Gladstone Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I've signed up for a 10k taking place at the end of April. My only of competitive running was in the 2012 Inverness 10k which I managed in managed 49 minutes or so. I'd be chuffed to bits if I could get sub-50 again. I'm trying to stick to some sort of regular training schedule for it, but it's been hard to get out. 40+ degree days become the norm in Melbourne this time of year and it takes it all outta me to go just a few kilometres. Signed up to a gym recently to make use of the air-con. I've never felt all that comfortable on a treadmill but it's going well so far. Did 10ks in 69 minutes the other day whilst watching an episode of True Detective on the treadmill screen which was surprisingly easy.Nice one going sub 50 first time out. Tough going having to train in that kind of heat or exclusively on a treadmill. Treadmill running is difficult to get your head round in my experience. Going really slow with a distraction like you mentioned is a pretty good tactic. Maybe try to gradually work that 10k time to under an hour on the treadmill and maybe increase the distance to increase your aerobic fitness. I don't really know what else to suggest other than maybe introducing some "speed" work on the treadmill - you'll find some good 10k plans on the Runner's World website - see if you can adapt some of that for treadmill only training perhaps? Or - can you get out when it's cooled down a bit outside? Maybe late evening or early morning? Had a very good week last week - just over 29 miles in total - biggest of the year so far. 5 days' running in a row, with a good speed session on Tuesday, good threshold session on Thursday, couple of shorter recovery runs and then a good easy 10 miles on Saturday. Aiming to run 6 days a week from now on. Easy 30 minutes yesterday and out for a good speed session at lunchtime today. 8 x 1km - first 4 at current 10k PB pace, second 4 at slightly quicker than that. Will see how it goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 For all those new to running (and those who have been doing it for years) there's a weekly timed 5k down at Aberdeen Beach. It's part of the Parkrun movement, basically it's a measured race organised and marshalled by volunteers each week with barcode timing. You sign up, for free, on the website then print out your barcode. Turn up on the day and everyone sets off at the start then at the end your barcode is scanned to get your time. All free. It's ace. http://www.parkrun.org.uk/aberdeen/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 For all those new to running (and those who have been doing it for years) there's a weekly timed 5k down at Aberdeen Beach. It's part of the Parkrun movement, basically it's a measured race organised and marshalled by volunteers each week with barcode timing. You sign up, for free, on the website then print out your barcode. Turn up on the day and everyone sets off at the start then at the end your barcode is scanned to get your time. All free. It's ace. http://www.parkrun.org.uk/aberdeen/Yeah - only ever heard good things about this and know a few who go regularly. It's very handy if you're in or close to Aberdeen. Not so easy for me so I've never got round to going yet. I will do though. An officially timed 5km race is a great way to see where you are and to base training paces on etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 So - another good session yesterday. Ran 8 x 1km with 90 second recovery between reps. The target was to do the first 4 at current 10k PB pace (6:46 per mile), and the second 4 at 6:35-6:36 per mile. I was a bit anxious as to whether I would cope with the second set of intervals but nailed the session - a good confidence booster. Did 30 minutes easy on Monday and 30 minutes easy today. Threshold session of 4 x 8 minutes @ threshold pace (6:55-7:00 per mile) lined up for tomorrow. How's everyone else been getting on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 How's it all going? I'm on a bit of a running high at the moment - beasting the sessions every time... hopefully it continues and I can smash my 10k PB at the end of March. Since the last post, I've had a few easy runs (including an 11.5 mile cracker on Saturday round the woods at Strichen then up Mormond Hill. Very muddy and wet and hoorin' windy. Coming back down off the top of Mormond Hill it felt like I was running on the spot at one point! There was also some hail thrown into the mix just for fun...), nailed the 4 x 8 minutes @ threshold pace last week (with bastard wind to contend with again) and then had a brilliant session yesterday morning. I had to get into work early to do the session pre-work as I had a lunchtime meeting. So - on the streets of Westhill at about 6am, I knocked out 6 minutes @ threshold pace, 60s recovery, then reps of 6 x 1km (aiming for ~6:35 pace, came in 6:29, 6:33, 6:33, 6:35, 6:32, 6:33) with 90s recovery, then