Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Thursday: 7 miles recovery.
Really feeling quite run-down, partially down to a few hard days running in a row, long hours in work, and the growing chest infection. Ideally I'd go to the doc for the chest infection and nip it in the bud, but I've already been on the anti-b's twice in the last few months for similar conditions, so if I can avoid them if at at all possible, I will, and try and let the system deal with it. But this run was a struggle ans the body and mind were tired and the legs were stiff. I just let the legs do what they wanted, and they wanted to run at 8:05/mile.

Friday: 5.5 miles easy with strides
Just to improve my general health situation, headed off for a rake of pints on Thursday evening with some visiting colleagues from the US (hangover = 5/10), so was non-enthusiastic about the run. Having said that, I felt great during the run, once again asking the question - are pints an essential part of every training plan? Lovely sunshine so really enjoyed the short run, throwing in a few little tasty strides, just to take advantage of the positive vibes.

Saturday: 1600/600/1200/400/800 @10k/3k/5k/1500/5k, with 3 mins rest
Really wanted to hit this session well, so avoided the booze on the unholiest of holy days, and got to bed reasonably early. I even slung a bag over my shoulder, with my racing flats and a bottle of water (normally just do these sessions in my Kinvaras). Chest infection hasn't improved, so I didn't know how much this might hamper the session, but with the first interval being 1600 @10k, I'd find out pretty quick. Session was a complicated one, particularly as I wasn't too sure what pace to run the various sections at. I appreciate that ideally I'd run at a pace based on recent results, but that would mean running the 3k segments slower than the 5k paced segments, and the 1500 slower again than the 3k. So I plugged some numbers into MacMillan, grabbed the various corresponding race paces, and then slowed them a little to inject a bit of reality.

Planned / Actual
1600 @10k pace: 5:19 / 5:17
600 @3k pace: 1:50 / 1:48
1200 @5k pace: 3:47 / 3:51
400 @1500 pace: 1:13 / 1:10
800 @5k pace: 2:31 / 2:32

It's a little ironic that I managed to hit all of the targets with the exception of the 5k paced segments, given that it's a 5k distance I'm training for, but I was only a couple of seconds out, so I'm happy enough with how it went. Half-way through the very first section, I was tempted to throw in the towel, as my breathing was very restricted and I knew it was going to make the session unnecessarily challenging, but figured I'd keep going as long as I could and make the most of it. The 600 was ok, but I went too fast and that had a knock-on effect on the 1200 @5k, as I was still tired from the previous segment and the legs were feeling pretty lactick'ed (I know it's not a real word!). On the 400m at 1 mile pace, I was a little over-zealous and went through half-way in 33 seconds and struggled over the second half of the lap, practically jogging across the line. Finally, the last 800m @5k pace. I knew this was going to be hard. Struggled through the first lap, and the second lap was just torture. Lactic acid, tired, really struggled to breathe, and my brain was just screaming at me to stop. I managed to do just enough, by focusing on the fact that it was the last leg of the session, to get myself across the line a second slower than planned.

Despite the toughness of the session, I recovered pretty quickly and felt ok again for the 3 mile jog home. Learnt a few lessons today about pacing (and the impact of getting it wrong) and what it really feels like for the brain to scream at you to stop.
Summary: 9.67 miles

Timmaay wrote: »

Wicklow 5k on Wed? Ya racing???

Hi Timmaay, hoping to make it alright (work permitting). Hoping it's the same course as last year, as the gradual drag uphill, followed by the easier second half seems to work for me. Think it was a little short last year though, so hopefully the course is stretched by another 100m this year. Will you make it yourself?

Tuesday: 7.5 miles easy
With Wednesday's race in mind, I should have kept it to a recovery-paced 5/6 miles, but was enjoying the loop so stayed out for 7.5 miles, which were dropping down to 6:4x towards the end of the run. Good to see the legs recovering well from the previous day's session. Followed up with 90 minutes of steady climbing that left me feeling pretty wiped. I don't do taper very well.
Summary: 7.5 miles @7:15/mile

Wednesday: Wicklow 5k Road Championships
I ran well in this race last year, to nip 2nd place behind a club-mate, in 16:23 (on my watch). I didn't think the club-mate (NW) would be back to defend his title as he was taking some time off, so felt a bit of self-imposed pressure building during the day to perform well. A lot of solid county runners were turning up for this race (many who have beaten me in races over the last few months), so it had the potential for a really solid race. Arriving out in Ashford, I was surprised to see some sharpish runners I didn't recognise doing strides along the road. Heading into the reg centre, bumped into a few of the club-mates and of course, last year's winner. He's a good chunk quicker than me, so that changed the dynamic of the race and took the pressure off a little, as instead of trying to figure out a strategy to put myself in the best position to challenge for the race, I could concentrate on chasing him and just run the fastest race that I had in me.

