Send in the Clowns - BAC 10K Challenge

Krusty_Clown

Stazza wrote: »

"Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser SözeStazza."

I always believed that Jesus would be......well...... taller....

Krusty_Clown

Tuesday: Session: 4 x 600m @5k with 5k steady
I know it was quite foolish to do this the day after the race, but I had crossed the finish line the previous day and felt fine (I have felt substantially worse after doing sessions) and in fact the legs felt better than they have for a while (must be all the seafood in Tralee). So why did I do the session? This is why:



I missed that session (in favour of a race) a couple of weeks back and it's been bugging the sh1te out of me since. I can't tick it off until I complete it. Two parts OCD, one part stubbornness. I will definitely tick it off, even if it has to wait until after I have completed this training program. So I didn't want to add to the list of incomplete sessions, by missing a 5k-paced session.
I had some residual tiredness from the race and the long drive back, but otherwise all good. Down to the cinder once again (that should be the title of a song). 4 x 600m didn't sound too bad, and luckily I was abetted a little by a southerly wind that gave me two straights with the wind and only one straight into the wind. I figured that was fair compensation for having a race in the legs.

Target: 1:53
Actual: 1:53 / 1:53 / 1:52 / 1:52

As mentioned, I had a favourable wind, which helped, but the session went fine. The steady recoveries did slow a little between reps, but not significantly.

Summary: ~9.17 miles in 61 mins

Tuesday evening: 4.3 mile recovery run @8:18/mile

Wednesday: 6 miles + 6 miles easy
The boss was in hospital for an operation, and was released early in the morning, so under instructions that she wasn't to be left on her own, I left her on her own while I went for an easy/recovery 6 miles. For some reason the legs dragged me up Quarry Road towards Carrigologan (perhaps as I was missing the evening's IMRA race in favour of picking up children and minding the poorly). Another 6 miles while waiting for the youngest to finish gymnastics.

Thursday: Session: 9 x 300m (alternate 1m / 3k pace) w/100m jog recovery
Ugh! This was hard! Very tired over the last couple of days (a quick glance upwards might explain why), but managed to hit the numbers. The cinder track isn't really marked at all, so again I had to approximate the 300m mark. The way I figured it was: if I'm hitting my 200m split bang on pace, then if I keep running at the same pace, stopping at the expected time for the 300m split should give me approximately the right location. Definitely an easier session with someone calling out the splits to you, but I managed it ok. I surprised myself by being able to differentiate between 1 mile pace and 3k pace relatively accurately up to the 200m mark. It's a pretty fine line (difference of around a second), but for most of the 9 reps, I was pretty close to the mark. No point in posting the rep times, as the track markings are non-existent, but I covered the 3,600m in around 12:30, including recoveries. Despite the cool day, the sweat just bucketed from me, as soon as I stopped. It was a tough session.
Summary: ~8.5 miles in 59 mins

Thursday evening: 4 miles recovery run @7:31/mile.
After the recovery run I headed off rock climbing with the youngest, but it was just a bridge too far. I was too shagged to do any meaningful climbing, and had to resign myself to watching herself conquer the latest bouldering problems.

Krusty_Clown

Friday: 8 miles easy
Had just over an hour to spare, so took the car to Marlay and did my eight mile easy run on the grass and trails of the park. The run felt far from easy and I really struggled to keep the pace any faster than recovery pace. I was further hampered by the billions of flies that materialized in the park, and raised the easy run from 'uncomfortable' to 'frustrating' status. This is the payback for trying to do too much quality/racing in a week.
Summary: 8 miles @7:35/mile

Saturday: 4 miles with strides
Really stuck for time, so could only manage four miles with strides before having to drop child to gymnastics. Felt a little easier than Friday's easy run, but not by much. A little worried about Sunday's race. Thankfully headed rock climbing after picking up the youngster, and that went considerably better.
Summary: 4 miles @6:59

Sunday: Lucan Striders/Tom Brennan memorial 5k
Thankfully much of Saturday's torrential rain had dissipated, leaving in its wake tempestuous winds that shook the car on my drive to Lucan along the M50. I felt really rotten and had more than once considered not participating in the race at all, but figured at least it would serve as a learning lesson, even if an assault on the PB wasn't on the cards. Great to see the friendly faces of RQ and Aimman, loitering with intent around the Lucan race HQ. Still feeling woeful, I headed for a couple of warm-up miles along the last mile of the course, thinking it'd be handy to pick up some visual cues. After a mile I turned back into the headwind, and all thoughts of chasing the PB went out the window. I figured a long drag with a steady head-wind would just kill me off completely, particularly if I was running on my own, so I determined that I'd make sure I was in a group for this stage of the race. As I neared the top of the road I spotted a candidate's poster for the local elections, and thought it was great that there was a dark-skinned candidate vying for election. On closer inspection, some fncker had defaced his poster with racist slurs and it immediately made my blood boil. Around 500m from the finish line, I reckoned if I needed motivation/adrenaline during the race and an opportunity to push, then a quick glance at the poster would offer more than enough encouragement.

