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.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
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.
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/kmSun - 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!!
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
1k/500/1k/500/1k/1k with 45 SR - 3:35, 1:50, 3:50, 1:56, 4:05, 4:06
What a fucking disastrous morning.............so many things went wrong.
Firstly, I woke up starving and not even the bowl of porridge, slice of bread with peanut butter, Up N Go, GU and handful of lollies I had before training could give me any energy in time for the session. I'm sounding like a broken record here, but I really need to eat right the day prior to a key session. I had a very good dinner of chicken stir fry with extra rice last night but a pitiful lunch consisting of a small bowl of left over Japanese stir fry with noodles and about six Saos with cheese. Time and time again, it has proven that I need to have a good lunch and a good dinner prior to speedwork sessions and yet I continue to drop the ball. To rectify this shortcoming, I'm going to draw up an eating plan for Monday's and Thursdays and stick it on my desk and in my bedroom and follow the bloody thing to the letter!!! I simply cannot afford to waste any more sessions like this.
I knew I was in trouble during the warm up and the stretching session and strides did not offer my any hope. If you thought the first rep of a 3:35k was bad enough, then look away now as it gets worse. I struggled to a 1:50 for the 500m and pretty much threw in the towel then, just wanting to get through the session without injury. That was wishful thinking, as on the third rep, my ITB on the left leg flared up again and niggled away for the rest of the session but wasn't so bad once I slowed down to 5:00's for the cooldown run back to the Ship Inn. I still only know the basics of treating and training through an ITB niggle and don't know if I should have just ignored the niggle and kept running fast had I been feeling well. I need to have a good talk with Bruno and Langy (who holds a PHD in ITB's). Tesso also just emailed me the following very practical advice 'Good luck with that ITB. Get it before it gets you!!! The mistake I made was ignoring mine when it first started to niggle.'
The only thing that could have made my morning worse would have been breaking the fence that I kicked in frustration after the session concluded and subsequently being fined for damaging council property. It was that bad a day.
What a fucking disastrous morning.............so many things went wrong.
Firstly, I woke up starving and not even the bowl of porridge, slice of bread with peanut butter, Up N Go, GU and handful of lollies I had before training could give me any energy in time for the session. I'm sounding like a broken record here, but I really need to eat right the day prior to a key session. I had a very good dinner of chicken stir fry with extra rice last night but a pitiful lunch consisting of a small bowl of left over Japanese stir fry with noodles and about six Saos with cheese. Time and time again, it has proven that I need to have a good lunch and a good dinner prior to speedwork sessions and yet I continue to drop the ball. To rectify this shortcoming, I'm going to draw up an eating plan for Monday's and Thursdays and stick it on my desk and in my bedroom and follow the bloody thing to the letter!!! I simply cannot afford to waste any more sessions like this.
I knew I was in trouble during the warm up and the stretching session and strides did not offer my any hope. If you thought the first rep of a 3:35k was bad enough, then look away now as it gets worse. I struggled to a 1:50 for the 500m and pretty much threw in the towel then, just wanting to get through the session without injury. That was wishful thinking, as on the third rep, my ITB on the left leg flared up again and niggled away for the rest of the session but wasn't so bad once I slowed down to 5:00's for the cooldown run back to the Ship Inn. I still only know the basics of treating and training through an ITB niggle and don't know if I should have just ignored the niggle and kept running fast had I been feeling well. I need to have a good talk with Bruno and Langy (who holds a PHD in ITB's). Tesso also just emailed me the following very practical advice 'Good luck with that ITB. Get it before it gets you!!! The mistake I made was ignoring mine when it first started to niggle.'
The only thing that could have made my morning worse would have been breaking the fence that I kicked in frustration after the session concluded and subsequently being fined for damaging council property. It was that bad a day.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Its all good!!
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:10 mins/km
Sun - 140 mins, 28k's @ 5:00 mins/km
The news was all good on Thursday night when Bruno successfully massaged the tightness out of part of my ITB. I was never overly concerned as there was no tightness or discomfort in the vincity of the knee(which is the bad news), but nonetheless, its good to be able to run with one less niggle to be concerned about.
On Friday, I left my run till 5pm, to give the body as much time as possible to recover after the masssage. Did an easy session on the treadmill at the gym and then followed it up with a hard 10mins at maximum HR on the bike. No problems with the ITB.
