Not Quite Four Laps

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Best of luck, in you know what.
Remember, re-engage at the start of the second bend, and don't give up on the final straight. It's worth the 10 seconds of pain. Go do it...

Thanks KC, the specific training I had hoped to get in went a bit amiss but hopefully my consistent running lately will lead to a better time at least. I'm really going to go for it this time. If I slow down dramatically for the last 100m, so be it. Pity about the timing of your trip to America. I think the 10 round numbers title is safe for this year anyway. Next year when we're even faster (it's hard to believe I know) we'll have a right old competition.

pconn062 wrote: »

I've been told the following about 400m running from a 50 second runner:

1st 100m: Position
2nd 100m: Relaxation
3rd 100m: Concentration
4th 100m: Time to suffer!

Good luck, as Krusty says, the 2nd bend is important!

Cheers for the advice PConn. That's in line with what most of the experts seem to say about the subject. They don't tell you how relaxed is relaxed though:D. My start last time was very poor so that's one thing I definitely hope to improve on. Suffering for the last 100m is a given.

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Cracking time in the 800m. Did you miss the real event?!

Thanks KC. I was delighted with the 800. I made the 400 but there was a bit of an issue with registration so I ran the 'B' category race. I handed in a registration form but forgot to fill out the race sheet. I'll e-mail them later and see if I can get my time. I was a very distant last, as you can imagine. I thought i had done worse than the last time. I completely tied up in the last 100m and seeing the rest of them sprint away in front of me wasn't great motivation to push it out to the end. One of the Crusaders coaches said she timed me at ~60s, so maybe I did better than i originally thought. It was certainly a lot tougher than the last time. I'm glad there's no more this year to be honest. It's not my strength and I was so out of my depth having to run in the 'B' Category. Came first in the 800 'D', so that finished up the night on a positive note. Really enjoyed that race too.

belcarra wrote: »

You just needed a few hills thrown in and you'd be sorted!:D

Those last 100m felt like running up the steepest hill you can imagine;)

Monday

5 miles @ 7.41/mile

Just an easy lunchtime run in the sun

Tuesday

Rest

Day off ahead of the track races

Wednesday

400m(60.57), 800m(2.11.02)

Bad start to this. I left work 15 minutes early to make sure I'd be there in plenty time to register, which I was. I signed up for the 2 races and still had plenty of time left so I relaxed on the steps with some people for the club and made my way inside to the arm up area with 15 minutes left. In retrospect, I think I should have done a longer warm up because I felt a lot looser for the 800m.

Anyway, I went out to the track and they were calling out the strarters. I wasn't in the first of the two 'C' 400m races so I relaxed, watched the race and the got mentally ready for my own. I didn't hear my name called out for the second race so I asked the organiser and he ran inside to check. Stupidly enough, I hadn't put my name down on the race sheet so couldn't run in the 'C' race. There were lanes left in the 'B' race so he said I could run in this. I knew I would be out of my depth in this but I was just here for the time so I reluctantly agreed. One of the proper 400m runners at the club gave me some advice on the blocks and our coach came over to help me too. After two or three practice attempts, I was getting out a lot better.

We were called to our blocks, 'On your marks', GUN and we were off. I started way better than last time but was being overtaken shortly enough. I gave it my all until just after the bend and then I relaxed a little bit. The quality of field made it seem like I was going really slow but I just focussed on my own race. At the bend I re-engaged and it was flat out to the finish. With 100m to go, my legs were giving up and my form was gone. It felt like I had never run so slow in my life. My competitors (if you could call them that) were finishing already so I was a little demoralised. I just tried to put one foot in front of the other but I slowed down with a few metres to go and eased up before the line. I'm normally good at running through the line but I was frigged. My immediate reaction was that I had run slower than last time but when I got my result (2 days later), I was delighted with a 2.5 second improvement. I'd love to give it another go this summer but I don't think there's anything else at my level. Next year.

There was a good 2 hour gap to the 800m race and my motivation was low after what I thought was a poor performance in the 400. I thought about giving it a miss but I'd already said to clubmates I was running in both races so my reputation was on the line. I was in the 'D' grade in this race so at least it was unlikely I would take a hammering. I was in the first race here and lined up in lane 4. On the gun, I took it out easy enough but was in the lead when we converged at the far side. I was still leading on the home straight and shocked when I saw 65 on the clock because I felt comfortable. I upped the effort a little but was probably just maintaining pace. On the final bend, another runner made a burst to go by. He tried to kick on but I stuck with him and was determined to get round him on the straight. When we came off the bend, I gritted the teeth and gave it everything I had. I got by him and it was max effort all the way to the line where I just about managed to hold the 1 yard gap. It was a brilliant feeling crossing the line in first place. Probably the most enjoyable race I have ever run. Will have to give a few more of these a go.

Thursday

6 miles @ 6.58/mile

Nice progressive run down in Clontarf. Goes without saying that it was very hot.

