A Q&A with Condo

Condo131

Condo131 wrote: »

What have I got myself in to!!

How do you follow Bazman and Enduro??? I honestly don't where to start.

As a preamble, I have several running hats - Masters runner (running 27 years), Race Director, Measurer, 'half assed' coach (must submit my level 2 folder!) ...and whatever else I'm roped into. I was never a great runner - at best I'd have called myself a "handy" club runner, but never a contender, so that'll influence the Q&A.

What do people want Q&A on? Running? RD? Measuring? or all 3? None of the above??

RoyMcC wrote: »

Condo, I think many on here would appreciate an insight into race organisation/directorship. So for starters

• What is the most time-consuming aspect of the job?
• What are the biggest headaches?
• With regard to the endless debate about value for money, can you give us an idea of the major costs involved in putting on a big race.
• What single initiative would help RDs most in promoting and organising races throughout the country?

Thanks

Thanks for kicking this off Roy. I've moved it to it's own thread to keep things tidy. I'll try to get round to answering later this evening or tomorrow - heading out the door right now.

--amadeus--

Two different sets of questions actually, one for you the RD one for you the Masters athlete...

As a RD why do you think we have so many un permited races? What can the AAI do to restore order? Why should the average runner care if a race has no permit?

As a Masters runner... At what age do runners start to slow down? What changes do you need to make to your training as you age? Does the age you start running seriously at affect how soon you slow down?

Cheers

catweazle

With your Race Director hat on what are your feelings on the charges from suppliers for online race registration - have you ever looked at an alternative way of accepting entries on line???

Condo131

RoyMcC wrote: »

What is the most time-consuming aspect of the job?

As RD you need to be on top of everything. I don’t mean micro-managing everything, but you need to delegate as much as possible. Have specific people manage specific areas and allow them to make their own decisions – not having to constantly come back asking “Is it OK if….?”, “Can I…?”, etc. (biggest time consumer on race day is if you have people constantly deferring and looking for guidance - they should only need guidance if its going to stop the show)

You need to have 3 or 4 key people running things. After that it is primarily a case of ensuring that you have enough bodies.

So, you really need a blueprint, including a date/time schedule, of what’s happening, from weeks/months out, from start to finish and just chip away at everything. By having a plan, putting someone’s name opposite each of the key tasks, you ensure that time absorbers are minimized. There is no escaping the time taken up on race day. For our annual 5 miler, with an 11am start, I expect to be on site at 8am (drive course first to ensure that nobody has dug it up in the final few days) Incidentally, speaking of the unexpected in the next point, recently, there was a serious accident close to our race start, with resultant road closure, for investigation. If that had happened on race day, we’d have had a serious problem – memo to self: find a backup route!

I posted an organizers check list on this thread. This makes life a lot easier. Use the list like a general shopping list – use the ones that you want/apply and forget the rest. If you have others to add, please let the rest of us know – the day you stop learning, you may as well pack up!

RoyMcC wrote: »

What are the biggest headaches?

The unexpected! Expect it! (see previous note)

Things that have gone wrong:
Race HQ Hall was treble booked! We ended up working out of an office that was little more than a large broom cupboard. And had very little access to catering. We had to buy two kettles – cost us €56. Thankfully it was a fine day!
Lesson learnt: Don’t use that particular Community Hall again!

Power cut during results processing led to corruption of competitor data. A second power failure during reboot of the backup meant that we lost that data too.
Lesson learnt: Use laptops, or have a UPS in future.

Lead car: Lead bikes in race went the wrong way. Thankfully two others following were decisive and assertive and rectified the situation.
Lesson learnt: Make absolutely and utterly sure that the lead car people know the route.
Lesson 2; Have backup people for the lead car – if your lead car people , for whatever reason, don’t turn up on the day, you need to have a second crew who are familiar with the route.

