Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

Chivito550 · 26-11-2014 11:15pm

menoscemo wrote: »

Which hill do you use for Hill Work?
I was running up along the Grange Rd (From Rathfarnham village towards eden pub) yesterday and realised how steep the hill is from Hermitage Avenue up to the Junction with Taylor's lane. I was thinking it would be perfect for hill reps.
Mind you it was on paths I guess you prefer grass? I'd Imagine the gradient in St Enda's park would be pretty similar...

Yeh I've done a session on that hill once (back in 2012 when I was home for the Olympics). Nowadays, in the rare event that I have to do a hill session on my own, I use one near the Divine Word Church and School.

We do our Sunday hill sessions in Kilbogget Park on grass, really near the National Beer Mile Stadium.

Chivito550 · 30-11-2014 2:47pm

Some good sessions to report from the last few days:

Thursday: Gym

Snatch Grip Jump: 4 x 4 @ 22.5kg, 22.5kg, 25kg, 27.5kg
BB Static Lunges: 3 x 6 on each leg @ 30kg, 32.5kg, 35kg
30 Degree Incline DB Press: 3 x 6 @ 22kg in each hand
Chin ups - Palms facing each other: 3 x 6
Bench Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
DB Single Leg Calf Raises: 3 x 8 @ 12kg on each leg

Saturday: Track

A different type of session to usual. 2 x (3 x 150m) with 5 mins recovery between sets, but a 150m jog back within sets. Usually when we do this 6 x 150m session we have a slow 3 minute walk back. This time we had approx 85 secs recovery, so the purpose of the session was more towards the endurance side than the speed side, but they weren't to be slow either. No three point starts, just turn around and go. Wore the distance spikes for this. Enjoyed the session but as I wasn't used to it I feel I probably held back a bit too much on the early reps, and while tired at the end, maybe I should have been a bit more exhausted. But that's down to lack of experience doing this session. Times were:

21.6 - 22.7 - 22.0 - 22.1 - 22.3 - 21.5

Average was 22.0.

Sunday: Hills

2 x (200-100-200) with just 3 minutes between sets on this occasion. Also, while I don't think it was planned, one of the guys bombed it down the hills for the recovery, and everyone went with him, so I was caught a bit unaware by the increase in recovery pace. Jogging back down to the 200m start usually takes 2 minutes. On this occasion we were covering it in 90 seconds, and for the last 100 and 200 I couldn't get up to the group, and ended up running those reps on my own, starting about 5-6 seconds after the others.

Grass is very long now, and was pretty damp aswell, so it was tough going running on that, and times would suffer as a result. Times were:

42.2 - 25.3 - 42.9 - 43.5 - 25.7 - 45.?

The last rep didn't save on the watch but it was definitely 45. Pretty happy with those times given the shorter recoveries. The 100s were fairly slow, but the first three 200s were good, particularly in such thick grass. Fell off on the last 200, but didn't help being on my own for it. Good session.

Chivito550 · 03-12-2014 10:55pm

Monday: Gym

1 & 1/4 DB Split Squats: 3 x 6 @ 12.5kg in each hand
Back Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20kg
Flat DB Press (with pause): 3 x 6 @ 25kg, 25kg, 22.5kg in each hand
One Arm Bent Over Row: 3 x 6 @ 25kg
Floor Single Leg Hip Thrusts (with pause): 3 x 8 on each leg
Side Planks: 3 x 40 secs on each side
Prone Lat DB Raise: 3 x 8 @ 4kg in each hand

With the Flat DB Press I just about got to 6 reps at 25kg on the second set, so rather than risk bombing out and managing nothing on the third set, I dropped the weight back to ensure I got the full 6 reps in. The effort levels were similar to the second set, given the growing fatigue.

Tuesday: Long Run

Had to drop something off somewhere, which is a good distance from where I live, so I killed two birds with one stone and combined it with my long run. So it worked out as a 2 x 2.05km long run with 75 seconds in between (to be precise). Going out is a net uphill and I ran it in 9:02. Going back I ran 8:41. Total time for the 4.1km was 17:43, which works out to be 21:36 pace for 5k. Ran this comfortably.

However, these long runs continue to aggravate my left hip. Not sure why this is happening now, as I have done long runs in previous years. In any case, I think I will leave it out for the foreseeable future. They have served a purpose in helping get me fit, but not sure they are worth the risk going forward. It is, after all, the least important part of my weekly training.

Wednesday: Grass

We used the GAA pitch out near Irishtown and ran around the outside of it. The length of the pitch is 145m and the width is 90m. We had to sprint the lengths and jog the widths. We had to do 5 laps of this, so it basically was 10 x 145m with 90m jog recovery. Wore the road running shoes as usual on the grass, and it was very cold at about 2-3 degrees, but with no breeze at all, I didn't feel it once warmed up. Times were:

22.8 - 24.3 - 23.5 - 25.1 - 24.1 - 24.6 - 24.1 - 23.7 - 23.6 - 23.4

Average was 23.9. Very happy with the consistency of these reps, particularly from reps 5 onwards.

90m Recovery times were:

40.5 - 42.7 - 43.8 - 41.7 - 43.6 - 47.1 - 48.6 - 47.3 - 48.2

Average was 44.8

totoafrica · 04-12-2014 2:57pm

Where do you do:

a) track sessions

b) hill sessions

thanks

Chivito550 · 04-12-2014 3:51pm

totoafrica wrote: »

Where do you do:

a) track sessions

b) hill sessions

thanks

a) Usually Irishtown, but with it being closed, it is Santry for the moment.

b) Kilbogget Park.

If you want specifics, PM me.

Oregano_State · 04-12-2014 4:42pm

What's the story with Irishtown? heard there was a bit of a f*ck up with the resurfacing but no details. The track was in bad enough shape when I trained there, destroyed from bird poop!

