Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

Chivito550 · 01-08-2019 11:23am

Mulberry wrote: »

I've looked at this a few times. If you compare your first few steps after the blocks, you don't have the same 'quick feet' as say the Clonliffe guy in the middle. You seem a tiny tad sluggish for those first few steps. Is this something you could work on, and maybe bring that pb down a touch more? Have you noticed it?

Haha, that's a fancy way of saying "run faster".

Keith Pike is a 10.73 guy at his best to be fair, and ran 10.83 in Drogheda. I'm going to look poor in comparison to him, even if I was running sub 12. He's in a completely different league. He's operating at a level that is impossible for me to ever get remotely close to. Pretty incomparable to be honest.

There's always room for improvement of course though. Some good gym work over the winter and a 100% focus on the 60m during the indoors will hopefully help with my explosive power.

Coach gave me feedback on the video and said my start was great, pushed well through the middle and into the end. Only negative was that my knees start to drop in the last 10-15 metres perhaps relating to a weakness in the glutes. Stuff to work on next year for sure.

Funny season. My 200m was only slightly better than 2018 and a good half second down on 2017, but the 100m was way better than 2018, and was slightly better than 2017, albeit without the overall consistency of 2017 over the distance. Any season that brings a PB is a great one though, so I'll take it, particularly at 34.

Mulberry · 01-08-2019 12:44pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

Haha, that's a fancy way of saying "run faster".

Ah no, you obviously ran very fast, and the rest of your race looked great, it was just this part that looked out of sync with the rest of it. I looked at the quick feet of another couple in that race versus yours and it was the same, not just the winner.

I guess the reason I'm being picky about it is because I was doing it too - until I started to say 'quick quick quick' in my head at that stage of the race. Worked for me. It was a mental thing, not a gym/related strength thing.

(And I wouldn't dream of contradicting your excellent coach! Your block start did indeed look spot on. I'm only talking about the first couple of meters after that.)

Chivito550 · 02-08-2019 10:51am

So the season is now officially finished (other than a media 800m in Doha at the start of October!) and here is a list of all races I have run throughout 2019, both indoor and outdoor. In total I ran 31 races – 5 over 60m, 12 over 100m, 11 over 200m (7 outdoor, 4 indoor), 1 4x100m relay and 1 4x400m relay.

INDOOR:

60m:

Pre-season PB: 7.80

1) 8.17
2) 8.13
3) 8.03
4) 8.12
5) 7.95

200m:

Pre-season indoor PB: 25.47 (lane 4)

1) 27.32 (lane 4)
2) 25.84 (lane 6)
3) 27.12 (lane 2)
4) 26.19 (lane 6)

400m:

Pre-season indoor PB: 56.04 (lane 4)

1) 60.97 (lane 3)

OUTDOOR:

100m:

Pre-season PB: 12.20 (+1.8)

1) 12.81 (-1.2)
2) 12.54 (+2.3)
3) 12.59 (+1.2)
4) 12.50 (+4.2)
5) 12.42 (+3.1)
6) 12.75 (+0.1)
7) 12.73 (-2.1)
8) 12.72 (-3.2)
9) 12.18 (+1.8) PB
10) 12.49 (+2.1)
11) 12.47 (+2.2)
12) 12.45 (+1.1)

200m:

Pre-season PB: 24.87 (+0.9)

1) 26.05 (-1.5)
2) 26.32 (+2.3)
3) 25.88 (+3.1)
4) 25.80 (-1.0)
5) 26.19 (-3.8)
6) 25.36 (+0.8)
7) 25.45 (+2.8)

4x100m:

Pre-season PB: 47.96

1) 49.82

4x400m:

Pre-season PB: N/A*

1) 4:12.20 PB

*I have run in a few 4x400m relays in Australia but other than one of them where I ran the lead-off leg flat out, I only ever jogged around to score my club points. In addition, all my teammates were either doing similar or were incredibly slow, so all times wouldn’t have been far inside 5 minutes, if even. I never classified these as actual races that I ran, and as a result I never recorded any of the times. This run from Leinsters is the first proper 4x400m that I’ve run.

Thoughts:

I’ve already gone into the specifics of the story behind my PB in my Drogheda race report, so I won’t repeat myself. But my main thoughts are that I’m absolutely delighted with my season, and to come away with a very unexpected but very welcome PB in the 100m. I thought my PB days were gone, and I was losing motivation last year and into early this year, but the last 6 months or so my enthusiasm for the sport has returned. I was probably a lot more relaxed about it too, not putting huge pressure on myself. Running this PB has reinvigorated me further, and I’m actually not even emotionally and mentally drained from the long season like I usually am by the end. While the 200m was decent in the end, I’m still half a second down on my PB. There’s a bit of work to be done there, but if you said to me at the start of the season that I’d run a PB in one event, and average in the other I’d have bitten off your hand.

This PB also gives me belief that I can still run PBs. I’d like to give the 60m a real go in the indoors next year and try break my PB of 7.80. I’d also like to try shave a bit more off that 100m PB. Both won’t be easy but at least they feel possible now, even if I will be a year older by then. I still don’t really believe I can break my 200m PB. Maybe in time that belief will come.

Regarding my training last year, once I settled into consistently getting 4 days a week in, things started to come together. I think with other life commitments the whole 5 days a week is unlikely to return on a consistent basis, and there is a lot of wisdom out there that the older you are you are better off doing less days well than more days mediocre. I’m happy with 4 days a week (1 day gym and 3 days running) and will aim for that next year (with the odd 5 day week thrown in when time allows). I’ll likely start my winter training with 2 days gym to build up strength, and will also likely do some gym work towards the second half of my break. I’ll be in Doha for 10 days too not long after we start back training, so will focus 100% of the gym during this time as I’ll have a gym in my hotel (I’m not planning to go running in 40 degrees!)

Here are some stats on my training this year compared to 2017 when I had serious tunnel-vision and was consistently getting 5 days per week in.

All sessions:

Autumn/Winter:

2017: 104
2019: 73

2017 as % of 2019: 70%

Spring/ Summer:

2017: 82
2019: 72

2017 as % of 2019: 88%

Gym sessions:

Autumn/Winter:

2017: 38
2019: 15

2017 as % of 2019: 39%

Spring/ Summer:

2017: 25
2019: 17

2017 as % of 2019: 68%

Running sessions:

Autumn/Winter:

2017: 66
2019: 58

2017 as % of 2019: 88%

Spring/ Summer:

2017: 57
2019: 55

2017 as % of 2019: 97%

The amount of running sessions were very close to the amount I managed in 2017, but the gym numbers were down considerably in Autumn/ Winter. Overall my winter was not consistent enough and that’s something I’ll look to improve on this winter. I had a lot of trips abroad last winter and I’ll have a few again this winter. I just need to make a better effort at fitting my training around it this time. With renewed motivation that hopefully won’t be a problem.

Finally, I've updated the below table to include my 2019 outdoor performances. It's very satisfying to see a red figure so far over to the right of the table.

