Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Kurt Godel

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

It may have been the semi-subconscious image of Kurt Godel that flashed briefly by in my mind ... but by the time I'd left my estate I was heading for hill climbs instead of sea views.

You channelled an image from a few years ago methinks, I'm more briney than climby these days!:D

I've fond memories of that run for some reason- its not too high a climb at all, but the views are fantastic all right! Good fun descent too.

Krusty_Clown

Monday: 6 mile recovery run
Despite sticking to the grass, the left shin was flashing warning signs during this easy recovery run - possibly a product of the previous day's road-based downhills paired with steady miles. The shin has been making it's presence known since December, so it's something I need to watch and action when I get the chance. Injury warning signs make me nervous.
Summary: 6 miles @7:54/mile

Tuesday: Fartlek - 6, 3, 5, 2, 1, 4 mins @10k with 40 second surges to 5k with 2/mins easy between fartleks
That session title is quite a mouthful. Even harder to get your head around and to plan as a workout. I decided to do it on the cinder track (as I do with most of these sessions) as the pace is easier to control and monitor with some accuracy and the wind is evenly distributed. Not so much with this session, as you can't really predict lap splits, when you have a 40 second surge at 5k pace in the middle of a 10k rep and when you can't predict where a 10k rep is going to start and finish (bearing in mind the cinder track only has markings every 200m). I further compounded the complexity by screwing up the advanced workout I had created, by forgetting to include the 4 minute rep. Still, I cobbled something together, and got the entire session just about right. It certainly felt painfully difficult.

So, what's the difference between 5k pace and 10k pace over a 200m lap split? 1 second. So pretty difficult to dial in 5k pace from 10k pace and then back out again to 10k pace. But I guess it's more important to have a sustained body of fast-paced running, interspersed with quicker surges. So both conceptually and physically a tough session. Hardest part came on the last rep, which I'd convinced myself was 3 minutes long. I usually pick up the pace on the last rep of a session; a mixture of wanting to get it over with and also wanting to finish the last rep strong. So as I made my way around the final lap, I picked up speed, and as I hit the 3 minute mark, the watch didn't beep. Soul Destroying! It would've been so easy to just stop after those three minutes, but I had a word with the Gov'ner and kept going for the final missing minute. Of course as I hit the fourth minute, the watch didn't beep either cos I'd screwed up the planned workout on the watch. At this stage the Gov'ner had planted his feet firmly in the ground and was going no further, but thankfully, I'd covered all of the various time segments, so the session was done. Just the painful three mile warm-down run back to base.

Summary: ~11.5 miles in ~1:16, @~6:40/mile, with 21 mins @~8K pace

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: 6 Mile recovery run + 5 miles easy with strides
Easy recovery run through sheets of rain, followed by an easy run with strides, through sheets of rain. It's awful glamorous being a runner in this country. Followed up with a couple of hours of bouldering and rock climbing with my littlest. She is now so much better than me at rock climbing, that it's hitting humiliating. proportions. Even our 8 inch height difference is now largely irrelevant. Bloody kids...
Summary: 11 miles

Today: Fit4Life 3K
I'm pretty sure I hate the distance, but I quite like this race. It's a low-key affair in my local park (just 400m from my house), run by a enthusiastic group of volunteers and runners and there's always a handful of similarly paced runners to challenge. Today though, I wasn't looking forward to it. I felt like crap all day, so really wasn't relishing the prospect of a race. Not nauseous, just that crawling feeling like you've overdosed on caffeine (maybe I overdosed on caffeine!). So only managed a single mile warm-up, such was my enthusiasm for the run.

Lined up with Beepbeep and Timmy at the start and without much ado, we were set free. Actually got a good start and found myself leading briefly, until Timmy charged forward. I didn't want to him to open a sizeable gap, but at the same time could tell that the pace he was running was not within my reach. After 300m I checked the watch and the average pace showed as 4:54. I took a gamble and eased off the pace, thinking that either he was going to run a cracking time or he'd come back to me later in the race. Start of the race was a lap of the lower field. As we approached the 1km mark, I could hear footsteps in my wake, but wasn't sure if it was Beepbeep or another runner. Somebody was calling out splits and I reckon it was around 3:15 at the 1km mark.