Chivito550 · 04-12-2014 4:45pm

Oregano_State wrote: »

What's the story with Irishtown? heard there was a bit of a f*ck up with the resurfacing but no details. The track was in bad enough shape when I trained there, destroyed from bird poop!

The guys contracted to do it started working on it in August, and then fecked off for most of September (when there was not a drop of rain, and it was high teens consistently) to work on some track up North or in the UK somewhere, which they were behind on. Then they came back to Irishtown in October, when the weather started to deteriorate, and they couldn't get it finished due to rain etc. Then they pulled the plug in late October, saying that it is now too cold to work on it, and it will be left in its unfinished state until "Spring 2015". It's a complete farce.

Oregano_State · 04-12-2014 5:26pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

The guys contracted to do it started working on it in August, and then fecked off for most of September (when there was not a drop of rain, and it was high teens consistently) to work on some track up North or in the UK somewhere, which they were behind on. Then they came back to Irishtown in October, when the weather started to deteriorate, and they couldn't get it finished due to rain etc. Then they pulled the plug in late October, saying that it is now too cold to work on it, and it will be left in its unfinished state until "Spring 2015". It's a complete farce.

That is a ridiculous scenario.

Chivito550 · 04-12-2014 9:24pm

With indoor season fast approaching, I thought it would be time to have a look through the fixtures available and draft a racing schedule. I've never even stepped on an indoor track before so I'm looking forward to it:

Wed 17 Dec - AIT Baseline Meet (Athlone) - 150m & 300m

Sun 11 Jan - National League Round 1 (Athlone) - 60m & 800m

Sat 24 Jan - Welsh Championships (Cardiff) - 400m

Sat 31 Jan - National League Round 2 (Athlone) - 400m
Sun 1 Feb - AAI Games (Athlone) - 400m

Sat/Sun 14/15 Feb - Leinster Championships (Athlone) - 400m

Sat/Sun 21/22 Feb - National Championships (Athlone) - 400m

There's a big gap in January of no racing so I've decided to give the Welsh Championships in Cardiff a bash. I've never been to Cardiff and I have friends over there (free accommodation) so I will double it up as a bit of a holiday. The 400m is on the Saturday. There's a 200m on the Sunday, but I won't bother with this, and go out for some beers on Saturday night and do some sightseeing on Sunday instead.

Plenty of racing opportunities. 5 400m races (albeit with 2 of them on one weekend), and a crack at every other distance between 60m and 800m, with the exception of 200m and 600m.

Oregano_State · 04-12-2014 10:15pm

Looks good man. I might head over to the Welsh Champs myself actually. My girlfriend lives in Cardiff so it would be handy.

Chivito550 · 07-12-2014 4:32pm

Thursday: Gym

Snatch Grip Jump: 4 x 4 @ 27.5kg, 27.5kg, 30kg, 32.5kg
BB Static Lunges: 3 x 6 on each leg @ 32.5kg, 35kg, 37.5kg
30 Degree Incline DB Press: 3 x 5 @ 24kg, 22kg, 22kg in each hand
Chin ups - Palms facing each other: 3 x 6
Bench Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
DB Single Leg Calf Raises: 3 x 8 @ 12kg on each leg

For the Incline DB Press, I could only manage 5 reps at 24kg, so dropped the weight back for sets 2 and 3, but on those occasions I could only manage 5 reps also, rather than the planned 6.

Saturday: Track (Indoor)

A trip down to Athlone for my first ever time running on the indoor track. Absolutely fantastic facility. Surely up there among the best sports facilities in all of Irish sport.

Did my normal warm up on the warm up track upstairs. Then I had about 4 runs from half way down the backstraight to half way down the home straight, to get used to running on the bends. I used lanes 5 and 6 for these.

Then we started the actual session. This comprised of 4 x 200m. I wore my distance spikes throughout the session. The first two reps were to be run comfortably. The recovery between the 2 of them was about 4-5 minutes. I took lane 5 for the first rep and lane 3 for the second. The time of my second rep was around 29 seconds. The first probably a second or two slower at most. We ran these a lot harder than we were told to. It can be hard to judge pacing over such a short distance, particularly on a track which is so alien to me.

After the second rep we had 10 mins recovery before the third rep which would be our time trial. We ran in twos. I took lane 5. The fact 200m is a full lap indoors, meant my 400m thinking came into how I ran this, and cruised on the backstraight a bit, when I should have been just going flat out. As a result I finished like an absolutely train in the last 40m on the homestraight, and closed most of the gap on training partner in such a short period of time. Very inexperienced running these tight bends, but happy with the time, which was hand-timed at 26.27 seconds. Not too bad for a training session, for a first attempt on an indoor track.

I was feeling exhausted at this stage, but we still had one more rep. We had 10 minutes recovery between rep 3 and 4. The final rep was to be run differently. The opening 40m was to be run hard, then cruise the backstraight at 70% effort, then attack the second bend hard, and then cruise home on the homestraight. I felt I followed these instructions well, and the second bend on this rep was the best bend I ran all day I feel. Coach shouted out 27 when I crossed the line, so pretty good time given I wasn't running all out for the full rep.

Very enjoyable session, albeit hard. The tight bends take a lot out of you. But it's really fun to do something different, and very important experience ahead of the indoor season.

Sunday: Hills

Right hamstring was feeling a little tight this morning after yesterday's endeavors. Seemed like everyone was feeling yesterday's session, so we were given an easier session than normal today.

