The week started off perfectly well apart from a strange moment on Thursday when my body decided that it certainly didnt want to run home, instead opting to pull out after 5km, eat a muffin and jump on a train whilst sweating profusely....
Went to bed on Saturday with every intention of cracking out a 30km the next morning. Woke up on Sunday and the urge to get up early and run was not there. Instead I issued myself with another rest day and proceeded to use my time to over indulge in food and beer...hence the short blog.
Overall - 102.8km - 8 runs - 8hrs 07mins
Next saturday morning is the Glenbrook Trail Marathon. Apparently one should expect to add on another 15 or 20 minutes to their Fitzroy Falls Marathon time as a rough indicator. With that in mind, i hope to come in sub 3:30 depending on weather. If its stinking hot I wont have a chance and i'll just make sure i run a sensible race and enjoy the scenery and company.
The plan for the week is to really rest up. The taper has already started given todays rest day and I shouldnt expect to run more than 30/40 km all week.
Information on running, marathon running and ultrarunning. In this blog I will detail all the equipment I use to run, my diet, training schedules and injuries I pick up along the way.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Record Breaking Run
Well really its was a record breaking running home run. And just a personal record...
11km exactly to run home and I regularly do this averaging around 50 mins.
The last time i pushed the pace I managed 48 mins 40 secs and this was on Wednesday October 20th. So almost a month ago.
Well yesterday, mid afternoon I suddenly felt like having another crack. I had been doing hill sprints with NRG the previous night and my legs felt a little heavy but I thought I would just go for it.
I set my garmin racing partner to 4 min 20 km to give myself some breathing space and off i went. I knew I had to get a quick start as the course goes rises to almost 800ft of elevation and takes your breath away when you hit the bridge. So, go out quick and maintain until the bridge and then I should have a decent cushion for the relentless uphill to home.
1st km in 4:08 - felt nice and not to difficult
2nd km in 3:45 - didnt feel like i was flying but pushing the pace. Travelling nicely along the coast
3rd km in 3:53 - slight incline then onto some flat running
4th km in 3:57 - feeling comfortable and working my way around the opera house. Not looking forward to the stairs. Cushion is building though so can afford to lose time
5th km in 4:19 - Still bang on target but considerably slower. Struggle to move through the crowds
6th km in 4:42 - race up the stairs like i've never done before. Heart rate through the roof then race up more stairs until im onto the bridge. Normally slow down to catch my breath my force myself to continue on
7th km in 4:03 - surprisingly quick km here. Nice bonus as im bounding across the bridge. Didnt feel fast
8th km in 4:27 - unsurprising slow down here. Legs burning and im crawling up a fairly decent grade hill. Time still in the bank though. Feeling confident
9th km in 4:09 - ah, thats more like it. Cant fail now, looking forward to finishing
10th km in 3:49 - Adrenaline surging through my body as im getting ever closer to home. Hills are beginning to hurt
11th km in 3:45 - Last big push and im home.
45min 03 sec
Really happy to have taken off over 3 minutes from my previous time. Next goal is to get under 45 minutes but the thought makes me feel sick so will probably wait another month before I have another crack.
Just over a month ago I was never running sub 4 minute km's and now they seem to be appearing more often which is really exciting. Seems like more of muscle fibres are firing and im loving it. Heart rate still through the roof but thats going to happen when I push it hard.
11km exactly to run home and I regularly do this averaging around 50 mins.
The last time i pushed the pace I managed 48 mins 40 secs and this was on Wednesday October 20th. So almost a month ago.
Well yesterday, mid afternoon I suddenly felt like having another crack. I had been doing hill sprints with NRG the previous night and my legs felt a little heavy but I thought I would just go for it.
I set my garmin racing partner to 4 min 20 km to give myself some breathing space and off i went. I knew I had to get a quick start as the course goes rises to almost 800ft of elevation and takes your breath away when you hit the bridge. So, go out quick and maintain until the bridge and then I should have a decent cushion for the relentless uphill to home.
1st km in 4:08 - felt nice and not to difficult
2nd km in 3:45 - didnt feel like i was flying but pushing the pace. Travelling nicely along the coast
3rd km in 3:53 - slight incline then onto some flat running
4th km in 3:57 - feeling comfortable and working my way around the opera house. Not looking forward to the stairs. Cushion is building though so can afford to lose time
5th km in 4:19 - Still bang on target but considerably slower. Struggle to move through the crowds
6th km in 4:42 - race up the stairs like i've never done before. Heart rate through the roof then race up more stairs until im onto the bridge. Normally slow down to catch my breath my force myself to continue on
7th km in 4:03 - surprisingly quick km here. Nice bonus as im bounding across the bridge. Didnt feel fast
8th km in 4:27 - unsurprising slow down here. Legs burning and im crawling up a fairly decent grade hill. Time still in the bank though. Feeling confident
9th km in 4:09 - ah, thats more like it. Cant fail now, looking forward to finishing
10th km in 3:49 - Adrenaline surging through my body as im getting ever closer to home. Hills are beginning to hurt
11th km in 3:45 - Last big push and im home.
