Week - 6k
Month - 59.5k
YTD - 152k
I had all the intentions to head out at lunch today for a run, however when the heavens opened up and the fellows at work decided on a darts comp I reconsidered.
Instead I ended up doing the training session 6hrs later. On the agenda was 30 minutes, started off at a very pedestrian like pace but gradually stepped it up to finish with 6.15k (av 4.53/k). Quite a comfortable run, however with the overcast and rainy conditions I was sweating quite alot.
Tomorrow is the start of the Triathlon series at work. Each Thursday we do sport from lunchtime, just like school :-) It is a very casual and relaxed competition however there are some gun athletes that rock up from time to time. Im pretty useless when it comes to combining the disciplines however it is good fun and great training. Tomorrow I will take it easy considering I haven't done one for quite some time. The format for the event is a little different to a normal Tri but it works well. We start with a run, only 1k but it splits everyone up before hoping into the pool and allows the weaker swimmers clear water, this includes me. The remainder of the race is as follows; 300m swim - 12k Bike - 2k run to finish.
Not a bad afternoon session and to top it off we then head up to the boozer and have a quiet one before heading home. Tough life I know, but someone has to do it :-)
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Neighbourhood Stroll
Week - 16k
Month - 53.5k
YTD - 146k
I took a turn for the worst on Friday with the flu really knocking me around for the whole day. Thankfully I woke up yesterday feeling 100% better which enabled to make some plans for a run in the afternoon.
Those plans turned to reality at around 6.15pm yesterday evening. In what was great running weather I headed out for a few laps of the walking track that surrounds a sporting complex 100m from my house.
Running the first Km in 4.49 I stepped the pace up for the remainder of the session. I was only running 5k and thought a solid session was in order. The next 4k were all below 4.20 pace which seemed pretty comfortable considering I still have the flu. Overall the session was completed in 21.53 (4.23/k av).
I am making an effort to not overdo my training to early. I want to be in good knick for Warwick in May and have decided to concentrate on the shorter runs. There is no real need for me to be doing 18+k right now with almost 3 months to go, so if I can stick to 12-15k for my longer sessions for the next month I will have a nice fitness base when I feel it is time to build up.
It is the first time in 12 months that I am feeling 100% injury free and would like it to remain that way. Fingers cross this plan works.
Month - 53.5k
YTD - 146k
I took a turn for the worst on Friday with the flu really knocking me around for the whole day. Thankfully I woke up yesterday feeling 100% better which enabled to make some plans for a run in the afternoon.
Those plans turned to reality at around 6.15pm yesterday evening. In what was great running weather I headed out for a few laps of the walking track that surrounds a sporting complex 100m from my house.
Running the first Km in 4.49 I stepped the pace up for the remainder of the session. I was only running 5k and thought a solid session was in order. The next 4k were all below 4.20 pace which seemed pretty comfortable considering I still have the flu. Overall the session was completed in 21.53 (4.23/k av).
I am making an effort to not overdo my training to early. I want to be in good knick for Warwick in May and have decided to concentrate on the shorter runs. There is no real need for me to be doing 18+k right now with almost 3 months to go, so if I can stick to 12-15k for my longer sessions for the next month I will have a nice fitness base when I feel it is time to build up.
It is the first time in 12 months that I am feeling 100% injury free and would like it to remain that way. Fingers cross this plan works.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Be Warned - You may catch something reading this!
Week - 11k
Month - 48.5k
YTD - 141k
I arrived home Sunday night to what resembled a refugee camp. Cass coming down with the flu and Sam catching a menky disease from daycare. His first week ever at the center and he has picked up a mild case of conjunctivitis, mixed with a viral infection causing diarrhea and the flu. Not nice for the little man.
Obviously that mean't that he can't return until it is cleared up so I had to take some time off work to look after him. Cass began her studies again this week so it was better for me to do this than her miss the first week of classes.
The ironic thing about the scenario above is that one of Cass's subjects this week was on Infection Control. :-)
I didn't get a chance to do any training on exercise, however I have managed two short sessions of 6k on Tuesday and 5k last night. Both felt relatively good although the fitness is disappearing. Being around Sam for most of the day has also caused me to come down with a sore throat and a runny nose which probably contributed to the fatigue.
I felt like crap last night and early this morning with my throat being very sore however it has seemed to ease up today. As usual I have no plans this week in regards to training and will take it day by day which will be governed by the flu situation.
I have also been slack in reading blogs so I need to try and catch up on the goings on in the next few days.
Month - 48.5k
YTD - 141k
I arrived home Sunday night to what resembled a refugee camp. Cass coming down with the flu and Sam catching a menky disease from daycare. His first week ever at the center and he has picked up a mild case of conjunctivitis, mixed with a viral infection causing diarrhea and the flu. Not nice for the little man.