Event|2008|2009|2010|2010/11|2011/12|2012/13|2013/14|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019
60m|||||||||8.05|8.19|7.80|7.97|7.95
100m||||13.8h|13.36|12.82|12.63|12.97|12.68|12.35|12.20|12.45|12.18
150m|||||||||||19.15||
200m||||28.2h|26.92|25.62|25.44|25.42|25.45|25.10|24.87|25.47|25.36
300m|||||||||40.47||||
400m||||63.9h|58.68|56.26|55.00|54.88|55.61|58.35|||60.97i
800m||||2:34.9h|2:27.6h|2:23.8h|2:15.2h|2:19.70|2:14.98|2:26.73|2:25.03||
1500m|||||5:27.98|5:04.36|4:52.06|4:53.84|||||
1 Mile|||||||5:29.0h||||||
5km|21:46|21:02||||||19:46|19:47|22:36|21:53|22:38.91|
10km|46:59|45:32||45:24|||||||46:24||
Half Marathon||1:49:06|||||||||||
Marathon|||4:07:35||||||||||
4x100m relay||||||49.36||||50.71||47.96|49.82
4x400m relay|||||||||||||4:12.20
Long Jump||||4.17m|4.32m|4.40m|4.83m|4.20m|4.95m||||
Triple Jump||||8.93m|9.28m||||||||
High Jump|||||1.25m|1.26m|1.31m|1.29m|||||
Pole Vault||||||1.30m|1.40m||||||
Shot Putt||||5.67m|6.51m|6.21m|6.75m|5.95m|||||
Discus Throw||||14.65m|14.17m|16.67m|16.59m|15.31m|||||
Javelin Throw||||13.21m|10.83m|8.37m|12.05m|14.66m||17.53m|||
Decathlon|||||2290|2561|2903|2546|||||
Beer Mile||||||8:19*|8:27|9:07|10:36|8:43.37|9:21|9:53|

EDIT: It must also be acknowledged that 2019 had far less distractions compared to 2018, and was much closer to 2017 in this regard. In 2017 I had just one wedding. In 2018 I had 5 weddings and 3 stags from November to July. This year it's just been the 1 wedding and 1 stag. 2020 currently has 2 weddings and 2 stags on the horizon. The sheer volume of them in 2018 made it very difficult to run well.

average_runner · 02-08-2019 12:20pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

So the season is now officially finished (other than a media 800m in Doha at the start of October!) and here is a list of all races I have run throughout 2019, both indoor and outdoor. In total I ran 31 races – 5 over 60m, 12 over 100m, 11 over 200m (7 outdoor, 4 indoor), 1 4x100m relay and 1 4x400m relay.

INDOOR:

60m:

Pre-season PB: 7.80

1) 8.17
2) 8.13
3) 8.03
4) 8.12
5) 7.95

200m:

Pre-season indoor PB: 25.47 (lane 4)

1) 27.32 (lane 4)
2) 25.84 (lane 6)
3) 27.12 (lane 2)
4) 26.19 (lane 6)

400m:

Pre-season indoor PB: 56.04 (lane 4)

1) 60.97 (lane 3)

OUTDOOR:

100m:

Pre-season PB: 12.20 (+1.8)

1) 12.81 (-1.2)
2) 12.54 (+2.3)
3) 12.59 (+1.2)
4) 12.50 (+4.2)
5) 12.42 (+3.1)
6) 12.75 (+0.1)
7) 12.73 (-2.1)
8) 12.72 (-3.2)
9) 12.18 (+1.8) PB
10) 12.49 (+2.1)
11) 12.47 (+2.2)
12) 12.45 (+1.1)

200m:

Pre-season PB: 24.87 (+0.9)

1) 26.05 (-1.5)
2) 26.32 (+2.3)
3) 25.88 (+3.1)
4) 25.80 (-1.0)
5) 26.19 (-1.8)
6) 25.36 (+0.8)
7) 25.45 (+2.8)

4x100m:

Pre-season PB: 47.96

1) 49.82

4x400m:

Pre-season PB: N/A*

1) 4:12.20 PB

*I have run in a few 4x400m relays in Australia but other than one of them where I ran the lead-off leg flat out, I only ever jogged around to score my club points. In addition, all my teammates were either doing similar or were incredibly slow, so all times wouldn’t have been far inside 5 minutes, if even. I never classified these as actual races that I ran, and as a result I never recorded any of the times. This run from Leinsters is the first proper 4x400m that I’ve run.

Thoughts:

I’ve already gone into the specifics of the story behind my PB in my Drogheda race report, so I won’t repeat myself. But my main thoughts are that I’m absolutely delighted with my season, and to come away with a very unexpected but very welcome PB in the 100m. I thought my PB days were gone, and I was losing motivation last year and into early this year, but the last 6 months or so my enthusiasm for the sport has returned. I was probably a lot more relaxed about it too, not putting huge pressure on myself. Running this PB has reinvigorated me further, and I’m actually not even emotionally and mentally drained from the long season like I usually am by the end. While the 200m was decent in the end, I’m still half a second down on my PB. There’s a bit of work to be done there, but if you said to me at the start of the season that I’d run a PB in one event, and average in the other I’d have bitten off your hand.

This PB also gives me belief that I can still run PBs. I’d like to give the 60m a real go in the indoors next year and try break my PB of 7.80. I’d also like to try shave a bit more off that 100m PB. Both won’t be easy but at least they feel possible now, even if I will be a year older by then. I still don’t really believe I can break my 200m PB. Maybe in time that belief will come.

Regarding my training last year, once I settled into consistently getting 4 days a week in, things started to come together. I think with other life commitments the whole 5 days a week is unlikely to return on a consistent basis, and there is a lot of wisdom out there that the older you are you are better off doing less days well than more days mediocre. I’m happy with 4 days a week (1 day gym and 3 days running) and will aim for that next year (with the odd 5 day week thrown in when time allows). I’ll likely start my winter training with 2 days gym to build up strength, and will also likely do some gym work towards the second half of my break. I’ll be in Doha for 10 days too not long after we start back training, so will focus 100% of the gym during this time as I’ll have a gym in my hotel (I’m not planning to go running in 40 degrees!)

Here are some stats on my training this year compared to 2017 when I had serious tunnel-vision and was consistently getting 5 days per week in.

All sessions:

Autumn/Winter:

2017: 104
2019: 73

2017 as % of 2019: 70%

Spring/ Summer:

2017: 82
2019: 72

2017 as % of 2019: 88%

Gym sessions:

Autumn/Winter:

2017: 38
2019: 15

2017 as % of 2019: 39%

Spring/ Summer:

2017: 25
2019: 17

2017 as % of 2019: 68%

Running sessions:

Autumn/Winter:

2017: 66
2019: 58

2017 as % of 2019: 88%

Spring/ Summer:

2017: 57
2019: 55

2017 as % of 2019: 97%

The amount of running sessions were very close to the amount I managed in 2017, but the gym numbers were down considerably in Autumn/ Winter. Overall my winter was not consistent enough and that’s something I’ll look to improve on this winter. I had a lot of trips abroad last winter and I’ll have a few again this winter. I just need to make a better effort at fitting my training around it this time. With renewed motivation that hopefully won’t be a problem.

Finally, I've updated the below table to include my 2019 outdoor performances. It's very satisfying to see a red figure so far over to the right of the table.

Event|2008|2009|2010|2010/11|2011/12|2012/13|2013/14|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019
60m|||||||||8.05|8.19|7.80|7.97|7.95
100m||||13.8h|13.36|12.82|12.63|12.97|12.68|12.35|12.20|12.45|12.18
150m|||||||||||19.15||
200m||||28.2h|26.92|25.62|25.44|25.42|25.45|25.10|24.87|25.47|25.36
300m|||||||||40.47||||
400m||||63.9h|58.68|56.26|55.00|54.88|55.61|58.35|||60.97i
800m||||2:34.9h|2:27.6h|2:23.8h|2:15.2h|2:19.70|2:14.98|2:26.73|2:25.03||
1500m|||||5:27.98|5:04.36|4:52.06|4:53.84|||||
1 Mile|||||||5:29.0h||||||
5km|21:46|21:02||||||19:46|19:47|22:36|21:53|22:38.91|
10km|46:59|45:32||45:24|||||||46:24||
Half Marathon||1:49:06|||||||||||
Marathon|||4:07:35||||||||||
4x100m relay||||||49.36||||50.71||47.96|49.82
4x400m relay|||||||||||||4:12.20
Long Jump||||4.17m|4.32m|4.40m|4.83m|4.20m|4.95m||||
Triple Jump||||8.93m|9.28m||||||||
High Jump|||||1.25m|1.26m|1.31m|1.29m|||||
Pole Vault||||||1.30m|1.40m||||||
Shot Putt||||5.67m|6.51m|6.21m|6.75m|5.95m|||||
Discus Throw||||14.65m|14.17m|16.67m|16.59m|15.31m|||||
Javelin Throw||||13.21m|10.83m|8.37m|12.05m|14.66m||17.53m|||
Decathlon|||||2290|2561|2903|2546|||||
Beer Mile||||||8:19*|8:27|9:07|10:36|8:43.37|9:21|9:53|

EDIT: It must also be acknowledged that 2019 had far less distractions compared to 2018, and was much closer to 2017 in this regard. In 2017 I had just one wedding. In 2018 I had 5 weddings and 3 stags from November to July. This year it's just been the 1 wedding and 1 stag. 2020 currently has 2 weddings and 2 stags on the horizon. The sheer volume of them in 2018 made it very difficult to run well.

