The Peds Peddler - 400m & The Mile

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Update 29/03/2016

Enjoyed 2 weeks off after the Leinsters and last week was my first week back. Starting a new cycle with the aim of peaking in July. Lots of endurance running and strength work for the next while. I've decided to do the gym straight after my running on Tues & Thurs. It's the last thing you want to do after a tough session but it's doable and it means I get plenty of rest before the next running session. First week done and no problems with doms/tiredness. I got my hamstring looked at that was giving me guff coming up to the leinsters, very tight hamstrings apparently so I'm trying to roll and stretch at least every second day.

I find endurance training tough, really anything over 300m in training is a bit of a nightmare to me but I feel much stronger now than back in November. I think this cycle should go better. Better pacing, more mentally able to get through reps,stronger from the gym work and hopefully better weather!

GYM - All 3x6
squat - 40kg
deadlift - 50kg
bench - 50kg
Pullup - BW (3x5)

Nationals are end of June, just to let you know. Better to peak for that than a few weeks later!

Be careful with doing gym sessions straight after a track session. Was this advised by somebody or is it your own idea? Your body will be tired after a track session so at best, you won't be getting the required quality out of your gym sessions, and at worst, you could injure yourself.

You have huge scope for improvement especially looking at those weights you are lifting which are not very heavy at all. Get stronger in the gym and you'll be laughing.

IvoryTower

It's just what I think will work for me. It was certainly the best I've felt combining running & strength work in a week. I feel I need the full rest days in between hard days. I will see how this goes for a few weeks anyway.

IvoryTower

GYM - All 3x6
squat - 45kg
deadlift - 60kg
bench - 55kg
Pullup - BW

Booked a PT for Thursday to look at my form.

IvoryTower

Training and gym work has been going great. I'm only squatting with the bar at the moment to work on mobility/form but will be slowly adding weight from next week. As I'm early on in endurance work I decided to do a mile race being held by my club that was being used to make teams for the raheny mile relays.

Mile Race

So with my pb being 5.23 and having failed to beat that in my last 2 attempts I decided to pace myself for 5.20 and just see how it goes.

Lap 1
The group spread out quickly which was great, after 200m I was bang on 40sec and finished the lap at 1.20
Lap 2
Kept the same pace, there seemed to be 3 of us going at the same pace, passed the line at 2.40, bang on again!
Lap 3
one of the guys slowed up so we passed him, I stopped looking at my watch and it was too a fault because we passed the line at 4.04
lap 4
The realisation that I was 4 seconds behind spurred me to kick right from the line and I managed to hold it the for the lap, the last 100 actually felt similar to that of a 400m, maybe not quite as bad bit very close. Passed over the line at 5.16, new pb, delighted

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Training and gym work has been going great. I'm only squatting with the bar at the moment to work on mobility/form but will be slowly adding weight from next week. As I'm early on in endurance work I decided to do a mile race being held by my club that was being used to make teams for the raheny mile relays.

Mile Race

So with my pb being 5.23 and having failed to beat that in my last 2 attempts I decided to pace myself for 5.20 and just see how it goes.

Lap 1
The group spread out quickly which was great, after 200m I was bang on 40sec and finished the lap at 1.20
Lap 2
Kept the same pace, there seemed to be 3 of us going at the same pace, passed the line at 2.40, bang on again!
Lap 3
one of the guys slowed up so we passed him, I stopped looking at my watch and it was too a fault because we passed the line at 4.04
lap 4
The realisation that I was 4 seconds behind spurred me to kick right from the line and I managed to hold it the for the lap, the last 100 actually felt similar to that of a 400m, maybe not quite as bad bit very close. Passed over the line at 5.16, new pb, delighted

That's a good mile time for a 56 second 400m runner. When I was running low 56s I was only running 5:04 for 1500m (though at the end of a decathlon). The next season when I was regularly running low to mid 55s, I ran a 1500m in 4:52 again at end of decathlon (which would be around 5:15 for a mile). Seems like you'd got good endurance now.