On the second loop we took a right and headed along the long straight that took us past where Emer was volunteering. I've run intervals on this straight many times, so know the paths well. Timmy was around 5m ahead at this point but was stretching the lead. Conversely, the footsteps behind me were receding. I was feeling strong and the pace was just about manageable. I couldn't close the gap on Timmy, but I was able to hold the pace. We rounded the corner at around the 2k mark, and I took a small amount of comfort from the fact that we were now pointed towards the finish line. Skidding around the slippery bends, we made our way past the middle field and Timmy was now around 10m ahead. I noticed however that instead of widening the distance between us, it was narrowing. We hit the mucky trail section that joined the two fields and two tiny hills, and the gap closed a little more. With the finish line still obscured by the nearby trees and 600m to go, I picked up the pace, but so had Timmy. We both drove towards the finish line, Timmy always 5-10m ahead. Stopped the watch with 9:38.9 showing (not exactly sure where the official finish line was), so was well happy with the time, considering how I'd felt beforehand. Just shy of a 20 second PB, which I'll take happily on tired legs. An enjoyable warm-down afterwards with Beepbeep and Slogger Jogger, took me to 5 miles, took SJ to the car-park and Beepbeep to the 1,000 mile mark.

Summary: 3k in 9:39 (unofficial).

ecoli

Great run G and nice to get the PB. Think its definitely worth revisiting in the summer though. Reckon you still have more to take from that PB (wouldn't be surprised at all with closer to a sub 9.15 as the your training continues to get more specific)

Chivito550

Interesting to hear about your dislike for the distance. Why exactly? 3000m are raced frequently by 5000m runners.

Good running in any case. Do the 800m at the first graded meet at the end of the month because all other 800s clash with the 400m (stupid scheduling!). Your PB in that needs revising.

Krusty_Clown

Chivito550 wrote: »

Interesting to hear about your dislike for the distance. Why exactly? 3000m are raced frequently by 5000m runners.

Good running in any case. Do the 800m at the first graded meet at the end of the month because all other 800s clash with the 400m (stupid scheduling!). Your PB in that needs revising.

'Hate' is probably too strong a word. I've done three 3,000m races in my brief running 'career', and all of them have been in aid of ticking those boxes in the thread, so to be fair, I haven't committed to any of them as races and haven't targeted them properly. The first time, was this same race two years ago, where my only goal was to break the 10 minute barrier. The second time was last year at the graded meets, where I had run a 61 second 400m, just 30 minutes previously. I hated that race, but that may have been in some part, down to the disappointment of 400m result and some residual tiredness. I found the laps soul-crushingly boring, but was probably riding on a wave of <what's the opposite of euphoria?>... despair?!

You have to put it in the general context of my training and goals to date. Up until this current period of training, everything I've ever trained for has been in the 10k-ultra marathon distance range (with the occasional sporadic foray into a shorter distance - usually manifesting as a single training session). The training I'm doing at the moment is the first time I have ever trained at 3k pace. Based on what I'm hoping to run for 5k, I should be able to run 3k significantly faster, but I'd have to commit to the race, rather than just ticking boxes. I'm not dead-set against giving it a proper go and at least I have a marker now (even though it was a road/park based environment. The track should yield some extra seconds (no tight bends on slippy paths), the spikes would help, as would having a couple of other bodies to chase. So maybe if a window opens up during the summer/graded meets, I'll give it a proper tussle. I think I'll still have a few weeks between finishing this training and re-starting the marathon work.

Dory Dory

Um, have a nice weekend? ;)

ecoli

Great split today man.

Your definitely getting speed into the legs anyway

Krusty_Clown

ecoli wrote: »

Great split today man.
Your definitely getting speed into the legs anyway

Cheers. Feckin officials robbed me of 7 seconds though. They had me for 10:21 after I finished. Happy to notch up 5 positions during the race though. A great, but incredibly tough experience. Will do a write-up. Them masters are tough old buzzards.