Mile 1: I lined up quite wide on the road so that I could get a good starting position. At this point I still felt completely wiped and wondered if I'd be able to get up to 5k pace at all. I rarely feel great before a race, but this was different. This wasn't the usual pre-race lethargy. When the gun went, I surged forward and found myself in second position, behind Brian MacMahon. That didn't last long, and by the time we'd hit the corner, I'd been passed by Peter Mooney. Peter's in flying form at the moment, and I'd love to try and chase him over a 5k for as long as possible, but based on how I was feeling, I felt it was a recipe for disaster. I had fleeting thoughts of pulling up as the pre-race negativity continued, but figured if it came to it, I'd jog out the remainder of the race. There were two other lads on my shoulder running at the same pace, so I wouldn't be short of company. A quick glance at the watch showed an average pace of 5:00/mile, with the wind behind us. Hitting the roundabout, I was still just a metre behind Peter, with the two other lads slightly behind. At this stage BMM had opened a pretty significant gap up ahead and it was clear at this point that he wouldn't face any competition for the win. Once we got into Griffeen, Peter also opened a gap of a few metres. Mile 1: 5:04

Mile 2: I remembered the long straight from the Parkrun I'd done here last year, and stretched out along this section, opening a small gap on the two lads behind. It was decision time, as we'd shortly be turning into the wind and I didn't want to face it alone, so the choice was to try and catch Peter (in which case, he'd likely just power forward) or slow and be caught by the two lads. A couple of glances over my shoulder was enough to convince the lads to draw level, and as we turned West into the headwind, one of them overtook me. We skated across the slippy bridge and emerging on the other side, I took the lead again. Just as we turned into the headwind for a second time, the MSB runner overtook me again, in a timely move that offered a little respite from the wind. The watch beeped to signal the end of the second mile and I glanced down to see a disappointing 5:20. We'd lost a few seconds on the bridge, but with the long straight, it should have been a faster mile. Lesson learned for the future.

Mile 3: We emerged from the park with the MSB lad slightly ahead. Past the roundabout, and turning left, I tried to relax as much as possible, while the MSB runner worked hard into the headwind. Past the three speed-bumps I recognized from the earlier recce, then I started to keep an eye out for the local election posters. Fianna Fail? Nope. Fianna Gael? Nope. Sinn Fein, People before Profit, all passed in the blink of an eye.. Then there it was. I barely had time to notice the racist scrawl before pushing past the MSB runner and running at a pace that I hoped would deter him from giving chase. 200 metres later, I was fecked! Absolutely convinced that I had over-cooked it, and got ready to slow to a crawl. Then I saw the entrance to the clubhouse, and I managed to keep going. I hit the grit surface of the cinder track, and the momentary familiarity provided some comfort. Mile 3: 5:11. I risked a glance when I was half way around the track, and it looked like I had a gap of around 50m. I spotted the clock up ahead as it ticked off 15:58, but sadly the target was well out of reach. I crossed the finish line for 3rd place in 16:07.

I was happy with the result, given that it could have gone so much worse. I finished as far up the field as I possibly could have and despite the wind and a few tough turns, I was only 7 seconds down on my PB. Still not there, but always tantalizingly close. Will focus on trying to feel fresher for the next race, by getting more sleep.
Summary: 5k in 16:07.

pgmcpq

Great performance KC. Let's hope you have to look harder for motivation in the future.

T runner

Well done, very solid run and looks like more progression again, given the external factors of conditions and fatigue. Have you long left before you'll be resting up for the peak 5ks?

and...

As I neared the top of the road I spotted a candidate's poster for the local elections, and thought it was great that there was a dark-skinned candidate vying for election. On closer inspection, some fncker had defaced his poster with racist slurs and it immediately made my blood boil

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention.

Krusty_Clown

T runner wrote: »

Well done, very solid run and looks like more progression again, given the external factors of conditions and fatigue. Have you long left before you'll be resting up for the peak 5ks?

Hi T-runner, there's 4 weeks left in the program, with two scheduled races remaining. One challenge is that it's quite difficult to map races (fast races!) to the training weeks (particularly Saturdays). I'm sure it's not such a big issue in the US, where there's an abundance of events. Also, there are a few other races that may be thrown into the mix that may be somewhat counter-productive. I'm hoping to run the mile in Greystones on Thursday, and on Saturday week, I may be running Leg 1 of the Wicklow Way relay (waiting to hear if I'm needed). These make it rather difficult to juggle the sessions/recoveries etc. Ideally I'd avoid them, but I'm weak.

For target races, next Tuesday I'm signed up for the Na Fianna 5k, which I'm hoping will be a really solid run. The peak 5k should be around the 7th/8th June, however, I'm waiting to hear about a potential US work trip, which may completely throw a spanner in the works. On short notice I may need to travel to the West coast and central USA for just shy of 2 weeks, which will have a significant impact on training and goal races (it was supposed to happen early May and has been repeatedly delayed). Bohermeen lines up nicely for the goal 5k (on the 7th), but if I have to miss training due to travel, I'll push the goal race out and try and find something else. Also hoping to run a good 10k in Dunshaughlin on the 21st, so hoping that the 5k training will translate pretty well to the 10k distance.