The biggest expected headache is race entry. In a small race this isn’t a huge problem. However when numbers get beyond about 200/250 you can run into queue and time problems. Our biggest race is the Cheetah Run, with about 650 entries, all taken on the night. This year used a networked laptop system consisting of 4 laptops and still had to open two manual desks. It was an 8pm race and we probably had about 20 or 30 entries by 7pm! Btw we use Racemaster 98. V 1.3, as do Ballycotton – but all their entries are in well before race day. For 2011, we are considering doing a combination of on-line and pre-entries, with a higher charge for entry on the night (simply as an incentive to pre-enter). I must say that, without our dedicated core of results people, we’d be absolutely screwed!

RoyMcC wrote: »

With regard to the endless debate about value for money, can you give us an idea of the major costs involved in putting on a big race.

I don’t think it’s the big cost items that catch you – it’s the accumulated small items.

Clearly the biggest cost is prizes but you have some control over that, and you may be able to get sponsors for some/all prizes – every bit helps. If you plan ahead and buy things in sales, you can do well. e.g., if you want to give sports shirts, shops such as NEXT have great value sales early in the new Year.

One of the most annoying costs is quite small – safety pins! A box of 1,000 pins (less than 250 runners as quite a few will take more than 4) will cost approx. €11, plus postage. On the continent, you are expected to supply your own pins! Race numbers are another high cost: 1,000 will cost about €150. Hire of a hall can vary from €50 to €200. Ambulance/first aid can be anything from €200 upwards, depending on level.

Use the check-list linked above and see where a cost is going to be incurred. Catering is another “black hole”. Thankfully a lot of stuff is donated by members. You can also minimize costs of a lot of items by getting things in Aldi or Lidl, or wherever you can get good value. Items that come to mind are biscuits, cakes, tea, coffee, milk, sugar, refuse sacks, disposable plates etc.

There are a lot of costs that you incur more or less once: printer timer(s), road signs/mile marks, waterproof clipboards, race software. You can avoid all/some of these by borrowing them.

RoyMcC wrote: »

What single initiative would help RDs most in promoting and organising races throughout the country?

The AAI need to be make a quantum leap in proactivity, particularly in terms of permits and a calendar. If the ‘system’ could be brought into the 20th century (yeah! I know, we’re in the 21st!), it would make life a lot easier for race organizers.

For permits, I would like to see the AAI calendar list the status of all races, i.e. no permit, permit applied for, permit pending & permit granted, along with the name/initials of the course measurer. ....and...Issue permits withing a reasonable time!!!!:mad:

The fixtures calendar should standardized as much as possible and should not be significantly changed without good reason.

I know it merely skims over the areas, but I hope this goes a little way towards answering your queries.

I'd recommend to anyone interested in learning about race organisation to 'muck in' with any club organising their own race. Tell them what you're about and I'm sure that you'll be facilitated - organisers are *always* short-handed! Best way to learn is by experience.

Finally, don't be afraid to make a mistake - we all foul up - we just pray that they're not too big and not too often. ...and learn from your mistakes.

Zuppy

Would you think a two tier permit system from AAI would function better? Or even three? So that there are more/ easier options for race directors.

And the lack of major sponsorship of most club events. A good thing or a hindrance on the club?

Condo131

--amadeus-- wrote: »

As a RD why do you think we have so many un permited races?

"Entrepreneurs", though I prefer to call them carpetbaggers, have seen a gap in the market. They are minimising their costs and maximising revenue, through slick marketing, slick appealing websites, plenty of advertising and related revenue generating deals. The cost of a permit is, to them, an unnecessary expense. Why would they bother looking for one? Their targetted punter is going to turn up anyway - or at least enough of them will.

--amadeus-- wrote: »

What can the AAI do to restore order?

The AAI should reassess it's opinion of road running. I reckon that the AAI looks down it's nose at road running and doesn't take it seriously. However, like it or not, in numbers terms, road running is a huge, largely untapped, area for the AAI.

1. The AAI needs to have a decent fixtures calendar, along with related policies, covering things such as clashes, championships etc.

