Thursday, May 01, 2014

Fortnight of Fun

Apr - 83k
YTD - 347k

The weather is cooling down in Townsville, although slowly it is going in the right direction. Over the past fortnight I have managed a few longer sessions and also some sessions broken up amongst the day.

I am still finding it difficult mainly due to work and what I have been doing around the house to squeeze in some long sessions. I can not manage beyond 50 mins at the moment.

Anyway I will have to sort something out otherwise my progression is going to stagnate which it is at the moment.

I am more consistent but my times haven't improved. I am able to achieve similar results anytime I run but there is not an improvement and I can't see one on the horizon if I continue with this training regime.

Parkrun last week was the day after ANZAC Day which wasn't a particularly good run. Managed 20.16 but I think the day before, being a Defence member the early morning at work and activities that go with this day took it's toll. The last 2k I lost 50 secs compared to my normal 1k splits.

Today I completed a Triathlon at work with distances of  500m swim / 13km cycle / 3km run. I came out of the water in last, managed to catch one on the cycle and caught another 2 in the run only missing out on catching the last (first) person by about 50m. Total time was just a tad over 50 mins.

That's all for now.

Happy Training

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Mid Month Ramble

Month - 41k
YTD - 305k

I have picked my training up a little over the past fortnight in order to improve my 5k times but more importantly the feeling I am experiencing during the run.

I have found that I am running out of legs so to speak around the 3.5k mark of a 5k race. The last 1500m is a struggle and although I am maintaining my average pace it sure is difficult to do so. I need to gain some more time in my legs which I have stated a few time already this year and haven't done so.

Over the past few weeks I have noticed that I have another person running at Parkrun in my age group who has lowered their times considerably since starting. They have only had around 5 runs which their first run being just under 22 mins. Last week this person achieved a 20.13 which has prompted me to get my act together and lower my times. I am loving the fact that there is a person nipping at my heals, it's healthy having competition especially when that person is also in your age group.

Despite this healthy competition I haven't raced against this person for a few weeks due to attending another Parkrun and due to the cancellation of last weeks event due to Cyclone Ita. I have 2 months left in the 30 - 34 age group and therefore I need to lower the course record of this age group to make it that much more difficult to anyone who is trying to take it from me. 19.50 is pretty soft and now that this new person on the scene is 23 seconds from this mark makes me a little nervous.

Anyway enough of that one highlight since my last post was achieving 19.16 at the other faster Parkrun in Townsville. Managed almost 2 mins in front of second place. This is my second run there and the second time I managed a sub 20 and a first placing. There is no way I will achieve a age group record there though as I believe it is sub 18 which is waaaay beyond me nowadays.

Well that's about all for now.

Until next time

Happy Training.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

March 14 Update

Jeez time flies, it's been 4 weeks since I last posted.

I will keep this brief as I haven't gone through my data on my watch to determine how much training I have done.

Parkrun - Due to work commitments the 1st one of March I missed. I was on call and unfortunately I was required to go in to work over that time.

08 Mar - 20:16 - 1st place
15 Mar - Went to a different Parkrun in Townsville and managed 19.39. 1st place. A lot easier course although I had to rely on another person for the first 2km to tell me where to go. Should be able to lower that time in the future.
22 Mar - I have been doing some walks with a weight vest and decided to give Parkrun a go with it.
I lessened the weight in the vest as I have been walking the hills around Townsville with 15kg but that is far to heavy to run with. I reduced this to 8kg and managed 23.03 and 7th place.

This week is the 1 year anniversary of Riverway Parkrun. I hope to run a good time however the course had to change due to the increase in numbers. Hopefully I understand where the course goes because it looks confusing on the small maps provided. Should be good!
The weather in Townsville at the moment is pretty poor, so if the run is not cancelled it may be pretty wet and maybe not conducive to a good time. We will see I guess.

Anyway I will leave it at that.