Krusty_Clown

Friday 4th: 7.4 miles easy with core strength +3.6 miles steady
Saturday 5th: 5 miles with strides

Sunday 6th: Connemarathon Half Marathon
2007 - 577th place
2008 - 341st place
2012 - 5th place
2014 - ?
Emer had decided that she was going to do this race along with some family members and club-mates, so I could either go along and watch from the sidelines (blurgh!) or sign-up and try and get something out of it. The problem was taken out of my hands when Emer signed me up. It didn't really fit the training plan, but once an eejit, always an eejit. I know I've moved on a bit since my half marathon PB last September, so I sneakily wondered if a PB might be possible, despite the hill profile, but between the hills and the wind, that thought never entered my mind once the race started. Despite the 1,600 entrants, it's not really a race that draws the competitive club runner. Somehow, it always seems to draw a couple of Kenyans though and this year's race was no different. I spotted Mick Rice warming up with Peter Brandon (our pre-ordained race winner), and as I was about to turn back from my warm-up, Zico10 (from our brother tri forum) ran by, a good 8 minutes before I figured he'd be due. He went on to run an astonishing 2:35 in hairy conditions. My previous 5th place finish warranted a start line position, so I hugged the start line alongside a few singlet'ed runners and more than a few over-optimistic hopefuls.

The gun went, and immediately, the Kenyan led out the race, opening a gap of a couple of metres within the first 20 seconds. I joked with a Galway singleted runner that we'd just seen the last of the winner, and after a few more metres, the Galway lad had opened a gap on me. By the time we hit the bend and the start of the uphill, it was the Kenyan by 100m, followed by the Galway runner ahead by 5m and then me. My plan for the race had been to see who the challengers were on the first hill and figure out the race strategy by the time we got to the top. By the time I'd crested the hill, Galway was ahead by 20 metres and there was nobody behind me. And that's pretty much how the race panned out. I suppose I could have tried to close the gap on 2nd place and make a more honest race of it, but I knew that I wasn't in good half marathon shape. All of my training of late has been sharper (and shorter) than marathon pace, so expecting to pull one out of the bag is unreasonable. Still, I focused on pulling my average pace back to something that would at least keep me in contention. If the 2nd place runner couldn't hack the pace, I might have a shot at making a move later in the race, particularly on the big climb. At the same time, I didn't want to find myself buggered by the hill, so it was a precarious balancing act.

Gradually, the average pace dropped, with some fast miles compensating for the slow first hill climb. The wind alternated between a tough head-wind and a less offensive cross-wind. After 5-6 miles, I was motoring nicely with some comfortable 5:4x miles, when I noticed the growing signs of 'the stitch'. The same bloody ailment that had hit me when I ran 60:02 for 10 miles. The same one that caused some angst in Dublin last year. The same one that threatened my national masters xc race. This time I'd avoided all sports drinks, all pre-run food, anything that should cause a side-stitch. I knew that if it hit me with full intensity, I'd have no choice but to slow, so I did the only thing I could, and started trying to massage the area under my rib-cage. Didn't seem to help though and the problem was worsening. Just then, we were hit by strong gusts and freezing hailstones, that stung wherever they landed. Turning my head to the left, to shield my eyes from the hail, I noticed that the stitch was gradually receding. If nothing else, this alone, will have been worth the expensive race fee, if it proves to be a remedy for that bloody stitch.

After around 8 miles, I spotted a yellow and green singlet ahead, with a gait that could only belong to theboyblunder. Looking forward to a momentary respite to the solitude of the Connemara hills, I started working my way towards him, gradually closing the gap. It took a lot longer than I expected, as despite the 21 miles in his legs, he was really motoring. We could only exchange brief pleasantries (theboyblunder pointedly asked me if there were any Tallaght troublemakers he should be watching out for), before my pace carried me onwards.

I'd picked up a bottle of water at the 3 mile mark, but realized that I hadn't bothered to drink from it. I carried it a little sheepishly like a comfort blanket, feeling a little guilty as I ran through each water-station, depriving the kids of an opportunity to do what they'd waited hours, in horrible conditions, to do. They'd been warned, instructed and drilled on the finer points of handing out water and yet these assh0les just ran by. Finally, I approached the pub and the right turn over the bridge, that signified the views from the second hill. I was passing the occasional marathoner and ultra runner, but mostly it was walkers and the occasional sheep. The wind had really picked up, and hitting the start of the hill, I was a little shocked by its ferocity. The guys manning the drinks table were struggling to keep it upright, and I had to hunch low to try and avoid being dragged off the road. At times, I was driven to a near standstill, but took selfish comfort in the fact that the other competitors would suffer in just the same manner. I wound my way up the hill, with some pretty awful splits (6:30/6:53) until I finally crested the second hill. Still the wind was pretty strong, but with Maam's Cross visible in the distance and lots of encouragement from the occasional spectator, I pushed on towards the finish. A final push as I realized that I'd need to pick it up to finish under 80 minutes, an I crossed the finish line in 79:37.

