Just a quick post, tomorrow I am heading off to do a course for work down in Sunny Wodonga, Vic. I will be away for about a month, therefore I will be MIA for that time. I hope everyones training goes well along with any races that are scheduled during this time. Finally I would like to thank you all for the very encouraging comments regarding the Gold Coast 1/2.
See you around
Happy training :-)
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
My 1/2 Marathon progress so far
Week - 36k
Month - 36k
YTD - 529.5
It's been just under 3 years since I competed in my first 1/2 marathon race. August 2004 saw me line up in Townsville after deciding to do the event on no training the day prior. No much has changed since then, my spontaneous nature of entering events on little training still occurs and is a facet that I should change. However I did learn alot from that race some of which I have applied to my training some I haven't. After that race and realising that something like that should never be attempted on very little training I made it a goal of mine to improve over that distance.
In saying that, since then I have competed in a few races over that distance with the most recent being Sunday. Below are the events I have run including the Townsville run with my times
2004 - Townsville 1/2 - 1.48
2005 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2005 - Toowoomba 'Hilly Half' - 1.43
2006 - BRRC 1/2 marathon Champs - 1.29.58
2006 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2006 - Noosa 1/2 - 1.31.13
2007 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.32
2007 - Gold Coast 1/2.............................Read on :-)
Sunday saw my mate and I enter our first GC half. In fact it was my mates first crack at a half marathon. We both weren't sure of what we would achieve but given the way the last few weeks have gone we decided to head off with the sub 1.30 group.
Lining up I ended up being slightly closer to the start line than my mate who was a good 20m behind me. Pat Carroll was the pace runner for this group however he didn't line up until very late. When he eventually took up his position I was a fair way behind where I wanted to be in relation to this group.
As soon as the gun fired and I eventually crossed the start line Pat and the 1.30 group were miles ahead. It took me a good 2 odd km to finally catch up with them and settle into the run.
The run itself went pretty well, I passed the 10k mark in 41 mins and was feeling strong. My mate was just behind us at the 1/2 mark but quickly caught up to us by about the 15k mark. Although he was feeling the effects of his first 1/2 he was still running a good pace and didn't slow down much for the remainder of the run.
Myself on the other hand felt strong until about the 17k mark where the wheels began to fall off. I tried to keep my mate close and had all the intentions of picking the pace up in the last 2k but that never happened. Instead I hung onto whatever momentum I had going and just focused on finishing.
By this stage we had left the 1.30 group and were running by ourselves. My mate crossed the line about 50m in front of me, however the overall result was that he got me by 50 secs as he started behind me.
I am in two frames of mind about the run. On one side I am happy with my result but pretty disappointed that I didn't finish strong at all. The last 3k was shocking so I need to work on that for the next race. Overall I crossed the line in a time of 1.27.34, a PB of 2.24.
So to wrap up, I am pretty happy overall as to how my aim of improving my 1/2 marathon time is coming along. As I said it is almost 3 years since my first race and now with my new PB I have improved over 21 minutes for this distance.
Month - 36k
YTD - 529.5
It's been just under 3 years since I competed in my first 1/2 marathon race. August 2004 saw me line up in Townsville after deciding to do the event on no training the day prior. No much has changed since then, my spontaneous nature of entering events on little training still occurs and is a facet that I should change. However I did learn alot from that race some of which I have applied to my training some I haven't. After that race and realising that something like that should never be attempted on very little training I made it a goal of mine to improve over that distance.
In saying that, since then I have competed in a few races over that distance with the most recent being Sunday. Below are the events I have run including the Townsville run with my times
2004 - Townsville 1/2 - 1.48
2005 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2005 - Toowoomba 'Hilly Half' - 1.43
2006 - BRRC 1/2 marathon Champs - 1.29.58
2006 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.37
2006 - Noosa 1/2 - 1.31.13
2007 - Warwick 1/2 - 1.32
2007 - Gold Coast 1/2.............................Read on :-)
Sunday saw my mate and I enter our first GC half. In fact it was my mates first crack at a half marathon. We both weren't sure of what we would achieve but given the way the last few weeks have gone we decided to head off with the sub 1.30 group.
