If... the Unforgiving Minute

Plan for Thursday was 10x100m at 400m pace (around 14s) with 100m walk/jog recovery.

Despite the crappiest few days at work, a wet track and a twinge in my knee, I actually felt in good shape as I warmed up on my own on the track. The wind had died down a little and I even felt a slight bounce in my step.

I decided to do these on the bends as practice for indoors, although good and all as the track is in Athlone the bends are still tighter. I practiced leaning into the bend (tilt the head with chin pointing down), hugging the inside line while still keeping upright.

The times were:
14.2, 13.4, 14.0, 13.8, 14.1,
14.1, 14.2, 13.8, 14.0, 13.5

I can see now the times were slightly faster every 2nd one. I think the wind was more with me for those but also I did rolling starts here and standing starts every other one. The average pace was 13.9s (55.6s 400m equivalent) and recoveries 63s.

That went better than I expected, maybe things are starting to come together.

ecoli wrote: »

A solid session man there is definitely a fast few 800s in you this year with consistent high quality training you put in man

How do you find these sort of sessions in therms of lactic accumulation?

TBH there was very little lactic accumulation on this session, which was really the intention - only finding it on the last 1 or 2. So just getting the legs used to moving faster ahead of indoor meet in just over a week.

I should have said, I started with 4x 40-50m sprints first with full recovery, trying to hit top speed so in terms of energy system these were ATP/CP and the 100's just dipping into the anaerobic lactic power.

Last year I would have done more of this speedwork but I am interested to see if I can leave it late and build on the strength, at least for the indoor season, which is really only a couple of races.

RandyMann wrote: »

I take sodium bicarbonate in the form of berocca to help with the lactic as most of my sessions would be dipping into anaerobic power. I think it helps but the main reason is to get the B vitamins into me.

Are you tapering down now? Looking forward to next Saturday? You will really enjoy it, a very comfortable track and environment to run in.

I did not know Berocca had sodium bicarbonate, I take the Berocca boost occasionally, mostly for the caffeine (Guarana) but there is no sodium bicarbonate listed in the ingredients. I have heard of the benefits of sodium bicarbonate in lactate buffering but have not tried it - I'm a bit cautious about the effects on the stomach of baking soda.

I am not sure how much help it is for a sprint races either. This article suggests its a help for 400m-1500m runners? http://www.brianmac.co.uk/lactic.htm
Do you take caffeine for competition?

I am trying to taper/peak this week and definitely looking forward to racing again. I would have liked to race there in advance but could not make it happen. I'd say you will go well. Do the indoor distances suit you or are you best at 100m?

Was not sure what to do with my long run on Sunday anyway. I felt a bit off-form - nothing specific just lacking in energy so I decided to keep it short and only did 10K. I broke it up with a set of drills and sprints of 60m, 100, 120m, 100m, 60m - not flat out but fast, along an old favourite piece of flat trail. I felt fine once I was out there. I then did 5 pick-ups of about 100m during the second lap - good practice at changing pace and stride mechanics but more keeping things ticking over than anything else.

Tuesday's plan was 3x3x200m (31")[200m,7'] - so 3 sets of 3x 200's at around target race pace with 200m jog recovery and 7 mins between sets. Idea was to get tuned in to the pace without getting fatigued. It was very windy at the track but I had it more with me than against me. With the gusts, the times ended up being very inconsistent. I also increased the recovery time after the first set going from a jog to a walk. First set was in flats and next two in training spikes.

Times and recoveries were as follows:

0:29.8 - 1:06.6
0:32.8 - 1:10.7
0:31.9 - 6:00.2

0:29.8 - 1:58.6
0:29.9 - 2:01.3
0:31.3 - 6:55.8

0:31.2 - 1:59.4
0:31.6 - 1:58.5
0:31.4 - 7:30.6

Average time was 31.1s which gives an 800m of 2:04.3, though the pace felt a bit tougher than it should. One more easy session on Thursday as I wind down towards Saturday.

2:05.29 1st place. Beer now report later.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Well done! Great time too. A little disappointed that the photo wasn't a picture of beer though.

Fixed that !

This should be an epic race report but the key part of it was a bit of a blurr so this is almost everything except the running.

First the venue. Despite a few imperfections as discussed in another thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056871997 the best reaction to Athlone Indoor Arena is WOW - photo in this post if you are not sick of them by now. The track is seriously fast. Someone asked me afterwards did it feel hard or was there a good bounce. When I thought about it the answer was neither - it has the perfect blend.

In the run up to the race I had 3 targets in mind:
1. Win the race (M45 800m National Masters Indoors)
2. Run an 800m PB (2:07.05) - my indoor PB of 2:12 was always going to go
3. Get an age-group indoor record (2:05.03)

I had only mentioned the 3rd one to my family (my #1 supporters). The record is held by Joe Gough who now holds the 800m record for M45, M50, M55 & M60. The M45 one is probably the easiest (as he admitted to me yesterday), but it has still stood for 15 years so was not going to be easy. However if I was ever to get an AG record, this was a great chance - decent shape, no injuries (touch wood), great facility and within the next couple of years there are a couple of guys coming through that will take that time - not least Tony Kelleher who ran 2:02 yesterday.

