Ballycotton 10 - sub 60 + top 100 t-shirt!

kaymin · 10-11-2011 11:17pm #1

As the title of my thread suggests, my goal is to run a sub-60 10 mile race at Ballycotton in March 2012 and win a top 100 finishers t-shirt.

PB's in a few different distances are:
5 mile 28:45
10km 37:22
10 mile 60:55
Marathon (Dublin 2010) 3:14 [training disrupted by injury]

My stats:
Age: 35
Weight: 81kg
Height: 6’ 4”

So, training so far:
Sunday, 6th Nov – 11.3 miles, 8:10 pace; average HR 164
Nice easy run around the Phoenix Park to re-introduce my legs to running after a 3 month gap. Went with my brother in-law and pregnant sister! Ideal weather – sunny and mild.

Thursday, 10th Nov – 7.14 miles; 7:02 pace; average HR 177
I intended to take this run at a steady pace but as it turns out I’m more unfit than I realised and a steady run is too hard at this stage. Picked up the pace as the run went on, not because I felt good, the opposite actually, and really needed to get to the end before I flaked out. HR reached 191 for the last bit! Still, it gives me an idea of the work that needs to be done:rolleyes:.

village runner · 10-11-2011 11:25pm

Mental the way fitness goes ot pott.
Within 3 weeks you will be back to yourself.

Brianderunner · 10-11-2011 11:31pm

Good luck with the sub 60 goal. I hope to hit the same mark in 2012 and will follow this log with interest

Krusty_Clown · 10-11-2011 11:35pm

Best of luck Kaymin! Just remember, for a t-shirt you'll have to go comfortably under 60 minutes (59:36 in 2011) and you'll have Village Runner (and I) to contend with along the way too.

neilc · 10-11-2011 11:39pm

Good luck with the log and goals.

kaymin · 10-11-2011 11:44pm

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Best of luck Kaymin! Just remember, for a t-shirt you'll have to go comfortably under 60 minutes (59:36 in 2011) and you'll have Village Runner (and I) to contend with along the way too.

I'll be keeping an eye on your threads to see how the competition is doing so (and to copy some sessions)!

I think in 2009, just over 60 and half minutes would have got you 100th. I suspect with the recession the standards will improve further so I'll be aiming for 59 minutes on the day to be sure of a chance of a t-shirt. Big step up and all talk at the moment but if I can stay injury free I'll be hopeful!

village runner · 10-11-2011 11:57pm

I love running behind 6ft 4 runners in ballycotton. Once i vcan see Krusty i will be happy. He cant let me beat him 2 yrs in a row down there. I reckon you will need 59 dead to be sure of a tshirt.

kaymin · 11-11-2011 12:04am

village runner wrote: »

I love running behind 6ft 4 runners in ballycotton. Once i vcan see Krusty i will be happy. He cant let me beat him 2 yrs in a row down there. I reckon you will need 59 dead to be sure of a tshirt.

Happy to help!

59 dead:( - that's slightly depressing. Still, if it was easy it wouldn't be worth doing!

seanynova · 11-11-2011 6:06am

best of luck, from what i remember you would have been able for around 2:48 at DCM '10 so no reason what would wouldnt hit sub60 for 10m.

take it ahndy coming back anyway

ecoli · 11-11-2011 11:35am

Great to see you back on the forum its been a while. There us definitely a sub 60 in you will follow with interest

kaymin · 12-11-2011 7:57pm

seanynova wrote: »

best of luck, from what i remember you would have been able for around 2:48 at DCM '10 so no reason what would wouldnt hit sub60 for 10m.

take it ahndy coming back anyway

Thanks - not so sure about 2:48! - though if training goes well for Ballycotton I might try up the training and have a go at breaking 3 hours in Limerick.

ecoli wrote: »

Great to see you back on the forum its been a while. There us definitely a sub 60 in you will follow with interest

Thanks - I came close following your marathon programme summer last year so a dedicated 10 mile training plan might get me there this time.

kaymin · 12-11-2011 7:59pm

Saturday, 12th Nov - 10 miles; 7:15 per mile; Average HR – 179
I tend to push it too hard when I run on my own so I made a conscious effort to run within myself for this session. I managed to cover the distance reasonably okay though my heart rate suggests otherwise – probably the late night and few too many beers had something to do with that. Finished without collapsing in a heap so there’s a definite improvement on Thursday’s run.

