Playing the Numbers game: Sub 5;10;17;36;60;80

Sunday 3rd April: County Road Championship 5k

Today was going to be a big day between the run and an important league match for Cavan and to be honest all week I was more nervous about the match than the running! :pac:

Thankfully the run was nice and early which would leave me with enough time to get home, showered and into the match.

I got up nice and early, had the porridge and headed over to the run. First bad news was that we didn't have a team for Senior or masters V1. There was also some talk of a few of us moving down to senior for the day to make a team but in the end the decision was taken not to do that. I was relieved as I really didn't fancy a 10k on this route. The 10k is two laps of the 5k route and was full of hills with 3 big hills one after the other over the last 2k in particular that really zap the legs after the other drags on the course. The road was very wet in parts too which didn't help. But that was all minor compared to the head wind on the exposed parts of the route. :eek:

To put it mildly I wasn't feeling the love for this at all but with no team it took the pressure off me and I was fairly relaxed lining up for the start. There was a decent crowd of about 30 runners lined up with V1 and V3 running together. We had to wait to let the 10k runners off before we started which would give something to chase over the first few kms.

While I was lining up I decided to follow a guy who I have never beaten but have been gradually getting closer to over the last few races and see could if I hang on to him. Part of my thinking was that I hadn't raced a 5k in a long time so it would be good to see how my mental toughness in hard races would be.

Got off to a good start and tailed on to the lead group of 5 runners (which included my target). The start was downhill so I just went with it. Was a wee bit alarmed when I had a quick glance of the watch as the road leveled off to see 3:15 pace but decided to stick with the plan. Watch beeped for 3:34 at 1st km and was happy enough with that and was still tucked in nicely at the back of the group knowing the first tough hill was coming. The hardest thing about this hill was not that it was steep (which it was) but it was very wet and muddy (one of those Cavan roads with grass in the middle) and it had a sharp bend which brought us on to a main road and into the wind.

Halfway up the hill the group started to go into single file as people found the best path up it. I reacted late and was suddenly 6th and falling behind. As we rounded the bend I decided to take the non racing line and passed the guy ahead of me who was fading on the hill. Once we turned into the wind I could see that the group had spread out and my target guy was third and chasing down the leading two. I was feeling uncomfortable after the hill and had to fight with myself to follow my target guy. The legs were saying there would be other days to catch him! Thankfully I won the mental battle with myself and chased down 4th and got him shortly after 2km. 3:54

Was now only about 20metres behind my target guy who was now third and again fought the mental battle with myself not to take the easy option of just keeping him in sight. I reasoned that if I caught up and tucked in behind him I could get some respite from the wind, which was directly into my face now, and preserve some energy for the hills ahead. I managed to tuck in behind my target and after 200metres behind him I realised he was probably struggling worse than me and 2nd and first were pulling well away from us so made the call to pick the pace up on the next hill. This worked a charm and as we started on the three hills I glanced back and saw that I was putting some distance between us and I was gaining on 2nd place who was about 20 metres ahead of me.

The hills though really started zapping my legs and by the end of the 2nd hill I was really feeling the pressure so I tried to just focus on the guy ahead of me and not letting the gap get any bigger. As we started on the 3rd and steepest hill I could hear footsteps and heavy breathing behind me. On a different day this would probably have knocked me back but knowing I was in the medals I was determined not to give it up easy so picked the pace up again and put another burst on going downhill. 4:03; 3:50

Unfortunately this had the effect of alerting 2nd place to my presence behind him and we now had about 600mtrs to go as he found another gear and I had to really dig in just to keep the gap as it was. First place had kicked for home and I could see him opening up the gap to about 50 mtrs on second place as we neared home. I knew he was a V3 masters so was in a different race so just focused on trying to get second place. Legs were burning up and I could get nothing more from the legs as he held on to beat me by about 10metres in the end. Last km 3:38 for a 18:56.

Was happy enough with that and figured I was delighted with silver and a pb on that course by over 30 seconds given the conditions and where I am with my training.

Was going to miss the medal presentation to get home for a shower before the match but thankfully stayed around as it turned out I won gold in the V1 category. :eek::eek::D:D So a really nice bonus end to the day (2nd was either a guest runner or not a masters runner). Was chuffed to get an unexpected gold after being delighted with a silver so not a bad days work.

