Thursday, March 29, 2007

Frustratingly slow recovery

Thurs - 37 mins, 7k's @ about 5:15 mins/km

I was hoping to be back on the road yesterday morning for a recovery run and then do an easy 90 min midweek long run this morning. Alas, it was not to be as I've taken longer to recover from the cold than expected. I finally got out this morning and did a slow 7k's with two 3-5 min walking breaks in the middle of it. The cardio system is fine - my body is still very weak. A disappointing morning concluded ironically with a bird flying overhead and dropping shit on the peak of my cap as I walked forlornly back to my car.

Am hoping that I can recover enough to produce a half decent effort at speedwork tomorrow morning, especially with a time trial looming. That's two months in a row where I've had a hiccup in the week prior to the time trial! All going well, I'll do speedwork tomorrow along with an easy 50 minutes on Sat AM and Sunday's 2hr 40 mins to give me 55k's for the week. I'm resigned to the possibility that the ITB probs and now this hiccup will cost me a little bit of time in the Brisbane Half Marathon but fortunately won't cost me in the longer run to the Gold Coast.

While my mysterious run of several colds in the first half of last year seems to be behind me, I'm still wary of a repeat and will take every precaution to avoid a recurrence. After three or four consecutive years of getting a flu jab, I'm toying with the idea of not getting one this year. Its also been almost 10 months since my first detox last year that produced a good run of health afterward. As such, I'm leaning towards doing a 10 day detox right after the Easter Egg 10k next Friday - I just need to work out how to get through a long run without GU!! Nuts and sultanas, anyone?

Monday, March 26, 2007

Sunday setback

Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ about 5:00 mins/km
Sun - 50 mins, 10k's @ about 5:10 mins/km

Headed up to Mooloolaba on Friday afternoon, by myself unfortunately as MJ was away with work. Covered the Twilight 5k race for R4YL and then did an easy 50 mins along the beach path from my unit at Alexandra Heads into Mooloolaba before turning around and running up to Maroochydoore.

Sunday morning was a significant setback. With a 2hr 40 min run scheduled, I set off from the Ship Inn at 5:45am before running into Pete, Jonesy and Mel. I decided to join them for a little while and after 10 minutes was struggling to keep up, eventually losing sight of them at the Story Bridge. I slowly ran back to the car and took a five minute break and tried to refuel but to no avail. It took an enormous effort for me to run at 5:30 pace and I was clearly coming down with a cold so I pulled the plug. Running at 5:30 pace for another 110 minutes at close to max HR is a sure fire way to wipe myself out for a week.

I went to work and could feel my condition deteriorating on an hourly basis as the cold took hold. Fortunately, its the type of cold that has completely stripped my body of energy with my muscles achey and my joints creaky. There is no sore throat, runny nose or respiratory issues, so hopefully I'll get over this quickly with the help of extra vitamins, plenty of water and a dairy free diet over the next 24 hours.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Quality sessions

Wed - 90 mins, 18k's @ about 4:45 mins/km
Thurs - 4min, 30 SR, 4 mins, 30 SR, 8 mins

Wed - Did the Green Bridge Loop with Glenda and Mel whilst Langy. It was an ominous sign for Mel and I that Glenda had already done 40 mins of her run by the time we departed the Ship Inn at 5:45am. Sure enough, Glenda upped the tempo after we had been going for ten minutes and it was a brisk pace all the way along Coro Drive out to UQ. Glenda headed home after reaching UQ but Mel and I maintained a decent pace all the way back to the Ship Inn. This was the first time I've completed this run without a GU which must surely be a good sign. Admittedly, three bananas before my run helped.

Saw Shane Lemcke at Gabba for my eight weekly preventative physio and he was happy with my conditions. Jabbed five needles into my ITB in a variation of acupuncture to help loosen up the little remaining tightness.

Thurs - A top session at West End this morning. The first four minute effort saw Glenda and I open up a five metre break on the rest of the pack as we went through 1k in 3:24. I finished the second four minute rep ahead of Glenda and Langy reaching Orleigh Park with a narrow lead. On the return 8 minute leg back to our starting point, Glenda showed why Langy has bestowed her with the nickname 'Jets' with a strong effort that really gapped me with only Langy able to keep anywhere near her. I struggled as the legs turned rubbery early in the rep, perhaps the effects of Sunday's 10k race? But I was happy to be able to dig deep and bring it home strongly in the last k in 3:30.