100-200-100 4 mins 100-200-100

There was a fairly biting wind to deal with on this occasion. Like last week, the recoveries were on the fast side, but this time I was a bit more alert to it. Times were:

22.4 - 41.6 - 25.4 - 23.7 - 41.6 - 24.4

Chivito550 · 10-12-2014 11:48pm

Monday: Gym

1 & 1/4 DB Split Squats: 3 x 6 @ 12.5kg in each hand
Back Extensions: 3 x 12 @ 20kg
Flat DB Press (with pause): 2 x 6, 1 x 5 @ 25kg in each hand
One Arm Bent Over Row: 3 x 6 @ 25kg, 27.5kg, 27.5kg
Floor Single Leg Hip Thrusts (with pause): 3 x 8 on each leg
Side Planks: 3 x 45 secs on each side
Prone Lat DB Raise: 3 x 8 @ 4kg in each hand

Tuesday: Long Run & Massage

It's a huge stretch calling this a long run I'll admit. I hadn't planned on doing one this week, but I had a pretty rough day, so was looking for a quick endorphin boost. I didn't have much time left before my massage when I made the decision to go for a run, so I kept it really short, and instead opted to run quicker than usual to make up for the lack of distance. In total I ran 2 loops around my local area. Each loop is bang on 1km. The first loop I ran in 4:22, and for the second I upped the pace and covered it in 3:56. Total time for 2km was 8:18, which is 20:45 pace for 5km, so faster than I usually run the long runs. Overall nothing hectic, but better than nothing. Hip managed better on this occasion also due to the shorter run. Massage afterwards.

Wednesday: Grass

Not the most comfortable evening. Traffic chaos in town due to the protests, and it was cold and very windy also which didn't help. Everyone was hugely delayed in making it to training. The session was quick but intense.

We used the sidelines of a local GAA pitch. We used a 120m stretch (not quite the full length). We had to jog 40, sprint 40, jog 40, turn around and sprint 40, jog 40, sprint 40. Turn around, do all of the above again. Then 4 minute recovery, and repeat the lot.

So overall, we had 12 40m sprint bursts. I wore the road running shoes for this. This was exhausting while I was doing it because the jog recoveries were really short (the momentum from the sprint would take you half way through the 40m jog zone, this shortening the recovery significantly). However, I recovered quite quickly from the session afterwards.

Chivito550 · 16-12-2014 7:05pm

Thursday: Gym

Snatch Grip Jump: 4 x 4 @ 30kg, 32.5kg, 35kg, 37.5kg
BB Static Lunges: 3 x 6 on each leg @ 35kg, 37.5kg, 40kg
30 Degree Incline DB Press: 3 x 6 @ 22kg in each hand
Chin ups - Palms facing each other: 3 x 6
Bench Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
DB Single Leg Calf Raises: 3 x 8 @ 12kg on each leg

I then finished up with some core work, along with a hip flexor exercise which ecoli gave to me to do. I've actually been doing it on every Thursday gym session over the last 5 weeks. I just forgot to log it.

Friday: Hills

I was away in Copenhagen for a long weekend, so coach told me to do a hill session on Friday before my flight, and to take Saturday to Monday off completely and enjoy the trip, which is exactly what I did. The session was 2 x (200-100-200) with 5 minutes recovery. I used a hill near my house which is pretty flat at the start and gets steep towards the end, which is what our hill in Kilbogget Park is like. However this hill was on a road, rather than grass, and was actually 200 and 100 in measurement, unlike the 230 and 130 which I have measured them out at in Kilbogget. So no point comparing the times. Weather was very cold with a biting breeze. Times were:

32.5 - 16.7 - 33.6 - 33.4 - 16.4 - 32.8

The only time I did a similar session to this on this same road was back in September when I did 200-100-200 7 mins 100-200-100, which is an easier session which was in more favourable conditions. On that occasion I ran my first 200 in a similar time to my first 200 on this occasion, the 100s were slightly quicker this time, and my other 3 200s were comfortably faster than my other 2 200s back in September, which were low 34. So overall a good track of progress since early in the winter.

Copenhagen is a stunning city, and it looks quite remarkable at this time of year with Christmas lights everywhere, fantastic markets, with a really homely vibe. The amazing Christmas markets and lights in the Tivoli Gardens were definitely the highlight. It was all go for the few days, which included a trip into Malmo in Sweden for their 400 year old pre-Christmas tradition on December 13th, named Santa Lucia Day.

Copenhagen is a great place to visit. And from a health point of view, they have it spot on. The centre of the city is hugely pedestrianised, people cycle everywhere, public transport is top notch, and there is hardly a fat person in sight. The Anglosphere could learn a thing or two from the Danes.

However, I burned the candles at both ends, with a lot of drinking. Glühwein, Glogg, Mulled Cider. I could drink that stuff all day. And I did. I was operating on less than 6 hours sleep over the trip, and that combined with being out in the cold all day long, has given me a bit of a sore throat. So I have decided to scrap my planned gym session this evening. I'm hopeful to be better to run in the AIT Baseline Meet in Athlone tomorrow. I've entered the 150m and the 300m. I'm not too bothered about the results. More looking to get indoor racing experience before the real stuff starts after Christmas.

Here's a few pics from Copenhagen:

Chivito550 · 18-12-2014 12:36am

Slight change of plan tonight. When I saw that the 150m was put to the very end of the program I asked to switch my entry to a 60m as I didn't fancy a long wait and a late race.

8.05 for the 60m. Hoped to go sub 8 but not too bad at what was really a glorified warm up for me. Followed up with the main course, a 40.47 in the 300m. Disappointed not to go sub 40 but given its my first race indoors, and first time breaking in a sprint race, and given the fact I've had a cold the last few days and wasn't feeling 100%, I'm not unhappy with that result at this early point of the year.

Really enjoyed the indoor racing. Report later.

Chivito550 · 18-12-2014 10:57pm

Only my second time ever on the indoor track at Athlone (or any indoor track for that matter) and my first ever race.

I had entered the 150m and 300m, based on the original timetable which had them close together, in that order. However, the revised timetable pushed the 150m to the very end of the program. I didn't fancy racing that late, and the gap between the 300 and 150 would negate any training benefits. I wanted the two events to be close together so that this meet could be a training session of sorts. So, instead I managed to change my 150m entry to a 60m one.

