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The Middle Ground
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Simon -Congrats on the PB. 4:57/mile pace over 1500 must feel good. You're now making sub 5 look routine. Impressive.
Ian Higgins is the event director at Wimbledon and for the first few months of parkrunning he was my nemesis. I tried and tried to beat him but to no avail. I then thought that I was in really good shape and had another crack....and lost by 1 second.
Finally I did beat him and I think that was the last time I went.Mission accomplished
So it was the first Longest parkrun - Yorkshire on Sunday as you know.
It couldnt have gone better in terms of an overall event. We ended up with two new records:
1. Most people to complete the entire 7x parkruns at 25 (SW London have recorded 24 so far and the previous record was 15).
2. The first ever string of 7 sub 20:00 clockings with 18:27, 18:57, 19:24, 19:34, 18:15, 17:35, 17:51.
For the latter attempt I lined up pacemakers as follows:
Leeds 1 - None
Roundhay - PRF (19:46)
Harrogate - Tom Williams (19:34)
York - PRF (21:47)
Dewsbury - YD (19:44)
Huddersfield - Matthew Pierson (17:30) [2nd in this year's Brass Monkey]
Leeds 2 - BR (18:15)
So everyone did their jobs (my York offering was only ever intended as a halfway pacing job) but he just kept running away from us
When you consider that the slowest pacer has recently run 17:51 it puts it into some sort of context and will probably not get beaten for some time. But you never know.
Plans throughout the day had to be flexible because when we were just about to start at York we were advised that there were still 20,000 people in the park at Huddersfield, our next venue.
A quick switch of Huddersfield and Dewsbury to buy some time meant that YD was able to do his pacing job on a nice hilly 4 lap course. Then when we did finally get to Huddersfield the park was still rammed but once we set 60 or so people off on a charge around the park the crowds just thought we were part of what was going on and cheered us on....they didnt know what they were cheering but that didnt stop them.
BR and Hilly joined us for the last one after completing an 18 miler earlier in the day and Davex1975 was one of the hardy 25 to complete the whole set.
Tom gave it a good mention on this week's parkrun Show and I'll be a parkrun Show interviewee for next week. It'll never take off though...
Excellent racing and a really good report Simon. 3 seconds is a lot in the 1500m, and a 72 seconds last lap is really impressive. You should bask in PB glow quite happily today. I have got to agree with YP, treat yourself to a new Garmin as a celebration. Maybe you should get drunk first so you have two excuses with Mrs Simon.
That’s some decent mileage YP, keep it up and that sub 40 will be yours.
That’s some good training load Duck, you must be made of tough stuff to handle that lot.
PP – all this Garmin 610 talk is giving me gadget envy, its my birthday in September I might see if Mrs YD will buy me one instead of the usual shirt and a book present.
prf – nice round up and an impressive list of pacemakers……
It was a great event and I only sampled 2 of the 7 events, definitely on my to do list for next year.
I still have a little stiffness in my legs from Sundays efforts. Its been a while since I have had two days worth of stiffness after a race, I remember it taking me a couple of days to get over some really big race efforts when I first started running.
The official results are through for Sunday, I was 8th, though I have lost 2 seconds and have a finish time of 37:39.
PRF – Sounds like it was a massive success. Kudos to the 7 sub 20 runner (especially the 17.35 on number 6).
YD – A top 10 is always nice and a solid time on a tough sounding course. Looks like you are back fighting fit.
Simon – That’s a sizable PB for the distance. You seem to be in excellent form right now
9 miles for me yesterday with 7.2 progressive with the club. Club bit averaged out at MP (6.35) which was a little slower than I intended but legs were pretty heavy. Hamstring is feeling a bit sore today so either something short and easy or a rest tonight. I’m supposed to be running a leg of our club organised relay tomorrow (2.5 miles) but I’ll have to see how the hammie feels tomorrow.
Excellent stuff (again) Simon, wish I could say I was the same guy in your report though
Really nice even pacing - do you think the slower first lap helped at all?
prf, what a great day and well done to all who took part. Nice to see a quite comprehensive 'who's who' list of pacers!
