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Against Method.

Sacksian

I've toyed with starting a log here many times before but always decided against it because I presumed I'd get injured or ill (or ill-disciplined) as soon as I started one.

I've since seen a few logs that I enjoyed reading disappear and, along with the demise of the middle distance and cross country superthreads, there are very few places left for me to make essentially the same points about training over and over again.

So, here we are.

In terms of background, I've been running on and off for 10 years but only really taking it seriously (in attitude, more than application) since the end of 2012 when I joined a club. Between 2012 and now, I've managed one year of entirely uninterrupted training (2018) and one year above 2,000 miles (in 2018).

2019 has been one of my least fun running years and I'm hoping logging 2020 will make a difference and get me back to training consistently, and enjoying it.

My main focus up until March will be indoor racing (800 + 1500) before getting ready for outdoor track. However, that may change depending on how races go.

I hope to build up to 40mpw+ consistently from early January as the last few months have been a disaster. Apart from consistently doing Saturday sessions and Sunday long runs with the club, I don't have a fixed idea of what sessions during the week will look like - that will also depend on how the races go.

My last four weeks have been:

28.2 miles / 13.9 miles / 17.2 miles / 27.5 miles

Last week's 27.5 miles consisted of:

Mon - off
Tues - 34mins (just over 4miles up to PP and back)
Weds - 19mins (just under 2.5 miles around Grangegorman)
Thurs - 45mins w/20 mins at mar hr in the middle - the 20mins section is run on feel. It's supposed to be based on the HR monitor but if the HR looks a bit low, I'm not going to force it to hit a pace. When I'm fit, this should be around 6:20 or so, but this week it's 6:51 min/m pace (but it felt about right even if the HR was low).

Fri - 32mins (just over 4 miles up to PP and back)
Sat - 38mins (5 miles trails around the PP)
Sun - Attempted (but ultimately abandoned) hill session w/2miles up and down. I was planning to do a few circuits of hills around the Magazine Fort/Munich Hills in the Phoenix Park but I was blowing really hard after the first 3min circuit so I called it a day after the second shorter one. 2 x approx .5 mile with 2 mins rest in between.

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This weekend will either be club session on the Magazine/Munichs on Saturday or Dublin Masters XC on Sunday (unlikely at this stage, due to complete unfitness).

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Sacksian

Sacksian wrote: »

Shoot me if I post in this log next weekend and I’ve run only one session in 7 days of running.

Hold your fire!

Monday - 8.8miles @ 7:55
Tuesday - 7.5miles @ 8:05 inc. 6 x 8-10s HS off jog back
Wednesday - 10+ miles for the day including session.

5 x Khyber Hill (921m) off jog-back AVG 3:23

Club coach recommended this hill session for mid-week. My first time doing a full Khyber session since 2014!

For those who don’t know it, the Khyber Road is a long - but not ridiculously steep - hill (closed to traffic by bollards at the bottom and top) in the middle of the Phoenix Park.

For some reason, I have the exact distance in my head as 921m. Now, while it’s definitely not ridiculously steep, it does go on a bit and if you’re struggling by the time you get to 600m, the suffering increases because it kicks up again until 800m. It then levels out for the last stretch.

The way we’re instructed to do the session is to be able to kick in the last 100m or so i.e. when you’ve already been running uphill for 800m. It’s very hard to pull this off because you’re generally willing it to end from 500m.

It’s one of those deceptively tough sessions that gets better with repetition.

I set off for the first one at a relaxed pace and was quite happy to do it in 3:24. A little bit harder on the second only produced a 3:23. A little bit harder again and a 3:21. At this stage, I was conscious that I wasn’t able to kick in the last stretch on any of the reps. It was definitely tough, but still felt controlled and I wasn’t worried about managing the 5.

Fourth was 3:25 and the fifth 3:20. I tried to take the first 800m a little easier on the last one so that I could kick at the end but I wasn’t really able to shift gears. For me, the ‘kick’ is a state of mind - a subtle relaxation where you just open up and your legs take over. I’ve noticed in recent weeks that it’s just not there at the moment in sessions but that’s probably a function of the increased mileage and lack of attention to speed.

Average was 3:23 for the 5 reps. In 2013, I did 4 reps at an average of 3:11 - albeit with a pacer, flats and a strong tail-wind but I’d like to do it again in a couple of weeks and see if I can get closer to an average or 3:16 or so - even sub 3:20 would be good.

Thursday - 7.7miles @ 7:53 (fatigued from yesterday, but the good sort of fatigue).

Friday - 7.7miles @ 8:04 (glute DOMS from Wednesday’s session kicking in)

Saturday - 8.3m inc 12 x 300m “snappy” off 180-200m jog

54/55/55/55/56/54/56/54/55/55/55/50
Avg: 54.88

On the Polo Grounds - grass, but good conditions.

Instructions here were to sacrifice a bit of quantity for quality. The 10k and marathon lads did 14-16 300s and the more track-oriented among us did 10-12.

Good consistency and nice to be able to open up on the last rep. Jog recovery was between 60s-80s.

Always hard to gauge these grass sessions against times on the track, but I know 9 x 49-50s on the track with 60s standing recovery is good 1500m shape for me so 12@55 on grass is a bit away from that - but it's another session heading in that direction.

As with previous sessions, I’m doing well strength-wise, just lacking a bit on the speed/speed endurance end of things at the moment.

Sunday 11miles @7:52

61miles for the week (7th 60 mile week in the last 8 weeks).

Next week: density + intensity ups again, with probably a geansaí load of short-hills on Tuesday (15+ if I can manage it) and - if I can walk after Tuesday - something easy/short on Thursday before the session on Saturday.

Race targets and calendar are starting to take shape!

Sacksian

60.1 miles for the week.

Another decent week. I’m starting to feel the cumulative fatigue of insufficient sleep on top of lots of miles but the easy days are still getting done.

Monday - 7.7miles @ 8:05
Tuesday - 6.7miles for the day inc. 16 x 20s (very steep) hill off walk-back

This was probably a bit pointless. The hill I was doing it on was too steep to generate any speed, so it was just a pure strength session of trying to push myself up a hill 16 times. However, I did feel a bit more sprightly on Wednesday’s run. Thursday and Friday I had glute DOMS.

Wednesday - 8.8miles at 7:39
Thursday - 8.8miles at 7:39
Friday - 7.7miles at 7:59

Saturday … BACK ON TRACK!

Middle-Distance Pyramid: 200 - 400 - 600 - 1000 - 600 - 400 - 200 all off approximately equal recoveries.

Splits: 33s - 68s - 1:44 - 3:04 - 1:47 - 67s - 32s

Out the door at 7:30 in the morning to meet up with a couple of club mates and coach for my first time on the track in exactly 4 months (last track session was 4th March).

Happy with paces (especially for 8 o’clock in the morning). It’s not a session I’d naturally gravitate towards or one that I particularly enjoy. It’s just a bit intense for me. But, in the spirit of experimentation, maybe that’s what I need to be doing more of.

