It's been a while since my last post...
Tuesday I did a fairly half-hearted intervals session ; just rolled through the 1200/1000/800/600 session in 4:04/3:20/2:36/1:57 ; it was pretty warm and humid but I actually felt much better when finished - it seemed to flush some my bad mojo out of the system.
Wednesday did a short recovery 6km @4:34 HR143 652bpk. Thursday, did the standard Mends St Perth bridges 9.59km @ 4:36 HR145 667 bpk. Christmas day we went down to City Beach to do a group ru but ended up going really short because Sas had a mystery eye problem which meant she spent the first 4 hours of Christmas Day at Fremantle Hospital. Thankfully it seems OK now....
Boxing day, Parlouf time... really didn't feel like doing this, but I loved it once I got running. This year I managed to pace myself better and did nearly 5 873m circuits all around 2:48, and I felt really strong at the end. My runner really pushed herself, but I think suffered from having quite short breaks ; it's a bit tough when you're killing yourself for nearly four and a half minutes and your bastard relay partner reappears in less than 3....
On Sunday we went up to Darlinton and ran a touch over 22km on a slightly different route ; up the trail then up to Glen Forrest and along Park Rd to the trail on the Hovea Falls side, up to Brooking Rd, up there to the Shiraz and down the trail (map). 22.1km at 4:38 HR 152 704bpk. Felt pretty good on this for the first 15k but the quads and hip flexors were a little sore by the end, probably from the Parlouf the day before.
Monday did a much shorter 6.66km up at King's Park @4:38 HR145 673bpk. I definitely felt a bit stiff and sore today - from the hard running on the weekend but also from the frolicking through the surf at Leighton Beach with Zoe the dog yesterday afternoon. Felt Ok by the end of the run though.
I've been feeling a bit more sprightly this week, and haven't felt the crushing need for afternoon naps every day - go the Vitamin D!!
Massage today and a rest day tomorrow, followed by a shorty on Wednesday and a nice 4k at the club on New Years Eve.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
More on Vitamin D
More research implies that my vitamin D levels are about half what they should be for an 'active' adult. More info at the links below from seemingly credible sources.
Oh, and I had a tough run in KP today - short but quite warm ; 7.74km @ 4:29 HR 148, 664bpk. Didn't feel as fresh as I thought I should after the rest day yesterday. I do feel that I'm starting to perk up a little bit ; maybe the D supplements are starting to help.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Long run
On Friday did the usual 6km easy/recovery run @4:36 pace HR140 giving a decent 645bpk to follow Thursday's freaky 635. Felt fairly good although the lungs still seem to be recovering from the smoke in the city earlier in the week.
Saturday I was joined by Sas and Sandgroper for a nice 21.55km in Darlington ; a toughish hilly run up Darlington road, through JF park up Oxley/Hedges to Brooking to the Shiraz and down the trail (map).
We ran a fairly consistent healthy pace around 4:36 and we all definitely started to feel the effect of the heat/hills towards the end. Overall though I'm very happy with the outcome, I felt a lot stronger and the lungs felt much better and my HR was 150 at 690bpk which is a vast improvement on the last few hot long runs. Rest day on Sunday to try to consolidate this recovery phase.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Not much to report
Nothing dramatic in my bloodwork - thyroid, blood counts, B12, Folic, Liver electrlytes all normal. Vit D is a little low at 71 nmol/L (25 ng/ml) - which on further research is maybe half of what it should be) and Ferritin is low at 35 (serum 22, tferrin 36, sat 31%). My current malaise is probably a confluence of too much racing, lack of heat acclimatisation, nutrition and sleep deprivation. I missed intervals yesterday and won't race Coker tonight - did a 9.6km loop at Mends St this morning with a nice low HR of 136 but my lungs didn't feel great ; that I put down to the smoke that has shrouded the city for the last three days. Hopefully Saturdays run in the hills will be good and I can put this all behind me. I feel better now...
Monday, December 14, 2009
A bit flat...
I've had a sense for a few weeks now that I'm starting to struggle a bit, and it really manifests itself when the temperature rises. There are a few weeks over Christmas when there is no Thursday evening meet at Coker and it will be a good opportunity to take some time out - I've definitely started to feel a bit flat at these. My mileage has crept up over the last few months to the mid 80's which shouldn't really be an issue but feelings of fatigue when not running have been on the rise, as has the pattern of sleep interruption. Things aren't right, and I have blood work in the system to see what's up - it may just be a passing phase. I have been doing a bit of racing so may just be a bit overdone.
Thursday evening did the 800m which as a horror run, but a PB ; 64.7sec for lap 1 and 71.7 for the second! Really died, but I learnt a few things ; I need a better warmup and a slower 1st lap. For the 3k I just wanted to run a decent, solid 10 minutes so mission accomplished. Tailed the whole way by Trevor Scott who will be coming out a bit more often. He has massive cred as a track and road runner and is a past winner of the Bridges run. Good to see him out there.... Sandgroper too had a solid 3k and pretty warm and windy conditions, although a bit less wind than the last few weeks.
Saturday's Llama loop run was a real struggle ; it's only 17k and was pretty cool when we did it, but I really struggled to get up the hills. Economy was another appalling 745bpk, and this after a rest day on Friday, admittedly a 10hr driving day with not so great nutrition.
Sunday at City Beach was a strange run ; I felt fine for the first lap but really hit a wall at about 5k ; the 4k split was 14:30, and I should have listened to my body and just ducked into the finish then. Second lap (Most stupid racing decision. Ever. More stupid in fact than my previous best which was turning left for a 2nd lap at the Bold Park cross country ) was about survival - I was feeling really nauseous and for the first time ever I was seriously considering a DNF. The 5k split18:15 and struggled thru the 6k mark and thankfully had a bit of a tailwind to blow me home. I expected half the field to overtake me as I crawled to the finish but only lost one place - second 4k was about 15:44 with k 6 being 4:20! Yes it was hot - 30 degrees by the finish - but shouldn't have been that bad. Physical and mental snap...
Good to see Epi back and Biscuitman had good solid comeback run. Sas takes the gold star (and medal!) with a great run and victory in the 4k.
This week I'll be taking it easy - no intervals tomorrow and no racing Thursday evening ; I'll just go along and help out with the timing ..... unless there is a dramatic turnaround in which case I'll race the mile. I doubt it though....
Thursday evening did the 800m which as a horror run, but a PB ; 64.7sec for lap 1 and 71.7 for the second! Really died, but I learnt a few things ; I need a better warmup and a slower 1st lap. For the 3k I just wanted to run a decent, solid 10 minutes so mission accomplished. Tailed the whole way by Trevor Scott who will be coming out a bit more often. He has massive cred as a track and road runner and is a past winner of the Bridges run. Good to see him out there.... Sandgroper too had a solid 3k and pretty warm and windy conditions, although a bit less wind than the last few weeks.
Saturday's Llama loop run was a real struggle ; it's only 17k and was pretty cool when we did it, but I really struggled to get up the hills. Economy was another appalling 745bpk, and this after a rest day on Friday, admittedly a 10hr driving day with not so great nutrition.
Sunday at City Beach was a strange run ; I felt fine for the first lap but really hit a wall at about 5k ; the 4k split was 14:30, and I should have listened to my body and just ducked into the finish then. Second lap (Most stupid racing decision. Ever. More stupid in fact than my previous best which was turning left for a 2nd lap at the Bold Park cross country ) was about survival - I was feeling really nauseous and for the first time ever I was seriously considering a DNF. The 5k split18:15 and struggled thru the 6k mark and thankfully had a bit of a tailwind to blow me home. I expected half the field to overtake me as I crawled to the finish but only lost one place - second 4k was about 15:44 with k 6 being 4:20! Yes it was hot - 30 degrees by the finish - but shouldn't have been that bad. Physical and mental snap...
Good to see Epi back and Biscuitman had good solid comeback run. Sas takes the gold star (and medal!) with a great run and victory in the 4k.
This week I'll be taking it easy - no intervals tomorrow and no racing Thursday evening ; I'll just go along and help out with the timing ..... unless there is a dramatic turnaround in which case I'll race the mile. I doubt it though....
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
3kTT Alderbury Park
JK's intervals group had the Christmas 'party' today which took the form of a 3k time trial followed by a sausage sizzle.. it was run in two groups, the sub 13 and over-13 minute races. After a decent warmup in which I felt decidedly average and the usual Tuesday afternoon stomach issues, race 2 started at about 6:20 in cool but blustery winds (21° S32/50). Jack di took the early lead and I was 2nd for 5 laps, and then he ran out of juice/commitment and I just kept the pace going finishing first in a relatively comfortable 9:57. Not sure what happened to all the young guns.... definitely harder on soft grass/sand - and it's not flat either - but I was very happy with how it went.
37.3/79.1/78.4/79.7/81.8/81.7/81.9/77.6 = 9:57.5 ( 3:14.8/3:22.3/3:20.3 )
Wednesday morning did an easy run from Zamia to Nedlands & back, followed by coffee at Zamia. Very nice conditions for running (and hanging around in the park). 8.12km @4:35 HR142 653bpk.
Thursday am did the usual easy around the Perth bridges in sunny conditions but the wind was quite cool ( 14° ESE19.26) followed by drills and Atomic coffee (9.59km @ 4:49 HR136 656bpk ).
Coker Park this evening, I'll race the 800m, do the 3k @5k race pace and then have a go at the 200m. Seeing as this week has been a little easier I hope the legs are a bit fresher tonight.
37.3/79.1/78.4/79.7/81.8/81.7/81.9/77.6 = 9:57.5 ( 3:14.8/3:22.3/3:20.3 )
Wednesday morning did an easy run from Zamia to Nedlands & back, followed by coffee at Zamia. Very nice conditions for running (and hanging around in the park). 8.12km @4:35 HR142 653bpk.
Thursday am did the usual easy around the Perth bridges in sunny conditions but the wind was quite cool ( 14° ESE19.26) followed by drills and Atomic coffee (9.59km @ 4:49 HR136 656bpk ).
Coker Park this evening, I'll race the 800m, do the 3k @5k race pace and then have a go at the 200m. Seeing as this week has been a little easier I hope the legs are a bit fresher tonight.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Long Hot Run
Started our 21.75km long run just after 7am from Zamia in King's Park (map) and the temp was already 24° - by the time we were finished it was close to 30°. This was on bikepaths and sand path in Bold Park so there wasn't a lot of shade. It definitely had the timbre of the Rottnest run we did a few weeks ago. Really hot and sapping. We stopped for a Gu at the skate Park at Perry lakes and then headed on up the hill. By the time we came out the other side of Bold Park (chewed up and spat out!) I think we were looking for the shortest way back.... very tough run, pace was 4:48, avg HR 155, definitely cooked by the finish. Had a nice brekky at Zamia afterwards - I think I must have drunk at least 3 litres of fluid afterwards. Didn't feel too bad by the time we left.... I really need to get used to the heat.
On Sunday just did a recovery 5.4km at Trigg and then entertained myself for half an hour watching the abelone 'harvesters' on the reef.... then went to Yelo with Kim & the gang for 2 x (muffin + coffee).
Monday morning did a nice up-tempo 9.36km @ 4:28 (HR146 Ca83 656bpk) in King's Park, the same course as last week. Much cooler conditions today made it quite pleasant - of course, the 5:45am start helps with this. Followed as usual by coffee with the crew at NextG.
Looking forward to the 3km time-trial at JK's intervals session tomorrow afternoon, followed by BBQ - unfortunately the coach won't be running this year. Runners are definitely a weird lot - this is our idea of a Christmas party!
On Sunday just did a recovery 5.4km at Trigg and then entertained myself for half an hour watching the abelone 'harvesters' on the reef.... then went to Yelo with Kim & the gang for 2 x (muffin + coffee).
Monday morning did a nice up-tempo 9.36km @ 4:28 (HR146 Ca83 656bpk) in King's Park, the same course as last week. Much cooler conditions today made it quite pleasant - of course, the 5:45am start helps with this. Followed as usual by coffee with the crew at NextG.
Looking forward to the 3km time-trial at JK's intervals session tomorrow afternoon, followed by BBQ - unfortunately the coach won't be running this year. Runners are definitely a weird lot - this is our idea of a Christmas party!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Coker Workout - 1500m PB
Started off the day with an early morning easy around the Perth Bridges, 9.59km @4:47 HR139. These have turned into a pacing session for a couple of women from Kim's group who are keen to improve, and I'm only too happy to oblige.
In the evening I got to Coker early enough for a decent warmup before the 'points' event, the 1500m. It was warm and windy - 25°41% SSW28/33 - so again, not ideal - I'd better get used to it! Michael was there and we had another good race, although he had the wood on me this time. My legs are still a little heavy from the weekend past and I didn't have any zip in them on home straight. Michael led pretty much from the start, pulling away and me dragging myself back into contention - he ran well to finish a couple of seconds ahead 4:28.x and I racked a good PB of 4:30.2. Disappointed in the finish but happy with the overall level of commitment to the race.
52.3/1:11.3/1:13.4/1:13.4 = 4:30.4
I do have a sense that my leg speed is slipping a bit, so I decided to do the 100m (I think I ran one of these last when I was 12) and 300m races in addition to the 3000m and make a night of it! 3 PB's no less. Did the 100m in 14.3 and again got the sensation of my legs not quite being connected to the ground, my prioreception being all off. A few more of these should help with that.
The 300m was nasty - esp. the last 100m into the decent headwind. My diaphragm actually hurt after that one - 45.6s. There was only one 300m heat so we went straight over to the 3000m start....
I took the first k easy and then tried to pick up the speed - 3:35/3:28/3:19. Happy with that, I was definitely tired at the start but managed get some quality in at the end which should serve me well at some point. Not happy about the return of the Coker Cough though... that dry niggly cough you get from breathing hard at Coker Park track when it's a bit warm and dry. Tends to be gone in a day or so, but it's annoying, and makes you wonder about what you're breathing in.
Tough night, but good. Kim's was a bit crook with her sinus thingy so was disappointed not to run, but was happy helping out with the timing and organisation.I think she enjoyed it a bit too much....
Friday morning did a 6km dead leg shuffle @4:45 HR141 669bpk, and I was definitely glad to be done. Enjoyed the coffee afterwards though.
In the evening I got to Coker early enough for a decent warmup before the 'points' event, the 1500m. It was warm and windy - 25°41% SSW28/33 - so again, not ideal - I'd better get used to it! Michael was there and we had another good race, although he had the wood on me this time. My legs are still a little heavy from the weekend past and I didn't have any zip in them on home straight. Michael led pretty much from the start, pulling away and me dragging myself back into contention - he ran well to finish a couple of seconds ahead 4:28.x and I racked a good PB of 4:30.2. Disappointed in the finish but happy with the overall level of commitment to the race.
52.3/1:11.3/1:13.4/1:13.4 = 4:30.4
I do have a sense that my leg speed is slipping a bit, so I decided to do the 100m (I think I ran one of these last when I was 12) and 300m races in addition to the 3000m and make a night of it! 3 PB's no less. Did the 100m in 14.3 and again got the sensation of my legs not quite being connected to the ground, my prioreception being all off. A few more of these should help with that.
