Week of 16/2 ; 9 weeks to go

Easy week this week ; time to recover before the final push to the taper. No run Wednesday, short Thursday am, no Thursday pm run and 2hr long run on Sat. Should end up at around 90k.

Monday: 40 minutes tempo @ 3:56 pace HR 169 Ca 90 21° 87% SSW20/24. Ran the 14.1k bridges loop  clockwise from Mends St - 2k warmup then 40 minutes tempo and then cool down. The tempo part went fairly well, esp. the first 30 minutes but the legs started to fatigue towards the end into the headwind coming back to South Perth. Again didn't eat anything beforehand, just the green tea. I have a sense of relief that it went as well as it did which confirms that the average run on Saturday was down to overdoing it on Thursday and not down to (long term) overtraining - a rest week should help things no end.

Tuesday am: 9.6km easy @4:43  Ca85 16°76% S19/26. For the first time in a while I can say 'a beautiful morning for running'. It really was. I was annoyed that I left my HR belt behind this am because I really wanted to know my recovery state. I felt pretty good once I'd warmed up and ran pretty easy the whole way, but the calf is excruciating to start with. I'm trying to avoid taking anti-inflams because I have read a lot of research saying that they hinder muscle tendon and ligament repair; they also upset my gut. If I take one, the pain disappears, so it's very tempting.

Tuesday pm: WAMC Intervals 25° 55% SSW35/54. Whistle session today ( 2min; 60sec JR) x2, (1:30; 60s JR) x 2, (1:00 ; 60s JR) x2, (30s ; 30s JR) x4 - 11 minutes of effort and 7:30 of JR. A good session in pretty windy conditions but it wasn't too hot. Covered just shy of 4.8k in the 18:30 time, so fairly happy with that. It was tough going, but then, that's why we go.... got blown off the track by Epi who is travelling really well at the moment - and will go sub 3 easily at Canberra. All up 8.5km.

Thursday: 13.28km Easy @4:24 HR 158 Ca 85 17° 61% E20/30. Horror run. No other words really. Felt like I was running on one leg, with fairly painfull tendonitis at both ends of the Tibialis anterior, and twinges elsewhere. I have heard that your brain tends to magnify things when they're bad, and it was certainly doing that today! HR was ridiculous ; hills that I normally sail up were really tough. I did have this experience once last year when I had some musle pain somewhere else and the HR was 15-20 beats off. Partially adrenaline probably and partially the fact that one leg was doing all the work! Anyhow, no run later today or tomorrow, going to KD this afternoon for what is hopefully a very painful massage that will help me get through this - it usually does.

Thurday pm: Massage ... ouch. The good news is that the right calf was just a mass of extremely tight and spasmed muscles ; the left wasn't all that hot either, not to mention the massive knot in the left hamstring (where did that come from!?). No 'injury' as such, but just need stretching, massage and a few voltaren to get me through. Note to self: regular sports massage when I upped the mileage would probably have meant I never got to this point. Stupid, stupid, stupid... a valuable lesson learned though.

Saturday: 23.4km @ 4:39 HR 162 Ca85 20° 40% E24/35. Caught up with Sas and Biscuitman for the extended park Rd run (map). Another bad one. I knew I was in trouble when the HR running down the hill to Midland was over 150. The leg wasn't too bad, I just felt a bit out of sorts. The feeling got worse through the run and I really started to suffer once we got to the top of the hill on Park Rd. I should be cruising at that point and the HR was huge and it was a struggle to keep moving to the point where I wondered if I was going to be able to finish. Having good company certainly helped - if i'd been on my own I would have started walking. Very disappointing because I was really looking forward to it. Did the same run 4 weeks ago with an HR of 142 albeit a few seconds slower. Still (at 4pm) feel crappy and very tired with headache which the Panadol should deal with any minute now....

No run Sunday, ended up being about 70k this week. Taking Sunday and Monday off to try and get over whatever malaise is dragging my ass to the floor; Berocca will be my friend for the next week or two. I suspect a mix of overtraining and viral infection is the problem - #1 probably allowed #2 in the door. Will also miss intervals Tuesday afternoon. On the plus side, a few days rest will help the calf problem. I have been starting to dread even easy running because of the initial pain....