2. The AAI needs to process permit applications in a timely fashion.

3. The AAI needs to let people know which races have a permit, and do so in a timely fashion. This year we had Cork AAI asking people not to run in one particular un-permitted race. after the race closing date. Like duh! They'd paid their money and then you ask???

4 Provided* the AAI have done all of the above *and*, after discussion with the particular race organisers, if the organisers refuse to seek a permit, then, as a last resort, I believe that a proper sanction system should be put in place.

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Why should the average runner care if a race has no permit?

The average runner who takes part in the un-permitted races really 'couldn't give a fiddlers'. A large proportion of the current cohort of road runners are not members of an athletic club, so they either are totally ignorant of the situation, or feel that it isn’t relevant to them.

However……there are a number of issues relating to un-permitted races that have knock on effects on athletic clubs/organizations:

1 I’ve already mentioned the fixtures calendar. Many of these un-permitted races ‘parachute’ themselves in on top of existing club races. It’s not uncommon to find races going head to head with another race within 50 to 60 miles of each other.

Most club races are run either as mild fund raisers for the club or else on a break-even basis. Even a small drop in numbers can have a severe effect on the finances and the danger is that we will see some club races, or even the (weaker) clubs disappear altogether.

2 They cherry-pick the best dates. Many of the un-permitted races seem to be plumping for Bank Holiday weekends.

3 I reckon that, in the longer term, most of these un-permitted races will fall by the wayside and some will come into the fold and become permitted races. I just hope that not too many clubs and/races will have gone in the meantime.

The un-permitted races have also had positive effects:
1 They have shown that, by slick marketing, flash websites and promoting scenic areas etc, it is possible to tap into a new market and also get the punter to dig deeper in his/her pocket. AAI , in particular, could take a leaf out of their book and do the same with their own events. Why does the AAI have to ‘piggy back’ on other organizations for some of its own events? The AAI has the resources, or access to them, to run these itself.

2 The un-permitted races have shown us (AAI clubs) that we must up the ante and start doing some of the things that we can/must do.

--amadeus-- wrote: »

As a Masters runner... At what age do runners start to slow down?

I think the generally accepted rule of thumb is that 50 is the real ‘killer’ mark after which you really slow down. I reckon the main change is that my “hunger” just isn’t the same anymore, particularly since my mid-40’s. (My last PB was in 1994, when I was 41) Slow down also depends on the particular event, with sprints and shorter distance being most affected. The WMA tables give an idea and I’ve culled some of the table to distances that are probably most relevant to those here (Hopefully the table will come out OK - not looking great in preview):

Event|27|30|35|40|45|50|55|60|65
1500m| 1| 1| 0.9872| 0.9387| 0.8947| 0.8547| 0.8181| 0.7845| 0.7536
1Mile| 1| 0.9975| 0.9788| 0.9451| 0.9099| 0.8747| 0.8395| 0.8043| 0.7691
3km| 1| 0.9975| 0.9788| 0.9451| 0.9099| 0.8747| 0.8395| 0.8043| 0.7691
5kmRoad| 1| 0.9975| 0.9788| 0.9451| 0.9099| 0.8747| 0.8395| 0.8043| 0.7691
4MileRoad| 1| 0.9975| 0.9788| 0.9451| 0.9099| 0.8747| 0.8395| 0.8043| 0.7691
5MileRoad| 1| 0.9975| 0.9788| 0.9451| 0.9099| 0.8747| 0.8395| 0.8043| 0.7691
10kmRoad| 1| 0.9975| 0.9788| 0.9451| 0.9099| 0.8747| 0.8395| 0.8043| 0.7691
10Mile| 1| 1| 0.9877| 0.9542| 0.9174| 0.8806| 0.8438| 0.807| 0.7701
Half.Mar| 1| 1| 0.9925| 0.9599| 0.9222| 0.8844| 0.8467| 0.809| 0.7712
Marathon| 1| 1| 1| 0.9759| 0.9358| 0.8957| 0.8556| 0.8155| 0.7754

--amadeus-- wrote: »

What changes do you need to make to your training as you age?