Celebrated with a big durty breakfast roll before heading to the match where the real nerves kicked in. Thankfully Cavan lived up to the big match billing and the pressure and gave a cracking performance on a horrendous day to win promotion and a crack at Tyrone in Croke Park. Nice also that the RTE coverage gave Cavan credit and didn't roll out Joe Brolly or the tired old cliches about negative football!!

Overall I've had worse days and this gives me a new pep in my step for the next big target races. Big thank you to Myles who has me in great shape and looking forward now to having a real crack at next race.

Friday 8th April: 3 mile easy @ 9:04 avg pace

Was feeling guilty about missing Monday's run so headed out for a gentle recovery trot - not sure what I was recovering from :pac: (apart from OCD)

Saturday 9th April: 2 mile easy 15 mins @ 7:15, 10 @ 6:50, 5 @ 6:35 w/ 4 min rec, 2 easy

New runners finally arrived so was looking forward to taking them for a spin after writing this session on the arm so as I wouldn't forget it. Thankfully it didn't rain!

I headed out before lunch after a busy morning so was a wee bit anxious about whether I could hit the target paces. Body felt good after the 2 easy miles and a good stretch so was a wee bit more confident. (8:19;8:10)

I knew after about 2 minutes of the first section that I was ok with this and hit the required pace easily and consistently. I was still happy to get the recovery. (2.1 mile @ 7:09)

2nd one was a wee bit more difficult to settle on the right pace as it was windy and it started on a downhill bit but soon hit a rythmn and again this section felt good. (1.48m@ 6:48)

The last one was tougher as I had the cross the road twice so lost a bit of consistency but was still happy out with the effort level. (0.76 @ 6:37)

Finished out the session with a nice and easy 2 miles and a pep in my step. (8:02;7:59)

Enjoyed this one!

Sunday 10th April: 12 mile LSR @ 8:06 avg pace

I spent the morning in the phoenix park as the two kids were doing the junior Great Ireland Run and Mrs B in B was due to do the 10k. Thankfully she took the sensible option and pulled out after being sick most of the week.

Headed out after a bit of lunch when I got back from Dublin and was well layered up. There was a very strong wind but it was dry. Legs felt great and the miles flew by - was trying to slow the pace at some stages. Could be the fact that I downloaded a Springsteen concert on the iPod and that was keeping me going!
Gradually the pace picked up over the last few miles and didn't think I was going so fast on the last mile (although wind was on my back)

Splits were: 8:19;8:02;8:08;8:16;8:12;8:17;8:12;8:08;7:57;7:56;8:06;7:37

Weekly Total: 46.8 miles - Happy with the weeks work and the body feels good. Only downside is that despite the promises I made to myself about getting more core work done, I only managed one day of core work on Monday so must do better next week.

Wednesday 13th April: 2 easy; [EMAIL="10x600@6:35"]10x600@6:35[/EMAIL] w/2 min rec pace; 2 easy

Had originally intended to get this done early but a meeting up north put an end to that plan so headed out after the kids went to bed down to the pitch track beside me. Had made a call to usual running buddy and thankfully he was on for this which always makes it easier.

Done a nice and gentle 2 mile warm-up and was fairly relaxed as we chatted about how this might go. I was thinking that 6:35 was just below HM pace so wouldn't be too tough. Done the sums to convert this to 600mtr target and came up with 2:07 - all good there!

First rep I think we started too casually but still the 200mtr split was 42 so bang on target. Didn't check the watch again so was a bit peeved when 2:10 showed when I stopped it. Knew there and then that this would be tougher than anticipated. Jogged about 300mtrs for the 2min recovery.

The second one felt tough but got into a decent rhythm but still missed the target with a 2:08.

It got messy then with Tug of War training going on a few of the kids that were there dragging tyres onto the track and generally causing a blockage. That threw the whole continuity and form out the window. I did politely ask them to move the tyres in a few times out of our path but we still had to be wary as every now and then they would be dragged out and we would have to take evasive action.

Not the greatest session ever but after the first two I was hitting the paces - it just wasn't consistent or with good form but it was outside my control really.

Splits were: 2:10;2:08;2:06;2:04;2:07;2:08;2:06;2:08;2:05;2:06

Finished up with a 2 mile cool down.

Total: 9.4 miles

Duanington wrote: »

That looks like a pretty solid session to me J -what pace does mr Garmin put those reps at?

Cheers D.

I never use the Garmin for sessions on the track as I don't find it accurate on the track. Plus it's the basic entry Garmin so can't programme sessions.

Also I'm a bit of a Luddite.