The 300m was nasty - esp. the last 100m into the decent headwind. My diaphragm actually hurt after that one - 45.6s. There was only one 300m heat so we went straight over to the 3000m start....
I took the first k easy and then tried to pick up the speed - 3:35/3:28/3:19. Happy with that, I was definitely tired at the start but managed get some quality in at the end which should serve me well at some point. Not happy about the return of the Coker Cough though... that dry niggly cough you get from breathing hard at Coker Park track when it's a bit warm and dry. Tends to be gone in a day or so, but it's annoying, and makes you wonder about what you're breathing in.
Tough night, but good. Kim's was a bit crook with her sinus thingy so was disappointed not to run, but was happy helping out with the timing and organisation.I think she enjoyed it a bit too much....
Friday morning did a 6km dead leg shuffle @4:45 HR141 669bpk, and I was definitely glad to be done. Enjoyed the coffee afterwards though.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Intervals
Did a nice run in King's Park on Monday morning, still feeling a little fatigued but HR was very good - 9.36 @4:35 HR 140 640bpk. It was a very nice morning for running, the thick smoke haze producing visibility down to about 2k notwithstanding. The air was surprisingly good. We took the easy option of going up Forrest Dr, rather than the Law walk today.
I was feeling a bit iffy again for intervals and it sort of came home to roost in the session, which was 1k ; 2 min SR ; 1k; 4min SR ; 6x400 w/75sec SR the last three being a bit quicker than the first. I don't know if it was just fatigue or something I ate, but I had to take a 'comfort' stop after the second 1k and the third 400, and didn't actually finish the session for the first time ever - I bailed on the last 400m, seeing as by then I'd lost my group and the times were slowing, and I was feeling worse and worse! This was sort of a repeat of last week, but a bit worse. Ah well, I don't think my running will come to a shuddering halt if I have a bad session....
Wednesday morning for a change we ran from Zamia Cafe in King's Park, a nice little 8k loop down to Nedlands thru UWA and back (map). Lovely weather - 17° 50% SSE24/32 - 8.17km at 4:32 HR141 639bpk. Probably a fluke of the terrain/wind combination but I seem to get some excellent running economies the day after a hard session (see Monday, after the biggest weekend since Boston ). It was sunny and pleasantly warm, and I always love the coffee and chinwag on the grass lawns of Zamia cafe. We are so lucky to have this! It seems a well kept secret because it's never that crowded, which is strange seeing as it's in Perth's best known tourist attraction!
Blog-wise, I loved this story .... Kid's Stuff
I was feeling a bit iffy again for intervals and it sort of came home to roost in the session, which was 1k ; 2 min SR ; 1k; 4min SR ; 6x400 w/75sec SR the last three being a bit quicker than the first. I don't know if it was just fatigue or something I ate, but I had to take a 'comfort' stop after the second 1k and the third 400, and didn't actually finish the session for the first time ever - I bailed on the last 400m, seeing as by then I'd lost my group and the times were slowing, and I was feeling worse and worse! This was sort of a repeat of last week, but a bit worse. Ah well, I don't think my running will come to a shuddering halt if I have a bad session....
Wednesday morning for a change we ran from Zamia Cafe in King's Park, a nice little 8k loop down to Nedlands thru UWA and back (map). Lovely weather - 17° 50% SSE24/32 - 8.17km at 4:32 HR141 639bpk. Probably a fluke of the terrain/wind combination but I seem to get some excellent running economies the day after a hard session (see Monday, after the biggest weekend since Boston ). It was sunny and pleasantly warm, and I always love the coffee and chinwag on the grass lawns of Zamia cafe. We are so lucky to have this! It seems a well kept secret because it's never that crowded, which is strange seeing as it's in Perth's best known tourist attraction!
Blog-wise, I loved this story .... Kid's Stuff
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Deepwater Point 15k
Interesting, it certainly was. A fairly warm morning, although the stiff wind kept things cool (21° 58% S24/32) - map. As I jogged down to the start with a noted heaviness in my legs, I was feeling as the morning was going to have a nice easy run in store. It was certainly hard work on the southbound side of the course pushing into the wind. At one point the wind was really pulling at my waterlogged singlet, so it wasn't insignificant. I have to say I felt very good for the first 9k or so but the big southward push on the second lap sucked a lot of strength from my legs. Not sure what my halfway split was, but I would have been second in the 7.5k. The second lap was certainly tough with the warming sun on the northbound side along the freeway and I felt that the guy behind me wasn't too far away. I just dug in and held on to a reasonable pace finishing 5th in 57:12 odd - averaging around 3:48 ... slower than last year but tougher conditions and a much tougher leadup. Another solid run and I'm pretty happy.
3k 11:22 (3:47)
4k 15:02 (3:41 )
5k 18:49 (3:46 ) (cumulative: 3:46) 5k split: 18:49
6k 22:38 ( 3:49 )
7k 26:28 ( 3:50 )
8k 30:12( 3:45 )
9k 34:03 ( 3:51 )
10k 37:58 (3:55 ) (cumulative: 3:48 ) 5k split: 19:09
12k 45:56 (3:59 )
14k 53:29 (3:48 )
15k 57:12 (3:43 ) (cumulative: 3:49 ) 5k split :19:15
*10k split is a guess, the marker was in the wrong spot ; it is clear that I was suffering in k's 9 thru 12! Somehow the overall splits didn't drop too much, rescued by some soul searching (and a good self-talking to ) in the last 3 km.
3k 11:22 (3:47)
4k 15:02 (3:41 )
5k 18:49 (3:46 ) (cumulative: 3:46) 5k split: 18:49
6k 22:38 ( 3:49 )
7k 26:28 ( 3:50 )
8k 30:12( 3:45 )
9k 34:03 ( 3:51 )
10k 37:58 (3:55 ) (cumulative: 3:48 ) 5k split: 19:09
12k 45:56 (3:59 )
14k 53:29 (3:48 )
15k 57:12 (3:43 ) (cumulative: 3:49 ) 5k split :19:15
*10k split is a guess, the marker was in the wrong spot ; it is clear that I was suffering in k's 9 thru 12! Somehow the overall splits didn't drop too much, rescued by some soul searching (and a good self-talking to ) in the last 3 km.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Now that's what I call a hill...
On Friday did a recovery 6km in preparation for a big weekend...
Saturday did the infamous Phil's Hill run (map) in Darlington with Sandgroper and Sas - about 22km @4:45 HR146 420m ascent, 692 bpk. This run is the classic pipeline then turning off the trail after about 12km and heading up a gravel 'road' - Phil's hill - to the huggy trail just west of Charles Rd. It's about 3km from bottom to top and it's got some fairly steep sections, with average footing (apparantly though it's better than it was due to recent grading). It's a real relief when you get to the top after about 16 minutes of quad killing climbing - about 220m straight up at an average grade of just over 7%. I have to say it was longer and steeper than I expected.
Tomorrow's 15k at Deepwater Point is going to be interesting....
Saturday did the infamous Phil's Hill run (map) in Darlington with Sandgroper and Sas - about 22km @4:45 HR146 420m ascent, 692 bpk. This run is the classic pipeline then turning off the trail after about 12km and heading up a gravel 'road' - Phil's hill - to the huggy trail just west of Charles Rd. It's about 3km from bottom to top and it's got some fairly steep sections, with average footing (apparantly though it's better than it was due to recent grading). It's a real relief when you get to the top after about 16 minutes of quad killing climbing - about 220m straight up at an average grade of just over 7%. I have to say it was longer and steeper than I expected.
Tomorrow's 15k at Deepwater Point is going to be interesting....
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Coker Park 5000m - Small PB
Thursday morning ran the standard Perth Bridges 9.59km @ 4:36 HR 142 Ca84 653 bpk. Nice morning for it being cool, sunny and relatively wind free.
The evening at Coker Park was cold and blustery (17° 40% SSW30/39), not ideal for running but I had a great time. I warmed up with a 5:20 1500m and a few more laps. My 'arch-nemesis' Micheal Mezzatesta was there and we had a good race ; I was in the lead for a couple of laps, then he took over and built a 20m lead or so but then dropped off a bit and I caught him at about the 3k mark (after drafting for a lap and a bit) and won by about 5 seconds. We seem pretty closely matched and it seems to bring out the best. A PB for Michael too I believe.
Lap splits: 38/81.5/78.9/80.2/80.4/80.5/80.7/81.7/79.2/80.7/80.3/81.1/76.3 = 16:39.5
Km splits: 3:18.4/3:20.8/3:22.6/3:20.0/3:17.5 = 16:39.5 (3k : 10:01.9)
Very happy bunny.....
The evening at Coker Park was cold and blustery (17° 40% SSW30/39), not ideal for running but I had a great time. I warmed up with a 5:20 1500m and a few more laps. My 'arch-nemesis' Micheal Mezzatesta was there and we had a good race ; I was in the lead for a couple of laps, then he took over and built a 20m lead or so but then dropped off a bit and I caught him at about the 3k mark (after drafting for a lap and a bit) and won by about 5 seconds. We seem pretty closely matched and it seems to bring out the best. A PB for Michael too I believe.
Lap splits: 38/81.5/78.9/80.2/80.4/80.5/80.7/81.7/79.2/80.7/80.3/81.1/76.3 = 16:39.5
Km splits: 3:18.4/3:20.8/3:22.6/3:20.0/3:17.5 = 16:39.5 (3k : 10:01.9)
Very happy bunny.....
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Intervals
Nice and hot for intervals, although it felt cool in the westerly, I just overheated when I finished - I guess my radiator blew. Had a few 'tummy' issues today and felt quite nauseous on the last two reps so held back a little so as not to end up disgracing myself. Probably a good thing as I have the 5k at Coker Park on Thursday evening which I'd like to do well at. 5x800m tonight with 2:30 SR ; word was that the track was a little long ; some Garmin's reported 900m which I seriously doubt- more like 830m. Anyhow, the splits were nice and consistent : 2:40/2:37/2:37/2:37/2:38.
Nice recovery run with Sas on a cooler Wednesday morning, although the sun was quite warm. 6k @ 4:34 HR146 Ca83 668 bpk. Easy run, nice company, nice coffee. Life is good...
Looking forward to busting a nut on Thursday evening in the 5k at Coker Park. Its part of the MAWA patrons trophy so there'll be a few people there. Hopefully the wind will be less than it has been for the last few weeks. Haven't raced a 5k for a while, so it should be interesting ; 1500m for warmup.
Nice recovery run with Sas on a cooler Wednesday morning, although the sun was quite warm. 6k @ 4:34 HR146 Ca83 668 bpk. Easy run, nice company, nice coffee. Life is good...
Looking forward to busting a nut on Thursday evening in the 5k at Coker Park. Its part of the MAWA patrons trophy so there'll be a few people there. Hopefully the wind will be less than it has been for the last few weeks. Haven't raced a 5k for a while, so it should be interesting ; 1500m for warmup.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Hills and Gallops
Friday did a nice 6k recovery @4:49 pace HR 136 ; I find these really work for me - not too long but long enough to get the blood through the legs.
Saturday again we were up the the hills ; found another victim to come with us up Darlington Rd, through the Park, up Oxley/Hedges Rd to Brooking road, up to the Shiraz tap and then hammer down the trail for a healthy 21.6km @4:30 pace, HR 149 670bpk - theres 362m ascent on this one with some biggish hills so IMHO a better run than all up and then all down like the heritage trail. Felt good on this one, and did some drills afterwards on the oval, copping some strange looks from the cricketers...
Sunday I did the Masters 'Garvey Gallop' 10k run at tempo pace, 37:20, HR 171 Ca88 640bpk. Wasn't really able to get a decent warmup in due to timing, but went out easy and then cruised along. It started to warm up and the wind was more than a breeze, but I enjoyed this one. Mike Mezzatesta was racing this, and I let him go - he was flying though. I wasn't really tempted to race because of all the racing I've done recently, and just wanted the tempo effort. Not sure it was quite 10k either.
Monday did a nice little progression run in King's Park with Sas, 9.54km @ 4:27 HR 151, easy down the hill and pushed up the Law walk hills and then added a little extra. Felt fairly good on this one despite the rather odd pools of hot air we were running through. KP is always a beautiful place to run though...
Saturday again we were up the the hills ; found another victim to come with us up Darlington Rd, through the Park, up Oxley/Hedges Rd to Brooking road, up to the Shiraz tap and then hammer down the trail for a healthy 21.6km @4:30 pace, HR 149 670bpk - theres 362m ascent on this one with some biggish hills so IMHO a better run than all up and then all down like the heritage trail. Felt good on this one, and did some drills afterwards on the oval, copping some strange looks from the cricketers...
Sunday I did the Masters 'Garvey Gallop' 10k run at tempo pace, 37:20, HR 171 Ca88 640bpk. Wasn't really able to get a decent warmup in due to timing, but went out easy and then cruised along. It started to warm up and the wind was more than a breeze, but I enjoyed this one. Mike Mezzatesta was racing this, and I let him go - he was flying though. I wasn't really tempted to race because of all the racing I've done recently, and just wanted the tempo effort. Not sure it was quite 10k either.
Monday did a nice little progression run in King's Park with Sas, 9.54km @ 4:27 HR 151, easy down the hill and pushed up the Law walk hills and then added a little extra. Felt fairly good on this one despite the rather odd pools of hot air we were running through. KP is always a beautiful place to run though...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday-Thursday
Monday we did a slightly different run in King's Park - 9.28km @ 4:31 HR 149 673bpk. Tough run, not least because of the glute pounding from Vic not 12 hours previous. Things loosened up eventually and this ended up being quite pleasant, although I felt very fatigued - probably from the massage. Strange because I felt great after the race.
Tuesday was intervals with JK - 1600; 3min SR ; 1200 ; 2:30min SR ; 800 ; 2 min SR; 400m ; 1 min SR ; 200m.I had planned to take this session quite easy because of lingering tiredness, but ended up hitting these fairly hard. Once again I was the rabbit, after the lead runner for the first interval was just travelling too slowly. Increased the pace pretty well (1200 was probably a bit soft) and finished with a flourish.
1600: 5:33.6 = 3:29 min/km
1200: 4:06.0 = 3:25 min/km
800: 2:37.0 = 3:16 min/km
400: 1:10.3 = 2:56 min/km
200: 0:31.4 = 2:37 min/km
Wednesday, Sas & I met up with JK for a 30 min run and some secret coaching ; focusing (for now) mainly on drills and core work. Got an invitation to join him and his other charges on Thursday evenings at the new stadium for intervals. I'll probably end up doing that on alternate Thursdays - I'll have to fit in with what Kim needs to do.
Thursday morning did a blustery loop (not sure of the wind-speed ; the Melville Water met station has been o/s for a while now ; but it was windy enough for decent waves on the river, just short of white cap stuff) of the Perth bridges from Mends street finishing with a set of drills (the aim is to do these 3 times a week) and a social coffee afterwards ; 9.59km @4:44 pace HR142 672bpk. Pleasantly surprised to bump into Biscuitman out for a quick run. Great to see him, hopefully he can nail the scar tissue in the knee area and get back to some pain-free running soon.
