No run this morning so January is finished!
Highlight - my race at Arizona for the half, a very positive experience
Lowlight - missing training after Arizona and stuffing up pacing at 5km challenge
Total distance for the month was 225km a little below plan.
In doing some number crunching, this January I ran 225km at an average pace of 4:59 min/km, last January I ran 227km at an average pace of 5:40 min/km!
Onto February, planned distance 300km! Runs of note include Striders 10km, Equaliser, SMC 25km and probably a 6hour Rogaine (if I can find a suitable partner!) in the build up for 6 foot!
Monday, January 31, 2005
Dee Why Dash STaR
Up early for the Dee Why Dash STaR. From last year this was a pretty hard run with a great climb from Oxford Falls up to Belrose to really work the legs over.
Started with 6:10 group today and a couple of others who also ran 6:20 last week did the same. Our group was a nice size with the "regulars" of Horrie and Superflake, along with Kevin. Barry and Peter who ran 6:20 last week, another CR I had not meet before, Coaster and a couple of triathletes getting ready for Foster.
It was very humid and had been drizzling as we set out, the initial piece of this run is deceptive as you climb up the back of Dee Why. Then some great downhill running down to Oxford Falls. Once again I did a bit of leading from the front to keep us on course as different people seemed determined to add some extra distance!
As we got to the bottom of Oxford Falls we had caught up to the 6:05 group, aka 6ft virgins apparently, and went straight past them as they took a wrong turn. Over Wakehurst parkway and along some rolling roads towards the US tracking station. Just as we turned the corner to head to the climb we ran past the very large 6am group. They were spread all up the road/hill as we started the climb. I had decided (from last years experience) to pace myself on the hill and let most of the group pull away, just keeping in contact. Kevin also slowed down to make his own way up. This climb has 2 sections and there is a nice bit of downhill between them, as we hit this bit I really upped my pace to get back onto the group and ran past plu and Bernie G, plu said afterwards he was pretty shocked at how fast I was going.
Again I let the group drift away from me up the 2nd piece of the climb and we reassmbled just over the top near where the Striders Equaliser run (a couple of weeks time!) starts and finishes. Some nice steady running through the back of Belrose but our group split up a bit. Over Warringah Rd at Frenchs Forrest and then along towards Allambie Rd. Started to feel it a little here but knew there was a good downhill to stretch out on. Down Allambie Rd, across Condamine street to Pittwater Rd. I was now really feeling the pace (we were averaging just over 5 min/km) and looking forward to the water stop near Manly.
Popped a gu away and topped up the water, Superflake caught up, saying Horrie was struggling and told him to go on. As we climbed out towards Harbord I let Superflake go on and was then also passed by a 6:20 group. Really struggling now and worried, as I knew there was a nasty hill at the end as well. Just focussed on smooth running but did some walking up steep pinches. About halfway up the Dee Why hill the next 6:20 group came through with vat_man and Blue Dog and I just hung on around 10m behind them to the finish, very knackered.
In this last little bit I gave myself a scare ducking under a tree and when I straightened up again I felt a big twinge right across my lower abs which have been giving me grief.
The stats : 29.9km in 2:35:15, give avg pace of 5:12 min/km so did slow down dramatically over the last 5/6km. Avg HR of 162. Looking back through my log last year I did the same run in 2:43:08 so close to 8 minutes faster this year!
Went for a swim in the surf which was great, big undertow though. Got out and Horrie, still wasn't back whish was a little worrying but he eventually rolled in with some 6:00 people.
A tough run but I am quite pleased, the Endura Carb drink seems to be making a real big difference to reducing post run muscle fatigue and the abs seem to have pulld up ok as well after some ice packs!
A tougher run next week with Berowra, and even more hills and bush trails. This will also be after the 10km race at Lane Cove on the Saturday as well....
Started with 6:10 group today and a couple of others who also ran 6:20 last week did the same. Our group was a nice size with the "regulars" of Horrie and Superflake, along with Kevin. Barry and Peter who ran 6:20 last week, another CR I had not meet before, Coaster and a couple of triathletes getting ready for Foster.
It was very humid and had been drizzling as we set out, the initial piece of this run is deceptive as you climb up the back of Dee Why. Then some great downhill running down to Oxford Falls. Once again I did a bit of leading from the front to keep us on course as different people seemed determined to add some extra distance!
As we got to the bottom of Oxford Falls we had caught up to the 6:05 group, aka 6ft virgins apparently, and went straight past them as they took a wrong turn. Over Wakehurst parkway and along some rolling roads towards the US tracking station. Just as we turned the corner to head to the climb we ran past the very large 6am group. They were spread all up the road/hill as we started the climb. I had decided (from last years experience) to pace myself on the hill and let most of the group pull away, just keeping in contact. Kevin also slowed down to make his own way up. This climb has 2 sections and there is a nice bit of downhill between them, as we hit this bit I really upped my pace to get back onto the group and ran past plu and Bernie G, plu said afterwards he was pretty shocked at how fast I was going.
