The Vintage Runner – Running against the clock in more ways than one

April 15, 2024April 15, 2024

Park Run Pacemaking

This was my first attempt at pacemaking, it seemed like a good idea at the time and so it proved to be.

I like doing Park Runs, Kathryn has taken up running of a longer distance variety so I can keep her company and also I treat it as endurance training for the track, rather than train for Park run or anything longer.

I’ve recently swapped from Strava app on Apple watch to the Apple workout app. I find the watch interface much better – still love Strava site generally though. I would really have little idea of how to control my pace without this.

It was definitely a bit hard to hold my pace back to the target 5:35 / km to match my 28 minute bib. But I managed to get into the rhythm pretty quickly with the watch nagging away at me. I also made an effort to even my pace out a bit more than usual – I’m typically sluggish up the hills but can fly downhill with no effort. It’s quite hilly at Gadebridge Park and I suddenly found myself falling behind on the steep uphill around the 4th kilometre. But with the trusty tech I was able to pick it up for the last km and was very happy to cross the line in 27:57 on the watch – not bad for a first time 🙂 Though I was soon put in my place by two club mates Katy who finished in 25:58 (26 min bib) and Matt who finished in 24.0 (you guessed it 24 min bib).

Kathryn also had her first go at and finished in a good time of 39:35 (40 min bib).

Will happily do that again.

August 4, 2023August 4, 2023

Week Notes – 4th August

Well, here we go. I know I’ve been rubbish at keeping this site up to date. So I want to try and instill the discipline of a weekly review. What have I done? Why? etc. in the hope it might help you. Try to post by Friday, so starting with the previous Saturday. I’m also unprepared with photos, so uploaded a random, recent shot.

Saturday

Time for a Parkrun. This is my endurance part of the week. Kathryn is working on the distance side of her running so this is at the shorter end for her whereas it’s at the maximum for me. I haven’t delved into the detailed science, I’m sure a 5k run each week will help me on the home straight of a 400 (with or without barriers), but it’s becoming a healthy ritual for us, kicking off the weekend in a good way.

We had planned to try Rickmansworth (the first time for Kathryn, I haven’t been there for ages). But life defeated us and we ended up at Gadebridge which is closer.

PB for Kathryn (whey hey!) and a second fastest time for me, so a reasonable outing. It was a reasonably warm and dry day, I just struggled for pace all the way, so actually, I can correct my previous answer, it was a surprisingly decent result. I just ducked under 25 minutes, Gadebridge is quite hilly.

Sunday

It’s hurdle time. I haven’t done this for ages, pre-Covid basically. I think I wrote about this near the time, although my Covid symptoms were mild it really hit my endurance and I struggled so much with a flat 400 I haven’t even tried a hurdles race since.

Next year I turn 60 which means I’ll be running 300m and the hurdles go a notch down. I think that might be a good thing.

Since there was a league match for our younger athletes, I had a very small group to coach, so I took my opportunity and ran my hurdle drills between their runs.

Then I just ran 2x200m over 4 hurdles to finish. Didn’t feel too bad, think I’ll press on with the plan to come back next year, maybe do some 400h prior if it feels good.

Monday

It’s time for the gym. I’ve been slack on this front recently, need to make this a good week. Luckily the sessions are quite light. Credits to coach Molly at the Den who looks after my S&C (https://thedengym.co.uk/home)

Heel-toe rocks
Hip 90/90
Side to Curtsey Lunge
Tall kneeling slam
Box jump
Front squat
Rack leaning calf raise
Eccentric chin-up (nothing makes me feel my age more than the fact I can no longer do true chin-ups – for now at least!!)

Tuesday

Back to the track – then I remember that our head coach Deb Keenleyside is away tonight so I’d better skip the running. I usually help look after the 400 runners and run with them. So tonight I just coach, then get home and do an interval session on the elliptical. Lovely scenery near Aspen, I don’t really follow the routine as it was a bit distance, so I do up and down the pace more, it was suitably sweaty and hard.

Wednesday

It’s gym time – basically repeat the session above, I’m guilty of falling behind on where I should be, so it’s possible I should be doing something slightly different. But go with it, and it feels good.

Thursday

Kick off the day with a bit of stretching, hamstring focussed. Then, in the evening it’s track time – no excuses today. On paper the session looks okay, in the back of my mind I know there should be no such thing as an easy session – and thus it proves…..

warm-up followed by wicket drills
160, 140, 120, 100, 80, 60 – 5, 5, 4, 4, 3 recovery

Boy does this one hurt. My speed was feeling pretty good, not great but pretty good. I think I had to crawl off the track at the very end.

Friday

A bit of stretching focussed on the hamstrings – a lot of work to do there. Then a rest day.

Summary

Overall this felt like a good week. Nothing skipped (okay I didn’t run on Tuesday but the elliptical sessions feel like they’re helping).