It was a case of deja vu on Sunday when for the second time this year, I spurned a Sunday run with Langy and ended up running in a scorcher! I had only got seven hours sleep on Friday night after getting up early to watch the Broncos on Saturday morning. After another seven hours sleep on Saturday night, I woke up exhausted at 4:30am and decided that I needed an additional two hours sleep. With all the running, gym, work and play in my life, its pretty clear to me that I need at least eight hours sleep every second night and preferably on five or six nights a week. IT was overcast and raining at 4:30am and I thought 'Beauty - I'll have a nice cool run when I get up!' Yeah, right! By the time I started at 7am, the sun was breaking ominiously through the clouds. I started my longest run since the 2004 Gold Coast Marathon sluggishly with porridge and an Up n Go sitting uncomfortably in my stomach. Things were much better after my first GU and water stop at 7k's and I began to roll along comfortably towards Nudgee Beach. Reaching Nudgee Beach, I decided to do three loops of the wooden boardwalk to keep me out of the sun for a while before heading back. A second GU with 50 minutes to go ensured that I was able to finish the run clocking 4:50's for the last 5k's without pushing myself as the mercury climbed to 26.9 degrees and an apparent temperature of 29 degrees. I made sure I ticked all the right boxes with regards to hydration and nutrition for the rest of the day and pulled up well.
Looking forward to resuming twice a week speedwork for the first time in a long time this week.
Sun - 140 mins, 28k's @ 5:00 mins/km
The news was all good on Thursday night when Bruno successfully massaged the tightness out of part of my ITB. I was never overly concerned as there was no tightness or discomfort in the vincity of the knee(which is the bad news), but nonetheless, its good to be able to run with one less niggle to be concerned about.
On Friday, I left my run till 5pm, to give the body as much time as possible to recover after the masssage. Did an easy session on the treadmill at the gym and then followed it up with a hard 10mins at maximum HR on the bike. No problems with the ITB.
It was a case of deja vu on Sunday when for the second time this year, I spurned a Sunday run with Langy and ended up running in a scorcher! I had only got seven hours sleep on Friday night after getting up early to watch the Broncos on Saturday morning. After another seven hours sleep on Saturday night, I woke up exhausted at 4:30am and decided that I needed an additional two hours sleep. With all the running, gym, work and play in my life, its pretty clear to me that I need at least eight hours sleep every second night and preferably on five or six nights a week. IT was overcast and raining at 4:30am and I thought 'Beauty - I'll have a nice cool run when I get up!' Yeah, right! By the time I started at 7am, the sun was breaking ominiously through the clouds. I started my longest run since the 2004 Gold Coast Marathon sluggishly with porridge and an Up n Go sitting uncomfortably in my stomach. Things were much better after my first GU and water stop at 7k's and I began to roll along comfortably towards Nudgee Beach. Reaching Nudgee Beach, I decided to do three loops of the wooden boardwalk to keep me out of the sun for a while before heading back. A second GU with 50 minutes to go ensured that I was able to finish the run clocking 4:50's for the last 5k's without pushing myself as the mercury climbed to 26.9 degrees and an apparent temperature of 29 degrees. I made sure I ticked all the right boxes with regards to hydration and nutrition for the rest of the day and pulled up well.
Looking forward to resuming twice a week speedwork for the first time in a long time this week.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
A good week so far...
Tues - 8 x 1 min, 30 SR, 2 x Gold Coast Hill
Wed - 84 mins, 17k's @ 4:45 mins/km
Thurs - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:02 mins/km
Had a good hitout under the Story Bridge on Tuesday posting some fast early reps and digging deep to clear out from the pack on the 7th rep with only Andy being able to go with me. Two gutbusters up Gold Coast Hill finished off things.
Rocked up at the Ship Inn at 5:30am on Wednesday morning tired and with a sore throat after lots of hollering and carrying on the previous night as the mighty Bullets went 1-0 up in the Semi Finals with a tense seven point win over the much hated Sydney Kings. Langy, Glenda, Jen, Mel and newcomer Beth joined me and we decided to do an anti-clockwise Green Bridge loop heading down Coro Drive first. After an easy few k's the pace picked up and I felt the pinch a little from the 15 min mark until my GU kicked in at the 40 min mark and I ran out the session nicely, running up Highgate Hill strongly. Took my Japanese Homestayer Hiro out to the State 3000 and 5000m titles at UQ so I could cover the proceedings for R4YL. Its was an absolute pleasure to watch dual Olympian Peter Nowill power relentlessly around the track clocking 68 or 69 second laps every time before gunning it home with a 61 second closing lap. Inspirational stuff!!
The last four runs have all been fairly decent efforts so it was relief to amble down my Kedron Brook route at an easy pace. As soon as I started my run this morning, I felt a tight piece of muscle or band about 10 cm long outside my left thigh and I'm hoping its not an ITB problem. As luck would have it, I'm already booked in for a rub with Bruno tonight, so hopefully he'll be able to knock it on the head if its a major issue.