I wasn't feeling that great all day. Was suffering from a head cold and felt drowsy and tired. I didn't feel terrible, just not particularly great.

There was a call room procedure in operation, which required us to be ready 20 minutes before the event. The organisation of the event was of the highest standard, although they really weren't messing about and ran the event well ahead of schedule, so you really needed to be on the ball or you could miss your race.

60m:

I was in heat 1, lane 1. I didn't know anything about my competitors except a training partner of mine, who was in lane 4, who focuses on 60, 100 and 200. I hoped to get as close to him as possible, as he has run well under 8 seconds on countless occasions. Sub 8 was the goal here, but I have no real idea what a 7.99 equates to over 100m. It could have been stronger than my 100m PB equivalent for all I know.

This is the first time I have ever run a 60m race in any sort of serious capacity, and obviously the first indoors. I know I'm not an explosive starter, and the best part of my 100m race is the last 40m, so I know I'm not suited to this distance. But I wanted to run one, for the craic, as much as anything else.

It's very hard to give much of a race report on an event which was so ridiculously short. Being in lane 1, I couldn't really see many of my competitors. The whole race was a blur. My start was safe but average. I kept the head down for the first 30m and drove hard. I lift my head to see that the race is already half over. The guy beside me is a few metres ahead of me, but besides that I have no idea where anyone else is. At about 40m in I noticed my head was tilting a bit back, so I corrected this for the final 20m. I heard somebody shout out at around 40m, but not 100% certain it was for me. And besides this I can't remember anything else from this race. I crossed the line in what felt like a blanket finish.

Next thing I know, I'm heading straight for a crash mat to stop me quickly. This was a quite bizarre experience. Afterwards I felt a real sense of confusion as to what had happened. I wasn't the slightest bit tired. It felt like I had done a hard stride. It really felt like a glorified warm-up.

I didn't see my training partner at all, so had a feeling I must have been close to him. The results confirmed this. I recorded a time of 8.05 seconds, just 0.01 behind him. I finished 5th out of 8, although judging by the overall results, I was in the softest heat. I was disappointed not to get under 8 seconds, but I think 8.05 is fairly good for me, at this time of the year, without much speed work done to date. The event doesn't suit me, but I enjoyed it, so I'll have one more shot at it in the first round of the league before the 400m racing takes over, and hopefully I can crack 8 on that occasion.

300m:

Not much recovery time, and I was called back into the call room. I was in heat 2, lane 5. Originally the race was to be run in lanes the whole way, but they then changed it to 150m in lanes, and then break into lane 1 for the remainder. This was a great idea I felt, as it would give me practice at breaking ahead of future 400m races.

Had a brief chat to the lad outside me in lane 6, who runs 51ish for 400m, and he told me to run the 300m balls out the whole way, advice I forgot to implement. I lined my blocks up in lane 5, and was at a loss at how to come out of the blocks on a slope like that. This was certainly a new experience for me. When sitting in the blocks I was wondering would it be hard to keep balance. It wasn't, but the unique feeling of starting in this way meant I didn't get out great at all. Just as I have hit the straight, and all 3 competitors inside me are already past me. I was amazed at how slow I was early on compared to the others. On the home straight approaching the bell, I get into full swing, and then attack the bend. Three of the lads are out ahead but one guy is just about within reach. As we reach the green line (would have been nice had they put out cones to avoid any possible confusion) I broke, and spent the whole backstraight slowly into lane 1. By the time I reach the 100m to go part I am absolutely flying and full of legs. I knew I'd catch the guy ahead of me, but was hoping I wouldn't have to until the straight. Unfortunately he was slowing and I had no choice but to run into lane 2, or else I'd have run into the back of him. As a result I ran maybe 2m more than needed. I finished strong down the home straight. I could see the 3 guys ahead of me, and I finished about 2-3 seconds behind them, and took out about 0.7 out of the guy behind me in the closing stages. I was absolutely shattered afterwards, quite like the feeling after a 400m, but with a quicker recovery.

My time was 40.47 seconds. Initially I was disappointed as I thought I had gone sub 40. But I have to be pretty happy with that for a first attempt at racing bends indoors. I was a complete novice at it, and made some big errors. I was slow out early. I should have been ahead of that guy before the break, and had I been, I wouldn't have wasted 2m going around him later on. Indoor racing over 400m is different to outdoors. I've been told it is like a 200m race followed by the last 200m of an 800m. I still haven't adjusted to this way of thinking yet.

Given these errors, and the fact I wasn't feeling 100%, I think I'm probably in sub 40 shape indoors (or very close), which is a good sign. Based on the divide by 3, multiply by 4, add 2 seconds rule, my time yesterday equates to a high 55 indoors. So an encouraging start.

A super meet, and I really enjoyed the buzz of racing indoors. It has something which outdoors will never have. A higher level of intimacy and atmosphere.

Chivito550 · 21-12-2014 3:39pm

Thursday: Gym

Went through some new exercises with strength and conditioning coach. Will start new routine next week, and it should take me through the indoor season.

Saturday: Track

A nice speed session. 2 x (3 x 60) with about 5 minutes rest in between sets, and a slow walk back recovery. Wore the sprint spikes for this. First set from a jog rolling start. Second set from three-point start. Lovely conditions for winter sprinting. 7 degrees and sunny.

Sunday: Hills

200-100-200, 6 and a half minutes recovery, 100-200-100 on our usual grass hill. Temperatures were very mild at around 12 degrees, but the wind was incredibly strong and into our faces the whole way going up the hill, which made life very tough indeed during this session. This combined with the fact that my cold hasn't fully gone away yet, meant that the times were well slower than usual. However, they were consistent except for the last 200 where I eased off a little as I felt my left hamstring twitching a little. It only ever happens when running on these grass hills. Must be something to do with uneven ground. Not something to be concerned about, but best to take the edge off the effort levels slightly. Times were:

43.2 - 25.6 - 44.2 - 25.1 - 46.6 - 25.4

Wasn't one of my better sessions. Didn't feel fantastic out there this morning, but happy to get through it, particularly in tough conditions.