Oh yes, I forgot – shouldn’t really add this in the summary but hey!! I’ve been using my Merrell Vapour Glove 3s for my warm-ups. I’m really enjoying this. I need to build up my foot strength, a bit of a collapsing arch problem. Second shout-out to Helen van Kempen who’s given me exercises to help with this. https://www.movementpphysio.com

July 15, 2023July 15, 2023

Another 400m another step forward

A year or so back a few of us made the trip round the M25 for a Blackheath and Bromley open. The weather was crazy with a big rainstorm, but most of us posted good times – nothing to lose?

So we decided to return this year, in the end only Jack and I could make it. Quite a few people in this race but I’d failed to do any homework, so didn’t know what the competition would be like.

In the event it was a good, close race, I was very happy with my back straight, felt smooth and ran most people down. Holding on for the finish wasn’t easy, but a win is a win and a time of 61.78, my best since 2021 / catching Covid.

Feeling positive, but a way to go yet for sub-60 running.

Video is here: https://youtu.be/M8urSavuMG0

July 15, 2023July 15, 2023

Getting a 400m under the belt

After a patchy start to 2023, having a hamstring problem 50m into my first race of the year. Training and S&C seem to be coming along, so I thought an outing to Lee Valley and trying a 400m race might be the thing to do.

It was rather chilly with a strong headwind on the back straight, the flags were flapping all over the place during warm-up which never helps me get into a positive mindset. Try to keep thoughts away from how painful the home straight will be.

Funnily enough, it wasn’t so much the expected wind on the back straight, but when I still felt it on the second bend, I definitely swore at the wind at that point!!

The first 280m went fully to plan then I hit the wall. I was happy that I managed to wade through treacle for 120m and still post 62.44. It feels like the season is back on track.

For those who want the fun of watching my pain it’s all on video https://youtu.be/46t_G__MRwY

February 2, 2023February 2, 2023

Injured Again!!

A very frustrating start to the week. Looking back over time when I first returned to athletics in my 50s I had several early injuries. It soon emerged that I had many imbalances and weaknesses. I managed to address these largely with the help of the internet.

Then following Covid infection I seemed to have another string of injuries. I started using the services of a Strength and Conditioning coach and a Sports Therapist. I can’t recommend this route highly enough for anyone who wants to train and compete seriously at any age, but doubly for the Master athlete. I should probably return and go over my experiences in more detail later.

I feel stronger than ever, more balanced than ever and have better balance than ever (I did read somewhere that your balance is hit the worst as you get older, more so than strength, speed or endurance for example).

So last season was largely written off with Covid at the start of the year and several injuries. I think it was a foot and an achilles injury. Funny, I now struggle to remember. I had a hamstring strain / niggle at the very beginning of the year. It just came on half way through my first 60m competition of the year, no previous sign. It didn’t appear major and recovery was quick. My S & C became a bit more focused on this area and I eased back into running.

After a couple of weeks there wasn’t the slightest sign of anything wrong, then one evening (actually many degrees warmer than preceding ones) I’d had a good warm up looking at split 450s. I set off at a good pace but 50m in I could feel the hamstring again. For a couple of seconds you wonder if it’s a twinge that will go away. It wasn’t so I eased off and left the track.

A couple of days hence I can just feel it physically but feeling it hard mentally. What have I done, what haven’t I done, what does this mean for the season?

So far, no answers

June 30, 2022January 28, 2023

World Champs – Poor Performance, Wonderful Tournament

Made my first foray into the world of international Masters Athletics competitions. Tampere in Finland were selected as hosts and I must say it’s an amazing city and great facilities for athletics. The main track was excellent and there seemed to be a couple of other good tracks very near by – one was a 300m track which was novel.

Luckily the timing meant we could make it a family holiday at the same time, renting a house in Tampere for the event days and then moving on to another place for the rest of the stay.

The organisation was excellent and it was so inspiring to see so many people competing at every age. The performances put in are incredible, a wake-up call for me now and something to aspire to in the years to come.

There is a great spirit of camaraderie amongst the athletes and so much work put in by officials and organisers.

By lucky chance I was drawn into the TaFMAC (Track and Field Master Athletic Category) study carried out by the DLR Institute of Space Medicine. A wonderful team and the closest I got to flying in the whole tournament. They carried out a wide range of tests and gave me some real insights into my physical condition.

You might have noticed that I’ve been avoiding the topic of running. Yes, procrastination. I crashed out in the first round of the 400m. This mirrored my worst fears as I’d contracted Covid some months before. My symptoms were quite mild but I found in training that when I “hit the wall” it was nothing like I’d ever experienced previously. In some early 400 races I would get to 200m in a good time and feel really strong. Then my performance would fall off a cliff. I know a 400 often feels a bit like that, you can be deceived at 200, but this was different.

On the day I drew an outside lane, not a big deal I’ve mentally put myself into the “all lanes have a positive” mode. As a taller runner I know I have gentler bends in the outside and hit the straight early. I was somewhat shocked by how quickly a couple of inside runners overtook me but I felt I could respond and was feeling good at 250, then it just fell apart. This had happened in previous races and whilst I don’t have the splits I reckon I was about 29 seconds for the first 200, and it went so badly in the home straight that my second 200 would have been about 38 seconds. That wasn’t me giving up, I fought my body to the line, but finished a convincing last.