I’m still feeling a bit heavy-legged with the increased mileage this summer but it’s noticeable that I’m better able to hold on during sessions.

I did this exact same session in June 2018 (at which stage I had already run two 4:15 1500m races in the weeks beforehand and had done quite a bit of speed work) and the splits were: 29s - 63s - 1:47 - 1:53 (600 in the middle instead of a k) - 1:52 - 63s - 30s.

On paper, the 200/400 splits look considerably better but the recoveries and long rep splits tell a much different story.

In 2018, I did a 600 instead of the k in the middle because I was already slowing down so much on the first 600. I also took 4m30s after the 2nd 600 (compared with 2m30s after the k today). And 2m30s after the 3rd 600 (compared with 1m46s today). So, today, I did a k at a faster pace than the 600 in 2018 with 2mins less recovery afterwards and then ran the next 600 5s faster. All the recoveries, including the 200/400 were shorter yesterday. So, fitter/stronger at the moment. How much difference that will make in an actual race is still to be determined!

Sunday - 11.1miles at 7:59 - foot a bit sore towards the end, seems to be worse after a day in spikes.

Foreseeable Future

So, I’m certainly still very slightly off the pace at the moment, but I appear to be better able to hold 1500m speed in sessions.

I expect next week to be my ‘peak week’ in terms of demands on the body. Tuesday’s session will be tough, not intense, but the type of session that you feel stronger as a result of simply making it through. I’m also planning to run a big week in terms of miles. I’ll take whatever session’s going on Saturday.

I will need to add faster stuff in some form before I race again, if I’m to get the most out of the extra bit of strength. That will either mean adding 60s or 100s at the end of track sessions or dedicated sessions of speed 200s.

I would also like to do a 20 x 200m off 100m session at some point in the coming weeks and maybe an old 800m session like 3 x 4 x 200m off 30s.

Maintenance

My knee has been aching after periods of sitting, which is not having any effect on running, but I’d rather not have any aches at all, to be honest. I’m also conscious that I’m going to be lacing up a more aggressive pair of spikes in the coming weeks and that always makes me nervous for my achilles.

However, I think if I can make it through next week without succumbing to injury, I should make the start line on the 22nd for a 1500m.

Sacksian

Another week down, a race entered and a mileage milestone.

Monday - the week started with a bit of worry about the knee. It was bugging me sitting down on Sunday and I was still conscious of it on Monday morning so I did my now standard niggle symptom check.

If I get an emerging niggle, I try to think about things that I’ve started doing habitually than I hadn’t done before: surfaces, gait, mileage, new exercises, etc, but also day-to-day changes like different working environments and seating. One of the biggest differences in recent months has been the concentration on keeping my cadence high (to avoid right leg calf injury). And that led me to figuring out that I had been working muscles and striking the ground in a slightly different way on my left leg than I would with a lower cadence, essentially forcing a different pattern than I’m used to and creating a bit of overload. So, I tried a couple of days of lower cadence running and, amazingly, that seemed to do the trick.

For the first lower cadence day, I decided to cycle up to the Park for my Monday run, thus avoiding concrete for the whole run. 6.8miles @ 7:53min/m.

Tuesday - back to the standard 8.8 @8:04

Wednesday 13+ miles inc. Session of 10mins @marhr (effort) / 2km / 1km / 5 x 400 off approximately 3mins /2mins /2mins and 1min between 400s.

10 mins @6:13 approx
~2km @3:30/k
~1km @3:11
5 x 400m @ 82,76,79,79,71

Had hoped to do this on Tuesday but the weather conditions put paid to that so planned to do it on the club track Wednesday. Primarily because it means I can get an accurate distance and also because, well, it’s a chance to run on the track.

Unfortunately, by the time I arrived down to the club on Wednesday morning, the archer that practices on the track infield was setting up and while he offered to share the track with me, there’s something about doing laps of the track while arrows are being fired at 150mph out of my line of sight that doesn’t sit entirely comfortably with me. So, I declined.

As I head off, I’m thinking about the various different sessions I could substitute for the planned one but by the time I get to the Polos, I’ve decided the simplest thing would be to do the session as originally intended.

It turns out pretty well. The pace is a bit more uneven because of the surface and conditions and I’m a bit off the pace for the 2k bits and the 400s are all over the place (a combination of headwinds and the fitness group’s lack of Polo track etiquette parking their prams on the track!).

It’s not exactly what I was looking for (in terms of an accurate measured distance or the desired pace on the 2ks or 400s) but it’s a good workout, I feel strong and in control. It’s 6 miles at 6:20 pace and I feel good going home.

I also manage to get an entry for the Graded 1500m on the 22nd in Morton.

Thursday - 8.8 @ 7:51
Friday - 8.8 @7:38

Saturday - SESSION 3 x (3min/2min/1min off 1 min jog then 30s snappy) and 2mins jog between sets

I’m knackered by Saturday. Sleep has not been good since Tuesday, but I know if I can get through the next two days then I can put a cap on this block, satisfied that I am in about as good shape as I could have hoped coming out of lockdown.

Today’s Polo ground session is a bit different. Instead of the usual distance intervals, the work/recovery sessions are dictated by the coach’s whistle. A set is: 1 minute on - 1 minute off - 2 minutes on - 1 minute off - 3 minutes on - 1 minute off - 30s snappy - 2minutes off. And we go on/off at the coach’s whistle.

The track-focused folk like myself and a few others will do 3 sets, whereas the hardier bucks with their eye on 10000m or half-marathons will do 4. It’s the type of session I really like, where you can run it anyway you like - either hit the ‘on’ sections hard and ‘jog’ the off sections or keep it reasonably one-paced, minimising the gap between the work/recovery sections.

Having someone faster than you to run with also helps - and I’m blessed to have a 4 flat 1500m guy and the Dublin intermediate xc champ to run with in my group! I feel good and, apart from misjudging when I should have started surging on the final 3min section, I’m picking up pace throughout the session and taking a lot of the longer reps out.

Most of the work sections are in around 5 flat pace and we end up with about 5.7miles in 35minutes, just a smidge over 6min/mile pace average - which is good going for me when about 15 minutes of that 35 minutes is recovery jogging.

But, consistent with previous sessions, I’m blown out of the water on the snappy 30s sections by the other guys. And the takeout for me is the same as previous weeks - I’m definitely stronger than recent years but off the pace. I don’t know what that will mean in a 1500m race but we’ll find out in 10 days.

Sunday was 11.9miles @7:44 to bring me up to a total of 70miles for the week! Which is twice the mileage I averaged for the marathons I did when I started running. And a weekly volume total I never thought I’d reach, even at the start of lockdown. I won’t be keeping it up but it’s good to know I can hit it doing two good sessions and a nice long run.

So, the plan for next week is to drop the miles a (good) bit, do something fast (or faster) midweek and whatever next weekend’s session involves.