Wed - 84 mins, 17k's @ 4:45 mins/km
Thurs - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:02 mins/km
Had a good hitout under the Story Bridge on Tuesday posting some fast early reps and digging deep to clear out from the pack on the 7th rep with only Andy being able to go with me. Two gutbusters up Gold Coast Hill finished off things.
Rocked up at the Ship Inn at 5:30am on Wednesday morning tired and with a sore throat after lots of hollering and carrying on the previous night as the mighty Bullets went 1-0 up in the Semi Finals with a tense seven point win over the much hated Sydney Kings. Langy, Glenda, Jen, Mel and newcomer Beth joined me and we decided to do an anti-clockwise Green Bridge loop heading down Coro Drive first. After an easy few k's the pace picked up and I felt the pinch a little from the 15 min mark until my GU kicked in at the 40 min mark and I ran out the session nicely, running up Highgate Hill strongly. Took my Japanese Homestayer Hiro out to the State 3000 and 5000m titles at UQ so I could cover the proceedings for R4YL. Its was an absolute pleasure to watch dual Olympian Peter Nowill power relentlessly around the track clocking 68 or 69 second laps every time before gunning it home with a 61 second closing lap. Inspirational stuff!!
The last four runs have all been fairly decent efforts so it was relief to amble down my Kedron Brook route at an easy pace. As soon as I started my run this morning, I felt a tight piece of muscle or band about 10 cm long outside my left thigh and I'm hoping its not an ITB problem. As luck would have it, I'm already booked in for a rub with Bruno tonight, so hopefully he'll be able to knock it on the head if its a major issue.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Sunday - BRRC 10 Mile Championship
120 mins, 25k's @ 4:41 mins/km
Arrived at West End late yet again! Its all Clairie's fault - she started the 5k a few minutes late last fortnight so I was expecting similar leeway. It didn't happen. I had promised to pace Tesso and Clairie if they needed it but without having the chance to talk to them, I would have to catch up and find out. With the field two minutes ahead of me, I set off for the chase. Thankfully, I was feeling good and was able to throw in a few comfortable early k's in the 4:30 range before catching up to the girls at the 9k mark. Both girls had decided not to race the event so I just cruised around with them for the duration before grabbing a banana and cordial from the breakfast table and heading out again.
After a 4k loop, Langy and Glenda came running by so I ran with them for 3k's before turning around to head back to head back to my car and a very interesting situation. Running over the Victoria Bridge, I observed a City Cat and City Ferry executing slow turns in the middle of the river and thought 'That's strange'. I then saw an object in the water opposite the State Library and speculated it was a dead body or dolphin. A closer look at the river beneath me revealed another object - an aboriginal bloke sidestroking in the middle of the river!! Further down the river was his mate. Two hysterical girls on the other side of the bridge came rushing over and I asked them if the blokes could swim and they responded in the affirmative but added 'They've been drinking and the currents got them.' I said I would do what I could and sprinted across the bridge and down the ramp too the boardwalk as the bloke closest to me continued his painstaking sidestroke towards the bank. I was looking around and I was the only person around and was thinking 'shiiiiiit - I've just run 23k - I hope I don't have to rescue these blokes!!' Not to mention the fact that I came second last for three consecutive years in the 25m freestyle at De La Salle ahead of only the fattest kid in the school! I was just as likely to need rescuing myself as I was to rescue these blokes! Fortunately, the current was taking the bloke closest to me towards a private pontoon so I hailed another runner for help and we climbed over the security partition onto the pontoon and pulled the bloke out of the water whilst his mate reached the bank 100m upstream. So that was a very interesting finish to my run and I pulled up well afterward.
Arrived at West End late yet again! Its all Clairie's fault - she started the 5k a few minutes late last fortnight so I was expecting similar leeway. It didn't happen. I had promised to pace Tesso and Clairie if they needed it but without having the chance to talk to them, I would have to catch up and find out. With the field two minutes ahead of me, I set off for the chase. Thankfully, I was feeling good and was able to throw in a few comfortable early k's in the 4:30 range before catching up to the girls at the 9k mark. Both girls had decided not to race the event so I just cruised around with them for the duration before grabbing a banana and cordial from the breakfast table and heading out again.
