Run Forrest

gramar

There's a mile race on Saturday evening that I'll do for the hell of it even though it's a long while since I've tried a mile so I've no idea how I'll go. I have to run 3:43min/km pace to get home in under 6mins and I don't think I have it in me.

I also need new runners as I decided to leave my ones in KK. I'm wondering whether to get the same ones again or upgrade a bit. I'll get something today anyway and give them a whirl later. I'm think of doing a few 800m repeats to give my body some bit of preparation for Saturday, then an few easy km on Friday evening.

gramar

I wanted to do some faster intervals this evening with Saturday in mind so after a 2km warm up is it was to be 800mx5 at about a 3:45min/km pace.

I stuck on the new runners but they didn't feel right, the heel was slipping a bit on the right one so no point in running if they don't feel right when just walking around in them so I'll change them tomorrow for a size less and possibly model as I tried the 43 and that was a bit tight in light socks.

The first 800 repeat actually turned out to be a km. I started off way too quickly at 3:15 and I progressively slowed but it took me about 500m to get to 3:45min/km pace. Then when I checked the watch I was at 900 metres so I went and did a full km at 3:39min/km.
I'm not too bad pacing slower runs but for faster ones I'm absolutely hopeless and without the watch I'd be all over the place.

The second back into the wind was spot on at 3:45min/km over 800 and the rest were 3:41, 3:55 into the wind with a stitch and the last one 3:45 again into the wind. I would have been happy with around 4 for that one but I felt good throughout and pleased I kept up the pace.
Moreover this evening have me hope that I might have a chance at a sub 6min mile Saturday.

gramar

Got the runners changed anyway for a different brand after about 45 mins in the shop deliberating.
Did a few easy km's a walked a bit in them yesterday and they feel ok.

This evening was warm enough and with the mile tomorrow evening I wanted to keep it slow.
I did 6.5km at about 5:30min/km pace and then a fast 500 metres to finish in about 3:40 pace.

I'm not sure I'll get around below 6min tomorrow.
On the plus side I've had a good week of running, a solid 5km in the parkrun, a good tempo run Monday
and the 800 intervals went well on Wednesday. The circuit will be flat and on tarmac/concrete so a bit faster
than the track I'm usually on. I've done 6:14 on the track about 6 weeks ago so 15 seconds isn't a huge ask
and I think I've improved since then. It's at 8pm so the temperature should be ideal plus the touch of race
adrenalin to spur me on. Of the 4 mile races in the series it might be the only one I do as I mightn't be around
for next week's and the other two involve a 100mile round trip which seems a bit much for the sake of running
a mile and trailing in at the arse end of the field so a bit of extra motivation to get the job done tomorrow.

On the downside I need to average a 3:40 pace more or less for 1609m which I haven't ever done
so I need a bit of improvement.

As for strategy I think I'll start around a 3:50 pace and try hold that for a km then try to kick on from there for
the last 600 and endure the hurt.

gramar

Melgar 3/9/2016

I arrived about 20 minutes before the race was due off and had a good warm up of 5 or 6 minutes slow jogging followed by a few strides and stretches.

The course was 3 and a bit loops in the centre of the town and was perfectly flat. The downside was that on each loop there were two turns around cones where you had to do pretty much a full 360 turn and meant slowing down almost to a stop before trying to get back up to pace again after getting around and all in that's 7 times your pace is disrupted.

24 took to the start and I went off fairly quickly at somewhere around a 3:45min/km. The watch was a bit off on the distance which meant the pace it was giving me was too so it was more running on feel than anything. I was last for the first lap then overtook one fella and tracked the person in front to the last turn with about 200 metres to go when I streaked past him showing a blinding turn of pace that surprised even myself.
I could see the clock as I approached the finish..5:42...5:43..5.44....and I crossed in 22nd position in an official time of 5:52 (3:38min/km).

I was happy with the run as it was sub 6 but felt there were a few more seconds I could have shaved off not accounting for the time lost on the turns. The main reason I think I could do it faster is that it didn't hurt as much as it should have. My lightning finish also reminded me of this thread

Anyway, job done. I'm now tempted to have a go again in few weeks even if it means an 80mile round trip.

Incidentally, the winner was home in 4:26 with the top 6 all finishing in 5min or under and only one finisher outside of 6mins.


Sunday morning:

I was out by about half 9 as it was gonna be a hot one. 2km easy warm up and then 400m intervals.

3:32min/km
3:35min/km
3:25min/km
3:29min/km
3:22min/km

While I was doing a 1km warm down I began wondering how fast I could run the 100 metres so for the hell of it measured out a 100metres on the track, checked it 4 times until I was happy it was more or less right and then gave it socks a couple of times. 15 seconds as it happens there or there abouts. I was never anyway fast even as kid so I'm not going to be now and there were some distant rumblings in the groin area telling me that flat out sprinting is best off left alone so I'll leave it at that.