The long-term conundrum is one that I think faces everyone who ups mileage - how much speed do you have to sacrifice to be competitive over longer distances. Being able to hold a decent pace over a longer distance is a great feeling, but straining to run quick intervals is not.

pconn062

For the sake of discussion, I have a question for you! You seem to do your easy mileage much slower than other guys of your ability with similar PB's. Even I would run 10-20 secs on average quicker than you I would say on easy days, without pushing the pace. Any reason specifically for this? Is the higher mileage forcing this or do you deliberately try to keep it slower? Do you find it leaves you fresher I overall?
Also, will the change as you drop mileage now and increase intensity?
I am looking at my own easy pace and wondering is it too fast, even though it feels easy and heart rate suggests the same.

Sacksian

pconn062 wrote: »

For the sake of discussion, I have a question for you! You seem to do your easy mileage much slower than other guys of your ability with similar PB's. Even I would run 10-20 secs on average quicker than you I would say on easy days, without pushing the pace.

Everyone runs their easy days quicker than me! And you're running a bit more than 10-20s faster than me on your long runs these days!!

I think there are a lot of factors to it. I'm taking the opportunity to ramble here, P so excuse the length of the post!

Because of previous injuries, I've been making a big effort to pay attention to my cadence on easy runs, particularly when I'm running on concrete. It means I don't run that freely (and I don't enjoy running on concrete). It's a bit of a chore, to be honest but it means I'm injury free at the moment.

The surface could also be a factor, I run everything on grass and trails.

And higher mileage definitely plays a part. I just go at whatever pace my legs want to go at and, honestly, I'm actually surprised at how quick some of my easy days are! In 2018-19, when I was running strictly by hr and doing decent mileage, my easy days were closer to 8:30 most of the time. So, to my mind, my easy runs are quite speedy these days by comparison!

The time I run at is a factor as well - I'm really f*cking old and it takes me a couple of miles to warm up when I'm out the door at 7 these days. I see a lot of guys doing low- or sub-7s out the gate and that's never going to be me. Unless I'm very fit and I then drop mileage, my opening pace is always about 8min/m and sometimes closer to 9min/m.

It's possibly a bit of a hangover from when I did a lot of training by hr when I really had to warm up very gently to keep the hr low. But I don't mind runs turning progressive if it's not going to impact sessions/recovery. When I ran less, and when I started running, almost every run was progressive, which was fine because I wasn't running every day and the runs were relatively short.

So, the easy run pace would definitely pick up if I dropped the mileage and intensity a bit but I know if I do that, I'll find it harder to get the mileage back up for xc so my intention is to keep it - within reason - at a good level through the track season. That's the intention, whether or not I'll succeed is another matter!

pconn062 wrote: »

I am looking at my own easy pace and wondering is it too fast, even though it feels easy and heart rate suggests the same.

Ultimately, I think that easy pace is very individual. I look at some people's easy pace and think "why is their easy pace" so much faster than mine?! And then I look at the guys who are the guts of 2min faster than me over 5k and wonder why is my easy pace only 30s slower than theirs!!

There's a guy in the club whose easy pace is generally over 8 and often in the 8:30s and there'll be 9minute miles in there too - and I suspect he'll dip under 15mins for 5k this year. And he can rip off 45s 300s when he needs to. There are other guys I know who've taken big leaps after actively deciding to increase their easy pace. It really depends...and which is why I sometimes think that it's very important for everyone to figure out what works for them, and what approach (or environment) will get them out the door consistently - whether that's consistently once a week or twice a day - and sustainably.

There are people who will tell you Kipchoge does his recovery at 9min/mile and there are other runners who never run slower than 6:** but realistically the only thing about easy pace that matters is that it's not too fast to impact on recovery or sessions and not too slow to impact on biomechanics/efficiency.

For me, sustainability in training is often about intensity, I'll get injured or sick if I push it too much so I try to err on the side of caution - especially with the Sunday long runs.

If you're not feeling tired and you're hitting your paces in sessions, you're probably fine. Last week was a big week for me and I was having trouble sleeping - which I'm presuming is partly to do with the training volume. I wasn't that pushed about going out today either. Little things like that tell me that I might be a little bit on the edge, so I just have to navigate those periods without getting struck down.

I'm generally more of an under-cooker than an over-cooker but I have messed up a few races in recent years by just tipping over the edge in terms of training intensity in the final week where I was flying in training and just needed to sit the last session out. Magness is good on this in The Science of Running on st/ft tapers.

TLDR; I like easy runs to be very easy mainly because I am lazy, but also because I am old.

Swashbuckler

Super post. Something I've thought a lot about with my own training. Thanks.

pconn062

Sacksian wrote: »

Everyone runs their easy days quicker than me! And you're running a bit more than 10-20s faster than me on your long runs these days!!

I think there are a lot of factors to it. I'm taking the opportunity to ramble here, P so excuse the length of the post!

Because of previous injuries, I've been making a big effort to pay attention to my cadence on easy runs, particularly when I'm running on concrete. It means I don't run that freely (and I don't enjoy running on concrete). It's a bit of a chore, to be honest but it means I'm injury free at the moment.

The surface could also be a factor, I run everything on grass and trails.

And higher mileage definitely plays a part. I just go at whatever pace my legs want to go at and, honestly, I'm actually surprised at how quick some of my easy days are! In 2018-19, when I was running strictly by hr and doing decent mileage, my easy days were closer to 8:30 most of the time. So, to my mind, my easy runs are quite speedy these days by comparison!

The time I run at is a factor as well - I'm really f*cking old and it takes me a couple of miles to warm up when I'm out the door at 7 these days. I see a lot of guys doing low- or sub-7s out the gate and that's never going to be me. Unless I'm very fit and I then drop mileage, my opening pace is always about 8min/m and sometimes closer to 9min/m.

It's possibly a bit of a hangover from when I did a lot of training by hr when I really had to warm up very gently to keep the hr low. But I don't mind runs turning progressive if it's not going to impact sessions/recovery. When I ran less, and when I started running, almost every run was progressive, which was fine because I wasn't running every day and the runs were relatively short.

So, the easy run pace would definitely pick up if I dropped the mileage and intensity a bit but I know if I do that, I'll find it harder to get the mileage back up for xc so my intention is to keep it - within reason - at a good level through the track season. That's the intention, whether or not I'll succeed is another matter!

Ultimately, I think that easy pace is very individual. I look at some people's easy pace and think "why is their easy pace" so much faster than mine?! And then I look at the guys who are the guts of 2min faster than me over 5k and wonder why is my easy pace only 30s slower than theirs!!

There's a guy in the club whose easy pace is generally over 8 and often in the 8:30s and there'll be 9minute miles in there too - and I suspect he'll dip under 15mins for 5k this year. And he can rip off 45s 300s when he needs to. There are other guys I know who've taken big leaps after actively deciding to increase their easy pace. It really depends...and which is why I sometimes think that it's very important for everyone to figure out what works for them, and what approach (or environment) will get them out the door consistently - whether that's consistently once a week or twice a day - and sustainably.

