Ever Decreasing Circles:

BeepBeep67

The Reason:
I have found posting on the 1000 mile challenge thread very motivating and on days where I would normally cried off I have gotten off my butt and got out the door just so I can update my mileage.
Well that is coming to an end and I should have completed challenge this Weds 15th and may even run the DCC 5k to add a little extra significance.
The next few posts will give some background on my running history and what I would like to achieve in the future.

BeepBeep67

The Background:
I am now in my 3rd life as a runner, I ran as a Juvenile age 13 – 17, my PE teacher set everyone in school a challenge on their 1st PE session to run a mile, I ran just over 6mins and he pulled me aside and asked would I like to focus on that, so he put together a schedule for me. I had various successes most notably running 9:09 on cinder to finish 3rd in the U17 Leinster 3,000m. I was then training with the seniors and to be honest overtrained for the Nationals and after going through 6miles in 33mins in the Enniscorthy 10mile road race felt a sharp pain behind my left buttock and subsequently found out I had a sciatica problem. I was 17 had some treatment and was told to rest, so as most 17 year olds do I played catch up on the social activities I had abstained from and eventually fell off the athletics radar.
10 years later over a pint on New Year’s Eve at the end of 1994 I made a resolution to get back running and the next day I dragged my 14 ½ stone around a 2.5mile lap and could not believe how unfit I was, however I persevered and ran a 5k in 20:04 in June, if anyone remembers the Friday evening 5k that used to start at Merrion Sq. Got talking with some old running friends and rejoined a club had tough start to club running with shin splints (excess weight) and then torn ligaments but in 1996 has some reasonable form running 5k on the track in 16:48 and 17:02 on the road. 1997 saw the beginning of the end again and despite a 16:16 5k on the road, a combination of injury (lower back) and personal turmoil saw me step away from running again.
I’ve dabbled over the last several years coming back and running for 3-4 months over the Summer only to loose motivation as soon as the short days come in (ran 400miles in ’05 and 800 in ’06), I was sent on a work assignment to India and the end of ’06, so ’07 was an uneventful running year. So after Paddy’s day last year, clocks going forward, I’m back in Ireland it’s time to start running again. Managed to crank out 1200 miles last year and despite a terrible Irish Runner 5 where my head was running at 6:30 pace and my body only realised this when I hit the hill coming out of the Glen and the brakes were duly applied (my splits that day were – 6:24, 6:53, 6:54, 8:15 (breaks on) and 7:19) I did recover to run a 19:20 5k and 40:49 10k.

BeepBeep67

The Here & Now:
Now I’m 42 and realise room for improvement is diminishing (hence the tread title) and I expect to plateau over the next year or 2, but before I get there I would like to obtain a 5k time that starts with 17 and a 6min 10k (37:20). I would like to run a Marathon (not this year) while I still have some pace in my legs so I’m thinking 2010, probably Dublin as that’s the easiest to prepare for and stick to a normal routine in the days leading up to it.
On the plus side I have a very supportive and understanding Mrs BeepBeep, she ran while in school and her Uncle was a top coach until recently, in fact she went for her first run this morning.
On the down side work can be challenging and travel is required which throws schedules out the window – thanks heavens for travel freezes during recessionary times – I’m currently on a streak of 36 consecutive days which has included 5 races, one being a 18:22 5k.
As I said at the beginning the main purpose of this is to aid motivation and also share my 3rd running life, any comments from your goods selves along the way either supportive or critical are most welcome.

Woddle

Great to see you keeping a log, I noticed we have the same goal for 10k, so I'll follow this closely and see what tips I can pick up. Best of luck

Slogger Jogger

Nice one beepbeep. You're running well this year so keep it going. No reason for your 3rd life to be shortlived. Races I've been in recently have been dominated by more and more runners in their 40s and 50s. In a race I did today it had 3 M40s and an M50 in the top 5. I look forward to checking in here every so often for updates and insights.

gerard65

Great to see another 'Vet' here. I'll look forward to following your progress.

another world

Best of luck BeepBeep, nice introduction. About what you were saying about reaching a plateau in the next 2 years or so, well, I don´t know for sure myself but I´d imagine you can make improvements for a lot longer than that. I´ve heard of some interesting stories about this. Atleast in the long distances... marathons etc. No need to put a mental limit on it!

figs

Great running so far this year... looking forward to reading your log.

--amadeus--

I can't remember who (Noakes or P&D) who reckoned that vet's who hadn't raced / run extensively at a younger age were the most likely to break age related records as they hadn't burned themsleves out at underage level. You've got the speed so I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on!

donothoponpop

Best of luck with the log BB, I'll look forward to picking up some tips. I tried that Chi running you told me you did, it's very hard to adjust the gait!

