Sometimes I just need to get out and run

menoscemo

davemcmahon wrote: »

The plan was for 6 x 1k with 90s recovery.

Reps: 3:29,3:26, 3:23, 3:23, 3:26, 3:26

davemcmahon wrote: »

Planned session was 6 x 800m with 90 seconds recovery.

Reps: 2:57, 2:56, 2:58, 3:00, 3:01, 3:00

Sorry Dave if I am being nosey, but I have noticed this a few times.

Your pace for the 1ks seems to be :eek: then I notice your pace for the 800s as being much the same as i would do.

Your average pace for the 1ks (quoted above) last week is about 3:25/km (5:29/Mile)
While your pace when you do 800s is around 6 min/mile.

The same thing happened a few weeks ago when you did a 1500m session at 5;20ish/mile but a few days later did an 800 session where the average again was 6 min/mile...

Any reason for this? Are you sure the 1k's/1500s are accurately marked out?

davemcmahon

menoscemo wrote: »

Sorry Dave if I am being nosey, but I have noticed this a few times.

Your pace for the 1ks seems to be :eek: then I notice your pace for the 800s as being much the same as i would do.

Your average pace for the 1ks (quoted above) last week is about 3:25/km (5:29/Mile)
While your pace when you do 800s is around 6 min/mile.

The same thing happened a few weeks ago when you did a 1500m session at 5;20ish/mile but a few days later did an 800 session where the average again was 6 min/mile...

Any reason for this? Are you sure the 1k's/1500s are accurately marked out?

To be honest Meno I'm aware of this and I'm not confident in the 1k/1500m measurement. I'm basing the distance purely on what I'm told we're running in the sessions. We're being told the laps of lane 1 are 400m and 1 lap of the outside lane are 500m. Im pretty sure at this stage thats not the case.

I've been ignoring the garmin reading for the laps but looking at the 400/800s seem pretty much bang on while the 1k's are probably closer to 900-950m.

menoscemo

davemcmahon wrote: »

To be honest Meno I'm aware of this and I'm not confident in the 1k/1500m measurement. I'm basing the distance purely on what I'm told we're running in the sessions. We're being told the laps of lane 1 are 400m and 1 lap of the outside lane are 500m. Im pretty sure at this stage thats not the case.

I've been ignoring the garmin reading for the laps but looking at the 400/800s seem pretty much bang on while the 1k's are probably closer to 900-950m.

Yeah I suspected as much. Just good to bear in mind!!
According to this thread on let's run; the average length of a lane 8 lap on a standard track is about 440-450m...

Whatever they are you are still getting a good workout which is the main thing, but you might get less calls from the likes of me to become a middle distance race

davemcmahon

menoscemo wrote: »

Yeah I suspected as much. Just good to bear in mind!!
According to this thread on let's run; the average length of a lane 8 lap on a standard track is about 440-450m...

Cheers Meno I'll have a read of it later.

menoscemo

davemcmahon wrote: »

Cheers Meno I'll have a read of it later.

Actually here's another link:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/disttracklanecalc.html
It says a lane 8 lasp is 455m. Sounds about right...

davemcmahon

20/02/2014 Thurs: 7.06 miles Club Session

Club Session tonight. Usual warm up down to the track and changed into the spikes. Plan was for 10 x 400m with 45s recovery. Last time I did this session was during the storms a few weeks ago was was interested to see how this went. As with the last time I did the session we were told not to go out too hard with the reduced recovery.

Reps: 86s, 87s, 86s, 87s, 86s, 86s, 86s, 87s, 86s, 82s

Was happy with the reps and had a fair bit left in the tank so decided to push the last rep. A couple of miles warm down afterward. Ankle was feeling ok afterwards.

Decided to try out the foot and ankle routine that Stazza threw up in his log. Ankle was feeling great afterwards and there was a marked improvement in mobility afterwards. I'll probably start doing this routine after the tough sessions from now on.

21/02/2014 Fri: 5.03 miles @ 8:55 min/mile

Not a bother at all from the ankle this morning. This was just a nice handy recovery run to flush the legs out ahead of the LSR tomorrow.

WTD|31.81
MTD|122.51
YTD|317.3

davemcmahon

22/02/2014 Sat: 13.07 miles @ 8:04 min/mile

Up relatively early this morning to get this run in. Weather was grand although there was a strong wind blowing in some areas. I decided to just stay around Celbridge and do a few laps around the Castletown parkland area. This would give a nice mix of parkland, roads, trails with plenty of inclines.

As with last week I included the mini threshold run as suggested buy Stazza. This week was 15 mins on, 3 min off, 8 mins on. The first mile of the 15 min section was into a strong enough headwind but was happy to open up the legs for a bit. 15 mins @ 7:20 min/mile, 8 mins @ 7:09min/mile.