HigginsJ

Well done Grammar, you'd knock a decent bit off that time on a straighter course as the effort required to get back up to pace would be huge

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Well done Grammar, you'd knock a decent bit off that time on a straighter course as the effort required to get back up to pace would be huge

No point getting into ifs and buts but....:pac: probably losing 2 seconds on every turn and then could have ran a bit harder so could conceivably get close to 5:30.
The one I'd like to do is on the 17th as it's one turn, 800m out and 800m back but mightn't be able to that day. Otherwise the 1st of October.

There's a few races coming up the next few weeks, a possible 8km on the 17th, 5km the 18th, a 7.5km the following Saturday 24th, a 6km on the 25th, the mile possibly on the 1st and then a 10km on the 8th of October.

The 8km on the 17th mightn't be the best idea as I'd like to give the 5km a good old rattle the day after.

gramar

The distant rumblings of discontent I felt in the groins as I tried to relive my youth by sprinting the 100metres have now become very loud protests. My groins aren't happy and they aren't shy about telling me. As the day is going on the soreness is increasing and at this rate I'll have to sleep on the couch tonight as the stairs will be too much for me.

gramar

The quads got a bit sore too as the day went on and there was still a bit of soreness again today. 2 feckin' sprints and I'm banjaxed.
Nonetheless I went for an easy trot of 6.5km after the sun went down as it was scorching out this evening. The first 4.5 were at a steady pace of about 5:45min/km and then I upped it to 5min/km for the last 2. Noticed slight discomfort but nothing much and hopefully the few miles will have
helped.

HigginsJ

Old age is a killer!!!! Glad there doesnt seem to be any lasting effects

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Old age is a killer!!!! Glad there doesnt seem to be any lasting effects

Despite the old age I went out again this evening. The main target is a 5km Sunday week so I did some speed work. After about a 2km warm up it was
10x400metres at 4min/km pace off a 2 min recovery to help me get used to a 4min/km pace. I found these very comfortable and very enjoyable. I averaged about 3.55 for the first 8 then 3:41 for the second last and decided to go all out for the last doing it in 3:10.
I could have shortened the recovery by 30 seconds as at that pace and that recovery I was cruising over 400 metres and I'll probably do that the next time.

gramar

After last nights 400 metre repeats going so well I decided to do some more with a slight change and do
500m repeats up a slight incline of about 1.5% and then 500m back with the intention of keeping a 4min/km pace.

I ran up the hill to get the blood flowing - 600metres with a 6% incline. I didn't meet any naked men today thankfully.
Yesterday walking the dogs up there I met a fella walking completely starkers hardly 20 yards away who tried to cover up
when he saw me. Being the gentleman I am I turned to the right down another track to save his blushes or should I say
bushes - let's just say a trim wouldn't go astray.

The legs felt a bit tired from yesterday and with a slight incline and another 100 metres it wasn't as easy going but
the 500m back with the slope in my favour made it a bit easier. I had a strong enough stitch on the 4th rep a downhill
curiously enough but a few stretches seemed to work and it didn't make a reappearance.

The times were fairly consistent and were:

1:58
2:00
1:59
1:57
1:59
1:57
1:56
2:02
1:55
1:53

gramar

I was away this weeked in a very small and very rural village in the back of beyonds in Asturias. There was a 5km route out of the village
up through the valley where cows wandered freely against a dramatic background of rocky mountains so where better to do a long run.

I anticipated a fairly flat route however it turned out to be anything but and the 5km up to the lake was all uphill of one gradient or another.
I climbed over 250 metres over the 5km reaching almost 1600metres above sea level. The average incline was 5% but some were easily 15% and I walked a good bit of those as they were bloody torture. I only realised how steep they were coming down as even though I wanted to walk they were so steep I couldn't help but run.

It was fairly stop start apart from the steep hills as I stopped a few times admiring the views and taking a few photos, letting cattle past as well as those who had the sense go up on horseback. All in all it was about 15km...2 walking to the start of the route..10.5 going up and down and then a slow jog back the last two through the village. As a training exercise I don't know what it would be classed as but I'm sure it did me some good anyway. The slowest km was over 15mins as I was walking around the edge of the lake and getting stuck behind a cow not wanting to run up behind it in case it got spooked. The fastest 4:51 on the last part of the downhill stretch where it flattened out a bit.

gramar

With one eye on Sunday's 5km today was going to the last 'hard' session. After 10 minutes warming up it was 5x1km @ 4min/km pace off 90 seconds recovery. This was plenty after the first and second rep buts it's amazing how quickly 90 seconds slips by after the third and fourth.
I was in the mood but the body was a bit sluggish so I found them a little harder than they might have been on another day.
The splits:
4:04
4:02
4:02
3:57
4:01

gramar

Despite arthrosis in my hips I've been running virtually pain free for a year or two but with the weather changing between Monday and Tuesday and going from hot and dry it went to cool and wet I began to notice slight discomfort in my right hip yesterday and that became a real pain in the arse today and I was shuffling like Dinny Byrne at times.