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I can't remember who (Noakes or P&D) who reckoned that vet's who hadn't raced / run extensively at a younger age were the most likely to break age related records as they hadn't burned themsleves out at underage level. You've got the speed so I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on!

Think that was Noakes, basically, you have 10 or so good hard years in you before you explode. These can be used at ages 15-25, 25-35, 45-55, whatever.

Peckham

An 18:22 5k is a great starting point - this is definitely a log to bookmark!

tisnotover

That 5k time is well impressive, looking forward to following ure training in this log.

best of luck BeepBeep.

Krusty_Clown

Best of luck with the new goals Beepbeep. Have you got a target race in mind for the 5K and 10K? Did you do the Chi running workshop?

BeepBeep67

Thanks all for the good wishes, let the games begin

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Best of luck with the new goals Beepbeep. Have you got a target race in mind for the 5K and 10K? Did you do the Chi running workshop?

Some folks in the club went while I was away, so I took a brain dump from them and then bought the book. I was a classic over strider and heel striker which led to most of my problems. So I have used it to focus on my center of gravity and landing more towards my mid-foot, so far so good no injuries to speak of since last March.

BeepBeep67

So I was on vacation this week and after 2 weeks and 4 races where the weekly mileage had dropped to 30, this was a get few miles in week.

Monday: 6.4k recovery run
Travelled to Dundalk after the race yesterday for 2 nights in the Crowne Plaza, main purpose to get my car serviced in Portadown and save €160 which equals a free trip for me and the gang.
Picked up 2 NB singlets in TK Max in Craigavon, couple of performance T’s, Shorts, some winter gloves, hat and socks in JB sports, then over to the Outlet in Banbridge for some Nike gear, including a pair of Triax 4+ for £50.
Got back to the hotel about 5pm and it was lashing rain, I had run 30 days consecutively and seriously considered giving it a wide, but in the end relented and got out, left the hotel and ran towards some fields that I could see from the hotel, in behind the IT college, nice gravel track about 1400m long – so 3 laps in there nice and easy 8min pace.

Tuesday: 9k recovery run
Got back from Dundalk in the afternoon and after getting settled drove to Gym to park the car and head for a run (I live on hill, so was still in recovery mode from the race), headed out over the Leitrim river, along the bank and then over to the Morrough, but could only run a mile up there as the grass was too long and was stabbing my legs, so done a U turn and ran out to the harbour and back – 8min pace again.

Wednesday: 12.6k progressive run with some drills and strides
This was meant to be another recovery run and my wife duly dropped me off at Greystones Rugby Club, but I felt good after 4k so here is how it went.
• 4k in 20:00
• 4k in 19:40
• 4k in 18:52
Could have gone much faster and was deliberately forcing myself to ease off and as my wife had not returned finished off with some drills, stretching and 4 x 75m with a walk back recovery.

Thursday: 12.4k run from the house pushing on the hills
Again felt surprisingly spritely today, it’s areal novelty to run at 11am mid week, went out with the intention of another recovery run, but again as I was feeling good pushed it on any hills I came across, finished in 59:26 (7:43 pace).

Friday: 3 x 5mins
Headed up to St. Pat's GAA Club to run for about 40mins easy as I was heading to the track tomorrow morning, plus after the wedding yesterday I needed to get rid of the Budweiser and a cheeky little Canadian Club .
Pulled up and seen Colin Daly jogging around and before I got over Sean Dunne had pulled up, turns out they were doing 3 x 5mins, so quick on the spur decision was to join them.
In all honesty these guys are a level above me (Colin ran 17:22 and Sean ran 17:43 in the track 5k that I ran 18:40 in the week before), plus feeling the effects of the alcohol, probably wasn’t a great decision in hindsight, but at least I had the only session I had planned this week out of the way.

Saturday: 9.75 miles LSR?
Out early enough for a 10 miler based on a rough calculation of the route, stuck on my Timex S&D and this ended up being 9.75 so not a bad guess – finished in 1:17:28 a little under 8min pace, felt the impact of the increased mileage this week (already over 40) but still pushed on the hills. I know this is an area I need to focus on to hit my 10k goal, I’ve only had 9 40mile + weeks this year and I’m a bit lazy when it comes to the longer runs only 11 10mile+ runs, with the longest being 12.6miles. But the plan is to race short races through July and August to get my race pace splits equalized and the mileage will come from September.

