Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

menoscemo

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: 10k Easy

The legs seem to be returning to form, as the pace naturally picked up a little on this run to Dundrum and back. People looked at me strangely in Dundrum Shopping centre, for walking around in shorts and a t-shirt. Either I didn't meet the dress-code criteria, or the idea of running to the shops hasn't reached these parts yet. In any case, it was a nice run, I spotted lots of future run locations, and was reminded that Marley Park is but 3.5 miles away.
Summary: 6.28 miles in 44:04, @7:01/mile

I saw you heading through Sandyford Village today and gave you a 'beep' but you were deeply entranced in what those purple headphones were saying. Damned heaphone wearing runners :pac:

Krusty_Clown

menoscemo wrote: »

I saw you heading through Sandyford Village today and gave you a 'beep' but you were deeply entranced in what those purple headphones were saying. Damned heaphone wearing runners :pac:

With those head-phones, I hear everything. I just chose to ignore you. :pac:
...and they're black. :cool:

Krusty_Clown

Friday: 8.5 mile rolling hill loop
Headed off with Keith for an easy lunch-time run, but we re-diverted en-route and took in Tullyvalle, Laughanstown and Kilternan before looping back into work. Some great fast hills that will help build strength in the future, and some nice country roads. This will definitely be a more regular route, to get away from the suburbs. It's some really good running.
Summary: 8.4 miles in 62 mins, @7:25/mile.

Saturday: 3.6 mile SugarLoaf run
I had planned an easy recovery run, but the girls of the house (the bosses) were headed off to the Sugarloaf, so it would be a wasted opportunity not to go have a run around the mountain. The run up was really slow, particularly hitting the top, which is a scramble rather than a run. After a very slow scramble back down, I headed along the shoulder, following some motorcycle tracks down towards Rocky Valley, before looping back, followings some horse tracks (and horse poo) back to the bosses. I arrived back muddy, smelly (horse and sheep poo), bloody and happy.
Summary: 3.62 miles in 41:20, @11:25/mile

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: Easy 10 miles with strides
A little stiff from the previous day's antics up around the Sugarloaf, the plan for this run was simply to have an easy run on relatively flat conditions. With training-proper starting again this week, no sense in running long and hard at the weekend. Still, the first 5 miles as I headed through the parks were a stiff and sorry affair, until I hit the turn-about point and realized that I had been running into a slight head-wind. The remaining 5 miles (with strides) were as fast as the first few miles were slow (does it take anyone else 5 miles to warm-up properly?), but I took occasional breaks in the park to try to spot my young lad who was out playing footie for his club. Running for just over an hour felt weird and left me with an itch in the back of my brain. Even though I'll be back to marathon training in just a month or two, this short run malarky will take some getting used to.

Summary: 10.1 miles in 71 mins, @7:04/mile

Dory Dory

Egad! Is a 584 feet elevation gain "relatively flat"?? I'm hill/elevation obsessed right now and you're making me feel like a wimp.

Dory Dory

Wait a minute!! I swear your Garmin data stated that yesterday's run was 584 gain...but now it says 228 feet of gain....... Never mind.....

Micilin Muc

Dory Dory wrote: »

Wait a minute!! I swear your Garmin data stated that yesterday's run was 584 gain...but now it says 228 feet of gain....... Never mind.....

The speed he came down the hill probably sparked an avalanche of rocks from the peak.

Krusty_Clown

Dory Dory wrote: »

Egad! Is a 584 feet elevation gain "relatively flat"?? I'm hill/elevation obsessed right now and you're making me feel like a wimp.

Don't mind those crazy Garmin numbers. That route is a as flat as a pancake, with the occasion little 12-15 foot rise or drop.


I turned on Elevation correction, which may have fixed the numbers. The Forerunner 910 has a built-in barometric altimeter elevation randomizer, which spews out crazy elevation data. I didn't realize that enabling this in my profile would change the data for everyone else viewing the activity. Learn something new every day! Not quite so impressive now, is it?!

Dory Dory

Whew!! So relieved....

Krusty_Clown

Today: Very handy 5.5 miles
Feeling a little unfulfilled with the training runs these days and this 5.5 mile loop via Aldi to pick up some snack foodstuffs was no different. First proper training session of the new program tomorrow should change all that though and I can look forward to either 2 or 3 sessions per week for the forseeable future. Also, finally I have a legitimate use for nested loops. Nerdy-yay!