Chivito550 · 24-12-2014 7:55pm

Monday: Gym

Start of the my third gym phase. This will take me up to the end of the indoor season.

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 3 x 6 @ 40kg, 42.5kg, 50kg
Bench Hops: 4 x 4
Split Squats: 2 x 6 @ 12.5kg
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 3 x 4 @ 20kg, 25kg, 27.5kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 3 x 4
Bench Glute Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg

Tuesday: Grass

No Wednesday evening session due to it being Christmas Eve, so I did a session by myself yesterday in Marlay Park, over on the GAA fields. I did 6 x 200m in a straight line, with jog back recovery (appox 1:50 to 2:00). The wind was behind me, but more in a cross-wind diagonal manner, rather than right at my back. Very strong breeze out there. Grass was wet and a bit muddy. Wore the road running shoes. Times were:

34.6 - 34.8 - 34.2 - 34.7 - 34.5 - 34.5

Tough going when on my own like that but delighted with the consistency of those times.

Wednesday: Core & Bodyweight

Thursday is my gym day, but with it being Christmas Day, I decided to move it forward to today. But one of my gyms is closed today, and the GAA gym I use doesn't open until the clubhouse does (evening time). With plans already in place for this evening, I made the decision to skip the gym, and instead I did a core and bodyweight session at home. The total session took me 36 minutes, so it was a decent workout. Far better than doing nothing at all.

Plank Set 1 (Front 30 secs, Right Side 30 secs, Left Side 30 secs, Front 30 secs, no breaks in between each)
Plank Set 2 (Front leaning forward 30 secs, Front leaning forward side to side 30 secs, Front back and forth 30 secs, Front leaning forward lifting each leg alternatively 30 secs, 10 secs rest in between each)
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg
Floor Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Calf Raises: 3 x 10 on each leg (with 5kg for the last set, when I remembered there was a 5kg weight in the house)
Push ups: 3 x 15

Two days off to come. No track on Saturday for me due to my traditional 27th December trip to the races, so I will do a session by myself early that morning. Then Sunday things will get back close to normal.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Chivito550 · 28-12-2014 6:25pm

Saturday: Grass

Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day I took off. Had a fair oul food hangover on Stephen's Day morning. Took it fairly handy in comparison on Stephen's Day, and was fresh for my session on Saturday morning. As I was going to the races I had to skip the track, so did my own session in the morning before heading to Leopardstown. Weather was very cold at about 2-3 degrees but it was still and sunny. I went to Marlay Park and did one of the sessions we did from a few weeks before. I used the length of a GAA pitch which was 135m long, and split it into 3 sections of 45m each. I did the following:

Jog 45 - Sprint 45 - Jog 45, turnaround, Sprint 45 - Jog 45, Sprint 45, turnaround and repeat again.

4 minutes recovery, and do the above again.

So overall I got 12 sprints and 12 jogs. Didn't time any splits, but recorded how long each set took. First set was 2:59 and second set 2:55. Grass was wet and quite muddy, and I wore the road running shoes.

Sunday: Hills

Had a heavy day at Leopardstown. On the plus side I beat the Tote for the first time ever, pulling in a very modest, but welcome profit of 5.70 after betting on all 7 races (6 euro per race). However, the day involved 11 hours of continuous drinking, along with eating some fairly woeful food (Leo Burdocks among others!). Although I got 8 hours of sleep, I still felt very ropey this morning, from the food as much as from the booze.

I was hoping for an easy session given my state, but instead got the opposite. Possibly one of the hardest sessions I've ever done. It didn't sound too bad, until you were actually in the middle of it, and just wanted to curl up in a little ball in the corner of the park!

There was 4 of us at training, so coach decided on a relay race to spice things up. Two of the guys are very evenly matched at the 52 second mark for 400m, and myself and one of the girls likewise, where I'd be within about three quarters of a second of her best. So I was paired with one of the 52 guys, and she was paired with the other.

The 2 of us started off by jogging down 200 and sprinting back up the hill 200, passing to the teammate who would jog back 100 and sprint up 100. We would then jog back 100 and sprint up the hill 100, and then the other guys would do their 200. 5 minute break and then repeat, but with the other guys starting out first on that occasion. There was a rule that you were not allowed to make up any ground on the downhill part. Only on the uphill part could we race. The teams were very evenly matched, and for most reps we ended up starting together.

First 200: Worked extremely hard to get to the top first, which I just about managed. Forgot to stop the watch immediately, but given that the clock said 40 when I looked at it, which was a bit after tagging my teammate, I think my time was more than likely a 38 high. 39 low at the worst. Definitely the fastest I have ever run up that hill.

First 100: Was in bits after the 200, but not much recovery time (Only 1:45 including the jog back. Again I just about got to the top first, by no more than a metre, but worked so hard to get there. Again didn't stop the watch straight away, but 21 mid would be the most likely outcome.

Absolutely exhausted at the half way mark, and knew I was fairly cooked and was going to struggle to keep up with her on the second set. Thankfully because the other lads were last to finish set 1 and first to finish set 2, our break stretched out to 10 minutes including the jog down, but I still felt awful.

Second 100: I had a 1-2m lead starting this rep but it was eaten up very fast. Once she went past me I rallied, and stayed with her, and she only pipped me by half a metre or so. Time was 22.3

Second 200: Recovery between the 100 and this was 2:45 including the job down the hill. The 2 lads handed over to us level, so we started the last 200 together, and I couldn't keep up, losing contact about 1/3rd the way through. I fought hard but was about 2-2.5 seconds down at a guess. Probably the only rep involving any of the 4 of us that wasn't close. Time was 42.0

Weather was cold at about 4 degrees, but sunny and still so I warmed up very quickly. Grass a bit wet also.