Thursday evening I went to Coker Park for a 3000m and an 800m. The idea was to roll through the 3k at 3:20 pace and attack the 800m. The roll through wasn't as easy as it could have been, mainly because of the 35/50km/h SSW winds that were blowing - strong enough to make holding the line difficult coming around the bend into the home straight. I dropped off too much in the first k and was nearly 4 seconds behind, and then pretty much maintained the 80s laps with relative ease (I reckon I could have kept them going, which bodes well for next week's 5k) until the last where I had to put in a bit of effort to finish in 10:00 flat. Had a good race in the 800, sat behind a couple of faster guys for the first (68s) and tailed Campbell Till for 300m for the second and then kicked for home and edged him out in about 2:18. Not too bad for the conditions, and it was nice to have someone else do the work up front for a change ; and it was fun!. Happy with the night's work - nothing spectacular but a good hitout again.Kim ran well in the 3000 and the 800m as well.
Thursday evening I went to Coker Park for a 3000m and an 800m. The idea was to roll through the 3k at 3:20 pace and attack the 800m. The roll through wasn't as easy as it could have been, mainly because of the 35/50km/h SSW winds that were blowing - strong enough to make holding the line difficult coming around the bend into the home straight. I dropped off too much in the first k and was nearly 4 seconds behind, and then pretty much maintained the 80s laps with relative ease (I reckon I could have kept them going, which bodes well for next week's 5k) until the last where I had to put in a bit of effort to finish in 10:00 flat. Had a good race in the 800, sat behind a couple of faster guys for the first (68s) and tailed Campbell Till for 300m for the second and then kicked for home and edged him out in about 2:18. Not too bad for the conditions, and it was nice to have someone else do the work up front for a change ; and it was fun!. Happy with the night's work - nothing spectacular but a good hitout again.Kim ran well in the 3000 and the 800m as well.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Peninsula 10k
Pretty good conditions today, the sun was warm but the air was cool and there was a little wind just to keep things fresh.
I started out close to the front but fell behind the lead pack fairly quickly because the pace was a bit hot for me - Roberto Busi and Shane Scott were in the mix along with Ross Langford, David Lazarus and Craig Dufty who were doing the 5k (and finished 1/2/3) and Rachel West I think who won the 5k. The pace settled down though and I started reeling in some of the guys who'd gone off too fast including the guy who I did the same to at Rottnest and Sam May who was the last person I went past at about the 3k mark. From then it was a solo run with the 3rd placed Karel Burger a long way ahead and Sam dropping back. The only excitement was trying not to collide head-on with the 10k'ers crossing to the left side of the path to get water from the water station as I was heading back.
I pushed fairly hard but a decent finishing time was really the only incentive, and consequently I dropped the intensity a bit, not having the desire to bury myself in this one. There weren't any k markers out there so I had to trust my own feeling and it turned out OK ; the first 5k in 17:51, and the second in 18:17. I could be a little disappointed with the second split but I'm actually stoked because I felt pretty good afterwards and didn't really feel like I'd even raced. I really just wanted a good hitout today and to get another championship race in, so mission accomplished. I have been feeling a little fatigued of late so if i can put out a 36:08 without destroying myself I must be through that phase..... and it's a 10k road PB.
SG did the five, and had a good solid run ; Kim had a strong run and a few others I know ran well today...
Deep tissue massage from Vic in the afternoon ; very sore glutes and fairly tight left hamstrings but calves were very good. Ouch....
SG did the five, and had a good solid run ; Kim had a strong run and a few others I know ran well today...
Deep tissue massage from Vic in the afternoon ; very sore glutes and fairly tight left hamstrings but calves were very good. Ouch....
Saturday, November 14, 2009
'Long' run in Darlington
Ran the huggy today with Sas up to the Great Eastern Highway and back, with a brief stop in Mundaring on the way down for a chat with the group that was going up. Big negative split on the run, not really surprising as the run is mostly uphill to the highway, and then mostly downhill on the way back. The run was 22.22km at 4:38, HR 146, Ca84, 676bpk - the first half was 4:51 pace, and second half was 7 minutes quicker at 4:24 pace, the HR for both was 146 - nice even effort! Nice conditions especially on the way up - 15°. It started getting a bit warm on the way down as the sun strted to get some punch and we had a nice headwind just to keep things interesting (but a bit cooler at least).
Looking forward to Peninsular 10k tomorrow, the word on the street is that Tina Major will be racing, it'll be good to see her up here in Perth - adding that sort of quality to the field should stir things up a bit.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Easy running/Hard running
Spent most of the week doing easy runs to recover from the weekend's exploits.
Monday 8.4km @4:37 HR 148 through King's Park. Tuesday am went a 25km recovery ride up to the WAMC and back, averaging 28km/h HR115. Tuesday evening did JK's intervals sessionon a cooler than expected evening. The session was 8x400 with a 200m float :
76/56/80/50/81/59/80/56/80/64/80/56/80/61/76/57/80
I did an extra 400m at the end, I guess it semed a good idea at the time. Tough session, felt a bit shagged by the end. I was the rabbit tonight, nobody quick turned up. I'm looking into getting some more specific guidance from JK as to getting my track times down as we move to phase 2 of the season (once I get the WAMC championship races out of the way - I at least want to be in the comp, so need to do a few more)
Wednesday did 9.5km easy to Pt. Majestic and back (4:42 HR 148) on a warm and steamy morning. Thursday did the Mends St Perth Bridges loop (9.59 @ 4:52 HR 142) on and even warmer and steamier morning, culminating in a social at Atomic with kim & the gang.
Coker Park was very warm 26° 56%RH and the wind was a little gusty (E26/39), so not really ideal conditions. Wasn't able to warm up properly because I was manning a stopwatch for the 100m heats - the 1500m race started at immediately after them at 6:22, and consequently my legs felt a little heavy, and with the gusty conditions was only able to manage 4:39 - laps 55/74/76/74.
At 6:37, the gun went for the 600m - i felt a bit better in this one and had a couple of rabbits to chase but still only ran 1:42 odd - 33/35/34.
At 6:47 we were off on the last event, the 5k. I was only planning to cruise this, but even 1:24's were hard tonight so i just eased back a bit and finished in 17:55 or so. Most of the other competitors pulled out at the 3k mark, I must admit I was tempted to do the same.
42/87/85/84/85/8586/86/86/87/87/88/85 = 17:55 (3:35/3:33/3:33/3:37/3:36)
Very happy with a good nights work - and pretty shagged by the end of it - the Peninsular 10k on Sunday isn't a key race but I'd like to at least beat last year's 36:33, so recovery tomorrow and 22km on Sat in the hills.
Monday 8.4km @4:37 HR 148 through King's Park. Tuesday am went a 25km recovery ride up to the WAMC and back, averaging 28km/h HR115. Tuesday evening did JK's intervals sessionon a cooler than expected evening. The session was 8x400 with a 200m float :
76/56/80/50/81/59/80/56/80/64/80/56/80/61/76/57/80
I did an extra 400m at the end, I guess it semed a good idea at the time. Tough session, felt a bit shagged by the end. I was the rabbit tonight, nobody quick turned up. I'm looking into getting some more specific guidance from JK as to getting my track times down as we move to phase 2 of the season (once I get the WAMC championship races out of the way - I at least want to be in the comp, so need to do a few more)
Wednesday did 9.5km easy to Pt. Majestic and back (4:42 HR 148) on a warm and steamy morning. Thursday did the Mends St Perth Bridges loop (9.59 @ 4:52 HR 142) on and even warmer and steamier morning, culminating in a social at Atomic with kim & the gang.
Coker Park was very warm 26° 56%RH and the wind was a little gusty (E26/39), so not really ideal conditions. Wasn't able to warm up properly because I was manning a stopwatch for the 100m heats - the 1500m race started at immediately after them at 6:22, and consequently my legs felt a little heavy, and with the gusty conditions was only able to manage 4:39 - laps 55/74/76/74.
At 6:37, the gun went for the 600m - i felt a bit better in this one and had a couple of rabbits to chase but still only ran 1:42 odd - 33/35/34.
At 6:47 we were off on the last event, the 5k. I was only planning to cruise this, but even 1:24's were hard tonight so i just eased back a bit and finished in 17:55 or so. Most of the other competitors pulled out at the 3k mark, I must admit I was tempted to do the same.
42/87/85/84/85/8586/86/86/87/87/88/85 = 17:55 (3:35/3:33/3:33/3:37/3:36)
Very happy with a good nights work - and pretty shagged by the end of it - the Peninsular 10k on Sunday isn't a key race but I'd like to at least beat last year's 36:33, so recovery tomorrow and 22km on Sat in the hills.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
John Gilmour 10K / long run / cycle
Conditions were pretty good for the run, it started at 7:15pm, although the wind on the back straight was a little gusty at times. I ran pretty even splits, aiming for 84's to finish in 35 minutes. Emily Loughnan caught me after 5 laps or so and I overheard that they were shooting for 1:22 laps. I thought that was a bit hot for me but I'd try to stick with them for a while. It worked for a few laps, but I think she blew up after about 10 laps because we went 82, 83, 84, 85, 86.. it started to get too comfortable so I had to go, and ended up running the rest by myself - finishing just behind Ross Langford. I hit 6k exactly on target but by 8k I was 5 sec over - that 2k and the one after was real mental struggle. Managed to salvage 3 seconds or so in the last two ks (in the last lap, really) to finish in 35:02.
82.1/82.9/83.1/83.7/84.4 = 6:56.2
82.5/83.2/84.1/84.9/86.0 = 7:00.7 (13:56.9)
84.9/84.0/84.4/83.8/85.3 = 7:02.4 (20:59.3)
84.7/84.9/85.3/85.6/85.7 = 7:06.2 (28:05.5)
84.4/85.3/85.3/84.2/78.1 = 6:57.3 (35:02.8)
Jockster had a great night, pulling out a massive PB, and this less than 3 weeks after a 3hr Rottnest marathon- impressive and astonishing running.
Continued the tough weekend by doing a 22.4km (4:55min/km HR148 Ca84) run on the soft sands of the Munda Biddi trail in Pickering Brook with Sas on Saturday morning (map). Lovely run, lovely conditions, but coming back up the trail on good hills with pea-gravel lain on soft sand was very tough, my legs really died. When we got to the Carinyah campsite, I think both of us would have liked to stop and get out the picnic basket. Sadly, not having one, we had to content ourselves with a Choc Gu and some rainwater and then pressed on. I think I was depleted not only from the track run but the fact that I pretty much went without a meal the night before. Completely shot once we got back to the car ; I had three bananas and a litre of water and felt heaps better. Went for a coffee and brekky in Kalamunda and felt better still !
Took a day off running on Sunday and went down to Perry Lakes help out and to watch Kim run the short race at the Founders 10 miler ; it was fun catching up with a few people I haven't seen for a while. Also saw a bunch of people racing who had run the 10k on Friday night. Nuts....
In the afternoon I decided to test out the bike legs and went for a 47k excursion down to Anketell Rd and back on the freeway bike path. I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't lost my bike legs even though I haven't been on the bike since July! Average speed was 30.4km/h although it was 28km/h heading south and 33km/h coming back. HR was 133bpm for both laps. I was very conscious of using my legs evenly - pulling and pushing rather than just using my quads as I am prone to doing. I found the numb-bum syndrome passed when I did that and it always makes cycling that much easier! Glutes where extremely fatigued when I finished - which was very pleasing!
82.1/82.9/83.1/83.7/84.4 = 6:56.2
82.5/83.2/84.1/84.9/86.0 = 7:00.7 (13:56.9)
84.9/84.0/84.4/83.8/85.3 = 7:02.4 (20:59.3)
84.7/84.9/85.3/85.6/85.7 = 7:06.2 (28:05.5)
84.4/85.3/85.3/84.2/78.1 = 6:57.3 (35:02.8)
Jockster had a great night, pulling out a massive PB, and this less than 3 weeks after a 3hr Rottnest marathon- impressive and astonishing running.
Continued the tough weekend by doing a 22.4km (4:55min/km HR148 Ca84) run on the soft sands of the Munda Biddi trail in Pickering Brook with Sas on Saturday morning (map). Lovely run, lovely conditions, but coming back up the trail on good hills with pea-gravel lain on soft sand was very tough, my legs really died. When we got to the Carinyah campsite, I think both of us would have liked to stop and get out the picnic basket. Sadly, not having one, we had to content ourselves with a Choc Gu and some rainwater and then pressed on. I think I was depleted not only from the track run but the fact that I pretty much went without a meal the night before. Completely shot once we got back to the car ; I had three bananas and a litre of water and felt heaps better. Went for a coffee and brekky in Kalamunda and felt better still !
Took a day off running on Sunday and went down to Perry Lakes help out and to watch Kim run the short race at the Founders 10 miler ; it was fun catching up with a few people I haven't seen for a while. Also saw a bunch of people racing who had run the 10k on Friday night. Nuts....
In the afternoon I decided to test out the bike legs and went for a 47k excursion down to Anketell Rd and back on the freeway bike path. I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't lost my bike legs even though I haven't been on the bike since July! Average speed was 30.4km/h although it was 28km/h heading south and 33km/h coming back. HR was 133bpm for both laps. I was very conscious of using my legs evenly - pulling and pushing rather than just using my quads as I am prone to doing. I found the numb-bum syndrome passed when I did that and it always makes cycling that much easier! Glutes where extremely fatigued when I finished - which was very pleasing!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
'Cool' Night Classic
Cool night, my arse! 32° 15% SSE17/24 HR181 Ca90. Brutal conditions for racing, even the wind seemed against us for the first 3k or so. Went out relatively hard battling a severe case of dry-mouth for the first k and a half, and at 3.5km or so I realised I was in solid 5th, not that far from Stephen Stockwell, but too far to chase and way ahead of 6th so just took the foot off the pedal. I suspect that Stephen did the same, because I ended up only being about 10m behind, finishing in 17:30. Felt tired but not too bad at the end, so hopefully it won't affect me at the 10k track on Friday. Ordinarily I would have done light intervals on Tuesday and not much today, but I was entered for a team (before I realised the 10k track had moved from 30/10 to 6/11) so felt I had to give some effort. Sas gutsed through a tough run, finishing in 2nd, and Sandgroper was out there too with another strong performance. Not a night for PB's, a night for surviving. After we'd all recovered we jogged back to the car parked by the Narrows for a cooldown. It was a lot more pleasant going the other way!
Thursday early (5:45am) did a loop of the Perth Bridges in cooler but still pretty uncomfortable conditions. 9.59 @ 4:52 HR 140 682bpk. Legs felt OK, elevated HR due to the temp and some residual fatigue from last night no doubt.
Looking forward to Friday night. Here's hoping for a good one ...
Monday, November 2, 2009
Easy runs
Saturday morning at 6am, I ran in a small group of 4 up to Mundaring and back, the same run as last week. Pace was a bit hotter, appx 45minutes up and 41 down to average 19.2km @ 4:28 HR154 200m ascent 688bpk. Felt pretty good on this ; cheated again and took a gel at halfway, mainly so that I could recover well - it's a tough week ahead and I don't want to start off on the wrong foot.