Summary: 5.5 miles in 42 mins, @7:40/mile

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: JD 5k-15k Week 1 session 1: 200m and 400m Reps
On my easy run on Tuesday, I finally found a piece of road flat enough for intervals, and within warm-up distance of my work-place. Unfortunately, there are two ways to get to it; either a 5k route via Sandyford (too long) or the quick way, which involves crossing a couple of motorway slip-lanes (a more reasonable but less safe 3kms). The road itself has a couple of largely unused bicycle lanes, that run alongside the M50, but being wide-open, is very susceptible to East/West winds (I got blasted during some of the reps).

Goal:
5 x {
2 x 200m (37 seconds) with 200m easy jog
1 x 400m (75 seconds) with 400m easy jog }

Reality:
1: 38, 38, 76
2: 38, 37, 75
3: 38, 40, 75
4: 38, 38, 75
5: 39, 38, 74

The 200m reps were actually 209m (bloody metric Vs statute), so in retrospect, the times are pretty close to target, however, the session was pretty damn difficult. I think the lack of sharper speed-work over the last few years really showed. I'm just not used to running fast (the reps were all faster or equal to current 1 mile race pace). Pretty wrecked afterwards (the 2.4 mile run back to work was a bit of a struggle), but hopefully this kind of work will get easier with more practise.

Summary: 9.54 miles in 1:06.

tunguska

When do you plan on doing the mile repeats? Might be able to help you out with those, could do them on the track aswell.

theboyblunder

Good running KC. I also tried to reintroduce my skinny, marathon-trained legs to 400m repeats this evening. Mine didnt like it either....:)

Krusty_Clown

tunguska wrote: »

When do you plan on doing the mile repeats? Might be able to help you out with those, could do them on the track aswell.

Hey Tunguska, I'll probably do them tomorrow or Friday at lunch-time (if the legs feel up to it after yesterday's reps). Might be able to shift them to after work, but my after work tends to be very late unfortunately. What are your plans at the moment? Manage to resolve the damaged achiles?

Today: 5 mile recovery run
Work was a complete disaster today, and 12 hours with no breaks meant no run. When I got home I was determined to get a few miles in, not because I wanted to (running was the furthest thing from my mind) but just to try to shake off a dangerous build-up of frustration. Didn't feel like it, didn't much enjoy it, but still felt better after it. Job done (one of em anyway).
Summary: 5 miles in 38 mins, @7:33/mile

Krusty_Clown

Today: 6 x 1 Mile @ Threshold with 1 minute recovery

Like Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together. Tuesday's reps, while difficult, made this session a lot easier. So much so, that I started every interval at around 5:10/mile and had to focus on slowing down as the interval progressed. It was back to the race-course for this one, so it meant that each interval started with a brief downhill, and then a gradual rise up until the mid-point, where I turned back and retraced my steps back to the starting point. Again, I had a gentle wind behind me on the gentle uphill climb, which became a head-wind on the way back, which made for an even distribution of effort. First one was almost too easy and I had to keep reigning in the pace, but after that they settled into a reasonable level of discomfort. I ran all of them way too fast. I'm not sure why. They were manageable; I didn't succeed in slowing down, so they were too fast. I've got to be more disciplined in future, as it will impact other sessions in the week.

Target pace: 5:50 - 5:55/mile
Actual pace: 5:36 / 5:39 / 5:37 / 5:38 / 5:40 / 5:39

Summary: 10 miles in 67 mins, @6:32/mile

PaulieC

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Today: 6 x 1 Mile @ Threshold with 1 minute recovery

Like Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together. Tuesday's reps, while difficult, made this session a lot easier. So much so, that I started every interval at around 5:10/mile and had to focus on slowing down as the interval progressed. It was back to the race-course for this one, so it meant that each interval started with a brief downhill, and then a gradual rise up until the mid-point, where I turned back and retraced my steps back to the starting point. Again, I had a gentle wind behind me on the gentle uphill climb, which became a head-wind on the way back, which made for an even distribution of effort. First one was almost too easy and I had to keep reigning in the pace, but after that they settled into a reasonable level of discomfort. I ran all of them way too fast. I'm not sure why. They were manageable; I didn't succeed in slowing down, so they were too fast. I've got to be more disciplined in future, as it will impact other sessions in the week.