That marathon time is an easy one for you to beat

jaggiebunnet · 02-08-2019 3:59pm

Been following your log with great interest after getting involved in the Masters sprints / LJ this year myself. Training for Dublin now but will go back to gym/sprint work after that with a view to the track again. What gym sessions helped you most?

IvoryTower · 02-08-2019 6:19pm

Training for Dublin?

jaggiebunnet · 02-08-2019 8:31pm

IvoryTower wrote: »

Training for Dublin?

Dublin marathon, completely not track related but as I am hols for the masters nationals I decided to give the marathon another shot before winter training for track.

Chivito550 · 06-08-2019 5:08pm

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

Been following your log with great interest after getting involved in the Masters sprints / LJ this year myself. Training for Dublin now but will go back to gym/sprint work after that with a view to the track again. What gym sessions helped you most?

Dublin Marathon and long jump is a wild combination.

What age group are you in? I'll be a master myself next Summer.

For gym try do a periodisation approach. 4 stages. Adaptation, then strength, then power and then maintenance. Do 6 weeks of each from autumn into indoors, then repeat the cycle for outdoors but with a shorter adaptation phase. Plenty of info on Google.

jaggiebunnet · 07-08-2019 9:03am

The O45s

It's a pretty unusual switch alright, got bored with marathon training last year and really enjoyed the track work but big club presence for the Dublin marathon this year so want to be part of it, before going back into the gym in the winter.

IvoryTower · 07-08-2019 9:06am

lets just say it doesn't really make sense on the performance side of things but do whatever you enjoy

Chivito550 · 28-10-2019 11:07pm

Time for an update, not that there is a huge amount to update on. I took an extended break after Nationals. Because of Doha being so late this year, I opted to take a full break until after the World Championships, rather than start training and then have to stop for close to 2 weeks.

I kept fit with some swimming sessions and Parkruns for a few weeks leading into Doha, but once I went to Doha all I did was some light swimming in my hotel rooftop pool. The weather was too hot for anything else, and it was a pretty hectic 10 days anyway.

There was of course the usual media 800m. I can't say I was particularly excited about running 800m. I've no interest in running this distance anymore. I don't have the aerobic fitness anymore to run a semi-respectable time. Throw in 2 months of very little running and expectations were very low.

I was in the first of 16 heats, and finished a poor 4th in the race with 2:37.24 to finish only 41st of 99 competitors. For comparison purposes, I was 14th in Beijing in 2015, 19th in Moscow in 2013, and around 25th in London 2 years ago. I decided to wear runners, as 2 years ago I wore spikes and my Achilles was in bits for 3 days after.

This was my worst media race by 10 seconds and my third worst 800m time ever. No excuses regarding conditions either, as the aircon in the stadium was A1. I went through the bell in 78 seconds so it's not like I went out too fast and blew up. There were 2 lads in my sights down the backstraight but I couldn't muster the motivation to push through the hurt to get up to them. I thought I'd catch them on the home straight, but when I tried to kick there was nothing there.

I can't say I particularly cared about how bad this run was though. It will have no bearing on how I perform over 60m, 100m and 200m.

It was a great laugh though as always. Ellen Van Langen was the race starter, and Katerina Stefanidi was trackside to watch all the races, gave out some of the prizes and acted as photographer for a little bit. She's every bit as nice in real life as she comes across on TV. Seb Coe got roped into giving out prizes, though he looked incredibly disinterested. :pac:

I'm back training now about 2 weeks. I'm just focusing on getting the sessions done without being mentally invested in it at the moment. That's the way I'll be approaching the winter. Just get the sessions done but not think too much about it.

I'll be a master come the summer season. However, it looks like National Masters is over before the training cycle has begun. I assumed it would be on in advance of the World Masters, but for some unknown reason it's been scheduled for after this, in the middle of August. It takes place the day after I arrive home from the Tokyo Olympics. I'll have stopped training about 3-4 weeks by that time and will be incredibly jet lagged. I could run it, but really, not sure there's a lot of point. Probably the last thing I'd want to do after a 15 hour flight through 8 time zones.

Chivito550 · 22-02-2020 3:30pm

So it's time for a bit of an update.

After last year's outdoor season which turned out to be a surprising success, with a 100m PB of 12.18, I was very excited about this coming indoor season, and a possible tilt at my 60m PB of 7.80.

Long break

However, I took far too long a break. Usually I'd take 6-7 weeks, but with the World Championships in Doha being so late, my break ended up being 11 weeks! I saw little point in starting back training mid September (when I usually start back) when I'd be heading off a week after that to Qatar. So I decided to leave it til I got back. After arriving home, I had a week or so full of a crazy amount of job interviews to prepare for and do, so again that pushed back the start of training. So it was the middle of October when I finally started back training, having finished my season at the end of July.

I got 2 solid weeks of training in, and then I came down with an awful dose and I was on the sidelines for 10 days. November and most of December was very inconsistent. Some good weeks, some terrible ones. Then come Christmas, when I had a bit more time, I got a good lot of training in. The winter ended up mirroring last winter, with the exception of a later start to the training cycle. Once again, I would have to race myself into shape, rather than hit the ground running in January.

Training

I started a new job at the end of October, which is quite mentally demanding. I really like it, but I find myself wiped every evening. As a result I've decided to training only on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings during the week, and take Monday, Thursday and Friday off. I find it such a drag to get the energy to do these sessions after work. I've also moved out to Co. Kildare, so that poses logistical issues re some sessions I used to do. Thankfully I have a licence now, so I've access to the car on a Saturday to get to Irishtown. The train is handy for getting back on a Wednesday evening from Irishtown too.

So my training looks like this:

Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Gym (at my local gym)
Wednesday: Track (Irishtown)
Thursday: OFF
Friday: OFF
Saturday: Track (Irishtown)
Sunday: Hills (on my own, near where I live)

I live in the flattest county out there, and there's only one hill near me. It's a good one, but only 80m long. It's perfect for sprinting though.

Is 4 days enough? I got consistent with 4 days a week last year and it resulted in a 100m PB outdoors. If I can keep this consistency up then I think I'll run well in the summer. I just don't have the time and energy to do 5/6 days a week anymore.

Goals for indoor

I decided to focus solely on the 60m and to try break 8 seconds again. If I can manage it, it would be the 4th season in a row that I'll have managed it (2017 - 7.80, 2018 - 7.97, 2019 - 7.95). I've no expectations to get near my PB.

I've decided not to target the 200m indoors this year. I've made my opinions on the event perfectly clear on a number of occasions so I won't repeat myself.

National League Round 1 - Abbotstown

60m Race 1: 8.19 (Reaction 0.172)

Not a good performance but not entirely surprising having had an inconsistent winter, and only being a week after the Christmas festivities winded down.

60m Race 2: 8.21 (Reaction 0.183)

More of the same. Back to the drawing board and hopefully 4 good weeks of training before the next meet.

AAI Games - Abbotstown

I got 4 good weeks of training in and started to feel I was moving better about a week out from this race and anticipated I'd be around the 8.05 mark, and so it proved.

60m Race 1: 8.06 (Reaction 0.187)

I was pretty happy with this run and it was around what I expected based off recent sessions.

