If... the Unforgiving Minute

Keeping it easy this week until all the aches and pains have fully subsided. HR seemed to be fully recovered for an easy 10K last night once my body got accustomed to moving again. Will have to do some more stretching to ease out some other niggles I have got.

Plan is for an 8K race in Sligo on Sept 17, then a 10K early Oct and hopefully a 5K at the end of October. Target will be to PB in all of them, so I need to be in good shape and ready to run fast.

There are a few temptations before then - a 3 mile race this weekend in Sligo and a 5K next week in Boyle. Either would be good to sharpen up with but better avoided if I am not ready.

ManFromAtlantis wrote: »

have been looking around for a poss pb 10km early oct myself. have you any 'nice' ones in mind? i know teh galway bay 10km is flat but teh thoughts of heading into a 'morethanlikely' seabreeze even if its only for half teh race doesnt sound great.

I am doing the 10K in Grange (North Sligo) on Oct 02 which I ran 3 years ago for a PB, although its a bit hilly. Probably a bit far out of your way though.

Yesterday evening the rain was bucketing down with a wind blowing it almost horizontal. I had a track session planned but I just could not face the thought of running around the track on my own in those conditions so I did a swap with my Thursday session 6x1 mile @ 6 min pace.

I did this about four weeks ago and averaged 5:50, not quite as good this time (average 5:52) but in the conditions, good enough. Although the trail was wet and sloppy in places, there was some shelter from the heavy rain but its never as bad once you are out there anyway.

The first one (as usual) was too fast 5:40. On the way back the wind was more in my face and I slowed to 5:56, followed by a 5:47 and 6:00 where the wind really gusted up almost stopping me. I held 5:46 for the next one and put in a big effort for the final mile but came up short at 6:01.

Track session has to be done Thursday now, come wind or rain.

Seres wrote: »

Very hard to aim for consistency in weather conditions like yesterday . Heres hoping for a calm day thursday too , have a massive tempo to get thru , the final toughie !

Good luck with that key session, sorry I was no help getting you support, everyone seems to be doing their own thing.

I was glad I had postponed my track session from Tuesday - on Thursday conditions were perfect: dry, calm and mild.

After a good warm-up I did a 6-min time trial. Plan was to run at least 1800m so that was 40s for each 200m. Gained a few seconds on the first lap, then held it as I tired in those middle laps. Hit the mile at 5:15 finishing the 6 mins at 1840m. Not bad after my 6x mile workout 2 days ago and it's a marker that I hopefully can improve on next time.

After a good recovery, I finished with 2x200m in under 32s with 2:30 jog in between.
It's been a while since I ran that fast, still feeling the buzz the day after.

My foot felt better walking around yesterday so I decided to go ahead with my run but stayed away from the track and went on the more forgiving trail. As I warmed up I could feel some pain that came and went during the run but never enough to make me want to stop or turn back.

Main part of the workout was repeats of 30 secs at just over mile pace (154m to be precise) followed by half that distance as recovery in 30 secs. First time to do this session, worked out ok - an easily tolerated way of doing speed work.
Did 20 repeats which is just over 3K at about mile pace and same at half that pace.

Iced the foot afterwards, still not sure what exactly the problem is. So far I am still planning to race on Saturday but will test the foot out again Thursday in my racing flats to see how it stands up

This was always going to be a PB, barring injury as my previous 34:12 was set in 2008. I decided before the race not to focus on times too much as the weather conditions were awful and a strong wind in the home straight of this out and back course along the Rosses Point promenade were not encouraging for fast times. I picked out 3 clubmates on the start line to follow who finished close together a minute ahead of me in my last 10K.

The winner Emmett Dunleavy went out at his usual pace and was unchallenged finishing in 24:40. A sizeable group followed behind, including my three targets and as one of them tailed off over the first km I tagged along with him and few others as I went through 1K in 3:26 - a bit quick but that was fine. The next km included a sharp downhill to stretch out on, in 3:23. My first target dropped back at this point and I could see the field lengthen out ahead up the long gentle incline.

I worked a bit to join up with a guy in a bright green vest and we ran together for the next few kms in 3:39 & 3:34. Just before the turn-around point he said something to me about working together on the way back into the wind, I acknowledged and said something about trying to catch the guy ahead too - he was my second target. The wind was in our faces now but by the 5K mark we were catching the guy ahead - he was struggling more with the wind on his own and I know he has been putting in the miles recently for the marathon and probably feeling the effects in his legs. That km was 3:38, giving me 17:43 for 5K, 19s ahead of my PB. I knew something good could be on the cards now.