Take it easy with the hamstring Mr V, someone on the sub-2 800 thread on Fetch seriously buggered his last week.
Got myself down to the track today for the first time in over a month - 6*400 + 3*200 all w/60s rec & 3 min between sets.
Came out with 76.0, 71.9, 72.6, 71.7, 70.3, 72.4 + 28.0, 33.2, 28.6 which is really good considering the lack of quality in the last few weeks & shows the speed is still there. My fitness is definatly lower than it was as I ate a session like that for breakfast a month ago (and today 6*400 left me gasping), but it's a good line to build from. The 200s were run really strongly (aside from the second which was more a relaxed stride out in between 2 hard efforts) but I wasn't sprinting at all.
Hello all, bit late on my race report - Ive had a bust few days!
On Friday night it was the Blakedown Bolt, a 10K MT run over the Worcestershire country side. Following a busy day in the office I was a little later than I would have liked getting home, so was in, changed, and out in 5 minutes and arrived at the race 20 minutes before the start so was a little wound up to say the least. I immeadiatley set off to do a warm up and managed to get a mile in with a few strides which settled the nerves/anxiety a little - another 5 minutes to gather my thoughts and I was towing the line with 277 fellow athletes ready for the off. I'd already decided that I wasn't in the mood for an eye-balls out effort and was content that as the sun shinning I was going to just enjoy a good hard run.
We started with two laps of the field and whilst I concentrated on establishing a rythem it was apparant that the familiar faces were hairing ahead, it became apparant why as we turned off the field in to a single file alley, that when on for around 200/300 meters with the inevitable heavy traffic concertina effect, as the alley ended with a style added to the situation. I reached mile 1 in 07:30 feeling quite fresh! With a guy I had easily beaten in my last two races a good 300 yds in front.
Mile 2 - I kept a comfortable rythm and focused on the back of the guy I'd beaten. I caught him up at the end of the mile and passed around 20/25 others in the process - Mile 2 07:28.
Worth noting at this point that whilst the sun was shinning the effects of the last few days rain had made the conditions underfoot less than firm, between sandy trails, mud and large puddles much of the running was about weaving and moderating stride length with my elbows out at 90º!
Mile 3 started with a long up hill drag another style at the top and me sitting back a little, a couple of those I'd past went past on the way up - and I moved back on them and took another couple of places to record a pedestrian (although it felt a lot harder!) 08:08.
Mile 4 had a few twists and had a nice, if not slippy and twisty, down hill section. Was able to stretch my legs and breathing was nice and easy (odd for this far in to a race!) held my place catching a group in front and carrying one passenger from those I'd passed. Had another style to traverse and the mile finished out on a VERY muddy woodland path as it flatteded out and clocked 07:43. On the muddy path the guy behind was evidently not enjoying it so I asked "you also wearing road shoes?" He responded "No.... spikes!!" And he was struggling, so you can imagine the fun I was having!
The muddy path continued for a good distance and I was able to actually take another 3 or 4 places as those in front faded with the additional energy that was required to move forwards. Consideratly as we reached a more stable surface we were steered towards a stream/brooke which did a nice job of cleaning off the excess mud, we were now retracing our steps to the finish and I clocked Mile 5 in 08:11.
I was really enjoying myself again and as I'd conserved a bit was able to reflect on how far Ive come over the last 6 months - and I just couldn't stop smilling - the sun was shinning, the course was fantastic (actually made better by the mud as it gave it character!). We retraced the start of the course so encountered the outgoing style on the way back and I just concentrated on holding my place. 08:02.
Last bit was 07:16 pace as we did a final lap of the field. I finished in 59th in 49:10, with the Garmin clocking 6.29miles.
Analysis of the results compared to last year showed that the 30 or so runners that were in front of me, that ran last year, they were around 01:30 slower - a consequence of the soft ground no doubt. There was the odd one that ran it faster, but I guess that always happens when people are at different stages of fitness. Further stalking of those around me indicated that I had beaten everybody I ran against in my last race, and nobody that had beaten me in that race - which given my laid back approach suprised me - BS calculator makes me feel confident of 43.xx when I run my next 10k in a couple of weeks. Further analysis showed that I had beaten runners with recent 42.xx and a 43.xx times, so this made me feel even better about and confirmed my target was possible. Finally my pulse averaged 176, where as I normally average around 182 (185 in a 5k) when racing - so there was clearly more in the tank. Picture below is me finishing, you won't see me smile like this at the end of a race very often! And I'm still waiting for the 2 feet in flight shot!