To sum up, times were:

38 high/39 low - 21 mid - 22.3 - 42.0

Great session, but outrageous levels of pain. Will remember how dodgey I felt at half way in this session, the next time I think about going to a chipper!

Chivito550 · 31-12-2014 4:41pm

Monday: Gym

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 3 x 6 @ 45kg, 47.5kg, 50kg
Bench Hops: 3 x 4
Split Squats: 2 x 6 @ 14kg
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 3 x 4 @ 25kg, 30kg, 32.5kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 3 x 4
Bench Glute Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg

Incorrectly recorded last week's BB Back Squats as 50kg for the last set, when it was actually 45kg.

The BB Back Squats and Bench Hops are a superset, as are the Shoulder Press and Chin-ups, and likewise the Glute Thrusts and Leg Raises.

Tuesday: Massage

Wednesday: Grass

I had planned to go to training this evening, but with it being New Years I'm pretty tight for time this evening. So instead coach told me what to do this afternoon and I went up to Marlay Park and trained by myself.

The session was a 25 minute fartlek run on grass, running and jogging at intermittent intervals. In total I ran for 25 mins and 12 secs and I had 13 fast runs and 13 slow jogs. I measured out my last 2 fast runs after I finished and they were 190m and 210m roughly. Some were probably as short as 140m, while others were over 200m. So the average was probably 180m at a very rough guess. I felt I was sprinting comfortably early on, but as the session progressed the legs started to feel very heavy. After 5 minutes I was wondering how I'd get through something so soul destroying but I managed to stick it out. Tough going particularly on my own.

So that's my final session of 2014. From a running point of view it has been a great year. Some great moments during the second half of the Victorian track season. 9th place at the Victorian Country Championships to start off a string of 55 second runs including big events like the Victorian Championships and Victorian Decathlon. Although I didn't beat the 55.00 which I set at the end of 2013, January to March this year is probably the best I ever ran in Australia in terms of consistency, and I picked up my first ever medal in this sport, coming 2nd in our club championships.

The Irish season started slow, and the challenge of going from summer season to summer season without a winter base meant it was hard to truly kick on from the Oz season. It took a good while to even get back to where I was, but it all came good at Nationals with a 54.88. Since then I've had a very solid winter training, and while my PB is only 0.12 better than this time next year, I feel like I am now a much better runner and hopefully I will see the results of this in 2015.

A lot of great things have happened in 2014. Outside of athletics I have visited a crazy amount of countries around Europe. However, it has probably been the most challenging year of my life. Moving countries was a very hard thing to go through, having to leave people behind, and the emotional consequences that caused. Settling back has not been easy either. But athletics has really helped.

Here's hoping for a great 2015 in both running and non-running. Happy New Year to all. May 2015 bring many PBs.

Chivito550 · 04-01-2015 2:53pm

Thursday: Core & Bodyweight

One of my gyms was closed on New Year's Day, and with the other not open until the evening, and me suffering from a hangover and lack of sleep, I opted out of my gym session and did a core & bodyweight session at home. Total session took 43 minutes, so it was a good workout, particularly in hungover state.

Plank Set 1 (Front 30 secs, Right Side 30 secs, Left Side 30 secs, Front 30 secs, no breaks in between each)
Plank Set 2 (Front leaning forward 30 secs, Front leaning forward side to side 30 secs, Front back and forth 30 secs, Front leaning forward lifting each leg alternatively 30 secs, 10 secs rest in between each)
Dynamic Clam: 3 x 12 on each leg
Floor Hip Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Calf Raises: 3 x 10 on each leg with 5kg
Push ups: 3 x 15
Walking lunges: 3 x 8 on each leg with 5kg

The only weights in the house are 5kg so had to make the best of what I had.

Friday: Track

I was having my final big drinking session of the Christmas on Friday night so didn't want to do speed work hungover on Saturday morning. Endurance stuff while hungover is one thing, but with speed work when working on technique I'd rather have a clear head. So I went to the track by myself on Friday. Coach told me to do 2 x (3 x 80) with 5 minute rest between sets, and slow walk back recovery within sets. Beautiful day for it. Glorious sunshine and a fresh 6-7 degrees. Was windy when I warmed up but eased off by the time I was doing my session.

Sunday: Hills

Did this same session from the start of November described below:

Chivito550 wrote: »

Sunday: Hills

Extremely tough session this morning. First time I have ever done this. Basically 2 x 5 minute continuous runs, with 5 mins recovery.

For each 5 minute run we would start at the bottom of the hill. Run up 200m, run back 100m, run up 100m, run down 200m, back up 200m etc. Basically as many hill reps in the order of 200-100-200-100 etc as you can fit in in 5 minutes. Then for the second set, try replicate what you did on the first set. We would run up on grass, and back down on the path. The grass hasn't been cut in awhile so the longish grass makes it tougher.

It's a balancing act with regards to what pace to run downhill. If you jog at the usual slow pace when doing normal hill sessions, you will run back up quicker, but by going slow will mean using up too much of the 5 minutes recovering.

There were 7 of us doing the session. 5 400m runners, and 2 100-200 runners. The short sprinters were well behind the rest, which would be as expected.

Set 1: I was 4th after the first 200, and after the 100 downhill, I was right back at the front. Lost ground again on the 100 uphill but was still about 4th. I decided to push a bit on the 200 downhill, and by the time I was at the bottom, I was actually in 1st, but by the top of that 200, I was back down to 4th, which is where I stayed. I just about got to the top of the next 100 when the coach shouted stop. So I completed 200-100-200-100. The first set last time I completed this plus another 25m of downhill, but the grass is much longer now and was absolutely saturated in water. Cold water at that. During the warm up my feet got soaked in cold water, which was uncomfortable to say the least. Good opener all things considered. 4th out of the 7.