Got a massage from Bruno tonight and the body feels great. All is in pretty good nick and I'm looking forward to the next two weeks of training before the Easter Egg 10k.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Recovery mode

50 mins, 10k's @ 5:10 mins/km

Easy recovery run on the tready at the gym. Getting my once a week treadmill session out of the way early this week. Body feels good. Back to speedwork on Friday.

Monday, March 19, 2007

BRRC 10k - 37:54 PB

Fri - 40 mins, 8k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Sun - BRRC 10k in 37:54, 2k WU, 4k WD

- Splits 3:48, 3:51, 3:52, 3:51, 3:47, 3:48, 3:53, 3:44, 3:44, 3:31



The alarm went off at 5am on Sunday morning and I rose out of bed nursing a slight headache, but decided against a Panadol, figuring (correctly) I'd be alright after a warm up. Got to West End a fraction late and had to settle for a two k warm up instead of my usual three k's. Before I knew it, I was doing some strides in front of the field and it was time to start the race. The 5 and 10k race fields started together and were quite thin on depth with the BRRC also holding its Half Marathon championship.
Coach Pat had advised me to run a controlled race with seven 3:50's before hammering it home to get close to 38:10 and trim some time off my soft 38:22 PB. Its still early in my campaign, I've only been doing my full 70k weeks for four months and only resumed twice weekly speedwork a fortnight ago so the goal was a strong hitout with a view to building momentum towards the Gold Coast rather than peaking now. In that sense, I was not unlike a Bart Cummings stayer stepping out first up over 1400m in the Memsie Stakes on the way to the Melbourne Cup!

The opening stretch of the race saw one bloke bolt well clear early leading me to presume that he was doing the 5k. I settled into second looking at my watch and then ahead to the 1k mark continuously to ensure that I was on the right pace. Some alarm at the 600m mark when Robbie L passed me and I thought to myself 'Gees - he's taking it out bloody hard for a 10k race', not contemplating that he might in fact be doing the 5k. It amazing how the IQ drops 20 or 30 points when you are running hard! I went through 1k almost spot on in 3:48 and then overtook Robbie shortly after. I settled into a nice rhythm over the next four k's reeling off splits of 3:51, 3:52, 3:51 and 3:47 and going through 5k in 19:10. As I started the second loop, I noticed that the bloke in front of me was recovering after winning the 5k race confirming me as the 10k race leader.

At the next turnaround, I calculated that the second place 10k runner was 70-80m behind me and he looked to be working hard. I was confident I had him covered and just to let him think that I was doing it easy, I gave him a long stare as we passed on opposite sides of the road with my face cool and impassive. In reality, I was starting to have to work a little bit harder at this point with the ITB gently starting to make its presence felt and I knew that I was not going to be flying home with the three sub 3:35's I had hoped for. I maintained my pace until the 7k mark when I put the foot down. Unfortunately, the response was sluggish despite the assistance of the downhill behind the boatshed and I clocked a 3:44. I noticed Adrian and Ross doing the Half Marathon together in 4:12's a couple of hundred metres ahead of me at this point and set myself the challenge of running them down. The ninth k was a strong effort in 3:44. Even though the split was no faster than the previous one, I tackled the incline near the milk factory and a slight headwind on Montague Road. Adrian and Ross started to loom closer and I really hammered it over the last 600m overtaking my targets with 100m to go and then watched the finish clock tick towards 38 minutes in the lung busting finish, but not before I stopped it in 37:54 after a 3:31 final split. That equates to a 28 second PB in my first 10k since the 2004 Nike 10k. I didn't quite do a 'Farne Sang' but still needed to sit down for a few minutes to recover, which was indicative of my effort over the last k.

My impatient side is a little bit disappointed that I am not yet running the 35-36 minutes that I know I'm capable of soon, but my sensible side reasoned that I'm barely half fit and that the faster times will come after I complete the six 2 hr 40 min plus runs on my program over the next few months, not to mention continuing to do speedwork twice per week. Am quitely satisfied with the run and would have been a lot more satisfied had I ran sub 3:40's for the eighth and ninth k's. On the positive side, the body has pulled up very well since the race and I feel that I could easily do a hard speedwork session tomorrow. Alas, I'll miss the Countdown to Gold Coast launch to do an easy 50 minutes instead. Already looking forward to the Easter Egg 10 k in three weeks!!