After a 4k loop, Langy and Glenda came running by so I ran with them for 3k's before turning around to head back to head back to my car and a very interesting situation. Running over the Victoria Bridge, I observed a City Cat and City Ferry executing slow turns in the middle of the river and thought 'That's strange'. I then saw an object in the water opposite the State Library and speculated it was a dead body or dolphin. A closer look at the river beneath me revealed another object - an aboriginal bloke sidestroking in the middle of the river!! Further down the river was his mate. Two hysterical girls on the other side of the bridge came rushing over and I asked them if the blokes could swim and they responded in the affirmative but added 'They've been drinking and the currents got them.' I said I would do what I could and sprinted across the bridge and down the ramp too the boardwalk as the bloke closest to me continued his painstaking sidestroke towards the bank. I was looking around and I was the only person around and was thinking 'shiiiiiit - I've just run 23k - I hope I don't have to rescue these blokes!!' Not to mention the fact that I came second last for three consecutive years in the 25m freestyle at De La Salle ahead of only the fattest kid in the school! I was just as likely to need rescuing myself as I was to rescue these blokes! Fortunately, the current was taking the bloke closest to me towards a private pontoon so I hailed another runner for help and we climbed over the security partition onto the pontoon and pulled the bloke out of the water whilst his mate reached the bank 100m upstream. So that was a very interesting finish to my run and I pulled up well afterward.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Friday - Brisbane Running Group 3k Challenge
Brisbane Running Group 3k Challenge - 10:19, 11th out of 224
I went into this race with a plan to attack the first 500m and then see how I felt - either I would have sufficiently recovered from the midweek virus or not. The short 50m run to the first turn made for lots of jostling and contact and Jason H and I ended up squeezed together with only room for one to get through a gap. Normally, I take no prisoners and would have just elbowed a rival out of the way but as this was a team event and Jason had faster recent 3k TT's than I did, I let him through. I felt good the first 500m and it was fun to stay in touch with the lead pack of Dennis Fitzgerald, Aidan Hobbs and Christian Cobbold with our boys Andy, James and Jason also in close attendance.
Inevitably, I dropped off the pace and wasn't too happy with my speed up the first hill, nor the second as hills are normally one of my strengths. Nevertheless, I had settled into the race in about 15th place and clocked 3:11 for my first 980m loop. In the second lap, I caught up to three weakening opponents and quickly dropped each one of them - was feeling good at that point. Clocked 3:24 for the second 980m as the fast early pace, two hills and tight bend leading into the home straight took their toll.
The hurt started around the 2200m mark and I was really stuggling, but managed to maintain a reasonable pace. Strangely enough, given the 200+ competitors. I was in no mans land with the nearest rival over 30-40m in front of me and my nearest pursuer about 10m behind me. Not having someone 5-10m in front of me to chase was disappointing but I had not yet been passed in the race and was determined not to let anyone through. Approaching the final downhill run, I managed to get a kick going and keep it up all the way to the line, finishing three seconds clear of my nearest rival.
The likes of James, Jason, myself and Glenda all ran around 10-15 seconds slower than our recent time trials as did plenty of others indicating that the course was a slow one as we had expected. All up, I was quite happy with the run and what I got out of myself and am looking forward to battling in out with the top five next time this race comes around.
Most importantly, the PCRG got the 'W' taking out the overall win. In the categories, our fastest 10 runners were also faster than any other Groups as were our 11-20, 21-30, 31-40 and 41-50 placed runners!!! Hopefully we can get a bit of a streak going now and hold onto the trophy for some time yet.
I went into this race with a plan to attack the first 500m and then see how I felt - either I would have sufficiently recovered from the midweek virus or not. The short 50m run to the first turn made for lots of jostling and contact and Jason H and I ended up squeezed together with only room for one to get through a gap. Normally, I take no prisoners and would have just elbowed a rival out of the way but as this was a team event and Jason had faster recent 3k TT's than I did, I let him through. I felt good the first 500m and it was fun to stay in touch with the lead pack of Dennis Fitzgerald, Aidan Hobbs and Christian Cobbold with our boys Andy, James and Jason also in close attendance.
Inevitably, I dropped off the pace and wasn't too happy with my speed up the first hill, nor the second as hills are normally one of my strengths. Nevertheless, I had settled into the race in about 15th place and clocked 3:11 for my first 980m loop. In the second lap, I caught up to three weakening opponents and quickly dropped each one of them - was feeling good at that point. Clocked 3:24 for the second 980m as the fast early pace, two hills and tight bend leading into the home straight took their toll.
The hurt started around the 2200m mark and I was really stuggling, but managed to maintain a reasonable pace. Strangely enough, given the 200+ competitors. I was in no mans land with the nearest rival over 30-40m in front of me and my nearest pursuer about 10m behind me. Not having someone 5-10m in front of me to chase was disappointing but I had not yet been passed in the race and was determined not to let anyone through. Approaching the final downhill run, I managed to get a kick going and keep it up all the way to the line, finishing three seconds clear of my nearest rival.