I can’t say I really made many changes as such, however I’m more conscious of my strengths and weaknesses and (need to) work on those. My strength is stamina/endurance and I work hard at those. My weaknesses are lack of speed and flexibility, coupled with mental attitude (related to “hunger”) and lack of upper body strength (Mr. Muscle, from the ad. Would probably put me to shame! LOL)

--amadeus-- wrote: »

Does the age you start running seriously at affect how soon you slow down?

I don’t think so. It takes a while to get up to speed, and people who take up running later take longer to get to their peak. In my experience very many of those starting later do particularly well.

Condo131

catweazle wrote: »

With your Race Director hat on what are your feelings on the charges from suppliers for online race registration - have you ever looked at an alternative way of accepting entries on line???

I've mixed feelings on this one. To date I've *never* paid to enter a race using on-line entry (I have had a few on-line "guest" entries though). My club is considering using on-line entry for one of our races in 2011, however we will probably 'take the hit' of processing fee on our side. i.e. we will be charging the same for entries received by mail or on-line (but probably charging more on the day of the event). I *don't like* events that charge fees approaching 10% for on-line entry, however there is almost always a (cheaper) paper entry available.

As more events are using on-line entry sites, there is more scope for the providers to cut their fees and some have done so, which is to be welcomed.

I toyed with the idea of generating an on-line entry site, but I felt that the main stumbling block would be security of credit card information and that, coupled with banking costs (there are very large costs involved in setting up) would mean that we couldn't just do things in a small way. So, we'd end up being just like the existing Companies.

I do think that the AAI should seriously consider creating one. There are many synergies involved which would benefit them, including access to details on, literally, every runner in the country.

Condo131

ZuppyLurk wrote: »

Would you think a two tier permit system from AAI would function better? Or even three? So that there are more/ easier options for race directors.

There is already a tiered permit fee in place, however there is a limit of 1,000 participants on any of these. For higher numbers, you need to get a specific quote from the AAI (or more specifically, the AAI will get one from their brokers). As I see it, there is little incentive for RDs in the "commerical" races to get a permit at all. On the other hand, the permit for a club race with less than 1,000 runners is €50 (might be €100 now - must check )

ZuppyLurk wrote: »

And the lack of major sponsorship of most club events. A good thing or a hindrance on the club?

IMHO, a definite hindrance. Sponsorship enables events to cut overall costs, to the benefit of both club and runners, through (relatively) low entry fees, better prize funds, facilities etc. The benefits of sponsorship by far outweigh those of no sponsorship, but you need to set the sponsorship at a reasonable level. It needs to be a win-win situation. Set it too low and you're cutting yourself short and you're effectively sponsoring the sponsor. [In an organisation I was previously involved with, we had a big sponsor, who made very strong 'profile' demands. We got worried and added up the costs of all the individual 'little things' they wanted and found that the costs of providing these exceeded their sponsorship by approx. 25%. :eek:]

Set it too high and either you won't attract a sponsor, or you won't retain them.

Properly managed sponsorship benefits both sponsor and club, and enables a higher profile for both.

nerraw1111

1) What is the most frustrating aspect when it comes to attracting runners to a race? e.g. unreal expectations, where's my t-shirt etc?

2) You have strong feelings with 'carpetbaggers.' What should someone look for before entering a race if they wish to avoid said races?

3) What was your best/worst race?

Gringo78

Condo131 wrote: »

I do think that the AAI should seriously consider creating one. There are many synergies involved which would benefit them, including access to details on, literally, every runner in the country.

Would you think there would be benefit it AAI collating all the results from permitted races around the country, using AAI membership numbers to uniquely identify runners and then maybe have a section where they age grade the results or something?