It's not the first time the weather has cause it to flare up a bit but as long as that is all it is then I don't mind. I had planned on a few easy kilometes but seeing as I couldn't walk freely I was wondering how in hell I was going to run but more to prove a point to myself than anything run I did doing 6km @5:20min/km keeping it nice and steady all the way.

As it happens I have a bi-annual check up tomorrow with the consultant who no doubt will tell me I'm an idiot and running myself into an even earlier hip replacement but the way I see it is that bringing it forward a year or two is really neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things.

gramar

The Doc said he couldn't see any change in the x-rays from two years ago and l didn't see any eye rolls when I told him I'd started doing more running since I saw him last so he said to continue as I am once it wasn't causing pain or discomfort.

Tonight I went out for a few easy km's. The hip was more or less ok with only the odd stab of pain but as the weather has settled the hip has too.
After 8km at about 5min/km the time was 40:20. The OCD kicked in then and I said I'd go around the village to do the 10 and to finish under 50 minutes. I was a bit slack on the 9th km in 4:58 so I had a bit of work to do on the last which was mostly drags and uphills managing it in 4:28 but working hard for it.

I think I'm fairly set for a good run on Sunday. I know the course which is 99% flat and where each kilometre is to help with pacing.
I'll try to start near the front as I expect there'll be about 2000 runners and the further forward the less weaving and dodging so hopefully
I'll go below 21 minutes.

HigginsJ

Best of luck today

gramar

Smurfit 5Km 18-09-2016

Preparation had gone fairly well to have a good go at getting below 21min and setting a new PB.
The sore hip had cleared up, the day was just about ideal, a light breeze, sunny but cool. I hadn't smoked
or drank for a week, had a good night's sleep so on a flat street course if I didn't run well today I never would.

I parked up about a km from the start line so had a a decent warm up of about 2km with stretches before making my way
to the start line with about 10 minutes to the off. I was among the first there but wanted to make sure I was near the front
to avoid as much traffic and weaving as possible and took my place a couple of yards behind the line with the majority of the
1500 runners behind me with about a 50/50 split between 5 and 10km participants.

The start went well and within about 300m I was running freely and with the wide road going past people was straightforward in
every sense. I was intending to go about 4:15 pace but checking the watch a few times I down around 4 so starting the second km
I made a conscious effort to ease up a little and not risk running out of puff halfway around although in hindsight I probably eased off a tad too much. Through the city centre for the next two km I was reeling in people ahead but at the same time looking for someone or a group to track but anytime I did I felt they were going either too slow or too fast so I stuck to my own pace.

The 4th km was straight up along by the river and I upped the pace a bit passing a few on the way. The last 100m of km 4 was a slight incline and then down the other side to start the last km so I used that to kick on a bit. I could feel the effort kicking in as well though, a stitch was giving me some early warning signs and the arms began to swing a bit so made sure I was running tall, relaxing the shoulders and trying to keep it as tidy as I could. I ran past another few over the last 300 metres and finished fairly well and I had very little left in the tank getting over the line. That's a big contrast to last year when in the same race I felt I paced it very poorly and could have done another 5km.

The chip time was 20:15 for 28th out of 760 meaning a minute knocked off my previous best and about 30secs better than what I had realistically expected. Needless to say I was happy with the time and getting so close to 20min makes me think that it's now very possible to get below it.

The splits were:
4:02
4:22
4:16
3:58
3:37

I went out for 5.5km Monday evening at about a 5min/km pace. Felt a bit sluggish unsurprisingly. It also told me that doing two
races next weekend is probably not a good idea so I'll knock Sunday morning's 6km on the head and next up is 7.5km on Saturday evening,
part of the summer series most of which is the usual track surface I'm used to.

HigginsJ

That's a cracking run G, well done

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

That's a cracking run G, well done

Thanks J. I was happy with the result but not ecstatic seeing as it wasn't a complete surprise. Below 20 would have been another story. There's a another flat urban 5km/10km on the 1st of October and I'm wondering whether to do that or a mile which is on at the same day.

I feel I have unfinished business in the mile but seeing as I'm running well and 5km is the primary objective it would probably make more sense to go for that. They're both the same distance away, about 45-50mins drive but the 5km is being shown live on the national station's sports channel and there's a free bar plus a very generous race bag so some fairly convincing arguments right there!

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

Thanks J. I was happy with the result but not ecstatic seeing as it wasn't a complete surprise. Below 20 would have been another story. There's a another flat urban 5km/10km on the 1st of October and I'm wondering whether to do that or a mile which is on at the same day.