The likes of James, Jason, myself and Glenda all ran around 10-15 seconds slower than our recent time trials as did plenty of others indicating that the course was a slow one as we had expected. All up, I was quite happy with the run and what I got out of myself and am looking forward to battling in out with the top five next time this race comes around.
Most importantly, the PCRG got the 'W' taking out the overall win. In the categories, our fastest 10 runners were also faster than any other Groups as were our 11-20, 21-30, 31-40 and 41-50 placed runners!!! Hopefully we can get a bit of a streak going now and hold onto the trophy for some time yet.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Resting up for 3k Challenge
Thurs - 40 mins, 8k's @ 5:10 mins/km
Easy run down the road and along the railway at 6:30pm last night. Shins felt fine and i'm recovering ok from the low grade virus.
Resting up today. Will take Hiro fishing at Nudgee Beach this morning and then have a relaxing arvo including a light 30 minute gym session. Then its off to the city for the Brisbane Running Group 3k Challenge. I'll take it out hard in the first 500 metres but won't know until then how well I've recovered from my ailments this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to put in a strong effort. With Langy taking it easy, I'll be aiming to keep in touch with the likes of James M and Jason H as the course is likely to be too slow and technical to race according to the watch.
This week - 18k
This month - 119k
This year - 428k
Easy run down the road and along the railway at 6:30pm last night. Shins felt fine and i'm recovering ok from the low grade virus.
Resting up today. Will take Hiro fishing at Nudgee Beach this morning and then have a relaxing arvo including a light 30 minute gym session. Then its off to the city for the Brisbane Running Group 3k Challenge. I'll take it out hard in the first 500 metres but won't know until then how well I've recovered from my ailments this week. Hopefully, I'll be able to put in a strong effort. With Langy taking it easy, I'll be aiming to keep in touch with the likes of James M and Jason H as the course is likely to be too slow and technical to race according to the watch.
This week - 18k
This month - 119k
This year - 428k
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Worrying couple of days
Wed - NO RUN due to low grade virus/cold
The shins were aching a fair bit towards the end of the day on Tuesday and I was feeling like I was coming down with something which proved to be the case on Wednesday morning when I felt bloody ordinary, called in sick and spent half a day in bed. The shins continued to ache intermittently throughout the day.
I'm pretty certain that a low grade virus is causing this current shin discomfort, but there is always a degree of trepidation about me until the shin soreness goes away and I exhale with relief knowing that yet again, the shin soreness has again been linked with a virus/illness and not something related to my running.
I have just gone over the logbook and noted that including yesterdays scheduled 60 min run, I have missed a total of 7 training sessions in the seven and half months since June last year. On two occasions, I missed three sessions in a row due to a bad cold. In an ideal world, I'd only miss 3-4 sessions or less in a year due to illness but considering the number of times I missed sessions due to colds and viruses in the first half of 2006, I'm pretty happy to record only three illness in the last 7.5 months and hope to improve further still.
The shins are feeling much better today and all going well, I'll do an easy 40 minutes on the tready late this arvo to keep things ticking over before the Brisbane Running Group 3k Summer Challenge tomorrow.
The shins were aching a fair bit towards the end of the day on Tuesday and I was feeling like I was coming down with something which proved to be the case on Wednesday morning when I felt bloody ordinary, called in sick and spent half a day in bed. The shins continued to ache intermittently throughout the day.
I'm pretty certain that a low grade virus is causing this current shin discomfort, but there is always a degree of trepidation about me until the shin soreness goes away and I exhale with relief knowing that yet again, the shin soreness has again been linked with a virus/illness and not something related to my running.
I have just gone over the logbook and noted that including yesterdays scheduled 60 min run, I have missed a total of 7 training sessions in the seven and half months since June last year. On two occasions, I missed three sessions in a row due to a bad cold. In an ideal world, I'd only miss 3-4 sessions or less in a year due to illness but considering the number of times I missed sessions due to colds and viruses in the first half of 2006, I'm pretty happy to record only three illness in the last 7.5 months and hope to improve further still.
The shins are feeling much better today and all going well, I'll do an easy 40 minutes on the tready late this arvo to keep things ticking over before the Brisbane Running Group 3k Summer Challenge tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Not the best week....
