Big Heart

Abina always said I had a big heart, or was that mouth, I can never tell. However according to this article (when you read past the section on sudden death in athletes) a larger than normal heart explains why my heart beats more slowly than it would had I maintained a sedentary life. When it comes to pumping more oxygenated blood around the body to supply energy to muscles during exercise the heart can either beat faster or pump more with each beat. As there is a limit on how fast your heart can beat, no matter how fit you are (an elite athlete has the same maximum heart rate as his/her equivalent couch potato) the only adaptation the heart can make in response to the constant pressure of training is to pump more during each beat (stroke volume), which requires a bigger chamber, 33% bigger and more. The surprising thing is that the heart adapts very quickly - within a few weeks of commencing a sustained training regime. Likewise the adaptation reverses quite quickly once we stop exercising regularly - a bit like any muscle really. So for those that train intermittently it would appear that the main thing that changes is the size of their heart. A low resting heart rate and a larger than normal heart in an average person is an indication of a probable heart block, hypertension or heart failure, so if your are in the middle of endurance training it is probably a good idea to say so when visiting the doctor - although if you suffer from any of the above and are in the middle of endurance training................

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While my resting heart rate is at an all time low of 34 to 35 bpm (I manually measured 172 beats in 5 minutes two weeks ago = 34.4 bpm - taken before rising) and my training HR is quite low, I have also noticed that my racing HR has come down since I started running, with last weeks 10k averaging 158 bpm and a max of 166 over the closing stages - can my heart not beat faster than that in a race. My 10k PB in April 2008 (38:15 - 6:09 pace) had an average HR of 168, which maxed out at 177 over the closing stages (10 bpm higher). Maybe I'm not pushing myself hard enough, although increasing age does account for some of the reduction (roughly 3 bpm over 3 years). So while I am getting more bang for my buck I have less bucks than I used to have. Still I am encouraged by my best ever race result, my 10 mile PB last year, where my HR averaged 161 for the 6:16 average pace.

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Training

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I have spent the last 2 weeks in West Cork, where training has gone pretty well. I followed the Shannonvale 10k with a Sunday long run of 20 miles covering miles 5 to 24 of the Clonakilty Marathon route, topping the week with 64 miles (highest since ultra training in May)

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This week I was just shy of 60 miles as I cut back today's long run to 15 miles, which is all I need for my next key race, the Charleville HM on 18th September. It also doubled as a taper for the Dingle Marathon, which I am pacing next Saturday. I did however up the pace to provide some training challenge and averaged 7:25 pace over the partially hilly course, stopping sporadically to take photos, which explains the suppressed Avg HR of 126.

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McMillian gives me a 1:29:07 half marathon (6:48 pace) for my 40:03 10k last week, which, to be quite honest, is an easy target. Without the hill I reckon I would have covered the 10k in about 39:30, which still gives me a relatively soft HM target of 1:27:54 (6:43 pace). Maybe that's where my fitness is at, but i'll surely improve over the next few weeks, how much will the Dingle Marathon blunt my speed? - too many unknowns so I settled on 6:40 pace as my HM training pace (1:27:24) for this weeks specific endurance run - secretly hoping to get under it.

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I had planned on 4 x 2 miles @ HM pace (with about 2 or 3 minute active recoveries - hadn't really thought it out, maybe 90 seconds would do as this is likely to be my penultimate specific endurance session before the race). The day before I had completed an "easy" 12 miler where everything felt relatively effortless for the 7:31 pace. This "flow" continued into the warmup for the 4 x 2 mile session where the pace came down to 7:10 without too much effort. I had picked the flat road around Clonakilty Bay for the session running from Inchydoney to Ring Village (lower) and back. I settled into a pace just below 6:40 which felt relatively comfortable to maintain and, approaching the two mile mark, decided to run on to 3 or 4 miles before taking a break. I ended up running for about 28 minutes (27:56) before running out of (flat) road and turned back with an average pace of 6:34 on the Garmin. The initial headwind on the return leg kept the pace in the 6:40's but it eventually came down to 6:36 - covering the return leg in 28:09. I decided to round the session up to an hour and ran on for another 4:30 before cooling down on the mile home. I covered 9.21 miles in 1:00:37 with an average 6:35 pace which is more encouraging than my visit to McMillian. Could I have maintained the pace for another 3.9 miles? More than likely. Will the Charleville course be as flat? It's billed as a flat course - well then at 6:35 pace I would come home in 1:26:18. Getting that bit closer to my PB all the time.