Like many others, I was a little surprised by the sudden race start, so found myself in around 30th position when the gun went off. I got stuck for the first 50m, but then found a gap and forged into it, having to sprint to close on the leading pack that had formed. I caught them eventually, worried that the early effort might impact the race, but soon relaxed into a steady effort. The pack included the usual suspects, plus a couple of unfamiliar faces. A quick watch-check suggested that we were running at 5:05/mile. The early part of the course includes an uphill drag, but we also had a favourable wind behind us, so I was willing to push the effort levels in the early stage of the race. I had a feeling my clubmate would push clear at some point, and I wanted to be in a position to latch onto any chasing group, so I pushed forwards the front of the group. Three of us detached from the main group and opened up a small gap. The course was well-marked with kilometer markers and by the 2k marker we were probably ahead by 5m. Average pace had slowed to around 5:15, but there were a few minor climbs at this stage of the race. I looked further down the road for the turnabout point, but couldn’t see anyone, so wondered if they had forgotten to put marshalls at the turn (should’ve run the entire course during the warm-up!). Clearly I’ve no idea what 500m looks like, as eventually, as we rounded the bend, I could see the turnabout point ahead. The route flattened out and I drew level with the other two runners. I noticed that the Greystones runner was breathing particularly heavy, so wondered if he’d manage to stay the course. NW by contrast seemed very comfortable.

As soon as we ran around the U-turn, I noticed the Greystones runner fall off the pace. NW picked up the pace and not wanting to face that wind alone, I chased after him, opening a gap on the Greystones lad. The wind (a moderate 7 m/s) was pretty noticeable on this stretch, so I did my best to duck in behind NW and chase in his wake for as long as possible. I expected him to just open up at some point and felt that trying to stay with him in that situation would be a big mistake, but I’d make use of him as long as I could. I felt, rather than saw that we’d opened up a gap on Greystones and the other runners. I didn’t want to look back and offer any motivation to the chasing group. We passed the 3k mark - still I held on to NW, just two feet behind. About 3.5kms into the race we were directed back onto the other side of the road, and I drew alongside NW,which was, he mentioned after the race, the first time he realized that it was me, tracking him along the homeward stretch. I felt good at this point, though the effort level was extremely high. I’ve done many a long run with NW, where we finished in similar situations, with him opening up the pace over the last couple of miles, with me chasing in his wake, so this felt like familiar territory, which raised a momentary smile. Effort levels were growing dramatically, so the familiarity was short-lived. With a kilometer to go, NW opened a gap and I struggled to maintain the distance between us. The last kilometer has a drop of a couple of meters, but the pace was also winding up (5 min/mile). I was really beginning to hurt badly, and my lungs (still suffering the after effects of a chest infection) were struggling to provide much needed oxygen. The gap had opened a little more. We hit the ‘400m to go’ sign. I started looking over my shoulder, so see if I needed to continue hurting this much; to see if I could ease off the pain. 400m…. One minute more of pain… The finish line… I can see the finish line...PAAIIINNNN!!!

Hunched over, coughing, struggling to breathe, I checked the watch. 16:01. Gah! Official time: 16:00. My time will come. Still, at least it's a PB I can believe in. 23 seconds faster than last year, and once again, exactly 7 seconds behind the winner.
Summary: 5k in 16:00.

TRR wrote: »

Well done on a fine run. When's your next race? Tallaght have a 5k next weekend. Should get a few guys to race against.

Cheers. Would love to do that or Lecheile, but won't be around for the long weekend. Might see if the are any races in Kerry. This stage of the plan has a race every two weeks, but haven't gotten around to mapping them out. May also have a US trip to contend with. Bob Heffernan is a must though, if I'm about.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Great result Wednesday. FYI, theres a couple of shorter IMRA races on the horizon incuding your back-yard Scalp.

It's in the diary (if only to remind myself just how crap I am at hill races!). Hope I can make it, but work-travel may foil the plan.

tang1 wrote: »

The course for Bob Heffernan will be somewhat slower now, due to road changes the first half mile or so is a gradual climb before it flattens out again.

Damnit! I'm looking for an entirely down-hill course!

Thursday: 7.5 miles recovery + 4.5 miles easy
Legs a little tender, so headed to the park and did some core stuff as part of the run. Trying to do more core stuff to improve my climbing which has been a little lacklustre of late. Another 4.5 miles in the evening, just ticking off the planned runs.

Friday: 5.5 easy + 5.5 easy
Plan called for 7 and 4 mile easy runs, but it's handier for me to split 'em equally and run into and home from work. Some more rock climbing in the evening. Not the most successful of sessions, but I think the strength is improving with the chin-ups and push-ups. I've also identified a problem where my fear of falling, when lead rope climbing is holding me back and making it more difficult to attempt moves that put me at risk of falling, so going to plan some 'falling' practise.

Saturday: Altidore Trail 10k
A few of the club mates were organizing this race in aid of a local charity and Emer and some of her running buddies were heading along, so despite not feeling great (a couple of nights of bad sleep), I figured I'd join them. My plan had a race in it (which I ran last Wednesday), but I foolishly decided that another race wouldn't do me any harm. Weather was pretty awful by the time we got the bus up to the top of the hill. I spotted DL, who I've had a few ding-dongs with over the last couple of months. He, like me, was more interested in the participation/charity element of the race, so wasn't really interested in a very competitive race, but I was pretty sure that once we got started, the two of us would end up toeing the line.

