It's an interesting clubhouse that is forced to put up a sign saying "Do Not Spit in the Showers". At least, I fervently hope that that was a 'p' and not an 'h' - it wasn't clear due to the brown smudging around the edges.
I'd secretly been hoping to get a 5k PR at the Mansfield 5k although my confidence was tempered a bit by some proper Northern weather (rain and wind) and a course that had very few flat portions. My PR is a very modest 16:30 set a few years ago and as my recent 3k projects out to a sub 16:00 5k I was reasonably confident of at least going close, despite my poor stamina. Yet again, however, I felt my energy gradually leeching away during the race to the extent that by the end my legs had become comatosed and useless. My final time of 17:13 was pretty pathetic but that's about all I had, which is very disappointing. As the final slap in the face I got overtaken by a young lady so I came in as 19th male and 20th person!
In hindsight this will perhaps be the most useful result of the season. I'd had a suspicion that I'd backed off threshold and long runs much too early - partly because of a knee injury, partly because of the compressed year and crucially about 5 ill-timed hangovers. Next year I will make it a priority to ensure a long and deep base period and to carry on with the stamina work into the competitive phase of the year. There's no point having a good sprint finish if you are 600m behind the leaders near the line! I wonder what I could have run over 800m this year if I'd kept my stamina up to par......
Today is the final day of the season for me and it's back to a more realistic distance of 400m this evening at Watford. I hope to run in the low 51's and from there it's on to a few weeks transition before the next season starts in early October. No rest for the bone-idle!
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Friday, 4 September 2009
Popping A Good One
Forgive the late update on monday's racing. Getting broadband out of virgin media has been about as easy as getting anything out of a virgin.
It was the Peterborough City games on monday where I was entered in the 800m at about 12:30 and the 1500m at around 4 p.m. First impressions weren't stellar as it was £6 to park, they charged me for safety pins for my number and there were no schedules posted (but, predictably, you could buy a program with them in it). I did fear they might try and charge me for having a shit but they did draw the line somewhere.
Having said that any nitpicking with the charges proved well worth it. The organisation was fantastic, timing accurate, results quickly posted and, in a rare break from tradition, trophies were really quite good.
There were 6 runners in the 800m a couple of whom had run quicker then me this year. I adopted my usual tactics of riding their coattails until the very last minute. I didn't put a watch on it but the first 200m seemed ludicrously fast and I was still in last place at the bell, which I took at about 59.4. I had forgotten how intense the 800m can be and it's only once I start my move that I actually feel that I can keep up. I think this is a combination of a shortage of speedwork and perhaps a lack of faith in my training as the season has been short. Even so, once I got going my confidence grew as the pain increased and I found a decent turn of foot down the straight to win in 1:57.12. Slightly surprised, but very pleased, with the finishing time particularly as I felt as though I was still carrying some stella artois dregs from the heavy friday night. That's good enough to be ranked 6th in the UK over 800m for over 35's which is satisfying after 7 months of training in a negatively split race.
For the 1500m my aim was to post a good time but once again the win was the priority. Given my speed the slower the race the better my chance, so I knew I had the race after a very slow first half where once again I found myself in last place. As the final straight was windy I had decided to take up the lead and stretch the field entering the 4th lap, slow up on the final bend and then quicken again on the final straight - the idea being that the other racers would have to close up / overtake into the wind. Suffice it to say everything went according to plan and I won fairly comfortably in 4:20.9. Not a great time and it looks like I've run out of time to post a good 1500m time before my season shuts down on wednesday.
In the meantime I've foolishly entered the Mansfield open 5k tonight where we'll see if I have any stamina left at all. At least the first kilometre will feel pretty easy!
It was the Peterborough City games on monday where I was entered in the 800m at about 12:30 and the 1500m at around 4 p.m. First impressions weren't stellar as it was £6 to park, they charged me for safety pins for my number and there were no schedules posted (but, predictably, you could buy a program with them in it). I did fear they might try and charge me for having a shit but they did draw the line somewhere.
Having said that any nitpicking with the charges proved well worth it. The organisation was fantastic, timing accurate, results quickly posted and, in a rare break from tradition, trophies were really quite good.