60m Race 2: 8.05 (No reaction recorded)

I was particularly pleased to go slightly faster in the second race. It's a sign that the fitness is there.

Leinster Championships - Abbotstown

I had trained well in the 2 weeks since AAI Games and had hopes of going sub 8. However, I came down with a sore throat on Thursday and have been battling it since.

60m: 8.04 (Reaction 0.180)

Mixed feelings. I wanted sub 8, but I've got to be happy with a season's best given I haven't felt great the last 2 days.

I was going to run the 200m for a bit of fun and for a bit of training benefit, but decided to scrap it given I have the sore throat. The focus now is to recover, knock this cold on the head, get a couple of easy sessions in next week, and give the sub 8 one final big crack at Nationals next Sunday. No better occasion to do it.

Chivito550 · 02-03-2020 8:58pm

My 5th appearance at National Indoors after 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019. This year I decided to focus solely on the 60m. I entered the race with an 8.04 season's best and was desperate to get under 8 seconds, in what would be my last race of the season.

Nothing beats the nervous excitement of nationals. If you can't get up for racing in it, then there's no point racing at all. I love the excitement, atmosphere and tension of being in the warm up track and call room before a national championships. And this time the call room was very tense. Nobody was talking to each other. Sometimes there's a bit of chatter, but not this time.

60m: 8.02

I was drawn in heat 2 of 6, in what turned out to be the most stacked heat of all, with Mark Smyth, eventual silver medalist and 200m champion, and 3 others all breaking 7. There was nobody near my level and I knew I'd be a distant last. I was drawn in lane 4, and my reaction was ok, though I felt my first couple of steps weren't as powerful as they could be. Of course, looking back on the video, my start is always going to look bad in comparison to the sub 7 lads around me. I got into my stride well and drove hard to the line. As always with a 60m it was a complete blur. My first instinct was that it wasn't good enough for sub 8, but then after watching the video back about 20 times while I waited for the result, I figured I was there or thereabouts and I'd be inside or outside it by no more than a couple of hundreths. So it proved with 8.02, which is a season's best by 0.02, but not enough for the 7.99 I was after. My reaction was 0.184, which is around where I'm usually at.

I was pretty gutted afterwards. I really wanted to break 8 seconds. This is the first season I haven't broken 8 since 2016 when I was coming off a bad injury.

Having said that, I gave it the best I could have and am proud I ran a season's best at nationals. After running 8.19 and 8.21 just 7 weeks ago I'd have happily taken 8.02. I managed to turn things around in a relatively short period of time, so I can take this into the outdoors and look ahead with confidence that I can have a good season. I just need to stay consistent from here on.

Last season I ran 7.95, but it's worth mentioning that I thought my season had finished before that media 60m race at European Indoors was announced. Had it not been for that, I'd have finished my season with an 8.03, which I ran at last year's nationals. So in that regard I'me pretty much where I was last year. Maybe if there was a media race next week I'd run another 7.9x.

It's also worth noting that I was in a crazy fast race and I was running on my own. In 3 of the other 5 heats, there were 3 lads in each of these running 7.70 or slower. I'm not sure how the heats ended up so lobsided at the 7.70+ level. I'd have loved to have had one of these 9 lads in my heat to hang onto the coattails of. That's just the luck of the draw unfortunately.

I'll take a week off now and then get back into it. I'm disappointed not to reach my goal but onwards and upwards to outdoors now.

Chivito550 · 04-03-2020 10:03pm

A quick recap on the indoor season. Only 6 races this year, down from around 10 that I usually manage. This is mainly down to the fact that I didn't race the 200m this year and I didn't do any NIA meets either, which are too much of a struggle to get to from work.

60m:

Pre-season PB: 7.80

1) 8.19
2) 8.21
3) 8.06
4) 8.05
5) 8.04
6) 8.02

With the indoor season finished, it's time to update the below table with 2020 so far, along with some late year results in 2019 over beer mile, 800m and 5K (Parkrun).

Event|2008|2009|2010|2010/11|2011/12|2012/13|2013/14|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019|2020
60m|||||||||8.05|8.19|7.80|7.97|7.95|8.02
100m||||13.8h|13.36|12.82|12.63|12.97|12.68|12.35|12.20|12.45|12.18|
150m|||||||||||19.15|||
200m||||28.2h|26.92|25.62|25.44|25.42|25.45|25.10|24.87|25.47|25.36|
300m|||||||||40.47|||||
400m||||63.9h|58.68|56.26|55.00|54.88|55.61|58.35|||60.97i|
800m||||2:34.9h|2:27.6h|2:23.8h|2:15.2h|2:19.70|2:14.98|2:26.73|2:25.03||2:37.24|
1500m|||||5:27.98|5:04.36|4:52.06|4:53.84||||||
1 Mile|||||||5:29.0h|||||||
5km|21:46|21:02||||||19:46|19:47|22:36|21:53|22:38.91|22:44|
10km|46:59|45:32||45:24|||||||46:24|||
Half Marathon||1:49:06||||||||||||
Marathon|||4:07:35|||||||||||
4x100m relay||||||49.36||||50.71||47.96|49.82|
4x400m relay|||||||||||||4:12.20|
Long Jump||||4.17m|4.32m|4.40m|4.83m|4.20m|4.95m|||||
Triple Jump||||8.93m|9.28m|||||||||
High Jump|||||1.25m|1.26m|1.31m|1.29m||||||
Pole Vault||||||1.30m|1.40m|||||||
Shot Putt||||5.67m|6.51m|6.21m|6.75m|5.95m||||||
Discus Throw||||14.65m|14.17m|16.67m|16.59m|15.31m||||||
Javelin Throw||||13.21m|10.83m|8.37m|12.05m|14.66m||17.53m||||
Decathlon|||||2290|2561|2903|2546||||||
Beer Mile||||||8:19*|8:27|9:07|10:36|8:43.37|9:21|9:53|11:00|

Chivito550 · 24-07-2020 1:34pm

Time for an update. What a weird time it has been for everyone. I finished up my indoor season on 1st March with the intention of taking a week long rest and then get back into it ahead of the outdoor season starting the beginning of May.

At the end of my week break, it became apparent that things might not end up being so straightforward. On Tuesday 10th March, I started back training with a gym session. I knew at that time it was going to be my last gym session for a long time, and indeed, I have not set foot in a gym since.

2 days later the announcement of the first restrictions came. Thankfully my employers were well ahead of the game and we were already in the process of getting set up to work from home, something which was new territory for us. I then went out to Santry to train on the track on Saturday 14th March, knowing that I wouldn't be back on the track for a long time after.

As places closed I tried to be more innovative. I went to the Dublin mountains to run, I went to Portmarnock Beach for speed, but alas it was all in vein and it wasn't long before we were in full lockdown.

I bought a gym ball, a yoga mat, and had a resistance band and 4 tiny plate weights (4kg, 2kg, 2kg and 2kg). My gym sessions would have to be at home, or when the weather warmed up, in a nearby park. Truth be told, I got very bored of these sessions and have been averaging just one a week.

Anyway, given we were now all stuck at home all day, running was a huge release, and a big excuse to get out for a bit. I used some nearby hills, and used the canal near where I live for flat running and speed. I went to isolated places to get away from people during this weird time. I enjoyed the peace of training alone funny enough.

It wasn't long before I noticed myself getting fitter. Before lockdown I was getting 4 days training a week in as I would be so exhausted from work and the commute to do anymore. Now, with 10 hours extra time each week, I had far more time and energy to train. Yes the intensity wasn't as high, but the volume was much greater. I consistently managed 6 days training per week, occasionally 7, and on one occasion 8 (including a double day). I mixed up the training to make sure I was covering off on the key areas:

- Speed: Using racing flats by the canal
- Speed Endurance - Using racing flats by the canal
- Endurance: - Using road running shoes by the canal
- Long runs: - Usually a 2 mile run each week
- Hills: - Of varying distances
- Home gym - as mentioned above

I got a little mentally burnt out about 2 months in so eased it back a bit and decided until there was an announcement of track fixtures, I would focus on just doing the sessions I liked, which is what I then did for the next month or so.

