If... the Unforgiving Minute

I arrived for yesterday's hill session with only a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but it worked out ok. I was trying to get a good hill session, mixing in some longer intervals with shorter faster stuff.

The 2km circuit I used has a good steady uphill with a few flat sections for a total of about a mile followed by a sharp downhill back to the start.

After a good warm-up including drills, I pushed it at around 10K effort to my virtual mile marker in 6:11, jogged slowly down the hill (3 mins), then turned and sprinted back up for about 30s, down again slowly (2 mins) and back around the loop again. Second time around, the mile marker was reached in 6:36 - too slow. Third time was 6:24, one more hill sprint and I knew I had done enough.

One of the great things about running is that you get more in tune with your environment and the seasons. Because I regularly run at the same time in the evening, I can see the sunset times get earlier by about 30 mins each week (I also know because I googled it and checked out www.gaisma.com !). Unfortunately that means my evenings of running the hill trails are over for a while as it will be too dark by 7:30 pm next week for anything other than easy running. So it's now time to adapt with the seasons and find some alternative winter running locations for weekday runs. It's a pity because yesterday I had just noticed the leaves starting to turn that vibrant golden colour in the setting sun.

I am not a morning person with most of my runs in the evenings after work. But with changes in home-life in the offing as well as the darker evenings, I ventured out with new batteries in my head-torch this morning for the first time in a long while. It was just a 4 mile easy run and I was pretty sluggish to start but finished with a 7:05 mile.

I met one car on my 30 min back-roads journey and he was more surprised than me. The misty rain made visibility poor but leaving my contact lenses at home did not help. Mental note made. Cat thought I was mental too. I'll get used to it, so will he. Felt a good buzz mid-morning, hope that does not turn into a mid-afternoon slump later.

Sligo IT 5K - 16:55 - 1st master; 8th overall

Conditions were good for this race, just a slight breeze and there was a good quality turn-out, including some of the best young runners in the region - 4 of those ahead of me were juniors. It took me a while to loosen out on my warm-up, maybe I went too easy this week, but a few quick strides got me ready for the fast start and I was just tailing off the lead group by the 1K mark.

At this stage I was running with a M50 guy I know has been going well this summer but he was struggling a bit with the pace and there were a few targets ahead. My competition for first master (MC) who just beat me here last year said he would be taking it handy in preparation for DCM but I did not believe him. Sure enough by half way I could hear a few spectators shouting out his name. I did not want to look behind but I knew I would have a race, good.

There was a slight hill in the middle and I could feel the effort level rising but I knew it was all flat for the last 2K. I was picking off a few of the lead group as I went along and drew level with another guy with 1K to go. Now I could hear footsteps gain on me and with 500m to go, MC drew level. The race ended with a lap of the track. On the slight slope down, I kicked and with 400 to go I hoped I still had another gear if needed. "Nobody passes me on the track", I reassured myself. In the end I had done enough. I was first master. The guy 3s ahead of me had beaten me by a full minute in a 3-miler a few weeks ago so even though there was no PB it was a good race.

Splits this year were 3:19, 3:24, 3:30, 3:27, 3:15 - very similar to last year but 1s slower and 5s off my PB which was on a nett downhill course. Obviously the PB was lost on the middle kms but I was happy to finish well and get a few quid to add to last week's voucher.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Nice running, you have until end of Oct 2013 to declare those winnings

Obviously I will declare all earnings but first I will deduct all legitimate expenses - entry fees, club membership, travel costs to races, gifts to my family to make up for the time I don't spend with them, running shoes, physio, etc. By the time I am finished they will owe me money, but it's worth a try !

Thursday's plan was 6x 1M at 10K pace (5:48) with 2 min recoveries. Decided to do them on the riverside path that I have been using recently instead of the track. The benefits are no tight turns, flexibility about when I do them. Disadvantages are imprecise measurements, probably harder surface (mostly tarmac) and sharing the path with a few dogs or scallys.

Hard to get the pace right on the first one, which finished in 6' flat. The way back was 5:46, better but it took too much out of me. I decided to run with GPS phone in hand for the next one, because I suspected my "mile" was a bit out. Approaching the "mile marker" my watch said 1.63 km and I still had around 30m to go in 5:36. I rechecked the distance on the way back in a more accurate 5:45, better. The last two were still tough but at least I knew the distance was right. A head wind picked up for the final one, though it might have been on my back for the 5th one and I would not have known as I ticked them both off in 5:47. The adjusted mile average was 5:42 and I had kept the recoveries spot-on at 2 mins.

A bit of stiffness in the knee afterwards but I will come back there for 1K reps in the next few weeks and I have already the 1K distance measured so no messing about next time.

I missed my planned 1K interval session on Thursday due to car problems and family commitments. I squeezed in a 30 min easy run instead in the hail and wind. I also sneaked in an extra early morning run instead of my planned rest day on Friday.