Now for the plaudits. And apologies for the typos in the race report - too much to say and not enough quality control!
PRF - Another 7 on the talley! Is there a world record for races in a sustained period of years? Would be a good target if there was...
YD - All cylinders appear to be firing again and PRFs racing volume appears to be rubbing off! And a prize to!
CB - Your clearly going to go sub 20 before me - get on with it man!
YP - So close, with your current mileage sub 40 will come sooner rather than later.
SE - Its fustrating when you want a hard run and nobody takes it out. In my pomp I've experienced that and have the odd PB I'll now never beat, that at the time should of (my 3000m being the most fustrating as I'd love to have gone sub 9, but only managed 09:11). 3 seconds is a good wack for an almost solo run, it sounds like there is more to come....
Phil - all seems to now all be going in the right direction. Onwards and upwards.
Duck - good session, not bad after the states you got in to!
Some good mileage across the board and I'm still a way behind. Was pleased to clock a 32mile high last week, with 2 back to back 30+ weeks. And my first month over the 100 mark. Currently at 112, with a few days to go. And it all feels very solid! Slowly slowly though........
Darola - I was going to suggest you're not trying hard enough if you can smile like that, but then BR seems to manage it all the time.
Nice report, and excellent stalking.
Duck - nice session. A good evening for 400s...
Had a strange session myself. Times on paper look very pleasing but I felt pretty shocking towards the end. Legs were turning over nicely but breathing/top half in general felt like it was very hard work, not helped by muggy conditions. 10 x 400 off 60 secs recovery: 73, 70, 70, 71, 70, 70, 71, 71, 72, 72. HR was already over 190 after the third rep and peaked at 196. Before I lost my last HR strap my max HR on interval sessions earlier this year was typically in the high 180s. So Saturday's race could be hard work but hopefully fitness will see me through.
PP - a session of 10 * 400s in 70s per lap (with bugger all recovery).... That is an outstanding session, and just one lap at that kind of level would kill me
Darola - Good race reporting, and to think that I get accused of remembering lots of details about a race!
And Po10 stalking is always good for feeding into the BS calculator, nice work. Plenty more to come.
Phil - If you can get through a session like that while feeling ropey it may well be a better sign than doing exactly the same times while feeling great? Time will tell anyway but impressive session nonetheless. I can get a bit of a feel for these numbers now after doing that 8 x 300 (60 secs recovery) with Tom on Saturday evening at something like 57 secs avge, pedestrian compared to your efforts.
Ran a leg of the Damflask relays last night, a 3.5 mile loop around a reservoir with a flattish first half, a long uphill drag just after half way and then a fast downhill finish.
I thought I had a good run in 21:12 with course profile telling splits of 5:46, 5:51, 6:44, (5:28)
However, the overall time was a bit down relative to one or two other people I would benchmark against and that was down to one reason.......I was running the course blind. As a result, I was holding something in reserve for 'the hill' and then, when on the hill, I didnt know where the top was until we were virtually there.
I am never going to make loads of time up on other runners on a long downhill finish so finished thinking there was plenty time left out on the course. I was one of the few runners at the end saying that I'd had a good run despite the relative time suggesting otherwise.
And still happy with the recovery between events.
More importantly, I'm getting the feeling that things are building nicely to be absolutely flying in August, a bit like last year only quicker.
Oh and BR would like to point out that his pacing job on Sunday was 18:06 not 18:15....well, every second counts as they say!
Lovely weekend report, prf. Daresay I wouldn't have been in shape for adding to the number doing all 7. Not judging by the way I came off the tennis court, anyway. YD, I think I missed the fact that you raced, but haven't missed your DOMS - must've been a tough effort. Special again, Simon. I keep thinking "Oh, those times sound doable" and then realising that I sound like a thirteen year old beginner. Nice report, Darola. You made it sound like so much fun I'm sorry I missed it!