Friday

13 miles @ 6.59/mile

My first ever run in to work and despite the early start, I really enjoyed this one. The weather at 6 in the morning is ideal and the pace was naturally picking up as I went along.

Saturday

Clontarf Half Pacing 1.29.49

I ran the mile down to the start line and was already sweating so I knew this was going to be a lot tougher than I'd anticipated. Met all the other Boardsies doing the pacing beforehand and everyone was in a relaxed mood, which suited the general mood round the place. The DJ was constantly cavorting the lads to do their business behind the cubicles. As if they needed to be persuaded. Myself and BeepBeep lined up near the front and straight from the hooter we were on to our pace very quickly. My balloon lasted for the first two miles so that's one up on Kildare anyway. One of the lads running with us had been down in Kildare too and we chatted away for the first half the race. Like everyone I spoke to, he didn't too quite as well as he had hoped. He finished well ahead of me last day but came in a small bit after on the Saturday. BeepBeep had ab issue with his knee after 8 or 9 miles so I was on my own to the end. We still had a good group at this stage but coming of Bull Island, I lost most of them. The soft sand was very tough to run through at the entrance to the beach and coupled with the heat it made tough conditions to race. I picked up two lads coming back on to Clontarf Promenade and managed to bring these to the line, so I was happy with this. Knocked back three bottles of water after crossing the line, just glad that I wasn't racing on a day like that.

Sunday and Monday

Rest

Not really planned but it was just difficult to squeeze in a run

Tuesday

30 minutes steady

I forgot my watch so when the marathon group at the club were doing a fartlek session, I just did a steady run instead. Started off easy but most of it was at ~6 minute pace or possibly a little under. Haven't done a steady fast paced run in a while so it was good to get back to this.

Wednesday & Thursday

no running

Friday

13 miles @ 6.52/mile

Another early morning run in to work. Great to get so many miles under the belt by half seven in the morning. Might up this to two times a week and see how that goes.

Saturday

Off

Sunday

Fingal 10k in 34.25:D

Hadn't initially intended on running this but it was only a tenner on top of the 10 mile entry fee so it would have been silly not to. Plan was to run it as a tempo run. I hadn't been running very consistently lately so I was afraid of what might happen if I went all out for this.

Cycled out to Swords and was glad of the relatively cool weather. It was six or seven degrees warmer at the same time the day before. Met up with a couple of the clubmates as they were finishing their warm up. I let smmoore and one of the other lads up to the top and took my place a fair bit back to avoid the temptation to get in to any sort of race. Pace was easy going off but I couldn't just sit in and begun working my way from group to group. First mile was 5.43 and the second one was 5.24:eek:. I was shocked when I saw this because the pace felt easy going. At this stage I knew I was racing to the end.

The course was a huge improvement from the previous year and I was really enjoying running out on the country roads. I was consistently working through the field and halfway was reached in 17.20. I was still feeling good and it wasn't until 8k when I felt that I was working really hard for the first time. One of the coaches at the club seems to position himself at the most opportune points in races and a bit of encouragement from him here helped me keep the pace up. Normally the last mile seems to go on forever but I was shocked when I turned a corner and suddenly the finish line was only a few hundred metres away. I had just passed a guy in a red singlet and he made a move to go past again but I upped the pace and thought I had moved away from him. Then with 100m to go, he comes flying by my shoulder . I have to dig really deep but I start to reel him in. With 50m to go we are shoulder to shoulder. The crowd were really getting in to it and this was spurring us both on. It was almost comic the way we were switching the lead over and back. With 10 metres to go, I just edged ahead and thought I had the beating of them but he responded and was inches ahead as we crossed the line. I was buggered. Garmin shows the last 10-15 second at 4 minute mile pace so we were moving just as fast as it felt as the time. Best finish to a race so far. Pity I finished up on the wrong end of it.

Almost beat my PB from Dunshaughlin, which was a huge shock. Time texted to me was 34.21 but I knew this was wrong and the time on the website of 34.25 tallied better with what I had on the watch. Great atmosphere in the after race area and some sterling performances from the all boardsies as per usual. Great race and whoever came up with the route change gets my heartfelt thanks.

blockic wrote: »

Fantastic run and time KU, maybe you should run all your races a tempo pace!

At the start of every marathon, I'm thinking 'This is just an extra long tempo run':p

Thursday

Off

Friday

7 miles @ 7.05/mile

Commute in to work but I had very little energy so ended up getting the bus from Blackrock to Bray. Missed my dinner on the previous evening due to having a massive lunch so that might have had something to do with it.

Saturday and Sunday

Off

Monday

6 miles @ 6.38/mile

I was about to have another day off but after a sizeable Indian for dinner I headed out in the last bit of sunlight. My stomach was cramping badly at halfway but it didn't last too long and I felt decent enough towards the end again.