I don't think it makes up for the 1K session but it's good for for the HTFU mind-set. I had been struggling with getting out in the cold for the past few days, putting on more layers than I should need so yesterday's run in the hail shower helped me break the back on that. Reading recent reports here of marathon success based on hard work has also helped.

Back in March-April, I did a few 5x1Ks off 3 mins on the track in 3:17 to 3:20 so I thought 3:20 was a reasonable target for now. This time I was doing them on a relatively straight, flat stretch of path that I measured out recently. The wind was against me for the odd numbered ones, which also had a bit more uphill, but not enough to make a difference, I thought.

Usually I go too hard on the first one, this time I hit it in 3:29 - slow. I tried to pick it up on the way back but still only 3:24. Third one was 3:27. I was wearing my Nike Lunarglides which are getting a bit past their best now so I tried changing into my track flats (Puma Faas 300s), still keeping to the 3 min recovery. I felt I was moving a bit better now in 3:22 and not hitting the road as hard. The final one was 3:26, although I was not out on my feet in the end.

In the past I have done a session where I go out too hard and die later on, in this case I just felt flat throughout. I think there were a few factors. I still had the 300s from Tuesday in my legs and a bit of a twinge in my left knee/hip from single-leg pistol squats I did on Wednesday. I had no company this time, whereas I did for most of the 1Ks earlier in the year. Probably the biggest difference is track v's road. For me the track is always faster - I can check my splits every 200, I get more bounce back, the bends are smoother, and there is not even a speed bump for a hill. Maybe it's not the same for everyone but I definitely prefer the track.

Probably next week I will go back and do this session on the track to compare, just to prove my point. At the moment I am training for the track so that's fine but I must keep it in mind also that when I am planning a road race I need to do my key sessions on the road and not fool myself with track times. Conversely it would also be interesting to do a track 5000m race sometime, just to see if I can post a good time, maybe next summer.

Although it might look like it here, I am not really fretting over one sticky session. My key session this week was Tuesday and the effort was more important than the result on the 1Ks.

I had planned 5x1K on the track this week to repeat my attempt from last week on the road. I never made it to the track and ended up running laps around the pitches while my son trained for football. Weather was fine but the grass was slippery and I had poor grip on my runners so I did laps of the concrete path which has a few tight turns (and my least favourite surface).

I tried to run at a steady pace on the path and then jog back through the car park and go around and round again. After warm-up, I did 13 (I think) laps. I did not time them all. The ones I timed were around 2 mins, with around 45s jog. I measured the loop on my cool-down as 550m and the recovery as 150m. So the faster bits were over 7K at under 6 min/mile and the recovery at about 8 min/mile. Not exactly what I planned but it will do.

I still have not got back to my 5x1K session that I planned last week. This week again I postponed it again and did a Tempo Run on Friday instead. I have not done a tempo in a while so it was probably overdue.

Plan was 3-4 miles at 5:50-6:00. Weather conditions were good but cold and I had my under armour top on for the first time this winter. By the time I was finished I did not need my hat and gloves - not sure if the temperature went up or just mine.

I did the tempo along the Riverside where I did mile intervals a few weeks ago, so I had to turn around after each mile. Split times were 5:49, 6:03, 5:50, 5:53. Not sure what happened on the 2nd one, I must have lost a bit of concentration. Happy enough with an average of 5:54. Now off for my long run.

On Tuesday I planned to repeat last week's 6x600m session but taking the full 4 min recovery and then pushing a bit harder. It was a cold night, the wind was blowing down the back straight - that meant it was on my back for the home straight which I did twice each rep. There was a good crowd at the track which meant a bit of weaving at times but I was doing these on my own.

The times were:
1:52, 1:53, 1:53, 1:52, 1:52, 1:50 for an average 1:52.1 (5 min mile pace).
Reps 2 & 3 were where I did most weaving, so other than the final rep, they were all very consistent.
Unfortunately they were also pretty consistent with last week's efforts. The extra recovery made no difference.
I could make excuses about the weather or the busy track or not having company. My form felt good and a few people mentioned after that I seemed to be running well but to go faster I needed to push harder than I did.

I have to think again about my planned progression on these. Do I stay at 6 reps until I get the pace down or push on with fewer and faster reps as I had planned, but at a slower pace? I think the latter and then try and top it off with speed work closer to race time...

Oregano_State wrote: »

Good session above.

Keeping the pace the same, if you can add on an extra repitition every two weeks or so while gradually bringing the rest time down, you'll be doing very well.

Sessions like that are very draining mentally as well!

Actually my plan for this session was the opposite - increase the speed and recovery time, while reducing the number of reps going from 6x600 [4'] to 5x600 [5'], 4x600 [6'], 3x600 [7'] and ending with 2x600 [8'] at 800m pace by early January.