I was at 75kg during indoors, and am now 72/73kg and definitely aerobically fitter. Having said that, 5 months without doing proper gym sessions will likely have an impact on my strength and power. Last year I was running far better over 100m than 200m, but this year I could be similar in both. Time will tell.

I've been back on the track in Santry since 8th June, and have got 6 full weeks in with 2 sessions per week there (one speed and one speed endurance). I finally got my first block session in last week.

I'm training away by myself for the rest of the season. It's too hard to get to Irishtown to train with the group on a Wednesday now that I'm working from home, and I've been busy with wedding planning at the weekends so I've stayed flexible with my training. Besides, the whole COVID stuff that surrounds training with the group makes the whole process very cumbersome and stressful that I'm happy to see out this season solo.

There's been a lot of ups and downs throughout these challenging times. Motivation has waved. There was also a lot of negativity to have to deal with from people saying there would be no track meets this year. I'm glad that they have been proven wrong, even if there is still a lot of uncertainty over which meets will go ahead.

Dublin Graded Meet 1 - Santry

100m - 12.67 (-1.1)

I was in lane 9 and finished 6th of 9 (though I'm listed as 5th of 8. I felt good and was pretty close to a lad who runs mid 11s. But he's obviously not in that shape now as he was just under 12.40. I thought I'd have been faster based on how close I was to him, but not to be. This time equates to 12.56 with a 0 wind and low to mid 12.40s with a good legal following wind. I'm very happy with this as an opener. It's pretty similar in standard to the 12.45 with a +1.0 wind I closed my season with at Nationals almost a year to the day.

PB is 12.18 (+1.8) from Drogheda last year. Probably a big ask to get that, but if I could get somewhat close to it I'd be delighted. I'm racing the 100 and 200 inn Moyne tomorrow and then should be in Cork on Thursday to run another couple of 100m races, this time with a guaranteed tailwind. After that hopefully the Graded Meet in Tallaght for a 200m.

After that, everything depends on whether we go to Phase 4 or not. If we do, I'll have lots of championships to look forward to (Leinsters, Nationals, National Masters). If we don't then the season will likely dry up completely, though I am entered for Northern Ireland seniors in mid September.

Strange times, but I'm feeling in good shape. I know that if it wasn't for lockdown I probably wouldn't be in as good shape as I am, so hoping all the races go ahead so I can take full advantage of it.

My goal right now is to race as much as I can. I've done more than enough training now, and you just don't know when this season will finish up, so I want to make the most of every opportunity.

Chivito550 · 27-07-2020 12:22pm

First time ever racing at this venue. It's definitely the most intimate and coziest track in Irish athletics. It's in the middle of nowhere, is a 4 lane track, the lanes are narrower than normal, and there's fencing pretty close to the edge of the track most of the way around. There are also cows sitting in the field beside it, literally just metres away from the athletes. I absolutely loved the place. What a unique venue.

There was a small warm up track which was handy as it was raining on and off and we weren't allowed onto the track other than just before competition.

100m: 12.60 (+1.4)

I was in lane 4, the outside lane for this. I felt I came up way too early and didn't stay low for long enough. Other than that it felt good. I was only about 5m down on a lad with an 11.0x PB. However, he was simply not in his best shape as he won in 11.98. I thought my time would be better so I was disappointed when I got the time later that evening. It's a season's best, but when you adjust both this time and the time from Wednesday to zero wind, this run was 0.15 worse. It was raining during my race, and being honest, the track is very spongey so certainly not as designed for sprinters as Morton stadium is.

200m: 25.86 (+1.2)

I was floored after the 100m, and even though I only had 45 mins between races, I needed to take 15 mins of that just to sit down. I then got back into staying warm, just ticking over. I felt drained of energy for a lot of the warm up, but felt my energy come back closer to the time of the race.

Felt my start was poor and the two lads inside me were up on me in no time. Others felt the bend was very tight, and I guess it was a bit, but I didn't find it as bad as the others. I was lucky to be in lane 4. The narrower lanes do make you feel a little cramped though. Other than the start I felt I ran well. I thought I was closer to the other two runners than I actually was. In the end my time was slower than what I would have expected, but it's nice to get under 26 in my first 200m in exactly a year (I didn't run any indoors). I was pretty nervous beforehand given it had been so long since I ran one. Conditions were much better for the 200m. The rain had stopped and the track was dry.

Great meet. Really enjoyable to be part of. Organised really well within the guidelines while at the same time making it still feel relaxed and fun.

Leevale meet in Cork is next on Thursday night for a couple of wind assisted 100m races, and then Wednesday week I have the 200m at the graded in Tallaght after I got my entry in at 6am this morning! Then it's fingers crossed that we get the green light for Leinsters and Nationals.

career move · 27-07-2020 2:44pm

I'm glad you liked our facilities:) It's a tough track on a windy day and unfortunately the weather was against us on Saturday. The wind picked up throughout the afternoon and that did affect the times in the later races. Hope to see you back next year though

Chivito550 · 27-07-2020 4:11pm

career move wrote: »

I'm glad you liked our facilities:) It's a tough track on a windy day and unfortunately the weather was against us on Saturday. The wind picked up throughout the afternoon and that did affect the times in the later races. Hope to see you back next year though

Wind wasn't an issue for the 100m and 200m. It was blowing in the right direction. Was probably an issue for 400m and up though. You built the track with the 100m straight running with the prevailing wind. I wish all tracks did that!

Was watching back the stream and couldn't figure out from it where the long jump pit is located. Where on the track is it?

career move · 27-07-2020 4:44pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

Wind wasn't an issue for the 100m and 200m. It was blowing in the right direction. Was probably an issue for 400m and up though. You built the track with the 100m straight running with the prevailing wind. I wish all tracks did that!

Was watching back the stream and couldn't figure out from it where the long jump pit is located. Where on the track is it?

Built by athletes for athletes

The long jump pit is at the bottom of the back straight after the 200m start.

Chivito550 · 31-07-2020 8:50pm

The races are coming thick and fast now. After almost 10 years racing on the track, this amazingly was my first ever competition in Cork.

Took a day off work and drove down and back in the one day.

Conditions were ok. It was dry and intermittently sunny. It felt warm when the sun was out but a bit chilly when it wasn't. The two 100m races were being run with a guaranteed tailwind so that was the appeal for me, which would make the trip much more worthwhile. Unfortunately the wind was a bit too strong and the winds were mostly illegal.

100m Race 1 - 12.45 (+3.2)

I got left in the blocks by those around me. I was in lane 2 and the lad in lane 1 had a significant lead on me in the early stages. I spent the rest of the race trying to claw him back, and just got by him in the nick of time to take him by 0.05 and another lad out in lane 7 by 0.10 to come 5th out of 7. I was very happy with the rest of the race, but I probably threw away around 0.05 with my start. Fastest time of the season, albeit illegal, and 0.04 faster than Moyne when adjusting both for zero wind.

100m Race 2 - 12.69 (+2.9)

Usually I go better in my second 100m when doing two in one meet, but not to be this time. This was an absolute distaster. I tailored my warm up based on the timetable, which had been running like clockwork up to this point. However something happened to the automatic seeding equipment and they had to redraw all the second 100m heats manually. People dropped out which meant the heats had to be redone, which didn't help things. I was ready to go, before only hearing about this 5-10 mins before I was due to race. It took an age to get going, and even after getting the women's race and the first men's race done, there was another 10 minute wait for my race. Then even after we got our lanes, we were standing behind our blocks for another few minutes. This was polar opposites to the first race which was run with ruthless efficiency. Overall my race went off 25 minutes late. I wouldn't have minded the delay if you knew in advance, but only finding out about it when you're ready to go is very difficult. There was a lot of hanging around trying to stay warm. The result was poor. A quarter of a second down with an almost identical wind. Race ended up being a bit of a waste of time, and had I known this would happen I'd have done the 200m instead of a second 100m. Ordinarily I'd be pissed, but in this year I'm just happy to get a chance to race, so I've drawn a line under it straight away.