Track last night was too simple, with 2x160, 2x80, because of meets tonight. Soz, Duck, I was in a bit of a rush and forgot my watch. I did a third 80 for tired form training. But the fact that there is a meet tonight interests me. A masters event at Newport. I wonder what a 1500 feels like? I don't feel in shape for one at all, but you have to start somewhere!
Ratzer do it! Just look how big the improvement curve will be
Darola I have to agree that is probably one of the happiest race faces I have ever seen! A nice confidence booster.
Simon you must be pretty pleased with the results of your training. Well done!
prf sounds a top weekend and another strong race. Brilliant stuff!
Bit busy here but have a hilly 10k on Sunday. Lovely race but only aim is to beat last years time of 48.xx.
Looks like I may not be able to make Dereham now prf but will know for sure next week.
Busy busy busy! Some great racing going on in here
... I've read back but now haven't time to post! Looking forward to adding to the PB hoard at some point in the future ... but not yet! 
forever - You'd better have a good excuse, you smackdown avoider!
Darola - You seem to revelling in your comeback and the pciture is proof! Long may it continue.
Forever - Hilly or not I cannot imagine you having the slightest problem in beating last years time
PRF - Looks like a solid outing though I don't understand your splits. Why was the fast downhill finish 6.44? I'm obviously reading it wrong
Phil - If you are knocking those kind of splits out when you are still not 100% then things must be going pretty well....
Hamstring feels ok today so I’m going to race the club relay tonight. 2.5 mile course with a hefty hill in the first mile so I’m told. Just hoping to get the legs going rather than an eyeballs out kind of effort. We don’t seem to be putting out strong teams so there’s no particular motivation to run well for a good team finish. I’m going to try and bag the first leg as otherwise I think it might be a lonely run. Should be a good tune up for a 10k next Weds and a 5 mile race the following one.
PRF, great set of parkruns done there. I did see your name mentioned on social media. And an interview? Bonus point if you stick in a mention of McFlurries.
I wouldn't have minded doing the London set, but it would seriously interfere with my track season. Somebody should organise something on the shortest day of the year ...
Nice race too. Are you not particularly good at downhill running then?
YD, I am always stiff after a race. It's a good indication that you've worked hard.
Darola, nice race, report and pic. you do look far too happy though. I am surprised by how common road shoes are on muddy courses. I pretty much always wear trail shoes for grass unless it's been really dry. I'll definitely be getting some XC spikes for this winter as well though. I found that even in trail shoes I had to waste a lot of effort on not falling over in last year's XC.
Duck, all the slower first lap did was slow me down by 2-3 seconds. I think I need to be brave and go out at 72/lap in the next race. What was interesting about that race was that I felt in control and was confident I could maintain the pace throughout. I suppose the confidence comes from racing a lot.
Nice 400s from you. They suggest to me that your 1500 time needs revising.
And Phil, based that session I would say you could probably run close to 4:25 for a 1500.
Ratzer, go and do that 1500. There is no finer distance. Except maybe 800.
Good luck tonight, Mr V
Nice race Darola, sounds like it should be during XC season than mid-June though!
Phil, 400s off of 60 was the way to go last night! Good session.
prf perhaps you should do one of those crazy trail races that goes up the side of a hill then turns around and comes right back down! Plenty of them around here.
forever, I have a sneaky suspicion you might run sub-48
Simon, sounds like you're at that point now where you've raced a fair bit so you're basically 100% race fit. That 'hurting but able to keep the hammer down' is a great sensation in a race!
Yeah, hopefully I'll be able to actually get in a decent mile/1500 for the first time in basically ever
all my prior attempts have been after other races, in Kelvin Hall or in high wind.
Going along to the local jogscotland group tonight, mum goes there every Wednesday so I'm tagging along to see if I can help out in any way.
Ratzer - Dont worry, you can join us on June 23rd 2013 for the next round of fun and frolics. Not long to go!