Duanington wrote: »

My maths isn't too hot but I suspect they're all faster than 6.35 pace

Good spot D. Asked for help with the hard sums and yep I was 20 seconds too fast on each of the reps . I hope coach is crap at maths too and I get away with it!! :pac:

Saturday 16th April: 2 easy, 3x8mins@6:50 w/ 3 min rec, 2 easy

The original plan was to get this done early before travelling to Kerry but was tired so left it until later that evening and went for the lie in instead.

I parked on the outskirts of Listowel and done a nice and easy 2 miles (8:12;8:11) and was happy that I was feeling fairly fresh. The first 8 minutes felt good and I was hitting the right pace early on and kept it very even. The second was pretty much the same. The 3rd one felt about the same pace but was on a lumpier route so pace dropped a wee bit.

Splits were: 8 mins @ 6:48; 8 mins @ 6:48; 8 mins @ 6:55

Done a two mile easy @ 8:03 and 8:42, the last mile being pretty much up a mile hill so was a good workout in itself even at the slower pace.

Really happy with this as it was very consistently paced and felt good.

Sunday 17th: 11 mile LSR @ 8:32 (plan said 12)

I forgot to pull the blind on the velux window above my head when going to bed the night before so woke up at first light with the sun shining into my eyes. Took that as a sign to get out so snuck out of the house leaving everyone sleeping and drove to Listowel and parked on the outskirts. I was following a real makey-up route around the town with plenty of doubling back on myself. I was fairly tired heading out and was tempted to cut this short a few times. Misjudged the route and ended up back at the car after 11 miles so decided to leave it at that. Done a good stretch and foam roll this evening after getting back from Kerry and legs feeling ok.

Weekly total: 47.35 miles

A bit of a mixed bag of a week. Happy with the miles and Saturday's run, but made a dogs dinner of the speed session on Wedensday (due to dodgy sums ). Only managed the one core session again this week so another must try harder for next week. Next week is all about the 3k on Wednesday night and hopefully a PB run.

Monday 18th April: 2.25 mile easy @ 9:18 pace
A very handy recovery run after work. Pace was nice and easy

Tuesday 19th April: 3 mile easy @ 8:40 with strides
Another handy run and just threw in a few strides to see if they legs were ready for a bit of speed.

Wednesday 20th April: Dublin graded meets 3km (10:26)
Had targeted this race as I knew that there would be some serious guys in it but were, judging by past results, plenty around the time I was aiming for who might drag me around. Went into it expecting to be at the back of the field but was ok with that if it dragged me around.

I had originally intended to take a half day to keep the timing pressure to a minimum but ended up having a meeting in Dublin at 2:30. This meant I drove through lunch and as it was a part of Dublin I wasn't familiar with I also wasted time driving around trying to find the place and then find parking. This all meant that I could only throw a chicken sandwich into me for lunch. The 1 hour meeting turned into a 2:30 hour meeting so was under serious pressure to cross the city to get to Santry. Stopped at a spar for a few breakfast bars and a bottle of water and headed into rush hour traffic with only a vague idea of where I was going!

Was only leaving the Phoenix Park at 6:15 and strongly considered binning the idea of the run but then traffic started moving again. An accident on the M50 held me up again and it was about 6:45 when I got to Santry. A quick change, registration and a warm up and I was ready to race. Not ideal preparation as was stressed to the gills but gave me little time to worry about the race.

The whole thing was really well organised and everything ran like a well oiled machine.

Race started before I knew it and I quickly got into a nice position about 10th out of 14 runners. Felt strong on first lap but a wee bit alarmed when the first 400mtrs came in at 76. I eased up a wee bit and 1 guy passed me and tagged onto the group ahead. On lap 2 it was clear that there was two races with the lead group now about 30 metres ahead of me and the 2 guys behind me were happy to hide behind me.

The race pretty much stayed like this for the next 4/5 laps but I was ok with that as I wasn't sure how to get the two behind me to take up the running. Hit 1km @ 3:19 and I was happy out and feeling good. Someone was calling 400mtr splits and I was bang on again after 1200 and 1600. So 4 laps done and on target and I was feeling ok. Not really sure what happened from here on it as was keeping an eye on the clock and the splits being called and first noticed I was slipping after 1800 metres but it was only 2 seconds and I felt I could get that back on the finish.