Oregano_State

Just found this log; inspiring stuff IT, I think you will definitely run 54s this year, and could go even lower if you stay healthy.

I would back Chivito up and say you could be doing more work in the 250-350m range in training. I would also add in a bit of short sprint work at the very least once every two weeks. Some 20-40m accelerations to work on your start, as well as pure speed work in the 30-80m range. General rule for these sessions is that every rep is max effort, and for every 10 metres you run in a rep, you take a minute's rest.

So for example:
Session 1 - 3x (20m, 30m, 40m) with 2min, 3min, 4min rest
Session 2 - 20m, 30m, 40m, 50m, 60m, 70m, 80m, with 2,3,4,5,6,7mins rest
Session 3 - 5x (30m, 40m) with 3min, 4min rest
Session 4 - 10x40m with 4mins rest
Session 5 - 6x60m (6mins)
Session 6 - 8x80m (8mins)

Sessions 1, 3, & 4 are acceleration-focused, with 5 & 6 being top-speed-focused, and 2 is a mixture of both. These are just examples but have a go at them if you like. Make sure you're well warmed up though, and you're not knackered from a previous session, as risk of injury is higher when you're going flat out.

PS I know none of my advice was asked for, so feel free to completely ignore me as you're not exactly doing too badly as it is.

IvoryTower

HI OS, delighted to see you have a log, I will follow it closely. The sessions sound great, I will pass them onto my coach and see what he thinks. I haven't been logging much of late, just race reports and maybe an update every once in a while. I'm delighted with how my training is going though, i feel like a completely different runner to that of 4 months ago. Hopefully the legs hold out all right as that's probably the only thing that could stop me hitting my goals.

Chivito550

Oregano_State wrote: »

Just found this log; inspiring stuff IT, I think you will definitely run 54s this year, and could go even lower if you stay healthy.

I would back Chivito up and say you could be doing more work in the 250-350m range in training. I would also add in a bit of short sprint work at the very least once every two weeks. Some 20-40m accelerations to work on your start, as well as pure speed work in the 30-80m range. General rule for these sessions is that every rep is max effort, and for every 10 metres you run in a rep, you take a minute's rest.

So for example:
Session 1 - 3x (20m, 30m, 40m) with 2min, 3min, 4min rest
Session 2 - 20m, 30m, 40m, 50m, 60m, 70m, 80m, with 2,3,4,5,6,7mins rest
Session 3 - 5x (30m, 40m) with 3min, 4min rest
Session 4 - 10x40m with 4mins rest
Session 5 - 6x60m (6mins)
Session 6 - 8x80m (8mins)

Sessions 1, 3, & 4 are acceleration-focused, with 5 & 6 being top-speed-focused, and 2 is a mixture of both. These are just examples but have a go at them if you like. Make sure you're well warmed up though, and you're not knackered from a previous session, as risk of injury is higher when you're going flat out.

PS I know none of my advice was asked for, so feel free to completely ignore me as you're not exactly doing too badly as it is.

Those recoveries seem a bit generous to be honest though I see the idea behind it. I've never been told to take those kind of recoveries during speed sessions, off any of my 3 coaches I've had though. Usually in a speed session, it will be a slow walk back recovery, regroup, and then go again. Did 6 x 60m from blocks at the weekend with slow walk back recovery, around 3-4 minutes between each rep, with the coach showing us the video he took of our start after each rep. We had an extended break at half way. Full recovery, but I don't think that necessarily needs to be 1 minute per 10m IMO.

IvoryTower wrote: »

HI OS, delighted to see you have a log, I will follow it closely. The sessions sound great, I will pass them onto my coach and see what he thinks. I haven't been logging much of late, just race reports and maybe an update every once in a while. I'm delighted with how my training is going though, i feel like a completely different runner to that of 4 months ago. Hopefully the legs hold out all right as that's probably the only thing that could stop me hitting my goals.