Lining up I ended up being slightly closer to the start line than my mate who was a good 20m behind me. Pat Carroll was the pace runner for this group however he didn't line up until very late. When he eventually took up his position I was a fair way behind where I wanted to be in relation to this group.
As soon as the gun fired and I eventually crossed the start line Pat and the 1.30 group were miles ahead. It took me a good 2 odd km to finally catch up with them and settle into the run.
The run itself went pretty well, I passed the 10k mark in 41 mins and was feeling strong. My mate was just behind us at the 1/2 mark but quickly caught up to us by about the 15k mark. Although he was feeling the effects of his first 1/2 he was still running a good pace and didn't slow down much for the remainder of the run.
Myself on the other hand felt strong until about the 17k mark where the wheels began to fall off. I tried to keep my mate close and had all the intentions of picking the pace up in the last 2k but that never happened. Instead I hung onto whatever momentum I had going and just focused on finishing.
By this stage we had left the 1.30 group and were running by ourselves. My mate crossed the line about 50m in front of me, however the overall result was that he got me by 50 secs as he started behind me.
I am in two frames of mind about the run. On one side I am happy with my result but pretty disappointed that I didn't finish strong at all. The last 3k was shocking so I need to work on that for the next race. Overall I crossed the line in a time of 1.27.34, a PB of 2.24.
So to wrap up, I am pretty happy overall as to how my aim of improving my 1/2 marathon time is coming along. As I said it is almost 3 years since my first race and now with my new PB I have improved over 21 minutes for this distance.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
What does this mean?
Week - 10k
Month - 87k
YTD - 477.5k
Before I begin thanks for the Birthday wishes, I was wondering how you knew but then I saw that I had my birth date on CR website.
Well it is one week to go to my first GC race of any sort. I am really looking forward to the whole weekend which will begin when the Family venture south next Saturday.
Not a whole lot went on this week, here's how it panned out.
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 6k with Sam in his pram, I haven't ran with the pram for a while and really noticed that he has piled on the pounds, must get him out running :-)
Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Plans to run with the group on Wednesday night, however I think Qld detached itself from the mainland and floated to Antartica. Waaaaaay to cold and windy. And besides it was my birthday :-)
Thursday - 45 mins from work, about 9k before meeting Cass along the road in the car.
Friday - PT session at work involving my pack and other gear and walking and climbing stuff for about an hour
Saturday - Nothing again, if I knew the 5k TT was run at Shornecliffe this week instead of next week then I would have went to that.
Today - From what I can recall I think today was my first championship event this year for the BRRC. This morning it was a 10k event and the conditions were great. A bit chilly just standing around but on the course I found it to be perfect.
As usual we were running late, however this time it wasn't entirely my fault. My usual route in the car became alot longer due to road works and for someone that doesn't know Brisbane city that well it wasn't what I needed. I found my way fortunately, arriving when the call went out 4mins to race start. Perfect!
I registered stripped off the warm gear and lined up. No plans on what I was doing in regards to time and it didn't matter anyway as I didn't have my watch, yep you guessed it forgot that aswell.
The race began and I just ran to how I was feeling. The only time I knew the split was when I passed the start finish line which worked out to be approx 1.8k, 5k, 6.8k and the finish at the 10k mark apart from that it was all about judging.
I passed the 1.8k mark in 7.00 and was feeling good, reached the 5k mark in 19.32 so on track for a sub 40 run. The next 2k was pretty tough but still managed to pass the 6.8k mark in 26.58. I then had Andy C pass me at the 7k mark and was suprised to have him anywhere near me, however I later found out he has been injured so I tried to keep him close. This helped alot, the last 1500m I made an effort to keep the pace high, not sure if I was running any faster but it didn't feel slower. I focussed on points along the road and made sure I reached them before easing up. Towards the final stages I noticed that I kept doing this but wasn't slowing for the short rest, I ran strong to the finish.