In a rash moment I agreed to run the senior Kildare cross country championships next weekend – I don’t think I’m senior standard when I’m running well but when my form is as it is I expect I’ll be in for a tough day!

kaymin · 14-11-2011 10:09pm

Sunday 13 Nov - 40 minute kayak. I'm aiming to kayak at least once a week to keep some upper body fitness / strength.

Monday 14 Nov - 8 miles steady; Average 7:24 per mile; Average HR: 173; Grass surface

Thought I was running faster than this pace - especially considering how much I laboured. Of more concern is the slight throbbing sensation on the left of my lower left calf - the same area that put a halt to my marathon training and which my physio suspected of compartment syndrome:(. Might try aggravate it some more and then get it diagnosed once and for all.

kaymin · 16-11-2011 11:02pm

Wednesday, 6 Nov - 9 miles intervals

This was my first intervals session in a while. Aim was to do 5 1-mile efforts with each between 6:20 - 6:30 pace and 90 seconds rest inbetween. Found it really tough - bit of a shock to my leg muscles. I could feel the lactic building and I was fairly whacked so I happily called it a day after 4 efforts.

3 miles easy warm-up - 7:34min/mile
Mile Pace Avg HR
1 6:25 179
2 6:29 177
3 6:19 180
4 6:20 179
2 miles easy warm-down - 7:35 min/mile

kaymin · 17-11-2011 10:52pm

Thursday, 17 Nov - 5 miles easy; 7:42 min/mile; Avg HR 163

Managed to persuade my housemate to come out for a run with me - helps to rein in the pace. Another easy run on Saturday before I attempt my first cross country race in over 20 years on Sunday!

kaymin · 19-11-2011 5:28pm

Saturday, 19 November - 4.1 miles easy; 7:45 mins/mile; Avg HR 154

Did this run in the park beside my estate which meant going around in circles quite a few times - which is fine when it's such a short run. I think the xc race course tomorrow is 10km long. I'll aim to do the first two or so miles at 6:30 pace and then go at a pace based on how I feel. It's all about damage limitation! HR today gives me some confidence.

RayCun · 19-11-2011 6:15pm

kaymin wrote: »

Did this run in the park beside my estate which meant going around in circles quite a few times - which is fine when it's such a short run. I think the xc race course tomorrow is 10km long.

Tymon? Pretty sure it's 4 laps of 2k

kaymin · 19-11-2011 6:40pm

RayCun wrote: »

Tymon? Pretty sure it's 4 laps of 2k

I think it's called Hermitage Park - it's in Lucan. A circuit is only 0.7 of a mile so I wouldn't attempt long runs there. I'd usually run in the Phoenix Park though St. Catherine's Park in Lucan is also an option.

RayCun · 19-11-2011 6:44pm

Oh, different xc race

kaymin · 19-11-2011 6:50pm

RayCun wrote: »

Oh, different xc race

The xc race I'm doing is being held in Castletown estate grounds in Celbridge - it's the Kildare xc champships. Hopefully it won't rain overnight as I'll be using my asics:rolleyes:

kaymin · 20-11-2011 4:37pm

Sunday, 20 November – Kildare Cross Country Championships – 10km

I ate my usual pasta breakfast before making my way to Castletown Estate in Celbridge for the 12pm start. Beautiful day again – couldn’t have asked for better conditions! Bumped into a few people from my home town while the women’s race got underway – they had to cover a 4km circuit.

Men’s race kicked off at about 12:30pm – I lined up with my clubmates – I’ve only run with my club once before – so it was a case of me re-introducing myself! I made sure their expectations of my performance were suitably low! Course comprised of 3 laps – a 2km lap followed by 2x 4km laps.

Game plan was to go at 6:30 mins per mile pace for miles 1 and 2 and then see how I felt. Gun went and off we went – I slotted in behind a couple of runners at a pace of 6:20 or thereabouts – while it felt comfortable I followed my game plan and didn’t attempt to follow the few groups of runners that started to pass. After about 2 miles I figured the guy I was tracking was fading and decided to latch onto another few runners that were passing – their pace was too fast but I didn’t want to drop and end up in no-man’s land. So I kept up the pace for another 1.5 miles – after that the hardship began. At this stage I made a promise to myself never to enter a race again without having done the necessary training. Thankfully another guy dropped the same time and he was in as bad a shape as me – I stuck to his heels until the finishing straight. I didn’t / couldn’t mount a challenge in the ‘sprint’ - I was only too happy to get to the finish line.