There are people who will tell you Kipchoge does his recovery at 9min/mile and there are other runners who never run slower than 6:** but realistically the only thing about easy pace that matters is that it's not too fast to impact on recovery or sessions and not too slow to impact on biomechanics/efficiency.

For me, sustainability in training is often about intensity, I'll get injured or sick if I push it too much so I try to err on the side of caution - especially with the Sunday long runs.

If you're not feeling tired and you're hitting your paces in sessions, you're probably fine. Last week was a big week for me and I was having trouble sleeping - which I'm presuming is partly to do with the training volume. I wasn't that pushed about going out today either. Little things like that tell me that I might be a little bit on the edge, so I just have to navigate those periods without getting struck down.

I'm generally more of an under-cooker than an over-cooker but I have messed up a few races in recent years by just tipping over the edge in terms of training intensity in the final week where I was flying in training and just needed to sit the last session out. Magness is good on this in The Science of Running on st/ft tapers.

TLDR; I like easy runs to be very easy mainly because I am lazy, but also because I am old.

Great post and nice to get your thoughts on it. "Easy" is very subjective and I think it's right to say a lot of factors play into it like the time of day you run, but also sleep, nutrition, age etc. I too often start my runs at 8.15/20 pace but naturally shift to 7.20-40 by the end. And I'm wondering should I just stay in that slower range, and would I feel fresher? Going to experminet on a few runs this week as I have been feeling a bit flat with tired legs for the last three weeks or so.

It's a great block of training you've put in, will be interesting to see how the first race goes.

Sacksian

pconn062 wrote: »

Great post and nice to get your thoughts on it. "Easy" is very subjective and I think it's right to say a lot of factors play into it like the time of day you run, but also sleep, nutrition, age etc. I too often start my runs at 8.15/20 pace but naturally shift to 7.20-40 by the end. And I'm wondering should I just stay in that slower range, and would I feel fresher? Going to experiment on a few runs this week as I have been feeling a bit flat with tired legs for the last three weeks or so.

My legs haven't felt fresh for a few weeks now because I know when I'm feeling fresh I start doing random running drills while walking around the kitchen!!

I have pretty much the same conundrum as you - how do I distinguish between fatigue that is part of the adaptation process, which I should train through, and fatigue that is damaging, which I have to allow myself to recover from? If, like us, you've struggled with injury in the past, I would think there's nothing to be lost from taking the easy days easy - especially if you're targeting 1500m+ - unless you feel the slow paces compromise you bio-mechanically. If I was not purposely thinking about trying to run more volume, I'd be happy running 4-5 days a week with quick easy days.

My legs definitely feel tired now but my training tells me that I'm benefitting from the mileage so, from a long-term perspective, I may just have to suck that up.

However, I probably need to be as disciplined about the down weeks as I have been about getting out for the runs. Which is easier when there are no races on the horizon.

Right now, I feel like I've a bit of a psychological hangover from hitting 70 last week and the race coming up. So, I'll probably do the club session tonight rather than my own session because it's mentally easier just to turn up and do whatever's on the cards than over-thinking what I need to be doing.

pconn062 wrote: »

It's a great block of training you've put in, will be interesting to see how the first race goes.

Yeah, I just want the first race to be over so that I can make sense of where I am. The long-term perspective is that I know if I keep this up for the next few months, I'll be in good nick for xc (where you never need to run particularly fast), certainly in better shape than I usually am heading into xc. The idea of holding a decent pace for 6k xc seems doable right now - although how strong I'll feel running in ankle-deep mud remains to be seen!

And keeping that up for xc means I've a better chance of coming out the other side stronger again. Putting 2-3 solid seasons back to back has always been my achilles heel (apart from my actual achilles), and overcoming that would make the short-term sacrifice of speed worth it.

I know from training at the minute that I can hold decent paces better, but the downside is that I'm not really hitting 1500m pace for anything, so it's anyone's guess what'll happen when I get on the track next week. It might take a few races and weeks of sharpening to get the legs moving properly but I'll be disappointed if I'm way off pace.

Sacksian

UNPOPULAR RUNNING OPINION:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A RECOVERY RUN.

I will provide no evidence to support this claim.

Sacksian

Big mileage drop, two truncated sessions and fingers crossed for next week.

As I said in the posts above, I was feeling very tired heading into this week after last week’s exertions. I really wasn’t jumping out the door on Monday and ended up cycling up to the park to run (which I also did on Friday and for the session on Tuesday).

Similarly on Tuesday, I was not feeling the love for getting out so - because I wanted to do something fast this week - I decided to go to the Tuesday club session rather than rely on my powers of motivation. As it happened. I got a text from one of the coaches earlier in the day suggesting I could customise the main distance session, which was 10 x 800m (@ ~10k pace) off 200m on the Polo grounds, for my own purposes.

Instead of the main session, I was doing 2.5 sets of 2 x 800m (@ ~3k pace) off 200m. The way it worked out was that I would run the first 2 800s with the guy leading out the session and then take additional recovery for however long it took him to do his third 800m + 200m recovery. Then jump back in with him for another 2, take additional recovery when he was running his 6th rep, and then lead out my fifth (and his 7th).

So, it turned out to be

2:32 (66s jog) 2:33
2:34 (63s jog) 2:36

And then 2:27 for my fifth. I was so worried about not being able to keep pace leading out this rep that I basically bolted it.

Not ideal conditions on Tuesday evening, particularly for the 2nd 400m, so the times are solid.

Wednesday was a gentle 44mins @ 7:46m.

And Thursday was 55mins @7:45m/min with 4 x 8s hill-sprints at the end.

Friday was a very brief 38mins @7:25.

Saturday session: 3 x 4 (or 5) x 300m (1 lap between reps / 2 between sets)

I jumped in with the club’s Academy squad (u17-u20) for this session. I am, literally, more than twice their age but our distance squad was doing a 5k time trial and I wanted to do something faster than race pace ahead of Wednesday.

Thankfully, there was another guy from the distance squad also doing the session, so at least I wouldn’t be out the back on my own.

This was to be done slightly faster than 1500m pace (which for me would usually be 49.5s-50s). They were doing 3 sets of 4 (or 5) x 300m with a 300m jog between reps and 600m jog between sets.

In the end, I just did 2 sets of 4. While I could have eked another set, it would have meant putting pressure on my achilles and also putting the chance of toeing the line on Wednesday at risk.

The reps were:

Set 1: 48/48/47/47

Set 2: 47/48/48/47

47s and 48s convert to around 62-64s for 400m (about the same pace I ran the 800m in March). Our club track is a tight 300m one, so happy with both the pace and the consistency.