And the weather! :mad:

Don't underestimate how much an affect bad weather can have on sprint times. Cold or cool temperatures, wind, rain. Any one of these on their own can slow your time noticeably, and a combination of these is disaster altogether. So if you feel like you are in sub 55 shape this summer, and you see 56 showing up on the clock repeatedly, don't get disheartened. I had 10 400m races last year, and I got perfect conditions just once, I got 1 pretty good day, 1 ok day, and 7 absolutely sh1te ones, usually with strong winds and cool temperatures. The summer before was good though, and I got a great day for Nationals and nailed my PB. But overall, my times are much more inconsistent here than they were when I was in Melbourne and running races in 25-35 degrees.

So if you run 56.xx on a cold windy day, best thing to do is gauge where you were in relation to others. It's frustrating alright, but if you run 10 races, you're bound to get 2-3 nice days at least..... hopefully!

Also track makes a big difference too. Try race on the mondo at Santry as much as possible as it is a bit faster than normal synthetic tracks.

All the little things add up.

Oregano_State

Chivito550 wrote: »

Those recoveries seem a bit generous to be honest though I see the idea behind it. I've never been told to take those kind of recoveries during speed sessions, off any of my 3 coaches I've had though. Usually in a speed session, it will be a slow walk back recovery, regroup, and then go again. Did 6 x 60m from blocks at the weekend with slow walk back recovery, around 3-4 minutes between each rep, with the coach showing us the video he took of our start after each rep. We had an extended break at half way. Full recovery, but I don't think that necessarily needs to be 1 minute per 10m IMO.

Not to derail the thread, but I'd stick by those rest guidelines. It's a fairly standard rule of thumb when training at 95-100% of top speed. See slide 5 in this link. For the first couple of reps you'd probably be OK but towards the latter end of a speed session you will see a greater drop-off in times if you take less than those recoveries.

IvoryTower

Derail away!

IvoryTower

Running my first 800m race this evening. I had a full session on Tuesday so will be doing it on tired-ish legs. The weather is also ****e so I have all my excuses lined up! Roll on 7pm

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Running my first 800m race this evening. I had a full session on Tuesday so will be doing it on tired-ish legs. The weather is also ****e so I have all my excuses lined up! Roll on 7pm

800m is such a grind. I'm pretty sure I'm done with them now that the 400 is no longer the focus.

Best of luck. You should be looking for sub 2:20 at the least, given your 400m and Mile times. Probably closer to 2:15.

IvoryTower

yep thats what im hoping for, ill see if there's anyone aiming for 2.10-2.15 and i could work off them for the first lap

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

yep thats what im hoping for, ill see if there's anyone aiming for 2.10-2.15 and i could work off them for the first lap

Don't overcook the first lap. It should be faster than the second lap, but only by about 2 seconds. So if you want a 2:16 for example, then a 67-69 would be the way to go. Attack the first 40m hard like you would a sprint race as it’s not possible to save those 5-6 seconds of free energy for later in the race, so use it up at the start. As a result your first 200m will be your fastest. You need to work hard on the third 200m, and then whatever you have left at the end. Something like 33-34-34-35 would be a very well run race to get a 2:16.

El Caballo

How'd you get on with it?

IvoryTower

2.16

It was shocking windy! I asked around before the race and found a kid who was aiming for 2.10 so I decided to stick with him so as to avoid blowing up on the first lap. I think the first lap was 67, not certain. First lap felt great, so much nicer than running a 400m race, at 500m I realised I had too much in tank and wind on the back straight was slowing us up so I kicked on from about 550 right to the end. The finish felt more in line with a 400, pumping the arms to try not lose speed. The kid looking for 2.10 finish about 2.20 I think he struggled with the wind. I came 2nd with winner on 2.13 (he can run 2.05). Happy with that, would love to give it a shot on a nice day and will certainly run more 800s given the chance

happygoose

I was up there at the Graded. Horrible dour cold wet windy night for an 800 and you didn't have a field to pull you on to sub 2:10 which you easily have in you, even on a night like last Thursday.