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One of the benefits of running the back roads of West Cork for the last two weeks, apart from the scenery, is that you get to spot where all the blackberries are - so I returned later for a bit of foraging.

Finally some photos form this morning run. It will be difficult to return to suburban running. If the sun come out for Dingle next Saturday it will be a spectacular run.

Shannonvale 10k - Real Evaluation

Ok so my recent evaluation shows that I am running pretty efficiently, getting more miles per gallon, but that means nothing unless I can translate it in to a pretty decent race - after all I train so that I can race, don't I? and being able to run 5 miles in 34:17 at 140 HR tells me nothing about how fast I could race 5 miles - other than it is somewhere under 34:17, but how far under?

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So that is why I was toeing the line last night with about 60 other hopefuls at the start of the Shannonvale 10k, a low key race just outside Clonakilty in West Cork. I met up with Diarmaid at the start line, both of us aiming for somewhere around the 40 minute mark. Based on recent training I would expect to break 40 minutes for 10k - on a flat course, no problem - but there was a hill thrown into the mix on this course shortly after the 2k mark to make it more interesting and the 40 minute target that bit more elusive.

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Ready, steady go! and we were off down the hill through the village and up the incline at the far side. 1 minute in and the Garmin showed an average pace of 5:37 per mile. I counted 14 in front of me but passed a few going up the incline, turn left and I'm somewhere in the top 10 with Diarmaid at my side. A guy in blue I had passed on the hill passed me out going down a slight incline as the field settles into their respective race paces. 1k in 3:55 - on target, but early days yet. 2k in 7:58 with Diarmaid at my side, steady pace all the way.

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Shortly after the 2.5k mark the hill was upon us and our pace plummeted towards 8 minute miles and beyond as the grade steepened. With the twists and turns we could not see the top and Diarmaid began to pull a yard or 2 ahead of me. Passing the 3k mark close to the top, the Garmin read 12:35 - the hill had knocked me 35 seconds on the wrong side of my target.

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As we crested the hill I caught up with Diarmaid and we coasted down the other side passing the 4k mark in 16:34 - back on target pace but unable to claw back the deficit left by the hill. We could only see 2 runners in front, the guy in blue and a guy in black compression socks he had passed going up the hill. We didn't look behind. We picked up the pace slightly to the 5k mark over a very gradual downhill passing it in 20:26 - halfway with a 26 second deficit on our target - it was going to be a tough ask to claw that back over the last 5k.

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The distance to the two guys in front had remained constant since the 3k mark as we all appeared to be maintaining a steady pace, passing the 6k mark in 24:24 (another 2 seconds off the deficit) as the course changed to a very gradual uphill. The guy in the compression socks was slowly coming back to us and he looked behind to see how far back we were - "He's suffering" I said to Darimaid "we're gaining on him". I was feeling reasonably strong at this point and as I gained on the guy in front Diarmaid fell off the pace and dropped a few yards behind. I passed the 7k mark in 28:23 hot on the heels of the guy in front but just maintaining target pace, unable to eat enough into the deficit, now at 23 seconds. I passed the guy in front and gradually pulled ahead, still maintaining a pretty constant pace as opposed to putting in a surge - the 8k mark came in 32:22, another second chipped off the deficit, but not enough to get me near 40 minutes with 2k to go.

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My central governor was telling me that 40 minutes was unachievable at this stage and that there was no point in pushing any harder - the legs are already beginning to feel very heavy and there's no point in killing yourself. I pushed on regardless repeating to myself that this was not the time to throw in the towel - push on as hard as you can, regardless of the outcome - weakness at this stage could lose you a place - the 9km mark came in 36:14. I'll need a 3:45 last km to get under 40 minutes - my breathing at this stage was pretty laboured and my legs leaden. The guy in blue was anywhere between 50 to 100 yards in front. I pushed on as hard as I could, turned right onto the main road and down the hill to the village - surely the downhill will get me the extra few seconds I need - push hard - cross the bridge - downhill gone - still a 100 yards to the finish - up a slight incline - directed to the left over the finish line as the guy calls out "40:03". "Fuck!" was all I could utter with my last breath - so close.

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Diarmaid came in about half a minute later behind the guy in the compression socks. We all shook hands on a job well done. The guy in blue introduced himself as Stephen O'Mahony, a fellow M45 runner from Skibbereen AC (although there were no category prizes in this race). Having come in about 15 seconds behind him I didn't feel too bad about my time as Stephen regularly places in the Category results in local races. The results place me 6th overall, with the field well spread out.

