Long time, no blog ....

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.

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.

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=16940

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=16994

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/23/phys-ed-can-vitamin-d-improve-your-athletic-performance/

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.

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.

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...

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....

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.

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!

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.

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