Tuesday

w/u, 3k Time Trial (9.30), w/d

Last Tuesday of the month so that meant 3k time trial at the club. Did the warm up with smmoore but he didn't run the 3k, probably with the half at the weekend. That was one place made straight away at least:p.

I started out wide on the track and was heading first to the corner before I decided to ease off and let someone else dictate the pace. Last time I ran this race, I lead at the first corner but dropped out after four laps so I didn't want to make the same mistake twice. I settled in to a group of about six and the pace felt quite easy for the first lap. I noticed four of the lads were opening up a bit of a gap towards the end of the first lap so I upped the a bit to tag on to the end of this group. For the the next three laps, I basically hung on the shoulder of fourth place as we were going at a decent pace. At the end of the fourth lap, I went round and started moving away. After that, I tried to run each of the last three laps quicker than the previous. This allowed me to get just behind the leader with 300 to go. In an attempt to intimidate, I bombed past him and hoped this would deter him from making a move to follow. It seemed to work and it was flat out to the end for a surprise victory:D. Delighted with this one and another really enjoyable race on the track.

smmoore79 wrote: »

Great result KU! Me and Murph headed to the park and had a tenner bet on who'd win. He said Alban(not sure if ya know him, he was 2nd after 1 lap, bushy black hair) and I said John Carter(blond lad from Newcastle with Cru top, 1st after a lap I think). Alban was right behind me on that BHAA 5k so ya did well pipping him as he's on serious form right now. And John has run 1 10 half marathons in the past but is building back up to that level again. Nice scalps

I thought John Tony Carter would take the win alright. I was well back after 3 laps so I was delighted to make good ground over the last mile of the race. Since you both lost, you can each give me the tenner as penance for your evil gambling ways.

Wednesday

15 miles @ 7.25/mile

This was definitely a bit much after the 3k race yesterday although I didn't feel as wiped as on a similar run on the Friday. I had decided earlier in the week that this would be the best opportunity to get in a run home after work and stubbornly stuck to my plan. Going to be more flexible in future and make sure not to do two tough runs, two days in a row.

Clearlier wrote: »

Back to back hard days aren't necessarily a bad idea. You do need to give yourself all the recovery time though so if your normal plan would have had an easy day after each of the hard runs then give yourself two easy days now.

Nice 3k by the way. I like the way you thought your way through the race.

I would agree with you there. I have included long runs the day after races in marathon plans before and I think there is some benefit. It was more so that my legs felt a bit battered after the 3k and with no major races on the horizon it wasn't really worth the risk.

Sunday

8 miles @ 6.45/mi

The last time I ran this route was at the end of a 24 mile run I did before London. At the time, I thought it was my tired legs that made it seem so difficult but it's actually a tough route with a fairly steady climb between 1 and 3 miles. The weather today was ideal though. The cloudy muginess of the previous few days replaced with gentle sunshine. Hopefully all this hill running will stand to me.

Contemplating either running the 800m or the 3000m in the graded meets on Wednesday. I really enjoyed the 800m last time out but the 3000m would definitely be more to my strength. I'm edging towards the 3k.

Alright RK, I wouldn't say there was any great logic to the training I did. I got a lot of advice off RFR and both of us like to keep it simple. I think a lot of it is about finding the right balance between the sessions you do. I wouldn't go all out on the Tuesday interval session so I'd be able to hit the marathon paced run on the Thursday. I'd go pretty hard on this session and they were always very tough but I had enough time to recover for the long run on the Sunday.

(1) you do your MP runs mid week during MLR rather than on LR's - any reason for this?? (I know Meno does same)
For me, a lot of the reason I separated the MP run and the long run was for practicality. I didn't have a GPS watch at the time so I had to time myself on set routes. It wouldn't have worked for me to put in some MP miles half way through a long run (I could only work out the average pace over the whole run). I ran these every week though and I think that was the important thing. Adding on a mile each week made it easier to approach psychologically. Each run was 'only' a mile longer than what I'd already done. If you do plan on putting these in your plan, I reckon an important consideration is finding somewhere, where you won't have to stop. These are the most specific sessions that will tell you how you're going to feel after 15-20 miles in the race proper so you don't want to have to stop for traffic or some such

(2) You mentioned last year that your 1600 intervals were an important workout for you in your 2:48 last year @DCM - as you weren't in a club then, was this just taking the place of a fast club session - or was there something with the 1600m rep distance that you targeted due to a specific weakness?
I think these were of a big benefit to me at the time. I felt I was running a lot more relaxed on my other runs after these and my form came on leaps and bounds. I enjoy running on the track and it brought good variation in to the week. It can be hard heading out every evening to run at roughly the same pace. I chose the 1600m repeats because I thought this would be most specific to the marathon. I'd probably have dome them a little slower with shorter recoveries if I were to go back again. Three minutes was a bit much in retrospect

My main advice would be to set a challenging target. If you can run 7-8 miles at that pace in training now then you won't be too far off on the day. Best of luck with it. I might pace out the first few miles off it with you on the day before you bound off up the road;).