A good 5000

It wasn't an M50 PB, or even under 22 minutes, but I'm pretty happy with how I ran in the ACT Veterans' 5000m Championship race this past Thursday evening. I finished 22nd (out of 26) in 22:14. No 1/100ths of seconds to be seen in the results so the photo-finish timing equipment must have chucked a wobbly.

I only had time for a 1k warm-up jog but ran quite a few 80 metre strides (with the legs feeling good) so started in a positive frame of mind. Unusually for this track season, the weather was favourable — calm and about 16 Celsius. I positioned myself towards the outside of the curved line and after the gun, fell in behind Amanda. There was a good pack just ahead being led by Roger and Dale, with Rob, Helen and Kathy in close company. The clock at the finish line read 49 seconds as I ran past. That's a tad quick!

On the next lap Amanda slowed slightly so I had the choice of staying back or moving ahead (which I did) to trail Kathy. My legs felt good, but I could tell the pace was a bit on the ambitious side. Passed 1000 metres in 4:08. Too fast! That was the fastest kilometre I'd run since a 1500m race back in November (must have split about 4:09 then). I hadn't run the 1k intervals that Canute suggested (due to a niggly hamstring). The elastic between myself and Kathy snapped before 2k (8:33) so I ran the rest of the race in no-man's-land, hoping to limit the damage from the quick start and stay ahead of Amanda. My 3k split was 13:06. I drifted more after that, running 4:38 for the 4th kilometre before speeding up slightly in the last lap trying to get as close to 22 minutes as I could.

I'm excited about this race because I know there are areas where I can improve. 45 seconds isn't that far away from my M50 PB — interval training must surely be worth 30 seconds off a 5k time? Even so, for the time being I plan to continue with good paced and 'springy' aerobic running (along with regular short races during the cross country season). This morning I enjoyed such a run — 15k around the West Basin of Lake Burley Griffin. It was a perfect day. Rowing sculls were gliding over the calm water; cyclists were zipping along; walkers and runners were enjoying the missing precipitation. 15k in just under 81 minutes — a good run.

Running in the 2010 ACT 10k Championships - I can't believe I'm still wearing these old grey Frees! [D Appleby photo]

I run like Mo Farah

Most runners would have read about the '180 steps' theory of good running. Apparently a running cadence of 180 steps per minute is close to ideal (taking into consideration variations for height — short runners are going to have a naturally faster cadence). I've always been self-conscious about my slow loping cadence, especially after being a spectator at recent track meets and viewing the very fast cadence of some runners. Jeff (a low 18-minute 5k runner) has a cadence of around 214 steps per minute during a 3k race.

I decided to time my cadence to see what it actually was. The easy way to do this (should you wish to try), is to carry a stop-watch and press start as one foot contacts the ground; then count ten contacts of that foot and stop the watch on the tenth. This gives you a time for twenty steps. Using a calculator you can later work out your cadence: 60 (seconds) / T (time for 10 steps) x 20 = cadence. For example, if your time for 10 contacts of the right foot is 6.66 seconds then 60 / 6.66 * 20 = 180.18 — the 'magical' cadence of 180. My timings averaged out at around 6.95 seconds which works out to be a very loping cadence of 172.66 steps per minute. When I consciously tried to speed up my turnover I recorded 6.80 seconds (a cadence of 176.47).

I found this video of Mo Farah running an indoor British record of 7:40.99 for 3000 metres. I like it — besides being a great example of fast running, it's easy to time his cadence as on many of the head-on shots he's leading (and thoughfully wearing different coloured shoes!). Surprisingly, Mo's mid-race cadence is around 175.69 (6.83 secs for 10 steps). In the last two laps his cadence increases to around 187. Further calculations reveal that Mo's stride length is around 2.2 metres (3000 / {176 * 7.683}). So, I (sort of) run like Mo Farah. Our cadences are naturally similar (considering my height). The only difference being my stride-length (should I run 12:30 for 3k) is only 1.39 metres.