another 6 minutes @ threshold pace. Brute of a session but great to hit all the paces. Another easy 40 minutes today. Going for 3 x 10 minutes @ threshold pace tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Forgot to say - Chris (and others) may be interested in some of these races (or may already know about them) that I'm in for this year: Clachnaben Hill Race - 12 April - Strachan (near Banchory) - 13.6km hill race - www.cosmics.org.uk Benromach 10k - 10 May - Forres - http://www.forresharriers.org.uk/races.htm Heart of the Park Challenge - 13 July - Braemar - 12km hill / multi-terrain race - https://www.facebook.com/HeartoftheParkChallenge I'm not doing either of these next two as I'll be away that weekend, but worth a look: BRG Challenge - 23 August - Fraserburgh - 17.5 mile coastal "challenge" - it's mostly on the road but it's very hilly! www.brgchallenge.co.uk Fare Challenge - 24 August - Raemoir - 5km / 10km / Half Marathon options - multi-terrain - http://thefarechallenge.co.uk/ [this is a new race - looks awesome!] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I've been a bit better recently. Have extended my usual 5k loop in Banchory to a 4 and 5 mile variation with extra hills. Going to make those my new midweek standard. Didn't manage a long run this weekend but have been better at fitting those in recently too. Just building up to the light nights and the start of the summer training season really. Need to properly start planning my races for the year too. Garioch 10k is sold out so I'm not doing that. Of the ones on your list I've done Clachnaben before. It's a fucking bastard of a race. I finished 2nd last (was last for most of the race until we got back onto forest trails which I could actually run on and get some speed). If you enter it make sure you do a lot of hill training. It's not just up the tourist path, it starts in the middle of the woods and goes over 2 hills before you even get to Clachnaben. Most of it barely has a track, with lots of heather to run across. Got an email about that hill of fare race. Definitely keen to do it as I can pretty much walk to the start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Haven't been out for over a week due to being away last weekend and playing football last night but I'm planning to give the Parkrun at the beach a go on Saturday morning since it is a 5 minute walk from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) I've been a bit better recently. Have extended my usual 5k loop in Banchory to a 4 and 5 mile variation with extra hills. Going to make those my new midweek standard. Didn't manage a long run this weekend but have been better at fitting those in recently too. Just building up to the light nights and the start of the summer training season really. Need to properly start planning my races for the year too. Garioch 10k is sold out so I'm not doing that. Of the ones on your list I've done Clachnaben before. It's a fucking bastard of a race. I finished 2nd last (was last for most of the race until we got back onto forest trails which I could actually run on and get some speed). If you enter it make sure you do a lot of hill training. It's not just up the tourist path, it starts in the middle of the woods and goes over 2 hills before you even get to Clachnaben. Most of it barely has a track, with lots of heather to run across. Got an email about that hill of fare race. Definitely keen to do it as I can pretty much walk to the start Excellent - Clachnaben sounds great. So - 13.6km - what time did you get to finish second last? I reckon on a fairly flat 13.6km I could race that in about an hour, maybe slightly quicker. Obviously, this is going to be brutal though and I'll be way way slower than that... I'll be beasting it up Mormond Hill quite a lot over the next couple of months. Everywhere I run has hills actually (not heather covered hills mind you). Will see how I get on. I'm not really that bothered about the time - it just sounds like fun and a good outing in advance of the HM the following month. Ooft - I see the course record is 1:02. That's fairly shifting it over such a brutal course. EDIT: You don't happen to have a profile of the course you could post as an image do you?? Edited February 19, 2014 by Gladstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Haven't been out for over a week due to being away last weekend and playing football last night but I'm planning to give the Parkrun at the beach a go on Saturday morning since it is a 5 minute walk from home.Nice one - let us know how you go at the Parkrun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Excellent - Clachnaben sounds great. So - 13.6km - what time did you get to finish second last? I reckon on a fairly flat 13.6km I could race that in about an hour, maybe slightly quicker. Obviously, this is going to be brutal though and I'll be way way slower than that... I'll be beasting it up Mormond Hill quite a lot over the next couple