The Softy

Trial and Error

So two of my personal best are on the soft side, 10K and half Marathon times. I had planned to tackle the 10K in early July but herself indoors was in Hospital for a week, when like a revolving door she came home and Lorraine went in. Not much serious training done in prep for the new target race Kilmurry Harvest Festival 10K. I ran this before and had a complete disaster of a race. So Monday before the race I decided to do 6 * 1 Mile 10K paced reps just to see what my current pace might be. My 5K time gives me somewhere between 6:40/6:50 per mile pace. So off I set first Mile was 6:30 and felt pretty okay (famous last words) well we all know what happens in reps when you do the first few too hard. They go backwards pretty quickly (6:40, 6:45, 6:55, 6:58, 7:04). I thought I was going to die on the fourth one and very nearly pulled the plug but had some harsh words with myself, you plonker Rodney you went out too fast.

Rodney Part Two

Race day, as usual we get a warm sunny evening for the race. I don't do running in the heat, I just boil over. I decide to try and get 42:30 which is 8:30 per Two Kilometres. Usual 2 mile warm-up with some strides too wake the legs up. Pretty soon we where off. Small crowd so the greyhounds flew ahead leaving me in their wake. I was conscious of not going out to quick, and tried to keep the speed down on the watch, problem it was either too quick or too slow so I was all all over the place. I couldn't get into a rhythm at all. We passed the finish shortly after the 1 K mark and the pace lifted again but it got pulled back pretty quickly with the first of 3 climbs out of Kilmurry. This section is net Downhill but has 4 stiff climbs in it. Passed 2K mark and my time was 8:57 !!. Way too slow and at this rate I would not even get near my PB of 43:56. Still my pace was all over the shop and now my mouth was as dry as the Sahara. Passed 4K with a bad  split 17:52 at which point came the first Water station, I stopped and took a good drink of water. Two runners passed me and where both ahead by 35 to 50m when I started up again. I spent the rest of the race following them but at least I had now managed to find a pretty even tempo. Passed halfway 22:03 which was a big improvement but it didn't register with me at the time. I had at this point pretty much given up on a PB as once we hit 6K its a nice drag to 9K before it flattens out. Spent the rest of the race  just trying to catch the two runners in front of me. It wasn't until I casually glanced at the watch at 9K that I realised I had got quicker 39:04 meant any decent last kilometre would at least unsoften my PB. Dug in for the rest of the race still trying too catch the two in front but they where not coming back to me. Finished with a new PB of 43:21. As per usual I consumed more calories the I burnt in the after race picnic.

Conclusion

Any time you get a new PB it should be a good race but I ran a stinker. Even with no specific 10K work done I should have got under 43 minutes. I didn’t really get to the pace of the race until after halfway which pretty much cost me the time. It is ironic I ran the second half faster then the first, when the second half is net elevation gain and the first 5K was downhill. There will be another day out to try and rectify this in September, but with 3 marathons pencilled in over the next few weeks I may not really be in true 10K shape but hopefully I might give a better account of myself.

Alternating Tempo Run

For us that hate Marathon Paced Runs

A lot of Marathon training schedules call for a certain amount of Marathon Paced runs. These are generally no longer then just over half distance and can be quite tough sessions to complete. Mainly because they are often done in the middle of a Marathon training program on very tired legs. While this type of run will test the runner mentally on tired legs, it is too short to have any benefit on the lactate clearance system. If the Marathon pace is correct your Heart Rate should not be hitting levels that start generating increased Lactate that we would experience in the last 6 miles of a Marathon. We incorporate shorter/faster tempo runs to achieve this. One way I have found to get the Heart Rate up to these levels while running at marathon pace is to run an alternating tempo with 1/3 at 10K pace and then drop back to marathon pace. Repeating this without taking any rest. Normally I do this on a track 400 @ 10K followed by 800 @ Marathon pace. Anything between 10 and 13 reps is a pretty tough workout. Below is one such workout I did 12 weeks out from Seville. Just to give an idea of where my Heart Rate was against pace at the time, I ran a 12 Mile Marathon pace (7:35) the following week with an average HR of 158.