Tues - 15 mins hills
Wed - 50 mins, 10k's @ 4:54 mins/km
Thurs - 80 mins, 16k's @ 4:51 mins/km
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:15 mins/km
Sat Night - 120 mins, 24k's @ 4:55 mins/km
Tues - 1 min on, 30 secs off
It has not been the best week for me. At times, I've felt like I'm struggling to do the sessions on my program, let alone any quality sessions. A few niggles have not helped matters. I accept there will be weeks like this in a marathon program and I expect a few more weeks like them in the next few months, but that doesn't mean I have to like them!!!
Last Tuesday was 15 minutes of hills in the Gardens. With a fair bit of trepidation, I completed 15 minutes entirely on grass at close to full intensity for the first time in over a year. With my shin history, I shied away from totally flogging myself and it will be a while before I'm confident enough to run carefree on the grass.
Now as I don't believe in Valentines Day(Why should Myer and DJ's dictate to me when I can spoil MJ???) I decided that in order to top anything done by most blokes on boring old Valentines Day, I would get in early and surprise MJ with dinner at Baguette http://baguette.com.au/ Gees!!! If you have never dined there, do yourself a favour and give it a go - the food is absolutely divine. I had the Casino Green Mountain loin of veal with sweet potato, beans, chorize and mustard hollandaise while MJ had Bundaberg scallops on the shells with capsicum sauce and an aioli that I fail to recall. It was easily in the top five meals I've ever had. Now that was a good night!!!
My Wednesday and Thursday runs were solid whilst I put in a shocker on Friday on the treadmill struggling to get through the 50 minutes. Saturday Night was better as I went out to Caboolture to cover the Dusk to Dawn for R4YL and did my Sunday long run as part of a relay team. Really enjoyed the opportunity to run on the compacted dirt track and it was fun to run through the torrential rain and thunderstom that lashed the field for 30 minutes and forced us to slip and slide through muddy conditions. It was not without its problems though with a toe on my right foot slipping down and pushing uncomfortably and repeatedly into the shoebox - the first time I've had the problem since the 2004 Gold Coast Marathon when I was wearing a shoe half a size larger. Its a problem that I'll keep in the back of my mind and look into as some stage. Great to see a handy PCRG presence at Caboolture with Tess winning the 6hr, Clairie running strongly and Toasty putting in a nice run also.
Some anxious moments yesterday when my shins started to ache - nowhere near as bad as when they were at their worst bust still the worst they've been in a while. My mind went into overdrive. Were the shins affected by the slipping and sliding through the mud at Caboolture? Have my orthotics broken down and are no longer providing me with sufficient support as Bruno speculated could be the case during Friday's rub? Or was I simply coming down with a cold or virus which always makes the shins ache? Only time will tell, but I gulped down plenty of vitamin C in case its a virus.
30 secs on, 30 secs off in the Gardens this morning - some on the grass - damn it. The shins felt much better this morning, but the grass we were traversing was quite uneven so I decided to run about 1 min hard on the pavers and recover for 30-40 secs on the grass which I did at a fair tempo for 15 minutes. It rained pretty heavily in the early hours of the morning and was still raining when I left home. As expected, numbers were down on the 70-80 who would normally have attended with only 50 or so in attendance. There is always some satisfaction in attending a session in the rain when plenty of others have stayed in bed!!
This week - 10k
This month - 111k
This year - 420k
Wed - 50 mins, 10k's @ 4:54 mins/km
Thurs - 80 mins, 16k's @ 4:51 mins/km
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:15 mins/km
Sat Night - 120 mins, 24k's @ 4:55 mins/km
Tues - 1 min on, 30 secs off
It has not been the best week for me. At times, I've felt like I'm struggling to do the sessions on my program, let alone any quality sessions. A few niggles have not helped matters. I accept there will be weeks like this in a marathon program and I expect a few more weeks like them in the next few months, but that doesn't mean I have to like them!!!
Last Tuesday was 15 minutes of hills in the Gardens. With a fair bit of trepidation, I completed 15 minutes entirely on grass at close to full intensity for the first time in over a year. With my shin history, I shied away from totally flogging myself and it will be a while before I'm confident enough to run carefree on the grass.
Now as I don't believe in Valentines Day(Why should Myer and DJ's dictate to me when I can spoil MJ???) I decided that in order to top anything done by most blokes on boring old Valentines Day, I would get in early and surprise MJ with dinner at Baguette http://baguette.com.au/ Gees!!! If you have never dined there, do yourself a favour and give it a go - the food is absolutely divine. I had the Casino Green Mountain loin of veal with sweet potato, beans, chorize and mustard hollandaise while MJ had Bundaberg scallops on the shells with capsicum sauce and an aioli that I fail to recall. It was easily in the top five meals I've ever had. Now that was a good night!!!