Sunday I ran the local river loop accompanied by Kim on the bike. Turned into a bit of a progression run, trying to run off all the sugary/fatty crap that I had at the Halloween party the night before ; also I felt pretty average at the start but loosened up nicely and felt good at the end. Temperature was better than last week, 24°C 18%RH, but it was windy (ESE35/44). Ended up being 8.5km @4:22 HR 150
Monday morning (cool 11°65%, E26/32) ran the King's Park loop with Sas - 8.5km @ 4:32 HR143 100m ascent 649bpk. Legs felt really stiff and unresponsive, but the HR was OK ; just a hangover from the weekend I guess. I'm glad I wasn't trying to do a tempo today - plowing up the Law Walk in to the easterly was a challenge.
Tuesday, another easy run around the Perth bridges ; 9.59km @ 4:42 HR142 667bpk ; a bit breezy this morning but a pleasant run nonetheless. Bumped into Biscuitman, still struggling a bit with the knee. Hang in there mate, it will improve in time, I know its extremely frustrating when one's body doesn't play along... I want to see you out there cracking big PBs too. I need someone to draft for a change...
Looking forward to the week ahead ; I'm only going to go 95% effort in the Coolnight Classic on Wednesday to save something for the track 10k on Friday night that I'm really looking forward to. A great opportunity to post a good time and race against some good runners.
Sunday I ran the local river loop accompanied by Kim on the bike. Turned into a bit of a progression run, trying to run off all the sugary/fatty crap that I had at the Halloween party the night before ; also I felt pretty average at the start but loosened up nicely and felt good at the end. Temperature was better than last week, 24°C 18%RH, but it was windy (ESE35/44). Ended up being 8.5km @4:22 HR 150
Monday morning (cool 11°65%, E26/32) ran the King's Park loop with Sas - 8.5km @ 4:32 HR143 100m ascent 649bpk. Legs felt really stiff and unresponsive, but the HR was OK ; just a hangover from the weekend I guess. I'm glad I wasn't trying to do a tempo today - plowing up the Law Walk in to the easterly was a challenge.
Tuesday, another easy run around the Perth bridges ; 9.59km @ 4:42 HR142 667bpk ; a bit breezy this morning but a pleasant run nonetheless. Bumped into Biscuitman, still struggling a bit with the knee. Hang in there mate, it will improve in time, I know its extremely frustrating when one's body doesn't play along... I want to see you out there cracking big PBs too. I need someone to draft for a change...
Looking forward to the week ahead ; I'm only going to go 95% effort in the Coolnight Classic on Wednesday to save something for the track 10k on Friday night that I'm really looking forward to. A great opportunity to post a good time and race against some good runners.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Coker Park
Conditions were fairly cool (17° 57%RH) and windy tonight (SSW26/33); not as good as last week, but not terrible either. Started off with a 'comfortably hard' 3:06 in the 1000m ; just a roll-thru to warm up for the 3000m. There was a longer wait than anticipated until the 3k started, so I had to keep moving to stay warm. Had a good race in the 3 ; Michael Mezzatesta was around tonight and pushed me the whole way (or was that he drafted me the whole way...) - I thought he'd dropped off after about six laps but he ended up being only a second behind!
I did drop off in the second k (sorry, SG!) but am happy with the result, a 4 second PB and a much better performance in tougher conditions than last week.
36.9/76.4/76.9/77.4/78.0/77.7/77.9/74.1 = 9:35.3 (3:10.2/3:14.3/3:10.8)
The 1500m splits were 4:47/4:48 ; last week it was 4:53/4:48 so at least the pacing was better this time. I just think I started to run out of juice pushing into the headwind on the home straight. I think in last weeks conditions and this weeks legs I could have gone sub 9:30 tonight... hopefully it will come together soon!
10 minutes later I fronted up for the 400m, being part of the patrons trophy comp (which I won't be eligible for because I have to do three field events including a jump, and I'm too protective of my knees and hams to start doing long/triple jump, and I have mental scars from doing high jump as a kid). Anyhow I think I did around 62 seconds which I'm pleased with, because I've never raced a 400m before and I think I got the pacing a little wrong...
I did drop off in the second k (sorry, SG!) but am happy with the result, a 4 second PB and a much better performance in tougher conditions than last week.
36.9/76.4/76.9/77.4/78.0/77.7/77.9/74.1 = 9:35.3 (3:10.2/3:14.3/3:10.8)
The 1500m splits were 4:47/4:48 ; last week it was 4:53/4:48 so at least the pacing was better this time. I just think I started to run out of juice pushing into the headwind on the home straight. I think in last weeks conditions and this weeks legs I could have gone sub 9:30 tonight... hopefully it will come together soon!
10 minutes later I fronted up for the 400m, being part of the patrons trophy comp (which I won't be eligible for because I have to do three field events including a jump, and I'm too protective of my knees and hams to start doing long/triple jump, and I have mental scars from doing high jump as a kid). Anyhow I think I did around 62 seconds which I'm pleased with, because I've never raced a 400m before and I think I got the pacing a little wrong...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Killer intervals
It was a warm and steamy night...21° 85% RH. Tonight we were testing the timing system they used for Melbourne again ; this time the RFID stickers on the backs of the numbers were much bigger. I think they had some issues at Melbourne, so I guess they're still trying to iron out the kinks. In any event when we do these, the sessions tend to be tougher with large group starts and short recoveries. This time it was 8x2 minute efforts with approx 1 minute JR and 1 minute SR. I got to pretty much the same spot for each interval even though i started to feel quite nauseous after 3 reps. I really had to push the legs hard to get through this ; good for mental strength! I was consistently hitting the 400m mark at ~1:13 and the 600m mark at around 1:50 so probably around 660m per rep which is nearly 5.3km of effort. With all the young guns elsewhere I turned out to be the rabbit for the session ; not too much fun being chased around the track by a bunch of blokes half my age, but I guess it kept me honest... very tough session ; the gusty NNW wind didn't help either.
Followed up with a recovery run 5.95km @ 4:37 HR 141 Ca83 653bpk on Wednesday morning. At least I now have a good break until Thursday night ; Saturday thru Tuesday was a tough training block.
Ran the Perth bridges early on Thursday, nice cool conditions 9.59km @ 4:33 HR 143 Ca85 650bpk. Felt energised by this, hopefully set me up for a good run tonight. I'm going to aim for 9:30 again, so will just do the 1k as warmup, because there won't be much of a break between the 1 and the 3.
Ran the Perth bridges early on Thursday, nice cool conditions 9.59km @ 4:33 HR 143 Ca85 650bpk. Felt energised by this, hopefully set me up for a good run tonight. I'm going to aim for 9:30 again, so will just do the 1k as warmup, because there won't be much of a break between the 1 and the 3.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Long run, crazy run, tempo run
On a cold and breezy Saturday morning, Sas, Richard(?) and I headed up the heritage trail from Darlington to Mundaring, paused for a gel, and then headed back. Pretty uneventful run, averaged ~4:55 up the hill HR146, and 4:23 down it with the same HR. It's 19.2km and seemed a bit of a cheat to be finished by 7:30, but there it is. What a difference from last week's killer long run on Rotto!
On Sunday met up with a few of the gang to watch the Triathlon Long Distance World Champs in the city ; conditions were awful, going from cold and very windy to hot and airless later in the morning ! It was great to have this event here and was great fun to see these elites up close. Local boy Sean O'Niell did well, coming in 18th, and you could tell he was loving being in front of the home crowd. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd numbers, I was only expecting a handful. We headed off once we had witnessed Rebekah Keat hold of the challenge from the Frenchwoman to come in second in the women's event - results here.
I must have been inspired or just had a moment of blind idiocy as I decided to head out for a 10k easy run at 4pm, with the temperature at 32°! I guess i was thinking I'd try to get this heat-acclimatisation business over with, and was OK for the first half where I was into a fairly pleasant SE breeze. Once I turned, the weather gods really turned up the screws and I suffered a bit heading home, losing the cooling effects of the wind and also heading into the hilly part of the run... I survived, managing 10k @ 4:23 HR159 but felt fairly wiped out all evening as I tried to rehydrate and get my metabolism to calm down.
Monday morning was time for the tempo, but given the exploits of the day before I decided to do an easy 4k down the hill at King's Park and then to a hill-attack fartlek kind of run up the Law Walk and back to NextG. I was happy with how the legs felt, because I expected them to be dead, but they coped pretty well with the 'charge up the hill/ recover down the hill' run, especially considering there's not a lot of downhill on the Law Walk when your heading from the Crawley end towards the city. Averaged 3:55 pace on the 4.6k back to Next G HR170 which is good.
Intervals tomorrow, easy on Wednesday and then a 1k and 3k at Coker with the masters on Thursday.
On Sunday met up with a few of the gang to watch the Triathlon Long Distance World Champs in the city ; conditions were awful, going from cold and very windy to hot and airless later in the morning ! It was great to have this event here and was great fun to see these elites up close. Local boy Sean O'Niell did well, coming in 18th, and you could tell he was loving being in front of the home crowd. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd numbers, I was only expecting a handful. We headed off once we had witnessed Rebekah Keat hold of the challenge from the Frenchwoman to come in second in the women's event - results here.
I must have been inspired or just had a moment of blind idiocy as I decided to head out for a 10k easy run at 4pm, with the temperature at 32°! I guess i was thinking I'd try to get this heat-acclimatisation business over with, and was OK for the first half where I was into a fairly pleasant SE breeze. Once I turned, the weather gods really turned up the screws and I suffered a bit heading home, losing the cooling effects of the wind and also heading into the hilly part of the run... I survived, managing 10k @ 4:23 HR159 but felt fairly wiped out all evening as I tried to rehydrate and get my metabolism to calm down.
Monday morning was time for the tempo, but given the exploits of the day before I decided to do an easy 4k down the hill at King's Park and then to a hill-attack fartlek kind of run up the Law Walk and back to NextG. I was happy with how the legs felt, because I expected them to be dead, but they coped pretty well with the 'charge up the hill/ recover down the hill' run, especially considering there's not a lot of downhill on the Law Walk when your heading from the Crawley end towards the city. Averaged 3:55 pace on the 4.6k back to Next G HR170 which is good.
Intervals tomorrow, easy on Wednesday and then a 1k and 3k at Coker with the masters on Thursday.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Intervals, recovery and 3000m
On Tuesday went to the WAMC intervals session at Perry lakes, a good fast session with short recoveries this time. 3x300 with 60sec SR, 5x500 60s SR, 3x300 60sec SR bracketed by 4 cross track run-thrus. Happy with the pace even though the legs were feeling heavy from the weekend. Most people weren't taking the correct breaks, so in my 500's I ended up having to run wider and wider to overtake these nincompoops.
49/50/50 91/91/91/93/93 50/49/48
Wednesday morning did 8.7km @ 4:51 HR 142 689bpk. Lovely morning, the legs (hamstrings in particular) felt a little sore today, but the recovery was made them feel a little better.
Thursday morning I did 9.58 @ 4:53 HR134 654bpk. I paced one of Kim's new running mates who wanted to push herself harder ; works for me. I don't think the extra easy run in the morning takes too much out of me and it's something a bit different ; having said that, my legs were still feeling heavy from the weekend, but I think felt a bit better for having done this.
Thursday evening I did the 3000m at Coker. Reasonable conditions - quite warm and a little windy. Sandgroper came out and had a good run. I wasn't expecting much given the leg fatigue but came close to the time I ran a couple of weeks ago, missing it by less than 2 seconds. Disappointingly dropped the pace in laps 2 and 3 which had me behind the 8-ball right from the start. I said to SG I was aiming for 9:30, and felt I could have come close. Maybe next time. I'm considering going to the new stadium on Friday nights to test myself against the young guns. I think I'd be able to take at least 10-15 seconds off this time with fresher legs and some strong competition.
37.5/80.2/79.4/76.5/77.5/78.8/78.2/73.1 = 9:41.2 (km splits 3:17.1 /3:13.4/3:10.7)
Full results document
Pretty happy with the outcome tonight ; I'm starting to think that the 3 and 5 are my niche ; it'll be interesting to see if i can come close to the 35 minutes I should be running for 10k (based on the 3 & 5k times) at the John Gilmour track 10km, because I'm struggling to even come close on the road.
Full results document
Pretty happy with the outcome tonight ; I'm starting to think that the 3 and 5 are my niche ; it'll be interesting to see if i can come close to the 35 minutes I should be running for 10k (based on the 3 & 5k times) at the John Gilmour track 10km, because I'm struggling to even come close on the road.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Rottnest weekend
Travelled over to the island on Friday, but didn't get a run in. We were staying in Thomson Bay, right on the beach - and about 50m from the marathon finish, so it was a perfect spot.
Saturday we went out for a tour of the island - we started early because it was going to be a hot day. It was already 22° at 6am. We ran all the way up the middle of the island to Cape Vlamingh on the western end (map) and came back on the northern side straight into the strong NE, which at least provided some relief from the heat. This was a tough run. The hills on Rottnest aren't long but they are steep and unrelenting. There is not a lot of flat here ; you're either going up or down. Both of us really felt this one - it's only 22km but it felt longer. Sas is struggling with some sort of fatigue/viral thing so we kept the pace down to around 4:56 - I didn't feel too bad, but my HR averaged 149 which is very high for the pace. Anyhow, it was a shame because we both were really looking forward to what should have been a magnificent scenic outing and it turned into a real grind. It was good to get back and sink the legs into the sea afterwards and then indulge in hearty breakfast.
Sunday morning was marathon day and a spent a lot of it going hither and thither cheering on Biscuitman, Kate S, Claire W, and many others who were running the main event. Conditions were fairly warm and humid and the wind was quite strong out on the course (19.4° 84%, N33/41 at 7:30). Biscuitman had a tough day and really gutsed it out, but I'm sure he'll be putting a race report up soon. Both Claire and Kate managed big PB's which is fantastic for that course and conditions. Previous winner Mark Page had to pull out with a blown calf which was a real shame, and Stephen Courtney cruised to an easy win. Jon Pendse came second with a great effort after an injury enforced 3 week layoff after C2S, just missing 3hrs.
The fun run started late in very trying conditions - 21° 77% NW24/30. I made sure I was right at the front because the start is tricky - about 300m before a hard right turn with lots of kids under your feet ; managed to negotiate that OK and then headed out onto the course (map).. I felt pretty good for the first part few k (2k split 7min flat) cruising along with the eventual 5k winner. Bastard started drafting me along the causeway and because I knew Sandgroper wasn't far behind I was really tempted to put in a surge to get rid of him and make him deal with the wind himself. I'm glad i didn't because it was after the causeway we hit the first hill, and it's a bit of a doozy. This slowed the third k down to 3:48, but also seemed to slow down the third place 10k runner, who I overtook at the next hill after the 5 k turnaround, before the descent into bulldozer swamp. Managed to recover the tempo a bit with 3:34 being the next split, followed by a 3:40 but then came the climb to Armstrong point, at which stage I think the 22k on Saturday started to make itself felt (3:47 - 5k split 18:05). Went past Darryl Howe completing his final lap of the marathon (the man is a legend!) and had a brief exchange of encouraging phrases...