Sunday: 12.4k easy run
Out early again for a gentle run, ran my normal 1hr route from the house but eased it down to 1:02:58, only looked at my watch when I stopped and just ran at a perceived easy pace.

Week 28 Summary:
Nice pressure free week, even though the mileage was high apart from the session on Friday it was run mainly in my comfort zone, which was probably needed after the 4 races in 15 days.
Total mileage – 48.27 highest mileage week since week 9 and first over 40 in 4 weeks.
Consecutive days – 37
Consecutive miles – 210.14

Week 29 Plan:
Mini-Taper Mon & Tues, DCC 5k on Weds (not part of my plan, but I can’t resist the temptation to complete the 1000 mile challenge during my favourite racing distance – I don’t expect to challenge my 18:22 in this one, more a 90 – 95% effort), Thurs and Fri will be recovery runs, some short intervals on Sat and about 1hr on Sun, about 30miles for the week.

BeepBeep67

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Have you got a target race in mind for the 5K and 10K?

This is more a 2010 play, I would love to run sub 18 for 5k during the county RR champs, they are normally on late Feb or March, if that doesn't happen it's definitley Farmleigh. For the 10k I'm running Kilmore and the Lakes this year and will target one of those for next year.
For '09, I think I've run my best 5k, there aren't too many suitable ones left - the Rathfarnham clashes with the county Novice XC, I would hope to run sub 39 in both 10k's to give myself a good base (this would be a 2 min improvement on the Aware 10k.

BeepBeep67

Easy jog at lunch time today with 4 x 75m strides, have been using race day -2 6k and race day -1 4k for the last few races, so will stick with that. So looking foward to the 5k on Weds.
Tried my lycra shorts from Lidl, very comfortable and great value, but I don't think Bruno has anything to worry about .

christeb

Just catching up on your log now, looks good and will be interesting to follow. Hopefully (although doubtful) I'll within striking distance of you at the next couple of Raheny 2m races!

BeepBeep67

Looking forward to the 2 milers, haven't raced that short in 12 years.
I think you've done a few, is the registration in the same place as the Tommy Lynam?

BeepBeep67

As tempting as it was to run 7.3 miles tonight I refrained I stuck with my regular pre race routine - so 4k it was, a few aches and pains and creaky bones tonight - I'll put it down to old age and 39 consecutive days.

BeepBeep67

Weds July 15th
BHAA DCC 5k:
Felt just ok heading into this one, I think a combination of a heavy week last week, 40 continuos days and 6 races in 5 weeks is taking it's toll.
Anyway, met some guys from the club and went on a 2k warm up, came back to the car and went through my little routine, Tiger Balm on calves, hamstrings and lower back plus breath right plaster on my nose (my left nostril has fewer annual openings than a Groundhog burrow), then my streching routine that I was given by a coach 29 years ago - some things are hard to let go.
Down on to the track another 2 laps striding the straights follwed by some shorter 50mts at race pace.
Start of the race was a bit of a melee, chopping strides, elbows and the usual jostling, settled down by the 2nd lap, then some idiot cut across me at 600mts, I'm happy to say I scalped him with about 1.5k to do .
Settled into the race, it's generally a fast course, but there are lots of turns and by half way a stready stream of people to navigate through which plays with your pace as you try and time openings.
Anyway the splits were - 3:37, 3:46, 3:40, 3:48, 3:43 (18:34), fast last 200 to take someone on the bend. Generally very happy with that with the heavy weeks training beforehand, 3rd fastest of my recent 5ks and don't think I could have pushed much harder tonight and as planned hit my 1000 mile challenge target as I crossed the line .

tisnotover

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Weds July 15th
BHAA DCC 5k:
Felt just ok heading into this one, I think a combination of a heavy week last week, 40 continuos days and 6 races in 5 weeks is taking it's toll.
Anyway, met some guys from the club and went on a 2k warm up, came back to the car and went through my little routine, Tiger Balm on calves, hamstrings and lower back plus breath right plaster on my nose (my left nostril has fewer annual openings than a Groundhog burrow), then my streching routine that I was given by a coach 29 years ago - some things are hard to let go.
Down on to the track another 2 laps striding the straights follwed by some shorter 50mts at race pace.
Start of the race was a bit of a melee, chopping strides, elbows and the usual jostling, settled down by the 2nd lap, then some idiot cut across me at 600mts, I'm happy to say I scalped him with about 1.5k to do .
Settled into the race, it's generally a fast course, but there are lots of turns and by half way a stready stream of people to navigate through which plays with your pace as you try and time openings.
Anyway the splits were - 3:37, 3:46, 3:40, 3:48, 3:43 (18:34), fast last 200 to take someone on the bend. Generally very happy with that with the heavy weeks training beforehand, 3rd fastest of my recent 5ks and don't think I could have pushed much harder tonight and as planned hit my 1000 mile challenge target as I crossed the line .

nice race report + great time! With a proper taper, sub 18:00 ya think?

asimonov

Well done on the 1,000 mile challenge and a good 5k performance. Tomorrow off maybe?