My Wednesday and Thursday runs were solid whilst I put in a shocker on Friday on the treadmill struggling to get through the 50 minutes. Saturday Night was better as I went out to Caboolture to cover the Dusk to Dawn for R4YL and did my Sunday long run as part of a relay team. Really enjoyed the opportunity to run on the compacted dirt track and it was fun to run through the torrential rain and thunderstom that lashed the field for 30 minutes and forced us to slip and slide through muddy conditions. It was not without its problems though with a toe on my right foot slipping down and pushing uncomfortably and repeatedly into the shoebox - the first time I've had the problem since the 2004 Gold Coast Marathon when I was wearing a shoe half a size larger. Its a problem that I'll keep in the back of my mind and look into as some stage. Great to see a handy PCRG presence at Caboolture with Tess winning the 6hr, Clairie running strongly and Toasty putting in a nice run also.
Some anxious moments yesterday when my shins started to ache - nowhere near as bad as when they were at their worst bust still the worst they've been in a while. My mind went into overdrive. Were the shins affected by the slipping and sliding through the mud at Caboolture? Have my orthotics broken down and are no longer providing me with sufficient support as Bruno speculated could be the case during Friday's rub? Or was I simply coming down with a cold or virus which always makes the shins ache? Only time will tell, but I gulped down plenty of vitamin C in case its a virus.
30 secs on, 30 secs off in the Gardens this morning - some on the grass - damn it. The shins felt much better this morning, but the grass we were traversing was quite uneven so I decided to run about 1 min hard on the pavers and recover for 30-40 secs on the grass which I did at a fair tempo for 15 minutes. It rained pretty heavily in the early hours of the morning and was still raining when I left home. As expected, numbers were down on the 70-80 who would normally have attended with only 50 or so in attendance. There is always some satisfaction in attending a session in the rain when plenty of others have stayed in bed!!
This week - 10k
This month - 111k
This year - 420k
Friday, February 09, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
BRRC 5k - SHOCKER!!!
BRRC 5k - 18:04 - 3:34, 3:38, 3:37, 3:38, 3:35 - 2nd place
I don't really feel like detailing my shocker in great detail. The short story is that I dropped the ball badly on Saturday. There were some dramas at work and I did not make the time to stop work and eat at 7am, 10am, 12:30pm and 3pm. And I did not eat all the carbo loading food I planned to. As such, I actually bonked during my 15 minute warm up on Sunday morning and felt quite weak and lacking in energy. In fact, I've never felt worse on the starting line of a race in my life.
All I could do was run as hard as I could and hope that somehow things fell into place and my breakfast of bananas, GU and my caffeine hit kicked in during the race. The 5k and 10k race started together at 6:30 which is annoying as you can only speculate on who is doing what if you don't already know. Race Director Clairie send the field on its way quite suddenly and a talented looking runner took the early lead kicking away from the fielf at around 3:20 pace and I pegged him as a likely 5k racer. I let him go and concentrated on my plan to do my first 3k in 10:45. The first k passed and I hadn't collapsed yet but I felt terrible. I managed to shake off a challenge from some bloke and drop him at the 1200m to move into outright second.
I went through 3k in 10:49, four seconds off the goal pace set by Coach Pat. The leader who I later found out was Alun Williams of Pine Rivers was pulling further and further away from me whilst I was widening the gap to two blokes battling it out for third. The plan called for me to hammer it in the last two k's but there was nothing left in the tank at this point and all I could do was keep plugging away. There were several moments when the weak side of my brain suggested I throw in the towel and use my poor eating and preparation the day prior as an excuse. However, the possibility albeit faint, that the leader was in fact a 10k racer and that I could win the 5k kept me going. I managed to pick up the pace ever so slightly in the last 400m to ensure my final split was the second fastest and finish in second place behind the comfortable winner.
So, it was an extremely disappointing day. My training times and my 17:56 5k effort in the BRRC 5 Champs in Oct all pointed towards a sub 17:40 time and possibly well under 17:30. I need to pull my finger out and take more time to prepare properly the day prior to a race. I've proven that I can carbo load and turn up for a big race brimming with energy - its the lesser races, time trials and key speedwork sessions where I need to get my act together. I don't care if its an important Monday meeting at work the day prior to a 3KTT. If the meeting runs too long, I'll be standing up and saying 'Sorry everyone - I have to leave now to eat a meal.'
This week - 57k
This month - 31k
This year - 340k
I don't really feel like detailing my shocker in great detail. The short story is that I dropped the ball badly on Saturday. There were some dramas at work and I did not make the time to stop work and eat at 7am, 10am, 12:30pm and 3pm. And I did not eat all the carbo loading food I planned to. As such, I actually bonked during my 15 minute warm up on Sunday morning and felt quite weak and lacking in energy. In fact, I've never felt worse on the starting line of a race in my life.