ultrapercy

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Friday: 8 miles easy
Had just over an hour to spare, so took the car to Marlay and did my eight mile easy run on the grass and trails of the park. The run felt far from easy and I really struggled to keep the pace any faster than recovery pace. I was further hampered by the billions of flies that materialized in the park, and raised the easy run from 'uncomfortable' to 'frustrating' status. This is the payback for trying to do too much quality/racing in a week.
Summary: 8 miles @7:35/mile

Saturday: 4 miles with strides
Really stuck for time, so could only manage four miles with strides before having to drop child to gymnastics. Felt a little easier than Friday's easy run, but not by much. A little worried about Sunday's race. Thankfully headed rock climbing after picking up the youngster, and that went considerably better.
Summary: 4 miles @6:59

Sunday: Lucan Striders/Tom Brennan memorial 5k
Thankfully much of Saturday's torrential rain had dissipated, leaving in its wake tempestuous winds that shook the car on my drive to Lucan along the M50. I felt really rotten and had more than once considered not participating in the race at all, but figured at least it would serve as a learning lesson, even if an assault on the PB wasn't on the cards. Great to see the friendly faces of RQ and Aimman, loitering with intent around the Lucan race HQ. Still feeling woeful, I headed for a couple of warm-up miles along the last mile of the course, thinking it'd be handy to pick up some visual cues. After a mile I turned back into the headwind, and all thoughts of chasing the PB went out the window. I figured a long drag with a steady head-wind would just kill me off completely, particularly if I was running on my own, so I determined that I'd make sure I was in a group for this stage of the race. As I neared the top of the road I spotted a candidate's poster for the local elections, and thought it was great that there was a dark-skinned candidate vying for election. On closer inspection, some fncker had defaced his poster with racist slurs and it immediately made my blood boil. Around 500m from the finish line, I reckoned if I needed motivation/adrenaline during the race and an opportunity to push, then a quick glance at the poster would offer more than enough encouragement.

Mile 1: I lined up quite wide on the road so that I could get a good starting position. At this point I still felt completely wiped and wondered if I'd be able to get up to 5k pace at all. I rarely feel great before a race, but this was different. This wasn't the usual pre-race lethargy. When the gun went, I surged forward and found myself in second position, behind Brian MacMahon. That didn't last long, and by the time we'd hit the corner, I'd been passed by Peter Mooney. Peter's in flying form at the moment, and I'd love to try and chase him over a 5k for as long as possible, but based on how I was feeling, I felt it was a recipe for disaster. I had fleeting thoughts of pulling up as the pre-race negativity continued, but figured if it came to it, I'd jog out the remainder of the race. There were two other lads on my shoulder running at the same pace, so I wouldn't be short of company. A quick glance at the watch showed an average pace of 5:00/mile, with the wind behind us. Hitting the roundabout, I was still just a metre behind Peter, with the two other lads slightly behind. At this stage BMM had opened a pretty significant gap up ahead and it was clear at this point that he wouldn't face any competition for the win. Once we got into Griffeen, Peter also opened a gap of a few metres. Mile 1: 5:04

Mile 2: I remembered the long straight from the Parkrun I'd done here last year, and stretched out along this section, opening a small gap on the two lads behind. It was decision time, as we'd shortly be turning into the wind and I didn't want to face it alone, so the choice was to try and catch Peter (in which case, he'd likely just power forward) or slow and be caught by the two lads. A couple of glances over my shoulder was enough to convince the lads to draw level, and as we turned West into the headwind, one of them overtook me. We skated across the slippy bridge and emerging on the other side, I took the lead again. Just as we turned into the headwind for a second time, the MSB runner overtook me again, in a timely move that offered a little respite from the wind. The watch beeped to signal the end of the second mile and I glanced down to see a disappointing 5:20. We'd lost a few seconds on the bridge, but with the long straight, it should have been a faster mile. Lesson learned for the future.

Mile 3: We emerged from the park with the MSB lad slightly ahead. Past the roundabout, and turning left, I tried to relax as much as possible, while the MSB runner worked hard into the headwind. Past the three speed-bumps I recognized from the earlier recce, then I started to keep an eye out for the local election posters. Fianna Fail? Nope. Fianna Gael? Nope. Sinn Fein, People before Profit, all passed in the blink of an eye.. Then there it was. I barely had time to notice the racist scrawl before pushing past the MSB runner and running at a pace that I hoped would deter him from giving chase. 200 metres later, I was fecked! Absolutely convinced that I had over-cooked it, and got ready to slow to a crawl. Then I saw the entrance to the clubhouse, and I managed to keep going. I hit the grit surface of the cinder track, and the momentary familiarity provided some comfort. Mile 3: 5:11. I risked a glance when I was half way around the track, and it looked like I had a gap of around 50m. I spotted the clock up ahead as it ticked off 15:58, but sadly the target was well out of reach. I crossed the finish line for 3rd place in 16:07.

I was happy with the result, given that it could have gone so much worse. I finished as far up the field as I possibly could have and despite the wind and a few tough turns, I was only 7 seconds down on my PB. Still not there, but always tantalizingly close. Will focus on trying to feel fresher for the next race, by getting more sleep.
Summary: 5k in 16:07.

Well done KC,very consistent performance in what sounds like testing conditions. The 15:3x and better will soon follow in the summer races.