I feel I have unfinished business in the mile but seeing as I'm running well and 5km is the primary objective it would probably make more sense to go for that. They're both the same distance away, about 45-50mins drive but the 5km is being shown live on the national station's sports channel and there's a free bar plus a very generous race bag so some fairly convincing arguments right there!

Has to be the 5km really with all that in mind.

It's funny what 15 seconds can do to you psychologically. I remember being very happy with my 1st 5km at 26:10 but after a couple of hours the fact that I could have found an extra 11 seconds really bothered me.

It's a great time and a PB, you'll clearly smash 20 minutes in no time so celebrate the successes.

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Has to be the 5km really with all that in mind.

It's funny what 15 seconds can do to you psychologically. I remember being very happy with my 1st 5km at 26:10 but after a couple of hours the fact that I could have found an extra 11 seconds really bothered me.

It's a great time and a PB, you'll clearly smash 20 minutes in no time so celebrate the successes.

Yeah, the 5km it is. The only downside is that it starts at the same time as the football final replay and I do enjoy when they play rugby at Croke park.

gramar

Out after work today to do some 1km repeats. I went to a park in town with a stretch of closed off road going through it that is just over a km long...dead straight and flat. I did about a mile to warm up before 5x1km off 90 seconds recovery at a 4min/km pace.
It was a warm enough day and the legs were still fairly sluggish and in a word it was effort. The distance at every 100m was painted on the road and for the last few km's I was counting them down. Got it done though and then a 1km trot to warm down and a few stretches.

Splits:

3:58
4:16 stopped 20 or 30 metres short of a km...confused the km beep for overall distance with the interval km beep so probably just over 4min.
3:52
4:04
3:59 - I was fading fast here and saw the 200m mark on the road so picked up for the last bit.

gramar

The legs were a bit sore today so I might have been better off doing nothing with Saturday in mind but
I wanted to do some hill repeats so I ignored my body's misgivings. I did 3km to warm up at about 5:30 pace
then 5x1min hill repeats up an increasingly steep hill at 4:50/5min/km pace with about 2/3 min recovery.
When I walked down after the last one and didn't turn around to go back up I think my legs would have kissed me
had they had lips. I had 3 easy km to do back so did those aswell at 5:30 pace followed by a good stretch.

Hopefully the legs will be ok for Saturday evening. If not I don't mind too much as it'll be a good training run at
least for Saturday week.

gramar

Carcedo 24.09.2016 7.5km

This run was from the village of Carcedo to the nearby monastery of the same name. 4km out and 3.5km back.
I arrived in good time and lucky I did as the place was fairly busy and parking was in short supply.
I had plenty of time for a good warm up and did 2km and a few strides plus plenty of stretches. Any soreness
from during the week was gone but I wasn't feeling particularly energetic. I had no real target time as I was thinking
of this as more of a hard training run with next week's 5km in mind. Anything under 33min would be very good. Under
32 and I'd be delighted.

There was a good crowd for this, the usual participants of the race series plus a lot of one-offers and about 280 lined
up at the start. The first km was about 700m around the village before heading out onto the track and with quite a few inclines
it was harder than expected. There were a few turns aswell and with people grouped together it made for a slowish start at
4:27.

Having warmed up along the track I knew the next km had a bit of a drag but wasn't too bad so I pushed on a bit passing
quite a few in 4:15 but in my head thinking that sub 32 wasn't going to happen. I kept it steady for km 3 at 4:16 and then in km 4
the track began to slope gently towards the road and along here we met the frontrunners making their way back, the best part of a km ahead.
Coming onto the road there was a sharp descent of about 500m down to the monastery which meant only one thing. Coming back up was going to be brutal. And it was. Km 4 was 4min on the button. There was time to be banked there but I was wary of the hill so wanted to hold back a little.

The 5th km started at the bottom of the hill and was a slogfest going up. Getting back onto the track was no respite as although the slope was a lot gentler it made it difficult to recover and I took at least 500m to get some sort of rhythm back. Km 5 came in at 4:50 and towards the end of this km in my head I just wanted it to be over and end the suffering. I had a few stern words with myself though and told myself to HTFU and run hard to the finish. I struggled past one or two over the next km covering it in 4:25 and knew it was flat or slightly downhill from here on in
so I focussed on 3 I had ahead and trying to reel them in.

I passed the first at the 6km mark and wanted to put as much distance as I could between him and myself as his breathing was really annoying.
Every breath was a high pitched grunt that sounded like he was on the point of having an orgasm. Of course as soon as I went past he upped his pace too to hang onto me so it was only at the end of that km I managed to get out of earshot. Km7 4:18. Over the last 500 metres I was trying to catch the two I had about 20 metres ahead and I got within a second or two at the line but was never going to catch them before. Last 500m in 1:56 (3:52min/km). I heard the announcer say 32 something as I finished so my inital reaction was 'bollocks' I didn't get below 32 but I was very pleased with the run. It was a tough course and having had a few hard runs during the week I was far from fresh and though it was a grind for a lot of it I was happy with how it went.