I picked up a nice piece of glassware for my troubles, but beyond that, no great sense of achievement. I'm glad to have made the kind of progress that takes me from 577th down to 3rd place, but there's a little piece of me that feels a little dirty. In the same way that Groucho Marks famously said "I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member", I'm not sure that I can take any great level of satisfaction from a race that would have me finish in third place. As for the rest of the runners? The Kenyan finished 10 minutes clear. The second place Galway runner had won the race the previous two years and confessed to me that he had little to contest, once the Kenyan took off. Zico10's time will be recorded in the annals of history, and I was incredibly impressed by theboyblunder's comfort in the latter parts of a very tough day in Connemara. I may have to book some earlier flights back from Frankfurt, so I can see how this one pans out next October.

Summary: 13.1 miles in 79:37

RayCun

are you going to position Emer911 at strategic points in Frankfurt with a bucket of freezing hailstones to throw at you?

Krusty_Clown

RayCun wrote: »

are you going to position Emer911 at strategic points in Frankfurt with a bucket of freezing hailstones to throw at you?

Lol. Sadly (for me!), she's also running in Frankfurt, so I may need to make alternative hail/ice arrangements. But if the answer to my stitches lay in holding my head to the left for half a mile, I'd do it, even if it made me look like a complete gobsh1te. Nothing worse than having something, seemingly beyond your ability to control, determine the pace you run at during a race.

ThebitterLemon

Well done KC, nice race in tough conditions.

The Galway lad that finished just ahead of you has a 2.28 marathon from DCM in 2012. He blogs here;

http://beermatt.blogspot.ie/

TbL

Krusty_Clown

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Well done KC, nice race in tough conditions.

The Galway lad that finished just ahead of you has a 2.28 marathon from DCM in 2012. He blogs here;

http://beermatt.blogspot.ie/

TbL

Cheers. I actually came across his blog afterwards, and he's a runner after my own heart, dividing his time between beer, running and darts (though I'd swap out the darts for some rock climbing). He did mention that he had 6 pints the night before the half marathon, which makes my two pints seem positively amateurish.

Krusty_Clown

Sunday afternoon: 2.5 mile warm-down.
Got changed into warm dry clothes after the race, so never had a chance to warm-down. With a couple of sessions in the plan, I figured I'd better make sure the legs were ready to rock, so on returning to the B&B in Clifden I headed out for a couple of easy legs stretchers, in the now beautiful sunshine. Typical.

Monday: 4 mile recovery run
Dirty hangover from the pints in Clifden, so went for an easy recovery run before breakfast, along the Sky Road and out along the bay/estuary. No such thing as flat roads around Clifden, so the two miles back to breakfast were a little tough.
Summary: 4 miles in 31 mins

Tuesday: Hill Strength Endurance session
Legs and body were still a little tired from the weekend (more, I suspect from the pints than the run), so couldn't find the mojo to head out at lunch time for my run. Too bus in work anyway, so this one had to wait until I got home. Even still, I had to fuel the body with a sizeable chunk of chocolate before I could find the energy to head out the door. Out to the usual spot for the hill strength session. Legs a little tender, so I was prepared to be a little more forgiving for this one. Really screwed up the watch-based workout, so had to fluff the session a bit, but got it done and the legs didn't feel significantly worse than they had before the session.
Summary: 9 miles with lots of prancing

Wednesday: 7 miles recovery with core + 7 mile cycle + 5.5 miles easy
Very lethargic again, so hit the park for an easy 7 miles with some core stuff (chin-ups) thrown in for variety. One of the lads wanted to borrow any bike for a charity cycle, so I cycled the bike from home back into work, and then ran the 5.5 miles home at an easy clip. First duathlon of the year checked off!