Krusty_Clown

ultrapercy wrote: »

Well done KC,very consistent performance in what sounds like testing conditions. The 15:3x and better will soon follow in the summer races.

Haha, cheers John. Wish I had your belief! I think I need a positive indicator soon, to keep the faith.

Update: Just this second got an e-mail to say that US trip has been delayed again (3rd time), so looks like Bohermeen could be on the cards. Any plans for a return trip John? Could do with a 15:45 pacer!

ultrapercy

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Haha, cheers John. Wish I had your belief! I think I need a positive indicator soon, to keep the faith.

Update: Just this second got an e-mail to say that US trip has been delayed again (3rd time), so looks like Bohermeen could be on the cards. Any plans for a return trip John? Could do with a 15:45 pacer!

Id love to go to Bohermeen but Im working, I really enjoyed the half there and thought the whole set-up was very impressive. I think evening is the best time for a 5k, for me anyway, because body has warmed up and loosened out during the day. A warmish evening is also good. If you get a break with the conditions youl go well under 16, I always think the best tactic is to blast out as hard as you can and hold on, you will feel like death for the 2nd half but the 2nd half is only 1.5 miles 0r under 8 mins so you have the strength to hold. This is only my take on it and you have enough experience not to have to listen to my ramblings. Im struggling since Rotterdam but hopefully Il pick up soon. Best of luck anyway Gary, I know that fast 5k is there and will happen soon, weter you believe it or not.

wrstan

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I think I need a positive indicator soon, to keep the faith.

Plenty of positive indicators there Gary! - some firm pushing on that sub 16 door, in less than ideal conditions, along with St Paddy's Day which I know think you are not counting.

It'll be interesting to see the impact your speed focus has on Thursday, however I expect Na Fianna to bring another very positive indicator, if not a total step change in your record book.

Krusty_Clown

Yesterday: 5.5 + 5.5 miles recovery/easy, @~7:40/mile

Today: 2x (800, 800, 400 w/45 secs) w/ 3:30 between sets
Went as well as expected, given the race in the legs. Always amazed by how much easier it is to run fast in race environment, rather than training, but got through them ok.

Targets: 2:31 / 2:31 / 1:15
Actual set 1: 2:29.9 / 2:29.8 / 1:14.1
Actual set 2: 2:28.8 / 2:29.8 / 1:14.3

Crazy just how consistent these turned out, with just 10/hundreths of a second between the first and second 800s and not much between the other reps (randomness more than consistency). Heavy rain between the first and second sets seemed to drop the temperature by a couple of degrees and create more friction on the cinder, so I ended up going through the first 200 in 33 seconds and had to drag the pace back to more reflective levels before I exploded. Followed up with 4 miles of recovery, while waiting for the youngster to finish gymnastics.
Summary: 9 miles + 4 miles

T runner

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Hi T-runner, there's 4 weeks left in the program, with two scheduled races remaining. One challenge is that it's quite difficult to map races (fast races!) to the training weeks (particularly Saturdays). I'm sure it's not such a big issue in the US, where there's an abundance of events. Also, there are a few other races that may be thrown into the mix that may be somewhat counter-productive. I'm hoping to run the mile in Greystones on Thursday, and on Saturday week, I may be running Leg 1 of the Wicklow Way relay (waiting to hear if I'm needed). These make it rather difficult to juggle the sessions/recoveries etc. Ideally I'd avoid them, but I'm weak.

For target races, next Tuesday I'm signed up for the Na Fianna 5k, which I'm hoping will be a really solid run. The peak 5k should be around the 7th/8th June, however, I'm waiting to hear about a potential US work trip, which may completely throw a spanner in the works. On short notice I may need to travel to the West coast and central USA for just shy of 2 weeks, which will have a significant impact on training and goal races (it was supposed to happen early May and has been repeatedly delayed). Bohermeen lines up nicely for the goal 5k (on the 7th), but if I have to miss training due to travel, I'll push the goal race out and try and find something else. Also hoping to run a good 10k in Dunshaughlin on the 21st, so hoping that the 5k training will translate pretty well to the 10k distance.

Best of look, no doubt youll nail the times once you have the suitable race.

Interestingly im down for WWR leg 1 also.
Im still injured, but if theres improvement in an easy jog tonight ill have a chance of starting. Otherwise ill have to inform the capn, to give the replacement a chance to be found and to recce.

Krusty_Clown

T runner wrote: »

Best of look, no doubt youll nail the times once you have the suitable race.

Interestingly im down for WWR leg 1 also.
Im still injured, but if theres improvement in an easy jog tonight ill have a chance of starting. Otherwise ill have to inform the capn, to give the replacement a chance to be found and to recce.

Cool. Any interest in doing a 'recce this Sunday? Was just about to post on the main forum to see if I could drum up any interest. Rathfarnham team? Will be hard to beat, as always...

Sacksian

Long-time lurker, first-time poster!

Looking at your recent 5k training - I think you'll go well under 16 a fair few times this year, at least 15:4* and more than likely 15:3*.

Take a couple of easy days, leave the watch behind and you'll do it on your next attempt.

If you really wanted to get the monkey off your back (so you can enjoy the next proper races), take the rest of the week easy, go out to Malahide Parkrun, line up behind Daire Bermingham (find out if he's going first!) and get it done! He's been pretty consistent in recent weeks: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/athletehistory/?athleteNumber=659757

Krusty_Clown

Sacksian wrote: »

Long-time lurker, first-time poster!