After Armstrong came the descent into the dead zone (no wind, with lung busting heat & humidity) but managed 3:35 before the climb up to Geordie Bay. I could see Roberto Busi and Mike Dymnicki in the distance - the first time I'd seen them since the 3k mark! The Geordie hill really killed my legs as I struggled to a 3:50 even with the slight descent after the crest, and then came the 'heartbreak hill' climb out of Geordie past the wind turbine - 2k to go sign being the only encouragement. There wasn't a whole lot of tailwind to make up for the headwind on the way out. Unfortunately with a NW wind tht happens because the northermn part of the course is protected from the northerly winds...
A bus went past coming the other way, just before the descent after the turbine, rather stifling the recovery as I was sucking in lungfuls of fumes. Could only manage a 3:42 even though the course flattens out for about a kilometer before the gradual climb into town. It was a relief to make the left turn up the hill because the pain would soon be over. I kept hearing footfalls even though 4th place was about a minute behind! It was nice to run through the crossroads in town with a fairly large crowd gathering to greet their 10k runners. Put in a final surge (I'm not actually sure where that came from) and crossed the line in 36:33 in 3rd place (more sunnies, yay!) absolutely spent, my clothes dripping with sweat. Gee, I'd better get used to running in the heat again....
Happy with the effort, not with the time... a tough course though, in tough conditions. Glad I wasn't running the marathon.
Well done to Biscuitman, Kate and Claire for their immense efforts in very trying conditions, and to Sandgroper who produced a barnstorming run to place second in the 5.
Monday I ran the 10k course again at very easy pace (10.38 @ 4:53 HR 140) and enjoyed very scenic course much more the second time around, in much cooler, running friendly conditions.
Saturday we went out for a tour of the island - we started early because it was going to be a hot day. It was already 22° at 6am. We ran all the way up the middle of the island to Cape Vlamingh on the western end (map) and came back on the northern side straight into the strong NE, which at least provided some relief from the heat. This was a tough run. The hills on Rottnest aren't long but they are steep and unrelenting. There is not a lot of flat here ; you're either going up or down. Both of us really felt this one - it's only 22km but it felt longer. Sas is struggling with some sort of fatigue/viral thing so we kept the pace down to around 4:56 - I didn't feel too bad, but my HR averaged 149 which is very high for the pace. Anyhow, it was a shame because we both were really looking forward to what should have been a magnificent scenic outing and it turned into a real grind. It was good to get back and sink the legs into the sea afterwards and then indulge in hearty breakfast.
Sunday morning was marathon day and a spent a lot of it going hither and thither cheering on Biscuitman, Kate S, Claire W, and many others who were running the main event. Conditions were fairly warm and humid and the wind was quite strong out on the course (19.4° 84%, N33/41 at 7:30). Biscuitman had a tough day and really gutsed it out, but I'm sure he'll be putting a race report up soon. Both Claire and Kate managed big PB's which is fantastic for that course and conditions. Previous winner Mark Page had to pull out with a blown calf which was a real shame, and Stephen Courtney cruised to an easy win. Jon Pendse came second with a great effort after an injury enforced 3 week layoff after C2S, just missing 3hrs.
The fun run started late in very trying conditions - 21° 77% NW24/30. I made sure I was right at the front because the start is tricky - about 300m before a hard right turn with lots of kids under your feet ; managed to negotiate that OK and then headed out onto the course (map).. I felt pretty good for the first part few k (2k split 7min flat) cruising along with the eventual 5k winner. Bastard started drafting me along the causeway and because I knew Sandgroper wasn't far behind I was really tempted to put in a surge to get rid of him and make him deal with the wind himself. I'm glad i didn't because it was after the causeway we hit the first hill, and it's a bit of a doozy. This slowed the third k down to 3:48, but also seemed to slow down the third place 10k runner, who I overtook at the next hill after the 5 k turnaround, before the descent into bulldozer swamp. Managed to recover the tempo a bit with 3:34 being the next split, followed by a 3:40 but then came the climb to Armstrong point, at which stage I think the 22k on Saturday started to make itself felt (3:47 - 5k split 18:05). Went past Darryl Howe completing his final lap of the marathon (the man is a legend!) and had a brief exchange of encouraging phrases...
A bus went past coming the other way, just before the descent after the turbine, rather stifling the recovery as I was sucking in lungfuls of fumes. Could only manage a 3:42 even though the course flattens out for about a kilometer before the gradual climb into town. It was a relief to make the left turn up the hill because the pain would soon be over. I kept hearing footfalls even though 4th place was about a minute behind! It was nice to run through the crossroads in town with a fairly large crowd gathering to greet their 10k runners. Put in a final surge (I'm not actually sure where that came from) and crossed the line in 36:33 in 3rd place (more sunnies, yay!) absolutely spent, my clothes dripping with sweat. Gee, I'd better get used to running in the heat again....
Happy with the effort, not with the time... a tough course though, in tough conditions. Glad I wasn't running the marathon.
Well done to Biscuitman, Kate and Claire for their immense efforts in very trying conditions, and to Sandgroper who produced a barnstorming run to place second in the 5.
Monday I ran the 10k course again at very easy pace (10.38 @ 4:53 HR 140) and enjoyed very scenic course much more the second time around, in much cooler, running friendly conditions.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Intervals etc.
Tuesday night I went to the WAMC intervals session run by JK, and it was a good one ; 1k ; 2:30SR;500mx2 w/90sec recovery;1k w/2:30SR ; 500mx2 w/90sec SR; 1km. A few of the tri boys were out there which was handy because they pushed the pace a bit. I pushed pretty hard but not to the vomit level. Conditions were pretty good ; cool but a little windy.
3:12; 89; 89; 3:09 ; 89, 89 ; 3:12
Wednesday morning ran a 6km recovery w/Sas and Eldon ; 4:37 pace HR140 Ca83 646bpk. Nice conditions but starting to feel the warmth in the sun ; there was a nice breeze to keep things cool. I felt pretty good today - it was nice to be running under blue skies again.
Thursday went for a slightly longer one with Sas ; 13.92km @4:37 pace - did the E.Perth Maylands Garrett Rd Belmont loop (map) in slightly warmer conditions still - around 22 degrees but in blazing sunshine it felt a lot warmer. Very nice in the shade, but in the sun with a following wind, it felt warm. I wore a long sleeve shirt, partly to protect myself from those nasty UV rays, but partly to try to acclimatise to the warmer weather we are about to head into. I felt great today, no real fatigue and didn't really notice the hills too much, but Sas was suffering a little and I'm sure my cheerful jibber-jabber was very annoying . Left the house in a hurry so I forgot my HR belt but I know it was low. Lovely run.
Looking forward to Rotto ; no run tomorrow ; it's a bit much with the travelling, but I'll do an island run on Saturday. I've never run the whole island before (although Rotto 2006 was my first 10k and 2007 my 2nd marathon, where I was passed by Phil Webb on the last hill ; a moment I will never forget, not least for the flak that I still cop from the hills running group...) and this is a great opportunity to do it. It's 21-24km depending on how you do it, so shouldn't leave me too flat for Sunday. I know it's not textbook preparation but Sunday isn't key for me, and I couldn't feel any worse than I felt at the Freo 10k two weeks ago.... at worst its going to be my tempo run for the week, at best I'll win another pair of sunnies ;-)
Good running to everyone competing this weekend, PB's all around please in the perfect conditions that have been forecast, especially to Biscuitman, Kate S and Claire W who have all put in a bucketload of effort for this one.
3:12; 89; 89; 3:09 ; 89, 89 ; 3:12
Wednesday morning ran a 6km recovery w/Sas and Eldon ; 4:37 pace HR140 Ca83 646bpk. Nice conditions but starting to feel the warmth in the sun ; there was a nice breeze to keep things cool. I felt pretty good today - it was nice to be running under blue skies again.
Thursday went for a slightly longer one with Sas ; 13.92km @4:37 pace - did the E.Perth Maylands Garrett Rd Belmont loop (map) in slightly warmer conditions still - around 22 degrees but in blazing sunshine it felt a lot warmer. Very nice in the shade, but in the sun with a following wind, it felt warm. I wore a long sleeve shirt, partly to protect myself from those nasty UV rays, but partly to try to acclimatise to the warmer weather we are about to head into. I felt great today, no real fatigue and didn't really notice the hills too much, but Sas was suffering a little and I'm sure my cheerful jibber-jabber was very annoying . Left the house in a hurry so I forgot my HR belt but I know it was low. Lovely run.
Looking forward to Rotto ; no run tomorrow ; it's a bit much with the travelling, but I'll do an island run on Saturday. I've never run the whole island before (although Rotto 2006 was my first 10k and 2007 my 2nd marathon, where I was passed by Phil Webb on the last hill ; a moment I will never forget, not least for the flak that I still cop from the hills running group...) and this is a great opportunity to do it. It's 21-24km depending on how you do it, so shouldn't leave me too flat for Sunday. I know it's not textbook preparation but Sunday isn't key for me, and I couldn't feel any worse than I felt at the Freo 10k two weeks ago.... at worst its going to be my tempo run for the week, at best I'll win another pair of sunnies ;-)
Good running to everyone competing this weekend, PB's all around please in the perfect conditions that have been forecast, especially to Biscuitman, Kate S and Claire W who have all put in a bucketload of effort for this one.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Long run and tempo
Ran bright and early with Sas from Darlington down through the Boya quarry over the king-of-the-mountain creek and up the zig-zag and return ; Some good hills in this one and the conditions were perfect ; the views off the zig-zag were stunning. Stopped a couple of times at the Helena Valley school for water & refreshments (slacker!) and to cross the creek - managing to stay dry. I felt pretty good going up the hills - 24.5km @ 4:34 HR 148 Ca84 677bpk. A tough run but good - the legs felt tired afterwards - it's a tough finish up out of the valley back up through the quarry to Darlington.
Sunday morning ran a 6k loop recovery run @4:46 HR 141 649 bpk. Perfect morning for running - I felt surprisingly good today.
Monday morning I did my tempo after a 4k warmup from the bottom of the hill in King's park, up Forrest Dr, down May Dr over the circle and down to the path near Saw Ave, and up to NextG carpark (map). Legs felt a little heavy and jelly like at first but I got into it fairly well and felt quite strong once I'd got to the top of Forrest drive - 6:75km @ 3:46 HR 175 661bpk ~ 120m of ascent at a guess. Very happy with how strong I felt at the end of this considering how unenthused I was at the start.... all up 10.7k.
Monday morning I did my tempo after a 4k warmup from the bottom of the hill in King's park, up Forrest Dr, down May Dr over the circle and down to the path near Saw Ave, and up to NextG carpark (map). Legs felt a little heavy and jelly like at first but I got into it fairly well and felt quite strong once I'd got to the top of Forrest drive - 6:75km @ 3:46 HR 175 661bpk ~ 120m of ascent at a guess. Very happy with how strong I felt at the end of this considering how unenthused I was at the start.... all up 10.7k.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Coker 3000m/800m
Wasn't sure how things were going to turn out tonight after the bad run on the weekend, feeling allergy ridden and a (mentally) tough workday, but I guess we can just never predict these things. Conditions were warm with a fairly stiff breeze up the home straight so the pace was a bit up and down on a lap by lap basis, but that's OK. I realised (well, I realised this on Sunday!) the advantage of the track is that you only have to put up with a headwind for 100m before it becomes a tailwind. I know you don't get an even return, but psychologically its a bit easier to deal with. The upshot is, I had a good night and a 3k PB. I didn't wear the HR belt, as I wanted to race tonight and I think it restricts breathing a little. No competition tonight, which is a shame -I saw Michael M. at the track while I was running but the traffic was a bear and he obviously missed the start.
36.9/78.4/78.2/78.8/78.4/77.3/77.7/73.6 = 9:39.5 (km splits 3:13.5/3:16.6/3:09.4)
Also ran the 800m about 30 minutes later, competition was a little bit light, and I felt like the legs weren't quite over the 3k yet. First time I've run an 800m so another PB! I thought I'd run the second lap quicker than the first; I was right but only by .3s ! Goes to show, I still need to work on that leg speed.
70.5/70.2 = 2:20.7
36.9/78.4/78.2/78.8/78.4/77.3/77.7/73.6 = 9:39.5 (km splits 3:13.5/3:16.6/3:09.4)
70.5/70.2 = 2:20.7
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Intervals
Monday I had a lovely run through Kings Park while Sas did her tempo; the legs obviously felt a bit tired, but it was a reasonable effort considering the race on Sunday. 8.25km @4:21 HR160 Ca83 Asc 70 696bpk. The park was beautiful in the crisp sunny conditions.
Wednesday morning I hooked up with Sas for a short recovery run ; its about 12hrs since the intervals and it's been an intense few days for both of us and the legs were feeling tired & heavy, so we enabled each other in reducing the run to a real recovery run : 5.3km (@4:34 pace HR 149 Ca84 679bpk). Had a nice coffee afterwards as a reward for a job well done ;-)
Tuesday I went to JK's session at Alderbury Park. It's cricket season so our loop had to be shifted and now spans the somewhat bizarrely positioned bike path someone decided was a good idea. JK said the loop was probably a little long as it was measured by pacing it out ; someone with a GPS said it was 407m... anyhow I know it was going to be tough session because the legs still felt a little cooked from Sunday. It was a pyramid session (2/4/6/8/8/6/4/2) with 4k of effort, thankfully not too long, but the breaks were short. There was a little wind to deal with, but on the track you only get headwind for 100m at the most so it's never too bad.
34.0/72.8/1:52.8/2:35.1/2:34.2/1:53.2/72.5/22.633.6
Wednesday morning I hooked up with Sas for a short recovery run ; its about 12hrs since the intervals and it's been an intense few days for both of us and the legs were feeling tired & heavy, so we enabled each other in reducing the run to a real recovery run : 5.3km (@4:34 pace HR 149 Ca84 679bpk). Had a nice coffee afterwards as a reward for a job well done ;-)
Good luck to everyone in their upcoming marathons, especially Biscuitman and Clown as they battle injuries to get to the start line. Fingers crossed for you guys, I've been where you are and really hope it all comes together for you.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Freo Fun Run 10K
Just ran 5k on Saturday from King's Park as a leg freshener ; my legs felt pretty heavy and uninterested, but I just put that down to it being a taper style run.
On Sunday, the legs didn't really feel any better and it was a struggle to get them moving. I just felt heavy and unresponsive and tired from very early on. I usually feel fresher in a 3k or 5k at a similar stage moving at a quicker pace. It was fairly warm, and there was a bit of wind (SE19/26) to deal with in the middle 2.5km of the course ; it's a two lapper (map). Just not a good day. That said though somehow I still managed to come third in a pretty large field against some decent competition, and ended up with a 16 second PB, so it seems churlish to be negative about it. I wasn't overtaken by anyone, so I guess even though I was fading, I wasn't fading as much as those around me. A good thing I suppose is that there is a lot more where that came from - I think my 10k split in the C2s was about 20 seconds better.... hopefully in two weeks at Rotto the body will be a little more interested in running a race.
3:24/3:34/3:35/3:40/3:37/3:41/3:43/3:44/3:45/3:35 = 36:17
Results are here.