Week of 9/2 ; 10 weeks to go

Back to business this week with a longer tempo and mid-week long run. Not that it makes that much difference to the kms but should have helped with the recovery. Apparently I did 128k last week... this is out of control! I'm thinking the mileage will peak at around 135km in this program. Assuming I make it to the start line I'll be in the best shape of my life!

Monday: 12.9km Tempo @ 3:55 HR169 Ca90 18° 57% E19/28. Ran up the freeway to Swan Bells and back to minimise effect of wind - ended up with a bit of a headwind on the way back which made it tougher but at least there was a cooling effect. Reasonable run, although felt a struggle the whole way, again with good and bad sections. Definitely some residual fatigue from a pretty big 52Km weekend - didn't eat anything beforehand, just the green tea. I'll have to add the sustagen or try that 'up and go' stuff for these, esp in the high mileage weeks. Tempo section was a little over 50 minutes with 2k warmup and cooldowns.  Good news is that I have a very easy recovery tomorrow and Wednesday to recover. I will also be taking it easy at intervals tomorrow afternoon so as not to flare up the calf, which behaved itself today - didn't feel nearly as stiff and sore. All up 17km today.

Tuesday am: 9.59km @ 4:42 HR 140 Ca85 20° 58% E28/35. Ran the bridges loop from Mends St ; a little windy going out pushed the HR up a bit although it was very pleasant trotting along the Perth foreshore with a tailwind at our backs. Nice cool morning and reasonable run. Sore leg blah blah blah felt ok at the end. Made the decision  to have an easy week next week, dropping some doubles and possibly Wednesday too, and then have the big mileage push until the taper, with maybe one other easy week thrown in...

Tuesday pm: WAMC Intervals 32° 30% SSW19/26. 3x500 ; JR+90sec ; 3x400 ; 90sec SR ; 3x300 ; JR+60sec. Fairly short session in relatively hot conditions, although the wind wasn't really a factor for once. Found the going very tough beyond 150m or so of each rep and had to dig deeper and deeper to maintain the speed in the session - I think my anaerobic efficiency is being lost to the aerobic improvements in the training. Maybe that or the 78km since Saturday morning had me little tired this evening... times were 97, 92, 92, 73, 73, 74, 54, 53, 52.

Wednesday: 12k Easy @ 4:45 HR 139 Ca84 24° 34% ENE22/30. Nice easy run with Sandgroper, Sas and Original Simon from E.Perth around the Maylands Peninsular and back. Pretty warm with a warm wind right from the start, but I think it actually got cooler as we finished around sunrise. Pleasant company, pleasant run and didn't feel as fatigued as expected, esp. seeing as I need a tractor to drag me out of bed when the alarm went off... went for an hour bike ride late morning to consolidate the recovery.

Thursday am: 18km easy @ 4:23 pace HR 154 Ca86 25°28% NE24/32. Tough run this morning (Sas's MP run) along Mounts Bay then a couple of loops of the park before returning down Malcolm to Mends St. Very warm and dry - pretty uncomfortable conditions - we stopped for water after 10k which is unusual (I was having toilet issues ; felt pretty average since drinking some of that Cafe au Lait from Bannister Farms yesterday afternoon - not pleasant!). By the time I was finished my clothes were dry as though I hadn't sweated at all but I've never felt dehydration that badly in my mouth. Sas's HR was excellent - she beat me again... it's usually at this point in the program that I suggest we switch goals ;-)

Thursday pm: 14.1km MP @ 4:07 HR 162 Ca87 32° 30% S26/37. Anothother toughie from Taylor St clockwise around the Perth bridges - felt OK for most of it and am starting to manage the pace a bit better. Made the foolish decision at the Causeway to continue through E.Perth for an extra 5k. Things got tough heading back south from the Windan bridge into the wind where the residual fatigue really hit home ; it felt like I was in the final few k's of the marathon. Got through it though (as you do) and was able to pick up the pace again when I got closer to the Causeway. Felt completely smashed afterwards. Rest day tomorrow, and then choo-choo run on Saturday.