Seen your post on the T&F thread. Kildare Championships in Le Cheile 15th May welcomes guests and Le Cheile have a couple of good 800 guys who do IMC's, as do Newbridge and Coca's, so the chances are you may get a good race there. Some may opt out of a county championship though.

Closing date is the 3rd May. Details on the Kildare T&F website.

IvoryTower

Thanks hg I'm going to run it by my coach now, sounds perfect

IvoryTower

Registered for 800m in Kildare on the 15th, hopefully do myself more justice this time around.

IvoryTower

Kildare championships 800m

So I entered this believing I didn't do myself justice the first time around and hoping to make amends. I was full sure I could run 2.10 but it wasn't to be. Lovely day for it and all so unfortunately no excuse! I decided I was going to use my watch to pace the first 200 so I didn't blow up, but I didn't start my watch properly which put me off a little put. It turned out they were calling the times at 200m anyway so it would have been fine. I think I crossed 200 and 400 around 30, 62 anyway so happy so far. I lost seconds then on the back straight as the guy I was behind slowed up and I don't know why i didn't pass him straight away, felt great until the last 100 where I must have been going slower than I thought to finish with 2.14. Was really disappointed tbh, blaming the gym/training for heavy legs, trying to use a watch, but its probably just lack of practice really. It's a pb though so I'll take it, there'll be plenty of more chances to beat it.

I like the 800m race a lot. It's probably my fave race so far. Its a pity I prefer the training that goes with the shorter stuff!

Oregano_State

Well done on the PB. Sounds like you had a similar experience to Rudisha in the Shanghai Diamond League 800m with the confusing start. The 800m is a tough race to pace properly, you were going well if maybe a little too quick for the first 400m based on the splits you mention, but the middle 200m is definitely the toughest to get right. The thing is that you have to up the effort level a bit to maintain the same pace. Practice makes perfect anyway, and there's a long season ahead.

Chivito550

Good run. You went out a bit too quick. A 64/65 first lap could have nabbed you a 2:12. Wouldn’t get too worked up about it though. In the end of the day, do you want to be a 400m runner or an 800m runner? The training is completely different. If the answer is the former, then a 2:14 is good endurance to help you towards a 54.

IvoryTower

So there's plenty of races to pick from in June which will give me some practice and see where im at in lead up to July when I hope to peak. Then there's also the Dublin Graded in August which could be a last ditch effort if things didnt go so well! Ideally I would like to have hit my targets and get a chance to do another 800m race before the summer is out. There's a few IMC meets as well that will help keep the options open.


July 7th DDAC Graded
July 21st Louth Championships
August 3rd Dublin Graded Tallaght

I love the training over the next few months, anything <400 in training is what I call fun. Here's hoping my legs stay strong and the it doesnt continue to rain the whole summer

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

So there's plenty of races to pick from in June which will give me some practice and see where im at in lead up to July when I hope to peak. Then there's also the Dublin Graded in August which could be a last ditch effort if things didnt go so well! Ideally I would like to have hit my targets and get a chance to do another 800m race before the summer is out. There's a few IMC meets as well that will help keep the options open.


July 7th DDAC Graded
July 21st Louth Championships
August 3rd Dublin Graded Tallaght

I love the training over the next few months, anything <400 in training is what I call fun. Here's hoping my legs stay strong and the it doesnt continue to rain the whole summer

Hope you don't mind me chipping in. Good to have the Louth Championships as one of your goals as it is your county championships. But if I were you I'd try target some races on the fast Mondo tracks. The track in Tallaght is slow for sprinting, and this type of thing does make a difference. Have a look at races in Santry, Belfast, Waterford and Athlone.