The last 200m is along a bike path and you can't see the finish line until a hundred to go. At this stage I didn't know my time but as I ran down the last section of path I caught a glimpse at the clock which just clicked over to 39.00, I saw Cass and Sam at the finish and raised my fist knowing what I had done. I crossed the line in 39.28, an 11 sec PB and a very unexpected result.
Not sure what this means for GC as it is a massive difference in distance and my stamina is what lets me down. Still sticking to the 90 min or there abouts goal, I will certainly enjoy the race more if I don't put pressure on myself.
That's all for now, Happy training
Month - 87k
YTD - 477.5k
Before I begin thanks for the Birthday wishes, I was wondering how you knew but then I saw that I had my birth date on CR website.
Well it is one week to go to my first GC race of any sort. I am really looking forward to the whole weekend which will begin when the Family venture south next Saturday.
Not a whole lot went on this week, here's how it panned out.
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 6k with Sam in his pram, I haven't ran with the pram for a while and really noticed that he has piled on the pounds, must get him out running :-)
Tuesday - Nothing
Wednesday - Plans to run with the group on Wednesday night, however I think Qld detached itself from the mainland and floated to Antartica. Waaaaaay to cold and windy. And besides it was my birthday :-)
Thursday - 45 mins from work, about 9k before meeting Cass along the road in the car.
Friday - PT session at work involving my pack and other gear and walking and climbing stuff for about an hour
Saturday - Nothing again, if I knew the 5k TT was run at Shornecliffe this week instead of next week then I would have went to that.
Today - From what I can recall I think today was my first championship event this year for the BRRC. This morning it was a 10k event and the conditions were great. A bit chilly just standing around but on the course I found it to be perfect.
As usual we were running late, however this time it wasn't entirely my fault. My usual route in the car became alot longer due to road works and for someone that doesn't know Brisbane city that well it wasn't what I needed. I found my way fortunately, arriving when the call went out 4mins to race start. Perfect!
I registered stripped off the warm gear and lined up. No plans on what I was doing in regards to time and it didn't matter anyway as I didn't have my watch, yep you guessed it forgot that aswell.
The race began and I just ran to how I was feeling. The only time I knew the split was when I passed the start finish line which worked out to be approx 1.8k, 5k, 6.8k and the finish at the 10k mark apart from that it was all about judging.
I passed the 1.8k mark in 7.00 and was feeling good, reached the 5k mark in 19.32 so on track for a sub 40 run. The next 2k was pretty tough but still managed to pass the 6.8k mark in 26.58. I then had Andy C pass me at the 7k mark and was suprised to have him anywhere near me, however I later found out he has been injured so I tried to keep him close. This helped alot, the last 1500m I made an effort to keep the pace high, not sure if I was running any faster but it didn't feel slower. I focussed on points along the road and made sure I reached them before easing up. Towards the final stages I noticed that I kept doing this but wasn't slowing for the short rest, I ran strong to the finish.
The last 200m is along a bike path and you can't see the finish line until a hundred to go. At this stage I didn't know my time but as I ran down the last section of path I caught a glimpse at the clock which just clicked over to 39.00, I saw Cass and Sam at the finish and raised my fist knowing what I had done. I crossed the line in 39.28, an 11 sec PB and a very unexpected result.
Not sure what this means for GC as it is a massive difference in distance and my stamina is what lets me down. Still sticking to the 90 min or there abouts goal, I will certainly enjoy the race more if I don't put pressure on myself.
That's all for now, Happy training
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The only way is up!
Month - 62k
YTD - 452.5k
It has been a very good week this week with respect to my training. As many of you know I am pretty slack when it comes to training and I must admit I do like my rest days however I managed to achieve 4 solids runs and 48km.The start on the week saw me having a nice cruisy recovery run after my effort at BRRC. I generally have a total rest day so this was something out of the norm. I did however have an agenda which was to take some videos back so the route was to the local store and back a total of about 5k.
Thursday I finished work a little later than normal which cut my run short. I'm not a fan of the cold at all so the plan to run about 10k ended up being 7k. There were a few people out doing some of their own training which is unusual for my neighborhood, however there is a local fun run planned for next weekend so they must be trying to get fit for that.