As I was putting on my runners to go home, the young lads were doing their first rep on the 3rd set in 42s for 300m (about 56s pace for 400m). I was wondering if they’d be able to see that sort of pace through to their 15th rep (the lead guys were doing 3 x 5 x 300m). By the time I got home, one of them had uploaded their splits from the session, including an eye-watering 38s for his 15th 300m, which converts to approximately 50s 400mm!! (There is obviously a big difference between 38.0 and 38.9 when you get down to those paces, but still...)

The future is bright…

Sunday was a creaky 78mins @ 8:00min/m pace.

It’s hard to know if I got this week right. I’m more banged up than I’d like after yesterday’s session. My quads are sore and my sciatica, which had been *okay* on this morning’s run, has been worsening throughout the day. I’ll just keep doing my usual routine and see how I’m fixed on Wednesday - I’m already checked in!

Normally, the first race of the season is just a chance to blow some cobwebs off but with the restrictions tightening, it feels like this could potentially be my only race this season. So, I’m hoping it goes well.

68s per lap all the way around doesn’t seem crazily aspirational and anything under that would bring me close enough to a pb. I know I went out pretty hard (relatively) when I got my pb so, if I don’t manage to execute that part, I’ll be disappointed. Now is the time to see what difference a bit of strength makes.
The only potential flies in the ointment are a) the sciatica not clearing up in time or b) that there’s no one to pull me around (which seems very unlikely). Fingers crossed for both!

—-

Separately, one of the things that occurred to me - based on how I felt by the end of the week - is that, for a proper down week, rather than tapering, it’s possible to maintain volume and simply reduce intensity. I think a week of v. easy running - even 60+ miles would be more restorative than mid-40s with two sessions. Which seems very uncontroversial written down but not something I would necessarily have committed to before this past few months of training. Something I’m going to keep in mind following races when xc comes around.

IvoryTower

Numbers look good pal best of luck

Sacksian

Return of the Track + Back to the Grind.

The week started with bad quad DOMS and sciatica. I cycled up to the Park and just did 5k on both Monday and Tuesday. Was stretching and doing my usual sciatica routine all day Monday and Tuesday (I even did two Yoga with Adriene sessions!) and there was a definite improvement on Tuesday. Quad DOMS were still there. By the time I finished my 10min shakeout on Wednesday morning, I was tired but knew I would be good to go that evening.

Monday - 24mins @7:59
Tuesday - 23mins @7:35
Wednesday AM 12mins @ 8:33

Wednesday PM - Dublin Athletics Graded Meeting 1 - 1500m AB1 4:17.6 (5th of 13 finishers)

Very different atmosphere to a normal graded with all the safety protocols, but really well organised by Dublin Athletics. I was in the AB1 race, the ‘A’ race was won in 3:52, so dodged a bullet there.

In my race, I recognised a couple of people - one a Masters athlete who ran 4:09 a couple of years back - and a young guy who finished 10th in the National Novice last year. The guy who won has PBs of 1:53/4:06. So, I presumed that sitting off them would mean a good run.

The gun goes and, after a few gentle elbows exchanged, I get into a good position on the rail. At this stage, I’m thinking I must have got out well. I’ve got the Masters guy a few metres ahead of me and I feel pretty comfortable (in about 8th or 9th position). Which was essentially the end of the PB pursuit.

One of the club coaches had sent me a text on Tuesday advising a 65-66s first lap to get into the race and that was my plan going into it: to hit 800m in about 2:14.

Ultimately, I overestimated how fast the leaders would be/were going on the first laps and mistook my sense of comfort on the first lap/600m as evidence of incredible fitness rather than evidence of going too slowly.

Usually, there’s someone calling out splits at 400/800/1200 for the Gradeds which was missing on Wednesday, but I presumed staying within a couple of seconds of the leaders on the first lap would set me up when I should have been right up with them at that point.

One of my club mates clocked rough splits for me: 70/69/68/50.

So, I ran a negative split 1500m, which isn’t the optimal way to run a PB at this distance and, as with other 1500s in recent years, I continued my recent habit of thinking that sitting off someone who I presume is faster than me will get me a PB.

Disappointing time but great to be back on the track and the finishing 300m (which is 4:10 1500m pace) is evidence of decent strength. Hopefully another couple of races this season to put it right.

Lessons learnt from the race are, again, about mentality.

1. Turning up isn’t enough.

I’m fit and I’ve trained well for the last few months. Physically, I’m prepared to run a good time for 1500m. But the training is pointless without a similar level of performance on the night.

2. I need to get back to racing, rather than pacing, middle-distance races.

At no point before the race, or during the first half of it, did I think I should be racing to win or even challenge. But, even if I had completely blown up trying, it’s the only way I might have learnt something about what shape I’m in.

3. PBs should be hard to break.

I ran most of my pbs in my first few attempts at each distance and I guess having run a lot more and (I think) now training smarter/harder, there’s probably a part of me that’s been thinking it won’t be much of an achievement to beat them. But I’m realising now how hard they will be to break, which makes breaking them all the more motivating.

Thursday - 69mins @ 7:52min/m
Friday - 69mins @ 7:52min/m

Saturday - SESSION - 16 x 400m off 30s (100m)

I was given the option of doing the Academy lads’ pyramid session or the distance squad’s 400s (up to 20). And I really wasn’t up for the injury risk or the 5 days recovery involved with the pyramid session so I went with the endurance session on the Polo Grounds.

Also, after the race on Wednesday, I didn’t want to fry myself too much this week. So, staying safe while topping up the stamina levels felt like the best option. And the addictive thing about getting fitter is that, once you actually arrive at a point of feeling fit, you want to get fitter.

Anyway, this was a tough session without ever getting close to redlining. The prescribed pace was 10k for the first half and 5k for the second half, but it ended up being a bit slower than that. The hard part about a session like this is the recoveries - 100m in 30s is trivial for the first 6-8, but as you pick up the pace and the 400s roll on, the short recovery starts to pinch a lot more. A 76 into a headwind on the final rep was about as speedy as it got.

16 @ 84 avg off 100m (avg. 100m recovery in 32s)

Average 86 for the first 8 (avg. 100m recovery in 32s).
Average 82 for the second 8 (avg. 100m recovery in 32s).

Sunday - 76mins easy @ 7:53m

Good week - 51miles. Probably won’t go back up to 60 again until the end of the season.

Will probably do club sessions (whatever they might be) on Tuesday and Saturday and hoping to get down to the track for a few 100s or 200s with lots of recovery on Thursday.

Chivito550

I've run a couple of 100m races so far and have been much closer than usual to guys running well into the mid 11s. I took this to be a good sign, but the reality is that they're just in terrible shape this year.

Probably best to throw the form book out the window this year and don't give any athletes such respect based on prior year performances. You've no idea if they trained away or just shut up shop during the lockdown.

Sacksian

Yup, that's the plan for the next race!

Sacksian

I think this is the third week in a row where I’ve barely scraped over 50miles for the week. Without a conscious focus on easy mileage, there were a couple of times this week where I had to drag myself out the door or force myself to tag on another few minutes or miles.

