Fraser Darcy

Here we are at another weekly recap. As alluded to last week, the aim of the game in the next month or so is trying to sharpen up my speed over 5km. To do that meant on Monday I ran a nice easy hour at Belair instead of 16-18km’s like I had been doing all of December. I even ran it a bit quicker than I probably needed to because I had spent the morning putting something together for TBL and then I also had a dentist appointment to get to. The busyness continued with a gym session before lunch, an important nap post lunch and then I started to put together some programs for February for RAO. Of course, there was an easy arvo run and I reluctantly did some strides. I felt a lot better after the strides so I was glad I pushed through my reluctance.

Tuesday brought with it the first time I was training with the group at 6:30am as opposed to being on the bike since November. I had trained with Connor once in December but since then, had done all my sessions solo. The last time I trained with the group we ran a Mile,10*300/100, Mile and I felt pretty wrecked the following day given I ran the 300’s very fast. This week, in a nice comparison, we ran 10*300/100jog, 500 jog, 1k hard, 400jog, 2*800/200jog. Without the Mile at tempo pace to ease into things I eased into the first few 300’s and slotted in with a group including Connor and Luke. We were running pretty quick and taking the jogs a bit faster than I did last time. By the time I looked at my watch to realise our paces I was pretty happy with the session. And I felt good. We were basically running .05s slower than when I was absolutely flooring it in November but I was taking the jogs up to 10s quicker. And I felt good.

When we came to the 1k hard I ran it with Luke and opted to sit behind him for the first 600-700m before moving around him and finishing strong to run 2:49. Pretty good but not amazing. We jogged slow in the 400 jog and then aimed to take the 800’s at tempo effort. Possibly as a sign of my fitness or my lack of pace control, I ended up only running 2-3sec slower in the 800’s per lap than the 1k hard. It did feel like tempo though so I maintain that I trained to the right intensity.

It was nice to be done with my run at 8am on a Tuesday for once though. I used the rest of the day to get ahead with more programs, touch base with a few people and get out for an easy jog in the afternoon. Plus a big nap. All the tennis watching I’ve been doing at night keeps catching up with me at 2pm in the afternoon.

Wednesday. I was prepared to run by myself on Wednesday morning as Jacob and a few other mates were meeting at 8am and I wanted to get going earlier but late the night before Jess Stenson flicked me a text which was great. It meant I was able to have some company for 80-90 minutes and run at a good steady pace and start nice and early. We hadn’t caught up since Port Vic so spent most of the run chatting about Port Vic, Cadbury and the Aussie Open ensuring the 90 minutes I ended up running flew by. Last week’s Wednesday run I felt a bit average but this one I felt good, noticeably running some easy faster km’s once I parted ways with Jess. The rest of the day I lived off the high of a good morning run by getting some work done, getting into the gym, getting TBL organised nice and early and then having another nap. I was planning on getting out for another run in the afternoon but felt a bit tired by then so canned it and just walked instead. Maybe if I’d run only 70 minutes at 4:00/km average or a slower 90 minutes I could’ve gone for my double but I’ll argue that 90 minutes faster in one run is a better stimulus than two runs as it gives my body more time to recover.

Which was good to have more recovery time because I wanted to fit in one more mini session before Saturday’s State 3km race. On Thursday morning on my way back from Alice’s to Eden Hills I stopped in at Bowker St oval and did a little 15 minute session just to get a feel for the track again. I really enjoyed taking a warm-up route over to the train line, stopped to say hello to an outdoor ed mate, ran past Emma’s house and basically relived some memories from the time I used to live at Marion from 2013-2017. After a suitable warm-up and some strides I got on the grass track and ran 5 sets of 400/200float which is 5/8ths of a typical session. I felt pretty good and glad I stopped at the 5th one as I was starting to get quicker and quicker in the 400’s and may not have been able to properly hold myself back. That was the ‘threshold’ part of the session done and at 3km’s worth, it’s not enough to move the needle physiologically but it was the perfect mental prep for Saturday’s 3km race. To top off the session I put on my spikes and ran three 400m efforts at 95% effort with 60s rest. The first one was 64, good, the next one 62, wow, was that a fluke, and the third one was also 62 so no it wasn’t a fluke. That’s probably the fastest 400m reps I’ve ever done in training and none of them were full out sprints from the gun so it would be nice over the next few weeks to see if I can get a sub 60 going.