There were 6 runners in the 800m a couple of whom had run quicker then me this year. I adopted my usual tactics of riding their coattails until the very last minute. I didn't put a watch on it but the first 200m seemed ludicrously fast and I was still in last place at the bell, which I took at about 59.4. I had forgotten how intense the 800m can be and it's only once I start my move that I actually feel that I can keep up. I think this is a combination of a shortage of speedwork and perhaps a lack of faith in my training as the season has been short. Even so, once I got going my confidence grew as the pain increased and I found a decent turn of foot down the straight to win in 1:57.12. Slightly surprised, but very pleased, with the finishing time particularly as I felt as though I was still carrying some stella artois dregs from the heavy friday night. That's good enough to be ranked 6th in the UK over 800m for over 35's which is satisfying after 7 months of training in a negatively split race.
For the 1500m my aim was to post a good time but once again the win was the priority. Given my speed the slower the race the better my chance, so I knew I had the race after a very slow first half where once again I found myself in last place. As the final straight was windy I had decided to take up the lead and stretch the field entering the 4th lap, slow up on the final bend and then quicken again on the final straight - the idea being that the other racers would have to close up / overtake into the wind. Suffice it to say everything went according to plan and I won fairly comfortably in 4:20.9. Not a great time and it looks like I've run out of time to post a good 1500m time before my season shuts down on wednesday.
In the meantime I've foolishly entered the Mansfield open 5k tonight where we'll see if I have any stamina left at all. At least the first kilometre will feel pretty easy!
Sunday, 30 August 2009
The Very Last Time
An absolutely monumental hangover on saturday which saw me eventually surface at 8:20 p.m. At the risk of sounding like a cliche that really is the last time. I'm not just hanging up the drinking boots, I am tying a rock round them and going to the river to meet the unwanted kittens.
None of which is ideal preparation for the Peterborough City Games tomorrow where I will be running the 800m and the 1500m. Assuming the weather is good I am eyeing up a sub-2:00 800m and a sub 4:10 1500m. That's assuming the last remaining traces of hangover are in the toilet. Beyond tomorrow there is only really one other opportunity to race in a competitive middle distance race so I'm going to go out all guns blazing and see what happens.
I had an interesting appointment at the physiotherapists. I had to stand in front of her with just my boxers on (praying I wouldn't get a woody) and as she mused "Mmmm....twisted". Holy shit she can see my personality from back there as well. Anyway my knee problems are most likely caused by tight hamstrings and IT Band. Not surprising since the last time I touched my toes was outside Mr West's classroom when I was 10 years old. (Fortunate timing as I suspect that Mr West's replacement would probably have slipped something in given half the chance - and I don't mean a house point.)
None of which is ideal preparation for the Peterborough City Games tomorrow where I will be running the 800m and the 1500m. Assuming the weather is good I am eyeing up a sub-2:00 800m and a sub 4:10 1500m. That's assuming the last remaining traces of hangover are in the toilet. Beyond tomorrow there is only really one other opportunity to race in a competitive middle distance race so I'm going to go out all guns blazing and see what happens.
I had an interesting appointment at the physiotherapists. I had to stand in front of her with just my boxers on (praying I wouldn't get a woody) and as she mused "Mmmm....twisted". Holy shit she can see my personality from back there as well. Anyway my knee problems are most likely caused by tight hamstrings and IT Band. Not surprising since the last time I touched my toes was outside Mr West's classroom when I was 10 years old. (Fortunate timing as I suspect that Mr West's replacement would probably have slipped something in given half the chance - and I don't mean a house point.)
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Don't Pass the Grass, Man
With the hamstring more or less behaving itself since the weekend's racing I decided to have one last 'British Effort' at lowering my 3k time at the Watford open meet. As it was my last 3k of the season I decided to go out a little bit quicker and, as last time, ignore my watch. Conditions were damp, windy but overall not too bad.
Unfortunately it appears that Buffalo Mozzarella flavoured crisps from the Walkers sensations range don't mix well with running, even when eaten more than 2 hours in advance of the race. My entire warm-up was dominated by the usual (and expected) frenzied backside activity and an unexpected fighting of the mushy crisp tide in the back of my throat.
As with most things it had all settled down once the race started, although you certainly wouldn't have wanted to race closely behind me at any point. I went through the mile in about 4:52 and raced well throughout, although I was slightly restricted by a side stitch for the last 2 laps. Unfortunately given the standard of the field I came 15th, a respectful 66 seconds behind the winner! Pretty happy with the final time of 9:10.92 and that will serve as a good, but not too testing, benchmark for next season.