Were it not for public commitments to discipline and application like this log (and a 3-4 month running streak), I think this week could easily have been in the low 30s. Maybe that would have been better.

I had the feeling there was an achilles niggle brewing this week (which more likely stemmed from excessive phone usage than excessive training). Things are a bit creakier at the start of runs so I have to keep an eye on it as this is the way my achilles problems have developed in previous seasons.

Monday - 52mins @7:33 easy
Tuesday - club session: 13 x 200m on/off on the Polo Grounds

One of my favourite sessions is 20 x 200m off 100m in/around mile pace on the track, so this looked much handier than that on that. Even if the combination of grass and wind meant it didn’t really seem that way.

We were doing it on laps of the Polo Ground, so there were 3 x 200s on odd laps and 2 x 200 on even laps, I was given 5 laps, so 13 x 200 (3/2/3/2/3). Mostly 36s, which is a little off mile pace and I probably could have done another couple of laps but finished off with a 34s and a 30s last 200 to make it a quality last lap. As usual, nice to have Josh pacing me around - he did the full 20 at that pace.

Wednesday - 39mins @7:40 easy.

Thursday - Experimental strides! 10 x 120-ish strides off walk-back.
(7 miles for the day)
I’d seen these suggested in a Lydiard training manual a while back as a ‘leg speed’ drill. He described it like this:

Find an area that is nearly flat but with a gradual decline and about 120 to 150 meters long. Warm-up for at least 15 minutes and then, run over the course ten times as follows, with a three minute interval. Do not rush through this training and realize that it is important to have a full three minute interval. Each time during the run, think of moving the legs as fast as possible and do not be conscious of stride length. Keep as relaxed as possible in the upper body. The same action can be obtained by going down stairs one at a time as fast as possible. You will find that the legs do not seem to move fast enough. So run with a normal stride, thinking of only one thing: MOVING THE LEGS FAST. This way, it is possible to overcome viscosity in the leg muscles and develop fine speed. After the tenth repetition, cool down for at least 15 minutes

So, I did 5 concentrating on stride length + 5 of the Lydiard-style concentrating on stride rate.

Friday - 19mins @7:27. Purely for the purposes of maintaining my streak.

Saturday - had to get out early so missed the club session and did a fairly perfunctory continuous run made up of 20mins w/up - 20 mins steady - 3mins jog recovery - 4 x 30s hills off jog back - and then home. Ended up around 9miles @7:39 pace.

Sunday - 84mins @7:52 . A no-fun trudge.

Logging this now, I’m conscious that the paces on my easy days are a little faster and I suspect that’s contributing to the creakiness.

I’ve also entered the 1500m at National Seniors. I’ve only done one National Seniors before in 2016, where I ran my second fastest 800m, so I’m hoping it can inspire me to a 1500m pb this year.

The problem with the 1500m at nationals is that the heats are usually ridiculously tactical. At indoors this year, the first heat was stupidly slow for the first 1300m so just the first 4 qualified and the fastest time qualifiers came from the second heat. Which meant that a guy who has a pb of 3:47 ran 4:09 to finish 5th in the very tactical first heat (less than 3/10ths of a second separating 1st from 5th) and didn’t qualify.

If I’m in the first heat, it might be hard for me to run a pb in a tactical heat. If I’m in a later heat, I stand a chance of getting dragged around.

Sacksian

The achilles niggle continued to brew this week and indeed threatened to boil over into a full-blown injury.

I managed to get one quality session in on Tuesday - which was more marathon-paced than the 5k session I originally had in mind - and then just ran easy for the rest of the week.

It was getting a bit hairy on Thursday and Friday but I just kept doing my calf-raises and running very, very purposely with a high cadence (which seems to help) and staying on the road (which also seems to help). Saturday and Sunday were definitely better so, in the last 48 hours, I’ve gone from thinking that there’ll be no session for a week to wondering if I’ll get one in on Wednesday.

Monday - 40mins @ 7:48

Tuesday - SESSION

Worried about the achilles, I opted against doing anything faster than 5k pace for the midweek session. The original plan had been to do 5-6 ks at 5k pace on the club track but the archer was there and, like last time, I didn’t fancy getting an arrow in the back at 5k pace.

So, I went back up to the Magazine Fort and considered 1200s, still worried about the calf. Ultimately, I opted for a session that I had programmed into my watch years ago but was never fit enough to try:

20mins @mar hr/effort - 3mins jog - 8 x 80s on / 40s off - 3mins jog - 20mins @mar hr/effort.

This is a big session for me but it went really well.

It ended up as 62mins/9.58miles @6:28 pace, on grass, which definitely backs up my feeling that I’ve built up a bit of strength the last few months.

I have done LT sandwich sessions before like: 8mins LT either side of 8 x 1min on/off or something similar but I always had the idea that if I was concentrating on strength again, that I would try to do a marathon hr/effort sandwich of 20mins either side of something faster.

This one had 20 mins @6:11 and 20mins @6:18 (with the 8 x 80s/40s in the middle) so, I got a bit of confidence and I didn’t make my calf/achilles any worse, which I definitely would have if I’d done the faster session

Wednesday - 44mins @7:44
Thursday - 47mins @7:45
Friday - 47mins @7:48
Saturday - 58mins @7:47
Sunday - 68mins @8:07

There’s two weeks left until the 1500m at Senior Nationals (if it goes ahead) so I really need to get at least two sessions in to get back into it, sharpen up and settle my nerves about the achilles before then.

If I think I’m okay to do a session on Wednesday, I’d like to do 4 x 1500m with decent rest around 5k pace.

And if Saturday is an option, I’m hoping to do 6 x quality 600s with the club Academy Squad on the track.

Looking at the entries for men's 1500m at nationals, I’m about 10th slowest of 62 entered so far.

Which either means I’ve the chance to be pulled along or I'll be stranded after the first lap.

Sacksian

Ok.

Monday 60mins @ 8:09
Tuesday 39mins @ 8:04

Wednesday (SESSION)
6:52 @ 6:43 inc 15mins @MarHR/6:10 (3mins jog) / 8mins @LTHR/5:43 (3mins jog)

Planned to do 6 x 1min on/off at the end but cut session short due to “gastrointestinal” “issues”.

4 years ago, I did a similar session with 10mins @ MarHR and 6mins @LTHR a week before running 4:14 for 1500m so I thought I’d keep the sessions before next week’s race fairly closely matched. I added a bit of extra distance to both the MarHR and LTHR sections because I’m fitter now (although older and so probably not as fast!). Did these on the road around the OS/Furze loop. It’s straightforward and flat, although ideally you have the wind behind you on the OS rather than the Furze (which I didn’t today).

First run in the Brooks Hyperion Tempo. Running feels very easy in them. They get you up on your toes. I felt like they had transferrable benefits to my form in other shoes after my first run with them. They just seemed to make me more fluid. I’m not really sure what to make of them.