Think I finished middle of the field in 41:31; 6:40 average - my target of 6:30 was probably too ambitious for a xc course. Plenty of positives to take from the race not least being the motivation to do more training.

Pace for each mile was:
1 6:23
2 6:35
3 6:25
4 6:51
5 6:47
6 6:55
0.23 6:49

bart simpson · 21-11-2011 12:29am

hi kaymin, might give sub 60 a go myself if my training goes well, are you following any particular program?

kaymin · 21-11-2011 9:27pm

bart simpson wrote: »

hi kaymin, might give sub 60 a go myself if my training goes well, are you following any particular program?

Hi Bart, haven't started into a program yet, still at the stage of trying to get fit. I was looking at programs over the weekend though and liked to look of this one:
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/racing/rws-sub-60-10-mile-schedule/87.html

It's only 8 weeks long which would mean I'd start it on 9th January. Until then I'll probably make things up as I go along! Have you a program in mind yourself?

bart simpson · 22-11-2011 1:20am

kaymin wrote: »

Hi Bart, haven't started into a program yet, still at the stage of trying to get fit. I was looking at programs over the weekend though and liked to look of this one:
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/racing/rws-sub-60-10-mile-schedule/87.html

It's only 8 weeks long which would mean I'd start it on 9th January. Until then I'll probably make things up as I go along! Have you a program in mind yourself?

no i dont have a program sorted yet, i did dublin so im still kinda recovering from that, id like to start a program next monday the 28th,
on runners world, you can use their smart coach thing that gives you a tailored program with a length of your choosing based on a recent race time, its pretty good and worth a look, it only has one session per week, with loads of steady miles,
but im kinda thinking of doing two sessions(tempo+intervals), a long run, and recover runs, i think i have endurance but dont have the leg speed so thats why im thinking maybe two sessions per week, but im no expert, were you thinking of one or two sessions a week?

kaymin · 22-11-2011 9:43pm

Tuesday, 22 November – 6 miles with 3.67 mile tempo; Avg 6:47min per mile; Avg HR 172

Started this run with a couple of friends but being an impatient runner (some might say an unsociable git) I decided to increase the pace and leave the lads behind.
1.33 miles easy 8:05mins/mile
3.67 miles@ tempo pace 6:23 mins/mile
1 mile steady 6:33 min
Happy with how I felt – I struggled with the 6:20ish pace last week when I was doing one mile intervals so it’s good to string a few miles together this time and maintain the same pace.

kaymin · 22-11-2011 10:14pm

bart simpson wrote: »

no i dont have a program sorted yet, i did dublin so im still kinda recovering from that, id like to start a program next monday the 28th,
on runners world, you can use their smart coach thing that gives you a tailored program with a length of your choosing based on a recent race time, its pretty good and worth a look, it only has one session per week, with loads of steady miles,
but im kinda thinking of doing two sessions(tempo+intervals), a long run, and recover runs, i think i have endurance but dont have the leg speed so thats why im thinking maybe two sessions per week, but im no expert, were you thinking of one or two sessions a week?

Hi Bart, had a look at that training plan – I’ll be doing 2 hard sessions per week I’d say – don’t think I’d enjoy doing 5 out of 6 sessions every week at 7:30ish pace. I’m used to doing regular hard sessions when I kayak so I reckon my body can take it. I’m unlikely to get out running 6 days a week either so I’d like to get the quality up.

The hardest sessions I identified on that training plan you mentioned are:
Tempo: Dist: 10 Mi, inc Warm; 6 Mi @ 6:15; Cool
Speedwork: Dist: 9 Mi, inc Warm; 5x1600 in 5:45 +w/800 jogs; Cool

While they’re tough sessions I don’t think they’d give me the confidence going into the race that I could go under 60 minutes. I’d need to go 6 or 7 miles at sub-60 pace in training in order to be optimistic of achieving my goal. Personal thing and I’m far from an expert.