The miles after the threshold session ended up at a faster pace then those before, the same as last week. My legs definitely find the running easier after the threshold sections.

Happy enough with the mileage for the week. While I'm looking forward to Bohermeen HM next weekend I'm also dreading it as I've done no specific work. The plan is to go with the 1:30 pacers and just see what happens but that may change between now and Sunday.

WTD|44.89
MTD|135.59
YTD|330.38

davemcmahon

24/02/2014 Mon: 7.02 miles @ 7:46 min/mile

A handy run before work. Was able to get out earlier so dropped the car into work and went out around Leixlip as I knew it would be a hillier route than the one I've used the last few weeks. Weather was lovely and I really enjoyed this run and could have kept going. Pace was a little on the fast side but HR was still in easy zone. The day off on Sunday meant the legs were feeling good.

25/02/2014 Tues: 8.46 miles Club Session

Was able to get out of work a little early for this so got an extra mile warm up in. The plan was for 5 x "1k" with 90 sec recovery. At this stage I'm pretty sure the "1k" is actually just above 900m. My plan was to take the reps a little easier with the race on Sunday, looking at the splits that wasn't the case although they did feel a little easier than the last set. First rep felt nice and comfortable, I was trying to hold back on the first lap, focus on form and effort and push on for the second. The next 3 reps were fairly consistent as we found our pace. Then the last rep descended into chaos and it became a race for the line. Was good to see that I'd plenty in the tank for the last rep.

Reps: 3:24, 3:20, 3:20, 3:21, 3:15

A couple of miles around the track warm down and then another mile back to the house. Was very happy with the reps when i got home and checked the last set of "1k's" I'd done. The slowest rep tonight was only a second slower than the fastest rep last time and the rest were a good 3-6s faster than the last time. (6 x "1k" 11th Feb 3:29, 3:26, 3:23, 3:23, 3:26, 3:26)

This will probably be my last session for 2 weeks as I'll skip Thursdays as its too close to the race and then let myself recovery next week with just easy running.

WTD|15.48
MTD|151.07
YTD|345.86

davemcmahon

26/02/2014 Wed: 5.05 miles @ 8:07 min/mile

A handy enough run. Plan had been to keep the pace down in the lower end of easy and closer to recovery. This didn't happen. Legs were feeling good so the pace ended up much faster although the effort stayed easy.

27/02/2014 Thurs AM: 3.04 miles @ 7:27 min/mile

Plan for this morning was 1mile easy, 1 mile @ HM pace and 1 mile easy. This was just to remind the legs what HM pace feels like. Wore the HRM just to see where my HR was at this pace. Ended up doing the HMP mile at close to 10k pace but the HR was comfortably within the expected zones.

27/02/2014 Thurs PM: 4.13 miles @ 8:26 min/mile

A nice handy run, weather was lovely so was able to run some of the local trail routes again.

28/02/2014 Fri: 4.04 miles @ 8:49 min/mile

Another nice and easy run, kept it really easy. Looking forward to Sunday now.

WTD|31.74
MTD|167.33
YTD|362.12

davemcmahon

02/03/2014 Sun: Bohermeen Half Marathon

As the week has gone on I'd been looking forward to this race while at the same time wondering why I was travelling and hour both ways for a race. When I crossed the border into Meath the heavens opened up and it took a lot of will power not to turn around and head home. Got there nice and early, parked the car and had a wander around before heading back to the car to get changed. Once I was changed I took a couple of gels and wash them down with some water. I wasn't going to let poor fueling get in the way after it let me down in Clontarf.

Wandered back up to the club house and had another look around. At this stage I bumped into Redrunner and we had a fairly short warm up to drop the outer layers back to the car and then back to the start line. I line up a few rows back from Krusty and bumped into Meno and Statss. Off we went and we had the usual dodging of the red vest from D&D and some more casual runner who positioned themselves near the front.

The first lap of the route was fairly uneventful as I just paced off Meno and watched KC run off ahead. As we came up to the half way point we were starting to make up the distance on the pace group but knew we were still on for 1:30.

At around the 9 mile mark I made the choice to start to push on and Meno gave a quick shout of encouragement as I started to pick my way back up through the field. Was very glad the course was 2 laps as by the time I hit the hill up to the second bridge on lap 2 it had very little effect on me as I'd no problems getting up it the first time. I kept picking people off and trying to encourage some of them to stay with me as I knew the goal was within sights.

At this stage I was feeling strong and miles 12 and 13 were my second and third fastest miles of the day. As we approached the track I knew I had a sprint in me and encouraged one of two to push the last 100m or so. One last push and I was across the line (last 0.15mile was @ 5:47 m/m).

