Running (out of) enthusiasm

The meet at WAAS was interesting. It was very busy and is obviously much better attended in the past because everything ran very late. On the one hand it's great to see so many athletes around, but on the other, racing at 9:45 isn't the best.....

I got shunted to the second heat which I wasn't thrilled at ( I suppose the Masters singlet isn't seen as the mark of quality ), but it also gave me the opportunity to watch an excellent run by Courtney Carter and the rest of the guns ; it was a star-studded affair with CC, Marc See, Steve Stingemore, Aaron Pattison, Roberto Busi, Todd Ingraham, etc. Marc See paced CC to 3k in 8:33 and then he hung on to run a 7 sec PB of 14:24.95 - fantastic running!

My legs felt really heavy in this race but somehow managed to hang on and run 16:49 for the 5, just behind Emily Loughnan who ran an excellent 16:48 (a PB). We went out too fast (3:13 for the first k) and I dropped back because I was really feeling it - went through 3k in 9:58 which was the goal, but just slipped in the last few laps, although I was gaining on Emily who had got out to 20m lead at one point. I guess if I can run like that when feeling pretty average, it's a good sign....

Ran with Sas in KP the next morning on a brisk 14.5km double loop (4:39 HR 149) ; picked up a couple of others who ran with us too. Felt a little shagged at first but improved through the run ; very tired at the end though.

Later that morning headed down south for a few days. On Sunday I didn't feel like running, so didn't and the feeling continued Monday morning. Guilt got the better of me Monday evening so I did a nice 10k from Carters Rd to Burnside Rd and back on the forest trail - a beautiful place to run off a large lunch.... No running Tuesday either, but did another 9.5km Wednesday morning @ 4:35 HR 150. It was cool but my lungs just felt tight, so this was a bit of a struggle. Probably down to the glass of wine I had the night before.

A highlight was meeting Mary Burke-Heydon who is an old friend of Jo and ran with her on Sunday morning. She is an amazing runner who I think is starting to get back into it and is possible for the nationals in April. She won the 1996 City to Surf in 45:46, but has run it in 43:xx and has a 2:45 marathon to her name. She owns Heydon Vineyard down there with a small but very high quality selection of wines.

Big Night at the WAAS

Going to WAAS tonight for a track 5k at the Interclub meet. Looking forward to seeing how I go on the new track ; I'm quite excited at the prospect of testing myself against the young guns which is a good sign. I know I'm not 100% but hopefully I'll put in a good showing. It's going to be tough though ; the race starts at 8:40pm - usually at this time I'm brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed!

Thursday morning was pleasantly cool (18°) for a change, and I had the extra challenge of pushing Bailey Coates around the Mends St bridges in a running pram ; it's not a great deal of extra effort except for the uphill bits. Ran with Sas and Becks (who I think scored a new PB for the circuit) - 9.59km @4:42 HR144.

Friday morning just did a gentle 6km @4:39 HR 142 in preparation for the race at the stadium later.

Update: Just heard that Courtney Carter will be running tonight.... new goal is not to be lapped twice!

What happened to all the oxygen?

Gee, I'm looking forward to another cool morning like we had a couple of weeks ago...

Monday morning we started at the usual 5:45am but it was still about 31° according to the car's thermometer. We ran down Malcolm along Mounts Bay to UWA and up the back side of the park up to the car - 9.93km @ 4:41 HR 144. Felt tough this morning, no doubt a hangover from the race the day before and also because of the oppressive conditions.

Talking of oppressive conditions, after another 41° day, at Tuesday night intervals we had 34 degrees and absolutely no wind. It was overcast too - it actually felt best when we were running and creating a bit of breeze ; once stopped, the sweat was just pouring! The session was 5x800 with 2:30 SR. I didn't go full out this evening because I'm doing a 5km track race at the new stadium on Friday and would like to go for a decent time. Splits were 2:42 / 2:37 / 2:36 / 2:37 / 2:34. Also did 5 x 80m full out sprints with Bjorn and Sas after the session ; got to keep that speed work going! All in all, a good session, and I was feeling pretty strong.

Wednesday morning, did a recovery run in East Perth out to Tranby House in Maylands ; 10.53km @ 4:44 HR 140. Felt like it should have been cooler ; it was 23° but 76% RH so the air still feels like there's no oxygen in it. Hopefully this is all just good conditioning for Friday night. Had the usual quad shot macchiato afterwards - what a great way to start the day!

To quote Cerutti, "You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone." ; I think we've all grown a bit in the last few days...

Crazy people

I've been feeling a little more energised this week, although the running economies have been slipping a bit as the temperatures have been rising, but that's not really surprising. That said I feel like I may have gone back over the threshold of whatever deficiency has been holding me down for the last couple of months and now the down days are one-offs if they happen at all.

Friday was an easy 9.5km with Sas out to Pt Majestic and back @4:46 HR 144. The weeks hard efforts caught up with me so the first few k's were a struggle, but my demeanor improved as the run went on.