How did Dublin marathon go for you?

bart simpson · 23-11-2011 4:22pm

i just deleted this post kaymin, because VR quoted it (you can read it from his post) and it was long enough as it was, and i dont want all my ****e cluttering up your log.

village runner · 23-11-2011 10:10pm

bart simpson wrote: »

dublin went great i got a sub 3, ...2:59:38 so i was delighted with that. im 28 and have being running 3 years so im happy enough, i never ran when i was younger so all my training so far has being slow marathon training, i would not be used to do 6:00 m/m at all! my PB is mallow this year 63:39, so its a big ask but cant aim for 61

i had a go at doing out a program myself last night, il paste it here now, not sure if its right, if you or anyone else on here has opinions on improvements to it id be glad to hear them.

Week 1
8m with 4@6:15mm
6m
6m
7m with 4*1000@6:00mm
5m
15m long run
Rest

Week 2
8m with 4@6:10mm
7m
6m with 3*1000@6:00mm
6m
6m
8m with 5 mile race Aware, Dublin
Rest

Week 3
15m
6m
6m
6m with 8*800@5:45mm
6m
12m with 4@6:40mm
Rest

Week 4
Recovery Week
8m with 3@6:30mm
6m
6m
8m with 3@6:30mm
6m
16m long run
Rest

Week 5
9m with 6@6:15mm
6m
6m
8m with 6*1000@5:45mm
6m
15 mile long run
Rest

Week 6
8m with 4@6:00mm
6m
6m
8m with 4*1200@5:45mm
6m
16m long run
Rest

Week 7
10m with 7@6:15mm
6m
6m
8m with 3*1600@5:40mm
6m
15m long run
Rest

Week 8
8m with 5@6:00mm
7m
7m
8m with 8*800@5:40mm
6m
15m long run
Rest

Week 9
6m
8m with 3*1600@5:45mm
6m
5m
Rest
3m
Dungarvan 10 mile Race

Week 10
5m
8m
6m
8m with 8*800@5:45mm
6m
15m with 8@6:30mm
Rest

Week 11
8m with 5*1200@5:45mm
7m
5m
10m@6:15mm
7m
15m long run
Rest

Week 12
8m with 5*1600@5:45mm
7m
5m
10@6:15mm
6m
15m long run
Rest

Week 13
6m with 6*600@5:35mm
6m
6m
10m with 7*1000@5:40mm
5m
16m long run

Week 14
6m with 6*800@5:40mm
5m
6m with 2@6:00mm
4m
Rest
3m
Ballycotton 10 mile race

Startv your own long and dont be hijacking kaymins. Intervals in week 1 and 2 are too slow and a waste. A lad that can run a 75 on hte last 400 in a 10 x 400 session is wasting is time doing a 4 x 1k and 3 x 1k @ 6 min mile..........You should be doing something like 4 x 2 miles at prp......The 10 miles at 6.15 would interest me if you fancy it. Start your own log kid. I dont praise too many lads but your a tough cnut. You dont know when you are beat.

kaymin · 25-11-2011 9:29pm

Friday, 25 November – 7.14 miles steady; 6:47min/mile; Avg HR 172

Found a few excuses not to run the last few days but got my act together this evening. Tried to contain my pace as I plan to do a long run tomorrow – HR suggests I didn’t succeed. Played chicken with a few people on the paths this evening:rolleyes:

kaymin · 26-11-2011 7:33pm

Saturday, 26 November – 13.1 miles on grass/ trails; 7:19min/mile average; Avg HR 173

Shattered after this run – it was my longest since Dublin marathon last year so that might explain why. Pace and legs felt sluggish throughout. If I can get up in the morning I’ll kayak instead of run to give my legs some relief.

kaymin · 30-11-2011 10:48pm

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 – 6 miles easy; 7:47 min/mile; Avg HR messed up

Had a lazy few days – didn’t even manage a kayak on Sunday. No real excuse except Ballycotton seems so far away and there’s loads of time to get in shape :rolleyes:

I headed out with a couple of friends this evening with the intention of pushing on to do 4 of the miles at 6:15 pace. I quickly changed my mind when we turned into a direct head wind. So I did the sociable thing and stuck with the lads.