Watch time 1:29:49, Clock time 1:29:57, Chip time 1:29:48.

129th finisher out of 656

Was delighted with finally breaking the 1:30 and more importantly I finish strong and got over that mental and physical barrier. Grabbed some water and a banana and went back to watch for statss and Meno. Had a quick chat with both and another lad in a red Irish Runner 5 mile top and headed inside to grab a t-shirt and some soup. Came back out to just miss RR hitting his gold medal.

Was a very well run race today and was really impressed that they had results up on the wall inside so quickly. Only downside was the traffic on some of the roads. At one stage I could see KC up ahead directing traffic.


WTD|45.91
MTD|14.17
YTD|376.29

AuldManKing

Many congrats on the 1:30. There's a lot lot more in there for you I'm sure.

Tom Joad

Well done on the sub 1:30 Dave - delighted for you!

statss

Well done again Dave. Sorry I couldn't hang around. That was my (non boards) buddy with the red t shirt, I should have introduced yis before I left. Catch you again.

davemcmahon

AuldManKing wrote: »

Many congrats on the 1:30. There's a lot lot more in there for you I'm sure.

Cheers AMK, Yesterday was really about getting under the 1:30 ans getting over that mental block. I should have beaten it last year but didn't. I've a few more HM's penciled in this year so will look to take another chunk off it.

Tom Joad wrote: »

Well done on the sub 1:30 Dave - delighted for you!

Cheers TJ.

statss wrote: »

Well done again Dave. Sorry I couldn't hang around. That was my (non boards) buddy with the red t shirt, I should have introduced yis before I left. Catch you again.

No need to be sorry, you had to make sure you'd no missed calls!! I wasn't sure if that was another boardsie I hadn't met before.

davemcmahon

No running today as I had planned for a rest day and had booked a sports massage for this morning. Legs seem to be in fairly good nick, physio was happy that there didn't seem to be any issues. Had a nice chat to him about AIS and the Phil Wharton exercises, specifically the ankle and foot ones. Seems he's a fan and was encouraging me to stick with them as they seem to be having a good effect on my legs.

Runchick

Super running Dave, well done

Stazza

Congrats on breaking 1:30. Great run Dave. Keep at it and like others have said, I'm sure there's a lot more to come.

blockic

Well done dave. Just catching up. You've been hitting on the 90 door for a while now. ..great to see you finally break through. You can kick on from here.

davemcmahon

04/03/2014 Tues: 5.18 miles @ 8:35 min/mile

Handy little run to get back out after Sunday. Legs were feeling heavy so kept the pace nice and slow.

05/03/2014 Wed: 5.12 miles @ 8:13 min/mile

Another easy run, legs feeling better than yesterday but definitely a couple more days easy running before they are up to any sessions.

WTD|10.30
MTD|24.47
YTD|386.59

davemcmahon

06/03/2014 Thurs: 6.17 miles @ 8:16 min/mile

Legs are beginning to feel a little better. A nice easy run. The weather was really nice again, makes a change from the last few months.

07/03/2014 Fri: 7.10 miles @ 7:55 min/mile

Legs feeling better. Had to resist the urge to go any faster, I'm taking it as a good sign that the legs are recovering.

WTD|23.57
MTD|37.74
YTD|399.86

davemcmahon

09/03/2014 Sun: 10.01 miles @ 8:02 min/mile

Took Saturday off as I was fighting a head cold. Run this morning was kept short enough as I had a busy day ahead. Weather was nice and the legs are feeling back to normal.

WTD: 33.58

10/03/2014 Mon: 8.06 miles @ 7:55 min/mile

A nice run before work. The plan had been to get a few miles along the canal but when I got there it looked pretty dug up. Instead I just stuck the roads up around Leixlip. Weather was lovely which made the run much easier.

Looking forward to getting back to the club sessions tomorrow night. Spent some time this afternoon planning out some of the races for later in the year.

WTD|8.06
MTD|55.81
YTD|417.93

AuldManKing

davemcmahon wrote: »

Spent some time this afternoon planning out some of the races for later in the year.

Must be a great company that you work for!



Does that list include DCM?

davemcmahon

AuldManKing wrote: »

Must be a great company that you work for!



Does that list include DCM?

As you well know, sometimes the place I work in nevers gets going on a monday.

Yeah DCM is the "main thing"

davemcmahon

11/03/2014 Tues: 9.91 miles Club Session

Back to the club sessions tonight. Plan was for 8 x 800m off 90 seconds recovery. Got down to the track a little early so had a good warm up few miles and then changed into the spikes for the session.

Reps: 3:03, 2:59, 2:58, 2:58, 2:58, 3:01, 3:00, 2:56

Was happy with the reps as they felt relaxed and I wasn't killing myself to get around fast. Had enough in the tank to push the final rep hard for a strong finish.