Watch time 32:31..(4:20min/km)...gun time 32:37 for 102nd out of 279. The senior men and women and men V1 and V2 were all in this race.
The mens winner crossed the line in 24:51 and the women's in 32:13 so for what it's worth I'd have been second in the womens race.

gramar

6km in 33.13...5.31min/km....nothing much to be said about this other than that I stopped a couple of times to pick a few blackberries.

gramar

8.5km...first 8 around 5:25min/km pace. Nice and easy. Last 500m to the end of the track at 3:43 just for the hell of it.
One more easy run Thursday and then hopefully be primed for a go at a sub 20 Saturday evening.

gramar

7km...pleasant evening and enjoyable fartlek type run.
The first 2.5km were 5:30min/km pace then 500m at 4:08min/km followed by an easy km
and then alternating 500m fast at 3:50min followed by 500m slow at about 5:20 pace from there
to finishing.

gramar

Higuero running festival - Aranda de Duero 1/10/2016.

This race wasn't targeted but got the flyer in the race bag two weeks ago and seeing as I was getting close to a sub 20
I thought it would be worth the hours trip. This was another dual distance 5km & 10km with some top athletes taking part.

After picking up the number I had about 20 minutes to warm up and headed to the start line early and worked my way up
to about 5 rows from the front. The thermometor was showing 26ºc but it didn't feel that warm and other than a bit of a breeze
the condition were more or less ideal.

The first 100m or so was slow but I found some space quickly enough and got up to speed. The first 500 metres was up a bit of a
drag and I passed quite a few people. Passing the 1km mark the watch told me 4:00min/km.
The first half of km2 was fairly flat and I passed one or two along here before crossing the bridge and out a fairly open avenue with
a slight drag and running into a bit of a headwind and along here the effort levels were beginning to rise 4:04min/km.
Ahead we were turning back on ourselves and km3 started along here and coming down the other side with the drag now in our
favour back down to the bridge and turning right down a bit of a hill 4:02min/km.

The next km started at the bottom of this hill and went straight back uphill. I came up behind a group of 5 or 6 and to go around them I would have had to check my step and go around the long way so I hopped onto the footpath and accelerated past them and kept the effort up to the top of the hill. I knew I'd feel it it once it levelled off but I also knew that running a sub-20 wasn't going to happen if all of my splits were over 4 minutes as respectable and all as they might be. This is where the effort levels really went up and I tried to keep it as steady as I could. We turned left onto a flat straight road and I found myself looking ahead hoping to see the 4km marker. Km 4 was 4:12 so some quick sums told me I needed to do somewhere around a 3:40min/km and quite honestly I didn't know where it was going to come from.

There was nothing for it but to dig deep and push on, trying to lengthen my stride and up the cadence. I overtook a few along this stretch before turning left onto another straight and went past a few more. I was really hurting at this stage but at the same time I was maintaining a decent rhythm and coming into the last right turn I gave it everything into the finishing stretch. I knew there was a digital clock over the line but I was afraid to look until I couldn't avoid seeing it and saw 19.30-something and to me it looked like I still had a mile to go. It was probably only about 100 metres though and I crossed the line as it hit 19:50. Km5 3:27.

Not sure where I pulled the last km out of as I was absolutely bollixed after km 4 but it was do or die and being that close giving up just wasn't an option. The last thing I wanted was to miss out by a few seconds because I wasn't prepared to suffer a bit. And when it comes down to it that's what it's all about. The snazzy runners, fancy shorts or electronic aids aren't worth a curse if you don't give it everything physically and mentally.

Didn't think I'd run below 20min for a 5km so very pleased to have done so especially on a course I wouldn't describe as easy. Chip time 19:45.

Next Sunday is a 10km in the last race in the provincial series so looking to go under 45mins there and wind things down then for a while.

HigginsJ

Fantastic going, well done

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Fantastic going, well done

Thanks J, you'll also be pleased to know I did a very easy 5km this evening and look at these for splits...

5:51
5:46
5:55
5:53
5:59

gramar

Out today for the first time since last Sunday and first time I've gone 5 days without a run in a good while. There won't be too much time for running during the week from now on so it'll be two at the weekend but that suits me fine as the races are few and far between. The last one is 10km this Sunday so I wanted to do a few km's just to grease the wheels. I did km 8 altogether in 38:54, the first 3 at 5:15min/km then alternating between what hopefully will be race pace in Sunday at 4:20min/km and 5:15min/km again.