Friday the workshop planned a day out, the destination was the Glasshouse Mountains, more accurately Mt Beerwah. It is the largest of the GHM at 556m and has a grade 5 walking track 2.6k long. The walk was pretty tough for the first half it is on all fours actually scaling a rock face. If it was any steeper you would require ropes, in saying that I certainly didn't want to slip as it wouldn't have been pretty. Some sections had some large drop offs and if you were to fall it would be a fairly bleak outcome.
Anyway it was very enjoyable and challenging more mentally I guess than physically for me as, I wouldn't say I have a fear of heights but I do get heightened sense of self preservation when I am dong activities like that. When we hit the summit it was an awesome view we stayed up there for about 20 mins and then returned. The descent was pretty harsh on the knees, so at times I was sliding on my butt to give them a break. Overall we completed the trip in 1.45.
I was expecting to be sore from the climb yesterday morning when I woke up the next morning. I had been tossing up all week to either do the group run or run in the Lake Manchester trail race planned for today. I decided to head into the city and run with the Running Buddies.I wanted to run around 18k, and as a group of about 8 of us we headed around the river paths. Some left and headed back early and others continued after I stopped but most of us managed to achieve what we wanted. I stopped at 19.25k in about 1.40 (approx 5.12/k).
I woke up this morning feeling fantastic, no soreness and really looking forward to another good week of training. To answer a few peoples questions about my goal for GC, something around 90 mins will be great. I don't think I am the shape to go sub 90. I also just found out the 1.30 pace group is led by the man himself Pat Carroll so I am really looking forward to this .
YTD - 452.5k
It has been a very good week this week with respect to my training. As many of you know I am pretty slack when it comes to training and I must admit I do like my rest days however I managed to achieve 4 solids runs and 48km.The start on the week saw me having a nice cruisy recovery run after my effort at BRRC. I generally have a total rest day so this was something out of the norm. I did however have an agenda which was to take some videos back so the route was to the local store and back a total of about 5k.
Thursday I finished work a little later than normal which cut my run short. I'm not a fan of the cold at all so the plan to run about 10k ended up being 7k. There were a few people out doing some of their own training which is unusual for my neighborhood, however there is a local fun run planned for next weekend so they must be trying to get fit for that.
Friday the workshop planned a day out, the destination was the Glasshouse Mountains, more accurately Mt Beerwah. It is the largest of the GHM at 556m and has a grade 5 walking track 2.6k long. The walk was pretty tough for the first half it is on all fours actually scaling a rock face. If it was any steeper you would require ropes, in saying that I certainly didn't want to slip as it wouldn't have been pretty. Some sections had some large drop offs and if you were to fall it would be a fairly bleak outcome.
Anyway it was very enjoyable and challenging more mentally I guess than physically for me as, I wouldn't say I have a fear of heights but I do get heightened sense of self preservation when I am dong activities like that. When we hit the summit it was an awesome view we stayed up there for about 20 mins and then returned. The descent was pretty harsh on the knees, so at times I was sliding on my butt to give them a break. Overall we completed the trip in 1.45.
I was expecting to be sore from the climb yesterday morning when I woke up the next morning. I had been tossing up all week to either do the group run or run in the Lake Manchester trail race planned for today. I decided to head into the city and run with the Running Buddies.I wanted to run around 18k, and as a group of about 8 of us we headed around the river paths. Some left and headed back early and others continued after I stopped but most of us managed to achieve what we wanted. I stopped at 19.25k in about 1.40 (approx 5.12/k).
I woke up this morning feeling fantastic, no soreness and really looking forward to another good week of training. To answer a few peoples questions about my goal for GC, something around 90 mins will be great. I don't think I am the shape to go sub 90. I also just found out the 1.30 pace group is led by the man himself Pat Carroll so I am really looking forward to this .
Sunday, June 10, 2007
BRRC - 10.69 miles
Week - 17k
Month - 31k
YTD - 421.5k
It was an early morning for the family today. At about 4am we were up getting ready to take my mum to the airport for what would be the flight of her life. She was flying into Newcastle and after the wild weather they have experienced in the last 72 hrs it should have been interesting.
