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Earning my go-faster stripes...
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:DI’ve only just read your report. Really well done. I think you did great and did you the world of good not having the watch to tell you what you were at as such. I think a lot of those shorter races are about going out fast and hanging on - my unexpected parkrun pb was exactly that too and unplanned pacing. It shows you what you are capable of - you next goal can be to start off that pace and do it for longer and eventually the whole 5km
That gives you a time of 21:38 for Jingle Bells!!
Ah lads, steady on there now. I would be absolutely, gob-smackingly over the moon if I managed a second below 22 by the end of the year, sure my goal for the year was sub 23 don't forget! Not going to get carried away here.I'd venture to say 21:38 will be beaten before Jingle Bells comes around!
Rubbish, sure you cruised under the 23 ages ago and in the middle of peak marathon training at that, iirc.Anyway, back to the running, yes maybe Jingle Bells but I'd be shocked if I was going for the same goal as you eyrie, you're storming ahead
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Well, lots to think about in this, thanks!Swashbuckler wrote: »I quoted the above comments coz they are what jumped out at me the most. Not sure where to start here. Haha.
Firstly well done on a super race. You've done quite a bit of analysis on it and there are some important take aways here.
1. Isn't it funny how the one day that you didn't feel particularly great and motivation was low was the one day you blew it out of the water. Amazing what we can achieve when we completely remove the pressure of big target races isn't it. I've seen it a lot with people and myself included. The more you get anxious about a race the more you hinder your chances of success. As my wise old coach once said - you don't always have to feel great to run a great race. There's a lot to be said for just enjoying the process, forgetting about target races and just going out there and giving it a lash. They won't always be good days but it definitely helps to take the pressure off yourself.
Its also one of the benefits of shorter stuff. No major taper, give it a go, fail? Go again in a few weeks.
2. You ignored your watch
This was my favorite part. I think we all rely on our watches a little too much. Sure there is a place for them, in training when we are learning what a certain pace feels like in terms of effort and probably in longer races more useful. In a 5k I just think it's better to go on feel. If you go out too quick in a 5k you get feedback from your body very quickly of it can't handle it. It's not as unforgiving as the marathon where you have to wait 20 miles before finding out "oops I went 5s per mile too quick" and your legs turn to jelly. Theres a lot more room for taking risks in the shorter stuff. You did. Delighted to see it. Use the watch as a tool when you need it but don't be controlled by it. A watch will talk you out of these special performances.
3. Those little battles are what drag you to the finish line. And there's no nicer feeling than being astonished by a time at the end. I've only ever had that feeling twice. Also being absolutely spent at the end of the 5k is the way to be.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - never look at your watch in the last km of a 5k especially! It has nothing good to tell you. By then it's all about making it to the line as fast as you can. The watch will either tell you you're going "too slow" which is heartbreaking or "too fast" which will inevitably allow your brain to talk you into slowing down.
4. Despite what you think I don't think you ran it poorly. Some days are for going out quick and hanging on. Some days are for building into a race. There's no such thing as failure when you try something new. Because you'll learn something and that's what's great about 5k. You can try ten different things in ten different races in the space of a few months. Very little taper, very little recovery. Practically a really tough session. My 5k pb is a big positive split. First mile 5.30, last mile 5.50. I tried hanging on that day and failed but got a pb.
Keep trying things and taking risks. It's why we do this running craic. Nothing to lose. It's just one end of a road to the other end with 5000 metres in between and a bunch of people putting one foot in front of the other. Nothing more than that!
Well done! Deadly stuff.
This is a really good point actually, and one I'll try to remember for the next race. Coming off marathon training the caution (which I'm probably overly prone to anyway) was necessary as you don't know how much trouble you've gotten yourself into until it's too late, but I hadn't really thought about that not applying in a 5k. Makes sense.Swashbuckler wrote: »In a 5k I just think it's better to go on feel. If you go out too quick in a 5k you get feedback from your body very quickly of it can't handle it. It's not as unforgiving as the marathon where you have to wait 20 miles before finding out "oops I went 5s per mile too quick" and your legs turn to jelly. Theres a lot more room for taking risks in the shorter stuff. You did. Delighted to see it. Use the watch as a tool when you need it but don't be controlled by it. A watch will talk you out of these special performances.
Haha would you believe I genuinely thought of you saying exactly that at that point in the race? And I knew I'd be better off not doing it but I think at that stage I was looking for any distraction from the pain I could get, and the watch was what was available. I think I would consider covering it completely for something soon though, maybe even a parkrun as a start. Just to see what difference that makes in terms of slowing or not slowing near the end.Swashbuckler wrote: »I've said it before and I'll say it again - never look at your watch in the last km of a 5k especially! It has nothing good to tell you. By then it's all about making it to the line as fast as you can. The watch will either tell you you're going "too slow" which is heartbreaking or "too fast" which will inevitably allow your brain to talk you into slowing down.