7 or so miles tomorrow with 4 at 6:15 min /mile pace – committed now that I’ve put it in writing!

kaymin · 01-12-2011 10:10pm

Thursday, 1 December – 8 miles; Avg 6:40min/mile; Avg HR 174

Aim was to do 4 miles hard as part of this session. Started off with 2 easyish miles at 7:13 pace before hitting the accelerator – as usual I pushed it too hard:rolleyes::

Mile 1 – 6:09
Mile 2 – 6:05
Mile 3 – 6:19

I’d hit lactic at this stage and decided to go at a steady clip for the rest of the run - bit of a cop out not to do the 4th hard mile but I was starting to tie up bad. I reckon my lactic threshold pace is at around 6:20 pace so I'll need to work on that.

kaymin · 05-12-2011 11:55pm

Saturday, 3 December

Kayak interval session - big crowd out from the club - I found it tough due to no paddling in the previous two weeks.

Sunday, 4 December - 15 miles easyish; Avg 7:19min/mile; Avg HR 166

Managed to eat only a banana for breakfast on my way to the Phoenix Park for this run. Kept the pace easyish and was fairly comfortable up until the last mile - I reckon I'd have wilted badly if I had to continue. It was very muddy underfoot so I was happy with the pace / heart rate. I felt wrecked for the rest of the day though - need to make sure I eat a decent breakfast the next time I do a long run.

kaymin · 06-12-2011 9:50pm

Tuesday, 6 December - 7 miles including 6 x 1km efforts with 90sec recovery jogs inbetween

3km warm-up
Km Pace
1 3:45
2 3:45
3 3:35
4 3:34
5 3:33
6 3:38
1km warm-down

This was a tough session. Wind and inclines made the times inconsistent but the effort was much the same throughout. My legs started going jellyish for the last one. Plan at the moment is to do the Aware 5-mile (late registration on Saturday morning) so it'll be easy sessions for the rest of the week:).

kaymin · 09-12-2011 10:00pm

Friday, 9 December - 7.15 miles easy; Avg 7:28min/mile; Avg HR 165

Did this run at 7:30am - I can count on 3 fingers the number of times I've gotten up early for a training session. This run felt like the easiest run I've done in years so I was very surprised at my heart rate. For the first mile my average HR was 184 - maybe it's trying to tell me something about early morning sessions. Paths were icy - felt like I was running on the spot a few times. I probably ran longer than I should have given I'm racing tomorrow morning but after two days without training I need to keep focused on the main goal rather than sacrifice training for short term goals. Checked out the course for the Aware 5 mile - I'm not liking the look of it:rolleyes:

kaymin · 10-12-2011 1:19pm

Saturday, 10 December 2011 - Aware 5 mile race

I just want to make this post and then blank the race from memory. Here's the splits:

Mile
1 5:43
2 5:51
3 6:07
4 6:57
5 6:15
0.06 6:15

Average 6:11 mins/ mile; 31:13 mins

Long story short and putting aside all the other excuses, I blew it on the 3rd mile when I pushed it too hard up the hill. Before the race I knew this would be the hardest mile and thought once I'd gotten onto mile 4 I'd be home dry as it was flat from there to the finish. Which would have been the case if I didn't hit lactic on mile 3. Anyway during the 4th mile I stopped twice - I've only ever stopped in a race once before. Not a good feeling. I'd blown a gasket and it's hard to recover from that. Anyway, I'll use this performance as motivation to train harder, be more disciplined on pace and to make sure the same thing doesn't happen in Ballycotton.

Seres · 10-12-2011 1:47pm

kaymin wrote: »

Saturday, 10 December 2011 - Aware 5 mile race

I just want to make this post and then blank the race from memory. Here's the splits:

Mile
1 5:43
2 5:51
3 6:07
4 6:57
5 6:15
0.06 6:15

Average 6:11 mins/ mile; 31:13 mins

Dont wipe it from the memory sounds like a tough but good lesson . Well done on giving it a go . Pretty good performance considering you blew up and walked twice . You recouped really well after a bad fourth mile , many would have packed it in all together

bart simpson · 10-12-2011 3:52pm

hard luck kaymin, i didnt break 30 either, but that was a very hard race, the head wind and hills were coming against us at the same time! miles 3 and 4 were very hard

kaymin · 10-12-2011 7:21pm

Seres wrote: »

Dont wipe it from the memory sounds like a tough but good lesson . Well done on giving it a go . Pretty good performance considering you blew up and walked twice . You recouped really well after a bad fourth mile , many would have packed it in all together

bart simpson wrote: »

hard luck kaymin, i didnt break 30 either, but that was a very hard race, the head wind and hills were coming against us at the same time! miles 3 and 4 were very hard