On Sunday, the legs didn't really feel any better and it was a struggle to get them moving. I just felt heavy and unresponsive and tired from very early on. I usually feel fresher in a 3k or 5k at a similar stage moving at a quicker pace. It was fairly warm, and there was a bit of wind (SE19/26) to deal with in the middle 2.5km of the course ; it's a two lapper (map). Just not a good day. That said though somehow I still managed to come third in a pretty large field against some decent competition, and ended up with a 16 second PB, so it seems churlish to be negative about it. I wasn't overtaken by anyone, so I guess even though I was fading, I wasn't fading as much as those around me. A good thing I suppose is that there is a lot more where that came from - I think my 10k split in the C2s was about 20 seconds better.... hopefully in two weeks at Rotto the body will be a little more interested in running a race.
3:24/3:34/3:35/3:40/3:37/3:41/3:43/3:44/3:45/3:35 = 36:17
Results are here.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Coker Park 1500m and 5k
The plan tonight was to run the 1500 hard and the first 3 of the 5 around 3:20 pace and the last two at 3:30 pace - my intended 10k race pace. Conditions were fairly good, but a little windy in the 1500m.
52.2/73.4/73.8/74.2 = 4:33.6 (800m split 2:24, 1km split 3:01)
Happy with that, lost a bit of leg strength in the last lap, I think the wind took it out of me. Pleased with the fact that I didn't drop off in the 3rd lap like I did last time. Plus, it's a PB by about 3 seconds.
The 5k went pretty much to plan, running the 3k in 10:09 and finishing in 17:02. I was really wary of pushing too hard, because I want to save myself for Sunday's 10k, however I did push a little on the last lap to try to get under 17 minutes, as a test of my leg strength and my fatigue level at that point, so I think I passed the test, but just failed to bring the time down enough. I had Michael Mezzatesta sitting in my back pocket for the whole thing which definitely kept me honest. HR was good, only 175 average, just a few more than a tempo run and a healthy cadence of 90. I wore my new Musha shoes which will be strapped on on Sunday as well.
3:21/3:22.4/3:24.9/3:31.3/3:22.5 = 17:02.5
Enjoyed myself tonight, a PB and a strong 5, as did Kate S, smashing her PB by over a minute in the 5K. Sas came out and did the 1500 and 3000, and had a good night as well - first time at the track for a looooong time, and it didn't flare up the knee at all, so excellent news there.
Coker Park full results
52.2/73.4/73.8/74.2 = 4:33.6 (800m split 2:24, 1km split 3:01)
Happy with that, lost a bit of leg strength in the last lap, I think the wind took it out of me. Pleased with the fact that I didn't drop off in the 3rd lap like I did last time. Plus, it's a PB by about 3 seconds.
The 5k went pretty much to plan, running the 3k in 10:09 and finishing in 17:02. I was really wary of pushing too hard, because I want to save myself for Sunday's 10k, however I did push a little on the last lap to try to get under 17 minutes, as a test of my leg strength and my fatigue level at that point, so I think I passed the test, but just failed to bring the time down enough. I had Michael Mezzatesta sitting in my back pocket for the whole thing which definitely kept me honest. HR was good, only 175 average, just a few more than a tempo run and a healthy cadence of 90. I wore my new Musha shoes which will be strapped on on Sunday as well.
3:21/3:22.4/3:24.9/3:31.3/3:22.5 = 17:02.5
Enjoyed myself tonight, a PB and a strong 5, as did Kate S, smashing her PB by over a minute in the 5K. Sas came out and did the 1500 and 3000, and had a good night as well - first time at the track for a looooong time, and it didn't flare up the knee at all, so excellent news there.
Coker Park full results
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Intervals
Headed to McGillivray for an easy intervals session in preparation for Sunday. The aim was to do 5 1k reps at 10k pace (3:30) - because of the dubious nature of the markings and restricted to lanes 2, 6 and 7 I ran two laps in lane 7 (891m) as a close replacement and did 4x200 at the end. I was aiming to do the reps in 3 minutes because I thought that was 3:30 pace (turns out my mental arithmetic sucks early in the morning)
2:58/3:01.7/3:00.0/3:02.0/3:01.3
..so these were closer to 3:22 pace which is a relief because they were a little harder than expected.
The 200m's were long/short because of the strange track markings so I took the average of the two.
31.8/31.8/31.3/31.3
Did some drills before and after as well, so around 10k all up.
Wednesday did an easy run from home around Pt.Majestic, returning up over the hill and back for 9.5km @ 4:39 HR145 Ca84 675bpk. beautiful crisp morning, still a tad chilly. Really looking forward to the sunny days ahead ; I'm a little tired of being cold, wet and windswept.
Wednesday did an easy run from home around Pt.Majestic, returning up over the hill and back for 9.5km @ 4:39 HR145 Ca84 675bpk. beautiful crisp morning, still a tad chilly. Really looking forward to the sunny days ahead ; I'm a little tired of being cold, wet and windswept.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Long Run and Tempo
Saturday we started bright and early at 6am from Darlington on a frigid but sunny morning, with a fairly strong easterly just to keep us honest (and a little colder). Did the same run as last week - strangely there were absolutely no kangaroos or wallabies anywhere, but there were still plenty of parrots and the wildflowers were stunning. Sas is getting stronger by the minute and ran really well today. We ended up doing 21.54km at a brisk 4:35 (HR149 Ca84 350m asc. 684bpk) without any stops .. lovely run. When we got had a quick stretch and a natter with the folks doing the short ones today, while enjoying a banana roll (sharing with the magpies & 28's) land. If anyone ever asks me, 'why do I run', that's why I run.. Beautiful weather, beautiful country, and good company.
Sunday I had a rest day. First day off for three weeks.
Monday Sas & I were up at NextG for our King's Park run with the only other 2 people nuts enough to run at 6am on a cold and wintry public holiday. Warmed up down to the bottom of the hill at Poole Ave where I started my 25 minute tempo effort back up Park Ave, the Law Walk, Fraser Ave to the circle on May Drive and back to StickyBeaks (map) 6.5km with @3:52 pace (HR173 Ca90 100m asc. 668bpk) ; this was tough effort with a few steep hills on the Law walk, but happy with the result. Can't say the day off made this easier... but I suppose it could be that it was hard because I did this on empty ; the price for an extra 5 minutes in bed. But then, tempo runs aren't supposed to be easy....
Sunday I had a rest day. First day off for three weeks.
Monday Sas & I were up at NextG for our King's Park run with the only other 2 people nuts enough to run at 6am on a cold and wintry public holiday. Warmed up down to the bottom of the hill at Poole Ave where I started my 25 minute tempo effort back up Park Ave, the Law Walk, Fraser Ave to the circle on May Drive and back to StickyBeaks (map) 6.5km with @3:52 pace (HR173 Ca90 100m asc. 668bpk) ; this was tough effort with a few steep hills on the Law walk, but happy with the result. Can't say the day off made this easier... but I suppose it could be that it was hard because I did this on empty ; the price for an extra 5 minutes in bed. But then, tempo runs aren't supposed to be easy....
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Coker Park Mile and 3000m
Pretty windy at the track tonight (SSW30/39) but at least it was dry and cool (14°C 52%RH) . I had a pretty good night with a decent mile and felt really strong in the 3k, running a good time without really bending my back. I'm surprised because I was feeling a little tired and sore after the track session on Tuesday so wasn't expecting much.
The mile started getting tough after a couple of laps because the wind in the home straight was really picking up and it was a real effort just to maintain the pace. HR175 Ca 94.
73.5/73.5/76.0/73.9 = 4:56.9
The 3k started about 20 minutes after the mile, and there were some strong runners (including Michael Mezzatesta who ran 17:18 at the Freo 5k on the weekend, and Andrew Brooker who's run some serious times on the track) so I was expecting a bit of a group but it failed to materialise after they dropped off after 4 laps or so. I felt great, just maintaining the pace without having to dig at all and finished strongly - too bad it wasn't a 5k!. HR 178 Ca91.
37.0/80.8/80.8/80.1/79.8/80.5/78.1/76.9 = 9:54.0 (3:18.6/3:20.0/3:15.4)
Friday am did a short recovery run from home to Canning Ave and back, 5.8km @4:46, HR 141 Ca85 673bpk. Stunning morning - if it had been windy and raining I would have stayed in bed, but given the bright sunshine and crisp conditions I felt an obligation to the weather gods to get out there...
Friday am did a short recovery run from home to Canning Ave and back, 5.8km @4:46, HR 141 Ca85 673bpk. Stunning morning - if it had been windy and raining I would have stayed in bed, but given the bright sunshine and crisp conditions I felt an obligation to the weather gods to get out there...
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Intervals
Did an easy run on Monday, the standard Kings Park loop, 8.44km @4:27 HR148 Ca84 100m ascent, 663bpk.
Tuesday did a tough intervals session at the new stadium ; conditions were warm at first but when the sun went away the wind was a little icy. The track was quite busy with a few slightly rude youngsters who think that doing warmup jogs taking up the three inside lanes is acceptable behaviour. You may have a little gold in your tracksuits, but you ain't that special.
Anyhow, I did a 4x200, 2x400, 2x800, 2x400, 4x200 with reasonable recoveries (60/90/120sec for each distance). By the end my diaphragm was having a hard time getting enough oxygen into the lungs and was getting a little painful ; a pretty wierd an unpleasant sensation! I ran this pretty hard and was very pleased with the results (I've never averaged over 20kph over a session before - 4.8km in 14:18.3 = 20.11km/h), and my 200's are definitely getting quicker) but I was completely shagged by the end.
4 x 200: 34.1/32.1/31.7/31.4
2 x 400: 73.0/69.3
2 x 800: 2:36.0/2:34.8
2 x 400: 71.3/72.0
4 x 200: 33.2/33.3/34.9/32.2
We left at 5:15 so must have just missed Biscuitman's epic session with Epi, Clown and TB ; the track was getting crowded with quite a few show ponies prancing around and not doing much running...
Wednesday morning did the usual Pt. Majestic hill loop, and the legs still felt tired. 9.5km @4:38 HR148 Ca84 685bpk. No run tomorrow morning, but a Mile and a 3k at Coker tomorrow evening. As usual I'll race the short one and try to do the three in just under 10, but hopefully not all out. It'll make a nice change for there not to be a howling gale.
Tuesday did a tough intervals session at the new stadium ; conditions were warm at first but when the sun went away the wind was a little icy. The track was quite busy with a few slightly rude youngsters who think that doing warmup jogs taking up the three inside lanes is acceptable behaviour. You may have a little gold in your tracksuits, but you ain't that special.
Anyhow, I did a 4x200, 2x400, 2x800, 2x400, 4x200 with reasonable recoveries (60/90/120sec for each distance). By the end my diaphragm was having a hard time getting enough oxygen into the lungs and was getting a little painful ; a pretty wierd an unpleasant sensation! I ran this pretty hard and was very pleased with the results (I've never averaged over 20kph over a session before - 4.8km in 14:18.3 = 20.11km/h), and my 200's are definitely getting quicker) but I was completely shagged by the end.
4 x 200: 34.1/32.1/31.7/31.4
2 x 400: 73.0/69.3
2 x 800: 2:36.0/2:34.8
2 x 400: 71.3/72.0
4 x 200: 33.2/33.3/34.9/32.2
We left at 5:15 so must have just missed Biscuitman's epic session with Epi, Clown and TB ; the track was getting crowded with quite a few show ponies prancing around and not doing much running...
Wednesday morning did the usual Pt. Majestic hill loop, and the legs still felt tired. 9.5km @4:38 HR148 Ca84 685bpk. No run tomorrow morning, but a Mile and a 3k at Coker tomorrow evening. As usual I'll race the short one and try to do the three in just under 10, but hopefully not all out. It'll make a nice change for there not to be a howling gale.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Freo HM 5k
Ran a reasonable race today finishing in 17:00 in 5th just behind the elusive Balinga Pascoe. Good field for the race, with Ethan Heywood winning in 15:18, Josh Tedesco second in 15:59 or so. Emily Loughnan was first woman in 17:39. The start for these things is always a bit of a bunfight but that was successfully negotiated and I could start picking up some places. Ran pretty well but legs (and body) were a little tired from the reasonably hard running I've done in the last weeks or two. Happy with the pacing that I managed to keep going, but didn't really have any 'zip'. Conditions were reasonable with a bit of wind, not really a factor though, and it's a course that has a few twists and turns, so not the fastest.
Splits: 3:23/3:24/3:26/3:24/3:23 = 17:00 (3K in 10:13)
Half marathon winners were Michael Dymnicki and Tina Major with 1:14 high and 1:21 low. The wind kicked up for the half so conditions would have been tough, but some Rotto marathoners managed to pick up some PB's with Kate S running a great 1:43:58, and Jo C getting her NYC qualifier with 12 minutes to spare!
Splits: 3:23/3:24/3:26/3:24/3:23 = 17:00 (3K in 10:13)
Half marathon winners were Michael Dymnicki and Tina Major with 1:14 high and 1:21 low. The wind kicked up for the half so conditions would have been tough, but some Rotto marathoners managed to pick up some PB's with Kate S running a great 1:43:58, and Jo C getting her NYC qualifier with 12 minutes to spare!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Darlington Long Run
Friday ran the Pt Majestic hill loop with Sas (9.5km @4:32 HR 152 Ca84 690 bpk ). The wind was strong and into our faces for the outward stretch and we were both feeling a little fatigues so this was a tough effort.
Saturday I dragged Sas up Darlington Road, through JF park up Oxley, Hedges, Brooking Rds, then back down to darlington on the trail. A tough run but very enjoyable indeed. It has three major hills and a total of 350m of ascent. Conditions were cool and no wind and there were kangaroos and parrots aplenty. 20.42km @ 4:43 HR 148 Ca 84, 697bpk. I felt stronger today on the hills and not nearly as shagged when we finished as I have the last two weeks. Stunning run.
Running the Freo 5k tomorrow, hopefully I'll feel good and do a decent time, but I'm not too worried about it, it's been a pretty good week training-wise, with the main goal being the 10k at the Freo fun run in a couple of weeks, looking to go sub-35. Saying that, I'll be disappointed not to go sub-17 tomorrow, hopefully there'll be some strong runners in the field ; there seem to have been of late in the 5ks.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Coker Park: 1000m, 600m and 3000m
Tough conditions tonight ; more windy than last Thursday - manageable for the short stuff but made the 3000m tough going. I kicked the night off with the 1000m with a bit of competition ; Campbell Till led the way for the first lap and eased back after 400m and I took over, being chased by another middle distance speedster Neil Morfitt. It was great to be pushed and I ended up doing a PB by a few seconds :
33.9 62.7 34.3 34.8 = 2:55.7 (2:20.9 800m split)
Helped out with the timing for the 60 and 100m races and decided to do the 600m, seeing as I had a good race in the 1000m and had had a 30 minute break. Started well and was overtaken by Colin Smith with about 300m, a pretty quick sprinter for whom 600m is at the end of his range. He pulled ahead to a sizeable lead, but I used that as a spur to try to run him down, just failing, but grabbing a 2 second PB in the process.