Sunday's run is one small circuit and 3 longer ones and from what I can gather there are 2 longish climbs on each of the long loops. Being good at sums that tells me there are 6 altogether but also being good at logic it tells me there will be a few downhill stretches as well, probably about 6. All of that means that the 4:20 target place will be very much an average as I expect the pace to fluctuate between 4 and 5mins/km. I'm confident enough of getting around in under 45mins but unlikely I'll get below 43 so anywhere in between will do nicely. McMillan gives a time of 41:30 based on 5km times but I think with all due respect he's talking through his hoop!

gramar

I had two strokes of luck this morning. The first was when checking the start time and noticing it was next Sunday and not today thereby saving myself a 20km trip for nothing and secondly that the race wasn't even on as my body didn't feel like running today. It seems it was pushed back so as not to clash with a half and full marathon on in the city and another biggish cross country event in another town.

I went out to do a few km anyway and thought why not do 10 and after an easy mile warm up I got going. To be honest I nearly stopped 2km into the run as my legs had no zip in them at all and this was with a decent breeze behind me. I was dreading turning back into it and thanked my lucky stars there was no race today as it was one of those rare enough days when it just wasn't happening.

The splits were:

4:43
4:34
4:35
4:34
4:47 - back into the wind
4:43 - my finger was millimetres from the button to stop this right here
4:44
5:23 - slowed right down to warm down

8km in 38:04

HigginsJ

Lol, legs have no zip, do a 38 minute 8km. Can I have your bad days???!!!

gramar

Day off today so was looking forward to going out this morning. Very overcast and slightly misting for a pleasant change from the sun.
Seeing as I missed 3 of the 4 mile races I felt had a bit of unfinished business. Happy as I was to go under 6min (5:52) I felt there were
another 10 seconds there for the taking so today was the day to give it a go.

I measured the distance with the watch and off google maps so happy enough it was within a few metres either side of being a mile and to
warm up I ran an easy mile in 9minutes just to triple check. After I did 4x250m intervals at around what I hoped would be my 'race pace' and
after a 5min recovery I was ready to go.

I was holding 3:40min/km for the first 800m and slowed a bit from there. Stupid really as the very slight incline levelled off there and I should
have maintained the pace. Instead it drifted to 3:48 for about 400m and from there I kicked on to the finish getting progressively faster finishing at 3:28min/km. All that meant that my mile time was he exact same as before at 5.52min.

The last time there were 7 180º turns where some time was lost but it was on tarmaced streets that are faster than the compact gravel type track I was on today which is slower but it was a straight line if ever so slightly uphill (a whopping 0.5%). It all more or less balances out anyway so happy enough going under 6 again but I'd still like to try again.

I ran another easy mile, then a few hill repeats and a tempo mile to finish for a bit of a dolly mixture of a day.

gramar

8km this evening and took it fairly easy 38:54. Started off at 5:07min/km and increased the pace slightly with the last km in 4:44.
To finish up I did 4*400 metres off 2mins recovery - 1:27 1:24 1:21 1:22.

Sunday is 10km and not feeling so confident about it. I think that's because I know there are a few climbs which in themselves don't bother me, it's recovering after and getting back to a decent pace that's the problem. I went up about a 200m climb just after 4km this evening and it takes me a couple of minutes to get things back under control after. Still think I'll get a sub 45 but probably barely scrape it if I do.

gramar

16-10-2016 Villacienzo 10km

The last of the 9 races in the provincial series was today. I was hoping to get around in under 45 minutes and I thought it would be close and it was. I was there about 45 mins before hand so did a few easy kilometres and chatted to one or two before going to the start line. Conditions were quite good. A light breeze and the sun was beginning to come out as we set off.

The official distance was 10050 metres made up of two laps around the village and then out the country for 3 laps of a little over 3km.
The first two short laps of 400m were more or less flat and at the end of the second one it was up the hill to start the longer circuit. It was steep enough and I told myself to take it handy so I wouldn't be huffing and puffing too much at the top. The first stretch was tarmac before turning left onto a track where we continued uphill. This wasn't nearly as much of a climb though but had a lot of loose stones and that slowed progress a bit. At the end of this is was about 400metres downhill on tarmac to the road and then about 1.5km which was more or less flat/slightly downhill back to start.

I covered the first km which finished up the hill in 4:46. Reasonable enough but I was behind time already. The first long lap went reasonably well, slowish up the hill and then making up a bit of time on the downhill part but careful not the overdo it. No funny breathers today but I went
pàst one fella who looked like he had something akin to tourrettes. The first thing I noticed was all of a sudden him breaking into a type of shuffle like Ronaldo doing stepovers and then proceeded to flick himself repeatedly in the face with his hand so I thought it best to give him a wide berth and push on.

Km 2 up the rest of the hill was 4:32. Km3 started off on the downhill stretch and I knew I needed to make up some time on this section so upped it a bit but kept things under control. Km 3 4:14. Km4 brought us back to the start and to the start of the hill again. Definitely harder this time but like I did on the first lap I passed a few going up here. Km4 4:23. The next km was where things got a bit tougher. Towards the end of the hill I noticed a bit of a stitch, the sun was getting hot and on the most open part of the circuit the breeze was blowing into us. To top it off I had a sore toe. I got this running Friday as for some reason my big toe was rubbing off the one beside it and leaving it a bit raw. I had a plaster on it but it was beginning to sting me with every step. Km5 4:46. I saw the 5km split of 22:41 and thought 'oh balls' seeing I needed a negative split plus the extra 50metres and I was feeling far from fresh.