Mr V - The 6:44 3rd mile was mostly the uphill section. The 5:28/mile last half mile was the the last part of the uphill and the downhill run to the finish.
Hope tonight has gone well.
Social media?
You dont mean the tweet at the bottom of this blog do you? What an excellent comment from a fine upstanding citizen - I quite like the idea of Sir PRF
I'll probably record the interview in the morning but, as The parkrun Show isnt sponsored by any American food giants beginning with M I think any mention of my fuel of choice may well be swiftly edited.
And, yes, I'm shit at running downhill......or round corners.....or on mud. In fact, I'm not sure what I'm any good at!
Rest day today - it actually feels like ages since I went for a simple training run, it probably isnt but it seems like ages. So I'm looking forward to doing just that tomorrow!
I was thinking of this one and I always though Lord PRF would be more suiting.
Media whoring
Speaking of which, here is the vid of my leg of the 4 x 400 last week (I am in the white vest). Amusing since you get to see me out of breath at the end.
I also found a short clip of me here (2:58 on the video) leading the 1500 on Monday.
Simon - Good form. Looks too easy though.
If we're doing incomplete race footage, I've just remembered my mate caught me in the last mile of the Paris Marathon back in 2008, looking remarkably fresh for my 2:44 finish. I think it was one of the earlier outings for those shorts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYX4KzU5-gQ
Okay. I did it. Went along to find out what an athletics meet is like, had a great time, chatted to a few guys that I didn't know from Adam, and walked away with two PBs!!
The first was a soft one. I figured for my first 1500 I'd jump in and see what happened, so guestimated 5:10 to 5:20 simply on the basis of not having a clue how to pace it and having an old mile time of 5:36. Knew that I'd gone from the gun way too fast, covered the first 100 in about 17 when 20 should have been the fastest I could have hoped for, and then slowed up. First 300 in 57 much too fast so I knew I'd just hold on for the best I could. The rest of the race was quiet after I was passed at 450m by a young guest going for 5:00, but with 300m to go I could see two guys in front having a little trouble. On the last 100m I thought I might have a chance to catch the one in green, but I was short by about 10m having caught up about 90 over the last lap. So, uneven, too quick out, no idea of how to pace, and ending up with a 5:09.2 PB. That will soon be destroyed!
But now the really fun one. I came on the night only expecting to try the 1500 if I felt up to it, but for £4 entry you can do as many events as you like, and there were guys doing all the runs, and some field events too! So, under pressure from the Boy Ratzer to find out how quick I was I went straight over to the 100m. I lined up in the B string, but with a guy I train with who is damned quick. Okay, looking at the competition he was going to come first. The guy next to me didn't look quick. Boy, was I wrong. The gun went and he was 2m ahead of me in the first 10m. No worries, I was just there to test out my form. Could I actually run quickly? So I chased him, and chased him. At 60m I was half a metre behind, but not gaining. I just remembered to keep my knees up, drive up, and run through the line. At 95m I was on his shoulder. No1 had gone through 10m before. The other two were back behind us somewhere. My nemesis seemed to be failing before the line. He dipped desperately, head first, I shoved my chest out like a flat whore...
I nicked it. 2nd place, silver medal, 14.2s.
72.73 WAVA. Where's that table?
MIDDLE GROUND WAVA LEAGUE (March - June)
Calculator here: http://www.howardgrubb.co.uk/athletics/wmalookup06.html
85.56% Hilly (10K, 39:13, March)
85.32%Treadmill (5M, 29:47, March)
83.98% PhilPub (HM, 1:12:48, May)
83.78% BR (10K, 34:10, March)
81.40% PRF (5K, 17:25, March)
78.78% Duck (60m, 8.2, March)
78.46% forever (HM 1.31.49 March)
76.47% Simon E (800m, 2:12.6, June)
74.50% YD (5K, 17:31, April)
73.94% Minni (10K 42.57 April)
72.73% Ratzer (100m, 14.2, June)
72.68% Mr V (5K 17.45 June)
71.95% Dash (10K, 39:47, April)
70.10% YoungPup (5K, 19:29, June)
68.63% Dr.Dan (5K, 20:40, June)
67.40% Darola (5K, 21:12, June)
64.94% CB (5K, 20:25, April)
Sorry MrV.