They’re not light enough for a 5k or anything faster but I’d say I could do a very decent half-marathon in them. They don’t have a plate but if they’re any indication of what the plate shoes can do, I really can understand how people are running the times they are in the Nike shoes. However, based on my limited experience with the Hyperion Tempo, I suspect the benefits you get are - to some extent - a function of your running style. I don’t think they’ll give the same benefit to everyone.

Thursday - 38mins @ 8:01

Friday - 43mins @ 7:16 - accidentally progressive, starting with an 8:20 mile and with the last 2 miles around 6:45.

Wore the Hyperion again to protect the achilles. I could wear them everyday.

Saturday (SESSION)
5 x (400m / 100m jog / 400m snappier) 85s active between sets

Polo Grounds were in Polo use for once so we were on the Garda Loop. It’s a 1000 yard trail loop directly across the road from the Polo Grounds. Love this loop, first half of it’s uphill so you get a chance to open up on the second half when you get the downhill back. It’s not the most even underfoot and you’re generally running into the wind on the way up so it’s a bit of strength work at the same time.

Splits

(77-33s jog recovery-75)
(76-38s jog recovery-73)
(76-41s jog recovery-73)
(76-44s jog recovery-71)
(78-42s jog recovery-72)

Sunday - 41mins @ 7:55

Another week down. 40-odd miles for the week. Emerged unscathed and it’s the first week under 50 miles since the first week in April. I don’t have a lot of pace work or under-distance speed work done. But I’m reasonably healthy and I’ve got a lot of miles in.

1500m on Saturday. The worst case scenario, which really would be a pain in the arse, would be running the same 1500m race that I’ve run about 10 times since 2016. Which is 800m in 2:15 and then run steadily to a 4:14/15/16 finish.

What I want to do is to get to 800m in 2:13 and have enough strength, and be close enough to someone else to get around the last 700m in less than 1:59. It doesn’t seem impossible and yet I haven’t managed to do it in the last 10 or so 1500m races.

There’s still the possibility of a mile race before the season’s over - I don’t think the National Masters is going to happen, unfortunately - but I would love to go into the mile race off a good race next weekend.

Next week will probably be 20mins @MarHR on Tuesday w/ an easy 6 x 200 afterwards - don’t care about times or recoveries.

Friday I’ll do 2 x 100m and some drills.
 Race on Saturday.

I’ll probably run everyday but I doubt I’ll get up to much more than 30 miles for the week.

Dubh Geannain

Best of luck in the race at the weekend

Sacksian

Weekly report to follow tomorrow but race execution didn't go to plan, despite being set up perfectly, but small consolation of the world's smallest pb of 0.06 seconds. Finished 9th of 12 in 4:14.00 (would it really have killed them to round me down to 4:13.99?!) in a heat won by Seán Tobin in 3:58.15.

Finished very, very strongly so there's definitely another couple of seconds out there.

Really enjoyed it tonight. Even if I never figure out the 1500m, it's great to be fit and uninjured!

Mile race to come next month - I'd like a few seconds off my pb, please.

Dubh Geannain

Well done on the PB. Was it windy?

The race is around the 1:22 mark below. It was a great finish to the race too.

https://youtu.be/IP87zUhatwU

Sacksian

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

Well done on the PB. Was it windy?

The race is around the 1:22 mark below. It was a great finish to the race too.

https://youtu.be/IP87zUhatwU

Windy on the home straight, with a good tail wind on the back straight - I didn't think it was a massive problem at the time, although it probably did mean I was a bit cautious in overtaking the last guy between 600m-700m when we turned into the home straight. Which is when I lost touch with the main group and the gap opened. You can see in the video how much he had started slowing down even before I overtook him, so he was moving farther and farther away from the group before I went round. I think that error was probably worth a second (or two!).

Sacksian

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

The race is around the 1:22 mark below. It was a great finish to the race too.

https://youtu.be/IP87zUhatwU

Heats 3 and 4 are a perfect demonstration of how ridiculous (and self-defeating) tactical heats can be in a 1500m. I was very, very lucky to be in Heat 1.

Sacksian

In the end, I ran just over 36 miles this week.

Monday was 31mins in the rain @8:10 inc 6 x 8s hill sprints in the People’s Flower Gardens in the Phoenix Park.

Tuesday was a session starting with 3k @MHR (just under mar hr) - 11mins30s approx 6:10 pace.

Followed by a shoe test of 3 x 200m off 100m walk in my old pair of spikes (which I’d run my 1500m + 3000m pbs in) and a new pair of spikes (which I’ve never worn before, but are v2 of my old pair of spikes - Saucony Endorphins).

Old shoes:

32.49
32.06
31.05

New shoes:

30.19
30.33
29.76

So, even though some of it was psychological and some of it was probably due to having warmed up on the first 3 reps, I had to go with the new spikes…

Wednesday

DOMS - 33mins @7:49

Thursday

Bad DOMS - 35mins @ 8:05

Yoga with Adriene…

Friday

29mins @8:15 with two tentative hill sprints.

More Yoga with Adriene…

But I was starting to feel quite good.

Saturday AM

12mins @9:00m

Legs were starting to feel light here.

Running late -

Truncated warm-up

Race - National Seniors Championships 1500m Heat 1 - 9th (of 12) - 4:14.00

I probably should be disappointed. I didn't really run the race I had planned to run. Was set up perfectly at 600 but didn’t go around the guy who finished last quickly enough (as you can see in the video above) and ended up getting a bit detached from the group by 800.

Had no clue what time I had run until I got home but I knew I had left a couple of seconds on the track due to the slow 500-900m section. After the race, I heard one guy say that we went through the first lap in around 64 and slowed right down. There were no splits being called but I caught a glimpse of the clock on 3:0* after I passed 1100m and I knew I had a reasonable last lap (particularly the last 200m). So, I knew it was possible - but unlikely - that I might have squeezed out a pb. Found out when I got home that I had ran the world's smallest pb (of 0.06 seconds!). My old pb was from the first graded race of 2016 (during / or after which I tore my achilles and missed the entire summer - so it was nice to finally put that to bed).

I reckon the splits for me were probably around 65.* / 69.* / 68.*/51 or something like that.

I wasn’t doubled over at the finish line but, in contrast to previous races, on the way home and afterwards I just felt pleased with how I was feeling - being fit and uninjured, being able to run national seniors and not embarrass myself against guys (some more than) half my age. And taking those few places in the home straight - from guys with faster pbs than me - has convinced me that 4:10 is not a pipe-dream, even if it’s not going to happen this year - will need an IMC race. I feel like I’m closer to figuring out the 1500m.

So, even acknowledging that I could have run quicker and even if I never figure out how to run the 1500m properly, I really enjoyed being out there racing and I still love the track!

Also, first race in my new Endorphin 2s with a pb.