In July the second round of the National League is in Belfast which isn't too far from you. You could guest at that. Also the Munster Championships are in Waterford on July 31.

In June there are lots of races on Mondo tracks:

National League Round 1 (Santry and Athlone)
NI/Ulster Championships (Belfast)
Nationals (Santry)

Give yourself every chance of running fast by picking the key races to be on the fastest tracks IMO.

IvoryTower

No of course not. The type of track never really crossed my mind, I will certainly keep an eye out for them, it would probably be worth keeping an eye on the weather as well and opting for a race if conditions look good

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

No of course not. The type of track never really crossed my mind, I will certainly keep an eye out for them, it would probably be worth keeping an eye on the weather as well and opting for a race if conditions look good

Yep good plan. Hard to run the time you are capable of if you've got gale force winds to contend with!

Oiriallach

Chivito550 wrote: »

But if I were you I'd try target some races on the fast Mondo tracks. The track in Tallaght is slow for sprinting, and this type of thing does make a difference. Have a look at races in Santry, Belfast, Waterford and Athlone.

In July the second round of the National League is in Belfast which isn't too far from you. You could guest at that. Also the Munster Championships are in Waterford on July 31.

In June there are lots of races on Mondo tracks:

National League Round 1 (Santry and Athlone)
NI/Ulster Championships (Belfast)
Nationals (Santry)

Give yourself every chance of running fast by picking the key races to be on the fastest tracks IMO.

A question for Chivito550: How much faster do you reckon the Mondo tracks are (versus the Tartan tracks) - for example, how many hundredths of a second in a 100m?

Chivito550

Oiriallach wrote: »

A question for Chivito550: How much faster do you reckon the Mondo tracks are (versus the Tartan tracks) - for example, how many hundredths of a second in a 100m?

Probably depends on the tartan track. A good tartan track probably not much. A crappy one like Irishtown and Tallaght probably a fair bit. Maybe 0.3 for 400 for a 55 second runner? All just guess work of course. Most major champs seem to be on mondo these days, though Zurich 2014 wasn't. But it was a sort of hardened tartan track, very different to the bog standard track you'd find around Ireland.

IvoryTower

Ddac graded meet 400m

I really didn't want to run this but my coach wanted me to knock off some cobwebs so I reluctantly agreed! It was sub 60 grade and there was only 4 of us. I was on the inside in lane 2. My training partner in lane 3, dunleer and boyne in 3 & 4 respectively. I didn't have a great warm up but I wasn't as nervous as usual because I expected it to be a write off. I got out pretty good, we were all pretty much in a line right up to 200m. I heard the boyne fella make a groan about then I think lactic had kicked in for him and he was struggling. With 100 to go 3 of us were almost in line. The lads pulled ahead of me slightly and then with about 40m to go I was struggling badly. I lost my form which I'm a bit disappointed with, slowed up badly with 10m to go.

1st dunleer and my training partner 2nd were 55 and I was 56.3 which is actually a pb of 0.15 ha! Now it's hand timed so ill take it with a pinch of salt but I'm delighted because I have 2 months of speed stuff to come so I'm confident I can improve on that and hopefully get that 54/55. It was first 400m race for lad I train with and he ran in runners so I'm expecting massive improvements from him over the next year.

Tullamore on Sunday, hopefully the weather is as perfect as it was today, be good to get another race under my belt before a few weeks of hard training.

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Ddac graded meet 400m

I really didn't want to run this but my coach wanted me to knock off some cobwebs so I reluctantly agreed! It was sub 60 grade and there was only 4 of us. I was on the inside in lane 2. My training partner in lane 3, dunleer and boyne in 3 & 4 respectively. I didn't have a great warm up but I wasn't as nervous as usual because I expected it to be a write off. I got out pretty good, we were all pretty much in a line right up to 200m. I heard the boyne fella make a groan about then I think lactic had kicked in for him and he was struggling. With 100 to go 3 of us were almost in line. The lads pulled ahead of me slightly and then with about 40m to go I was struggling badly. I lost my form which I'm a bit disappointed with, slowed up badly with 10m to go.