Race started and immediately a runner pushed past to the fore, with DL and I in chase. I think it was just initial bravado, as we'd caught him within 200m and dropped him within 250m. The leading pack included me, DL, and two other runners in hot pursuit, as we hit the initial downhill. The surface was all fire-road so we had to watch our footing, but still managed a 5:23 mile, despite the strong head-wind. DL had mentioned that there was a decent hill-runner and a good triathlete in the race, and as I led out the field into the strong head-wind, I noticed the other runners taking shelter behind me. After a while it kind of pissed me off, as I'd move wide and slow-down to let the chaser take a go, but they too slowed-down, so I jigged left and right a bit to send a message. If you're not going to take your turn into the wind, then you can feck off if you think you're using me as a barrier.

After a while we hit the hill, which seemed to go on for an age (7 minutes and 27 seconds, if Garmin's segment leaderboard thingy is to be believed. It was very tough going, particularly having no-one to chase. Much of the time DL was alongside me, with the other runner in chase, but the fourth runner seemed to fall off the pace half way up the climb. Very relieved to hit the top, we immediately floored it, with three of us making the most of the downhill (mile 3: 5:45). DL and I really started to push the pace, using the sweeping corners to inject some acceleration, and at some point the third place runner dropped off the pace, as I could no longer see him. Glad to say that this downhill mile was an impressive 4:58, so it looks like I may have re-established some of my downhill speed. With the other lads shaken off, and the two of us running side by side, it became a slightly more relaxed affair. However, we still had rolling hills to negotiate and another decent climb (Mile 5: 5:44).

We hit the final climb, and DL sounded like he was about ready to throw in the towel, but I was glad he persisted, as I didn't want to have to push on that final climb on my own. Nearing the top of the hill I felt that familiar stitch begin to grow, but if I'm being honest, I didn't really have any race enthusiasm left in me, so I suggested to DL that if he still felt strong, now would be a good time to push. He pushed on for a well deserved win, opening a 10 second gap, and I limped in, in rather unspectacular fashion for second place. It was a tough, tough route (a mix between a trail race and a very hilly 10k) and I really hadn't planned on working that hard during the race, so second place felt a little bit flattering. No fight in me, it was certainly a case of a race too many this week. Still, it was a superbly organized event and just had a really good vibe to the whole event, despite the pretty appalling weather. Lots of snacks at the finish, and then we were driven back to the pub for some BBQ burgers, coffee and banter.
Summary: 10k in 36:29

Saturday afternoon: 3 miles recovery
Another 3 miles with core stuff in the afternoon, while the dinner roasted in the oven. The only reason I did this run was to reduce the mileage for Sunday's run, so I'd only have to do an easy 6 mile recovery.

Sunday: 8 mile recovery run
Gah! Either Garmin Connect miscounted (very buggy at the moment) or I had a brain fart, because reviewing my calendar, I still had another 8 miles to do, to see out the week. The ups and downs of the trail race had inflicted some damage, so I took it very easy on a loop, taking in Tullyvale and Kilbogget.

In the afternoon, it was back to the rock-climbing centre, this time determined to overcome my nervousness of falling on lead rope. So myself and the two ladies practised falling, until we'd gotten used to the initial shock of the momentary free-fall. This helped massively, as immediately I went back and tackled a tough lead-rope climb that I'd failed miserably at, just two days previously. Then I went one step further and attempted one of the big over-hanging climbs (a 6a), which put the fear of Paul O'Connell into me. It took me 20-25 minutes (lots of breaks) but in the end I managed it, which was a massive boost. This is me on the overhang, during one of my many breaks, with the light shining out of my arse! Delighted to have a good day of climbing.
Summary: 8 miles recovery + climbing

smmoore79 wrote: »

2 hard races in a week is some going. With the correct rest, it'll deffo stand to your overall fitness. Wheres that rock climbing centre? It looks class. Looks perfect for corework!!

I dunno! The over-riding feeling I have from the weekend is that 2 hard races in a week is plain stupid! It's the kind of foolish hasty decision that gets you in injury trouble (particularly when one of them's a trail-race). I'm great for dishing out the advice, but not great for paying any heed!

The climbing centre is Awesome Walls (in Finglas). Definitely worth a visit. You can sign up for a taster session, where they teach you how to climb and belay (manage the ropes), or drop me a pm some time, and I can show you how it all works. From day 1, you can be top-rope climbing and belaying, and using all of the bouldering facilities. After a month or two, you can go back and do a lead-rope session, and learn how to lead climb and belay. Lead rope climbing is where you carry the rope up with you, and affix it to pre-mounted safety points on the wall as you climb, whereas top-rope climbing is where the rope is already attached to the highest climbing point, so there's no sense of falling, as you're always suspended on the rope. It's great craic altogether, and a serious core workout. In the above photo, I'm doing lead-rope (I'll need to clip the rope into the safety clip a metre above my head), whereas the girl on the wall on the right is doing top rope. Emer's at the bottom holding the other end of my rope and should be paying more attention.