Target pace: 5:50 - 5:55/mile
Actual pace: 5:36 / 5:39 / 5:37 / 5:38 / 5:40 / 5:39

Summary: 10 miles in 67 mins, @6:32/mile

Disgusting run up and down repeats on that road behind the racecourse. It's a purely horrible road

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

theboyblunder wrote: »

Good running KC. I also tried to reintroduce my skinny, marathon-trained legs to 400m repeats this evening. Mine didnt like it either....:)

+2, 10x400s around 77-80secs with only 60sec recoveries is a "new" type of running experience:)

Krusty_Clown

cambo_gueno wrote: »

Disgusting run up and down repeats on that road behind the racecourse. It's a purely horrible road

Yeah, it's not pleasant. I also hate having to do a turn-about during a mile repeat, as you briefly have to come to a complete stop and the temptation to remain at a complete stop is very strong! There also seems to be dodgy goings-on along that road all of the time too. Strange vehicles park-up alongside each other for illicit conversations. Vans pull-up and their occupants search furtively in the hedgerows, before disappearing at breakneck speed. Idiots run up and down, pretending to be much faster than they really are, with tortured looks in their eyes, doing whatever they are instructed to do by the beeps and whistles from their watches, like organ grinder monkeys. Strange.

nerraw1111

Do you have a snacks etc before lunch times run?

I’m planning on doing some intervals during lunch breaks. Doing them in the dark is just dangerous.

Seems the best interval spots are also the best places for illicit meetings. I reckon I’ve seen dozens of affairs going on, at least one drug deal, as well as dogging.

nerraw1111

Do you have a snacks etc before lunch times run?

I’m planning on doing some intervals during lunch breaks. Doing them in the dark is just dangerous.

Seems the best interval spots are also the best places for illicit meetings. I reckon I’ve seen dozens of affairs going on, at least one drug deal, as well as dogging.

PaulieC

I've never seen the vans goings on. I find it's mainly gout-ridden oul wans and yummy mummies clogging up the road in their SUVs whilst on the phone on their way to/from the gym

PaulieC

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Do you have a snacks etc before lunch times run?

I’m planning on doing some intervals during lunch breaks. Doing them in the dark is just dangerous.

Seems the best interval spots are also the best places for illicit meetings. I reckon I’ve seen dozens of affairs going on, at least one drug deal, as well as dogging.

I was in the phoenix park early one Sunday and parked in at the Papal cross. There was a seemingly empty car a few spaces away from where I parked with the engine running and no one around. I went over to have a look in it and was greeted by a girl lying naked on the back seat, legs wide open. Her partner was lying face down on the floor.

I only took about 10 photos before leaving

Krusty_Clown

Vaughn Easy Stepchildren wrote: »

+2, 10x400s around 77-80secs with only 60sec recoveries is a "new" type of running experience:)

One thing I've noticed is that there is a second gear when doing these types of intervals. When you are half way-through an interval and you realize that you are not running at target pace, a quick shuffle (similar to what you might see when watching a winger in a game of rugby shifting gears) and you can find another bit of extra speed, but it seems to come at an anaerobic price-tag and impacts the miserably short recovery times. Probably the same process when you near the finish line of a race and find that extra 15% to hurl yourself over the finish line ahead of a competitor (where the cost of the effort isn't quite as impactful). Lots to think about (before next week's 12x400m session).

The good thing about the plan is that I had a brief moment of misery, thinking about the 12x400m next week, before realizing that it is essentially the same session as (2x200+1x400) x 6. That's what I like about these programs. The previous sessions make subsequent sessions seem more manageable, while bringing you up a notch (says the guy on week 1 of the program!).

nerraw1111 wrote:

Do you have a snacks etc before lunch times run?

I’m planning on doing some intervals during lunch breaks. Doing them in the dark is just dangerous.

Seems the best interval spots are also the best places for illicit meetings. I reckon I’ve seen dozens of affairs going on, at least one drug deal, as well as dogging.