1st dunleer and my training partner 2nd were 55 and I was 56.3 which is actually a pb of 0.15 ha! Now it's hand timed so ill take it with a pinch of salt but I'm delighted because I have 2 months of speed stuff to come so I'm confident I can improve on that and hopefully get that 54/55. It was first 400m race for lad I train with and he ran in runners so I'm expecting massive improvements from him over the next year.

Tullamore on Sunday, hopefully the weather is as perfect as it was today, be good to get another race under my belt before a few weeks of hard training.

Well done. Nice opener. Hand times are very frustrating it has to be said. Surprised they didn't have electronic. That would be a real dealbreaker for me in terms of what races I run. But for a first race of the season it's fine.

Anyway, I think the general rule for 400m is to add 0.14 onto your time (0.24 for 100m and 200m), but that assumes the hand timers are experienced at it and very accurate, which is often not the case. In any case, it won't matter as you will go quicker in your next few races. First one is usually the slowest. Try avoid hand timed races in future though. If you run 54.9 at one at the end of the year you will be kicking yourself as you'll know deep down you can't claim that.

IvoryTower

Leinster senior 400m

57.16

Combination of going out fast and legs being knackered from Thursday. Racing again next Sunday so will try pace it better and hopefully less tightness. First experience of lane 8, can't say it bothered me

IvoryTower

Dublin graded 200m tallaght

Was looking forward to this as it was my first dublin graded and only second time running 200. Previous pb was 27 something so very soft. I was in lane 5 which was fine, running into slight breeze on back straight. It's all a bit of a blur but the plan was to come out hard for about half the curve then cruise until the straight, all went to plan, legs were giving way with about 20 to go but only really shaky for last 10. All us were together which was pretty cool, a close race, I think I came 3rd finising with a time of 25.43. Happy with that, pretty much what I expected anyway but at least I didn't made a balls of it! It puts in hindsight how fast I'm going for first 200m of 400m, too fast...Will have to work on that.

Chivito550

You're 200m time is almost exactly the 200m time I had when I ran sub 55. You have the speed for it no doubt. I think that's a clear sign that your speed endurance needs improving. Reps involving 150s, 200s and 300s at high intensity with good recovery will take care of that.

IvoryTower

Chivito550 wrote: »

You're 200m time is almost exactly the 200m time I had when I ran sub 55. You have the speed for it no doubt. I think that's a clear sign that your speed endurance needs improving. Reps involving 150s, 200s and 300s at high intensity with good recovery will take care of that.

Thats good to hear Chivito, i have been doing a pyramid type session with them reps. Hopefully it improves, cant say im confident of the sub 56 after my last outing but have plenty of races in july to give it a stab

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Thats good to hear Chivito, i have been doing a pyramid type session with them reps. Hopefully it improves, cant say im confident of the sub 56 after my last outing but have plenty of races in july to give it a stab

6x150 off slow walk back recovery (4 mins or so)

5x200 off 6 mins recovery

3x300 off 10 mins recovery.

3x(300-45secs-100) off 7 mins

Those type of sessions will improve your speed endurance. At this point of the season the volume decreases and the intensity and recoveries increase. Sessions with short recoveries and jog recoveries are kept to a minimum at this point. There's a difference between endurance sessions and speed endurance.

IvoryTower

Ddac graded meet 400m

56.0, agonisingly close to 55!

I had low expectations going into this as I had a cold the previous week and my training has been a bit shaky for the last 2 weeks. When I realised the weather was good I knew I had to get a pb, might not get that weather again this year! There was a slight breeze is all which is great for such an open track.