Well now that's reassuring to hear, I don't feel so bad all of a sudden :PSwashbuckler wrote: »My 5k pb is a big positive split. First mile 5.30, last mile 5.50. I tried hanging on that day and failed but got a pb.
Good luck yourself this weekend, will be looking forward to the report 0 -
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[I think I ran it pretty badly but I'm over the moon with my time, so.... I dunno? I felt I didn't push enough, but how much of that was down to overdoing it at the start and just running out of steam?
I'd say it's mainly that you are only racing very infrequently, so you were still able to get a big PB from an imperfect race. You have so much training in the legs. You should try a few more 5ks over the months ahead.
I'm very envious 0 -
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Been staying away from Boards more than usual for the last while (not necessarily a bad thing as I usually spend too much time here
) but I got out of the habit a bit and then it's hard to get back in - so much to catch up on! Plus the last month has been bananas in terms of busy-ness. Slowly trying to get caught back up though, and I've had the pleasure of reading through some fantastic race reports from the last few weeks. Some really great running been happening around here.
My own running for the last 6 weeks or so has been pretty frustrating. More or less straight after the MSB 5k it seemed to get suddenly really hard, which I put down to recovery from the race at first but it didn't shift. I'd have the odd day where things felt good, but the majority of the runs were just feeling like a slog. To the point where I stopped following the plan properly as the thoughts of workouts some days were just too hard to face. I went out for a run last Friday that should have been a tempo but I knew I wouldn't be able for it so switched to easy with a few strides instead, and I was nearly reduced to walking from just the strides. Then again I've had a few really solid workouts too, so it's been very up and down.
I had a fair idea that something was up and low iron the most likely culprit as I've suffered with this in the past. Finally went to the GP, did the blood tests, and it's been confirmed as of last Friday. Not as low as it has been previously so I'm still surprised I've been feeling this bad, but still way below where it should be. I'm back on the supplements now anyway and hopefully it'll make a difference soon.
I had hoped to do the BHAA 5k tomorrow but I'm going to skip it. Was planning on the Terenure 5 mile for ages and while that seems a bit pointless now too I think I might do it anyway for the craic, no harm to get a bit more race practice if nothing else. S wants to do it too and we both loved it when we did it two years ago so why not!
More generally I've lost the love of running a bit during all this. It's kind of embarrassing to admit but there's been a fair few days where I've almost started to fear heading out because of how much of a struggle it was likely to be. So the only real goal at the moment is to get stronger again and get the enthusiasm back. The rest will hopefully follow 0 -
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Good that you know what's been causing the fatigue the last little while now, and that it can be corrected relatively easily. Nothing is enjoyable when it's feeling like a slog anyway, so I think your love of running will return alongside the better energy levels.
Hopefully will see you in Terenure 0 -
I think we've all been there at some stage. The only advice I can give is be kind to yourself, don't berate yourself for a "poor" run, just chalk them down to a learning run. In my books, any run is better than no run.More generally I've lost the love of running a bit during all this. It's kind of embarrassing to admit but there's been a fair few days where I've almost started to fear heading out because of how much of a struggle it was likely to be. So the only real goal at the moment is to get stronger again and get the enthusiasm back. The rest will hopefully follow0 -
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Thanks so much for all the encouragement folks. There's only so much I can moan to my friends and family about my running being crap, but you guys actually get it!
Thanks K. I'm on Galfer which seems grand? Couldn't tell you the difference between them but my stomach can tolerate it anyway!Sorry to hear it’s been so tough. Hopefully the supplements start to work soon. Don’t know what ones you are on but Active Iron is great and absorbed differently to the more traditional ones and less rush of any stomach effects. I found it great anyway.
Hope the love of running comes back soon. Mind yourself and take it easy.
Pity you'll miss it C, it's definitely one of the good ones alright. Any races coming up yourself?I can totally empathise with that feeling! Hopefully once the supplements kick in you'll feel a bit better and get your mojo back.
Doing the 5 mile race sounds like a good idea. Just do it to enjoy it and see what happens! I'd love to do it but I'm away that weekend.
Nice one, see you there!Good that you know what's been causing the fatigue the last little while now, and that it can be corrected relatively easily. Nothing is enjoyable when it's feeling like a slog anyway, so I think your love of running will return alongside the better energy levels.
Hopefully will see you in Terenure
Agreed! And sure there'll always be ups and downs like this but it usually swings back in the "good" direction eventually.Sunny Dayz wrote: »I think we've all been there at some stage. The only advice I can give is be kind to yourself, don't berate yourself for a "poor" run, just chalk them down to a learning run. In my books, any run is better than no run.
:eek: Vegetarian over here! But the beans I can do :pac: Thanks E, I know you're well familiar with this yourself.I hope the supplements kick in quick for you and you find your mojo when your normal energy levels return. Low iron/ferritin is a pain in the neck but you did well to spot it reasonably quickly or before it got as low as previously anyhow! Lots of black pudding & beans for you and hopefully you'll be flying again in no time :P
Thanks F! Only 3 more sleeps for you now eh?Dealerz2.0 wrote: »Hopefully you are feeling better and stronger again soon!