All I could do was run as hard as I could and hope that somehow things fell into place and my breakfast of bananas, GU and my caffeine hit kicked in during the race. The 5k and 10k race started together at 6:30 which is annoying as you can only speculate on who is doing what if you don't already know. Race Director Clairie send the field on its way quite suddenly and a talented looking runner took the early lead kicking away from the fielf at around 3:20 pace and I pegged him as a likely 5k racer. I let him go and concentrated on my plan to do my first 3k in 10:45. The first k passed and I hadn't collapsed yet but I felt terrible. I managed to shake off a challenge from some bloke and drop him at the 1200m to move into outright second.
I went through 3k in 10:49, four seconds off the goal pace set by Coach Pat. The leader who I later found out was Alun Williams of Pine Rivers was pulling further and further away from me whilst I was widening the gap to two blokes battling it out for third. The plan called for me to hammer it in the last two k's but there was nothing left in the tank at this point and all I could do was keep plugging away. There were several moments when the weak side of my brain suggested I throw in the towel and use my poor eating and preparation the day prior as an excuse. However, the possibility albeit faint, that the leader was in fact a 10k racer and that I could win the 5k kept me going. I managed to pick up the pace ever so slightly in the last 400m to ensure my final split was the second fastest and finish in second place behind the comfortable winner.
So, it was an extremely disappointing day. My training times and my 17:56 5k effort in the BRRC 5 Champs in Oct all pointed towards a sub 17:40 time and possibly well under 17:30. I need to pull my finger out and take more time to prepare properly the day prior to a race. I've proven that I can carbo load and turn up for a big race brimming with energy - its the lesser races, time trials and key speedwork sessions where I need to get my act together. I don't care if its an important Monday meeting at work the day prior to a 3KTT. If the meeting runs too long, I'll be standing up and saying 'Sorry everyone - I have to leave now to eat a meal.'
This week - 57k
This month - 31k
This year - 340k
Friday, February 02, 2007
PCRG 3KTT Photo
Here's a photo of me about to hit the finish line in the TT after streaking clear of Coach Pat in the last 200m. Pat isn't quite in 7:37 shape for 3k these days so I won't be blowing my trumpet. But I gotta say, its a handy photo to have for ten or fifteen years down the track when I can drag it out and tell a wildly exagerrated story of a glorious victory over Australia's 4th fastest marathoner ;-)
Resting up for BRRC 5k, Sunday
Thurs - 50 mins, 10 k's @ 5:10 mins/km
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:10 mins/km + 20 mins on bike at max HR
With a 5k race scheduled at Brisbane Roadrunners on Sunday, I've been trying to take it easy the last 48 hours, lying down and watching some dvd's and resting up when I can. Thursdays run was an easy one in hot and humid conditions. Today, I joined a local gym just a three minute ride from my place so I can resume once a week treadmill running alternating Wednesdays and Friday's. Whilst things have gone well over the last two months since I stopped tready running at Fitness First, I'm still not convinced that my gait is perfect yet and another year of once a week tready running will help keep the dreaded overstiding problems at bay. The gym is a bit of a sweatbox with little of the fancy stuff that lures the punters to Fitness First and Good Life. But i think I can handle one run a week there.
Looking forward to seeing where I'm at on Sunday. Pat has asked me to go through 3k in 10:45, averaging 3:35's and then hammer it. 'No worries, Coach'
This week - 46k
This month - 20k
This year - 329k
Fri - 50 mins, 10k's @ 5:10 mins/km + 20 mins on bike at max HR
With a 5k race scheduled at Brisbane Roadrunners on Sunday, I've been trying to take it easy the last 48 hours, lying down and watching some dvd's and resting up when I can. Thursdays run was an easy one in hot and humid conditions. Today, I joined a local gym just a three minute ride from my place so I can resume once a week treadmill running alternating Wednesdays and Friday's. Whilst things have gone well over the last two months since I stopped tready running at Fitness First, I'm still not convinced that my gait is perfect yet and another year of once a week tready running will help keep the dreaded overstiding problems at bay. The gym is a bit of a sweatbox with little of the fancy stuff that lures the punters to Fitness First and Good Life. But i think I can handle one run a week there.
Looking forward to seeing where I'm at on Sunday. Pat has asked me to go through 3k in 10:45, averaging 3:35's and then hammer it. 'No worries, Coach'
This week - 46k
This month - 20k
This year - 329k
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