Another rather pointless visit to the hospital in the afternoon for my asthma meant I walked away with a prescription for my grass allergy. I always wondered why I used to fall asleep at college when it was passed around and now I know why!
Unfortunately it appears that Buffalo Mozzarella flavoured crisps from the Walkers sensations range don't mix well with running, even when eaten more than 2 hours in advance of the race. My entire warm-up was dominated by the usual (and expected) frenzied backside activity and an unexpected fighting of the mushy crisp tide in the back of my throat.
As with most things it had all settled down once the race started, although you certainly wouldn't have wanted to race closely behind me at any point. I went through the mile in about 4:52 and raced well throughout, although I was slightly restricted by a side stitch for the last 2 laps. Unfortunately given the standard of the field I came 15th, a respectful 66 seconds behind the winner! Pretty happy with the final time of 9:10.92 and that will serve as a good, but not too testing, benchmark for next season.
Another rather pointless visit to the hospital in the afternoon for my asthma meant I walked away with a prescription for my grass allergy. I always wondered why I used to fall asleep at college when it was passed around and now I know why!
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Track Narcolepsy
It was off to Kettering at the weekend for another open track meeting. I have good memories of Kettering as it was home to Wicksteed Park - one of the UK's small, squalid amusement parks during my childhood. Nothing like a ride on the 10ft high rollercoaster, the 20m long log flume and some wet candy floss to get a boy dreaming of Disney World. Although the image of Nathan with his eyes closed on the pirate ship will forever be burned in my mind.
I had planned to run the 800m and 400m at the meet, however any hopes of a good time were dashed as the track was situated on the side of a hill and open to the elements. It was the sort of steppe that Genghis Khan made his own, albeit on a smaller scale and you couldn't buy scones in Mongolia at the time.
Every now and again I end up in a race where I look a bit ridiculous for entering. It's usually due to my age and the 800m field was no exception - if you drew up a venn diagram I would have been the only data point in both the male and over 15 circles. I decided to make it a good solid effort for training purposes, run the 400m and maybe even squeeze in a 200m for a full day of multipace training. I won by 12 seconds in a slow time.
By this time I had started to eye up the 200m race, purely because I figured the 400m wouldn't be that competitive, it was 3 hours away and also because the extremely strong wind was perfect for a decent time. So it turned out as I won my race in 23.5 seconds, although a tight lower hamstring at the finish reminded me of my old man's folly.
The reasonably successful day didn't quite end the way I expected as, after listening to the World Athletics Championships in the car, I woke up barely 10 minutes before my race to find out that they had moved the time forward by 9 minutes. I'd had no warm-up and sleep bogeys in my eyes so I decided to opt out of the race. The next day my hamstring told me that perhaps my bout of narcolepsy was a good thing. Maybe I should be testing myself on the polysomnogram rather than the athletics track!
I had planned to run the 800m and 400m at the meet, however any hopes of a good time were dashed as the track was situated on the side of a hill and open to the elements. It was the sort of steppe that Genghis Khan made his own, albeit on a smaller scale and you couldn't buy scones in Mongolia at the time.
Every now and again I end up in a race where I look a bit ridiculous for entering. It's usually due to my age and the 800m field was no exception - if you drew up a venn diagram I would have been the only data point in both the male and over 15 circles. I decided to make it a good solid effort for training purposes, run the 400m and maybe even squeeze in a 200m for a full day of multipace training. I won by 12 seconds in a slow time.
By this time I had started to eye up the 200m race, purely because I figured the 400m wouldn't be that competitive, it was 3 hours away and also because the extremely strong wind was perfect for a decent time. So it turned out as I won my race in 23.5 seconds, although a tight lower hamstring at the finish reminded me of my old man's folly.
The reasonably successful day didn't quite end the way I expected as, after listening to the World Athletics Championships in the car, I woke up barely 10 minutes before my race to find out that they had moved the time forward by 9 minutes. I'd had no warm-up and sleep bogeys in my eyes so I decided to opt out of the race. The next day my hamstring told me that perhaps my bout of narcolepsy was a good thing. Maybe I should be testing myself on the polysomnogram rather than the athletics track!
Monday, 17 August 2009
Attack Of The Doms
Surprisingly I felt great the day after my last races, at least for the first part of it. As the day progressed I started to experience some discomfort in my upper quads and by the end of the day it until it felt that someone had shaved them with a sickle. Sure enough, as expected, it was my old friend DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). A particularly unpleasant case on this occasion which left me walking like a penguin for about 3 days - thank God I opted out of the 100m.