Mo Farah running about 5 minutes faster than I do for 3000m

Some good numbers

Thanks to the people who made suggestions on how I could improve a training week. The two weeks since then have turned out to be weeks of 78 and 79 kilometres, doing more or less aerobic running at efforts varying from easy to just below aerobic threshold. There was one 5k race on the 28th of February in which I paced myself to finish ahead of my long-time rivals Charlie and Jim. I caught Jim early (he was having a bad day), ran with Carol for a while (she broke 2:50 at the London Marathon in the 'old days'), then edged up to Charlie at the 4k mark. I could sense he was at his limit so I ran the last kilometre strongly, finishing in 23:41.

I've been enjoying running these Tuesday evening races with something in reserve. Recovery is therefore fast — I can do a normal run the following day — and I feel like this level of effort is building up my training and racing fitness. My next 'all-out' race will be on the 29th of March at the ACT Vets' 5000m Championships. I'd like to break 22 minutes in that race and go as close as possible to my M50 PB of 21:29.58. I'll do some sharpening interval work of the type suggested by Canute (5 x 1k with short recoveries) before then.

One thing that's helping to elevate my confidence are the numbers I've recorded for a few recent training sessions. Numbers that take me back to 2008 — the year of my M50 3000 and 5000 metre PBs. At that time I was running my Tharwa Drive Bridge 8k course at around 700 heart-beats per kilometre. For example, on the 6th of February I ran 42:31 at 691 heart-beats per km and on the 13th of February 41:07 at 694 heart-beats per km. On Friday just past I ran an easy 45:58 (ave heart rate of 122) for 701 heart-beats per km. So that's a good number, especially considering that faster running is more 'efficient' (there's better elastic recoil of the muscles/tendons when running fast). I recorded another good number during yesterday's long run with the Speedygeese. I ran 15k at 5:33 per km (716 heart-beats per km) in which the 12th kilometre was covered in 5:00 at an AHR of 139 (695 heart-beats per km).

The final good number (or silly and inconsequential number depending on your viewpoint), is that today marked my 100th consecutive day of running. Yes, a running streak that started on December 3 last year. I'm not sure when it will end, but thus far I'm feeling fine!

My technique for the running high jump needs work [J Kennedy photo]

Improving a training week

Lucho used to have a list on his blog called 'The Rules of Joghard'. I don't remember all the rules. There was one that said: "There's a man called Canova." I do remember rules 1 and 2. Rule #1 - Family comes first. Rule #2 - Did you read #1, if not, read again. If I had list of rules about running, number 3 would be "Consistency produces great running." Which I guess is similar to the answer Steve Moneghetti gave when asked at a running camp about the best training session one could do. He replied "The 2 x 7 x 365."

I'm going to detail my training for the past week and include thoughts about how I might improve each day's running. Feel free to add your own ideas or suggestions in the comments section of this post.

Monday 20 February: 15k with the Speedygeese. A basic aerobic run. First 8k was at 5:40 per km (9:07 miles). How to improve: This could be a good day to run some strides at the end of the session.

Tuesday 21 February: 11k including a 5k club race in 23:17. Had a bit in reserve during this race, running a slight negative split. How to improve: Possibly a longer warm-up and some drills/strides prior to the race.

Wednesday 22 February: 10k easy run in 57:40. How to improve: Could run longer and easier — perhaps 12k at 6 minute kilometres (9:39 miles).

Thursday 23 February: 10k including a 1 mile race at the Vets' track meet in 7:51 and a 1200m race-walk in 7:19. The mile was a fairly easy effort, but I didn't feel up to racing hard. How to improve: Not sure, but I hadn't recovered sufficiently from Tuesday's race to race hard on Thursday.

Friday 24 February: 7k including a 3k tempo run on the grass track in 15:20. How to improve: This was a very good run as my average HR was only 136 and the track was soft. I think this run benefitted from the relatively easy Thursday. How to improve: Could possibly run a 4 or 5k tempo run.