March 26, 2022February 2, 2023

Strength and Conditioning – upping my game

So, having built the garden gym I’ve finally started using it, but never really been able to apply the necessary rigour or find the time to fully plan out what I should be doing. So time to turn to the professionals….. I’ve started working with Molly, or “Coach Wheeler” as the TrainHeroic app calls her – has a certain Hollywood ring, perhaps that’s an omen that I can pull some sort of movie-like miracle out of the bag 😉

This seems to be going really well, just a few sessions in but feeling better for it already. Definitely get a better range of exercises and testing out bits of the body that have clearly been neglected.

I’ve created a quick video summarising session 1.

March 8, 2022March 8, 2022

British Champs under the belt

Lee Valley hosted the BMAF British Indoor Championships for 2022 – great to have this competition back again.

I decided to enter the 60m hurdles primarily just to get some practice in clearing barriers and confidence in leading with my left leg rather than depending pretty much on my right. I planned my journey to arrive about 1.5 hours before race time but my usual exit was closed for roadworks and the diversion was logjammed. When I arrived I’d breached the 1 hour check-in and the initial response was basically “tough” you’ve lost your spot. After some discussion with the call room and then registration again my place was reinstated. This toing and froing meant I just had 15 minutes for my whole wark up. Didin’t go too badly, but my start was slow meaning I didn’t really attack the first hurdle and this thew me off. However I was happy to hit 4 strides for every hurdle. Coming away with the Bronze medal wasn’t what I expected.

The 400m came next (next day in fact). I left a much larger buffer this time, but no sooner had I joined the M25 than it was closed in both directions for an accident. When I saw the air ambulance come in I knew it could be cut fine. That was the case and once again I had a 15 minute warmup.

However, I felt well prepared. I was drawn in lane 6 and felt I got off to a good start. With hindsight, I didn’t attack the second bend properly so lost pace on the upward slope. I couldn’t hear anyone inside (it’s usually easy to hear people close to you. So I last the lead as we broke and ended up in a close fifth, but 29 seconds so fairly happy. I felt good and tried to reposition on bend three but here the legs started to rebel. With 100m to go, it felt like I was wading through treacle. So a dismal 6th in 64 seconds – so much work to do!

December 14, 2021December 14, 2021

Kicking Off the Indoor Season at Lee Valley

This meeting felt really early though I suspect it’s not, probably just a factor of the strange season we’ve had post-lockdown. Looking back we’ve been able to compete a lot. As Omicron surges we don’t know what the upcoming seasons (indoor and outdoor) will look like.

However, back to Lee Valley. Marcus was unable to make it up from Cardiff so I made the solo journey to Lee Valley, though plenty of club mates and other people I know so a good outing from that perspective.

I’d decided to try my hand at 60m hurdles. I don’t have what it takes to be a sprint hurdler, but I’m hoping to do more 400m hurdles in the future so need to work on my technique, improving this and getting more economical over the barriers. Short hurdles are a notch higher so that presents a challenge now, but an opportunity later as the lower height should look less daunting. At least that’s the theory.

The other main target for me was to build confidence in leading with either leg. I’m not up to 3 strides between the hurdles so 4 strides is much better and likely to force me to change.

First-round didn’t go according to plan, I was too slow to the first barrier and then bottled the left leg option and used 5 strides all the way. 12.42 for that round so could’ve been worse.

Second round I decided that I needed to attack that first hurdle from the gun and the left leg would follow, I felt more confident on the left warming up. That start plan worked, but I clipped the first hurdle and that threw me off my stride completely putting me naturally onto the right again, I did manage one left leg clearance and a slight improvement at 12.32, good enough. With hindsight I’ve just done a training session at my 400 height and felt so much better – so success on that count.

For the 600m there were only two heats and I was drawn in the fastest one against a number of very speedy club mates. I was way off the pace and an initial error on the board suggested I’d done something like 1:57 though my time wasn’t shown. It turns out there was a glitch with timing and I was given 1:47.9 – a decent indoor PB though not my best overall. The race felt okay but it never really flowed and the video backs up the fact, strides looking a bit off, probably too little power and a bit “reachy”. Happy overall though.

October 16, 2021October 16, 2021

Winter training – back with a vengeance

Winter is training back with a vengeance. After a few lighter sessions this was fartlek and circuits – 7x150m with 100m in between (I thought I’d run 8, but once the lactic haze had settled I fear I only made 7 so will stick with that). I managed to jog the first three 100m sections then walk 50 jog 50 for the remaining three.

Circuits – thanks @josephaydn for keeping a record of our pain 🙂

12 stations – 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off
——————————————

Russian twists with a lift with med ball
Two-footed hurdle jumps
Battle ropes
Crunches
Skipping
Press-ups
Dorsal raises
Two-footed bounds in sand
Tricep dips
V sits
Mini hurdles – lateral jumps
Bicep curl

This was definitely a hard session. Targets – jog all recoveries and 35 on – 25 off for the circuit training