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I had set out to evaluate my racing form ahead on my HM in 4 weeks time. Job done, although there's more to do, if i'm to get anywhere my HM PB.

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Focus

Target

At last I have decided to focus on another race as the 100k fades into the memory banks and some speed reluctantly returns to my legs. The 15 mile Maxi marathon in Killarney a few weeks back showed me that I still had some way to go to get back on form. Over the last few weeks I have jumped into the twice weekly speedwork sessions of a club group training for the upcoming national half marathon championships in Waterford on 3rd September. As I will be pacing the Dingle marathon on 3rd September I have signed up for the inaugural Charleville HM two weeks later on 18th September - hopefully the hills of Dingle will be out of my legs by then.

I had the opportunity to cycle the route of the Dingle marathon on Saturday evening as I dropped Ani and Saran to visit their cousin Robert who is on holiday there for a few weeks. An undulating course but more than made up for by the spectacular scenery - leaving the Killarney Maxi marathon (promoted as the worlds most beautiful road race) well in the shade. Similar perhaps to California's Big Sur Marathon, except the road is about 10 foot wide. On the Sunday morning I ran an 18 mile out and back run taking in the last 7 miles of the marathon course and the 1.2 mile brute of a hill at the 21 mile mark - it certainly will be a challenging pacing job, where pace will be based on effort and not speed - banking time on the downhills for the slower uphill sections - looking forward to the challenge. And there's always Thomas to fall back on.

I spent the rest of the day on the beach with the kids getting in my first swim of the summer - the water was surprisingly warm (relatively speaking) and the 15' waves great fun.

Training Pace

As I haven't raced a short distance in a year (my 5 mile PB at Churchtown South 2010) and my training for the ultra wasn't exactly peppered with fast runs I don't know what my training paces should be . Based on peak form in the past these would normally be:-

Repeats @ 5:00/20 (38 second half laps, 80 second laps) - 200s/400 - mile pace

Intervals @ 6:00 (90 second laps) - 400s to 1600s - 5k pace.

Tempo @ 6:20/30 (20 minutes and up) - 10k/HM pace up towards 6:50 MP for 60 minutes.

Steady @ 6:50 to 7:20 pace

Easy @ 7:20 to 8:00 pace

Recovery @ 8:00 to 8:40 pace

Any speedwork on the track up until the past month has been at a slower 6:30 to 6:40 pace for no other reason than I didn't think my ultra training needed anything faster and I didn't want to risk injury by combining high mileage and speedwork. Now that the long slow stuff is behind me (for the moment) and my weekly mileage has reduced considerably, my legs have recovered sufficiently to enable me to concentrate on getting familiar with faster paces again. I had nearly got into the mindset that 6 minute pace was too fast for me but getting pulled along in the group sessions the last few weeks at the track has proved otherwise, with paces varying from 6:13 for 2 miles to 5:44 for 800m.

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My tempo pace has similarly proved fairly consistent with a 6:23 pace on a 30 minute club session last weekend, similar to the 6:24 pace average for the 25 minute session 2 weeks ago. These group tempo sessions are fairly tough and made more interesting by their split time out and back nature whereby at the 15 minute turnaround those that have covered more distance are chasing down the slower guys on the return leg - if everyone ran an even pace for the 30 minutes we should all end up where we started at the end of the 30 minutes. Of course you could take it relatively easy on the outbound leg and up the pace on the return but you'd only be fooling yourself.

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Evaluation

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I hit the track this evening with my HR monitor for a 5 mile evaluation run at a constant HR of 140. I completed 4 of these during my aerobic base training between January and March - progressing from 37:18 (7:28 pace) to 34:24 (6:53 pace) over the 2 months. While I knew my aerobic base was pretty solid I did not know what to expect - hoping to get somewhere close to my last evaluation on 29th March (6:53 pace @ 140.4 HR).

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After a mile warmup, stretching and a lap to get the HR up to 140 I was on my way:-

Mile 1 - 6:43 (140 HR)

Mile 2 - 6:47 (141 HR)

Mile 3 - 6:53 (142 HR)

Mile 4 - 6:56 (140 HR)

Mile 5 - 6:58 (140 HR)

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Overall 34:17 (6:51 pace @ 140.6 HR) - I won't get much better than that. The effort felt surprisingly comfortable for the paces achieved, although the variation over the 5 miles shows an appreciable reduction in speed.