Saturday 25 February: 16k long run at an easy pace. This run took 1 hour 45 minutes, so definitely 'long'. How to improve: Could possibly run longer (20k) or add some strides.

Sunday 26 February: 12k including a 6k race which I ran as an interval session of 1k easy, 1k hard, 1k easy, 1k hard, 1k easy, 1k hard. Didn't feel that fresh while running these. How to improve: Run a more structured interval or hill repeat session with some running drills during the warm-up.

Finishing the Vets' Sprint Marathon Relay (like an Ekiden with 1k legs)

Racing 10,000 metres on the track

I'm not sure what it is, but there's something uniquely difficult about racing 25 laps of a 400 metre track. The ACT 10k Championships were held on Thursday evening. Although not my goal distance (that remains the 5k), I hoped to 'do well' and perhaps run close to my M50 PB of 44:54.57. Prior to the race I thought I was in good enough shape to do this, but it was not to be. My taper went okay (although in retrospect, perhaps it wasn't long enough) — I ran an easy 12.5k with the Speedygeese on Monday, an equally easy (and great feeling) 4k tempo run in the Summer Series on Tuesday, then a light 5k jog on Wednesday.

On Thursday I lined up with 28 other runners, all with the same goal: to run 25 laps of the track as fast as we could. Initially I followed Burkie, as his even-pacing is legendary and I thought he'd run around 45 minutes. Pete was running just behind, with Kelley and Mick ahead, while the fast-starting Bronwyn ran with Craig — these two quickly splitting away from our group. Following Burkie, I ran through the first k in 4:28 and the second in 4:28. Perfect! Or so I thought. I started losing contact with Burkie as we ran up the back straight to the 3k mark. 4:37 for that k — markedly slower. The rest of the race was pretty much a grind. Pete overtook just before the 5k mark (23:11) and ran a negative split, finishing in 45:59. I continued to fade, running the second half in 24:36, for a finish time of 47:46.96. Burkie finished just behind Pete in 46:07.

My average heart-rate for the race was 147 and it was lower in the second half than the first, which is unusual for a track race. For the same race in 2010 I ran 45:57 at an average heart-rate of 153. I'm slightly confused about this. I suspect my legs weren't fresh enough on Thursday evening to run at a speed that would have pushed my HR into a higher zone. Between now and my goal 5000 on 29 March I'll be running 'training' races pretty much weekly. I may turn some of those into extended training sessions as suggested by Sling in the comments on my last post.

HR data shows I couldn't maintain the effort beyond 3k

Seeing through the fog of slow races

I've been on a 'running streak' that as of today has lasted 65 days. The idea came from Karla when I read via Twitter about the Runner's World challenge to run every day between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Must say that I'm enjoying my daily runs, but am sensible enough to run a very easy 4 or 5k day if I feel the need.

My weekly mileage is around 70 to 80 kilometres. I thought I'd mention a couple of recent races because I'm coming around to the view that I can't race at 100% effort every week (as a soon-to-be 55-year-old) and expect to race well. A recent article from Running Times about how aging runners train (Keeping the Fire of Youth) is worth reading.

On January 25 I raced a 3000 metres on the track in 12:59.93 (missing a season's best by 3/1000ths of a second!). My taper for this race was 1 day — an easy 5k on the day before the race. My average heart-rate for the race was 149. My legs didn't feel fresh enough to run at my 'normal' 3k racing heart-rate of 152 to 155. On Tuesday 31 January I raced 5k cross-country race on the grass course at Stromlo in 23:30. For this race I noted in my diary: "legs tired in warm-up; not much better in race." My average heart-rate for the race was 146. Last November I raced a 5k in 22:22 with an average heart-rate of 152. My number of heart-beats per km for the November race was 680 and for the recent race at Stromlo, 686 (on a harder course). What all these numbers tell me is that while I can 'train through' races (using them as a hard training session), I can't expect great results from these races. I could at age-45, but not at age-55.