Looking at your recent 5k training - I think you'll go well under 16 a fair few times this year, at least 15:4* and more than likely 15:3*.

Take a couple of easy days, leave the watch behind and you'll do it on your next attempt.

If you really wanted to get the monkey off your back (so you can enjoy the next proper races), take the rest of the week easy, go out to Malahide Parkrun, line up behind Daire Bermingham (find out if he's going first!) and get it done! He's been pretty consistent in recent weeks: http://www.parkrun.ie/malahide/results/athletehistory/?athleteNumber=659757

Cheers for the feedback Sacksian. That is indeed a really impressive results history. Would love to take a few days off but the computer says no! It's actually a point the other half raised with me the other day. I took a week off (while skiing) and came back and ran the MSB 5k (running 15:48 on a short course), but felt comfortable right to the last 600m, so there's definitely something to resting up. But I'm something like 17 weeks into a 21 week plan, so I'll see it through. Once the plan is done though, I'll have plenty opportunities to rest up and tackle a few fast 5ks, and will definitely give the Parkruns another shot. As for the watch, I don't look at it during the race, other than to confirm (perhaps once) that I'm going fast enough. Definitely the Parkrun is the place to abandon the watch for a few trials.

T runner

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Cool. Any interest in doing a 'recce this Sunday? Was just about to post on the main forum to see if I could drum up any interest. Rathfarnham team? Will be hard to beat, as always...

Sorry Krusty ive had to withdraw, unfortunately. Hopefully they can do the job anyway. Best of luck. Its a good one for you to do. I think the longer strenght type races are a good compliment to the 5k stuff...and you can run this at a good clip all the way.

Krusty_Clown

T runner wrote: »

Sorry Krusty ive had to withdraw, unfortunately. Hopefully they can do the job anyway. Best of luck. Its a good one for you to do. I think the longer strenght type races are a good compliment to the 5k stuff...and you can run this at a good clip all the way.

That's a shame. Any signs of improvement with respect to the injury? You've not had a good spell these last few months. Hopefully you'll get sorted in the next month or two, which will still give you a solid 18 week build-up to Frankfurt.

T runner

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

That's a shame. Any signs of improvement with respect to the injury? You've not had a good spell these last few months. Hopefully you'll get sorted in the next month or two, which will still give you a solid 18 week build-up to Frankfurt.

No sign of the injury clearing. Unless it clears up very soon Ill have to accept that the target i had set might be beyond me this time.
Im actually worried about making the start line at the warriors run this year. Ive a pain in my upper thigh and on my sitting bone thats not residing. I just have to foam roll, strenghen etc and jog every few days to test. 2-3 weeks of that now with treatment has yielded little improvement.

I have to be careful...this can easily turn into a few months or a year or more.


Its annoying as i haven't made it back even close to my Rotterdam fitness since 2012. Taking a prolonged spell off running over 40 is risk fraught. The comeback has to be planned.

I may start a twice daily X training regime, that doesn't impact the area.

Krusty_Clown

Wednesday: 5 miles recovery + 5.3 miles with Hill sprints
Woke early so ticked off some early recovery miles. Great to get 'em done, but just not a big fan of the pre-brekkie runs. Thankfully (as it turns out) this morning I couldn't find my phone, so instead of the usual distraction of the podcasts, the silence was broken only by the birds. Instead, I slowed down, relaxed and had a proper recovery run. At lunch-time I headed off for my hill-sprints, this time opting for a closer location (Bellarmine) that offered a decent hill (long enough for 20 seconds), with only a few casual observers (gardeners and curious toddlers) to question my sanity. 6 x 10s and 2 x 20 secs, with full plentiful recovery in-between.

Thursday: Fit4life 1 mile race
Hadn't really thought this race through, I just figured that 4:45 would be a satisfactory result. Met up with Beepbeep beforehand for a chat, before the family turned-up (my son and daughter were also running the mile). In the ensuing chats and warm-up, I never really thought through the race, so had no idea of things like splits, strategy, nothing. Daughter's race came up first (sub 7:30) and she did us proud, by tucking into the top three for the first three laps, before jumping into second and out-kicking the young challenger for the win (6:26). Next up was my race. Around 10 of us, including BB, and Timmay. With myself and Timmmay the cross-over point seems to be around the 3k mark. Under that and he has me well beat. Over that distance and my endurance training gives me the edge. On four laps of the track, he leaves me for dust. So, when the gun went:

Lap 1: Dropped into third, behind Timmay and some bald chap (who wasn't BB!). After 150m, Timmay (who'd recently run 4:16 for 1500m) had opened up a sizable gap (with the bald lad in chase), so when he went out hard within the first few hundred metres, I made the snap decision not to go after him. Somebody closed on my shoulder, and I crossed the lap line, to the shout of 70 seconds. I thought this was a little fast (maths/strategy failure!), so when a younger runner overtook me, I was happy enough to tuck in behind him.

