Week of 29/12

Aim is to do another easy week but ramp up some distance . Decided against the New Years run at the club but will probably to the Burswood Twilight 5k on Sunday. Sandgroper has a killer long run on the trails of John Forrest Nat. Park planned for the weekend....

Monday: 9.84km 4:42 pace HR 146 Ca 83; Nice easy run thru the park with Sandgroper, Sas, et al. (map). Strange conditions ; lovely and cool in the bushland part of park but temperature stepped up about 5 degrees when we got to Fraser Ave. It got pretty warm running along Mounts Bay and the HR started to climb - it then dropped again once we got to the park even though we were going uphill again. Didn't feel particularly fatigued at any point, just got a strangely high HR for the pace (it's funny, a year ago I would have been stoked!). Had a nice lengthy coffee at Zamia with a large group of fellow caffeine/running junkies. Had a great breakfast ...

                    

...perhaps I'll die.

Tuesday: 11km easy 4:37 pace HR 146 Ca 85  (map). Nasty morning for running ; felt really hot, dry and uncomfortable. Felt like I was on the edge the whole way - almost like the oxygen had been sucked out of the air. Time to HTFU because I'm guessing the easy days of December are over and it's going to be a long, hot summer. Cycled to and from Mends St for this run. I can see how runners become cyclists - it's sooo much easier than running when the weather gets like this. Tried to make up for lack of intervals by doing a hard cycle on the river loop (~8k in 16 minutes) at 3pm when the temp was 38.4° - I just had to try out the new 2XU tri-shorts...

Wednesday: Nice relaxing 30k bike ride today - no sore bum at the end for a change! It wasn't as hot as expected so felt pretty good afterwards. Won't be running the club race tonight - there wouldn't be much benefit and would ruin tomorrow's training. Heat exhaustion wouldn't be a good way to start the new year...

Thursday am: 12.08km easy 4:40 pace HR140 Ca 84. Magic run to start the year wasn't nearly as hot or windy as predicted. Did a lovely rolling hills run from Trigg to Hillarys and back (map) with Sas. After finishing didn't really feel leg tired at all, just a little hungry. Again, just did the run on green tea, which probably accounts for feeling a little peckish afterwards...

Thursday pm: 10.15 km MP 4:04 pace HR 168 Ca 86. Tough conditions to run in - 34°  and a stiff wind (SW28/33). For a change did the Canning/Mt Henry Loop plus a circuit thru Brentwood to take it just over 10K.  Went a little fast, the aim was 4:10 pace. HR was high - almost in the tempo zone. I'd give 10/15 beats to the conditions (my max was 187 as I pushed a bit at the finish). It felt good to challenge myself with this one. Bring on summer! As an experiment, I weighed myself before and after and (allowing for the litre of Gatorade consumed immediately afterwards!) found I had lost 2 litres of sweat. Not bad for a 40 minute run.... 

Friday: 8k recovery 5:00 pace HR 136 Ca 82. I went out this morning at 6:30 on the standard Canning/Mt Henry Loop determined to enjoy myself. Ran at a nice gentle pace, enjoying the cool air and the look of the river in that special light you get just after sunrise. Afterwards went down to Leighton with Kim & Zoe for a wade in the ocean. Have a sore left hip, nothing a good grind session with a rubber ball won't sort out...

Saturday: 26km long run 5:20 pace HR 149 Ca 81 Cal 1870 Time 2:19.  Tough, tough run with Sandgroper & Sas. Ran the trails of John Forrest NP (map) - approx 800m of ascent in 5 big hills (and lots of little ones). A real quad smasher. The mind nearly snapped a couple of times! Did the run on green tea, a banana beforehand and about 500ml of gatorade during. The Fuelbelt^tm was really giving me the s***ts, and it nearly got tossed... I need to find a better solution - it just bounces and moves around too much.  When we were finished I felt really depleted and fatigued, but not sore - drank 1.5 l of Carboshotz hydration and 1.1 l of milk to rehydrate - and a few hours afterwards the legs are feeling pretty good. I had intended to take a gel, but idiotically forgot to zip the pouch after putting the car key and gels in it - these were found by Sandgroper when we got back on the ground close to the departure point, and he very kindly held onto this stuff during the recovery session at the bakery, obviously forgetting to tell me and handing it over just as I left to go search the trails for the key; I must remember to return the kindness sometime....

Sunday: 8k Easy/Tempo pace 4:24 HR157 Ca 82. Bailed on the Twilight race. Hip was bugging me all day, not responding to the usual treatment ; decided there was nothing in it for me except the possibility of injuring the area, which will settle quickly (or has in the past) if I don't push it.  No possibility of a PB or even a decent time after yesterday's effort in the hills. Disappointed, but I'll live ;-) Decided to go out on recovery run and pick it up if I felt OK. Hip was sore for the first 1.5km and I was about to pull the plug when I started feeling easier. After crossing Mt Henry bridge decided to push a bit coming home for 3.5k, where I averaged around 3:51 pace at a decent HR (avg 174) , considering it was 34 degrees. Did a lot of stretching and massage with Marathon stick and am feeling OK. Hopefully I'll wake cured (this is how this thing seems to work...)