I checked the entry list after registering. The guy (Cathal) who ran me close in Tullamore outdoor masters last year was there as was the guy (Patrick) who has won the 400m for the last few years, stepping up for the first time - serious competition. The whole event is very friendly and I met loads of people from previous events, including RandyMan who ran 2 impressive races and sets high standards for himself! As I had plenty of time before race start, I sought out the competition. Cathal told me he would pass on the 800m and focus on the 1500m which he went on to win in style. Patrick confided he was focusing on the 400m (he was beaten to 2nd place) and would use the 800m as a training and only drive hard on the last lap. That set my tactics straight - take it out early and push for time.

Warm-up went well but the waiting around was a killer. At one point I just lay down on the infield and closed my eyes - I was not trying to psyche anyone out, honestly - just my way of keeping the stress levels under control. Finally V3 category was called. With 9 or 10 in the race, I shared a lane with the 400m man for the first bend. Beep and we're off. Get out quick so we don't bump. Break at the cones, cut across into the lead. On the 2nd bend I heard the clatter of someone hitting the inner rail. Man or men went down, glad I was out of the way.

First lap was 31s - no clock but man calling times was club coach, reliable. Kept it going. Could hear the footsteps behind but not the breathing, probably a meter or two. His coach called out to him on the back straight, "keep it going Robbie, stick with him". Maybe he's struggling. Second lap another 31s, "5m lead", my coach called out. Sound. I knew this was the lap to lose it - 33s I heard afterwards. I could hear nothing more but I'm sure they rang the bell. Last lap - this is the lap to win. I'm going well on the bends, kick into the first one, hang on down the back straight, lean into the last bend, drive down the finish, push, push, push, win, fall.

I could barely talk but managed "What's the time?" At least 4 different hand times had me under 2:05 - three of them by my club coaches - 2:04.6, 2:04.8, 2:04.9 and 2:05.02 according to Ray Flynn (the HP Chair & walker, not the runner and agent). I knew only the electronic time could decide and that magical 0.24 added to hand-times proved prophetic for Ray's time. 30 mins later I found out the actual was 2:05.29 - less than 0.3s outside the record. For half an hour I almost had it and it got tweeted and posted to facebook - so it must be official, right?

I was scarcely disappointed - I won, I got a 2s PB on an indoor track in my first race of the season and I know 2:04.xx is within reach. If I can stay healthy I will give it another go, probably at the Connacht Indoors in early March or at a graded event which I hear is planned for Athlone the week after National Seniors - check it out for anyone interested in running on a world-class indoor track.

Later they announced a 4x200m relay event would be held at the end. With the dodgy PA system I guess most did not hear it (add that to the snag list) so only 3 teams registered, including our team of 800mm, 1500m and 2 x 3000m runners. Although I had a few hours and some food, I had not fully recovered but felt up to a good 200m. Since I knew how to use blocks I led off. I was in lane 4 and we broke after the first bend. I cut across in the lead, maybe slightly breaking the stride of the Templemore guy inside me - an M35 800m runner. At the hand-off I had a lead of almost 5m. We held it through the 2nd and 3rd legs but our 1500m guy was up against a real sprinter and was never going to win but second was a good result. The templemore guy behind me was clocked at mid 26s so I guess I was close to 25s. It was a good finish to a long day and the silver medals went down well. A few pints would have been perfect but we went separate way to sup our beers at home.

My recovery after Saturday's races was a lot slower than usual. There were probably a few reasons for this - I ran faster than I have in a while but also my cool down was awful. Our relay was the last event and after running a fast 200m, we were shoved out the door. I did not get to do even a short jog, before getting into the car and driving for an hour and a half. Sunday was a write-off - I was a vegetable for most of the day - my knee hurt, my lower back ached and my leg muscles complained when I moved. By Monday I felt like it was the day after a hard session, instead of two days, but at least I could move so I kept it easy. But by Wednesday morning I was chomping at the bit to get going again, running easy miles in 6:30-6:45.

I am never sure what kind of sessions to do during competition season. I don't want to do anything that tires me out too much but still I want to get a good workout done. I had planned a session of 5x1Ks but realised that was the wrong plan and changed. Instead I did 3 sets of 3x400m at 5K pace (1:20) with short recovery and 3x60m sprints in between sets.

The first set of 400s was: 1:19.7, 1:19.8, 1:18.5 with averaged 29s recovery in between.
I did not time the sprints but focused on relaxed but fast with walk back recovery.
Doing the sprints made it hard to hold back on the next set which were quicker in 1:15.5, 1:17.4, 1:16.8
This time the recoveries moved out to just under 40s.
Another set of sprints and the final set of 400s was 1:15.1, 1:17.2, 1:16.4 with just over 40s recovery.
The last set of 60s took some effort and I timed the last one at 8.3s which was good enough.

Overall a good session that mixed speed and strength leaving me tired but not drained.

I have decided to run another 800m on Saturday to try again to break 2:05 indoors so I adjusted my plan to fit in - the new plan was 3x3x200m (31s).
I kept the flats on and started with a 100m in 15.5s to tune into the pace.

After that I was surprised how consistently I held it.
First set was 31.0, 31.0, 30.9 with just over 1 min recovery and 4 mins after the set.
Second set was 29.8, 31.0, 31.8 off 1.5 mins and 4.5 mins.
Then finished with 31.6, 31.1, 30.8, again with 1.5 min recovery.
Nicely.

I did the same session two weeks ago with up to 2 min & 7 min recoveries so this felt good.