Got to the Airport before 5.30am said my goodbyes and headed straight over to the city for the club race at West End. It was still dark and pretty early when we arrived. I had planned to run the 10k event but this started at 7am and then run a few extra k's to make it a long'ish' type session. However when we arrived an hour before the event I decided to tag along with the serious ones and enter the 20 mile event.
Before you all start to freak out, I had no intention or inclination on running the whole race instead opting for my own 10 mile event. After the course was explained it worked out that I would have been 1.1k away from the start/finsih line if I ran 10 miles so it got extended to 17.2k
The run itself wasn't very exciting, the first 3k was run alone before I caught up with two runners doing the whole race. They were running a pace that I was content with so I sat behind them for the majority of the run. I think I made them uneasy at times as they kept looking over their shoulder to see what I was doing. It wasn't until the 11k mark where I took a stint up the front I explained that I wasn't running the whole race.
I began to tighten up during the last 5k of the race. My calves made their presence felt but I am taking this as not being used to my new shoes rather than the distance itself. Speaking of which the new shoes went well, they are a little chunkier than my last pair which will take some time to get used to however overall I am happy with them. To boost my confidence even more the race was pretty consistant which can be seen from the splits below
Run Splits
1st 5k - 22.21 ( 4.24, 4.31, 4.28, 4.30, 4.28)
2nd 5k - 22.15 ( 4.27, 4.31, 4.23, 4.24, 4.30)
3rd 5 k -22.02 ( 4.17, 4.23, 4.25, 4.22, 4.35)
Last 2.25k - 9.42 ( 3.34, 5.08, 1.00(254m) weird splits but I think they evened themselves out.
Overall 17.25k in 1.16.20 (4.25/k)
Post run, I have some tight bits, my quads and calves are a little sore. Nothing a massage from my lovely wife wont fix - Now I just have to get her to read this :-)
Month - 31k
YTD - 421.5k
It was an early morning for the family today. At about 4am we were up getting ready to take my mum to the airport for what would be the flight of her life. She was flying into Newcastle and after the wild weather they have experienced in the last 72 hrs it should have been interesting.
Got to the Airport before 5.30am said my goodbyes and headed straight over to the city for the club race at West End. It was still dark and pretty early when we arrived. I had planned to run the 10k event but this started at 7am and then run a few extra k's to make it a long'ish' type session. However when we arrived an hour before the event I decided to tag along with the serious ones and enter the 20 mile event.
Before you all start to freak out, I had no intention or inclination on running the whole race instead opting for my own 10 mile event. After the course was explained it worked out that I would have been 1.1k away from the start/finsih line if I ran 10 miles so it got extended to 17.2k
The run itself wasn't very exciting, the first 3k was run alone before I caught up with two runners doing the whole race. They were running a pace that I was content with so I sat behind them for the majority of the run. I think I made them uneasy at times as they kept looking over their shoulder to see what I was doing. It wasn't until the 11k mark where I took a stint up the front I explained that I wasn't running the whole race.
I began to tighten up during the last 5k of the race. My calves made their presence felt but I am taking this as not being used to my new shoes rather than the distance itself. Speaking of which the new shoes went well, they are a little chunkier than my last pair which will take some time to get used to however overall I am happy with them. To boost my confidence even more the race was pretty consistant which can be seen from the splits below
Run Splits
1st 5k - 22.21 ( 4.24, 4.31, 4.28, 4.30, 4.28)
2nd 5k - 22.15 ( 4.27, 4.31, 4.23, 4.24, 4.30)
3rd 5 k -22.02 ( 4.17, 4.23, 4.25, 4.22, 4.35)
Last 2.25k - 9.42 ( 3.34, 5.08, 1.00(254m) weird splits but I think they evened themselves out.
Overall 17.25k in 1.16.20 (4.25/k)
Post run, I have some tight bits, my quads and calves are a little sore. Nothing a massage from my lovely wife wont fix - Now I just have to get her to read this :-)
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