Hopefully all the pain will be worthwhile in the next scheduled race day, on sunday over 800m and 400m. I should be nicely set-up for them with last week's racing and a decent workout on sunday (a 5 * 800 @ 3k race pace with a 2:00 jog recovery) and an 800m lactic acid tolerance workout this coming wednesday. After that it's racing and strides until the end of the season in early September. This is the best time of the year; low volume, high intensity!
Hopefully all the pain will be worthwhile in the next scheduled race day, on sunday over 800m and 400m. I should be nicely set-up for them with last week's racing and a decent workout on sunday (a 5 * 800 @ 3k race pace with a 2:00 jog recovery) and an 800m lactic acid tolerance workout this coming wednesday. After that it's racing and strides until the end of the season in early September. This is the best time of the year; low volume, high intensity!
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Under / Overdistance at Watford
Discretion is the better part of valour as they (usually cowards) say. As I had yet to attempt to reach terminal velocity during a short sprint at any point in the last few years I decided to opt out of running the 100m at the meeting last night.
I had feared that running the 200m and 3000m in one evening may go down in the annals of combo mistakes alongside gin with cherry 7-up and the infamous 'night of the Diamond White and prawn cocktail crisps'. It doesn't make a good story but actually the evening was a success.
Before the 200m I eavesdropped on pre-race discussions about attacking the bend, relaxing entering the straight etc. My current state of training absolved me from such technicalities, boiling down to a race tactic of pegging it as fast as I can. Not much to say about the race apart from I felt as though I got a decent start, but never really felt as though there was much speed on tap. I crossed the line in 24.00 - coming 4th out of 8 and with the 20th fastest time out of 83 total runners. Satisfying considering it was my first for 15 years but also highlighting the need for some acceleration / top speed work next season.
The 35 minutes between races was sufficient for my legs to recover but not to eliminate the puke taste in the back of my throat (a bit like the order of play for a hangover). After a sub-standard effort two weeks ago I decided on a change of tactics and ignore my watch except for the first 200m split and to focus on racing people not digits. The result was a much better effort mid-race and a time of 9:15.47 - 11 seconds quicker than a fortnight ago. This way of running is definitely more effective for me and I think I'll leave the watch behind for my final scheduled 3k of the season in 2 weeks' time. This was a good night of racing and hit the spot in terms of preparation for the 400 / 800 / 1500m races to come.
As a side note: I always feel a ridiculous sense of satisfaction at these meetings when they run out of toilet paper (as they always do). It eliminates the queue for the cubicle, allows me to practice my 'self-satisfied look of wisdom' and also enables me to make inroads into the McDonalds napkin mountain that has accumulated in my car.
I had feared that running the 200m and 3000m in one evening may go down in the annals of combo mistakes alongside gin with cherry 7-up and the infamous 'night of the Diamond White and prawn cocktail crisps'. It doesn't make a good story but actually the evening was a success.
Before the 200m I eavesdropped on pre-race discussions about attacking the bend, relaxing entering the straight etc. My current state of training absolved me from such technicalities, boiling down to a race tactic of pegging it as fast as I can. Not much to say about the race apart from I felt as though I got a decent start, but never really felt as though there was much speed on tap. I crossed the line in 24.00 - coming 4th out of 8 and with the 20th fastest time out of 83 total runners. Satisfying considering it was my first for 15 years but also highlighting the need for some acceleration / top speed work next season.
The 35 minutes between races was sufficient for my legs to recover but not to eliminate the puke taste in the back of my throat (a bit like the order of play for a hangover). After a sub-standard effort two weeks ago I decided on a change of tactics and ignore my watch except for the first 200m split and to focus on racing people not digits. The result was a much better effort mid-race and a time of 9:15.47 - 11 seconds quicker than a fortnight ago. This way of running is definitely more effective for me and I think I'll leave the watch behind for my final scheduled 3k of the season in 2 weeks' time. This was a good night of racing and hit the spot in terms of preparation for the 400 / 800 / 1500m races to come.
As a side note: I always feel a ridiculous sense of satisfaction at these meetings when they run out of toilet paper (as they always do). It eliminates the queue for the cubicle, allows me to practice my 'self-satisfied look of wisdom' and also enables me to make inroads into the McDonalds napkin mountain that has accumulated in my car.
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