Yep, hopefully! I'm dosing myself as much as I can get away with anyway so hopefully it gets back to normal soon. Glad the calf issue sounds like it's behaving a bit better that last week or two?hillsiderunner wrote: »Impressive you've kept the mileage up with that going on. I'd say the supplements will kick in in no time, and no harm focusing on what you eat too (I've had this myself in the past and it didn't take too long to sort it out).
That and the likely poor result will have me determined to get a better one on the books soon! :pac:OOnegative wrote: »Glad you found a reason for the lethargy, suspected as much. Regarding the slight loss of mojo, it’s happens us all but the good thing it does return. Doing Terenure is a great idea, big race atmosphere will have you chomping at the bit again for more.0 -
Thanks so much for all the encouragement folks. There's only so much I can moan to my friends and family about my running being crap, but you guys actually get it!
Thanks K. I'm on Galfer which seems grand? Couldn't tell you the difference between them but my stomach can tolerate it anyway!
Ah there are just different ones but I couldn’t tolerate Galfer or another fairly common one that I can’t remember the name of. They killed my stomach. Active Iron worked for me then as just works differently the way it’s absorbed or something.0 -
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Terenure 5 mile report
I haven't managed to get back to proper logging here so I'll just note that the week before race week, training was decent. Two sessions, neither of which were super speedy but in the right range and both felt controlled, plus highest mileage since marathon training (43 miles). Kept dosing myself with iron in the hopes it would kick in quickly! Race week itself was a bit messier with work stuff taking over, so lower mileage but no harm I figured.
So, the race itself. S was doing it too so we headed over and got ready, him lining up ahead of me. I had no particular expectations given how things have been the last while. To be honest though, I still figured I could get a PB. Raheny was 5 months ago and I wasn't in great shape then either, coming back from injury, so this could hardly be worse, could it? PB from then was 38:29 and I had notions of 37:30 or thereabouts being fair. Delusional to say the least... :rolleyes:
First mile clocked at 7:35 so not far off, but that was the end of it. Even then I was breathing harder than I should be, and from the second mile my legs just died a death. In her report ReeReeG wrote: "There's something I've noticed where if I give up before halfway at all, I'm done for." I haven't thought about this before but it was spot on for me on Sunday.
Very nearly stopped altogether in Mile 2 as I could tell it wasn't going to get any better, but I couldn't quite let myself do it so I dragged myself around the rest of the way, debating in my head every 30 seconds or so whether I could pack it in or not. I kept going but I let myself slow down. Actually I'm still not sure how much I let myself or how much my body just wasn't having it. But I think part of it was that with the training from the last while being off I lacked the confidence to push or try to hold it together.
The only good bit was getting to stop at the end, which I finally did for a time a minute slower than Raheny, instead of a minute faster. The splits are pretty gruesome: 7:35, 7:45, 8:00, 7:55, 8:09.
Chip: 39:25
I was absolutely disgusted when I finished, but by the time I found S (who was reasonably happy with his race) and we wandered in towards the goodies I was more or less over it. Bumped into ReeReeG and her sister on the way in and the chat helped. Finally got to meet aquinn later which was lovely. Bumped into a few non-Boards people we knew too. I said it elsewhere but I ended up having a great time despite the horrible performance, and it was all down to meeting sound people. As we seem to keep saying, runners are a good bunch.
Post-race ramblings
So, what to take from it? I'd like to learn something from this but to be honest I'm not sure what that is. I could say it's the health stuff alone but I've had much worse iron levels in the past and still run better than this. The heat was probably a factor, but again doesn't feel like enough. I think a lot of it was probably my head just not being in it. I hadn't given the race a second's thought, actually forgot I was doing it during the week. That can take pressure off sometimes, but in this case I think I just hadn't psyched myself up for the tough bits. Maybe more than that I've been in the middle of probably the most stressful couple of months of my life and I suspect that's been affecting the running, and I think really that might have been the big player here. I just couldn't face the thoughts of pushing myself in the way that real racing requires.
I've come away feeling pretty motivated to improve now, but the stuff causing the stress will be there for another month so what I can realistically do I'm not sure. My instinct is to slow the paces down in training for a bit and try and build again. I'm not sure whether to continue with the plan or take a step back for a few weeks. But this is when all the good races are on! So part of me just wants to have fun with it for a bit. Haven't a clue really so if someone wants to tell me how to train now please be my guest! 0 -
I'm glad the chat after the race helped, although afterwards I thought I'd rushed off from you towards the food a little quickly!
Stress is a real factor for affecting you in ways you don't even realise. Not sure if it's been affecting your sleep, but if you haven't been getting enough over a couple of months that will come back to haunt you eventually. Sunday could have been a case of all the factors together of course, or even if your heads not right from stress, anything else like doubting your training or the heat will just make it all the worse
If I were you (and everyone is different), I'd use running to relieve the stress. Think about if that's having fun entering races or just running easy for a few weeks. Also, never forget how good parkrun is for the soul 0 -
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