It's a fine balancing act. On session days, I don't want to be hungry heading into the session, but I also don't want to eat anything too close to the session, as I find them hard on the stomach (and nothing ruins a session like a dodgy tummy). So I start off session days with porridge and a banana, and potentially a bagel. After breakfast, I'll stay away from dairy, dried fruit and rich food. If I get hungry, I'll eat something light, but high in carbs, like crackers, and delay the run for a bit. Others will have stomachs of iron though, so your mileage may vary.

cambo_gueno wrote:

I only took about 10 photos before leaving

Proof, or it didn't happen!

tunguska

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hey Tunguska, I'll probably do them tomorrow or Friday at lunch-time (if the legs feel up to it after yesterday's reps). Might be able to shift them to after work, but my after work tends to be very late unfortunately. What are your plans at the moment? Manage to resolve the damaged achiles?

Apologies, was away from internet land for a few days and forgot about your session. We'll be starting the 10k plan in 2 weeks so Im sure we'll be able to sort out a few sessions here and there.

Krusty_Clown

Today: JD 5K Week 1 Session 3: Intervals

I really nailed this session (if nailed were another word that described screwing up completely). As soon as I started, my legs and lungs were screaming at me 'what the hell are you doing? You've already run fast twice this week. This wasn't in our plan'. This didn't go to plan for a number of reasons:
1) I ran my mile repeats too fast on Thursday. I can't hammer one session and expect it not to impact other sessions. If the pace feels a little slow, I'll remember to take it as a blessing in future. Gotta train smarter.
2) Not enough rest between sessions. Need to plan out my weeks better.
3) Should've done the run earlier in the day, when the park wasn't full of dogs, grannies and kids. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, grannies and kids (in a non Glitter/Saville kind of way) but not when they present as an obstruction at 5:20/mile.
4) Started running each interval too fast and just had to try and hang-on.

The plan - Repeats of:
{2 mins @5:20/mile
1 min easy jog
1 min @5:20/mile
30 seconds jog
30 seconds @5:20/mile
30 seconds jog}

I was really dying on my feet. The recovery started out as an easy run and then became a jog, then an easy jog, then a walk, easy walk and a stop. I narrowly avoided a lie down (but did pause for a well needed pee). Altogether, I managed 8 repeats (5.21 miles at interval pace at 5:22/mile). Another good learning lesson. More planning in future. More smarts. More recovery. More track.
Summary: 10.57 miles in 69 mins, @6:34/mile

Dory Dory

Hi KC! When you have a session with time parameters (as opposed to mile parameters), do you program your watch to beep at you at those respective times? I'm still learning my Garmin (I assume I can set it by minutes/seconds) and my new plan has some timed "events" and I'd rather not have to keep looking down at my watch.

seanynova

when doing the 3 sessions like that, i wonded if its best to spread them out past 7 days and have 2 easy days inbetween sessions, even more so if you want to do a longer run of 13-16m run also eash week. best of luck with it anyway.

Mon - Session
Tues - Easy
Wed - Easy
Thurs - Session
Fri - Easy
Sat - Easy
Sun - Session
Mon - Easy
Tues - Easy
Wed - Session
etc

Krusty_Clown

Dory Dory wrote: »

Hi KC! When you have a session with time parameters (as opposed to mile parameters), do you program your watch to beep at you at those respective times? I'm still learning my Garmin (I assume I can set it by minutes/seconds) and my new plan has some timed "events" and I'd rather not have to keep looking down at my watch.

Abso-fricking-lutely! There's no way I would have managed mis-managed that session without the watch beeping at me every minute or so. That session had more than 50 different segments. Here's what it looks like in an advanced workout:


These kinds of sessions are really tough when you do them on your own. If I had to hit the lap button every 'x' seconds, then I would have decommitted a lot sooner than I did. There are times when it is bad to listen to the watch. There are other times, when the watch will keep you going that little bit longer than you would have, if left to your own devices.

Krusty_Clown

seanynova wrote: »

Mon - Session
Tues - Easy
Wed - Easy
Thurs - Session
Fri - Easy
Sat - Easy
Sun - Session
Mon - Easy
Tues - Easy
Wed - Session
etc

You know that's exactly how it's laid out by JD himself. There's three sessions one week, and two session the next, so he advises a schedule exactly as laid out above. Unfortunately getting that to match-up with working/family life is the second hardest part.

Dory Dory

One more question - I've only set up a workout on my watch one time, and I did it by going to:

Training to Workouts to Custom......then I input all my info/data. It's a bit cumbersome, so I'm wondering if there is a more efficient way to do this. Thanks again!!