BeepBeep67

tisnotover wrote: »

nice race report + great time! With a proper taper, sub 18:00 ya think?

I think I'm in sub 18:15 form, not sure I'll get a chance to prove that, will push for a couple of sub 11:30's in the Raheny's maybe a sub 11:25 in one, but I've always performed better in AM races.

asimonov wrote: »

Well done on the 1,000 mile challenge and a good 5k performance. Tomorrow off maybe?

On a Ron Hillesque roll at the moment, so it's 40mins easy tomorrow

Slogger Jogger

Great running beepbeep. Nice report too. I almost wish I was doing that race instead of around up and down the Sugarloaf

Krusty_Clown

Congrats on a great run, and hitting the 1K!
No more updating the forum post, which will give you an extra minute of rest every day.

christeb

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Looking forward to the 2 milers, haven't raced that short in 12 years.
I think you've done a few, is the registration in the same place as the Tommy Lynam?

No, you just head down to the Shamrocks clubhouse (opposite the Church in Raheny) from about 7pm on the night.

Nice time in the DCC and 39 consecutive days :eek: I'll try to stay on your tail on Tues!

BeepBeep67

christeb wrote: »

I'll try to stay on your tail on Tues!

Judging by your recent form it could be the other way around!

BeepBeep67

Slow recovery run tonight as planned.
Met with the club in Shanganagh and trotted around chatting with a few that ran last night or did not feel up to the 6 x 1k the DCM group were doing.
Finished off with a coaching session on pre race preparation and some dynamic stretches.
Talked with my coach about the next 6 weeks and then Autumn training, we'll meet in 2 weeks to lock it down.
5.75miles in 46:36 (8:06pace)
WTD - 18.2
MTD - 90.5
YTD - 1007.7

Sosa

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Weds July 15th
BHAA DCC 5k:
Felt just ok heading into this one, I think a combination of a heavy week last week, 40 continuos days and 6 races in 5 weeks is taking it's toll.
Anyway, met some guys from the club and went on a 2k warm up, came back to the car and went through my little routine, Tiger Balm on calves, hamstrings and lower back plus breath right plaster on my nose (my left nostril has fewer annual openings than a Groundhog burrow), then my streching routine that I was given by a coach 29 years ago - some things are hard to let go.
Down on to the track another 2 laps striding the straights follwed by some shorter 50mts at race pace.
Start of the race was a bit of a melee, chopping strides, elbows and the usual jostling, settled down by the 2nd lap, then some idiot cut across me at 600mts, I'm happy to say I scalped him with about 1.5k to do .
Settled into the race, it's generally a fast course, but there are lots of turns and by half way a stready stream of people to navigate through which plays with your pace as you try and time openings.
Anyway the splits were - 3:37, 3:46, 3:40, 3:48, 3:43 (18:34), fast last 200 to take someone on the bend. Generally very happy with that with the heavy weeks training beforehand, 3rd fastest of my recent 5ks and don't think I could have pushed much harder tonight and as planned hit my 1000 mile challenge target as I crossed the line .

Well done beep beep.. 40 straight days is something i will never do,fair play to ya.

You can go sub 18 if you rested a bit i would imagine.

Just reading your report there and something struck me,your warm up is very extensive.
I do a light jog with a few strides and off i go,i should probably do a bit more.

Well done on the 1000m challenge also,nice to get that out of the way.

BeepBeep67

Sosa wrote: »

Just reading your report there and something struck me,your warm up is very extensive.

Went through a good pre race session last night with our coach (ex International - MD & LD)

His feedback for < 10k
15mins jog
Dynamic stretching
4 x 150mts at race pace, jog or walk back
4x 100mts at 3k pace, jog or walk back
4x 50mts at 1500mt pace
Then jog and float around doing light stretches until the start, gentle jogging on the spot if is a mass start.
The idea is that for a faster paced races you're ready from the gun, heart rate is up, muscles are warmed up, etc.

I wouldn't go straight into this for your next race if it's a PB effort, but practise in training and races that you are using as part of your training or build up.