Now, apart from a few foggy races, I'm happy with how my running is going. I've done a couple of runs on the grass track at Calwell and come up with similar numbers to those I recorded in 2007 (the year of some M50 PBs), so aerobically I'm feeling as fit as a Mallee bull. I think I'll target two races for proper tapers (3 to 4 days) — the 10,000m on 16 February and the 5000m on 29 March.

The lovely grass of Stromlo Forest Park [D Appleby photo]

Lydiard and the Quarter Mile

Why the secret to running fast is confusing

Recently I stumbled upon a fascinating article titled 'Train SLOWER to Race Faster' by Andy Friedlander. It wasn't (as you might suspect from the title) about Lydiard-coached runners logging 100-mile weeks in the base-training period. It was about 400 metre sprinters! Now there's a contradiction in terms — how could training slower possibly produce a faster quarter-miler? Isn't the one-lap race all about speed, speed and more speed? Apparently not!

It turns out that the great coach Clyde Hart (maker of Olympic gold medalists Michael Johnson, Jeremy Wariner and Darold Williamson) found that "the key to running fast 400s is to slow down." Hart's method of training quarter-milers came about when trying to get an injury-prone Michael Johnson through a full season of racing. Hart's system is Lydiard-like in that it begins with a large volume of easier running (to build strength and aerobic capacity — Hart believes the 400 is 40% aerobic), then gradually progresses to a smaller volume of faster running. In the autumn his athletes start with 20 x 200m "at a very slow pace, about 40 seconds each, on the grass." Now 40 seconds for 200 metres is incredibly slow for an athlete with a PB of 20 seconds or less. These are done with a short recovery. As training progresses "pace quickens and the repetitions shrink, but never to the point of full-speed sprints." Eventually his athletes might be running 6 x 200m in 26 seconds with a 90 second recovery. Training 'slowly' didn't produce plodding runners with fast-twitch depleted muscles. It produced athletes with the aerobic capacity to withstand a full racing season and the multiple rounds of championship competition.

Janene has blogged about the 80:20 rule of training for distance runners (which states that 80% of running should be below lactate threshold and 20% above). This ratio is more likely to be 85:15 or 90:10 for elite distance runners. What's confusing for recreational runners is that the perfect ratio varies according to the weekly volume run, age, and individual response. If running volume and frequency is low (for example, 3 days per week for a total of 40 kilometres), then the best ratio of 'easy' to 'fast' running might be 30:70 or 50:50. As volume is increased, the ratio must change. For example, it would be physically impossible to run 160 kilometres per week with 70% of that running being above lactate threshold. One pay-off with higher volume training is that the volume of 'above lactate threshold' running can be higher.

Good training leads to a bad race

I try to embrace poor races because they usually teach rich lessons. I ran a 3000 metre track race Thursday night — this time finishing fourth-last in a time of 13:34.93, around a minute slower than I expected. I ran at the pace (4:31 per km) that I'd hope to hold for a 10k race. I was lapped twice by the winner Marty Dent (8:38) who I guess only ran at his 10k race pace; but he had the excuse of winning the mile an hour earlier in 4:25! The lesson I learned from this race goes back to the training I did with the Speedygeese on Monday night...

I've felt for a while that my fast-twitch muscles (and leg turn-over) could do with a boost. If it's not possible to run comfortably at 48 seconds per 200 metres (4 minute kilometre pace), then it's going to be bloody difficult to race a 5k in 20 minutes! I modified the session that Geoff had set out to give myself sufficient recovery to run at close to maximum speed for 200 metre repeats. These were run on a smooth grass foot-path with a favourable slight down-hill slope. I ran 11 repeats, walking back to the start each time in about 2 minutes. The average time for my 9 best runs was 42.1 seconds, which works out to be a tad over 3:30 per kilometre, so quite a change for my legs compared to my normal running speeds.

