Easy run

12.86km @ 4:36 HR 152 ca 84, 18°C 50% NE13/20. Felt a little tired after the intervals session so headed out just before lunch for an easy run up to the Narrows and back. Feel like I'm getting a bit of endurance back, but the HR still climbs steadily through the run. Enjoyed it and spent a few k's watching a pair of soaring pelicans as they decided on the best spot to go fishing. I was also pleasantly surprised how few gu packets and bottles there were lying around after the marathon and relay on Sunday.

First intervals session since 24 March..

...and as such I wasn't expecting much ; arrived early and had a quick chat to JK before setting off on a fairly extended warmup (for me) - 25 minutes. Halfway through it started raining so by the time I got back from my loop of the Perry Lakes parklands, I was pretty soggy. Put my bag in the car and changed into the baby blues for the session. Did a few more laps and then we did the high knees and butt kicks and run-thrus. I realised from the drills videos that I've been doing the butt kicks wrong all along, and rectified that tonight.

The session was 4x600 with JR and 90 sec rest, 4 x 400 + 90 secs, 4x200 with JR. Turned out there weren't any rabbits there so that honour fell to me. I realised this after the first two 600s which were a little too comfortable. Probably worked as it put a bit more pressure on and I did a good hard session. Splits were

600m: 113, 116, 109, 111

400m: 74, 71, 72, 72

200m: 34, 36, 36, 36

Pretty constant speed for each distance, averaging 19.6km/h ( 3:03 min/km) over the session, 15:42 in the max zone (HR 177 & up). Gotta be happy with that for the first time back. It makes a big difference not having 130km in your legs for these!

Perth Relay Marathon

It was good just to get out there and support the marathon runners. It was a beautiful day, just perfect conditions for running, if a little warm. Saw Epi, Clown and TB out there, I hope their days turned out well. I was running the relay (3rd leg) with Biscuitman busting a good 55:15 for the first leg to put us in third ; Sandgroper took over and delivered the wristband to me still in third, with 4th in hot pursuit. I think I ran the third leg (measured at 9.44 on MapMyRun!) at about 3:45 pace which I'm pretty happy with. It was tough running hard for that long! I think I came in about 5-6 minutes ahead of 4th to give Pete a good crack at bringing home the bacon. I think our final time was about 2:53 - anyhow we were 3rd, and got a medal and a $50 Asics voucher for our troubles....

Special mention must go to Kim who battled bravely all day to finish her 3rd marathon. Her preparation hasn't been ideal, culminating in being skittled by a couple of dogs at the park a few weeks ago. I ran in with her from the 33km mark at it was good to be able to support. I'm proud of how she pushed through all the pain to finish....

Ended up doing about 20k today.

Comisserations to Epi and Clown who both had tough days, but still hit some good PB's. Marathon running's tough enough when you're having a good day, and it takes a lot of guts and strength of character to push through when you're having a bad one. Well done guys, you'll cherish the sub-3 all the more when it happens.

Also to TB, the same thoughts apply, kudos to you for gutsing out a bad day.

Easy run

Beautiful day on friday and I knew I wasn't going out Saturday because of the relay on Sunday, so I decided to go out for a medium distance run - I ended up going up to the Narrows, under and back over and back for 14.89km @4:33 pace HR 153 Ca84. Good HR for a change, I was really happy with how I felt on this one. For the first time in a couple of years I ran with music, but I spent most of the time tuning it out....

Coker Park 3000m : 10:06.7

Perfect conditions again tonight and I had a pretty good run. Sandgroper was there for some company and ran pretty well too. Never quite hit the consistent 80 second laps that were required.

Lap splits: 39, 82, 80, 82, 81, 82, 82, 78

Beat the McMillan prediction by 4 seconds based on last week's 5k, so that's (a little) progress. It's 8 seconds off my PB, but that was run in much tougher conditions but I guess with a bit more chasing/being chased. Next week there's a 1km and a 4km, so I may try both. While a little disappointed I also know that that's being silly, because three weeks ago would have paid anything to have been in this position...

Update - my new spikes arrived this morning :

Welcome to M45

To celebrate my first day in the M45 age-group, I went out for a little run. Well, why not ? It was very pleasant this morning, especially compared to the weather we have endured for the last few days. Like Biscuitman, I am well and truly over that ! Did an easy 8.5km @4:39 HR 156 Ca 85 around my local Canning Bridges loop ; started in morning sunshine glistening over the still river water. The magnificent rainbow to my right meant that it was about to start raining, and so it did. It was pretty pleasant really... enjoyed this one. Just started to feel a little tired towards the end. My endurance ain't what it was...