The aim was 27 for first 200 and while I'm not sure I think I was pretty close. Its by far the strongest I've felt in the last 200 of a 400, it's a bit of a blur but I think the lactic only really kicked in with about 30m to go.I could see 55 as I was crossing so thought I had it! Afterwards i was no where near as wrecked as I usually am and I even managed to do a few 150s. Maybe I could have pushed a bit harder or maybe I'm getting a bit stronger. Either way plenty of positives to take. The winner ran 49 sec! winner of 800 last week was sub 2 in horrid weather, great to see such talent coming to our meets, new clubs arriving every time.

I won't reach the 54 this summer but a decent 55 is there hopefully. 3 races to go over the next few weeks finishing with the dublin graded at the start of august. I don't think there's anything after that.

Oiriallach

No need to stop in early August if you want a few more races and don't mind travelling about 90 minutes north from Drogheda!

I think there's a 400 scheduled in the North Down AC Open Meet in Bangor on Tuesday, 16 August, and there's also the Northern Ireland Team Trophy in Antrim on Saturday, 27 August.

IvoryTower

Oiriallach wrote: »

No need to stop in early August if you want a few more races and don't mind travelling about 90 minutes north from Drogheda!

I think there's a 400 scheduled in the North Down AC Open Meet in Bangor on Tuesday, 16 August, and there's also the Northern Ireland Team Trophy in Antrim on Saturday, 27 August.

Thanks Oiriallach thats good to know

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Ddac graded meet 400m

56.0, agonisingly close to 55!

I had low expectations going into this as I had a cold the previous week and my training has been a bit shaky for the last 2 weeks. When I realised the weather was good I knew I had to get a pb, might not get that weather again this year! There was a slight breeze is all which is great for such an open track.

The aim was 27 for first 200 and while I'm not sure I think I was pretty close. Its by far the strongest I've felt in the last 200 of a 400, it's a bit of a blur but I think the lactic only really kicked in with about 30m to go.I could see 55 as I was crossing so thought I had it! Afterwards i was no where near as wrecked as I usually am and I even managed to do a few 150s. Maybe I could have pushed a bit harder or maybe I'm getting a bit stronger. Either way plenty of positives to take. The winner ran 49 sec! winner of 800 last week was sub 2 in horrid weather, great to see such talent coming to our meets, new clubs arriving every time.

I won't reach the 54 this summer but a decent 55 is there hopefully. 3 races to go over the next few weeks finishing with the dublin graded at the start of august. I don't think there's anything after that.

Sometimes the best races are the ones that feel the easiest, and the ones you don't feel too tired from. Just means you probably stayed relaxed and didn't "try too hard" and tense up.

Congrats on the PB.

IvoryTower

Louth Championships 400m Senior

56.49 (56.46 is my official pb, 56.0 hand timed)


Didn't feel up for it, was very sleepy and I have pins and needles in my right leg since the race last week. I need to get more sleep over the next few weeks,get this leg sorted and then i'll have no excuses. I won't talk any more about the race cause it just annoys me!

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Louth Championships 400m Senior

56.49 (56.46 is my official pb, 56.0 hand timed)


Didn't feel up for it, was very sleepy and I have pins and needles in my right leg since the race last week. I need to get more sleep over the next few weeks,get this leg sorted and then i'll have no excuses. I won't talk any more about the race cause it just annoys me!

0.03 outside your PB ain't a bad result, particularly if feeling crap!

IvoryTower

Chivito550 wrote: »

0.03 outside your PB ain't a bad result, particularly if feeling crap!

I just know that I'm fitter than I was back when I got the pb so it will bug the life out of me if I can't show it in a race!

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

I just know that I'm fitter than I was back when I got the pb so it will bug the life out of me if I can't show it in a race!

What were conditions like? Windy? Cool or warm?

IvoryTower

Chivito550 wrote: »

What were conditions like? Windy? Cool or warm?

It was a a good night for a race, slight wind is all, it was only slightly better last week.