Lap 2: I stayed tucked in behind the junior runner, though I felt the pace had fallen off a little. I knew I had a fast finish, so felt it would be worth my while hanging in behind him for a stretch. I hadn't given any thought to the required splits, so when we passed the lap line again and the split was called out, it was meaningless to me (and I was running too fast to do the simple math on the fly!).

Lap 3: Much the same as the second lap, tucked in behind junior. Effort level was rising rapidly, but still comfortably hard.

Lap 4: I had it in my head that I'd push on from the spotlight positioned close to the 200m mark (with 200m to go), but on the back-straight I noticed that junior was flagging just a little, so I pushed past him and immediately he gave chase. Hit the bend in full flight and I could sense him just behind and to the right. Picked it up to full speed and pumped as hard as I could to the finish line, closing a little on second place (2 seconds behind) and finishing in 4:49 (though I reckon electronic timing would have given me a low 4:48). Timmay was a comfortable 8 seconds clear of second place (10 seconds ahead of me) and seemed to have lots in the tank. Still, I reckon trying to hang onto him and second place would have been a better strategy and would have brought me closer to my target. I was over-cautious and it cost me some vital seconds. Still, a 5 second PB over the mile isn't a terrible result. I don't think I'll have a better opportunity to run a decent mile time for the rest of the year (on the back of my 5k training), so that may be it until the same race next year.

My son went on to run a very solid 5:49, for his first ever track race. He's a footballer at heart, but I hope he keeps his finger in with the running, as I'd love to have been in his situation, starting with a 5:49 mile at age 20, on the back of no training. He's starting from a point where he doesn't have 20 years of booze and fags to deal with first and has a perfect runner's build, so his progression could be stonking. I live in hope..

Summary: 1 mile (with lots of warm up'n'down) in 4:49

Krusty_Clown

Friday: Session: 20 mins @Threshold + 2 x 400@3k + 2 x 200@ 1Mile pace w/3 mins rest
Dumb, dumb, dumb. On my warm-down on the track the previous night, I seemed to have picked up a niggle where I could feel pain in my right knee, during high knee lifts, or during changes in direction. But still, I felt duty bound to follow a path that could lead to self-destruction, to continue the scheduled training regardless of the outcome. I was fully aware of the consequences as I ran down to the track, as I felt that same dull pain in the knee. I knew the risks and went ahead with the session regardless and looking at the session on paper, (20 mins at threshold + reps at 3k -> mile pace) the futility of doing reps at mile pace the evening after a mile race was not lost on me. I think this is why I have always avoided a coached environment, as any coach would just point out the ridiculousness of what I planned to do and would tell me to just cop on. But.....

I discovered that I felt no twinges in the knee when running fast and that was enough for me. Bloody hot down at the cinder track, so it was shirt off and straight into the 14.5 loops at threshold pace (5:34/mile or 1:23/400). After 2 laps the tiredness from the previous night's race was getting to me, and I was already down a second or two on target. After 6/7 laps the heat had added to the tiredness and I considered splitting the 20 mins @T into two sections. As I hit the 10 minute mark, I abandoned my split sheet, and just went with threshold 'effort'. I checked the passing of time with every 200m, but had abandoned the splits. As usual, my maths failed me and with 16:30 on the clock, I somehow calculated that I only had 1.5 laps left (dumbass). Gutted... It was a case of just holding on for the extra laps, and when I crossed the 200m line, I was really surprised to see 20:05 on the stopwatch, just 2 seconds off my original target.

After 3 minutes recovery, I ran the 400m lap in 72, which was incredibly hard work. Another 3 minutes recovery, and the next 400m lap was very unexpected. I somehow nailed the pace spot on from the start, and cruised through the lap for a very comfortable 70 seconds - such a difference when you get the pacing right. Another 3 mins and I ran the 200m in 33 seconds, followed by 3 mins recovery and another 33 second 200m.

I was surprised to complete the session very much on track, but got no sense of satisfaction out of it, as there was an underlying sense of unease that I was doing something pretty stupid. I had plenty time to contemplate the foolishness on my tired, dehydrated slightly contorted cool-down run back to work @8:31/mile.
Summary: 11 miles in 1:25

Saturday: 14 mile easy run
Thankfully woke up and the pain was largely gone from the knee, but I was still feeling pretty wrecked. Suffering from some sleep deprivation at the moment, so I've been keeping an open mind in terms of over-training. A bit of a scorcher outside again, so I headed on a loop along the coast, taking advantage of the sea-breeze. Beautiful views as I headed over Killiney Hill (taking a quick detour into Sorrento Park and it's magnificent views out over the bay and across to Dalkey Island, past Collimore Harbour and Bullock Harbour, all looking magnificent in the sunshine. Was really enjoying my run, until I hit the 40 foot and a solid wall of flies, which was pretty revolting. Had to run the next couple of hundred metres with my head turned backwards and that put enough of a dampener on things that I headed back inland, returning home via the 'noggin. The starting of the annual singlet suntan, my reward for 14 easy miles.
Summary: 14 miles in 1:45, @~7:17/mile

Sunday: 11 mile hill/trail run
Staying off the booze for a stretch (to try and get more sleep) meant a nice early start to the morning and a rendezvous with wrstan and Mark, for an early morning recce' of Leg 1 of the Wicklow Way. Emer kindly dropped us off at Kilmashogue Woods at around 9:20am, which already showed the busy signs of the upcoming relay, with a full car-park and lots of stashed bottles. I'd forgotten just how laborious that first climb was, and despite the easy pace, the week's exertions had me huffing and puffing and lamenting my tired and painful glutes. Even at 10 minute mile I was struggling to keep up with the lads over the initial 270m climb, and was well happy when we hit the flatter section, before the turn-off for Three Rock. The good company and the need to keep the eyes peeled over the more technical sections of the route meant that we'd hit the road to Johnny Foxes, in what felt like mere minutes.