33.3 32.7 33.3 = 1:39.3 ( 65 sec 400m split)
About 5 minutes later (!) the 3000m started - obviously the 600m took a bit out of the legs and I struggled a little in the conditions to maintain the pace, managing a healthy 10:07 but it was a bit of an effort!
38.5/80.9/80.9/81.8/81.4/81.9/81.6/79.9 = 10:06.9 ( km splits 3:20.3 3:23.9 3:22.7 )
The pleasing thing about tonight is that I didn't feel quite so uncoordinated running the fast stuff ; before I was having problems with rythm, almost like the feet were hitting the ground out oif sunch to when I was expecting it. I felt a lot smoother tonight.
33.9 62.7 34.3 34.8 = 2:55.7 (2:20.9 800m split)
Helped out with the timing for the 60 and 100m races and decided to do the 600m, seeing as I had a good race in the 1000m and had had a 30 minute break. Started well and was overtaken by Colin Smith with about 300m, a pretty quick sprinter for whom 600m is at the end of his range. He pulled ahead to a sizeable lead, but I used that as a spur to try to run him down, just failing, but grabbing a 2 second PB in the process.
33.3 32.7 33.3 = 1:39.3 ( 65 sec 400m split)
About 5 minutes later (!) the 3000m started - obviously the 600m took a bit out of the legs and I struggled a little in the conditions to maintain the pace, managing a healthy 10:07 but it was a bit of an effort!
38.5/80.9/80.9/81.8/81.4/81.9/81.6/79.9 = 10:06.9 ( km splits 3:20.3 3:23.9 3:22.7 )
The pleasing thing about tonight is that I didn't feel quite so uncoordinated running the fast stuff ; before I was having problems with rythm, almost like the feet were hitting the ground out oif sunch to when I was expecting it. I felt a lot smoother tonight.
The week so far...
Ran fairly easy this week except for intervals, and I added an extra run on Thursday morning because I just felt I'm not really working hard enough.
Monday ran a loop of King's Park nice and easy ; beautiful conditions. 8.44km @ 4:32 HR143 Ca84 Ascent 100, 649bpk.
Tuesday did the WAMC interval session with JK's group. Interesting because we were a test group for the new timing system they are using for the Melbourne Marathon. The RFID chip is on the back of the number and is registered when you run over the starting mat. There'll be a lot of thankful marathon runners not having to extricate a timing chip from their shoelaces... I overheard that they will be gunning for the Perth C2S as well which would be great. 7 x 2 minutes of effort with 1:45 recovery. I covered about 650 per block with another 20 metres for the last one, and I felt good running pretty hard.
Wednesday morning just did 9.5km recovery at 4:41 HR 144 Ca84, 40m ascent., 674bpk. Felt a little stiff from the previous evening's effort but loosened up quickly on a lovely morning.
Thursday I went up to Mends street where Kim runs with her gang, and I decided to run at the last minute. Ran it in my McMillan 'easy' range (4:11 to 4:38) - there was a bit of wind which made the outward run to the Causeway not as easy as it should have been but felt comfortable and held myself back a little so as not to totally blow the session at Coker tonight. 9.59km @ 4:15 HR158 Ca86 671bpk. Made a change for a non-race run to be in the 150's...
Monday ran a loop of King's Park nice and easy ; beautiful conditions. 8.44km @ 4:32 HR143 Ca84 Ascent 100, 649bpk.
Tuesday did the WAMC interval session with JK's group. Interesting because we were a test group for the new timing system they are using for the Melbourne Marathon. The RFID chip is on the back of the number and is registered when you run over the starting mat. There'll be a lot of thankful marathon runners not having to extricate a timing chip from their shoelaces... I overheard that they will be gunning for the Perth C2S as well which would be great. 7 x 2 minutes of effort with 1:45 recovery. I covered about 650 per block with another 20 metres for the last one, and I felt good running pretty hard.
Wednesday morning just did 9.5km recovery at 4:41 HR 144 Ca84, 40m ascent., 674bpk. Felt a little stiff from the previous evening's effort but loosened up quickly on a lovely morning.
Thursday I went up to Mends street where Kim runs with her gang, and I decided to run at the last minute. Ran it in my McMillan 'easy' range (4:11 to 4:38) - there was a bit of wind which made the outward run to the Causeway not as easy as it should have been but felt comfortable and held myself back a little so as not to totally blow the session at Coker tonight. 9.59km @ 4:15 HR158 Ca86 671bpk. Made a change for a non-race run to be in the 150's...
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Recovery Run, Long Run and Lake Gwelup 10 'XC'
Ran the E.Perth/Heirisson 9.4km @ 4.43 HR 136 Ca83 641bpk on a fairly pleasant morning. Nice, easy, uneventful run. With a tailwind in both directions for the second week running ! Not sure how that works.... but I'll take it. Pity the poor buggers running in the opposite direction.
Saturday ran the same Darlinton to GE Highway 22.22km @4:40 HR 147 Ca84 687bpk. Fairly good conditions and felt a little stronger this week. Got a little rain on the way up and a stiff headwind on the way down, which made for a tough run, especially as this was a non-stop effort with no gels and no food beforehand. I may go back to the Sustagen (or Up and Go - or is that Go and UpChuck?) as a pre-run meal.. There was a lot of water under foot, but the trail was just gorgeous with running streams everywhere and a lot of plants starting to burst into blossom . Sas ran stronger today being her second week up in the hills after a long layoff. Didn't bother with the coffee this week and stopped in at the MuzzBuzz on the way home - which I suspect will be the new tradition....
Lake Gwelup 10km (map) in 36:40 (3:40) HR75 Ca90 642bpk. Ran this at a hard but not maximal effort - it was tougher than expected course with a lot of undulations, some significant hills (about 75m of ascent) and a variety of surfaces with lengthy sections on grass, sand, limestone and concrete. Ran the first 3km with the eventual 3rd place 10k'er, trying to stick with Clemens Schmidt - it's great to see him back after a lengthy layoff ; they both ran out of puff a bit on the hilly section and I managed to pull away, so was pretty much on my own in 2nd from that point to the end. The 10k winner was miles ahead and finished in 35 flat. I definitely felt yesterday's hills run in the legs esp. the hilly/sandy sections but very happy with the effort.
Saturday ran the same Darlinton to GE Highway 22.22km @4:40 HR 147 Ca84 687bpk. Fairly good conditions and felt a little stronger this week. Got a little rain on the way up and a stiff headwind on the way down, which made for a tough run, especially as this was a non-stop effort with no gels and no food beforehand. I may go back to the Sustagen (or Up and Go - or is that Go and UpChuck?) as a pre-run meal.. There was a lot of water under foot, but the trail was just gorgeous with running streams everywhere and a lot of plants starting to burst into blossom . Sas ran stronger today being her second week up in the hills after a long layoff. Didn't bother with the coffee this week and stopped in at the MuzzBuzz on the way home - which I suspect will be the new tradition....
Lake Gwelup 10km (map) in 36:40 (3:40) HR75 Ca90 642bpk. Ran this at a hard but not maximal effort - it was tougher than expected course with a lot of undulations, some significant hills (about 75m of ascent) and a variety of surfaces with lengthy sections on grass, sand, limestone and concrete. Ran the first 3km with the eventual 3rd place 10k'er, trying to stick with Clemens Schmidt - it's great to see him back after a lengthy layoff ; they both ran out of puff a bit on the hilly section and I managed to pull away, so was pretty much on my own in 2nd from that point to the end. The 10k winner was miles ahead and finished in 35 flat. I definitely felt yesterday's hills run in the legs esp. the hilly/sandy sections but very happy with the effort.
Lap 1: 3:33.8/3:32.7/3:39.3/3:33.8/3:47.5 = 18:07.1
Lap2: 3:43.8/3:42.1/3:45.6/3:32.6/3:48.4 = 18:32.5 = 36:39.6
Friday, September 11, 2009
Coker 1500m and 2000m
Well, 2 PB's (chiefly because I've never 'raced' these distances before) but I came a way feeling slightly disappointed, I guess feeling that I hadn't really applied myself particularly in the 2k. The 1500 was good although it was pretty windy last night and I think I did the last lap in about lane three because of track congestion.
53.7 / 73.6 / 76.4 / 73.1 = 4:36.8 (km split 3:04.6/1:32.2 )
The 2000m started about 25 minutes later and I guess there was still some (physical and mental) fatigue, and I think I just got the pacing wrong - I really held back in the middle 3 laps, although the km splits were even!
74.3 / 78.7 / 77.4 / 78.8 / 75.2 = 6:24.4 (km splits 3:12.2/3:12.2)
Still it was a good strength workout (which is really the main goal) and I can't expect to break new ground every week.
Recovery day Friday, Darlington long run on Saturday and Sunday I plan do do the Gwelup 10km as a hard tempo run, hopefully around 36 minutes, we'll see how that goes... thankfully the wind forecast is promising, I'm really over this wet 'n windy weather.
53.7 / 73.6 / 76.4 / 73.1 = 4:36.8 (km split 3:04.6/1:32.2 )
The 2000m started about 25 minutes later and I guess there was still some (physical and mental) fatigue, and I think I just got the pacing wrong - I really held back in the middle 3 laps, although the km splits were even!
74.3 / 78.7 / 77.4 / 78.8 / 75.2 = 6:24.4 (km splits 3:12.2/3:12.2)
Still it was a good strength workout (which is really the main goal) and I can't expect to break new ground every week.
Recovery day Friday, Darlington long run on Saturday and Sunday I plan do do the Gwelup 10km as a hard tempo run, hopefully around 36 minutes, we'll see how that goes... thankfully the wind forecast is promising, I'm really over this wet 'n windy weather.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Intervals and an Easy Run
The stadium seems to be unavailable to us plebs for the time being so we headed to McGillivray oval for the interval session. The aim was to do the same workout as last week, but because of the track restrictions these were run in lane for adding 11, 22 and 33m to the 200, 400 and 600m intervals. I wasn't particularly inspired to do this session and neither was Sas, but we got through it. Conditions were sunny but a tad windy, and it was tough on the wet grass. Still managed to crank up to the same speeds as last week...
Did the usual East Perth 13.92km @ 4:34 HR 146 Ca84 bpk 668 but went Belmont first this time. It was warm, humid and sunny so the HR was up a bit ; I think I'm having a 'tired' week as well. As usual both the coompany and the post-run coffee were very pleasant indeed.
Did the usual East Perth 13.92km @ 4:34 HR 146 Ca84 bpk 668 but went Belmont first this time. It was warm, humid and sunny so the HR was up a bit ; I think I'm having a 'tired' week as well. As usual both the coompany and the post-run coffee were very pleasant indeed.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Lazy days..
Friday did a nice recovery on the Windan/Causeway loop with the north Heirisson island loop added on. 9.39km @ 4:35 HR 144 Ca 83, 661 bpk. Weather was pleasant, but legs felt a bit tired.
Saturday ran the huggy trail from Darlington up to the GE highway and back for 22.22km @4:47 HR 146 Ca84 220m ascent, 699bpk. Sas ran this one for her first run in the hills for 5 month. Great to have her back! It was pretty nice at first (albeit very cold) but we got some icy showers and strong winds on the way down. Took it fairly easy on the way out and were 4 minutes faster coming down with lower HR average. Legs felt very fatigued (but in a good way!) when we were finished ; it was the first time I'd run that far on the trail for a while and it's quite different to the bitumen. Most of the runs have been bitumen for all but the last 6 or 7km coming down the hill again. Tried the coffee again at the bakery after hearing good (well, not quite so bad) reports, but I'm afraid it's still the worst coffee in town. At least it was warm...
Sunday was the WAMC Pancake run, but helping out with the Saturday trailer pickup and load at WAMC, Sunday delivery to KP, setup, cook pancakes, load at KP, unload at WAMC, trailer return. Takes half the weekend, but it's such a fun event I'm always happy to do it. It was a good opportunity to rake a rest day as well, the first in two weeks. Weather turned out perfect but the forecast wasn't great so numbers were own a bit. Still managed to get through about 30-40kg of pancake mix....
After a few tough weeks I was starting to feel a little fatigued so instead of the normal Monday tempo I just ran a fairly light workout through King's park on Monday morning. 8.49km at 4:32 pace HR 145, 85m ascent, 658 bpk. The conditions were just perfect and the sunrise is always a gorgeous sight over the city...
Saturday ran the huggy trail from Darlington up to the GE highway and back for 22.22km @4:47 HR 146 Ca84 220m ascent, 699bpk. Sas ran this one for her first run in the hills for 5 month. Great to have her back! It was pretty nice at first (albeit very cold) but we got some icy showers and strong winds on the way down. Took it fairly easy on the way out and were 4 minutes faster coming down with lower HR average. Legs felt very fatigued (but in a good way!) when we were finished ; it was the first time I'd run that far on the trail for a while and it's quite different to the bitumen. Most of the runs have been bitumen for all but the last 6 or 7km coming down the hill again. Tried the coffee again at the bakery after hearing good (well, not quite so bad) reports, but I'm afraid it's still the worst coffee in town. At least it was warm...
Sunday was the WAMC Pancake run, but helping out with the Saturday trailer pickup and load at WAMC, Sunday delivery to KP, setup, cook pancakes, load at KP, unload at WAMC, trailer return. Takes half the weekend, but it's such a fun event I'm always happy to do it. It was a good opportunity to rake a rest day as well, the first in two weeks. Weather turned out perfect but the forecast wasn't great so numbers were own a bit. Still managed to get through about 30-40kg of pancake mix....
After a few tough weeks I was starting to feel a little fatigued so instead of the normal Monday tempo I just ran a fairly light workout through King's park on Monday morning. 8.49km at 4:32 pace HR 145, 85m ascent, 658 bpk. The conditions were just perfect and the sunrise is always a gorgeous sight over the city...
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Easy run and Coker Park 5k PB
Wednesday ran the Maylands Garrett Rd Belmont loop for 13.91km @ 4:33, HR 143 Ca 84, 651bpk. Legs felt a little stiff and tired but the HR was good and they eased up by the time we got to the Garret Bridge. I do love the bit along the river by Belmont even though it's quite hilly. The weather was pretty good and it was a very enjoyable run finished with a coffee at Cobalt.
Thursday evening I went to Coker in absolutely perfect conditions with the aim of rolling through the 3k in ~ 10 minutes and see how long I could sustain the laps. I have been rolling thru the 3k's for a few weeks now with them being comfortably hard so I was quite confident that this would work out, but I was wary of the effect Sunday would have. The 'big clock' was at the finish line which really helped as I could keep an eye on the total time, rather than the individual lap times and just tried to keep the pace even. I managed better than I thought I could and even managed to put in a good final lap to make up most of the deficit to finish in 16:43 by my watch. The 3k split was 10:03.5.
Lap Splits:
Thursday evening I went to Coker in absolutely perfect conditions with the aim of rolling through the 3k in ~ 10 minutes and see how long I could sustain the laps. I have been rolling thru the 3k's for a few weeks now with them being comfortably hard so I was quite confident that this would work out, but I was wary of the effect Sunday would have. The 'big clock' was at the finish line which really helped as I could keep an eye on the total time, rather than the individual lap times and just tried to keep the pace even. I managed better than I thought I could and even managed to put in a good final lap to make up most of the deficit to finish in 16:43 by my watch. The 3k split was 10:03.5.