Home from race 27mins @ 8:06

Sunday

Very enjoyable 49mins @7:56

----

Still a mile race to come and I'm looking forward to reviewing the whole summer's training. There are things I did right and things I got wrong. On the whole, though, very happy with how I navigated a couple of sketchy moments with niggles to keep the training on the road and get a decent run at Nationals in. I can't remember the last time I was as fit as I am although the hard part is going to be sustaining it, without getting ill or injured. I have some ideas already!

Sacksian

A week that begin with me the most positive about my running since about 2014…but ended disastrously…

Monday

68mins @ 7:43 pace - back to the grind and my old Phoenix Park loop. Ran into a club mate who I hadn’t seen since before lockdown so it was nice to have an easy run with company for a change.

Session Tuesday - 6 x800m on POLOS off 180m brisk jog (45-50s)

Windy and wet night on the polo grounds. Was hoping for something a little gentler but got it done.

First 5 800s were around 2:49-2:52 and last one in 2:46. This was supposed to be at self-directed “tempo” effort. Probably slightly faster for me because I was only doing 6 whereas the full session was 8 and one of the lads did 10.

This was tough as there was a very strong headwind for the entire second half. I just rolled into and ended up with a total of 3.65 miles at about 5:55 pace.

Wednesday 34mins recovery/easy at 7:58min/m

Thursday 60mins @ 7:25min/m

Was wearing the Hyperion Tempos and just ended up running 7min/pace in the middle of this. It’s too fast - could probably be legitimately considered “junk miles”. I don’t mind doing that pace when the mileage is way down and sessions are easy but it’s not sustainable for me to do easy days at the pace when there are hard sessions to be run on other days. Maybe that’ll change in the future but at the minute I don’t think there’s any benefit from that pace if it just means greater recovery is required, especially when sleep is always at a premium.

Friday - 31mins @ 8:16 easy with 6 x 8s hill sprints in the phoenix park.

Saturday - SESSION 2 x 4 x 400m off 100m jog + 5min b/t sets on Polo Grounds

Just me and another guy doing this. I was really rolling on these but, unfortunately, something went in my left hamstring on Rep #6 and that was it. I pulled straight up and stepped off. Didn’t feel that serious and it’s definitely not a tear. Dr. Google tells me it is at worst a grade 1 strain but I wasn’t able to run Sunday, couldn’t run today, and not sure when I’ll be back at it. Walking isn’t sore but I’m walking with a limp. I’ve never had this particular injury before so I’m not really sure what the best approach is. Might and try get into the physio on Wednesday if it’s no better tomorrow.

I suspect it was some stuff I did with the resistance band might have made the glutes overly tight and a combination of that and tiredness caused my hamstring to spasm but it’s about getting better now anyway.

I was looking forward to next Sunday’s race after last Saturday’s experience but my chances of racing are about .01%. And no idea if I’ll make the following Friday. Was very optimistic Sunday morning. Not at all optimistic today about any running in the next couple of weeks.

Even though Sunday wasn’t a goal race, I was really looking forward to getting involved in the front of the race - which is really the most enjoyable part of track racing, where you’re actually competing to win!

The standard in this year’s Masters is very, very high for some races and middling for others. I suspect the 035s will need to run under 15minutes to medal in the 5000m (Tom Fitzpatrick has a pb of 13:58) and possibly 15:40 could be required for the 040s and 045s to get on the podium. Probably under 16:30 or so for the 050s. Obviously, it will depend on conditions and the tactics involved but my gut feeling is that a lot of the road guys are just going to go after it like a road race, which will mean good times in the 5000m.

There’s a guy with a 1:50 pb in the 035s 800m and one of the 035s in the 1500m has run around 8:40 for 3000m in the last couple of years. So, there are some class athletes in the middle distances too.

The 15s at the masters are sometime torturously tactical, farcically even, but I think with so many capable of 4:05-4:10, I was hopeful the 035s would be very honest. There are a few 040s with pbs in or around mine (with definitely at least one a bit faster that I know of) but I would probably be in or around the front.

However, I was less focused on that than the Mile the following Friday in Morton but both could have been chances of a pb, given my current level of fitness (at least up until Saturday!).

There may or may not be any running to update next week.

KSU

With all the talk about not racing I am expecting an epic race report after that run. Well done man great running

Sacksian

KSU wrote: »

With all the talk about not racing I am expecting an epic race report after that run. Well done man great running

Beaten by the better man is the whole report!!

National Masters Championships - 1500m M40 2nd

If I had been taking closer order at the front instead of running most of the race in 4th, it might have been a bit tighter but I went through 700 in about 2:16 and then ran 2:10 for the last 800.

So, it was a really classic tactical 1500m race. We were tripping over ourselves for the first 100m and through to about 400m in, it was very funny but then there were a couple of surges and I think the last two laps were 67s/63s!

Looking at the video, it looks like I was barely moving on the last lap but that's because the guy who won must have closed in 59-60s. He went for it at 500m and I can see from the footage that I didn't think that was "the" move because I was still sort of looking at another guy. And I still didn't think at 300m that the race was over, because I thought he'd come back to me. Of course, he didn't. I didn't realise that my last lap was actually reasonably fast - until I saw the clock on the video - because I was making no inroads on his lead.

It turns out that he ran a sub-2 800m last week so, while I thought the tactical race would suit me, he would have beaten me any which way I ran. The thing about a tactical race is that you have a poor time next to your name but I really enjoyed it, the nip-and-tuck of those races is something different. And given how I felt on Monday when I couldn't even walk properly (at one stage, I thought that I was going to miss the entire winter with another of my unresolvable niggles), it's nice to go home with a silver medal in your pocket!

Here's how the week went, training-wise. About 12 miles?

I was still limping on Tuesday but on Wednesday I ran 6 x 1 min jog (starting at 11min pace working down to 8min pace) with 1 minute walk in between. I realised I would probably need a bit more of a test if I was going to race today so on Thursday I did 8 x 2min off 1min walk and the last rep was 5:35 pace with no feedback. Friday I jogged to the track and did 4 x 100m at 16/17 pace and then on Saturday I did 30mins jog with 6 x 8s Hill Sprints. So, at that stage, I knew I was going to be fine to race. No excuses on that front - I could have run that race a thousand different ways and still lost today!

I also did Yoga with Adriene every night, which made a huge difference. I'm much more proactive with injuries/niggles now so I do as much as I can in terms of stretching my back and all the muscles around the injury - do as much strengthening exercises as I can with the muscles around the injury and that has worked with 3 niggles (knee, achilles and hamstring) this summer.

Mile race next Friday evening where I am expecting a new PB!

Current pb is 4:37.53 which is 4:19 1500m pace. 4:32 is 4:14 1500m pace. At this stage, I'd take anything under 4:37!

IvoryTower

Well done m8

Dubh Geannain

That's super time on the last 800. Congrats again and best of luck in the mile.

Sacksian

Dubh Geannain wrote: »

That's super time on the last 800. Congrats again and best of luck in the mile.

Cheers - looking forward to seeing you out on the track next year!

dna_leri

Well done E. Might not be the time you hoped for but tactical races are always fun.