A brief opportunity to enjoy the descent down to the river, and we were onto the next climb (208m), which thankfully didn't hurt nearly as bad as the first (though I imagine it'll be far worse on race day). Some more technical descent before hitting the fast fire-road down to the end of the leg. Wrstan hadn't had enough, and I briefly lost my bearings, thinking that we simply had to descend to the Dargle river, forgetting about the Lackandarragh Hill section, but before we knew it, we were down at the Glencree River valley, and the incredible field of bluebells. My knee was starting to get sore again, so I was glad to finally hit the entrance to Crone Wood, where Emer picked us up. A couple of hours of rock climbing helped stretch out the limbs a little and finish off a tough, tough week of training.
Summary: 11.6 miles in 1:45

BeepBeep67

Savage result last night Gary and even savageyer beer to celebrate.

KielyUnusual

Big time congrats KC

It was inevitable but it takes some doing to run a time like that.

You're rate of improvement on the 5k program has been phenomenal. You should step down to mile now rather than moving back up. That's where all the cool kids are

ger664

Well done KC puts the MSB time to bed.

Stazza

Well done KC - great to see you smashing through 16.

AuldManKing

A super performance, we're all waiting for the report.

No doubt you've put that time into McMillan or similar

Krusty_Clown

Monday: 6 miles with strides
Pretty shagged tired. As it turns out, an 11 mile trail run does not make for good recovery. It took the strides to lift me out of the lethargy. The insomnia’s been getting progressively worse. It tends to follow a pattern with me, intensifying night by night until I reach a point where I simply cannot function any longer, then I collapse and get a half decent night’s sleep (5-6 hours). Hoping I peak pretty soon as excessive training + no sleep = grumpy clown.

Tuesday: Bob Heffernan 5K
I’d heard plenty about this race over the last year, all good. The mystical magical race that is the perfect length, yet still practically hands out PBs like politicians’ promises. Schedule-wise it would have been a great candidate as a goal race, but the dates just didn’t pan out, so ended-up being the preamble. As such, I was tired from a very tough week of training and conditions were less than ideal for an all-out assault. Still, it was firmly fixed in my mind that this was going to be the race where I’d go under 16 minutes. Sure, I’d run 15:48 in the MSB 5k, and I even managed to convince myself for a while that it was a valid result - that by resting up for a week (skiing and drinking) and progressing half way through my plan, I’d somehow managed to take 31 seconds off my PB and made it feel easy. But as time went on and questions got asked about the race distance, I began to doubt the validity of the achievement. I tried to keep the dream alive by focussing on the fact that I finished just behind a runner who would normally be in mid-low 15:xx shape, but the doubts grew wings, and eventually I erased the race from my memory. The PB that wasn’t. The next two 5k races went well. I just missed out on my goal in the Wicklow championships, finishing in 16:00 on a course profile that suits me really well, and then ran 16:07 on a slightly slower course, opting to shoot for finishing position rather than my time goal.

So I really wanted to do it this time. I drank almost 500ml of beetroot juice in the 24 hours leading up to the race (I’m actually developing quite a taste for it!). No alcohol for 10 days (is there no limit to my commitment?!) and even got a speedy haircut earlier that day. I didn’t however compromise my training for the race, and as a result, felt washed out and quite niggly. I arrived out in Enfield and as has become the custom, ran the last 1.5 miles of the race backwards and then in the right direction. If I can impart one piece of advice, it’s ‘do this’. When you are closest to collapse, when you feel like the exhaustion is about to consume you, it’s those visual cues, those sighted landmarks that will signal that there is an end to the pain and suffering and the end (of the race!) is close. Today, it felt like we might have a touch of wind on our backs for the final stretch and that provided some hope. Jogging to the start line I looked over my shoulder to find Martin Fagan bearing down on me. As he drew level, I wanted to reach out to him and say ‘it’s good to see you here Martin’, or ‘great to have you back Martin’, or even ‘best of luck in the race’, but instead I did that most Irish of things and stared at my feet as he ran past, not sure what the right thing to say might be, or even if I should say anything. I’m pretty sure he gets that a lot.