My Thursday session is more of a VO2 max workout, typically 5x1K at 5K pace. If I am hitting them, I will reduce the rest time down from 3 mins. I will throw in a few tempos and hill sessions also. Sunday is a long run, the rest is all easy/recovery pace. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

Oregano_State wrote: »

That works as well!

Are you racing indoors this season?

I'd like to have a go on the new indoor track in Athlone. AAI games on the 19th January looks likely.

Planning to race indoors, looking forward to Athlone, seems to be on plan.
I think National Masters is on the 19th and AAI games the 20th so I get to try it before you. Make sure you get your dates right or you could end up wheezing with us old boys.

Sunday's long run was the coldest and wettest run I have done this winter. It was not the coldest day or the wettest day but just that horrible combination of the two where cold rain seeps in at every opportunity. I did three hilly laps in about 25 mins each and then needed another short lap to bring it up to the target 90 mins but I underestimated the distance and called it quits at 85 mins. I had not planned any strides after the long run this week so I would not be too tired for Monday's run. By Monday my knee was hurting from a combination of weights on Saturday, the hills on Sunday and being on my knees painting the kitchen in between, so Monday ended up a non-running day anyway.

I went back to 600m reps again on Tuesday. I was tempted to change the plan and try to inject a bit more pace into the legs with something shorter as I feel I have been struggling to get faster on these 600s. The plan had been to have 600s as the key session to build speed endurance but I was beginning to feel that I needed speed before I could do SE. However as I looked back over the past few weeks I realise I should have enough speed for these. Five weeks ago I was doing 200's in sub 35; then 300s in sub 55; then a mixed session including 200's in sub 33. Looking at that convinced me that I need to keep working on the endurance part and hopefully it will come together with faster stuff next year.

Tuesday evening was another cold one with the track wet from heavy rain earlier and a low mist hanging over one corner. I struggled to find the right gear to keep me warm but not be too heavy. I wore my training spikes for the first time since the summer and I was glad of the extra grip they provided with icy patches twinkling on the home straight by the time I finished. My toes got wet in the warm-up and my big toe later got numb with cold, brrr.

Target was 5x600m (1:48) [5 mins]
Actuals 1:49.3, 1:48.8, 1:45.6, 1:50.5, 1:50.0 for an average 1:48.9 and 5:02 for recoveries.

For the third rep, I had a group doing 400's ahead of me to chase and probably went too fast. I knew I would suffer for it on the 4th but expected I could finish strong for the last one. I did not check my splits as I went round on that 5th one but it felt like a 1:45-1:46. I could not believe when I saw another 1:50 - a bad way to finish but still on average 3s faster than last week with fewer reps and longer recovery as planned.

I definitely could benefit from doing these with a group, that was clear from the third rep, but that's not going to happen so I have to just get on with it. The good point is that I had no trouble from my knee during the session and felt ok afterwards.

pconn062 wrote: »

Good work being done at the minute DL, have you a goal race coming up or in mind? I'm guessing with the 600's and 1k repeats you are aiming for a 5k maybe?

Aiming for the masters 800m indoors in Athlone in January. Might run a 5K/mile in preparation but not for a PB. Trying to approach the 800 from the long-to-short direction, see how it works.

Tuesday Track

Back to 600's again yesterday. Last week the track was starting to get icy as I left, this time it was shining before I started. Fortunately I had my spikes. Most of the usual crowd gave up and moved off the track as it was impossible to run fast in flats. The inside lanes were worst so I did my reps in lane 5-6, using the 4x400m start line and the spikes gave me enough grip to keep going.

This time the plan was 3x600m (1:45)[6'].
With using the outside lanes I could not get my 200m splits as I usually do so I was running by feel. The first one felt a bit fast and it was in 1:43.8. I took the full 6 min walk/jog recovery and the 2nd was a slower 1:47.1 but still quicker than most of last week's. I was working for the 3rd in 1:47.9 but felt ready to dig deep for the last. As I started I felt my two calves cramp, I slowed a little and one of them eased but I could not run them both off so I pulled up before 100m. After a cool down, they were all ok.

Maybe it was the cold, maybe I was running on my toes too much to get better grip, maybe it was the lack of speedwork in recent weeks. Whatever it was I was a bit p1ssed not to finish the session, fortunately it does not happen too often.

Back in June on a warmer evening I did 4x600m in under 1:42 off 8 mins so when I set up this 600m progression, I thought they were possible. Realistically I have not hit any of them as planned. I was definitely in better shape then, doing lots of sets of 200s in around 30s and 10x400s in 72s. For this indoors build up I was trying to get stronger rather than faster with tempos and 1K reps but maybe the faster stuff just suits me better. The weather is a factor here too - it's definitely harder to run fast in the cold. I'm not going to change anything now and I will hold my judgement until later.