It would be an incentive for runners to join a club (to have their results included), you could measure yourself a bit better against other runners nationally, it would probably thus lead to an improvement in standards, you could have a national series type league also like the way IMRA and Triathlon Ireland run things. A bit like the golf world rankings...you get points for finishing position in a race, but they are weighted according to the standard of competition in that race. It would be an extra encouragement to run the permitted race rather than the un-permitted one.

Condo131

nerraw1111 wrote: »

1) What is the most frustrating aspect when it comes to attracting runners to a race? e.g. unreal expectations, where's my t-shirt etc?

Definitely unreal expectations. In Cork we are spoilt when it comes to races. Most 5k to 7M races cost about €10 or less to enter. For that you get the race, medical backup, (sometimes) changing facilities, prizes, inc spot prizes, etc. More often than not there is a good spread of food, with tea & coffee. In the current climate, there have been demands for reductions in entry fees, but if you do that, with fees of €5-10, you'd just have to cut back somewhere.

Looking at our Carrigaline 5M race revenue & expenditure for 2010: We had 261 entries, charged €10 entry and, overall, we lost €66. Personally, I’m happy enough with that – we're not in the business of making money and we can live with that type of loss. For us, Carrigaline, in particular, is about running a good show, getting everyone around safely and having little delay, so that people can get away reasonably quickly.

Some races, with good sponsorship, manage to provide excellent value and give Technical Tops when the entry fee is €20 - €30. The good quality tops generally cost around €30 to buy and obviously the sponsorship has enabled provision of the tops. This is great value. However I often hear that the “Common or Garden 10M charged an entry fee of €15 and I didn’t even get a hat and we got a fabulous top in the “Wherever 10M”!” A bit of realism is required.

Having said all of that, I think most runners are pretty savvy and know when they’re getting value for money.

nerraw1111 wrote: »

2) You have strong feelings with 'carpetbaggers.' What should someone look for before entering a race if they wish to avoid said races?

1) In general, they come from literally nowhere and run a high profile race with no experience, generally over routes that no self-respecting club would use on safety grounds – obstacles, steps traffic - afterwards you find a whole pile of blunders and complaints.
Results are stone age – you’re lucky if age categories are included - Clubs will NOT be included. Prize lists are very vague, or “details on application”, afterwards you find that prizes were very, very limited in number and very paltry.
Quite often they are big on entertainment, sometimes with bands en route. ?? Is anyone going to stop and listen? Are we likely to hear about a rock concert soon where there is a 5k incorporated??

In fairness, many of these races have, as a key objective, the idea of bringing tourism to an area. I've no problem with that, but I believe that, whatever the distance, when you call your event a Race, then you are obliged to run it with full prizes, results, decent safe course etc.

Btw, I recently had one phone me to ask how he'd organise a 5k and, btw, he'd "need 15,000 entries to break even" :eek::eek::eek: ...LOL

nerraw1111 wrote: »

3) What was your best/worst race?

Best:
1. Dublin, 1988 (2:46:03) – ran out of my skin that day, leaving plenty of scalps in my wake.
2. Ballinascarthy 10k, 1988/9 (34:57) – was plugging away with my peers when, after about 2 miles, I got a fly in my right eye and went mad and threw in about 3 ultra power miles before fatigue started hitting me. The last 1.25 miles were very hard. I suppose I had “a flyer that day”
3. Macroom 10, 1990 (59:25) the first time I broke 60 for 10.

Worst:
Dublin 1989 (3:08:58) – I was in great form. At the Expo, I heard about this new Isotonic drink; Pocari. People were saying that it was fabulous “it took 10 secs of my time…3 minutes of my time…4 days off my time”. I reasoned that I wasn’t going to let anyone else get an advantage over me and decided to take it on the day, never having tasted it before! Duh! I took it at the first station and felt sick within a mile. At 15 miles, I was 2.5 minutes ahead of my PB and heading for a low 2:40 time – but stomach has in sh#*e all along and the head was gone. I jogged and walked to the finish, mainly to ensure that the Club team scored.

