was trotting along around 6min mile pace thinking i'll just stop whats the point! I really needed the race buzz to keep me working. I got to the end of the walk and turned back. The breeze was still in my face but slightly stronger so I knew i had gotten lucky in that regard. I tried to muster up some speed for the end but after a little pick up I started to hurt again and basically jogged the last 50m or so. 6.04



18.09

Considering the state of me i'm actually very happy with this. Without the breeze I imagine it would of been a lot worse tbh but I feel I could work a lot harder in a race situation. If the tracks don't open i'll likely give this another bash and try to keep more even splits.

IvoryTower

Mon - rest

Tues - 3.5m easy. Worrying about my wrecked legs at this point

Wed - 5k 18.09 looking forward to giving this another bash

Thurs - Rest

Fri - Rest

Sat - Mile TT 4.55

As soon as i started this i knew i was in trouble. I should have warmed up longer it may have given me some hope. By 400m i was on target but my legs already felt like they were at about 1000m, each 200m after than lost another second, just nothing in me. Gave a push at the end but wasn't enough. Between the baby, booze, 5k, i dunno, legs just weren't there. Not worried, its still a decent run and only a time trial at the end of the day.

Progressive something. After it I ran 4.5 miles hard enough, I usually can barely manage the warm down after a race so it shows I wasn't fully at the races today

Sun - 10m easy (8.39) in Oldbridge. It's a beautiful time to be a runner thats for sure

A weird week, maybe too much focus on the time trials. They're fun though, I do wonder would i get away with doing one every second week, it's not racing but certainly more exciting than just training...

IvoryTower

Mon - Rest

Tues - 3 x 12min @6.47ish. Expected to push on a bit in this session but found it tough and definitely had to over reach to hit my pace in the last set

Wed - 5m easy @9.03hr145

Thurs - Was supposed to be 10 x 400 @78. In theory should be no problem for me. I hit 1 x 80 then the rest were close to 90, gave up at 9. This was even adjusting to use the wind as best i can. Something not right, maybe venturing into over training, shouldnt be too hard with the amount of boozing and eating going on. A few easy days then i'll try this again next week with 80s.

Fri - 4m @8.56 Some doms there despite the poop session

Sat - 6m easy I skipped todays light session, threw on the vaporflys and just went out for a nice run. 7.48 hr147. Man these shoes are too good. I would consider wearing them a lot more if i hadnt already bought so many pairs of runners during lockdown. The difference they make to me is huge, I can only describe it like wearing my spikes only not having to worry about the lack of heel.

Sun 10 lsr beautiful run out in oldbridge with my best friend, saw lots of club members out running together again, great to see

My workplace is old school so theyre looking to have us back in the office asap, looks like wfh will be over soon. This sucks in some regards, lunch time runs being the main one. I might run my wee commute until the schools are back. My group are back training as well, might be able to join them soon...

Speedy44

What kind of recovery were you taking for the 12mins and 4's? Some drop off alright in those 4's, something not right as you said.

IvoryTower

Speedy44 wrote: »

What kind of recovery were you taking for the 12mins and 4's? Some drop off alright in those 4's, something not right as you said.

I think 3min for the 12 and 60s jog for the 400s. Although it was often longer in an effort to avoid running into the wind

Me having an absolute mare for a few sessions is nothing new so I'll just see how it goes. I've yet to go a season without a bad batch somewhere along the line!

IvoryTower

So the form continued after that and i've now taken a break. I'm not certain what's wrong, maybe over trained due to a few unnecessary runs, bad diet etc. The baby has been really tough the last couple of weeks so it might be connected. I can't be sure what it is but I know i dont feel right. No energy, mentally very low which is not like me at all, I feel weak, went to do a long run and dragged myself around for 5m at 9min pace. I spray painted my kitchen without a mask and im even paranoid that i've slight poisoning or something, probably just a conspiracy theory, the likelihood is i cracked into my cns. One run that stands out was doing 4 mile hard in anger after my mile time trial, just needless. Huge amounts of caffeine another worry, knocking that on the head today. Anyway i'll take a few days of complete rest then start to jog and see how i feel. Hopefully this doesn't last too long, i've missed half of last week and now all of this week, I will lose my **** if this carries on for a few weeks.

Sacksian

IT - you can take this with a grain of salt but....!

If I was looking at a runner with your speed and pbs, I'd say you were very much a fast-twitch runner. One of the most interesting things I learned from The Science of Running was how fast-twitch runners need to approach training differently than slow-twitch runners (and do better off different types of training).

See the three images attached for an explanation of what that means practically for sessions.

Slow-Twitch Runners



Fast-Twitch Runners



1500m



I'm probably in the middle of the FT-ST continuum but my general philosophy has always been to make as much progress as you can with the least mileage possible. Once you plateau, then changing the stimulus is important and, for me, that means adding mileage - I'm no longer going to improve my 5k, 3k or 1500m pb off 30-40mpw consistently. I feel like I can improve them with more mileage.

But, for you, I'm not sure just doing lots of slow-paced miles will give you as good as stimulus as (like you said before) doing 2-3 sessions a week. However, they should be tailored to your physiology/strengths e.g. something like 20 x 200m at 5k pace, for example, rather than very long periods at threshold. I don't think you need that much mileage to improve your 800m or mile. And developing aerobically for you might be better achieved through 5k pace 200s, until you're aerobically strong enough to do 5k pace 400s.

This is all spitballing hypothetical stuff - it's all theory until it's practice! Do whatever you think works for you and your approach and coach has got you to 2:01 and a decent 5k time but it's something I'm interested in, which is why I thought I'd share!

Good article on whether athletes should "move up"!

https://www.scienceofrunning.com/2009/02/part-2-should-our-athletes-move-up.html?v=47e5dceea252

Sacksian

I'll try to fix those images!