Saturday we headed for the hills and did the now standard run up Darlington road, through John Forrest Park, up Oxley/Hedges rds to Brooking, to the Shiraz tap and down the hill (map) for 21.55km @ 4:39 HR 142. Very strong easterlies this morning which we felt in places, but they blew us down the trail and definitely kept things surprisingly cool. I felt great today, I think because it was cooler than it has been of late, and I'm just feeling a bit better ATM. Sas is running well but still struggling to get a decent nights sleep so these are a bit of a mental battle. Time for a week at a health farm I think....

On Sunday I was at the race-director's seminar which was informative and very useful, seeing as Kim & I are the RD's for the Point Walter run on Feb 14. Any WAMC members who want to help out, I can guarantee a plum job....

After the seminar, the attendees helped to set up the Burswood Twilight race, which was fun in the 43° heat. Getting the finishing chute barriers out of the shed was fun, it must have been over 50° in there!  I think doing this helped acclimatised me for the race, along with a bit of 'pre-cooling' i.e. a couple of cups of refrigerated water down the back of the neck just before the start.

Numbers were definitely down for the race, for which  most people scaled back their efforts I think. it was still 41° at 6pm. I ran it fairly hard but always well within myself because a bout of heat exhaustion at this stage would be somewhat idiotic. I was pleasantly surprised at how good I felt in the conditions. I had Tina Major on my right shoulder for a lot of the run and also seemed to be running comfortably. I finished 4th in 17:50 - my target was 18:00 so I was rapt! Scored a new max HR for the season which was surprising because I never felt that bad ; the radiator boiled over a bit after I finished, but that was bound to happen.

Getting hotter...

.. the weather that is. Not looking forward to the Burswood Twilight on Sunday evening when the temp is forecast to be 41°. I'll be jogging that one I think....

On Tuesday in fairly warm and windy conditions we did a nice pyramid session with relatively short breaks. I am reliably informed that the lap was 412m, and the 200m was a bit short, so the session was 190, 412, 600, 824, 824, 600, 412, 190. I did an extra couple of 190's after the (instructed) session was done and then did some 80m sprints across the oval to finish off. I think my speedwork has beenlacking, so I'm trying to make up for it. Splits were 36.1/76/1:56/2:41/2:43/1:57/74/31.6/31.8/31.9/12.2/12.3. A good session ; I felt nauseous by the end and think I might have spewed if I'd done any more. Legs felt OK though....

On Wednesday morning ran slightly longer 10.53km in East Perth @ 4:46 HR 141. It was fairly warm already but still pretty pleasant conditions for this one, and it was nice to run somewhere a little different. Finished up with a most excellent quad-shot macchiato at Cobalt....

Thursday morning, again the standard Mends St Perth Bridges loop at a fairly sedate pace ; 9.6km at 4:48 pace HR 141 ; very pleasant morning with no wind, but the sun really started to pack some punch by the end (and we finished at 6:30am!).

In the evening I went to the track at Coker, just doing the 600m and 400m races with a good warmup. Pretty happy with the results, both PBs by about a second I think - 1:38.6 for the 600m and 61.6 for the 400m. Seeing as I'm racing on Sunday I decided not to do the long one and go away happy with the evening's work....

Good weekend

On Saturday ran the Darlington Half course in fairly nice conditions ; pace was 4:36 HR150, so a good strong run. Felt fairly good but pretty tired doing the drills on the cricket oval. Very pleasant run, though.

On Sunday went down to Matlida Bay to do the Christchurch 5k with the club. Conditions were a little warm in the sun with very light winds ; about as good as you get at this time of year. We had gone to Somerville open air movie the night before so hadn't had what I would call a full night's sleep so felt a little tired still. Did a fairly good warmup and had a chat with a few of the usual suspects loitering about the place, including Epi who has a few tough decisions to make regarding his knee ; hope it all works out for you. I reckon you recover well so hopefully recovery from this will be quick.

This isn't a PB course but I was happy with a decent solid pace run, finishing 3rd in 17:36.  I could have run harder, but didn't feel the need as my placing was solid (the winner was ~40 sec ahead at the finish )from 2k in and no PB was in the offing - I just wanted a decent hitout today and got that, with a slightly harder than tempo effort. I think my running is delicately balanced at the moment, and I don't want to fall into a hole at this point, and happy to claim a shiny bronze medal - much shinier than last years (I guess the WAMC have a new batch in)!

Splits were 3:25/3:37/3:32/3:33/3:28 ; no finishing burst or anything - 2k split is slow because of the fairly steep climb up to Birdwood parade.

Monday morning we ran from King's Park along Mounts Bay to UWA and up the western perimeter path for a change - 9.91km @ 4:44 HR138. Absolutely beautiful conditions today - 15° 67% SSE11/17 - and the air felt really fresh - the best I've felt in a while. Hopefully a corner has been turned...