Set 2: One of the girls who was behind me on the last set stepped it up a notch and I was 5th for the first half of this set. However I moved into a comfortable 4th the 200m downhill. On the final uphill I managed to get ahead of one of the guys who was in the top 2 on the first rep. Finished 3rd out of the 7, ahead of 2 who were ahead of me in the first set, but behind one who was behind me on that set. The coach shouted stop right as I got to the top of the last 100. So again I completed 200-100-200-100. I was probably just a metre behind where I was on the first set. Absolutely delighted with the consistency. Last time I dropped off by about 10 seconds. This time just 1 second or so.

Exhausting stuff, but feel great after it now.

Christmas was great fun, but I'm sick of alcohol at this stage. It's just relentless, and as a result it isn't really a treat when it happens so often. I did a rough calculation and over a 15 day period from December 19th to January 2nd I had 95 standard drinks, and average of 6.33 per day, which is over 3 pints of beer, or over 6 measures of whisky. And I'm not a heavy drinker, and I was doing my best on certain nights to keep a lid on it (not on all nights mind you). So you can imagine that somebody who is a more seasoned drinker could be having double that, if not more. It's quite an incredible amount when you consider that 21 standard drinks a week is the recommended amount. I'm also not including the ridiculous amount I drank in Copenhagen between Dec 12th and Dec 15th, as I didn't start keeping track until closer to Christmas.

I'm not going to do the whole cold Turkey thing of "No drink until xxx", but I'm seriously cutting down now. I can't envisage any more mad nights until after Nationals in late February. What's annoying is that most social activity in this country in the evening time revolves around having a drink. That's one of the things I miss about Melbourne, having late night cafes and late night gelaterias where you could hang out and socialise.

Chivito550 · 07-01-2015 10:04pm

Monday: Gym

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 3 x 6 @ 47.5kg, 50kg, 55kg
Bench Hops: 3 x 4
Split Squats: 2 x 6 @ 14kg
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 3 x 4 @ 30kg, 32.5kg, 35kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 3 x 4
Bench Glute Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg

Wednesday: Grass

Weather was fairly poor this evening. On and off rain, and strong winds. The grass surface at the touchlines of the GAA pitch was very slippy and muddy, from all the rain from today, so we were sort of limited with what we could do.

There was 9 of us there so we were split into 3 teams of 3 and did a relay on a stretch of around 100m or so. We ran back and forth until each of us had run 3 times. We did this 3 times in total, with 2 minutes between each set. Recovery within each set would have worked out at about 25-30 seconds. Was hard to go completely flat out due to the slippy surface. Had to be a little cautious during the middle third of each rep. So overall the session was a little on the easier side, but that's no harm now and again, especially after the tough session last Sunday.

This log is officially 4 years old today.

Had no expectations when I set this up that it would be still going now. The first 5-6 months of it were completely all over the place also.

Chivito550 · 10-01-2015 3:00pm

Thursday: Gym

Strength & Conditioning coach is moving away so won't be in Dublin very often moving forward, so we went through my next programme which I am to start after Indoor season.

Saturday: Track

150-120-100 5 mins 100-120-150

All from a 3 point start, and using the distance spikes. Enjoyed this session. I felt I was moving well, particularly given where I was in relation to the faster runners in the group.

60m and 800m tomorrow in Athlone for the League Round 1. Any 800m indoor tips are most welcome. Neither race is important. It's more about just getting more experience running indoors, before I start all the 400m racing.

ECOLII · 10-01-2015 3:32pm

Best of luck tomorrow J

Chivito550 · 11-01-2015 6:46pm

2:14.98 for 800m indoors. A nice sneaky PB by a quarter of a second.

Faster than all the outdoor 800s I've ever done. Very encouraging with a rake of 400m races to come.

Earlier in the day I managed 8.16 for 60m, which was a bit disappointing as I was 0.11 slower than the last time. Still ok though given it is not my event.

Report to come.

Timmaay · 11-01-2015 8:38pm

That official? Where did ya get the results? Was happy with my run, roll on the 15 in 2 weeks time!

Chivito550 · 12-01-2015 12:29am

Timmaay wrote: »

That official? Where did ya get the results? Was happy with my run, roll on the 15 in 2 weeks time!

Yeh. Got the result off them before I left.

Well done today. You running AAI Games that weekend also, or just the league?

Oregano_State · 12-01-2015 11:36am

Do you have your splits from the 800m?

Chivito550 · 12-01-2015 12:20pm

Oregano_State wrote: »

Do you have your splits from the 800m?

Yeh, ran too aggressively. About 29/30 through 200, having gone through 100 in 13 something. 64 at 400m. 1:40 at 600m. They are very rough splits based on looking at the clock at each 200. There was a clock on the backstraight also, but didn't pay too much attention to it. Think I was about 46 at 300m.

Chivito550 · 12-01-2015 9:16pm

Will do up a report on yesterday shortly, but first an update on this evening's gym session:

BB Back Squat (with heels raised, with full depth): 3 x 6 @ 52.5kg, 55kg, 57.5kg
Bench Hops: 3 x 4
Split Squats: 2 x 6 @ 14kg
Standing BB Shoulder Press: 3 x 4 @ 32.5kg, 35kg, 37.5kg
Chin-ups w/ Shoulder Retraction: 3 x 4 @ 2kg, 3kg, 4kg
Bench Glute Thrusts: 3 x 8 on each leg
Straight Leg Raises: 3 x 15 on each leg

First time I've ever done chin-ups with more than just bodyweight.

Chivito550 · 12-01-2015 10:47pm

My second indoor meet of the season. On the menu on this occasion would be a 60m and an 800m, touching on both speed and endurance, ahead of several 400m races to come over the next month and a half.