I scratched the 200m as 3 races at that time of the evening was too much of an ask.

Next week I have two 200m races planned: Wednesday in Tallaght and Friday in Leixlip. It's a case of taking every race opportunity that pops up with open arms. This is not ordinary season.

I'm a bit disappointed after running 12.67 into a -1.1 in Santry that I haven't translated that into a much better time with these tailwinds from the last few races. Time to think about the 200m for the next week now.

Murph_D · 01-08-2020 5:35pm

Fair play, despite your disappointment. I can see why you'd want to correct race times for wind conditions. How reliable are the tables or calculators you use for this?

Chivito550 · 02-08-2020 12:18am

Murph_D wrote: »

Fair play, despite your disappointment. I can see why you'd want to correct race times for wind conditions. How reliable are the tables or calculators you use for this?

Adjusting times is more just to compare performances. I'd never count a wind adjusted time as a real PB.

I use this one for the 100m. It's well regarded.

https://jmureika.lmu.build/track/wind/index.html

I don't bother correcting times over 200m as wind readings don't factor in the direction of the wind on the bend, so it's a waste of time

Chivito550 · 06-08-2020 1:19pm

Tallaght on a Wednesday evening for a graded meet has never been a happy hunting ground, and yesterday was no exception.

200m: 26.30 (No wind given)

I felt tired after a day of work, which only added to my nerves before the race. I felt lethargic in the warm up, and I was very sluggish on the bend. Coming into the straight one of my training partners was up on my by maybe half a metre, which should never have happened really. I ran a good straight and moved away from him to open up nearly 0.7 on him in the final 80m, but the damage was done. No wind reading yet, but the conditions were pretty good. There was a headwind in the straight, but it didn't seem very strong, so no excuses there.

I was wrecked after the race and assumed I'd be in the 25.7 range or at least sub 26, but I wasn't even close in the end.

I just can't get the best out of myself in these weeknight evening races. It's too hard to be at my best having been up all day and working. I can muster up the energy for a 100m in these meets, but for 200m I struggle. Ordinarily I wouldn't even enter these meets, and indeed I have done so few graded meets over the last 5 years for this very reason. However, with there being so few meets this year, I can't really be turning down rare racing opportunities. Another reason I hate running these meets is I feel like I'm making excuses for sh1t performances, which I hate doing. But these excuses are legitimate as the difference between my performances at weekends and in these meets is huge. Other people seem to manage to run to their best in these meets after working all day, which frankly baffles me.

Very disappointed with the time. It was 0.44 slower than Moyne when I would have hoped to kick on from that result. Another crack at it in Leixlip tomorrow evening. The race is an hour earlier and I finish work an hour earlier on a Friday so hopefully that will make a difference.

Tough few days for athletes trying to plan their seasons. Leinsters is now gone, which I'm pretty gutted about. That had been my target all year as it was to be my very first championships in the M35 category and I was motivated by the idea of being competitive challenging for medals. To make matters worse, Athletics NI have now decided to reject my entry to their Senior Championships as they've now opted to keep their event closed to just NI and Ulster athletes. The meets are falling fast.

I hope and think Nationals will go ahead. What the scheduling will be like for it, we will just have to wait and see. Athletics Ireland are really putting in the effort to make it work from what I gather.

Maybe some more meets might pop up too.

UPDATE: Wind was - 1.6 headwind.

Chivito550 · 08-08-2020 1:05pm

Great that this meet popped up so quickly to give athletes another racing opportunity. Each athlete was limited to just one event, which was reasonable in the circumstances, so I opted for the 200m, knowing there would be a headwind (there always is in Leixlip), so the damage over 200m because of a headwind isn't as significant as over 100m.

200m: 26.00 (-2.1)

This race was an hour earlier than the race on Wednesday and I worked an hour less, so I wasn't as drained. I was still feeling tired but I definitely had more energy. Conditions were very nice in terms of temperature. Quite warm and humid. The only problem was the wind, but in sprinting wind is the biggest factor.

My first step or two out of the blocks wasn't up to scratch and I definitely lost a bit of crucial time there, but overall my first 50m was much more energetic on this occasion. I was in lane 6 and was initially closing slightly on the guy in lane 7. But then he opened up a gap on me coming off the bend and into the straight. I assumed I would take him on the straight, only the gap never changed. The gap didn't open or close. He frustratingly held on by 0.31 seconds, and there was nothing I could do to get up to him, despite my best efforts into a strong wind in the homestraight.

The run felt much better than Wednesday, in tougher conditions, and I hoped I'd dip under 26, but with the winning time showing up on the clock as only 24.20 I wasn't hugely confident. I finished 7th of 8, but it was a good competitive race.

I was sickened to find out I missed out on sub 26 by 0.01. I've a goal to run sub 26 for 200m on 50 occasions. I'm on 43, and missing out on another one here in such a limited season could prove costly, particularly as they are becoming harder to achieve into my mid 30s. I find that when I break 26 I usually do it comfortably, while when my time is near that 26.00 barrier, it tends to just fall the wrong side of it. With a bit more luck I'd almost be at 50 now.

We were very lucky to get this meet in, as with it being in Kildare, if it was on today then it would have been cancelled (though horse racing is still allowed continue, no surprises there).

It's hard to know now whether I will have any more races. I had a real feeling yesterday that it could be my last race for a long long time. With all these local lockdowns appearing, the situation is becoming very volatile, and nobody knows what will happen in a couple of days, let alone a couple of weeks. It is making planning a season really stressful. I remain hopeful that National Seniors will go ahead so I'll keep training as normal until told otherwise. I've also got National Masters too but I remain even less confident of that happening, but I very much hope I'm wrong.

It's a bit of an empty feeling finishing a race like that and then thinking that could be the end of the season. The prospect of races kept me going during the lockdown. I need races to be motivated to train. I'm not great at the whole "exercising to keep fit" thing. I'll do it obviously, as I don't want to get fat, but I'm not as disciplined when there's no goal.

Frankly I don't see an indoor season happening. Outdoor can work within 200 numbers, but not a hope of indoor meets working with just 50 people. Forget about seeing anything like a Phase 4 during the winter. If I can spend Christmas with my family I'd very much settle for that. So it could end up being 9-10 months before I've another race. It could be 2 weeks though. It's too hard to know. Just have to keep training away on the assumption Nationals will happen.

On a positive note, even if I didn't get another race, I'm thankful that I got 7 races (from 5 meets) in. That's 7 races more than so many people on this forum said anybody would get. I found that negativity tough to deal with during the height of the lockdown and pretty much resulted in me ditching this forum for awhile. I'm so glad I stayed positive and ignored the naysaying and got some races in. Times haven't been great, but on the plus side I got under 26 once, and ran a decent wind assisted 100m time of 12.45. Modest achievements compared to what I hope, but given the difficult year we've all had, I'm thankful for any sort of achievement.

Time to crack on for the possible end to a season which may already have ended.

Chivito550 · 07-09-2020 4:38pm

*PART 1 OF 2*

What a contrasting couple of weekends. Satisfaction the first weekend, followed by a devastating low the next.

After racing in Leixlip early August, I genuinely thought my season was over. I expected a rake of cancellations and a sudden abrupt to a very short season that had only got going. Then Athletics Ireland worked absolute miracles to get Nationals over the line. Words can't express the gratitude felt towards everyone involved for making it happen, in such ridiculously difficult circumstances. Then they managed to get the National Masters over the line, which I had long written off. So I went from feeling like my season was over, to having 2 championships events on the horizon.

National Championships:

With the 100m and the 200m on separate weekends, it didn't suit me to run both weekends, so I focused on the longer event, taking place on the second weekend.