12/03/2014 Wed: 5.10 miles @ 8:22 min/mile

Legs were feeling tired this morning so held off this run until after lunch. Was handy enough and the legs are feeling much better now.

Easy running for the rest of the week as I'm planning on running the Kildare Intermediate road race on Saturday.

WTD|23.07
MTD|70.82
YTD|432.94

Stazza

Were you taking a 200m jog rec for the 90 seconds or were you standing around/walking etc?

davemcmahon

Stazza wrote: »

Were you taking a 200m jog rec for the 90 seconds or were you standing around/walking etc?

They were all 90s standing recoveries with a little bit of pacing around

statss

Stazza wrote: »

Were you taking a 200m jog rec for the 90 seconds or were you standing around/walking etc?

can I jump in here please and ask how significant it is to take a jog recovery v standing/walking? I very rarely jog my recoveries.....

Stazza

statss wrote: »

can I jump in here please and ask how significant it is to take a jog recovery v standing/walking? I very rarely jog my recoveries.....

Your heart rate drops quicker if you stand about/walk, so it's a bit easier. But jogging encourages venous return and is more likely to prevent blood pooling.

What type of recovery is best depends on the session and what type of stimulus you're after. For marathon runners, it's normal to run recoveries quicker, for 5k-10k normally jogging (depends again on what the session's trying to target). Another thing to consider is where on the fibre spectrum you fit - if you're more on the fast twitch side of things then you'll respond/adapt better to passive recovery. Slow twitchers tend to respond/adapt better to active recoveries. (These are generalities, not axioms).

Also, active recoveries are more likely to enhance endurance as you are less likely to fully replenish PC stores. Whereas, with passive recoveries you are more likely to replenish PC stores - amongst other things, this impacts on VO2 Max.

davemcmahon

14/03/2014 Fri: 5.01 miles @ 8:13 min/miles

Had an impromptu rest day on Thursday as I had the day off and was looking after the kids so no opportunity for a run. An easy run today before work. Legs were a little stiff but they loosened up nicely by the end of the run.


15/03/2014 Sat: 9.94 miles inc Kildare Intermediate Road Race

Got to Naas nice and early and met up with the lads from the club. We thought the race was to laps of a 3k route, turns out it was 1.5 laps of a 4k route. Off we went for a warm up deciding to run a loop of the course. This was when we realised our mistake. We got back to the club house and dropped off our gear, I ended up changing runners as the racing flats just didn't feel right on the uneven road. We then need to get back to the start line which was half way around the 4k loop. Ended up running a 3.8 mile warm up in what had to be the warmest day I've run in all year, not an ideal start.

Made it to the start line just in time. Off we went, the first mile was mostly uphill with a slight downhill towards the end. First mile went by fairly quickly as i settled into a nice rhythm although I was aware I was pushing hard. The downhill at the end of the mile was a welcome relief and I kept pushing hard past the club house and onto the second that brought us back towards the start line (mile 1 6:10, mile 2 6:02). The next mile brought me past the start again and back onto the uphill section. Not sure what happened here but the pace dropped off and i lost a lot of focus. Towards the 3 mile mark I was overtaken by a club mate and pushed to stay with him. The last section back to the club house was spent catching a few people from various clubs but not quite catching the club mate (mile 3 6:33 ??, last section (0.74mile) 6:03 pace). Crossed the finish line in 23:14.

Was happy enough with the time as I'd wanted to come in at sub 24 mins although i'd like to think I could have come in sub 23 if I hadn't lost focus on the third mile. That said I ran a good deal of the race at close to what was 5k pace a few months ago. Full results aren't up so I've no idea how the team got on.

Finished with another lap of the 4k loop as a warm down to bring the total to 9.94 miles for the day.

WTD|38.02
MTD|85.77
YTD|447.89

senordingdong

Stazza wrote: »

Your heart rate drops quicker if you stand about/walk, so it's a bit easier. But jogging encourages venous return and is more likely to prevent blood pooling.

What type of recovery is best depends on the session and what type of stimulus you're after. For marathon runners, it's normal to run recoveries quicker, for 5k-10k normally jogging (depends again on what the session's trying to target). Another thing to consider is where on the fibre spectrum you fit - if you're more on the fast twitch side of things then you'll respond/adapt better to passive recovery. Slow twitchers tend to respond/adapt better to active recoveries. (These are generalities, not axioms).

Also, active recoveries are more likely to enhance endurance as you are less likely to fully replenish PC stores. Whereas, with passive recoveries you are more likely to replenish PC stores - amongst other things, this impacts on VO2 Max.

What would be the consequences of an improper or incorrect warm down?