Thursday: 5 x (400@5k/800m steady)
Legs still a little sensitive so I was a bit weary about doing the session, but it didn't sound too bad to me on paper. These alternating sessions (with no recoveries) can be a little deceptive though, as you end up running the overall mileage at a good clip. It was a warm sunny day, so I stripped off once I got to the track and left my t-shirt on the grass beside the cinder. I bring up this rather insignificant detail, as with every lap, a couple of crows were hopping closer and closer to my t-shirt, until eventually they started try to nick the bloody thing. I didn't fancy running all the way back to work topless, like a pleb, so on my steady loops I was detouring to chase away the bloody crows. No mention of this kind of eventuality in the Magness 5k plans.

The goal for the 5k 400s was 38 and 1:16 (for 200m and 400m), and then to run the steady alternates at a pace that felt hard but comfortable (outside of threshold pace). Generally, I was hitting the half-way split on pace but dropping a little over the second 200m, just outside of goal pace.
400m: 1:17/1:17/1:17/1:17/1:16
Steady 800s: 3:01/3:02/3:04/3:00
Overall: 21:35 for the 6k (5:45/mile).

The 400m reps were hard, but the steady pace 800s felt (in relative terms) like easy pace (having run 13 miles at slightly faster pace in tough conditions at the weekend probably helped). Still, target 5k pace is proving a bit of a reach, and further proves the inaccuracy of the MSB 5k course from a few weeks back. Followed up the evening with a 5 mile recovery run, to help hit the weekly mileage target and then some pretty mediocre rock climbing. When the body's tired, you can't spoof with the rock climbing, as you can with a lazy recovery run. If you don't have the strength to hold your weight, you simply can;t climb properly.

Summary: 10 miles in 68 mins, @6:49/mile + 5 miles recovery + some climbing

Friday: 10 miles easy
A 10 mile run is just the right distance to make you feel you've done something worthwhile, while not tiring you too greatly. It also allows you to visit places without having to stick to the same old routes. So I quickly plotted a 10 mile loop and headed out the door, in the direction of Dun Laoghaire. I hit the coast and had a nice mile run heading north towards Blackrock, before hitting the climb all the way back up to Sandyford and back to work. The legs loosened up mile by mile, and despite the uphill nature of the second half of the run, the pace gradually picked up from start to finish.
Summary: 10 miles in 74 mins, @7:12/mile

Saturday: Easy/Recovery run with strides
Dropped off child number 2 and then child number one at their respective sports, before hitting Dalkey Quarry and Killiney Hill for a few easy miles. Lovely running around the trails, pausing momentarily to watch the rock climbers, before heading back to the fat roads for a few strides.

donnacha

Meh, he drinks Guinness KC -I'll bet he was also drinking freeze dried coffee or nespresso alongside that kitkat :pac:

Krusty_Clown

Sunday: National Road Relays - Raheny

I got the call (or as is more likely to happen these days Facebook message) to join the Sli Cualann masters team a week and a half ago, for the national road relays. I had kind of planned to run either the K-Club 10k or the Patsy Kelly 5k, but have heard so many good things about the national road relays that it sounded like the kind of opportunity you don't miss, when given a shot. The masters race is a 3-leg structure (1 mile - 2 mile - 1 mile) and I was allocated the 2 mile leg, which kind of suited my training. Got dropped out to Raheny by the lady-folk, who then headed off rock-climbing and I soon caught up with my fellow team-mates and Sli Cualann team organizers. We headed off for a warm-up recce of the course and it's certainly an interesting one. It starts off flat, at the start/finish/changeover area, before you turn left up the most minor of gradients. Another left turn and you're on a drag with a head-wind, before another left turn takes you onto a smooth tarmac road, with a slight decline. The final left turn brings you back to the concrete again and the changeover point. I switched into the racing flats and did another loop, trying to figure out a good strategy for the race, but it was impossible to anticipate how the race may play out, when you throw the relay element into the mix. very unique atmosphere at the race. It was all business, steely glares and nervous energy, with smiles reserved for those who had either completed their races or were spectating. The nervousness was contagious and I could feel the adrenaline and a touch of fear coursing through my system. Eventually, the first leg runners were called to the start and the tension picked up.