Rep	400	Pace	800	Pace	400 HR	800 HR
1	01:41.6	06:48.8	03:42.9	07:28.4	146	155
2	01:41.6	06:48.8	03:44.5	07:31.6	160	161
3	01:43.9	06:58.0	03:45.4	07:33.4	161	162
4	01:44.9	07:02.0	03:47.2	07:37.1	162	164
5	01:44.5	07:00.4	03:48.5	07:39.7	164	163
6	01:43.6	06:56.8	03:49.4	07:41.5	164	162
7	01:45.0	07:02.5	03:47.5	07:37.7	165	165
8	01:45.3	07:03.7	03:48.0	07:38.7	166	165
9	01:45.9	07:06.1	03:48.5	07:39.7	167	167
10	01:44.0	06:58.4	03:47.5	07:37.7	169	168
11	01:44.8	07:01.6	03:48.0	07:38.7	170	168
12	01:44.8	07:01.6	03:50.3	07:43.3	171	168

From my notes rep’s 8-12 it was very difficult to maintain the Marathon Pace for the first lap after the 10K burst but I was always recovered enough after the second lap to be able to pick it up again for the fast 400. This is quite a tough workout and is not meant to replace Marathon paced runs but rather to enhance them.

No I am not dead

Okay been a bit lazy recently. Busy at work and recent holidays meant I have ignored posting on the blog. Below is just a brief recollection of the last months activities. I will try to keep it short.

Racing from the front

Due to a few dropouts in key positions for the club 10K i ended up not pacing the race but instead was handed the responsibility of do the clicker( recording peoples time as they crossed the line). This meant travel in the lead car to record the 1K splits. Having a birds eye view of the front of the race and seeing Sergio, Sean Hehir and Jake O’ Regan go through t he first 3K in just under 9 Minutes brought home to me the difference between running and jogging (what us plodders think is running). Sergio went on to retain his crown and the race went off without and major instances. Joined the others and all our 5K group later for a few sociable’s afterwards.

Finding the Love

After the club race and some recent performances I decided to take a week off running. Seen as I have close to 1000 miles ran in the first 5 months of the year it was probably due.What happens next is my lower back decides to not play ball and tights up as tight as a ducks arse. So after my week off I now cant run, cant even get to sleep with it either so another enforced break is on the cards until its resolved. This brought me to my biannual trip to the Algarve with the family. Well its amazing what a few days of hot sun, cold sea water and even colder beer can do for the body. Within 2-3 days my Back was back to normal so I hit out for an early morning run around the Alvor/Piara Da Rocha area. Ended up passing the 1000 mile mark while getting lost trying to take a shortcut through Alto Golf’s first 9 holes. The beauty of these runs is I finish them on the beach, walk into the sea for 10 minutes and round it off when I hear the sound of the The Bolinas man calling me with his fresh Bolinas ( warm custard filled doughnut) for breakfast. Its runs like this that will make you find the love for running again.

 

Return to the madness

Come back from Holidays and it is as usual straight back to the grind. The first task as always is to find out what damage has been done over the previous 2 weeks. So step on the scales, quickly step off as I think they are broken and step on again. They never are broken and the quality of a Holiday is directly proportional to the shock you get when you read the numbers. Even with getting in close on 60 miles and not really hitting the gargle too heavy I still managed to shove 7 more pounds onto my frame. Maybe my breakfast choice after my runs is to blame. Time to return to my target of getting to 50 Marathons before I hit my 50th birthday plus burning off a couple of thousand calories will help also. Hit for the inaugural running of a Marathon by Ballina AC. Its ran in and around the Beeleek woods so the course was going to be at least interesting. Setup was as expected by any Club run race, right distance, fair course, plenty of water, goodies and banter with a good spread of food afterwards and plenty of it. Ran most of the race with Ann and Matthew from Ballina with the exception of my usual pit stop at the end of the first lap. Day flew and I really enjoyed the race. Ann is looking for 3:45 for Boston in Longford and I have no doubt she will hit it as we ran the last loop (5 miles) at that pace quite comfortable. Finished together (no we didn't hold hands) in 3:53:43.