Now the pins and needles are gone I can see I have shin splints of some sort. Went for a jog on grass this morning and it gets quite sore pretty quick. Bad timing really but only a few weeks to go so will just have to push through it. I think my legs are finding first year of training in spikes tough and it seems to be taking its toll.

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

It was a a good night for a race, slight wind is all, it was only slightly better last week.

Now the pins and needles are gone I can see I have shin splints of some sort. Went for a jog on grass this morning and it gets quite sore pretty quick. Bad timing really but only a few weeks to go so will just have to push through it. I think my legs are finding first year of training in spikes tough and it seems to be taking its toll.

Bar of soap in the shower. Use it to massage up and down your shin. It works.

IvoryTower

Will try that thanks

IvoryTower

Dublin Graded 200m 21/07/2016

25.81


Another bad race but a nice evening at least. I blew up with about 50m to go which is poor really for a "400m" runner. Stuck to the plan of pushing hard for first 50m, cruising to the bend and pushing again. Exact same as the last 200m race I had but I only tied up for the last 10m then. I done 3 practice block starts + 100m the evening before and I actually had doms from it but i'm not sure how much I can blame on that, I think my legs are just knackered in general. The wind was a lot worse than the last time as well so my time may have been close enough to the previous effort (25.43) with better conditions.

Crap time aside, 200m is a cracking race and i'd say it will be as much a focus next season as anything I do.

Chivito550

IvoryTower wrote: »

Dublin Graded 200m 21/07/2016

25.81


Another bad race but a nice evening at least. I blew up with about 50m to go which is poor really for a "400m" runner. Stuck to the plan of pushing hard for first 50m, cruising to the bend and pushing again. Exact same as the last 200m race I had but I only tied up for the last 10m then. I done 3 practice block starts + 100m the evening before and I actually had doms from it but i'm not sure how much I can blame on that, I think my legs are just knackered in general. The wind was a lot worse than the last time as well so my time may have been close enough to the previous effort (25.43) with better conditions.

Crap time aside, 200m is a cracking race and i'd say it will be as much a focus next season as anything I do.

The lad who won our race in 24.64 ran 23.91 in Belfast last weekend (in perfect conditions), and he said he felt pretty good in the race last night. So that says it all about conditions last night. We got the roughest conditions of all the men's 200 races. At least the others got a tailwind in the straight. We had a headwind for the full 200!

IvoryTower

That's good to know, makes me want another bash at it before season is over!

IvoryTower

Le cheile Imc meet 400m

54.84!!!!

Boom!! Really didn't see that coming. Felt awful beforehand. Had about 4 hours sleep and could feel a strain in my right leg. My kid decided for the first time ever he would climb out of the cot, this was at 4am and I couldnt get back to sleep. So a mixture of nerves and sleepiness all day. I was in a mixed race in lane 6 while gillick & co were running in the A race. They called out the pbs beforehand so I knew I was in the middle somewhere anyway. When I arrived i already knew what lane I was in(Imc is great isnt it?!) so I could work out exactly where 50m was from start line as I tend to push for too long and the end of my race suffers as a result.

A few seconds after gun went I heard the commentator mention I had got out well. Soon as I hit 50m I cruised, felt myself slowing at 250 and picked it up a bit, I only really felt bad with maybe 30/40m to go and I handled it better than ever. Ciara mccallion from clonliffe in lane 5 was about a metre ahead of me for the last 80m and it seemed to drag me the whole way to the line.

Pconn told me after I ran 54 and I just told him I couldn't have, thatd I'd run 55 at very best. Turned out he had the time spot on, I've never been so happy after a race ha! I'm going to stop moaning about 400m now for a while the love is back.

I have 400m in tallaght on Wed and I feel the pressure is off so I'm just going to go enjoy it, see what happens. I have a break then for a few weeks but I'm thinking of finding an 800 somewhere or at least doing a time trial to see where I'm at.

Can't wait to do some mile and 5k races between now and Christmas, what a season