Thanks Seres, Bart. It's no harm getting a kick at this stage when I still have plenty of time to do something about it. Roll on training next week

kaymin · 12-12-2011 10:53pm

Sunday, 11 December - 12km kayak

Monday, 12 December - 10 miles; Avg 6:53 min/mile; Avg HR 171

Nasty headwind for the first half of this run. Legs felt really heavy - I'm still recovering from Saturday it seems.

kaymin · 14-12-2011 11:26pm

Wednesday, 14 December - 9.5 miles with 4 x 1 mile @ RP with 90 sec jog inbetween

2 mile easy - 7:19 min / mile

Mile Avg HR
1 6:10 169
2 5:57 175
3 6:02 178
4 6:05 179

3 miles easy - 7:22 min / mile

I ran the efforts along the canal and, with no wind, it was perfect conditions. Made sure to keep the efforts at just below lactic - makes for a much more enjoyable session. Happy with the pace - I feel like I'm making some progress at last.

kaymin · 16-12-2011 7:07pm

Friday, 16 December - 10 miles; Avg 6:42 mins / mile; Avg HR: 168

Ran this at a steady but comfortable pace. Didn't really have a plan for this run other than to go for 7 or more miles depending on how I felt.

My max weekly mileage has been 33 miles and so, very few of my runs to date have been at a slow pace -my focus is on quality. I hope to run more often from January and get the weekly mileage upto 40 - 50 miles - time for some easy miles then.

kaymin · 17-12-2011 6:21pm

Saturday, 17 December - 15 mile LSR; Avg 7:32 mins / mile; Avg HR 158

Did this run on grass / trails in the Phoenix Park. Had my work Christmas party last night so I didn't intend training today but when I woke to sunshine I decided I had to make the most of the conditions. As soon as I started the run though I knew I was tired and it was going to be a slog. Still, my heart rate continues to fall for the same pace so fitness is coming along.

45 miles done this week - by far the most in about 15 months - will kayak tomorrow to give my legs some rest.

kaymin · 21-12-2011 10:50pm

Sunday, 18 December - 12km kayak

Wednesday, 21 Decemmber - 7.5 miles easy; Avg 7:08 min / mile; Avg HR 162

Work obligations got in the way of training on Monday and Tuesday. Easy run tonight to set me up for a tough interval session tomorrow

kaymin · 22-12-2011 7:08pm

Thursday, 22 December 2011 - 10 miles including 8 x 1k @ RP - 10s with 90 seconds rest between efforts

Killer session, to put it mildly. Was a bit apprehensive going into this session as I wanted to do the efforts hard but I also wanted to make sure I finished all 8 of them. Here's how it turned out:

2 miles w/up - 7:38 mins/mile

Split Time Avg Pace Avg HR Max HR
1 03:38.0 05:51 171 177
2 03:33.4 05:43 178 183
3 03:33.5 05:44 179 188
4 03:36.8 05:49 182 187
5 03:39.9 05:54 182 186
6 03:46.7 06:05 182 186
7 03:49.1 06:09 181 186
8 03:41.1 05:56 180 185

1.8 mile w/ down - 8 mins / mile

Happy with how it panned out - it seemed no matter which way I ran the wind was against me and I was running up an incline - but that's just a reflection of how I was hurting. Felt like quitting after 6 but grinded out the last two by running within myself.

kaymin · 23-12-2011 8:37pm

Friday, 23 December - 8.16 miles easy; Avg 7:03 min / mile; Avg HR 162

Ran this without looking at the watch and just focused on keeping my breathing easy throughout. My aim is to up the weekly mileage to 40 per week and maybe get it into the 50+ pw for a couple of weeks in Jan / Feb. Weighed myself for the first time since I started this programme - I've lost 5 or 6 kilo and now weight 75kg - not good when you're 6'4". I'll need to fit in a second dinner somehow:rolleyes:

kaymin · 24-12-2011 4:29pm

Saturday, 24 December - 9.3 miles including 5 x 1m @ RP off 90s jog recovery

The wind was blowing a gale so I tried to pick a course such that the wind was hitting me from the side. First two miles were comfortable. On the third the wind was slightly against me and with a slight incline i had to work hard to maintain the pace. Changed the route for the 4th mile to give me a half mile stretch with the wind - slight cheat but it had to be done!