Saturday: 39.26km Long @ 4:55 HR 148 Ca84 19° 80% SE33/54. Choo Choo run (map). Pretty exciting morning dawned for the choo choo run. Conditions were OK temperature-wise but the wind was a bit of a bit of a bugger esp. at first with the relatively steep climb for the first 6k or so. Some of the footing was very soft, varying from sandy, rocky, pebble-gravelly to very good dirt road and bitumen. From about 12k on my legs felt like they had no power at all and any hint of a hill had me eating Sas & Sandgroper's dust ( I probably should have eaten more, only having a banana and a cup of green tea). I struggled through most of the run but it was a good mental test and I think I actually enjoyed it. I'm really looking forward to a very easy week next week - the legs need it.

Sunday: 10km Recovery @ 5:26 HR 135 Ca 83 17° 97% WNW4/7. Paced Kim for her 10k race but her asthma played up something terrible so wasn't really able to maintain a pace. She gutsed it out though so kudos to her for that ; it would have been soooo easy to pull out. I'm not used to running at that pace and with the 'injury' ended up being in a fair bit of discomfort in the right lower leg for the whole thing.

In summary, this was another good 128k week, but fatigue is probably creeping up on me and I know I overdid it on Thursday with the second 14 in the afternoon. Live and learn. Anyhow, next week will be an easy week with a couple of runs cut and a shorter long run with the aim of doing about 90k.

Week of 2/2 ; 11 weeks to go

Time to lower the mileage - shorter tempo, shorter mid week LR, shorter recoveries. Ran 487km in January which is a massive month for me ; like I said I may be paying the price with the calf soreness. Booked the flights the other day and got a great deal with Malaysian. In other good news, my company approved the business end of the trip so the week's stay in Philadelphia before the marathon is now officially a work week, but it also means they'll pay for transport, meals and hotel....

Monday: 7.82Km tempo @ 3:50 HR 168 Ca88 26° 84%RH SE6/9. Short tempo run on Matilda Bay paths. Will this humidity ever end ? It was very warm this morning considering  we started and were finished before sunrise. It was tough going at first ( I guess I had a tough weekend with the long run and probably 11 hours in the car all up), but it got better. Had a slight issue when I noticed the path was closed and I couldn't just go around the fence because of a 100m line of limestone blocks blocking the way onto the grass! Anyhow the run got better as I went on and finished pretty strongly feeling pretty good - I was cracking on a bit to make up for the slower start. All up 11.75km. Calf still a little sore...

Tuesday am: 9.59km recovery @ 4:42 HR 139 Ca 85 22° 93%RH SSE9/15. Another oppressive morning - very strange weather with misty clouds halfway up the Bankwest tower, quite beautiful towards the end with the sun breaking through and all the boats on the river - if it wasn't so freaking hot! Nice easy run around the Perth bridges with Sas - right calf still giving me problems. It's not sore as such but there is an achy feeling - possibly bruising from all the massage! I'll go to the physio if it doesn't improve soon. We'll see how it goes at intervals tonight...

Tuesday pm: WAMC Intervals. 3 x 1600m with 3:30 SR 25° 72%RH. Aim of the session was to increase the pace slightly over each. I usually find this kind of session less painful than the others and tonight was no exception. Decreased the lap average from 1:23.3 to 1:22.4 to 1:21.4 which was the goal. Times were 5:33.1, 5:29.7 and 5:25.6. The calf unfortunately behaved as expected and got a little tender and sore after the session, although it was fine in the warmup. Icing as I write this. Last time physio didn't really help ; I know what the issue is and will have to try and manage it as best I can. All up 9.6km.

Wednesday: 12.01 Recovery @ 4:43 HR 136 Ca 84 21° 73%RH S17/20. Ran E.Perth around Maylands Peninsula and back (map) with Sandgroper. Turned out lovely and cool this morning with the humidity finally dropping to manageable levels. Replaced the 3/4 length 6mm heel lift with the 1/4 length 4mm one in an effort to calm the calf down. Iced afterwards and it's not feeling too bad. Tomorrow's double will be a test because they are both pretty hard runs. Went for an hour cycle late morning.

Thursday am: 16.65km Easy @ 4:24 HR 141 Ca 86 18° 58%RH ESE20/28. Ran Mends St to UWA up the west perimeter path of KP, looped back along May Dr and back past Sticky beaks, then down Malcolm to Mends St. Lovely conditions this morning, including a helpful easterly for the run down to UWA. Didn't feel as cool as it should have but compared to the last ten days it was literally a breath of fresh air. Had a good run, the right calf soreness notwithstanding, and Sas had a good one too ; very happy about that. Seems the big weeks are agreeing with her - we're well on track for Boston.