That's the first of my 72.5%s although a bit shorter than the goal distances I was going for this year!
Ratzer - Beating my wava time over 100m is a cheap shot. I call foul play
PRF - Rest day
Interesting relay event last night. The course was muddy, multi terrain, very uneven and had a killer hill in it. So fast times definitely weren’t in the offing. Did a lap of the course prior to the race and I said I’d be happy with 6 m/m given all the above. Our fastest runner turned up so I had to defer from leg and ended up bringing the team home on leg 3. This meant it ended up being pretty much a solo run (apart from the 2 people who came past me!). The course was also a little worse for wear by the time I got started. Anyway I ended up clocking 15.16 for the 2.54 miles or 6.01 average. So pretty much bang on what I predicted. Was enjoyable doing something a little different and I was caked in mud by the end. Anyway job done as a decent hard effort.
Ratzer
Some nice markers, medal and pbs! Could you be converted to the shorter distances?
Mr V I agree it's nice doing something different. Good running!
I know sub 48 sounds a doddle for Sunday but the three years I have done the race I have added about three minutes to my normal time. Combination of hills and extreme heat but it's a great little event.
Simon, liked the 4*4 vid (although laughing at the end shows you clearly didn't run hard enough
). Your cadence appears to be quite low for a 400 - was this the one after you'd run the 8 & 15 too?
Ratzer, decent first 1500 and a great first 100! Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum, from almost sub-3 marathons to 14s 100m.... you need to stick with the sprinting types now
Mr v, it's difficult anchoring in relay races but well run.
Yesterday evening went well, a little under 5M. Quite wet though on trail, but I found a really good 100-150m uphill section which I did uphill strides on & will be going back to over base I think.
Aside from having my banana stolen by a brave seagull today I had a good track session - 2*3*60m w/5 min between reps & 7 between sets.
Did a large amount of warming up, including too many drills to count. End result was a bunch of other runners warming up, doing their session and leaving before I'd even started my session (and they arrived after me)!
End result was worth it, ran 8.3, 8.1, 8.3, 8.1, 8.2, 8.2 which felt very good form-wise.
YD - Have you heard anything about the GNR place? Just had mine confirmed
. Thanks Minni for the heads up!
Phil, how much time did you lose with that gesture?
Great stuff, Ratzer. Your 100m time especially. Is that the result of your speedy stuff paying off? Based on that and your marathon time, I agree that your 1500 is soft, but sounds like it was mainly down to pacing.
MR V, nice stuff, especially for a solo run. It always feels good to be caked in mud after a run. Makes it feel like you've done more somehow.
Duck, I think I had only done an 800, but I was not going all out in the relay (no point - I was the fastest runner in our team! And we did end up coming in last) and running more MD than sprint style. I find that when I try and "sprint sprint" I tighten right up and my stride length drops right down. I am still working on finding the balance and when I do I think I will be able to take a couple of seconds off my 400. An excellent example of the style I am trying to achieve is how Mo Farah ran his 53.xx last lap yesterday. That is shifting some, but he doesn't look like he is sprinting.
WRT cadence, after deliberately increasing it last year I have spent much of this year deliberately lowering it as a consequence of increasing my stride length. I think it has worked really well and that in combination with relaxing the upper body means that I have a much more relaxed running style in MD races now.
You'd better get another 60m in BTW. Your WAVA has almost expired
i think you need some running at greater than 400m pace if you want to get the speed. 400m runners tend to do a longer sprint session (e.g. 250m with 5-8 minutes recovery) which is a good session for your basic speed. also make sure you are hitting some regular 400m paced sessions - (e.g. 8x200m reps with 3 minutes off).
re technique sprinters spend their lives trying to perfect their technique. it is supported with many hours of weights / drills / pyelometrics and faster paced work. it is brilliant to watch them on the track so you need a dose of this if you are training for 8 and 1500m. nice results. gool luck the track season.
Brilliant Mr V! Here's hoping YD is successful too.