It was a nationals with a difference, with no spectators, no hanging about afterwards, no warming up indoors, no pints in Clonliffe clubhouse after, and definitely no after party til 4am! But it still felt like nationals. That nervous excitement was there and the back straight, where we all warmed up, was buzzing with activity.

This was my 6th appearance at Nationals in 7 years, with my one absense being as a result of a family wedding. It's the biggest day of the year and I was determined to run well. It is immensely satisfying running well in this event.

Conditions were great. It was sunny and 17 degrees, with light tailwinds on the home straight throughout most of the day.

The call room was different. Instead of indoors, it was under the sheltered stand nenar the 100m start. It worked so smoothly. Thankfully I was in the first heat though, as I heard that athletes in later heats were brought to the call room too early and went cold before their race, although this seems to have been more of an issue the first weekend than the second.

200m: 25.68 (+0.1)

I was in lane 8, which in this kind of event, suits me nicely. It's the lane with the most gentle curve and in a race with faster runners I would rather them come by me, than be in lane 1 or 2 and not be near them at any point.

However, one lad ran 24 low and another 24 high in my heat so I wasn't completely out the back door, and I had these guys to try hang onto. I felt I ran very well, and knew after finishing it would be a season's best. I hoped to run around 25.5, but it was a small bit slower than that at 25.68, which was a season's best of 0.18. The wind, which was in our faces to an extent on the bend, though not hugely noticeable, was acting more like a cross wind, and I could feel it on my face on the straight. It was a pity the wind reading was only 0.1, as nearly every other heat had stronger.

This was my 44th time under 26 seconds, and I was chuffed to get back down into the mid 25 range after a difficult few 200m races this season. It was 0.23 down on my performance at last year's nationals (which was slightly wind assisted), and 0.81 down on my PB from nationals in 2017. In other years I would not have been happy with this time, but in the context of this year I was delighted.

I had a couple of quiet beers that night at home. A far cry from the madness of McGowans.

Now it was time to recover, and taper off for one last big push at National Masters, which ultimately would end in crushing disappointment.

To be continued.

Chivito550 · 08-09-2020 1:20pm

*PART 2 OF 2*

So after running a nice season's best at Nationals in the 200m, my confidence was sky high that I'd manage another good run in my first National Masters.

First year of Masters

Pre-COVID, the National Masters were not on my radar. I turned 35 after indoors finished, so outdoors was to be my first foray into the world of masters running. However, the National Masters were due to be held the day after I flew home from the Tokyo Olympics, and a good month after my previous race I had planned. So the goal, in masters terms, was to run the Leinsters. Obviously with COVID, everything was changed completely.

I assumed National Masters wouldn't happen, and then to everyone's surprise, AAI announced the event would happen. Each athlete was only allowed to enter one event, which resulted in virtually everybody who entered getting a medal (outside of some distance events). With the fields watered down, I saw this as an opportunity to win a medal. I chose the 200m as I felt at the time it provided a better chance for me (as it transpired only 2 people finished the M35 100m!).

Competitors

In total 4 people were entered in my event, which pleased me, as I wanted to have to beat somebody to win a medal. There was one lad who had a high 22 PB, but I knew was more in 24 second range these days, a lad who is running 23s, and then a lad from Gowran AC, who on paper looked slower than me. I'll admit to looking up these athletes times online to see what I was facing. I've no shame in saying that. The Gowran athlete had a best of 26.8 that I could see, and had a couple of recent 100s which were around 13 flat. I genuinely couldn't see how I could lose to him, provided I ran well. There was the first problem, I was already too focused on beating somebody else, rather than just focusing on my own race, which I've always been good at doing, after years and years of senior races.

Preparation and race day

I tapered off nicely over the last week and had a good foam rolling session a few days out to ensure the legs were loose and I was well rested.

The event itself was organised pretty much in the same fashion as Nationals last week with the same call room procedure. Running last week was a big advantage as I knew exactly the drill, while lots of other runners were stressing away about call rooms etc.

I warmed up fine. Felt a little heavy legged at times, but otherwise I felt good. I was very nervous. More nervous than last week. But I was excited. I was very fixated on winning a medal, and was battling some negative thoughts saying 'what if this goes to pot'. Negative thoughts are natural before a race. Overall, I was feeling very positive though. I did not see how I could not finish third, even though I was a bit concerned that my focus wasn't 100% on myself.

The weather was pretty good. Sunny at times, though nippy with the stiff breeze that would be in our faces on the bend.

200m

I was in lane 7 and the Gowran AC athlete was in lane 8. At the time I thought this was perfect. My plan was to beat him early by attacking the bend. My bend hasn't been great this year and I usually come good in the straight, which is the better part of my race. I didn't want to have him ahead of me in the straight. I wanted to throw down the gauntlet early.

In hindsight, if he was running inside me, or if I was in lane 3 and he was in 8, I probably would have run my own race much better. As it transpired, I pushed hard from the gun, got out well, and when I lifted my head, I saw him close to me, and I felt I was eating the stagger up on him, but the race video shows that I hadn't really. I kept pushing, and when I got to 80m in I realised I never did my usual cruise from 50m to 80m. It's all instinct then and you don't have time to think. I should have had a delayed cruise from 80m to 110m and then kicked, but there was no time for such sensible thoughts, and my instint said KICK at 120m to go.

I rounded onto the straight and I was ahead of him. I couldn't see him in my periphery. I felt like I had him, but the video shows I wasn't very much ahead of him at all. Maybe 2 metres max. Then I heard somebody give him a shout saying "you're not far away", and I momentarily glanced my eyes to the right, which was an appalling error for somebody who has sprinted for 10 years.

I couldn't see him, and I kept driving on. I was still in a good position. Then with about 40m to go or so, my legs completely buckled from under me and I started to lose my balance. It was like a lightswitch had caused it. No warning. I had to work really hard to stay on my feet. I thought I was going to hit the track at that point, but I somehow stayed standing and pushed on, now feeling like I was in a dream where you try to run, but the legs just don't cooperate. I was writing cheques my legs just couldn't cash.

Amazingly I was still ahead of him. I thought I had completely lost momentum with the stumble, but maybe I was still moving ok (this part of the race wasn't in the camera shot on the live stream). Then with about 10m to go, my legs went again and this time I couldn't stay standing. I fell forward to the floor as he came up along side me, and fell over the line in a Shaunae Miller-Uibo/ Paul Robinson-esqe dive for the live which was definitely not intentional. I sensed I was beaten on the line, but had forlorn hope that the fall took me ahead of him at the death. Perhaps if I fell a few metres later it would have.

I smacked the floor hard, but thankfully suffered no injuries. My hip took the brunt of the impact and there is a bad bruise there. Other than that it is mainly just sore cuts and scrapes along right side, mainly knee, elbow and shoulder.

I was absolutely sickened as I lay on the track. I knew I had blown it. The paramedics attended to me but I said I was fine, but I went back to them 10 minutes later for a more detailed assessment to make sure I was ok.

Medal presentation

As suspected I missed out by fractions of a second. He ran 25.96 and I finished with 26.01, with a +0.8 wind, which doesn't reflect the strength of the wind into our faces on the bend. I lost out on third place by 0.05 of a second. In ways I was amazed the time was as fast as it was, given how ugly the last 50m was. I later learned that the Gowran AC ran almost a 1 second PB, a fantastic performance. I didn't expect that, and I don't think he did either.

Just after he was awarded his bronze medal, they handed me one as well because of the fact there were just 4 in the race. Given I was feeling totally despondent, my reaction was "I don't deserve this". But she wanted me to take it, so I did out of politeness, threw it in my bag, and didn't look at it.

The medal meant nothing to me in the immediate aftermath. I didn't win it. It's a token participation medal. After getting home, my fiance made me feel better by saying that I am being way too hard on myself, and that I totally deserve that medal for all the hard work I have put in during such an awful mess of a year, and for not giving up the training when so many just packed it in. I guess, in time, when the wounds (both physical and metaphorical) heal I can look at that medal as a tangible momento for training so hard during lockdown.

