Loch Ness 10km

Delighted with a finish time of 50:06.

Well, I say delighted but for the sake of 7 seconds I could have had a sub-50 minute 10km under my belt for the first time in about 10 years, grrrr!!!!

The stat porn is a like this

Predicted VO2 Max:	39.9
Predicted speed at VO2 max:	07:23 min/mile
Age graded time::	56.7%

Haven't really though about what the predicted speed at VO2 max actually means, but it translates to 8.13 miles per hour or ~13km/hour.

anyway, the good news is that it's more than 1 minute better than my predicted race times from last week, based on the 5km, but nowhere near the times predicted by the VO2 max measurement on the treadmill...

At least that tells us something... in order to predict a race time, based on a race time, it's much better to base it on a run similar to the one you're actually going to undertake, rather than some crappy gym test... who'd a thunk it?

Event specific testing

So, it's the big 10km race in Inverness this Sunday and I can't wait. Training has been pretty piss poor if I'm honest though. Putting a 2 week family holiday into the schedule just 3 weeks before the event smacks of poor planning... getting lashed on the vino most night smacks of an irresponsible lack of commitment... ho hum!

I thought I'd put myself to the test as best I can this week to check my form though.

Saturday's 5km parkrun saw me record a personal best 24:40. To be fair it's notth emost accurate timing in the world and I could probably claim a few seconds back for the way the start is organised... but I won't.
Using the Running for Fitness website that gives a predicted VO2 max of 38.9.
According to the VO2 max normalised tables (find them here) that's not much better than average.
The mitigating factor here would have to be that the Glasgow Parkrun is a bit of a beast with 2 laps of a fairly hilly route, but average is less than good in my book!

Race Predictions:

Riegel formula based on 5km time	51:25
VO2 max	51:13

To be fair I'd take either of those time quite comfortably.

Anyway, I went to the gym today and did a V02 max test on the treadmill (5 min test walking at 7.3 km/hour). Estimated VO2 max was 44.3 (that's above 'above average' and into 'good', which is in the very good category and I'm much happier with that... until I relise this means a predicted 10km time of 45:50... I'd be ecstatic with that... in fact 47min would be an awesome 10km run for me...

Quickly rubbing the gloss of that result though was the O'Neal rowing test on the concept2 Rowers, where my meagre 990m is still below average... I think I'm going to assume that the only people they actually measured doing this test were keen rowers with the physique for rowing... unlike my short legged, long backed, not very flexible one...

What does all this mean? It probably means that I could run a half decent 10km if I put my mind to it properly and even if I plod I should still be running much faster that I have been in the recent past...

I'll let you know how it goes!

Squash - Getting better...

2-3 with the final game going to 8-8, against a man closer to my own age... so not quite as embarrasing as the previous 2 games (0-3 drubbings by pensioners).

Not rushing every shot now as I desperately lunge to get close to the ball, but actually getting into decent positions and giving myself a bit more time to consider the shot. Perversely though, most of my unforced errors came from having too much time to think about what I was doing or getting ahead of myself and moving to the next shot before I've played the current one. As a game, it's got a lot more than just physical fitness or even ability to play a shot. The tactical side of squash turns out to a be a whole lot more important than I'd ever imagined it to be! On the other hand, I came off court dripping in sweat and the guys in the court next to us looked like they were in a steam bath, so it's still a mighty work out.

Running test

Nice page here on a 1.5 mile running test.

1.5 miles is 2.4 km

To run 2.4km at 15km/hour (the required speed for a 40 min 10km) the 40 year old man will get there in 9 minutes 36 seconds and has a VO2 max > 48 putting him in the top 90% of performers for his age...

Running at 10.8km / hour (my plodding speed) is pretty much the 50% mark - Jo Average! Baws to that!

To get into the top 25% we need to break 11 min 49 seconds, which equates to a running speed of 12.6km/hour - that'll do for a start!

Age Grading & Body weight considerations

So Finlay has issued the Challenge 40. Run a 10km road race with your target time in minutes being your age...

There's been chat of a wee caveat to entice the rugby boys, which is that if you can bench press twice your final time, then you're ok.

That's maybe a wee bit unfair on the shorter, fat chap (me!) so I'm proposing that he introduces actual body weight into that equation to even things up.

Bench press = (Race time / Age) * Body weight.

So an 85 kg chap running in 40 minutes should bench press 85kg, but if he runs in 45 mins, he needs to bench press 95.625kg.

The gist of it is there are 2 aims here... Run 10k as fast as you can and lose as much weight as you can, but there's no real hiding place!

Anyway, speaking of the Challenge 40 - seemingly arbitrary time limit, I thought I'd do a wee bit research. There's a method used by many running clubs to grade people using the age of the runner and the approximate world record level for a runner that age.

There's a link here but to put things into persepective - a word I'm coming around to hating! - A 40 year old running a 10km race in 40 minutes gets an age graded score of 71.02% - which is actually a Regional class time. The world record for a 40 year old would be 28:25

EXPLANATION
Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.

Age-graded scores have been categorized into these broad achievement levels:
100% = Approximate World Record Level
Over 90% = World Class
Over 80% = National Class
Over 70% = Regional Class
Over 60% = Local Class

To score 100% you would need a time of:

Your age-graded time is your finish time adjusted to that of an open division participant using a factor for age and gender. Thus, the times for women and older participants are adjusted downward, while the times for most open division participants (such as 25-year-old men) remain the same.

Look, noone said it was an easy challenge!

Press up Tests

Physical fitness isn’t just about lifting. It’s about how strong you are relevant to your body weight, says Martin Rooney, the author of Ultimate Warrior Workouts. That’s why he has his athletes-in-training do body-weight tests. If they struggle, they need to either gain strength or lose weight.

The challonge:
===============
Do as many push-ups as you can in three minutes

The Rules:
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1. Rest whenever you want, but keep the clock running the whole time.
2. For a rep to count, you must maintain perfect form: elbows locked at the top, chest five centimetres above the floor at the bottom, hips not sagging and knees not touching the floor.
3. Pace yourself however you’d like, but it’s best not to rush, says Rooney. Take a 15-second break once you slow down after your first burst. Then take longer breaks as you become more tired, he says. Never push yourself to total fatigue.

How did you do?
================

< 55	Below average
55-74	Average
75-99	Good
100-110	Excellent
> 110	Extraordinary

Postscript:
============
Back in the day, I always expected that I should be able to do at least 50 press ups in under a minute without stopping otherwsie I would not make myself available to play rugby... Seems like it wasn't such a bad wee test to have! Wonder how I'll do today??

Gubbed again! but inspired...

Another 0-3 doing from another retired guy! This is very humbling!

At least this time it was more to do with the fact that my opponent was an extremely skillful player with a beautiful touch... I played much better than I did at the weekend and am hopeful that I might get some league points tonight... although 2 matches in 2 days might be too much at this stage in my regime... sauna at lunchtime I think!

On the broght side though, these old fellas that are retired are enjoying the time of their lives with their weeks filled with golf, tennis and squash. When I'm their age, I can only hope to be as active, but the secret to that has to be getting into shape now and staying in shape for the next 30 years.