* Image courtesy of Phil Wain of pbphotographics.com.au

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Speedwork improvements

Tues - 2/1/2 mins with 30JR, 30SR, Repeat, 4 mins
Wed - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:00 mins/km
Thurs - 5/4/5/4 mins with 45SR

All the big guns such as Andy, James, Jason, Langy and Glenda were absent this morning so it was yours truly who took the lead followed by Mike R with a gap to the rest of the pack. Now I know what Andy goes through! It was a bit tough being alone out front and setting the pace myself without anyone to chase and not even the toughest opponent of all - the clock, to judge myself by. I put in a solid session considering my tough long run on Sunday and there were some signs that I'm starting to put some good form together.

Wednesday saw me do an easy 50 min run on the tready rather than the usual 80 mins as I'm tapering for the BRRC 10k this Sunday.

This morning, Pat pulled a swifty, switching from a planned 30 sec on/off session to a 5/4/5/4 session in the Gardens with recoveries of around 45 seconds. Glenda and I ran the first rep together hard but controlled with a new teenage fella, Pete, Mike R and Jonesy in pursuit. In the second rep, I upped the tempo leading the way on the outbound leg but failing to catch up to most of my targets on the return leg. The ITB was making its presence felt occasionally, but I'm becoming more confident in my ability to manage the problem and was going fast on the downhill albeit taking care not to overstride. The third rep was a bit of a struggle and Glenda was about 10m clear of me throughout as she showed no ill effects from her 36:32 on the track on Monday night. As I recovered prior to the fourth leg, I reminded myself that I had a 10k race on Sunday and this was my last opportunity to run fast and hard prior to that. I ventured well out of my comfort zone and took the lead and pushed the pace to try and extend it from the one minute mark. After turning around I was about 10m behind Glenda and 20-30m behind the likes of Mike, Pete and Jonesy. My first thoughts were 'You've had a great session so far - it would be a fair accomplishment to match pace with those in front of you on the way back.' Then I thought 'No - If I'm going to run a good race on Sunday, then I need to catch them!' So I dug deep and caught up to and overtook Glenda and then charged up the hill leading to QUT to be right behind Pete and Mike. I sprinted to the finish line and then staggered to a halt only to look up and see everyone else still running!! Pat had pulled another swifty and extended the finish line 100m taking in another hill in the process!! Gritting my teeth, I set off after Pete and Mike again and just managed to catch them at the new finish line where I did a 'Farne Sang' collapse!! Suffice is to say that except for the third rep fade, it was a great session and I'm quite pleased with my endurance at the moment. Bring on Sunday!!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Sunday scorcher

Fri - 6 x 2 min with 30sec JR
Sun - 140 mins, 28k's @ about 5:10's

Yesterday turned out to be the hottest day of the year according to the Courier Mail this morning. I had to drive into South Bank late on Saturday night to pick MJ and Tara B up from Chelle's Hen's Party so not wanting to lose too much sleep, I ended up starting my run from Nundah Criterium at 6:35am instead of the planned 6:00am. It was 22 degrees and 96% humidity at 6:30am so it was no wonder I made a sluggish start. By the time I stopped to stretch at 4k, I just wanted to lie on the bitumen and go back to sleep. But I persisted and concentrated on remaining relaxed and not going too fast. I was really conscious of not flogging myself in the heat and needing a week to recover and as such, was rolling along at around 5:10 pace. It was a relief to hit Nudgee Beach and catch some shade and after a few loops there, I headed back but not before taking my first GU after 85 minutes. I took another GU after 105 minutes and despite the temp increasing to 29 degrees (apparent temp 33deg) I felt much better after the GU's and without consciously trying, I stretched out a little to come home in 4:55's for the last 5k. Either that, or I just wanted to finish! Body temp was very high after finishing, but I did all the right things recovery wise and am looking forward to my first 10k race in a long time at BRRC on Sunday.

Friday - Did 6x 2min with 30 JR by myself in the arvo at Kedron Brook and was quite pleased with my session. ITB probs recently have prevented me from unleashing the shackles and going faster than the January-February limit of 3:25 pace but I really gunned it at the Brook. The start was tough going into the wind and I covered the first k in 3:47. On the sixth rep, I gave it everything I had and sprinted for two and a half minutes to the 4k mark, reaching it in 15:02. Am pretty pleased to run 51 seconds outside my 4k PB with five jogging recoveries thrown in and some windy conditions to endure. Looking forward to taking my speedwork to the next level from this week on.