As soon as the gun went, and the leg1 runners zoomed off into the distance, we were called to the changeover point, knowing that we had a little less than five minutes before we would start. Incredible tension as the first few runners appeared around the corner, while we all shuffled for position, trying to peer into the distance to identify our matching singlets. The results should be taken with a pinch of salt as the handover point waspretty chaotic, but I spotted our leg1 runner coming in at a ferocious clip in something like 16th place. We touched hands and I was off.

Lap 1: Queue instant confusion. Absolute lack of relay experience had me immediately try and close the distance on the runners ahead, as if this were a running race where we had all started at the exact same moment. Schoolboy error. By the time I hit the corner, I was closing in on the next runner, but I was feeling shagged. I had been running well under 1 mile pace, but this was a two mile race, so I knew I had to make immediate adjustments or my race was going to be a blow-out. I had passed a runner, and was now on the uphill drag into the wind. I gradually eased back the pace while maintaining the distance from the group ahead, and managed to zip left and right, to selfishly prevent the chasing runner from sheltering behind me. Finally hitting the bend and turning out of the wind, I allowed myself some brief recovery and got the effort levels back into a more comfortable region. It looked like some of the runners ahead had made the same mistake as me, as the gap between us was gradually narrowing. Turning back on to the main road, I was massively determined to catch these runners, so I put on my best steely glare and focussed on the singlets ahead (in other words I panted and wheeze my way across the changeover point, with spittle dribbling from my chin). Lap 1: 5:12

Lap 2: I passed a second runner as we rounded the corner back into the wind and uphill, and shifted my focus to the two runners up ahead. Up this windy section I knew I need protection, so over-worked the effort levels to close the distance on them. I stuck in behind for 20 seconds and pushed forward, with the second runner latching on to me. Again I jigged left (I'm exactly the kind of runner I dislike!) and pushed on, to prevent the runner latching on to me. I was on my own into the wind now, but it had been worth the effort to make up t he extra places. Up ahead was a Tallaght singlet and I recognized the runner as the clubmate that ecoli had been competing against in the Bohermeen half recently. I caught him just as we hit the bend but he didn't fall off the pace, and instead ran alongside me. I was in the red-zone, running at about 4:45/mile, but knew I had to pick it up or Tallaght would be back on me. Pace dropped briefly to 4:30/mile as I opened a gap, before dropping back a little. Gave it everything I had on the final straight, never having pushed myself this hard in a race before, to tag our third runner, with a 5:09 for that lap, taking us from 16th to 11th place.

Our team organizer confirmed a 10:21 for the two lap stretch (a little over two miles), which tallies with my Garmin times, but they have me officially as 10:28, so despite my misgivings, I'll have to go with the slower time for the distance (after all, everyone else's splits may have equally suffered too).

Our final leg runner ran a very strong leg and made up a couple more places to take us down to 9th place overall, which given the standard, is a damn fine finish position. I think we acquitted ourselves really well, and each leg runner gave everything they had, and left nothing behind. I'm as happy with my performance in that race as any race I've done for a long, long time.
Summary: 2.x miles in 10:28, @~5:09/mile

The aftermath:
I hung around and greatly enjoyed the other races, with the pressure off. It was nice to catch up with the other boards runners and club runners for the next hour or two, but at the back of my mind was the run home. The only way I could hit my weekly mileage goal and give the race a proper lash, was to do my long run after the race, so with no food in my belly since breakfast, a backpack full of shoes and a change of clothes and just a salvaged 250ml bottle of water, I headed off, in what I hoped was the direction of Shankill. Arriving in the middle of St Anne's park, I recognized none of the landmarks from the Parkrun I had run previously, and realized that I had no idea what direction the coast lay in. On the basis that the sea is probably slightly downhill, I wound my way around the paths and trails and surprised myself by arriving on the coast road, near Bull Island. Turning South, I was presented with a nasty head-wind, that sapped the will to keep going. Thoughts of DARTs entered my head. I figured I'd keep going until the city, and see how the wind was, once the route following the bay turned south. Those first 4 miles were a real struggle, but the wind eased up greatly as soon as I hit the East Wall.