Obviously that mean't that he can't return until it is cleared up so I had to take some time off work to look after him. Cass began her studies again this week so it was better for me to do this than her miss the first week of classes.
The ironic thing about the scenario above is that one of Cass's subjects this week was on Infection Control. :-)
I didn't get a chance to do any training on exercise, however I have managed two short sessions of 6k on Tuesday and 5k last night. Both felt relatively good although the fitness is disappearing. Being around Sam for most of the day has also caused me to come down with a sore throat and a runny nose which probably contributed to the fatigue.
I felt like crap last night and early this morning with my throat being very sore however it has seemed to ease up today. As usual I have no plans this week in regards to training and will take it day by day which will be governed by the flu situation.
I have also been slack in reading blogs so I need to try and catch up on the goings on in the next few days.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Goodbye!
Unfortunately I will be out for a few days with a work excursion out in the weeds. I will be back on Sunday night which also means I will miss the first Brisbane Road Runners championship race. I can't be to disappointed work is giving me two days off next week to make up for the lost weekend :-)
Anyway the recovery after Saturdays effort went very well and although I haven't done any running since, I have cycled and played a few games of squash which felt great. The next time I get a chance to fit in some training will be early next week, I will also be out of the blogging scene for a while aswell.
Good luck to all those racing this weekend and every one else, happy training :-)
Anyway the recovery after Saturdays effort went very well and although I haven't done any running since, I have cycled and played a few games of squash which felt great. The next time I get a chance to fit in some training will be early next week, I will also be out of the blogging scene for a while aswell.
Good luck to all those racing this weekend and every one else, happy training :-)
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Caboolture Dusk Till Dawn
Week - 32.5
Month - 37.5
YTD - 130k
I was always going up for a squiz at this event last night however at about 3pm I decided that not only was I going to spectate but I also planned to run.
As this was a last minute decision there was no way I could convince anyone to run in a teams event. Therefore what I had to enter in was the shortest solo race............a short 6hr run!
There wasn't any chance in hell that I was considering running the whole event, however I did get strange looks, comments and concerns after I announced that I was entering the 6hr event from the CR's and bloggers up there.
To me this was a training run, a stupid one at that as I has not done hardly anything in the past few weeks, but I wasn't going hard, planned to have as many walk breaks as I needed and just remain comfortable.
The plan worked well for the most part and during the run I decided that 3 hrs would be a huge achievement. It would be the longest on my feet in any one training session aswell as my longest in distance, previously 26km.
The race starts at 6pm and the weather was alot better this year very little humidity and a nice breeze. I was plodding around and was remaining very close to 5min/k pace per lap. The laps are 500m on a gravel track that surrounds a historical village.
I slowed down a little through the first 10k passing it in about 52 minutes. It was then that I decided to walk two laps. No racing tonight just a long run, I needed to remind myself of that a few times.
It was just over an hour once I began to run again and nothing really changed, I still felt pretty good however I needed a toilet break. At the 36th lap I made a pitstop and during this time the lurking storm that was moving across from the city hit and hard.
I wondered out of the loo to be hit with rain drops the size of water balloons instantly soaking you, not only that they were cold . I took off again and after half a lap it was quite refreshing however the track was taking a beating. It was sloppy and alot of large puddles and this made the running a bit tougher.
I thought the rain would go as quickly as it came but it hung around for a while. Not sure of the exact time but enough to start causing me some grief. The next 1 1/4 hours I slowed right down and enjoyed some extended breaks seeing if Cass and Sam were ok and getting some food and drink in. I dedicated another 3 laps to walking during this time aswell. It slowed my overall average down a whole lot.
With an hour to go I made a goal of 60 laps (30k) before the 3hrs. I was well ahead at the 1/2 mark so the slow running/walking and rest breaks didn't concern me too much. Cass was scoring for me, battling to stay out of the rain and look after Sam who decided that there was far too much going on to sleep even 3hrs past his bed time.
The last 4k was very slow, I fighting a losing battle with the gravel that made a home in my shoes an hour prior. They were obviously soaked and constant puddles along the course allowed the gravel to easily get stuck in your shoes. Even if I was fit enough to do the whole race I think that this would have caused me to pull out. I don't think I would have had much skin left on my feet it I continued for much longer.
I had about 24 mins to do the last 4k and pretty much took that whole time crossing the 30k mark in 2.58.20.
After I finished I felt it was a wise decision to pull the pin at 3hrs. Not only for my benefit but for Cass, who was cramped up under a small shelter with a pram a few bags with 20 other people looking after with Sam who was getting angry because he was so tired. She done a great job and really appreciated what she done.
We had a bite to eat and departed for home. 2 mins after being in the car Sam was racked out.
This morning I feel pretty good, a bit stiff and my left knee a tad sore. More than likely due to the laps and changing a stride to accomodate for the rocks in my shoes. Nothing a few days rest won't fix.