Friday, March 09, 2007

PCRG 3KTT - DNF

Tues - 3k TT - DNF - 2k in 6:48 with 3:17, 3:31 splits
Wed - 80 mins, 16k's @ about 4:50 mins/km
Thurs 50 mins, 10k's @ 4:53 mins/km

Well, my streak of six consecutive faster times at the monthly TT is over. 1800m into the trial, I felt the ITB starting to niggle and made an instinctive decision to step off the course after 2k in 6:48 when I was on track to run around 10:05-10.10. The first k had been promising and I was feeling good, but my legs started to feel the fatigue from Sunday afternoon's long run in the second k. I think the ITB flared up speeding down the downhill stretch behind the boatshed. The macho little man who yells into my right ear was digusted, telling that quitting was gutless and soft. The other little man whispering his voice of reason into my left ear was telling me 'Good move. No point in aggravating the injury further with another downhill to come. When you're on the start line of the Gold Coast Marathon and look back at the March TT, the difference between a hard 2k and a hard 3k is non-existent whereas taking time off to recover from an injury would have you worried if you had done the necessary work.' The latter little man makes sense to me.

Wednesday saw me in town for the fortnightly midweek long run with my group. Glenda and Mel joined me to run a loop out to New Farm Park. It was a pleasant run in cool, rainy conditions and the ITB didn't bother me at all, although I took extreme care on the downhills, falling a little behind the girls and then gradually picking the pace up to catch them again. Even better, the Bullets went 2-1 up in the Grand Final series with an amazing win at Boondall - my throat is still sore from cheering the boys on and giving the refs a gobful.

Thursday, I did an easy 50 minutes late in the arvo before a rub from Bruno who was pleased with the improvement in the ITB. I just have to maintain the self masage/heat pack therapy I have been giving it and of course, avoid or at least take it easy on downhills.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Gettting it done....

Sun - 140 mins, 28k's @ 5:05 mins/km

Scheduling this Sunday long run got a little tricky. I had to cover the International Women's Day Classic for R4YL which might turn out to have been a waste of time as their appeared to be little attempt to record the top ten placegetters and their times. Starting my run at 4:20am in order to finish by the start of the race was out of question because I got hiome from taking Hiro to the Reds at 10:30pm and would have got little sleep. Starting my run at 7:30am after the race would have seen me finish in 30 degree heat at 10am so I ruled that option out.

A 5pm run in the cool twilight was out of question because the Bullets were on live at 6:40pm so instead, I decided to start the run at 3:30pm. The first hour was quite warm but I was rolling along the Kedron Brook fairly enough taking care not to go too fast and take it out of me for Tuesday's 3kTT. The middle section went quite comfortably although I did bonk in the last 20 minutes and needed to take a GU with 15 minutes to go to help get me home. A fair effort.

Friday, March 02, 2007

A tough week

Wed - 80 mins, 16k's @ 5:10 mins/km
Thurs - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:10 mins/km
Fri - 2 x 1k @ 3:20, 5 min SR, 3:17, 4k WU, 3k WD

Wednesday was a torrid day. Eased through the midweek long run as slow as I dared. The ITB was not painful or uncomfortable, but I could feel it. More than anything, it was not knowing if I was doing damage or not. Clearly I was distracted as I left for work in a hurry after my run and then had to make the 25 min round trip back home after I couldn't remember if I had turned the stove hotplates off or not!! An ideal way to start what is my busiest working day of the month. Then I had to try and calm the rage inside me and concentrate on work after I found out that Shitness First had direct debited $210 from my account since I ended my one year gym membership there. Got home absolutely exhausted at 7pm and then started putting together my Dusk to Dawn race report for R4YL as the deadline was that very night!! So if its a bad one, you know why :). Best part of the day was ducking out to see Bruno (bless his cotton socks) after he finished his day. Bruno put together a plan to fix my ITB issues which in short is:
1. Self massage ITB with base of hand for 10 mins each night then immediately put on a heat pack for 20 minutes
2. After each run press, sit on something high enough to allow you legs to dangle and then press thumb firmly into areas of the ITB whilst kicking the affected leg gently outwards.

Thursday was a relaxing day at home after the non stop events of Wednesday. Did an easy 50 mins on the tready after lunch and could hardly feel the ITB - beauty!!!

This morning, I decided against going to speedwork with the PCRG as it was scheduled for under the Story Bridge and I did not want to risk that short high speed down hill run that comes after the 500m turnaround. I'm pretty sure that is what caused the ITB to flare up at Tuesday's session. So, I went out to the Kedron Brook just wanting to turn the legs over quickly ahead of Tuesday's 3k TT. I ran 3:20, had a five minute standing recovery and then ran 3:17. Didn't feel the ITB at all decided not to push my luck and call it a day at that point. Hopefully, another four days of following Bruno's instructions will have me close to 100% for the 3K TT. Its all good again!!