Adarq.org

17-05-26

Hackney Half - 1:26:46 

Notes

Pretty even pacing. 4:08 through 5k, 4:07 to 10k, 4:08 to 15k, 4:07 to the end. Had hoped to pick it up a bit more in the back half since I was feeling decent, but just couldn't manage it. Ks 18/19 were my two slowest (and lowest HR, excl first few Ks, only times I dipped below 170 for a km) but I rallied to manage 3:59 avg for the remaining 1.1k. I was running properly ragged though, form barely holding together esp in last 500m, don't think I could have managed to close any faster.

More hills than I'm used to. Should include some now and then to get used to it a bit more. Have seen some interesting stuff on doing repeated downhills as a good durability stimulus. No particularly good hills near me, but there's a big bridge through a park that's pretty long and steep, so could do the occasional sesh back and forth on that.

A month ago I said 'for the half, <1:30 is the 'i didn't waste my time' target, 1:28 the 'fairly happy with progress' target, and 1:25:xx the 'hell yeah' target". So yeah very happy!

ETA: according to watch, I managed a 40:10 10k and 19:58 5k during this. That's pretty cool. Had kind of hoped to have a sub 40 10k segment in the middle of this. Fwiw watch had it as 21.4, which makes splits hard (the ones I gave above, 4:07 etc, are from the official chips, so I trust those!). Not saying course is wrong, obvs watch imprecision + not running optimal route is the explanation.

eta2: learnings/observations
1 - more liquid calories during carb load. i did drink a fair bit of orange juice, but even though my solid carbs were easy to digest (white rice, pasta, low-fibre sliced white bread), my stomach still felt heavy. and i've been stuck in the bathroom feeling awful since i got home, haha, thankfully a non issue during the race, but stomach did feel heavy and i skipped my last planned gel because of this.
2 - got to work out what to do with taper! i never get the 'i jsut feel super fresh' feeling, i just kind of feel weird and out of form. also lower legs, PTT type thing, felt terrible last 10 days on both sides.. might be worth getting a session to chat with a coach/someone who knows stuff about this to get some insights on tapering 'phenotypes' as it were
3 - got my first black toenail! toes just don't get on with either the  Adidas evo sl or the adios pro 4,  which is sad since i really like running in both of those shoes. think it's especially if there's a downhill, maybe? don't think sizing up will help, since the next size up will just be too big overall
4 - walked about an hour to the venue and then about a 90 min walk after. wish the journey to the venue were a little shorter. no chance to really warm up too since we had to be in the pen like 30-40 mins before the start...maybe that would have helped with the crappy leg feeling. the starting 3k were mostly uphill so deliberately took those ks a bit slower, which maybe helped with warming into the race.
5 - half is a fun distance! next half is just over 5 months away. time to 'modifed NSM' my way to another PB there. would be sick to average <4:00/k for that, which is basically <1:24. Seems doable!
6 - been saying this for a while, but maybe time to finally commit to a little cut. am averaging 73-74kg and probably ~15% bodyfat. Not super lean. If I keep carbs up high around my runs, which is pretty easy to do, I should be able to drop a few kg before it's time to 'peak' for the next half without much fuss.

15-05-26

Run -- 5.7k, 36:23

Notes

Avg HR 119, properly just shuffling about just to have got some movement in. Much the same tomorrow. Legs aren't feeling great but I never get any pop in a taper, I just feel weird until I'm actually racing. Probably a sign I'm not doing something right 'for me', but will leave figuring that out for another day. Can tell the taper (+ getting a bit more sleep) is having some effect as RHR is like 10 lower than it's been, haha.

Have cut fibre out out diet from now until race and hitting up the carbs. Probably overkill for a half but it's fun so may as well.

looking like ~11C & <10% chance of rain. fingers crossed that holds up since that's pretty ideal!

Quote from: Joe on May 13, 2026, 03:55:46 pm

logistics for sunday are stressing me out, the race guide is super unhelpful so it's like pretty unclear how getting in/out of the race works...like it's a place i run by regularly but they've made it so confusing 

just get there earlier than you think you need to. it can't possibly be so confusing that it takes an hour to figure out. and make sure to find the bathroom with more than enough time before the start!

hah yeah, that's pretty much my plan, esp since i'm unlikely to sleep well the night of anyway! move in the right direction and follow the big crowd. means i'll be mixing and downing my bicarb en-route, lmao.

my conclusion is that the race guide and associated site were very much llm rather than human driven this year -- quite a few indications of this. fkn depressing.

14-05-26

Run
-- w/u
-- 6 x 3' (1') [first four ~4:18, last two ~4:08]
-- c/d

8.26k, 42:52

Notes

didn't feel great, but #trustthetaper

12-05-26

Run -- 10.31k, 1:01:21

Lift -- Chins, Dips, RDLs, Reverse Nordic, Curls, Laterals

Notes

Enjoying running so much that I'm finding it hard to commit properly to the taper, haha. Think going for the bigger steady run tomorrow will work out good for me, since I got my fix of effortful running (more than I would have done if I'd done my Tuesday sesh) but it's shifted early in the week.

Plan is ~55 mins tmrw (so basically normal), then similar on Thurs, but with just 5-6x3' reps, then 45 fri, 35 sat.

looking like it should be pretty cool weather rest of the week -- most of the time low teens in the AM, but spotted rain throughout. Fingers crossed it stays cool but we get a nice dry window Sunday since that would look pretty ideal!

10-05-26

Run -- 14.1k, 1:23:42

Notes

Kept it super easy, lower 120s avg HR. Glutes and calves a bit sore.

eta: pretty cool that 71k/6.5 hours _feels_ like an easy week now!

09-05-26

Parkrun 5k -- 18:44 

Notes

super tired, but slept like crap. was up early enoguh that i decided to just do my full planned pre-hackney routine (bicarb 2 hours before, 100mg caffeine gel 30 mins before). Looks like that paid off. The warm up jog felt crap, HR in 140s for like 6:1x pace. Race started and 3:38-42 Ks were feeling easy. Watch has it at 5.12k (friends who did it also had between 5.05-5.1). Means it's a little tricky to work out splits exactly, but roughly:

3:42, 3:38, 3:36, 3:46, 3:40 + 21s @ 3:10 pace. Matches the feeling, with 4th k being tough but having enough left to  bring it back for the last k and then kick on the final straight.

The weekend before my last half, I ran 19:42 at what was probably a short course and one that iirc is typically rated 'faster' by the parkrun course metrics, which VDOTs to 1:30:29, which is basically exactly what I ran. Today's VDOTs to 1:25:59  bicard less helpful for a half than a 5k so not sure i'll convert the same, but then my training is a lot more specific to half than 5k, so maybe maybe. Anyway, exciting times!

also glad to finally tick off that old 19:16 PR and by a big margin

eta: pretty sure this also featured mile (5:48) and 1k (3:35) PRs, since the strava best efforts for those look pretty borked

07-05-26

Run
- w/u
- 3 x 6' (1') [4:08 average]
- long c/d

10.07k, 54:19

Notes

Felt pretty not great, so skipped last two reps. Booked myself a sauna session tomorrow.

05-05-26

Run
- w/u
- 3 x 10' (1'30") [4:19, 4:14, 4:13]
- c/d

11.12k, 55:21

Lift
Chins, Dips, curls, laterals

Notes

Legs still pretty sore (esp quads/hip flexors -- like rec fem) and body tired, but good pace! Couldn't get HR up, only started to average in the 160s in the last half of the last rep -- more a sign of fatigue than anything. Still, pretty sure that's the fastest this workout has ever been!