With the session done, I got stuck into a big restful day of programs, washing and life admin. Thursday’s are the day where I tend not to visit The RunHouse so I don’t waste 20 minutes driving there, 20 minutes driving back and the other time spent socialising which means I feel like I have a very quiet and relaxing day.

Which, I’m all about segue’s on fraserdarcy.com, set me up for another good day on Friday. This time I was on the bike at 6:30am at the RAO session and touched base with a few runners, ran the session and then got my own run in afterwards. That process all drags out to me getting home around 10am for breakfast and then I don’t start working on programs till 11am. I spent the rest of the day getting most of them done and sending out a few so that by 5:30pm in the afternoon I was able to treat myself to a short 5km double. Most people who are racing on Saturday night were not going for a second run but I like to so to; keep the frequency of my runs up as I freshen up for a run, use it as a mental wake-up/celebration almost after a day of doing whatever, am using this 3km as a stepping stone to a fast 5km so it’s not the be-all-end-all, and lastly because I enjoyed following this sort of routine before the 14:35 I ran in November.

Which, there I go again, segue’ing, meant to keep the same routine I went out for a little jog on Saturday like I normally do at Belair and ran only 6km’s this time but frankly, I like this easy 6km out and back variation better than my 8km out and back because I skip some of the slower single track and just stick to nice fire tracks. From there, it was/it is as I’m writing this blog now, time to relax before tonight’s race. It is hopefully already clear from reading this blog that I am aiming to use this 3km race as a way of sharpening up my speed towards a 5km PB but what else am I aiming to gain from it and how does it compare to last year?

• Last year I ran 8:28 and I was about a week into an injury with an affected running pattern due to it. A couple of weeks before I ran that 8:28 I was in career best form for me at the time though so I was definitely still fit and arguably very fresh. The thing I butchered with the race is that because I was fresh I probably went out too hard in the first few laps and paid for it in the end, getting beaten by people I’d like to think I could beat in a 5km.
• This year, I think I’m in the same, if not better shape, with the only asterisk being the marathon from two weeks ago. Let’s say worst case scenario I’m in the same shape as I was last year I hope to at least gain an improvement in my racing strategy and not run 64/65s for the first lap. In a perfect world I’d run 8:15-8:20 and that requires 66-67s per lap so if I start out with 68 and then run a few fast ones to finish that’ll get me there. That’s 4 seconds slower than last year’s first lap, and about the same pace I’ve been running in training so I should be able to at least start there and then get into the race.
• Because that’s another area I am also focusing on, it’s nice to have fast PB’s but I also enjoy the competitive side of racing having raced a few of the same runners over the past 12 months now. Hopefully everyone’s on their A game and we can all have a fast race.
• Whatever happens though, as long as I get some laps in under 68/69s per lap that will help me prepare for the 5km where I need to run that pace to set a new PB.

So after a long day of doing not much at all besides programs and preparing TBL I finally arrived at the track at 6:20pm. For a record for myself and for others who have asked me this already, I ate my normal breakfast, a normal tuna/salad wrap + a bag of white rice for lunch, my breakfast of toast + honey + a coffee at 5pm before getting to the track. When I’m at the track I just relax and enjoy the atmosphere of people all racing together at the track.

The RAO crew went for a warm up of 4k’s, did some strides waited around for a delayed start and then we got going. I was ‘seed’ no.17 which meant out of the 20 people in the race I had the 17th fastest PB or ‘seed’ time and would be starting on the very outside. All good, means I can let others drag the pace out the front. With a deep front end of the field I didn’t fall into the trap of being caught on the front leading the race like last year. Instead, I settled into somewhere around 10th and was running in lane two for most of the first lap and a bit until there was a suitable pace established in the second pack and I had enough clear air to get out in front. I could’ve tried to work my way into the second pack somewhere but instead just moved to the front and kept running the 66 second laps we were doing as that’s the easiest way to stay out of trouble.