1st Kilometer:A sneaky pee and I lined up near to where I thought the race start line might be. I was probably around two rows back, but as the crowds advanced to the actual start-line I was gradually shuffled backwards and ended up around three rows back from the start line, with about 40-50 people ahead of me. This is a problem, but thankfully is something immediately fixable. If you’re consistently finishing in the top 10-20 in a medium sized race, then there is absolutely no reason not to be toe’ing the line. When the race started there was a decent surge as the collective adrenaline kicked in, but within 100m the runners started slowing, and I found myself 40-50 people back from the front of the field and boxed in behind slower runners, losing vital seconds that I couldn’t afford to lose. Groups had formed, but I was on the wrong side of these groups, so had to wait for gaps to open. Eventually I caught some runners I recognized, but they were not running at sub 16 pace, so I had to forge on, often with a couple of runners latching on to take advantage of my forward momentum while closing on the next group. There was a slight head-wind, so I worried that I might be over-cooking it in chasing down more appropriate groups. But then it all changed. A tall Abbeyleix runner (who I suspected was probably a fellow M40), caught me and pushed on (something that doesn’t happen very often). His arrival was a god-send, as I in turn latched onto the back of him (vying for the prime spot with another runner!), matched his pace, and slotted in nicely. The tall Abbeyleix runner cleaved a path through the field, as we chased in his wake, matching him stride for stride. I checked the watch at the first kilometer marker, and it was 3:12. Two seconds down on plan. Sh1t, sh1t… Don’t panic. Early days. fast finish and all that…

2nd Kilometer I’d gone to the trouble of thinking about this race beforehand and putting together a pacing strategy (for a 5k! ludicrous, I know!). For a target of 15:50, the splits worked out very nicely. 3:10, 6:20, 9:30, 12:40, and finally 15:50. Even I couldn’t screw up simple maths like that, even at 5k pace. However, the watch was showing lap splits, and as soon as I hit the 1 mile mark, my lovely pacing strategy was gone out the window, as the minutes and seconds were wiped out by a veritable feast of zeros. I resolved at this point to forget all about pacing strategies, and just try and hold onto Abbeyleix to the finish line. 1st mile was 5:06, which was spot on target. The problem now was that we were on a long flat straight and Abbeyleix was stretching out the gap at a pace that was fast becoming beyond my capabilities. Thankfully Abbeyleix gradually closed the distance on a runner in a blue singlet who became the new designated pacer. I’m not sure if he knew whether or not he was our unofficial pacer, but he did an absolutely bang up job, maintaining an extremely consistent pace throughout the next few kilometers (NC of Star of the Sea - I salute you; you are a gent and a damn fine pacer!).

3rd Kilometer: Sh1t was getting real. I was no longer monitoring the splits, but felt that we were just a little bit behind target. Wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it though as I was now locked in to a specific course of action, which was to follow directly one foot behind the blue singlet, without tripping him up. The breathing behind me was getting quite harsh and I wondered how long my own chaser might last. Gradually the surroundings started to get familiar, and I started picking up familiar landmarks. There’s where I stopped for a pee. There’s the no windmill sign. There’s the angry dog. We charged ever onwards. At some stage the watch beeped again, and I glanced down to see 5:11 for the second mile. Cr@p. I hoped it was going to be a bloody fast finish.

4th Kilometer: Really feeling it. Very hard work. I had absolutely no idea what pace I was running at, but it was becoming a real struggle. Finally in the distance, I saw the turn-off, which signalled the start of the final kilometer and hopefully a favourable tail-wind. Still I chased the blue singlet, just inches apart and still the heavy breathing persisted behind me.

Final Kilometer: Hurting badly at this stage, wanting to stop or slow down. Considered slowing down to try and re-group, but just about held on. I could feel a slight head-wind, but it may have been imaginary. Still no idea what pace we were running at, but I was running close to my max, so we had to be close to target. We were gradually reeling in a Sportsworld runner, but as we hit the last few bends and the ‘500m to go’ sign, everyone started to wind up for the final push. I didn’t think I had anything left, but managed to muster just enough energy to continue to chase blue singlet, as he accelerated to the finish line. A diagonal left into the hotel carpark and I could make out the clock. 15:42..15:43… A wave of relief, as I gave it everything, falling just short of catching Sportsworld who crossed the finish line a foot ahead of me. Final result: 15:52, for 11th place and 2nd M40.

Well happy to hit my goal. Would like to have run a little quicker, but that time will do me just fine. I have another shot in the schedule in a couple of weeks time, but given what I put into this race, how good the standard (pacing!) was, how good the course was, I’m struggling to see how I can improve on that performance in this round of training. Perhaps being a little more rested may mean that I’m a little fresher later in the race, but I’m not entirely convinced. Whatever happens in two weeks, I think the training has already served it’s purpose and has given me a decent speed and strength boost ahead of the marathon training that's coming up soon.
Summary: 5k in 15:52

overpronator

Super performance, very well deserved is an understatement.

career_move

overpronator wrote: »

Super performance, very well deserved is an understatement.

Incredible is an understatement!

How do you push yourself so hard in training and then still manage to find that extra little bit in races with no rest or proper recovery?

cianc

career_move wrote: »

Incredible is an understatement!

How do you push yourself so hard in training and then still manage to find that extra little bit in races with no rest or proper recovery?

AND doesn't get injured. It's pretty clear some kind of Mephistophelean deal has been done. What did you promise him KC? WHAT DID YOU PROMISE!?!

Krusty_Clown

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Savage result last night Gary and even savageyer beer to celebrate.

Cheers. The PBs better run out soon, cos we're down to our last couple of bottles (also I may need to find a sneaky way to make sure Emer doesn't score any more PBs). Maybe it's time to start thinking about increasing the size of our family.