of months. Everywhere I run has hills actually (not heather covered hills mind you). Will see how I get on. I'm not really that bothered about the time - it just sounds like fun and a good outing in advance of the HM the following month. Ooft - I see the course record is 1:02. That's fairly shifting it over such a brutal course. EDIT: You don't happen to have a profile of the course you could post as an image do you?? I did it in 2:13. Here's my GPS upload from the race:http://runkeeper.com/user/chrisoff/activity/80151280 When I ran it in 2012 it was part of the Scottish Hill Running Championships (a series of races, they choose different ones each year). So the field was, er, a bit quicker than I was expecting! Normally at the start of the race when everyone's hanging about you can look around and think "yeah I'll beat that guy, should definitely be ahead of her etc.". I looked around a the start of that race and just thought "fuck". Usually it gets about 40 - 60 runners of varied abilities, that year it was 200 runners who were all fucking fast. It was covered in snow as well. But at least I finished, there was some very fast and experienced runners who didn't. I've no doubt that if I ran it now I'd be quicker but it was certainly a shock to the system and really showed me how far I still have to go with regards to strength and endurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 Ah - so you weren't second last then. Second last of the finishers - you beat all those pussies that didn't finish too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsinho Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Nice one - let us know how you go at the Parkrun! I went along with my girlfriend but turned up 10 minutes late because we were under the impression that you scanned the barcode at the start and at the end but no, the half 9 start time is THE start time and the timer stops when the barcode gets scanned at the end of the run. Thankfully the folk organising it were sympathetic to our plight and encouraged us to go for it on the route along the beach starting opposite Pittodrie, going up round the bend towards King Street before looping round to the Beach Ballroom and back to the start line. My official time was 40:28 so I guess it was around the 30 minute mark in reality which is fine given I was making an effort to slow down in the first 3/4k before pushing harder for the final stretch. I'll definitely do it again to see how I cope with running alongside another 250+ people but I'm away the next 3 weekends so it'll have to wait. cool story bro section:Meanwhile, my brother ran in the national cross-country champs in Nottingham this weekend coming in just outside the top 500 out of around 1600. He's the reason I haven't done much running before now since he was faster than me when I was 12 and he was 8 - few things put a lad off sport like being beaten by his little brother but we're grown-ups now so it's time to get over it. What's new with you lot? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest E.C Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 I'm nowhere near as quick as any of you lot, but I managed my first ever 8k inside an hour on Friday. Took me 59:48 (so only just!) Feels good to make any kind of progress though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Had a good couple of weeks but two nights in the pub over the weekend scuppered any progress. Busy tonight and tomorrow so no running then but got a day off on Wednesday and forecast is dry. So considering a run up Kerloch or Clachnaben depending on the snow cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 I did the Baker Hughes last year without much training, however I was reasonably fit from playing football fairly regularly. Anyway, got 48 minutes, but feel like I could have done a lot better. I totally got the bug for it after this race (my first ever). Unfortunetly a series of ankle injuries and achilles tendonitis put my out for almost the rest of the year, and I haven't bothered my arse through the winter. Training start for this year's Baker Hughes tonight. I think it's realistic to get under 45 minutes - with a structured training schedule - and then try and enter a few more races throughout the year. I think my lack of fitness will have me back down at a ~55minute pace, so a bit of work to do certainly. My target was set my my new years resolution to get below 40 minutes before then end of 2014, so we'll see how that goes. I've always played rugby and football throughout my life and competed in 100m and 200m between the ages of 14-16 (100m pb of 11.6 at 16) so the biggest challenge, as Woods highlighted, is maintaining a decent pace and not falling into the trap of running too fast. Now that I'm shying more and more away from team sports, it'll be good to have another sporting endeavour. i really like 10ks, so I think I'll stick to that as a distance. My girlfriend does the Aviemore half marathon every year too, so I'll probably enter that with her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorge Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Proper training kicks off next week, giving myself a one month headstart over last year. Think I've resigned myself to just being a 'summer season' runner, sucks pole going out in the winter when I've been out for the odd run. No races until July probably. Baker Hughes is tempting but getting very pricey for a 10k on a not-terribly brilliant route... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 No races until July probably. Baker Hughes is tempting but getting very pricey for a 10k on a not-terribly brilliant route... I'm swithering about the Baker Hughes as well. It is a fun event because of the sheer volume of runners and support on the streets but the race itself is pretty boring and I've never ran well at it. Always seem to be ill on the week of it and run crap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Went out yesterday morning to run up Kerloch. Got absolutely soaked. By the time I got above the treeline I couldn't see the hill anymore and it was blowing a freezing gale and still pissing down. So I binned it and ran back down. Still a great run though. Forgot how steep the climb is once you turn off the path to Glenbervie. Walked most of that section, which is fine, it's allowed. You run where you can on hills. Even though I didn't get to the top it was well worth doing for the descending practice on a really rough, rocky path. Got to keep your wits about you. Legs are DOMS central today. Been a while since I've hurt like that so must have been good. It's only a 6 or 7 mile run up and down to the summit so really good distance for a weekend hill run or an evening one in the summer. Will be using it a lot this year I think. Link to Garmin Connect page for info:http://connect.garmin.com/activity/451725968 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I went along with my girlfriend but turned up 10 minutes late because we were under the impression that you scanned the barcode at the start and at the end but no, the half 9 start time is THE start time and the timer stops when the barcode gets scanned at the end of the run. Thankfully the folk organising it were sympathetic to our plight and encouraged us to go for it on the route along the beach starting opposite Pittodrie, going up round the bend towards King Street before looping round to the Beach Ballroom and back to the start line. My official time was 40:28 so I guess it was around the 30 minute mark in reality which is fine given I was making an effort to slow down in the first 3/4k before pushing harder for the final stretch. I'll definitely do it again to see how I cope with running alongside another 250+ people but I'm away the next 3 weekends so it'll have to wait. cool story bro section:Meanwhile, my brother ran in the national cross-country champs in Nottingham this weekend coming in just outside the top 500 out of around 1600. He's the reason I haven't done much running before now since he was faster than me when I was 12 and he was 8 - few things put a lad off sport like being beaten by his little brother but we're grown-ups now so it's time to get over it. What's new with you lot?Well done on getting out there! 30 minutes (ish) is a good effort and you would probably go a bit quicker with folk round about you etc. This would just be like a 5k training run really. Your brother sounds like a little shit. You should have broke his legs when you were little. See how fast he could run then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 I'm nowhere near as quick as any of you lot, but I managed my first ever 8k inside an hour on Friday. Took me 59:48 (so only just!) Feels good to make any kind of progress though.Nice one dude. "First ever" is always a great feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Since my last update - had a good couple of weeks too. Averaged over 38 miles per week for the last 2 weeks, and it's looking like 145ish for the month of February. Good sessions of 3 x 10mins @ threshold pace, and 3 x 15mins @ threshold pace in the past 10 days or so as well as a good easy 12 miler at the weekend and a bunch of other easy runs in between. Heading to the running track tomorrow for the first time - either Balgownie or ASV, haven't quite decided yet. And, I've managed to land myself a FREE running coach. Awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Fuck it. I entered the Baker Hughes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Fuck it. I entered the Baker Hughes.Good man. Sub 50...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted February 27, 2014 Report Share Posted February 27, 2014 Good man. Sub 50...? That's the aim anyway! No reason why I can't do it if I get my training done and feel OK on the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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