On Tuesday I ran 10k in 58:28 with legs that felt a bit ordinary. Wednesday another 10k in 57:55 but with a noticeable case of DOMS! Did those 200s do that much to my legs? On Thursday night I jogged a very easy 5k warm-up with Ruth — legs all the while feeling like they didn't want to be there. After the split start I ran a little bit behind Hugh, Carol and Amanda with Bob just on my heels. After two laps Bob eased past (he ran 12:57) and I gradually lost ground for the remainder of the race. My legs weren't agonisingly sore — they just weren't responding as I would have liked. Splits were 4:22, 4:38 and 4:34. So I guess the lessons from my bad race are that I do need to keep working on my speed and not to expect to race well with sore legs. My week's training will total 80k, including a good 'long' 15k run around Lake Burley Griffin yesterday and a pleasant recovery 13k run on the grass out at Stromlo Forest Park this morning.

Yelena, now 30, can race on the track against old people!

New Year, Same Goal

Although it's a new year, we're in the middle of the season for track racing in Australia. My goal for 2012 remains the same as for last year: run faster than 20:00 for 5000 metres. My mate Bruce suggested I have an easier goal — under 22 minutes for example, or even to break my M50 PB of 21:29 from 2008. Wimp! I like difficult goals!

Just how hard is it to run a 20-minute 5k? Not hard at all for some runners. Jaymee Marty runs faster than that pace for a marathon... on one good leg and rapping about it all the way. For me though, in 2012, it's plenty hard enough. I have to run at 75% according to the age-grading calculators. My all-time PB of 17:33.5 is equivalent to 72.69%, so I need to run over 2% "better" as a 55-year-old (in April), than I did as a 33-year-old. Phew!

My running has been going reasonably well, although my heart-beats per kilometre readings have taken a hit since giving blood last Saturday. Prior to that I'd been recording 710 to 730 HB/KM for my 10k courses. Three days after giving blood that number was 757. A temporary hiccup. I raced 5000m on Thursday at what I estimated to be a high tempo effort rather than all-out. In a 40-person field I finished last in 23:55.74. I was dizzy counting the number of times I was lapped!

The training I plan on doing to run 20 minutes for 5k revolves around two things: 1) Consistency, and 2) "5k" Training Sessions. I want to run consistent mileage (the more the better, provided I'm recovering well). I want to run one (or two if I'm not racing) sessions per week of race-paced or faster running of the type that Julie's doing as she edges towards 20 minutes. I started on Monday with the Speedygeese and a 10 x 200m session on one of the grassy footpaths at Parliament House.

If I'm to run 20 minutes for 5k I should fine-tune my heel-striking running technique! [J Harding photo]

Running with stars

I suspect this could be my last post for the year. If so, I hope you've enjoyed a happy year of running — or at least a year where you've learned something! Running's a game where you never stop learning. For instance, last night at Yelena's 30th birthday party I was chatting to a bloke who is recovering from achilles tendon surgery. His torn achilles (in a soccer game) was caused, he suspects, by training in running shoes with built-up heels before switching to soccer boots with no heel-to-toe drop. The broad running lesson here could be to "don't suddenly do something different!"

I've no more races scheduled for 2011 so my goal of running a sub-20 5k will carry over to 2012. A few recent training sessions have offered hope that I'm not far from the next jump in performance. On Friday I ran a 'tempo' 5k on the grass track at Calwell in 25:20 after a quick 5k warm-up. The HR trace for this run shows 'the hill' on the Calwell track. I run up the hill from the finish line to the 200m start then down the hill back to the finish. It's a very slight hill, but my heart notices it!

Twelve and a half laps of Calwell

On Saturday I ventured out to Stromlo for a community run with Deek (Rob de Castella) and four of his Indigenous Marathon Project runners. They were in Canberra for a training camp. I was impressed by the female runner, Kelsey Youngblutt — she could pass for Deratu Tulu's younger sister! The group is training to run in next year's Boston Marathon. An inspiring documentary 'Running To America' was aired on ABC-TV about the project and how the first runners tackled the 2010 New York Marathon. You can watch it here until the 15th of December.

Deek, Joseph, Ewen, Jamie & Kelsey at Stromlo Forest Park