Thanks to everyone on the course last night cheering and giving support, it certainly makes the night a lot more fun!
Month - 37.5
YTD - 130k
I was always going up for a squiz at this event last night however at about 3pm I decided that not only was I going to spectate but I also planned to run.
As this was a last minute decision there was no way I could convince anyone to run in a teams event. Therefore what I had to enter in was the shortest solo race............a short 6hr run!
There wasn't any chance in hell that I was considering running the whole event, however I did get strange looks, comments and concerns after I announced that I was entering the 6hr event from the CR's and bloggers up there.
To me this was a training run, a stupid one at that as I has not done hardly anything in the past few weeks, but I wasn't going hard, planned to have as many walk breaks as I needed and just remain comfortable.
The plan worked well for the most part and during the run I decided that 3 hrs would be a huge achievement. It would be the longest on my feet in any one training session aswell as my longest in distance, previously 26km.
The race starts at 6pm and the weather was alot better this year very little humidity and a nice breeze. I was plodding around and was remaining very close to 5min/k pace per lap. The laps are 500m on a gravel track that surrounds a historical village.
I slowed down a little through the first 10k passing it in about 52 minutes. It was then that I decided to walk two laps. No racing tonight just a long run, I needed to remind myself of that a few times.
It was just over an hour once I began to run again and nothing really changed, I still felt pretty good however I needed a toilet break. At the 36th lap I made a pitstop and during this time the lurking storm that was moving across from the city hit and hard.
I wondered out of the loo to be hit with rain drops the size of water balloons instantly soaking you, not only that they were cold . I took off again and after half a lap it was quite refreshing however the track was taking a beating. It was sloppy and alot of large puddles and this made the running a bit tougher.
I thought the rain would go as quickly as it came but it hung around for a while. Not sure of the exact time but enough to start causing me some grief. The next 1 1/4 hours I slowed right down and enjoyed some extended breaks seeing if Cass and Sam were ok and getting some food and drink in. I dedicated another 3 laps to walking during this time aswell. It slowed my overall average down a whole lot.
With an hour to go I made a goal of 60 laps (30k) before the 3hrs. I was well ahead at the 1/2 mark so the slow running/walking and rest breaks didn't concern me too much. Cass was scoring for me, battling to stay out of the rain and look after Sam who decided that there was far too much going on to sleep even 3hrs past his bed time.
The last 4k was very slow, I fighting a losing battle with the gravel that made a home in my shoes an hour prior. They were obviously soaked and constant puddles along the course allowed the gravel to easily get stuck in your shoes. Even if I was fit enough to do the whole race I think that this would have caused me to pull out. I don't think I would have had much skin left on my feet it I continued for much longer.
I had about 24 mins to do the last 4k and pretty much took that whole time crossing the 30k mark in 2.58.20.
After I finished I felt it was a wise decision to pull the pin at 3hrs. Not only for my benefit but for Cass, who was cramped up under a small shelter with a pram a few bags with 20 other people looking after with Sam who was getting angry because he was so tired. She done a great job and really appreciated what she done.
We had a bite to eat and departed for home. 2 mins after being in the car Sam was racked out.
This morning I feel pretty good, a bit stiff and my left knee a tad sore. More than likely due to the laps and changing a stride to accomodate for the rocks in my shoes. Nothing a few days rest won't fix.
Thanks to everyone on the course last night cheering and giving support, it certainly makes the night a lot more fun!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
BRRC 5k
Week - 5k
Month - 5k
YTD - 97.5k
I stuck to my word and entered the 5k event today. It was bring a friend day where if you introduced a mate they ran for 1/2 the normal entry fee and you ran for free. Well I think that's how it worked. I obviously didn't introduce anyone but Cass did walk the 5k loop pushing Sam.
Anyway, it was good getting up a little later as the start was at 6.30am rather than the 6am for the longer races. In saying that we still stuffed around half asleep getting everything bar the kitchen sink for Sam's nappy bag. On the way the fuel light came on in the car which took up even more time filling up however we eventually arrived a good 10 minutes before the planned start time.
I registered and paid for my 07 membership and set off for a small warm up. My legs have never felt better. Even on a good day it still seems to take a while before they begin the operate properly but today they felt great from the onset.
The race start was postponed a bit but we soon headed off when the race clock said 30 minutes. I took off pretty quickly but slowed down when I realised I was being to keen.
Before I go any further I should have mentioned my goals. Given that I have only ran 5.5k since the 18 Jan (17 days) I decided on three outcomes and how I would feel about the results.
Sub 20 minutes = Very Happy
20.30 = Happy
20.31 - 21 mins = A little disappointed but understandable.
Alright back to the race.