45min 03 sec
Really happy to have taken off over 3 minutes from my previous time. Next goal is to get under 45 minutes but the thought makes me feel sick so will probably wait another month before I have another crack.
Just over a month ago I was never running sub 4 minute km's and now they seem to be appearing more often which is really exciting. Seems like more of muscle fibres are firing and im loving it. Heart rate still through the roof but thats going to happen when I push it hard.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Weekly Summary - 08/11/10 - 14/11/10
Monday (pm) 12.28km (1hr 3mins) - road - Run to running club. Nice and easy, nothing to report
Monday (pm) 7km - road (36mins) - Hill sprints. Hard work. Managed to get heart rate up to 200bpm on the final one.
Tuesday (pm) 12.36km (59mins 43sec) - road - Run home. Stopped off at shops to pick up food.
Wednesday (am) 16.17km (1hr 13min 12sec) - road - Nice progressive run. Start slow and built up. 7 min negative split.
Wednesday (pm) 11km (52min) - road - Run home from work. Nice and easy.
Thursday (am) 16.08km (1hr 12 min 10 sec) - road - Same as Wednesday, slightly faster with 8 min negative split. Feeling great.
Friday - Struck by lazyitis
Saturday (am) - 20km (1hr 58min) - trail - Felt terrible. 33 degrees, hungover and just not good running weather. Trail very technical with tricky footing. Had to dunk myself in a river to cool off. Too hot to do anything decent today. 500ml water + nuun, 500ml sports drink, 500ml water
Sunday (am) - 29.29km (2hr 28min) - road - Another scorching hot day. However things felt much easier. Legs felt great, drank plenty. Finished off by having a dunk in the sea. 1litre water + nuun, 1litre sports drink
Total - 124.43km (10hr 24min 29sec) - 8 runs
Fairly decent week. Legs feeling good which is positive news as my marathon is in a couple of weeks.
Had a massage on Saturday and i was labelled a freak due to the tightness of my whole body and my utter lack of flexibility. Had my IT band loosened up which felt great. Therapist surprised that my knees do not trouble me. Might make the massage a regular thing.
Monday (pm) 7km - road (36mins) - Hill sprints. Hard work. Managed to get heart rate up to 200bpm on the final one.
Tuesday (pm) 12.36km (59mins 43sec) - road - Run home. Stopped off at shops to pick up food.
Wednesday (am) 16.17km (1hr 13min 12sec) - road - Nice progressive run. Start slow and built up. 7 min negative split.
Wednesday (pm) 11km (52min) - road - Run home from work. Nice and easy.
Thursday (am) 16.08km (1hr 12 min 10 sec) - road - Same as Wednesday, slightly faster with 8 min negative split. Feeling great.
Friday - Struck by lazyitis
Saturday (am) - 20km (1hr 58min) - trail - Felt terrible. 33 degrees, hungover and just not good running weather. Trail very technical with tricky footing. Had to dunk myself in a river to cool off. Too hot to do anything decent today. 500ml water + nuun, 500ml sports drink, 500ml water
Sunday (am) - 29.29km (2hr 28min) - road - Another scorching hot day. However things felt much easier. Legs felt great, drank plenty. Finished off by having a dunk in the sea. 1litre water + nuun, 1litre sports drink
Total - 124.43km (10hr 24min 29sec) - 8 runs
Fairly decent week. Legs feeling good which is positive news as my marathon is in a couple of weeks.
Had a massage on Saturday and i was labelled a freak due to the tightness of my whole body and my utter lack of flexibility. Had my IT band loosened up which felt great. Therapist surprised that my knees do not trouble me. Might make the massage a regular thing.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Bare Creek Trail Race 9km......?
After a week of doing very little running due to calf strain, heavy boozing, heavy rain and utter laziness i found myself at the starting line of the Bare Creek Trail 9km race.
I ran the course last week and knew it was going to be hard and today it was! Heavy rain for the last year (seems that way) made the course boggy and fairly treacherous. The start of the race was on a school field and there was a 100m dash for around 100 people to squeeze through a gate. Fortunately I was one of the first through the gate unfortunately that was where my problems began...
After a speedy start I already felt i was in oxygen debt and i seemed to struggle for the rest of the race. I was being overtaken left and right by the whippets but i made a pact with myself to just enjoy it. The first couple of kms are all down hill and this is obvious from my km splits of 3:22 and 3:27. After wading through a huge creek it was then a boggy slog uphill. Again i was overtaken a few times and i felt like an old man. I had no pep in my legs - i was struggling. Next 2 km's were 4:01 and 6:15 as i made my way up the 100m incline. At some point my laces came undone so i wasted a few seconds doing them back up. Good excuse to stop mind you..