With 4 laps/1600m to go I was still on the front and still feeling pretty comfortable. We were slowly making progress on runners who had been dropped from the first pack but hadn’t been able to shake a few people just off the back of our pack. The spectators cheers for those runners sounded ominously like they were catching us.

With 3 laps to go I think the people in my group went around me and took up the lead which I was thankful for. I could switch off, hold on for a few laps and then kick it home. We swallowed up a runner from the front pack and then with 600m to go got passed by my teammate Tom who is well known for his last lap kick. With 400m to go I knew I had to run 66-68s for a lap to finish under 8:20 and be happy with my time. It started to really hurt with 300m to go and the people I had been running with moved away from me pretty easily so I was sort of in no-man’s land but managed to hold my pace enough to hit 200m to go knowing I’d be able to break 8:20. The last 100m of my race wasn’t that fast as I felt like I was slipping back from the runners I had raced with all race but I was still catching someone way in front so that’s food for thought for next time to be a bit more positive in the final 100m. In the end, I dipped under 8:20 to run 8:19.6 and finished 10th. RAO claimed 4 of the Top 10 spots with Adam finishing first, Jacob finishing third and Tom 5th.

Overall it is a result I’m happy with and proud of. Without many 400m sessions in my legs it shows that my aerobic base is solid enough to run fast, and if I just had a bit more speed maybe I wouldn’t get dropped in that last lap so easily. That’s something to work on for the 5000m races over the next month and also something to focus on next year. This being my second proper 3000m race there’s nothing to say I can’t still run a PB next year. Jacob has been running 3000m races for over 10 years and even he still ran a PB on Saturday night. To illustrate how good my 8:19.60 is compared to my other PB’s, it is actually the highest ranked points score according to World Athletics than any of my other PB’s. Which means, according to the World Athletics Point Scoring system, I am a 3000m runner. Or I just haven’t converted my 3000m result to a fast 5000m or marathon. For interest’s sake I’d need something around 14:15 in the 5000m and 2:18 in the marathon to match up with what I’ve achieved over 3000m. And remember, that 3000m result is done without much specific work too so I probably have room to move there, maybe.

But that’s all hypothetical really. Instead what I like to focus on is that I ran fast, enjoyed a smarter race than last year and ran a 9 second PB. I pulled up pretty well too but did struggle a bit through the first twenty-thirty minutes of the long run on Sunday. Eventually after an hour my body had worked out what an easy aerobic effort was and I relaxed into a 2hr/28km run. The rest of the day was pretty busy as well with a visit to the TDU, the beach, fish and chips and watching the Men’s Final of the AO. You can probably tell that already though given I’m finishing this off on a Monday morning at 8:30am before I’ve even got out for my first run of the day.

Once I have ticked that first run of the day the rest of the day will be pretty cruisey, finishing off the rest of the programs, another run, maybe some gym etc. Then the rest of the week and next month is also pretty straightforward now having got the monkey off my back by racing fast over 3km two weeks following Cadbury. If Saturday night’s race went poorly I would’ve had my tail between my legs about my ability to manage a high volume of running and racing. But instead, seeing as it went as I’d hoped and better than others expected, I can now focus my mental efforts on looking towards sharpening up for a similar result in the 5km races I have coming up on Feb 8th and March 8th. If I can run a solid PB in either of those and then translate that over to the National Mountain Champs on March 16th then that will be a great block of training and racing. Of course, that’s the results I’m after but the process to focus on is keeping my training enjoyable around 140-160km’s a week, with high quality 400-1km interval sessions and some threshold or trail work in there and maintaining my gym routine. Tick all that off, enjoy working hard and like they say in every good motivational self-help book, trust the process, and I’ll enjoy whatever outcome I get. Or in other, much less poncy words, just turn up the volume on my iPod and run hard or easy depending on what day of the week it is. Simple as that.

Thanks for reading.