Thursday pm: 9.59km MP @ 4:03 HR 159 Ca 87 26° 45%RH SSW43/52. Ran the bridges loop from Taylor St on a warm and windy afternoon. Elected to go towards the Narrows first to minimise the headwind. Was a bit worried about the calf before I started but in the end it was fine - going to the physio tomorrow anyway. Felt very good and only really felt the need to push in the last bit from the causeway back to Taylor St because of the strong wind. Again a bit quick, but I seem to be slotting into this pace pretty naturally.

Friday: Went to see my physio for a bit of massage and dry needling. Got some good twitches from the needles so hopefully with the day of rest things should start to improve. That's probably hopelessly optimistic... that pipelines gonna be fun tomorrow!

Saturday am: 33.23km Long run @ 4:43 HR 144 Ca84 12° 73%RH S17/24. Ran the pipeline (map) on an absolutely beautiful morning with S & S. Right calf was reeeaaally stiff at the start but it loosened up after  couple of k's - it definitely felt better going up than down but I'd all but forgotten about it coming down from Mundaring. Definitely did not feel as trashed on the run as last week and felt it was much easier than the last time I went out on the pipeline. It's a challenging run with a lot of ups and downs - around 450m of elevation gain I reckon. Stopped once at Fred Jacoby park for a gel and some water and again at Mundaring. Could probably lose the Jacoby one and take the gel on the go ; in my current delicate condition it's tough getting going again ; I felt fantastic just before I stopped.... and there's little point in carrying a water bottle for 33k if you're only going to drink at water taps! Looking forward to doing the choo-choo run next week (as featured in the Oct '07 edition of R4YL) , when another S may join us!

Saturday pm: 8k recovery @ 4:49 HR 141 Ca 82 24° 41%RH SSW36/46. Wow, that was interesting. Very tough to start with, although it did get easier. Happened upon Sas with 2.5km to go - having some company made it a little easier! Pretty warm (24) and windy (SSW35/46), not terrible but enough to make a hard run a little harder. The benefits of this workout are well publicised - looking forward to that because it's not an easy thing to do, so the payoff better be good!

Sunday 1pm: 10.5km recovery @ 4:39 HR146 Ca84 29° 26%RH ESE22/32. Decided to go out early to maximise recovery for tomorrow's tempo. Pretty hot and a little windy on the way home. Had real ups and downs on this run ; felt great and then felt really lousy, then felt good again... the good news is that for the last 3 k or so I couldn't feel any discomfort in the left leg - although it was very niggly at the start.

In summary, a good week with higher mileage than intended (128km!) because of the additional Saturday pm run and a longish recovery on Wednesday. The calf didn't get any worse, which is good and the fatigue levels are holding OK. I still have 'fresh' days and good runs which means the body seems to be handling things well for the time being - the HR and running economy indexes are also improving. Some runs feel tougher than the indicated HR, but thats fine. I just need to keep an eye on things and be honest with myself - this is the 5th 100km week in a row averaging just under 110.

Week of 26/1 ; 12 weeks to go

First long run planned for this week - 34k up to Mt Helena, up Brooking road and back; exciting times... first run over 30k since the Perth marathon last year!

Monday: 12.72km tempo @ 3:58 pace HR 171 Ca87. Damn that was tough. Conditions were pretty nasty - pretty warm and sunny, little wind and 90% humidity. This was a 50 minute tempo run with 2k warmup and cooldown from Trigg to Hillarys (Flinders ave carpk) and return. So a hilly course as well - I was feeling pretty good until I got to the boat harbour and once I got to path in the beach reserve the oxygen just seemed to have been sucked out of the air. So - I enjoyed the first 15 minutes or so but the last 35 were a battle. Once finished I could have filled a glass by wringing out my shirt. Compared to last week, 6 seconds slower per km and 4 beats higher. I look forward to a nice gentle recovery run tomorrow.... all up 17 km today.