The trail flattened out more or less and the next 2 kms were 4:22 and 3:58. Rocky and boggy underfoot i was looking forward to the finish but also beginning to recover. The next 3km saw the route move from bog onto road again. Ah the relief. Short lived as they turned to hills. Never mind, I was now enjoying myself. Obviously took a little while to warm up. 4:12, 4:30, 4:41. After looking at my garmin and thinking there was another km left i was surprised to find myself at the finish line after covering 8.33km. Didnt particularly feel like stopping and by that stage I would have been happy to do another loop or 2. This just reaffirmed im better designed for the longer races than the short stuff.
I came home in 35mins 05 secs or there abouts.No idea of my position as I didnt stick around to find out. Sure I was top 10 but will edit once the results are out. EDIT: 9th place from 169 people
Overall fairly happy with how i pulled through. I still have no idea how to pace myself and i probably shouldnt have run a 42min 10km the previous day but its all good traininig.
Weekly Summary - 01/11/10 - 07/11/10
Monday (pm) - 10.56km - road - 54min 12sec - run to NRG. Nice and easy
Monday (pm) - 10.83km - road - 54min 17sec - 100m sprints, and 4 x 1.2km sprints. Warm down and run home
Tuesday - Melbourne cup. Rest day. Booze day.
Wednesday (pm) - 11km - road - 55min - Run home. Felt rough!
Thursday - lazy lazy lazy. Set my alarm and didnt get up. Went out for Nepalese in the evening.
Friday - Set my alarm again. Using heavy rain as my excuse to not get out of bed..
Saturday (am) - 10km - road- 42min 19sec - felt good. Shouldnt have gone so fast considering my race the next morning but felt good and couldnt help myself. Sore shins though.
Sunday (am) - 8.33km - trail - 35min 20sec - Hard work. Too short for me to really compete as I dont have the leg speed. Good fun though
Summary - 50.69km - 4hrs 1min - 5 runs - Really a recovery week. Rain didnt help but im not using that as an excuse. Feel undercooked and im looking forward to a big week in the build up to Glenbrook Trail Marathon in a couple of weeks.
Definitely feeling the benefits of interval training with NRG. Leg speed is increasing and my cruising speed has picked up. Generally feeling good.
I ran the course last week and knew it was going to be hard and today it was! Heavy rain for the last year (seems that way) made the course boggy and fairly treacherous. The start of the race was on a school field and there was a 100m dash for around 100 people to squeeze through a gate. Fortunately I was one of the first through the gate unfortunately that was where my problems began...
After a speedy start I already felt i was in oxygen debt and i seemed to struggle for the rest of the race. I was being overtaken left and right by the whippets but i made a pact with myself to just enjoy it. The first couple of kms are all down hill and this is obvious from my km splits of 3:22 and 3:27. After wading through a huge creek it was then a boggy slog uphill. Again i was overtaken a few times and i felt like an old man. I had no pep in my legs - i was struggling. Next 2 km's were 4:01 and 6:15 as i made my way up the 100m incline. At some point my laces came undone so i wasted a few seconds doing them back up. Good excuse to stop mind you..
The trail flattened out more or less and the next 2 kms were 4:22 and 3:58. Rocky and boggy underfoot i was looking forward to the finish but also beginning to recover. The next 3km saw the route move from bog onto road again. Ah the relief. Short lived as they turned to hills. Never mind, I was now enjoying myself. Obviously took a little while to warm up. 4:12, 4:30, 4:41. After looking at my garmin and thinking there was another km left i was surprised to find myself at the finish line after covering 8.33km. Didnt particularly feel like stopping and by that stage I would have been happy to do another loop or 2. This just reaffirmed im better designed for the longer races than the short stuff.
I came home in 35mins 05 secs or there abouts.
Overall fairly happy with how i pulled through. I still have no idea how to pace myself and i probably shouldnt have run a 42min 10km the previous day but its all good traininig.
Weekly Summary - 01/11/10 - 07/11/10
Monday (pm) - 10.56km - road - 54min 12sec - run to NRG. Nice and easy
Monday (pm) - 10.83km - road - 54min 17sec - 100m sprints, and 4 x 1.2km sprints. Warm down and run home
Tuesday - Melbourne cup. Rest day. Booze day.
Wednesday (pm) - 11km - road - 55min - Run home. Felt rough!
Thursday - lazy lazy lazy. Set my alarm and didnt get up. Went out for Nepalese in the evening.
Friday - Set my alarm again. Using heavy rain as my excuse to not get out of bed..
Saturday (am) - 10km - road- 42min 19sec - felt good. Shouldnt have gone so fast considering my race the next morning but felt good and couldnt help myself. Sore shins though.
Sunday (am) - 8.33km - trail - 35min 20sec - Hard work. Too short for me to really compete as I dont have the leg speed. Good fun though
Summary - 50.69km - 4hrs 1min - 5 runs - Really a recovery week. Rain didnt help but im not using that as an excuse. Feel undercooked and im looking forward to a big week in the build up to Glenbrook Trail Marathon in a couple of weeks.
Definitely feeling the benefits of interval training with NRG. Leg speed is increasing and my cruising speed has picked up. Generally feeling good.
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