Split Avg Pace Avg HR Max HR
1 06:03.4 171 180
2 05:50.0 175 179
3 05:56.9 179 182
4 06:02.0 178 182
5 05:50.5 179 184

35 miles for the week - bit on the low side. I really need to get into the high 40's consistently if I'm going to have a hope of achieving my goal.

Rest day tomorrow. The annual canoe club St Stephen's Day run takes place on Monday - it's a 10 minute race cross country and pure torture. I've never won this before...maybe this will be my year!

Happy Christmas to anyone reading:)!

kaymin · 27-12-2011 7:41pm

Monday, 26 December - 1.64 miles; 5:47 mins / mile

This was the canoe club's annual Stephen's Day run held on fields and muddy tracks. 35 entrants this year - a record number.

No formal start - just a polite go and off we went - was caught slightly unawares and found myself mid-field for the first 100 metres or so. After about 500m the serious racers got down to business. There were 5 of us bunched together and one lad was leading out the charge. Didn't expect the pace to be this fast - 5:43 per mile on a mucky surface and head wind. I started to think I'd be lucky to finish in the top 5. I settled down and concentrated on keeping a steady pace but at the same time not losing touch.

Jumped over the low fence at about half way lying in 3rd place - the others had drifted off the back. This was where I planned to make my move - I needed to have built a good lead by the end of the next part of the course in order to win as I've a weak finish. The choice was to run on the grass or on a tarmac path down an avenue (both parallel to eachother) - getting to the tarmac path involved running an extra 7 metres or so but as I wasn't wearing spikes (I don't own a pair) I figured this was my best option. I fell a little behind as the two lads in front opted for the shorter but grassy trail. I started striding and gradually passed the two lads to take a 4 or 5 metre lead by the time the avenue ended and we had to take a sharp right turn back into a field. I thought I'd have built up a bigger gap. It was now a race between myself and another guy - the third placed guy fell off the pace down the avenue. But then I blundered - I ran beyond an open gate into the field and ended up having to clamber over a fence. Valuable seconds were lost. I managed to turn a 5 metre lead into a 15 metre deficit.

At this stage there was only 2 minutes of racing left and I could feel victory slipping away. I tried to catch him but the best I could do was keep the distance between us constant. Fairly gutted. Finished 2nd, 8 seconds behind first place and 14 seconds ahead of third.

Tuesday, 27 December - 16 miles LSR; Avg 7:16 mins / mile; Avg HR: 159

Did this run on grassy trails along the canal. I ran with my brother for the first 10 miles at 7:30 min / mile pace - he was suffering with a cold so I didn't try pick up the pace. For the last 6 miles I upped the pace a little to an average of 6:50 min / mile. Felt comfortable throughout which makes a change from the previous LSRs.

Timmaay · 28-12-2011 12:58am

10min cross country race, interesting, there are very few xc races under 6k for senior men!

kaymin · 29-12-2011 5:21pm

Timmaay wrote: »

10min cross country race, interesting, there are very few xc races under 6k for senior men!

I'd prefer 6km distance - I've better stamina than raw speed. The canoe club race isn't what you'd call a run of the mill cross country race - it's the one time in the year many of the canoe club members give their arms a rest and exercise their legs. It's a bit of a mickey mouse race though it also give the winner alot of bragging rights so the competition is fierce.

Thursday, 29 December - 5 mile tempo @ RP + 10 - 20 secs; Avg 6:10 mins / mile; Avg HR: 176

2 mile warm up

Split Avg PaceAvg HR Max HR
1 06:19 171 176
2 05:54 173 179
3 05:52 177 180
4 06:13 181 183
5 06:30 180 182

Strong winds made this session very tough - kinda de-motivating to be running half the race distance at slower than RP and still find it so difficult. I hope it's not windy on race day:rolleyes:

kaymin · 30-12-2011 6:04pm

Friday, 30 December - 7.16 miles easy; Avg 6:59 min / mile; Avg HR 159

I was tired for this run due to a combination of a late night and yesterday's session. Leg is giving me a bit of jip in the lower calve muscle area where my physio previously suspected I might have compartment syndrome. I'm going to postpone upping the weekly mileage out of fear of aggravating it further.

Ballycotton 10 - sub 60 + top 100 t-shirt!

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