60m:

The 60m was scheduled to start at 1pm, but it was hard to know when exactly my race would be on. The women would be first, then the league men, followed by the guest men. I had a feeling I wouldn't on until close to 2pm and should have gone with my gut. But instead I started warming up far too early as I saw lots of others warming up, and didn't want to risk not being ready. Instead I ended up trying to stretch my warm up out to over an hour, as my race was the 4th of the men's guest races, and indeed close to 2pm. This warm up was much too long.

My one and only 60m to date was an 8.05 back in December. On this occasion I hoped to go sub 8.

I was drawn in lane 6, with nobody in lanes 7 and 8. I don't feel like I reacted to the gun quickly enough, but after looking at the race video, this was probably down to the fact that the guy to the left of me got out like a rocket. Where I struggled though was my pick-up phase. I didn't get up to top speed quickly enough, and by the time I lifted my head I felt like I was way down on the entire field. I also felt like I was too tense, but with only about 30m left there really isn't much time to correct this, nor is there much room for any sort of error. One lad seemed to be close enough to me, but the others were way ahead, and I knew I came last. But when i saw that the winning time was 7.44 seconds, I held out hope that I may have been within a half a second of that. Alas there was to be no joy. A clocking of 8.16 seconds was all I could manage on this occasion, 0.11 off my PB. Overall I was the slowest of all guest men, and I think the slowest including all the league men also.

While this certainly is not an event I am suited to, I've also come to realise that sub 8 seconds is of a much higher standard of performance than I had realised. For some odd reason I equated sub 8 to being not far off sub 13 for 100, probably because they are both round numbers. The reality is that sub 8 is around sub 12.5. My 8.05 from December was actually a very good performance, and probably equivalent to my 100m PB of 12.58. My performance on this occasion was probably a 12.7x. Not brilliant, but not terrible either.

That will be my last 60m until next season. Good fun.

Here's a video of my race:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcmanusphotos/16257107932/

800m:

I had planned on using the 60m as part of my warm up for the 800m, with the hope of going straight into the 800m soon after. However, the gap between events was much longer than I anticipated (the meet ran perfectly on schedule. I just didn't pay attention to the fact there was such a long gap between each event). So I ended up doing close to a full warm up again. No hassle though.

I've done a lot of endurance work this winter and feel like I am very fit, and secretly had high hopes of beating my outdoor PB of 2:15.2 from November 2013 in Melbourne. I didn't know what shape I was in though. 2:12? 2:14? I had no way of knowing, so I decided I'd just attack the start and see how I felt, and see what I had in the legs.

I was in the third of three guest races, and what I hoped would be the slowest. Race 2 was won in 1:59, so I hoped that my race would be well slower than that. Unfortunately it wasn't a great deal slower at all. There were 8 in my race (or maybe it was 9) and I was sharing lane 4 with another lad.

I sprinted the first bend, making sure to take advantage of those 5-6 seconds of free energy. I used my elbow to hold my ground and forced myself ahead of the guy in my lane. After 50m we reach the point where we break, and as I move my way towards lane 1, there is a lot of jostling for position, and the guy who had shared my lane with me forges his way back ahead of me. I managed to make my way into lane 1 though before the bend, meaning the quicker guys who got caught behind me would have to go around me. The clock showed 13 as I passed the 100m mark. 13.something was fairly moving. Coming around the first bend and things start to settle a bit, but I'm still moving at a pace well faster than I have run in an 800m before. 29/30 seconds for 200m. I kept moving well through the first half of the second lap, and am at about 46 seconds for 300m, but then I start to feel myself slow. I knew in my head that I had gone too fast, and mentally eased back a bit.

However I was certainly feeling it as I hit the half way mark in 64 seconds, my quickest every first 400m. At this point most of the field have stretched away from me. There's one guy about 10m ahead of me, and another guy well behind, and that's it. I tried to up the effort levels at this point, but I was struggling a bit, and made sure to focus on holding the gap between myself and the guy ahead of me. I reach 600m in 1:40 and I knew it would be touch and go for a PB, as I have gone through 600m in 1:40 before.

Usually with 200m to go, the head tells you to kick, but with indoors involving a full lap for 200m, it feels a bit far away to actually start the finishing sprint. But when I hit the backstraight with 150m to go I emptied the tank and I was closing quickly on the guy ahead of me, who seemed like he had nothing left to give. I sailed past him on the bend, but had to go into lane 2 to go past him, something which I did comfortably. I assumed I would not see him again, he was struggling so bad.

I stayed in lane 2 on the straight, rather than moving back into lane 1, as I felt there would be no need. The lactic has built up a lot in the legs over these closing stages, but I am pushing as hard as I possibly can, and felt like I was moving well. Then in the last 5m, the lad who I had passed so easily only 10 seconds earlier, comes past me in the nick of time. I couldn't believe it. I was told afterwards had I gone into lane 1, he wouldn't have beaten me, but I left a gap on the inside.

He only pipped me by 0.06, and in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter too much. I recorded a time of 2:14.98, a new PB, by 0.22 seconds (though the previous PB was hand timed, so probably by more than that), my first time under 2:15, having run 2:15.xx on 3 occasions in Melbourne, and most satisfyingly, a faster time indoors than I have ever run outdoors. To run that at such an early time of the year, is extremely encouraging as I move onto my 400m races over the coming weeks.

My pacing was all over the place, but I was happy I attacked it, to see what I had in me. From a training perspective, this was a good way to run it also. Go hard and try hang on.

Another really well organised meet. These two indoor meets have been as well organised as any of the best organised meets I have been apart of in Melbourne. A huge kudos is deserved to those who made it run so smoothly, and last August's decathlon shambolics are drifting more and more from the memory.

Next meet is the Welsh Championships in Cardiff on 24th January, where I am entered to run the 400m.

Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

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