Tuesday am: 9.59km Recovery @ 4:39 pace HR 134 Ca84. Ran the bridges today for a nice change ; I figured yesterday's tempo had enough hills in it, so a nice flat recovery was in order. Took the opportunity to survey the carnage left by the Oz day revellers. There were lots of happy seagulls, and I'll bet the sales of bike puncture repair kits spikes this week with all the glass lying around from smashed beer bottles. Anyway, had a very pleasant run, in comfortable cool conditions with a surprisingly low HR.

Tuesday pm: WAMC Intervals. 2x200;JR ;2x300;JR+30s ;2x400;90s; 2x500;JR+90s; 2x600;JR+90s. Pretty hot and very humid plus the shorter recoveries made for a tough but rewarding session. The last 100m or so of the 5 and 600m reps my legs felt pretty drained. 

36, 38, 57, 56, 75, 72, 95, 95, 117, 117

All up 8.6k. On a side note it was great to see Slippery out there on the comeback trail and feeling good after his knee operation.

Wednesday: 10.04k recovery @ 4:51 HR 139 Ca 81. Ran from home around the river to Applecross and back. Still warm and humid, but it's much easier at this effort level! Had a bit of a race with a running group up and over Heathcote - I just can't supress my inner wanker... Had same discomfort towards the end in the right calf just behind the bone ; the same area where I had the issues with the heel lift last year. It may be down to the last few runs in the Inspires - it's possible they aren't quite right for me. Back to the Nirvanas for a few days and see how it goes ; may end up at my trusty physio for the first time in 8 months... fingers crossed. Went for a one hour bike ride late morning. 

Thursday am: 18k easy @ 4:26 HR 152 Ca 84. Mends St along Mounts Bay to UWA into a fairly stiff wind, up the western perimeter of KP past Sticky Beaks to Fraser Ave, up Fraser, down Lovekin to Goanna path back past Sticky Beaks to Fraser Ave for an extra 5k loop, down Malcom and back to Mends. Still warm and humid but a bit more comfortable this morning. I guess I'm getting used to it. Legs were a little stiff at the start but loosened up ; I was a little woried about the calf but it loosened up once we got to the park and didn't trouble me again. Usually going down Malcolm is a big test (and was agony when i had the calf problem before) but it was good today. Finished nice and strong. Sas had a good HR ; I think her recovery is now on track and will finish the training strong and blitz Boston.

Thurday pm: 12.15km MP @ 4:03 HR 159 Ca 86. Much better pacing but still too quick. Tried to control using the 4/3 breathing and was becoming more successful towards the end of the run - I ran the last 6 in 24:37  which is just under 4:08 pace which is what I'm aiming for. By the time April comes around I should have got this right! Ran from home down to Applecross on the river path and return. It was cloudy and cool all afternoon with no wind until about five minutes before I stepped out the door when the sun came out and the sea 'breeze' whipped up. Not too bad conditions though and I felt I was running strong into the wind. A good run, and I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow....

Saturday: 33.51km Long @ 4:38 HR 152 Ca 84. Ran with S & S up the trail from Darlington to Mt. Helena, down the trail and up Brooking Rd, then down Bailey Rd back to the trail and down to Darlington. First real long run in a while and it felt tough, esp. the middle section from Mt Helena to the top of Brooking. It was pretty hot and humid  and the body was struggling a bit to cope. Took a gel at Mt Helena whcih was yummy but I don't think made much difference, and then another at the top of Brooking - that one really hit the spot! Started to accelerate down the hill as the HR started to climb - I thought I might as well do a 'fast finish' long run, as the HR wasn't really going down when I slowed...  leg was a little sore going up but it calmed down.

Sunday: 7.8km Rec @ 4:57 HR 136 Ca 84. Down in Denmark to look at some property so ran from the Chalet on Ocean Beach rd down the Denmark Nornalup trail to the mouth of the Denmark river and back. A little hilly for a recovery and I felt reeeaaally stiff for the first k or so but loosened up. Very humid but enjoyable.

All in all a good week's training ; around 120k, but I may be paying the price with the sore calf muscle. It's a stabiliser so it's not a major issue ('ve seen it before) - I'm being a baby because i've run pain free for so long, I'd forgotten what is like to have a niggle. This one can be a little nasty though... next week I'll drop the total mileagebefore ramping up again.