Onto the downhill part and even though I knew I needed to claw back more time here I didn't and was a few seconds slower along here than the first time. km6 4:18 Back to the start and up the hill I continued picking off a few which I did consistently throughout. Over the 10km I remember only 2 passing me about halfway around. Km7 4:19. I was dreading that fcuking hill the third time and it felt like I was up on my toes to get up it and there was a point where it felt I was jogging on the spot. Amazingly though I was going past people and staying ahead of them. At the end of the climb I noticed the beginnings of the stitch again, something which i had completely forgotten about. Fortunately like the first time it never took hold most likely as I think my body had enough to be dealing with. Unsurprisingly km8 at 4:54 was the slowest of the 3 climbs.

I saw that after 8kms the time of 36:15 or thereabouts. 8 minutes and 40 odd seconds for 2050 metres and I thought I didn't have a hope. I think I miscalculated though as it meant doing 2km in 4:20min/km pace and I know I can do that. I did my chances no good though in km9 only able to churn our 4:19, more or less the same as the previous two so pushed hard on the last one. I went past 2 or 3 along here and had one more in my sights but couldn't reel him in. I didn't so much as look at the watch and just ran as fast as I could doing the last Km 10 in 3:58 and 15 seconds for the little bit. It all added up to 44:44 so made it by the skin of my teeth.

Tough enough race with the climbs and the surface in some parts and happy to get under 45mins. Not a distance I have too much love for being honest. I much prefer the 5km distance but 10km's will be useful training although not something I will train for in itself.

HigginsJ

Fantastic going G, cracking time A 3:58 for the 10th km is unreal, clearly plenty of stamina built up.

Have you raced longer than 10km before, any halves or marathons?

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Fantastic going G, cracking time A 3:58 for the 10th km is unreal, clearly plenty of stamina built up.

Have you raced longer than 10km before, any halves or marathons?

You were asking the other day about speed work and I think doing intervals has really helped being able to finish strongly. Despite the general fatigue at the end of a run the body seems to be able to get into that mode much easier if it is used to it and doing say 400/600/800 metre intervals is a great may to go about it.

Longest I've ever run is about 12km on a LSR and one kinda race this summer that was 11.5km. No real interest in going beyond that and one of the main reasons is artrosis in both hips that I think I'd most likely aggravate by doing longer distances particularly on roads.

gramar

After Sunday’s 10km which was the last race in the 9 race series (I did 5) it’s probably time for a recap to see how I’ve done over the summer.

Mile:

As of the first of July the fastest I had managed was 6:18. I improved on this in early September 5:52
and another go at it last week produced the same result. I’d love to get down to 5:30 and though it hurts I find it enjoyable enough. I’ve found
a plan someone posted here on boards a few years back so I’ll put as much of that as I can into action and see how I go over the next month or two.


5km:

My main event as it were and my realistic objective was low 21’s while my unspoken secret objective was
sub 20. The progress here has been steady over the summer with times getting consistently better culminating
in a sub 20min run and let’s face it, quite possibly a lifetime PB on the 1st of October.

22/05 23:08
15/07 22:25
17/07 21:39
07/08 21:14
27/08 21:17
18/09 20:15
01/10 19:45

10km:

I’d only run 10km once as a training run in 49:11 just to get an idea so wasn’t really sure what I was capable of and not a distance I felt hugely motivated by.

10/07 47:35
06/10 44:44 on the watch (44:12 according to the official results which I’ll take if it adds 30 seconds to my PB! and if that is for 10050m and I adjust it to 10000m then it’s a second under 44!)

Juggling numbers aside neither of the above are PB courses - the first was run in 30+ degrees and the hills the other day were tough going.
I’m happy to get around in under 45 and I have no real objectives beyond that.


Decent progress made and I met and surpassed my 3 targets. Based on reading a lot of logs here and taking good advice on board I applied a more or less 3 run cycle of LSR's, either speed or hill intervals and tempo runs and results began to improve. Basically it seems that to improve at any distance you have to run everything but that distance!