Most satisfying:
Ballycotton 5, 2008 (46:04)
I had major surgery for Prostate Cancer in May 2008 and my fear was that I would never be able to run again (but that was an acceptable outcome if the Cancer was gone). I started about 10m behind everyone else and started slowly, not daring to make any great effort until after the dreaded hill at 3 miles. I finished in a flourish – 7:30 mile, merely 18 mins behind my best for the course, but, by God, did it feel great!

RoyMcC

Do you think that there's any merit in the major races taking things out of the hands of AAI (let's just assume they're really not interested) to set up their own standards-setting body - something like BARR in the UK? The idea would be to maintain minimum standards and to award a 'kitemark' to well-organised events?

Krusty_Clown

If someone asks you the time, do you give it to them in miliseconds? Are you ever late for meetings?

Krusty_Clown

A super set of PBs. Particularly the 10k in Ballinascarthy. When the race times started to go backwards, were you able to keep up the same training regimes? Did you find it hard to keep up the motivation? Did you try to find alternative approaches, like greater mileage / different training programs, or simply re-focus on a different set of goals (e.g. masters PBs).

I'm edging ever closer to the age you were when you hit your last PB, so am trying to mentally prepare myself!

Condo131

Gringo78 wrote: »

Would you think there would be benefit it AAI collating all the results from permitted races around the country, using AAI membership numbers to uniquely identify runners and then maybe have a section where they age grade the results or something?

On the face of it, there’s an awful lot of work involved, for little return to the AAI. Of course it would make CARD redundant too! However there are quite a few added benefits arising. In particular, the AAI would have a direct connect with every road runner in the country, something they do not have at the moment. This would open up a lot of new opportunities for the AAI – merchandising, sponsorship etc.
Age grading results: nice to have, but not something that is of huge general interest. The Racemaster results program can do this very easily, but none of us use it very much. It has been suggested to me that we might run a novelty race, based on age-adjusted performances – long fingered for mo’.

Gringo78 wrote: »

It would be an incentive for runners to join a club (to have their results included), ...................

Yes lots of good ideas there! Just shows the range & depth of benefits and uses the AAI might make of a closer relationship with the road running scene. Wrt road leagues, in the mid ‘80’s, the Irish Runner used to have men’s & women’s league tables along these lines.

Condo131

RoyMcC wrote: »

Do you think that there's any merit in the major races taking things out of the hands of AAI (let's just assume they're really not interested) to set up their own standards-setting body - something like BARR in the UK? The idea would be to maintain minimum standards and to award a 'kitemark' to well-organised events?

There is definitely a need for such a body. However there are lots of issues arising; e.g. How to fund it, how would it relate to AAI & BHAA. It's hard to see how it could run on a voluntary basis, given, in particular, the time pressure that race organisers are under (the same people are generally involved in several other things too!). It would also be hard to justify a paid body for this - the punter would ultimately pay for this.

A big plus for race organisers would be the possibility of pooling resources, but we could do this anyway. For example, in cork, some RD's have had informal discussions about buying our own Chip Timing systems. Maybe local BARR type systems could be set up?

The 'kite-mark' is a good idea. Again this is another thing we have discussed in the Cork area. Criteria that might be considered are:

Item|Criterion
Prize List|Range
Results|Full results, including Place, Time, Christian Name, Surname, Club/District & Category
Measurement|Measurement by AAI or IAAF measurer
Mile Marks|All mile marks present and adequately marked
Safety|Stewarding, Minimal hazards on course
Road closure/Quiet Roads|
Entry Price|
Spot Prizes|Yes/No

There are a lot of other criteria that are often suggested, e.g. goodie-bag, entertainment, scenic route, catering. Imho, these are mostly 'red herrings'. What you want in a race is that the basics are covered well - the rest is a bonus. Think of all the races, particularly new ones, that have taken 'flak' here on Boards in the past 12 months - the common denominator, imho, is that they were heavy on the 'extras', but fell short on the basics. It's easy (but maybe costly) to put the extras in place - attention to basic detail only comes with the experience of organising races.