Anyway everything was going well, I began catching those who seemed to be as eager as I and passed the first k in 3.51. Still feeling good however I did think that I was running a little quicker than that. I maintained the pace for the next k passing the 2k mark in 7.39 (3.48/k).
Looking good for a sub 20 minute I still didn't want to too excited about it. The 3k marker seemed to take forever and by this stage I was now thinking that this is becoming alot tougher. I didn't seem to notice the heat that much but it was a nice relief when I did actually run through a shady section. I passed the 3k marker in 11.29 (3.50/k).
It was then I knew that I had it in the bag. Currently averaging 3.50/k I could now slow 20 odd secs per km and still get under 20. However I still battled on and was starting to feel the lack of k's in the legs. I began picking things in the distance and pushing to that point which seemed to work well.
At about 3.5k I passed Tesso who was running the 10k event and tried to fake that I was still in good knick however I don't think I was convincing anyone, not even myself. I passed the 4k mark in 15.19 (3.50), and now struggling to hold pace.
It was a sporatic last km which felt more like a fartlek session than anything else. It wasn't until the path section that leads down to the finish that I sorted my pace out and ran on strongly to finish in 19.18 (3.59). My slowest split of the day but I didn't care. All I cared about was that I needed oxygen and fast!! I was pretty puffed to say the least but I was also pretty chuffed with the time considering my past few weeks training.
I can report that the calf held up fine and I didn't get any post run soreness. I will still be taking it easy and gradually build up to the normal training and pace further down the track.
Just before we headed off Clairie got big hugs from Sam who was quite content to be nursed by her. Arms wrapped around her neck he was happy and enjoyed chewing on her shoulder. After we peeled Sam away from her and let her get back to ordering people around ;-) Cass said "he doesn't even give me hugs like that", she gave him stern talking to in the car on the way home ;-)
Month - 5k
YTD - 97.5k
I stuck to my word and entered the 5k event today. It was bring a friend day where if you introduced a mate they ran for 1/2 the normal entry fee and you ran for free. Well I think that's how it worked. I obviously didn't introduce anyone but Cass did walk the 5k loop pushing Sam.
Anyway, it was good getting up a little later as the start was at 6.30am rather than the 6am for the longer races. In saying that we still stuffed around half asleep getting everything bar the kitchen sink for Sam's nappy bag. On the way the fuel light came on in the car which took up even more time filling up however we eventually arrived a good 10 minutes before the planned start time.
I registered and paid for my 07 membership and set off for a small warm up. My legs have never felt better. Even on a good day it still seems to take a while before they begin the operate properly but today they felt great from the onset.
The race start was postponed a bit but we soon headed off when the race clock said 30 minutes. I took off pretty quickly but slowed down when I realised I was being to keen.
Before I go any further I should have mentioned my goals. Given that I have only ran 5.5k since the 18 Jan (17 days) I decided on three outcomes and how I would feel about the results.
Sub 20 minutes = Very Happy
20.30 = Happy
20.31 - 21 mins = A little disappointed but understandable.
Alright back to the race.
Anyway everything was going well, I began catching those who seemed to be as eager as I and passed the first k in 3.51. Still feeling good however I did think that I was running a little quicker than that. I maintained the pace for the next k passing the 2k mark in 7.39 (3.48/k).
Looking good for a sub 20 minute I still didn't want to too excited about it. The 3k marker seemed to take forever and by this stage I was now thinking that this is becoming alot tougher. I didn't seem to notice the heat that much but it was a nice relief when I did actually run through a shady section. I passed the 3k marker in 11.29 (3.50/k).
It was then I knew that I had it in the bag. Currently averaging 3.50/k I could now slow 20 odd secs per km and still get under 20. However I still battled on and was starting to feel the lack of k's in the legs. I began picking things in the distance and pushing to that point which seemed to work well.
At about 3.5k I passed Tesso who was running the 10k event and tried to fake that I was still in good knick however I don't think I was convincing anyone, not even myself. I passed the 4k mark in 15.19 (3.50), and now struggling to hold pace.
It was a sporatic last km which felt more like a fartlek session than anything else. It wasn't until the path section that leads down to the finish that I sorted my pace out and ran on strongly to finish in 19.18 (3.59). My slowest split of the day but I didn't care. All I cared about was that I needed oxygen and fast!! I was pretty puffed to say the least but I was also pretty chuffed with the time considering my past few weeks training.
I can report that the calf held up fine and I didn't get any post run soreness. I will still be taking it easy and gradually build up to the normal training and pace further down the track.
Just before we headed off Clairie got big hugs from Sam who was quite content to be nursed by her. Arms wrapped around her neck he was happy and enjoyed chewing on her shoulder. After we peeled Sam away from her and let her get back to ordering people around ;-) Cass said "he doesn't even give me hugs like that", she gave him stern talking to in the car on the way home ;-)
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