The last 6 months have been the hardest I have trained since 2017, and over the 9 races I have run, I don't really think I got what I deserved for it all, but I'm proud of the efforts. I seriously lacked motivation in 2018 after such a good 2017, but there's no doubt the motivation is truly back these days. I think I suffered mainly from not being inside a gym since March and for doing DIY foam rolling rather than getting proper massages, both situations that were unavoidable this year.

Two days on

I'm still absolutely gutted. It's an absolutely gut-wrenching feeling. I feel like I choked badly, and didn't run my own race. Had I done so, I probably would have beaten him. Had I been the one chasing down the straight with plenty of energy left in my legs, I would have fancied myself. I'm annoyed that I abandoned the tried and tested method of cruising for 30m before kicking again - a terrible error given I have run over 70 200m races in my life and should know better.

Instinct in the heat of the moment can be the difference. I remember Sonia O'Sullivan talking about the Sydney Olympics, and how if she waited until the home straight to kick, she might have beaten Szabo. Her instinct told her to go with 200m, as that's what she had perfected so brilliantly on so many occasions, and she ran extra metres on the bend. Metres that were the difference in the end. Not comparing a M35 masters race to an Olympic final, but I feel I can relate a bit to a momentary lapse in judgment.

This year's National Masters were incredibly soft due to the 1 event per athlete rule and I absolutely blew a big opportunity. A national medal in a sprint race in my age category will probably never be easier. I felt in absolute disbelief immediately afterwards and it sort of feels like a bad dream. I will learn from it all though. This is without doubt the most disappointed I have ever been after a race in 10 years of athletics, and I suspect will take some time to get over.

Too focused on medals

Despite the immense disappointment, it was quite an entrance to the world of masters athletics. I gave the commentary team on the live stream a great laugh and it got a disproportionate amount of coverage.

One thing I've realised is the obsession about winning medals isn't healthy. I'll be honest, for years running in senior races where I hadn't the remotest chance of ever winning a medal I sort of envied all the medals the masters athletes would win. The level of competition at senior level is on another stratosphere to masters and it was absolutely impossible for me to ever win anything other than some Leinster relay medals. Last week I had Marcus Lawler in my heat! It was a bit hard to take being compared to masters achievements.

I really like the idea of being competitive against other guys in my age group. Racing people is what athletics is all about and I love it. Medals, however, are a consequence of who and how many show up. I was unlucky that my event was one of the few that had more than 3 in it and so I didn't take a medal by default. On the flip side, had 2 other 23/24 second runners shown up, myself and the Gowran AC athlete would have been battling for 5th, and medals wouldn't even have been a factor. I've learnt a lesson to not be so focused on them.

Aftermath

Body is still very sore and am taking a few days off to recover from the fall. I hate that this happened in my last 200m race of the season and I've no chance to make amends. I suspect this will stay with me for quite some time. Who knows if there will be an indoor season at all, so it coud be 8 months before my next 200m! I've a 100m at Morton Live on Friday, with truth be told, very little at stake, particularly given there is a forecasted headwind. I've also entered the M35 pentathlon at the combined events for a bit of end of season fun. Ironically, there are only 3 in my category, so will likely get a medal for it. I think getting a medal in it will teach me that medals aren't always the big deal they are made out to be and it's just one part of the bigger picture of this great sport. Sometimes one just need to figure that out for oneself.

I connected with the Gowran AC athlete on Twitter and Facebook and gave my congratulations. Despite the anguish, it's great to be part of races like that. We have both agreed on a rematch, hopefully come indoors in January. He ran a brilliant race and really put me under immense pressure down the straight. Would be great to have more races.

A snippet of the live stream coverage can be found here:

https://twitter.com/J_Sullivan_Aths/status/1303035256061276160

Murph_D · 08-09-2020 8:10pm

You’re right about the unhealthy medal focus - if your report was a drinking game where I had to down a shot every time you said ‘medal’, I’d be very drunk indeed.

I came fourth myself in my one previous Masters. I didn’t care because I ran a big PB, and they certainly didn’t give me a medal, even though I’d already started the transfer process to Raheny and Pat Hooper was handing them out. :pac:

It’s probably unintentional, but your account kind of suggests that masters athletes are delighted with themselves for winning uncompetitive medals. I don’t agree. I had entered myself and was out of town. I was the only one in my 800m age group and could have rushed home and made the meet and taken a gold for jogging around. I found the prospect unmotivational - offputting really - and stayed away.

Feel your pain, but the video gave me a great laugh. You absolutely did make a dive for it, don’t care what you say!

By the way, why would you feel bad about looking up a competitor’s times?

Chivito550 · 08-09-2020 8:50pm

Murph_D wrote: »

You’re right about the unhealthy medal focus - if your report was a drinking game where I had to down a shot every time you said ‘medal’, I’d be very drunk indeed.

I came fourth myself in my one previous Masters. I didn’t care because I ran a big PB, and they certainly didn’t give me a medal, even though I’d already started the transfer process to Raheny and Pat Hooper was handing them out. :pac:

It’s probably unintentional, but your account kind of suggests that masters athletes are delighted with themselves for winning uncompetitive medals. I don’t agree. I had entered myself and was out of town. I was the only one in my 800m age group and could have rushed home and made the meet and taken a gold for jogging around. I found the prospect unmotivational - offputting really - and stayed away.

Feel your pain, but the video gave me a great laugh. You absolutely did make a dive for it, don’t care what you say!

By the way, why would you feel bad about looking up a competitor’s times?

Not intentional. I train with some masters athletes and their focus and discipline is top notch. Some have performed brilliant at World and European level. And they throw themselves into competition against seniors. You do get some masters athletes who only appear for masters competition though, and you never see them at any other time, and perhaps are overly medal focused regardless of the difficulty in achieving it. I came across some lad who guested at Leinsters last year get thick with the officials for not having a medal for him, and then proceed to tell him that he's got a press full of medals at home anyway and doesn't need it. Like any pursuit you get all kinds.

I wish I could claim that I meant that dive but I genuinely just fell over. It does look well executed on the video though I'll admit.

Good question. Not sure. I guess in ways it feels stalkerish Googleing people I've never heard of before and have never met. Think we all do it though, whether we admit it or not.

Murph_D · 08-09-2020 9:42pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

Good question. Not sure. I guess in ways it feels stalkerish Googleing people I've never heard of before and have never met. Think we all do it though, whether we admit it or not.

Sounds like good race prep to me.

Mulberry · 09-09-2020 1:10pm

I don't have a lot to add (except my sympathies!) - you've analysed it very well yourself.

I've watched a few of your race videos now and I've never seen you race like you did on Sunday. It was so clear that this was your first (or one of your first) opportunities to race to win (or medal, whatever), and you ran in a way that was very much out of character for you. Looking across your lane like that? What was that about?! I was shouting at you on YouTube!

Well I'm sure you've learned your lesson.

Interesting point re medals. Personally, I like the medals but for me it's all about (a) my time - showing improvement based on the training I've put in and (b) beating my opponents. e.g. if you'd have given me silver on Sunday but a pb vs gold and a slower time I think i'd have taken the silver/pb.

However, lots of masters athletes LOVE their medals. The club loves them too. Each to their own is what I say.

Also interesting re masters not turning up for Seniors events. The reason I don't enter senior races is because I'm a lot slower than them, I'm in the w45 category after all. (Having said that I might have entered this year despite that, if I'd been organised, the le cheile meet also, I'm just not in the habit of it.)

Anyway, I think you should be happy with the excellent training you put in all season. You made a mistake on an important day, but you'll definitely learn from it, and the training you've done will stand to you for indoors.

Onwards and upwards!

(Oh and I look up every opponent's times, every time)

Running Aimlessly Down Under - From 54 to 53 sec 400m

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