I tried to do my share into the wind for the next km but I must have been slowing as my green vest co-runner, pushed past again. That was my slowest km in 3:43 but we still gained on the next guy ahead - an experienced M50 runner. I pulled away from the two of them at the start of the home stretch along the prom missing the 7K marker around this point.

My sights were now on my third quarry, who I thought was the 2nd M40 in the race (he usually is 1st or 2nd in local races). He was about 40m ahead. I surged and relaxed, then surged again, closing the gap each time. He did not hear me coming and about 100m out from the finish there was no one to warn him. I went by at full pelt, up on my toes, sprinting motion. I don't know if he tried to respond but I was not going to be caught.

I stopped my watch at 28:30, but for once the official chip time was better at 28:25, so I will take that. My last 2K was 7:04, I wish I had got a time on my last K. I finished as 3rd M40, 9th overall - 1st and 2nd in my category were a full minute ahead in 4th and 5th overall, so no prizes this time. I was pleased to have beaten a few guys that were previously out of my sight at the finish but you never know what shape any one else is in so I was more delighted with my time.

After my Warriors Run, I hoped I had some good times left in me at these shorter distances but this was better than I even dreamed of - an 8K PB by 5:45, an unofficial 5K PB on the way, a real break-through race, hopefully not a flash-in-the-pan. I did a quick check on McMillan for equivalents and this gives me new targets of 17:14 for the 5K, 28:34 for 5 mile and 35:49 for 10K. The "big 8" target is based on a 5 mile time which I will not get to do this year but for the sake of 50m more, I am including this 8K result at least for myself. I have a 10K in two weeks time and while I am not counting my chickens, my 39:04 PB looks beatable - if I could string together 2x 4.5 min Ks at the end of this 8K time, I'd be at 37:30 ! I will finish the season with a 5K, not sure which one yet but there are a few to choose from.

The rain came down in buckets just after I finished, so although I stayed around the finish only a while, I got soaked through. That led to no real cool down run and combined with the fast finish left me with some fierce calf cramps that night, but fortunately no other after effects.

PS. After writing this report offline, I wondered if maybe the course was short. I did not hear any of the GPS wearers mention it and it was run previously over the same course, and was organised by the local AC with AAI permit but you never know. I had some doubts given my time so I checked it out on Mapmyrun and measured it at 7.94 KM. My positioning of start and finish lines could be out by a few meters and given that mapmyrun is not 100% accurate either, it is probably right or at least close enough.

As I am racing every second week, I am keeping the training fairly light - just easy runs mixed with some speed work to keep sharp. Nothing remarkable for yesterday - 12.5 km in just under an hour.

However I realised it's 4 years since I started back running. On Sept 20, 2007 a fat (over 80 Kg) 40 year old ran a mile to the local church; 8 mins later he took a walk break and then ran back home. It had been nearly a year before that, since he had ran previously, when he managed 6 runs in all of 2006. THe 20 years before that had been all pretty similar. During the next few months after that church run, he managed between 1 and 4 runs a week, peaking at 12 miles a week with a 5 mile long run. His first race 3 months later was a 23 min 5K.

Since then I have run 55 races and lost over 15 Kgs and I have made running part of my life. In that context a 12.5 km easy run was remarkable enough.

Seres wrote: »

thats a pretty massive life style change , well done . Was there anything in particular that motivated you to start/continue ?

THere was a photo of me sitting on a wall on holiday in Italy where I resembled the Michelin man that triggered me - just one pizza too many. After that I just got addicted like most people here.

Long run yesterday felt good.

First 6.25K loop in 27:10 (4:21 /km = 7 min /mile pace)
Second loop in 26:43, and as a bonus found a new trail that links two previous dead-ends - will have to measure the new distance later in the week on an easy run.
Third lap was a bit quicker but still comfortable at 26:04 (4:10 /km pace).
Total about 20K.

With races every second week, I am not sure what sessions I should be doing. I want to do something that keeps me ticking over, maybe activates my fast-twitch fibres without tiring me out too much. Answers on a postcard please.

Seres - I did the Grange 10K 3 years ago and I remember it being mostly flat with a few long drags and a nice bit of a downhill at the finish before a final lap of the track.

I tried to map it from memory and this is close enough - shows a slow gain up to 50m then back down over the final 2K.

Should be good for a PB, so I'll probably just go for it too. See you there. Must go and enter on runireland now.