The wind was soon replaced by beating sunshine, but with a slight tail-wind, I was happy enough. I must have hit Barry Murray's fat-burning zone, as despite the race in the legs and the lack of food, I was pottering along. I made a deal with myself, that I'd keep going to Blackrock and stop there for a pint, while I called for a lift home. Disappointingly, once I arrived in Blackrock, I still had 4 miles to run. I made another deal, that I'd keep going to Dun Laoghaire, and stop for an ice-cream at Teddy's. Once again, huge disappointment as I passed the queue at Teddy's with another two miles still to run. Finally, with 13 miles done since the race, (17.5 for the day), I rang the lady-folk for a lift, but they were still some distance away, so with a momentary sigh of resignation, I put the backpack back on, and started running again. Finally, arriving at Dalkey DART station, with 14 post-race miles in the legs (and 18+ miles for the day), I called it quits. Sadly, no ice-cream or beer, just the 250ml bottle of water that was like the finest of wines.
Summary: 14 miles @7:23/mile

RayCun

you are completely insane

AuldManKing

Krusty - just out of interest - when was your last serious injury?
You must be bullet proof at this stage.

(Mods: Put some kind of health warning on KC's log )

Krusty_Clown

donnacha wrote: »

Meh, he drinks Guinness KC -I'll bet he was also drinking freeze dried coffee or nespresso alongside that kitkat :pac:

Sounds like I need to start drinking Guinness and freeze dried coffee!

AuldManKing wrote: »

Krusty - just out of interest - when was your last serious injury?
You must be bullet proof at this stage.

Hi Alan, I'm permanently carrying some kind of niggle (currently nursing: sprained thumb (three months), knot in left shoulder (6 months), pain in left shin (four months), and incubating a chest infection (three days). Last (only) proper injury was early/mid 2009, where I had big issues with a calf muscle, which kept me off the road for three months. I think it's my allergy to suffering, that forces me to slow down every time something starts to hurt. That and the three thousand miles a year I've been running for a few years now. But mostly, it's the turtle blood and shark fetuses.

KielyUnusual

You absolutely flew out of the traps yesterday. If you show that kind of pace on the track this summer then the sub 60 400m will be not a bother to you .

Great running yesterday. It was a tough course and that uphill drag in to the wind was a real energy sapper. Two 5 minute miles back to back is some going. You'll have to give the 3k a proper lash over the summer with that sort of form.

Krusty_Clown

KielyUnusual wrote: »

You absolutely flew out of the traps yesterday. If you show that kind of pace on the track this summer then the sub 60 400m will be not a bother to you .

Great running yesterday. It was a tough course and that uphill drag in to the wind was a real energy sapper. Two 5 minute miles back to back is some going. You'll have to give the 3k a proper lash over the summer with that sort of form.

Yeah, my Garmin had me leaving the trap at 400m pace, which would've been a very short-lived two mile race. Well done on your own leg. It's tough starting further back in the field, as you've less people to chase down. That was a very solid time. You should stick with the longer stuff.

AuldManKing

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Sounds like I need to start drinking Guinness and freeze dried coffee!


Hi Alan, I'm permanently carrying some kind of niggle (currently nursing: sprained thumb (three months), knot in left shoulder (6 months), pain in left shin (four months), and incubating a chest infection (three days). Last (only) proper injury was early/mid 2009, where I had big issues with a calf muscle, which kept me off the road for three months. I think it's my allergy to suffering, that forces me to slow down every time something starts to hurt. That and the three thousand miles a year I've been running for a few years now. But mostly, it's the turtle blood and shark fetuses.

But apart from the thumb, shin, shoulder and chest infection - its all good. Right?

I still think there should be a health warning - "don't try this at home"

drquirky

ThebitterLemon wrote: »

Well done KC, nice race in tough conditions.

The Galway lad that finished just ahead of you has a 2.28 marathon from DCM in 2012. He blogs here;

http://beermatt.blogspot.ie/

TbL

That blog rules. That guy is my new hero.

Krusty_Clown

drquirky wrote: »

That blog rules. That guy is my new hero.