Lap Splits:
36.4 81.1 81.0 80.9 80.9 81.3 81.5 80.4 81.38 80.4 82.2 81.8 73.8 = 16:43.0
Km Splits
3:18.5 3:22.4 3:22.6 3:22.8 3:16.7
Km Splits
3:18.5 3:22.4 3:22.6 3:22.8 3:16.7
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Recovery run, Intervals and the road ahead
On Monday ran with Sas thru King's park on the 8.4km loop. It was pretty cold and my legs were a little beaten up from Sunday, but started to feel OK by the end, so I'm glad I did it. Went downhill first and my legs were feeling pretty stiff and non-responsive by the bottom of the hill at Poole Ave (just after passing thru 'the freezer' around Zamia). Then we headed up the Law walk and it was a bit of an effort but the sunrise over the hills just as we came up took the mind off it - what a glorious morning!
Tuesday, I went down to the new aths stadium for a mid-level tough workout. The bad news is that we were informed that it will no longer be open for general admission in the mornings because they aren't getting the numbers, which pretty much sucks. I'm not surprised they don't get the numbers because 7am opening is just too late for most people who work... we'll see what happens.
Did a pyramid with fairly short breaks: 4x200;3x400;2x600;2x400;4x200, 4.4km of effort. It felt like hard work (I guess it's supposed to...), especially the 600s. The wind started to whip up mid-session which didn't help, but the times were fairly consistent and I PB'd on my last 200, so there's a high point. Ah, the little things....
36.0 35.7 33.8 34.6
72.7 72.0
1:55.4 1:55.8
73.2 71.8
35.6 33.6 34.6 31.4
Where to now? I found on Sunday that although the pace was consistent andI felt strong on the hills, stamina was an issue, so that's something to work on.
I reckon that until I stop seeing big improvements in the 5k I should keep going with those, but throw in a 10k race here and there. Probably do the 5k at the Freo HM, and at the Freo fun run, and the 10k at Rottnest. The road races is where the competition is at so I definitely look forward to that - and there seem to be a good few strong runners doing these at the moment - 16:52 at Lake Joondalup was only good enough for 9th place ; that's healthy competition!
The track on Thursday is good, but it's a shame there isn't any competition to push my effort up to another level. This may change as we hit summer, and there's a Master championship in Sydney soon that may see more numbers out there.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
City to Surf 12k - 43:32
Fantastic conditions for running today ; but it was a tough day at the office. I suspected that my endurance over distance would be a factor and so it was. I pretty much ran out of juice when I hit West Coast highway for the looong finishing straight - tough finish. I think my 10k split was 36 flat, judging by the Garmin beeps around me.
I ran a consistent pace I think (hard to judge, no k markers out there) and was only passed by two people (one being Sarah Jameson, so that's OK...). Ran well up the hills and picked up a lot of places there. Disappointing not to find a group to run with, but it worked well picking off runners ahead. The course was a bit better this year going down Hay on the left side the whole way to Perry Lakes ( map ), but it was 90m long by MapMyRun, which is pretty accurate. Such is life.
Crowd support today was definitely a step up on years past, although the way the finish was done - on different sides of the road separated by the median strip - made it hard for spectators to cheer in runners in the 12 and the marathon. Maybe it's because I did the 12 but the marathon seemed a little like a non-event - not too many of the 12k runners were supporting the marathoners as they headed up past Esplanade station which was very dissapointing. There were more people handing out water than spectators, and this was the leaders!
The start seemed better handled this year, but reports I have heard suggest that the clothing drop off and pickup was a fiasco. I didn't use the service, but I'm sure Biscuitman will have more to say on that subject. Not having km markers was a shocking oversight especially for the marathon and half marathon. Apparantly the women's winner went the wrong way because she thought she had to go on Perry Lakes Dr. Losing your lead woman in a race is pretty inexcusable too....
I ran a consistent pace I think (hard to judge, no k markers out there) and was only passed by two people (one being Sarah Jameson, so that's OK...). Ran well up the hills and picked up a lot of places there. Disappointing not to find a group to run with, but it worked well picking off runners ahead. The course was a bit better this year going down Hay on the left side the whole way to Perry Lakes ( map ), but it was 90m long by MapMyRun, which is pretty accurate. Such is life.
Crowd support today was definitely a step up on years past, although the way the finish was done - on different sides of the road separated by the median strip - made it hard for spectators to cheer in runners in the 12 and the marathon. Maybe it's because I did the 12 but the marathon seemed a little like a non-event - not too many of the 12k runners were supporting the marathoners as they headed up past Esplanade station which was very dissapointing. There were more people handing out water than spectators, and this was the leaders!
The start seemed better handled this year, but reports I have heard suggest that the clothing drop off and pickup was a fiasco. I didn't use the service, but I'm sure Biscuitman will have more to say on that subject. Not having km markers was a shocking oversight especially for the marathon and half marathon. Apparantly the women's winner went the wrong way because she thought she had to go on Perry Lakes Dr. Losing your lead woman in a race is pretty inexcusable too....
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Looking to the C2S 12k
Did a couple of easy runs, 9k yesterday at 4:39 HR 138 and 5k today at 4:46 HR 141 (?!). Todays was a bit of a taper run (as in, seemed a little hard for what it was) - I guess it was cold and I just rolled out of bed and did it without even having a cup of tea.
Looking forward to tomorrow, the weathers going to be great, the atmosphere electric and looking for some good performances from fellow bloggers ; I hope you all have a great day. They say you should have three targets, so here are mine - 44, 43, 42 depending on how good a day it is. I really just want to have fun.... too bad we won't be done in time to watch the marathon come in. I plan to be at the finish though when epi rolls in for his 2:xx:xx, easy as you like ....
Looking forward to tomorrow, the weathers going to be great, the atmosphere electric and looking for some good performances from fellow bloggers ; I hope you all have a great day. They say you should have three targets, so here are mine - 44, 43, 42 depending on how good a day it is. I really just want to have fun.... too bad we won't be done in time to watch the marathon come in. I plan to be at the finish though when epi rolls in for his 2:xx:xx, easy as you like ....
Friday, August 28, 2009
Coker Mile and 3k
The plan tonight was to race the mile and roll through the 3k comfortably hard. Conditions were cool and dry with a bit of wind coming into the home straight. Tonight we had the big clock at the finish (and we finished at the finish line not the 100m mark!) which makes a big difference. One thing I've noticed about coker is that it's tough on the throat when the air is a little dry - there must be something in the surface that irritates the airways a bit.
Mile went well - 72.5 for the first 409m, then 74.8, 76.1 and 72.7 to come in at 4:56.1 which I'm pretty happy with.
Hung around for a bit and before I knew it the 3k was upon us ; I hadn't really done any warmup but I was only going to roll though it so not to concerned. Ran the 200-600 really soft (84 seconds) so spent the rest of the run trying to pull that back because I wanted to run just under not just over 10 minutes for a change. Had to put in a quick last lap to make it ; it was an interesting way to run a 3k, not one I'd really recommend. I probably did it a little harder than I'd like but the HR average was 4-6 beats lower than the last two '10minute' 3k's.
Mile went well - 72.5 for the first 409m, then 74.8, 76.1 and 72.7 to come in at 4:56.1 which I'm pretty happy with.
Splits were 40.3 83.8 79.9 81.3 80.6 79.3 80.0 72.1 = 9:57.3 (3:24 3:21.5 3:11.8)
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Easy run
13.92km @4:41 HR 140 Ca83 656bpk 18°C 54% S6/9. Did the Garret Rd bridge from E.Perth going Maylands first and coming back on the Belmont side, just to keep things interesting (map). Beautiful day, bright, sunny and not a lot of wind. The air was pretty cool for most of it but it did start to warm up towards the end.
Looking forward to running a hard mile at Coker Park tomorrow, and then roll through the 3k, should be a good tune up this Sunday. I'm mostly concerned about my endurance for the 12k having only raced 3's and 5's recently but I think the tempo running should have helped, not to mention the excellent Wally Cairns run on Sunday.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Light Intervals
Had a day off yesterday which was the first day off for two weeks. This morning I headed to the track to do some 1km reps at 12k pace with 90 second rest just to tune up for the weekend. It was a beautiful, crisp sunny morning without any wind at all, and the intervals were a pleasure to do. By the time I'd done the fifth I was tempted to do some more because I was still feeling pretty good, but held off, think there wouldn't be any real benefit for Sunday. Average HR for these was in the mid 160's, cadence 90/91. A good workout, I almost feel like I cheated myself, because I'm not even vaguely smashed like I am usually.
Splits: 3:39 3:36 3:37 3:37 3:36
When I got home I ran Zoe (the dog) to the park walked around the park a bit and ran her home again. Quite a good recovery session really, although she has a fair turn of pace when she gets excited!
Splits: 3:39 3:36 3:37 3:37 3:36
When I got home I ran Zoe (the dog) to the park walked around the park a bit and ran her home again. Quite a good recovery session really, although she has a fair turn of pace when she gets excited!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Easy run, Long run and Tempo Race (Wally Cairns XC)
Friday did a nice recovery run with Sas, 9.3km @ 4:45, HR 135 642bpk. Ran the extended causeway loop from East Perth, along the Perth Marathon course to the Windan, then a loop of Heirisson Island and back to Royal St. Bit of a headwind (should have gone the other way!) on the Burswood side but no rain, and a lovely run.
Saturday, ran with Sas on the Garret Rd Maylands Ascot Loop with a bit extra thru E.Perth to make it 17.69km @ 4:44 pace (HR 140, 662bpk), the furthest she has run for 4 months. Seemed to pull up very well too so that's great news. We got a little wet and blown around for the first 5k or so but it was prety good conditions after that.
Sunday I did the WAMC Wally Cairns XC 10k (map), another foray out of my comfort zone. This is a challenging run on fairly soft sandy track with a fair bit of hill (~75m per lap) thrown in for good measure. My goal was to run fairly hard but leave something in the tank for next weekend, so a ran a hard first 5k (18:04 ) and eased up in the second lap (19:52). My quads were really burning by the time I got to the top of the hill the second lap, so I was happy to ease off a little, recover, and bomb down the trail again. The footing was much softer coming down the hill so I was glad the course was in the direction it was. Going up that way would have been murder. I found myself coming second by the time I got to the top of the hill on the first lap and never saw another soul after the guy just behind finished at the 5k. Just as well I was there, he was about to head off up Lovekin Dr instead of continuing on the trail! He took a few shortcuts on the bit around Zamia as well... The guy who won the 15k was miles ahead and I was a fair way ahead of the next runner. Finished in 37:57 (I think I was the first home in the 10k), so a good result.
Saturday, ran with Sas on the Garret Rd Maylands Ascot Loop with a bit extra thru E.Perth to make it 17.69km @ 4:44 pace (HR 140, 662bpk), the furthest she has run for 4 months. Seemed to pull up very well too so that's great news. We got a little wet and blown around for the first 5k or so but it was prety good conditions after that.
Sunday I did the WAMC Wally Cairns XC 10k (map), another foray out of my comfort zone. This is a challenging run on fairly soft sandy track with a fair bit of hill (~75m per lap) thrown in for good measure. My goal was to run fairly hard but leave something in the tank for next weekend, so a ran a hard first 5k (18:04 ) and eased up in the second lap (19:52). My quads were really burning by the time I got to the top of the hill the second lap, so I was happy to ease off a little, recover, and bomb down the trail again. The footing was much softer coming down the hill so I was glad the course was in the direction it was. Going up that way would have been murder. I found myself coming second by the time I got to the top of the hill on the first lap and never saw another soul after the guy just behind finished at the 5k. Just as well I was there, he was about to head off up Lovekin Dr instead of continuing on the trail! He took a few shortcuts on the bit around Zamia as well... The guy who won the 15k was miles ahead and I was a fair way ahead of the next runner. Finished in 37:57 (I think I was the first home in the 10k), so a good result.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Easy Run and Coker Park Session
Wednesday had a nice easy run with Sas from E.Perth up past Ascot to the Garrett Rd bridge and back down the Maylands side, doing 13.92km @4:38 pace HR141 Ca83 bpk653. Felt nice and relaxed on this one.
Thursday evening I did the 1000m flat out, the 3k at 5kpace and the 600m flat out. I was going to do the 200 as well but felt a little tender in the left hammy immediately after the 3k so gave it a miss. Didn't feel it again, but I thought I'd be sensible for a change! Had a good night and did lots of laps before, in-between and after to keep warm. It wasn't too windy but there was a soaking rain all evening.
I ran the 1000m in the Osaka spikes, but changed them afterwards because I didn't feel too in control around the corners on the wet track ; I felt the the heel was slipping outwards, so I had to be a little careful. I also felt like I went lactic almost immediately so it was a tough race, and I had a guy just behind for the first 700m or so giving me the hurry-up. It felt very satisfying to crack the 3 minute mark.
Splits: 33.4 35.2 35.9 36.7 37.1 = 2:58.3 HR173
The 3000m I just rolled through fairly relaxed and comfortable. There were occasions where I had to overtake in about lane 4, so I'm happy that this was very close to 3:20 pace. I knew I was a little behind at the last lap so pushed a bit.
39.0 80.9 82.1 81.5 80.5 82.9 80.1 76.0 = 10:03.0 HR177 (3:22, 3:23.4, 3:17.5)
The 600m was something a little out of my comfort zone but fun to do. by this stage I'd done a bit of running, but I still managed to get something out of the bag even if I was fading fast!
32.6 35.2 34.6 = 1:42.4 HR 166 ( 2:50 pace)
All up tonight I did about 12k with some good efforts in there ; pretty happy with that.
Thursday evening I did the 1000m flat out, the 3k at 5kpace and the 600m flat out. I was going to do the 200 as well but felt a little tender in the left hammy immediately after the 3k so gave it a miss. Didn't feel it again, but I thought I'd be sensible for a change! Had a good night and did lots of laps before, in-between and after to keep warm. It wasn't too windy but there was a soaking rain all evening.
I ran the 1000m in the Osaka spikes, but changed them afterwards because I didn't feel too in control around the corners on the wet track ; I felt the the heel was slipping outwards, so I had to be a little careful. I also felt like I went lactic almost immediately so it was a tough race, and I had a guy just behind for the first 700m or so giving me the hurry-up. It felt very satisfying to crack the 3 minute mark.
Splits: 33.4 35.2 35.9 36.7 37.1 = 2:58.3 HR173
The 3000m I just rolled through fairly relaxed and comfortable. There were occasions where I had to overtake in about lane 4, so I'm happy that this was very close to 3:20 pace. I knew I was a little behind at the last lap so pushed a bit.
39.0 80.9 82.1 81.5 80.5 82.9 80.1 76.0 = 10:03.0 HR177 (3:22, 3:23.4, 3:17.5)
The 600m was something a little out of my comfort zone but fun to do. by this stage I'd done a bit of running, but I still managed to get something out of the bag even if I was fading fast!
32.6 35.2 34.6 = 1:42.4 HR 166 ( 2:50 pace)
All up tonight I did about 12k with some good efforts in there ; pretty happy with that.
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