Condo131

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

If someone asks you the time, do you give it to them in miliseconds?

Naw ...don't do sprints!! LOL

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Are you ever late for meetings?

...always!!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

A super set of PBs..........

Thanks! That 10 miler wasn't a PB (58:46), but I think breaking a 'big barrier', particularly the range for 6 min, feels massively satisfying. I can only dream fantasize about what it must feel to break one of the 5 min barriers!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

When the race times started to go backwards, were you able to keep up the same training regimes?

An awkward Q to answer. Life isn't a straight line and we all have hurdles and detours..and sometimes roadblocks..to negotiate. My running career has been the like this. Around my running peak, I started a 4 year evening course and, though I still ran every day, it was difficult to keep up standards. When that was over, I found that I had lost the real "hunger" ...I don't know if I've ever really got it back.

When I was 46 I had a severe fall and smashed every rib on the left, close to my spine - I'm lucky to be able to walk after that, let alone run. That took a long while to get over. Four years ago I ran into another 'road block' and that was probably more difficult to come back from, but I was/am more determined.

Through all this I tried to maintain the same core training, or build back up to it, following each of those setbacks.

Early on I found that I ran best off around 70 mpw (I know many people end up injured when they go over 40 or 50 mpw). I've been lucky that I stay relatively injury free - but less so since that fall. I never had great speed, so had to work at it. I've always been a fan of repeat 400's and miles for this, along with tempo runs. One thing I used to do that I no longer do (I reckon it'd kill me!!) is a session of 24 x 400's on hills @ 80-85 sec, with a jog back recovery - I now find it hard to one 400 on the track under 90!

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Did you find it hard to keep up the motivation?

Definitely! Though I now have a very strong drive to show people that it is possible to have a 'normal' life after Cancer.
When I first started moving up 'the sheet', placing was a strong motivator. It's harder when you're going down, but age category pecking order is good too.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Did you try to find alternative approaches, like greater mileage / different training programs, or simply re-focus on a different set of goals (e.g. masters PBs).

Any time I varied the approach, its generally been because I've had some constraint, like the problems mentioned above. I've always been a high mileage believer - my performances go hand-in-hand with mileage. At my peak I was running about 85 mpw, literally all year round. I once went up to 115 mpw, in the lead up to Dublin but had a crap race (see earlier post re; Pocari), was very disappointed not to have a huge PB. I decided afterward that 115 mpw was too much hard work.

My basic training regime has always been:
Long run
Fast speedwork (usually Tues), e.g. 8 x 400m in 90-94 (68-72, 20 years ago)
Slow speedwork (usually Thurs), e.g. 3 x 1M in 7-7:45 (5:45, 20 years ago)
A tempo run, instead of the slow speedwork. Tempo run is now about 5 miles in the latter part of a longish run, with about 2 miles slow jog at the end. 10 years ago, it was 30 mins on the track , 90, 90, 90....

I'm currently on a re-build after Dublin. Mileage is in range of 62-67 mpw. Speedwork has been hard to do, due to frosty track, so I've done a few tempos on grass instead. I had been hoping to focus on speed for the Goal mile and a few shorter races around the holiday period. In the New Year, I'll start a regime aimed at Ballycotton - 68 would be nice - with a long run (15+) every 3 to 4 weeks.

I think, as you get older, that you need to focus more on your strengths and weaknesses. Build on your strengths but you need to work your weaknesses. It's easy to just focus on the easy stuff, but work on the weak areas can pay big dividends. In the end of teh day, you need to be enjoying it!

I haven't really focussed on Masters P.B's, but should do so more. I still have targets - haven't yet given up hope of breaking 3 for the Marathon :rolleyes::rolleyes:, but time is running out for me. Roll on Dublin 2011!!!:D:D