No races for the foreseeable future and the short term objective is to try and run the mile a bit quicker and generally keep myself ticking over for 2017. I’ve been lucky with injuries and only ever had the odd minor niggle and nothing that ever kept me from running so long may that continue.

gramar

Travelling for work and went for a run in the gym. First time on a treadmill for years.
Horrible things. Nothing compares to the great outdoors and fresh air.
A noisy rubber belt, looking at a wall is broring as hell. As well as that I was sweating buckets.
To top it off it feels you're going a lot faster than you are with the belt whizzing past below you.
The only redeeming factor was the feeling of floating along for a minute or two after.
Otherwise I hope it'll be years before I'm back on one.
5km in 27 or something minutes.

gramar

First day out for a week.
After an easy warm up I did 5 laps of one of the parks in town keeping it slow and steady.
Have a bit of a cold and a full week without any running so just took it handy and it was fairly effortless.
7km in 36:59 and without hardly looking at the watch I managed very even splits.
5:17
5:26
5:21
5:19
5:22
5:19
4:51

There is an 8.2 run on Sunday I got an email about (not sure why they bothered with the .2) that I'm considering.
Registration is open till 12 tonight. Might just leave it though and do an LSR.

gramar

Nice fresh autumn morning. 12km @5.20min/km avg pace. A few minutes over the hour and not too often I go that length.
With longer working hours and non existent evenings I probably won't be able to do a mile plan properly so runs of 6-10km
will be my lot for a while with the odd day of intervals.

gramar

Day off today so up early to get a run in and was out before 9. The big toe on my left foot has been
pushing up on the one beside it and casuing some discomfort recently so I decided to tape them together which
seemed to do the trick.

It was cold and foggy and my hair was wet before I had even broken a sweat.
After a 1km warm up I did a 5km tempo run trying to keep to a 4.30km pace.
I finished up in 22:15 the splits being:

4:27
4:32
4:34
4:32
4:10

Effort levels were highish but I felt I had it under control although it makes me wonder how I
did 10km on a tough circuit two weeks ago holding this pace. It was satisfying all the same to
know that I can run a low 22min 5Km more or less at will. Now on my afternoon off with the fire
blazing I'm going to sit back, relax and enjoy a few of the DCM reports.

gramar

An almost identical run to last Sunday. 12km @ 5:21min/km pace.
The difference being that I felt better during the first half of last weeks run and felt the effort more the second half while
this week is was the opposite. There were a few more km's if I'd wanted as the effort levels were low over the last few and I felt
very comfortable but that's enough to keep me ticking over.

gramar

Had the evening free so decided to brave the cold and it was brass monkeys out.
My groins were slightly tender this morning but that faded away as the day went on.
After a short enough warm up I set off at a very easy pace and kept it there for 8km
through the main park in town. Enjoyable run and easy run once I got going if a little
dark in places. I nearly plodded into someone at one stage as he (at least I think it was
a he) emerged out of the shadows.

6:00
5:43
5:42
5:46
5:52
5:50
5:55
5:49

HigginsJ

gramar wrote: »

Had the evening free so decided to brave the cold and it was brass monkeys out.
My groins were slightly tender this morning but that faded away as the day went on.
After a short enough warm up I set off at a very easy pace and kept it there for 8km
through the main park in town. Enjoyable run and easy run once I got going if a little
dark in places. I nearly plodded into someone at one stage as he (at least I think it was
a he) emerged out of the shadows.

6:00
5:43
5:42
5:46
5:52
5:50
5:55
5:49

Look at those times :eek: were you walking or running??? :P

gramar

HigginsJ wrote: »

Look at those times :eek: were you walking or running??? :P

They are mile splits J! :pac:

Took it very handy and enjoyed the night run in the cold sharp air. Hadn't time to stay out longer otherwise I'd have liked to do another 15 mins or so.

gramar

A damp foggy Saturday morning. The plan was to continue doing the LSR's of previous weeks but take a different route with more drags and climbs. The first 2km were all uphill, the first km had a slight drag and then it got progressively steeper and it was about a 5-6% incline getting to the top of the second km. The next 7km or so were undulating on wet tracks and there was very much a cross country feel to it hardly surprising seeing as I was running through the countryside.

Coming back to where the climb started on the 2nd km the easy option was to sail past on a slightly downhill track, get to the village in 10km and make up the other two but as the turn drew nearer I began to think I should go up it again...100m to go...it was will I won't I?...80...70...40...30...don't be stupid keep going....no..go up...put in the effort...20..10....and before I knew I was heading uphill again.
I was more warmed up this time but the fog had receded slightly and whereas earlier I could see 100 yards now I could see most of it winding it's way uphill ahead of me and mentally it seemed a lot harder than the first time.

After getting to the top I had about 1.5km to bring me to 12km and like last Saturday I feel good and could easily have gone on another 3/4km without too much bother but the thoughts of a hot mug of tay and warm shower got the better of me and I was happy to leave it at that.

12km in 1:06:53 5:34min/km avg.

I'll try make it for an easy run during the week and then I might try the two x 5km tempo run that Battery Kinzie mentioned next weekend just for the hell of it.

Battery Kinzie

Don't forget the hard mile to finish it off

gramar

Battery Kinzie wrote: »

Don't forget the hard mile to finish it off

Sure don't I love a happy ending!