2 seconds became 5 then 10 and I couldn't wait for the end to race. I was really starting to struggle and when the inevitable move came with about 300mtrs to go I couldn't respond to the two lads going around me. I don't think I slowed that much but I did throw in the towel a bit over the last 200 metres. Was disgusted when I saw 10:26 on the clock. One of the lads that passed me apologised for letting me do the work and had a few words with him (between gulps for air).

Done a few stretches and a cool down run before heading for the car and heading for home.

Turned the radio off and had a good hard think about this and what it meant or told me. Started out by feeling sorry for myself and with thoughts of jacking the running for a while. Rationale was that the 2 months training since Armagh amounted to nothing and I had gone backwards since.

Copped on to myself by the second toll bridge and remembered a football match I played years ago when we were loosing by a few points and started feeling sorry for ourselves and gave up. We took a hell of a beating but it spurred us into taking a good hard look at ourselves and giving an extra 10% and we weren't beaten for the rest of that season.

So am going to take some inspiration from that and am going to get that extra 10% from the diet (no more crap and get under the 11stone mark before Bob Heffernan) and the core work (no more excuses just need to knuckle down). Don't need to do anything with the running plan (only to use a calculator to work out the splits ). I also need to get into the habit of racing again so might try and fit a hard race in again in a few weeks (will talk to Myles about this plan before I commit to anything)

So head down, finger out now and the focus is on Bob Heffernan in May.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

The 3k is my favorite distance, ran it as a juvenile and found it the perfect combination of speed endurance and strength for me.
If you pace it wrong it can really bite you, I've been flying along only to have the legs pulled from under me many times and go from comfortable to leaking 4-5 secs a lap in the blink of an eye.
The good thing about it is it's short enough to bounce back and give it another go pretty quickly and experiment either with different tactics or the same ones again to check if it was a once off.
If it's any consolation I ran 10:37 a few years back and went to improve that to 9:51, mainly off endurance training, still along way off my juvenile days, but we live in hope

There's a boards classic thread here from back in the day that will make useful reading, lots of solid gold advice to pick your way through and pick what area you want to target for improvement.

Thanks for that BB.

Great thread. Had a quick scan through it but will sit down and digest properly later on - my bedtime reading!

Friday 22nd April: Rest.

Rest day but decided to go to circuits. A good tough workout and knew I would feel it the following day.

Saturday 23rd April: Rest

Woke up and could barely walk and had a headcold. Had volunteered to help out at 1916 commemorations so spent the day on my feet in the bitter cold. Didn't finish until after 8 and was chilled to the bone. Between that and the DOMS decided that a run would be a bad idea.

Sunday 24th April: Rest

Had toyed with the idea of going out very early for a run but it took a while to get out of bed as I was still in bits after circuits so decided to wait until evening instead. Had the small matter of a trip to Croke Park ( a rare occasion for a Cavan man :pac:) so it was after 9pm when I got home. Another day of being chilled to the bone and a worsening head cold put me off the idea of a run.

Monday 25th April: 2.5 mile recovery @ 8:49 pace

Nice and easy paced run around the pitch. Bitterly cold and it took a while to get going.

Tuesday 26th April: 8.5 mile easy @ 8:28 pace

Met one of the lads from the club this evening for this and picked up another one of the lads about 2.5 mile in and pace picked up at that stage. Miles flew by as we chatted away the miles. Last 2 miles were fairly hilly so legs got an extra workout!

Murph_D wrote: »

Sorry your Croke Park experience wasn't better. There's always the running.

There will be better days in Croke Park for this Cavan team and it was great to be part of such a historical occasion. It was the young lads first time in Croke Park and one he will remember for a long time.

Wednesday 27th April: 2 easy, 4 x (3x300@58-60sec w/1 min rec), 2 easy

Headed out this evening between showers and was well layered up as I knew the wind chill factor would play a part. There was a fairly strong wind blowing across the pitch when I was doing my warm up. Kept the warm-up nice and handy and legs felt like they were raring to go. 8:11 and 8:12. Done a decent stretch at the side of the track and was ready to go.

Was very happy with this as the form and consistency was good throughout. I tired a bit on the last set but nothing major.

Splits were as follows: (60,58,59)(58,59,59)(59,58,59)(59,59,58)

Done a nice and easy 2 mile cool down @ 8:08;8:07. Met a neighbour as I was walking back to the car and had a chat with him for a few minutes while I stretched and was frozen to the bone after chatting for a few minutes so legged it home and into the hot shower.

Done day one of the 30 day core programme so not a bad days work at all.