Beer, darts and running. .. What's not to like?

adrian522

Darts.

theboyblunder

Everyone likes darts. Heavy people doing sport in pubs. Its where everyone on this forum is headed once the running stops but the carbs dont.

Krusty_Clown

Monday: 8 miles + 5 miles recovery
First run wasn't too bad, as I was running with Keith, which kept the pace nice and easy (he's once again on the path to recovery) and the run was broken up by a quick browse through the 'running shops' in Dundrum (where 'running shops' is a synonym for 'expensive fashion outlets'). One particular 'running aficionado was advising a young girl that different manufacturers suit different types of runners, so for example, Nike suits someone who is light on their feet. I glared at him a little and he shut-up guiltily, until I was once again out of ear-shot and he started to dole out the dubious advice once more.

My second run was an absolute disaster. I didn't leave work until late, and arrived home, just as the family was sitting down to a wonderful smelling dinner. After a long day, I just wanted to sit, chill and eat. Not so. Five miserable miles and even the full moon couldn't raise a smile.
Summary: 8 + 5 miles

Tuesday: 3 x (600m/400m/600m) @5k pace with 40 seconds rest/3:30 between sets
Another strange one on paper, but when you do the math, it adds up to approximately 5k at 5k pace, with regular breaks. Despite only having a day of recovery since Sunday's race, this one went fine. I didn't hit all of the splits exactly on queue, but they were no more than a second out and the gravel is a tough surface to run on, when there hasn't been any rain for a few days.
Planned : 1:54/1:16/1:54
Set 1: 1:55/1:16/1:54
Set 2: 1:54/1:17/1:55
Set 3: 1:54/1:18/1:56
Recovery: 40 seconds between reps, and 3:30 between sets.

Again, it was a rather unique session, and passed very quickly. The 3:30 recoveries seemed quite long, but with residual tiredness in the legs, I didn't want to blow the session.

Followed up that evening with a five mile recovery run to collect my bike, a three mile cycle home, and a rather exhausted hour of rock climbing. Rock climbing days seem to inadvertently land on my hard training days, so I never get to give them a proper go, but it's great craic and a solid core workout.
Summary: 10 miles + 5 miles

Wednesday: 5.5 miles + 7 miles w/6x10 sec hill sprints
Had left my big bike in work the previous evening, so had little choice but to run into work. Pretty tired run, but I just zoned out and got there eventually.

The week is stacking up to be really busy, so I took the opportunity to tick off one of the other sessions, that doesn't seem to hit the legs too significantly. For a change (and because I didn't want to run too much mileage, I headed in the direction of Ticknock, and did the hill sprints on the road leading up to the mountain. The hill isn't quite as steep as my usual spot, but that's part of the evolution of these hill sprints as the emphasis changes to flatter and faster.
Summary: 7.3 miles

Just one more session for the week and again, it's a bit of a strange one:
1600/600/1200/4/800 w/3min rest (paces-10k/3k/5k/15/5k).

What are the red bits supposed to represent? I'm assuming 4 minutes at 15k pace (signifying threshold). Anyone any alternative thoughts?

ecoli

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

What are the red bits supposed to represent? I'm assuming 4 minutes at 15k pace (signifying threshold). Anyone any alternative thoughts?

Thinking like a marathoner :-P. I would imagine they are whats called "hammers" which is basically a good solid blast (I am thinking 400 @ 1500m pace)

I know a number of the US coaches use them in sessions where say average pace is supposed to be 63s or something and every five or six there is a hammer which calls for something like 57

http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/teach-yourself-how-to-race-faster/

Krusty_Clown

ecoli wrote: »

Thinking like a marathoner :-P. I would imagine they are whats called "hammers" which is basically a good solid blast (I am thinking 400 @ 1500m pace)

I'm not entirely convinced (though you've opened a can of worms in my brain (Couldn't you read between the lines and tell that I was looking for a softer answer? ). The only place in the plan that he uses single digit numbers is where he's referring to minutes (though it is strange to have a time-based interval in the middle of all of the track-biased distances). Also, would he really differentiate between 1500 pace and 1 mile pace? He uses '1mi' in several session descriptions, so it's unusual that he'd swap out to 1500 pace. Maybe I'll drop him a line and ask him.