Happy Training

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Modern Era Townsville PB

Month - 78k
YTD - 178k

Geez the time has flown since the last post and I am struggling to remember what I did.

Anyway here goes a really brief summary.

Monday 17th - 6km at work
Wednesday 19th - another 6km
Thursday 20th - My Basic Fitness Assessment - to pass I need to do 30 pushups in 2 mins, 60 situps to a cadence and run 2.4k in 12.18.

Managed 50 p/u, 100 situps which is the max you can do and ran 8.29.

Very happy with my run result - 4.13 for the out leg (1200m) and 4.16 on way back.

This is my fastest I have done in Townsville since arriving back here in 2012. Very humid morning aswell which made it even more satisfying knowing that I could do that in the sort of temps we were experiencing.

Saturday 22nd - Parkrun - Just ran with the lead pack until 1500m to go and increased the pace slightly. I didn't want a serious hit out due to racing only a day or two prior. I was however very surprised that by the end that I finished in 20.57. Managed another win so that's 3.

Monday 24th - 7k (3.5k out and back) negative split by 40 secs around 4.30 pace.

So all in all a boring post but I needed to get this down otherwise I would of forget what I have done.

Parkrun this week will be a run with my son. I am on call for work and therefore need to have my phone attached to me constantly so, if I get a call at least I will be able to talk when running with my son. The best solution I guess, much better than doing nothing at all.

Anyway that's all

Happy Training.



Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Weekly Wrap Up

Month - 51k
YTD - 151k

A little late but here goes.

Since my last post and I will keep this brief, entailed doing some longer duration sessions. I awoke very early for me on a Sunday morning to venture up the hill and conduct a tough session up there.
It was poring with rain when I arrived which made it a lot cooler but a little harder to run the slopes of Castle Hill. Anyway I managed a one lap up the road and one lap up the goat track.

Monday 10 Feb 14 saw two things. Firstly I achieved 16 years in my current employment and secondly I took PT at work and arranged an interval session. The session was 2 x 1k, 2 x 600m and 2 x 200m. I ran approximately 3.30 - 3.40 per 1k interval, 1.55 for the first 600m and then paced a group for 2.25 for the 2nd 600m. The last 200m saw 40 secs then 28 secs as last ditched effort to stick it to the young blokes.

Tuesday I had a rest day.

Wednesday I again arranged a Tabata circuit which people seemed to enjoy on the morning but not the next day. Everyone pulled up sore from the squats, lunges and pushups I made them do.

Thursday I caught up with a mate who had just left Townsville to move to Canberra but needed to come back for work for a few days a month later. We again tackled Castle Hill doing the same session as what I did on Sunday albeit a little easier.

Then came Saturday 15 Feb 14 - What I thought would be my last Parkrun for a few weeks but now 4 days later this is not true. Anyway I was getting pretty annoyed that my previous 3 attempts of running my best saw 20 minutes clock by before crossing the line. I have never struggled to break 20 mins but this course is not entirely flat and a little deceptive making it more difficult than it really seems.

I have been having trouble pacing recently and therefore I wanted to ensure that I maintained slightly under 4 min pace and not go too hard too early. The 3-4k mark is the most difficult and has been the point where my wheels have fallen off. This was not going to be the week that this happened.

Anyway I set off and was in about 4th place after the first 600m. Many runners go off way, way to fast compared to their finish time and although I have been doing similar I have never been anymore than 20 secs faster. They are running a good 45 sec to 1 min faster for their first km compared to their overall average pace.

I passed the first k in 3.56, feeling happy then 2nd k in 3.53, the 3rd k in again 3.53, 4th in 3.57 and the last in 4.05. Anyway the GPS clocked a slightly longer than 5k but I thankfully managed 19.50 for the course and again broke my record and won the race overall for the second time.

Pretty happy that I got that monkey off my back.

Yesterday I completed a run of the mill 6k easy run about 28 mins.

That's about it....until next time

Happy Training.