Again I let the group drift away from me up the 2nd piece of the climb and we reassmbled just over the top near where the Striders Equaliser run (a couple of weeks time!) starts and finishes. Some nice steady running through the back of Belrose but our group split up a bit. Over Warringah Rd at Frenchs Forrest and then along towards Allambie Rd. Started to feel it a little here but knew there was a good downhill to stretch out on. Down Allambie Rd, across Condamine street to Pittwater Rd. I was now really feeling the pace (we were averaging just over 5 min/km) and looking forward to the water stop near Manly.
Popped a gu away and topped up the water, Superflake caught up, saying Horrie was struggling and told him to go on. As we climbed out towards Harbord I let Superflake go on and was then also passed by a 6:20 group. Really struggling now and worried, as I knew there was a nasty hill at the end as well. Just focussed on smooth running but did some walking up steep pinches. About halfway up the Dee Why hill the next 6:20 group came through with vat_man and Blue Dog and I just hung on around 10m behind them to the finish, very knackered.
In this last little bit I gave myself a scare ducking under a tree and when I straightened up again I felt a big twinge right across my lower abs which have been giving me grief.
The stats : 29.9km in 2:35:15, give avg pace of 5:12 min/km so did slow down dramatically over the last 5/6km. Avg HR of 162. Looking back through my log last year I did the same run in 2:43:08 so close to 8 minutes faster this year!
Went for a swim in the surf which was great, big undertow though. Got out and Horrie, still wasn't back whish was a little worrying but he eventually rolled in with some 6:00 people.
A tough run but I am quite pleased, the Endura Carb drink seems to be making a real big difference to reducing post run muscle fatigue and the abs seem to have pulld up ok as well after some ice packs!
A tougher run next week with Berowra, and even more hills and bush trails. This will also be after the 10km race at Lane Cove on the Saturday as well....
CR 5km Challenge & EOW
Finally my schedule falls into place to be able to run in my first Cool Running 5km challenge. Once a month it is organised and run over a flat course around the bay accurately measured by Action.
Now I know that my 5km pb is pretty soft since I broke it in the first 5km of the Arizona half with a time of 19:51. This run is a self seeding, self timing run and you put yourself in a group that you feel comfortable in, I chose 19 minutes as I was pretty confident that I'd drop my time down quite a bit. Also in my group were Cool Runners Horrie, Superflake, Blue Dog and Luke Skyrunner running with his son in the pram!
Somehow I managed to find myself at the front when we were given the word to go, pretty soon Blue Dog went past, he was on a mission to break 19 and using his garmin to pace him there. We got to the 1km mark and the split was 3:32! Yet again I'm out too fast! Try to ease up a little and run smoothly but somehow manage to miss the 2km marker. By the time we got to 3km Superflake had just gone past me and the lap for the 2km was 7:50, so still going ok. Luke and the pram went by, followed by Horrie as we ran towards km 4 and my split was 4:05. Now I felt like I was running on the spot as I paid for that fast start. Ended up with a 4:18 last km and even though the numbers above don't add up finished with 19:50, a PB by one second.
Not happy Jan, should have done much better than that but that is the problem with poor pacing. Oh well there is always next month for redemption!
That also ends the week, a so-so in terms of getting up and doing the running when I should but I covered well. 66km for the week and the Parrot Predictor is showing as a 3:11:11 marathon time.
Now I know that my 5km pb is pretty soft since I broke it in the first 5km of the Arizona half with a time of 19:51. This run is a self seeding, self timing run and you put yourself in a group that you feel comfortable in, I chose 19 minutes as I was pretty confident that I'd drop my time down quite a bit. Also in my group were Cool Runners Horrie, Superflake, Blue Dog and Luke Skyrunner running with his son in the pram!
Somehow I managed to find myself at the front when we were given the word to go, pretty soon Blue Dog went past, he was on a mission to break 19 and using his garmin to pace him there. We got to the 1km mark and the split was 3:32! Yet again I'm out too fast! Try to ease up a little and run smoothly but somehow manage to miss the 2km marker. By the time we got to 3km Superflake had just gone past me and the lap for the 2km was 7:50, so still going ok. Luke and the pram went by, followed by Horrie as we ran towards km 4 and my split was 4:05. Now I felt like I was running on the spot as I paid for that fast start. Ended up with a 4:18 last km and even though the numbers above don't add up finished with 19:50, a PB by one second.
Not happy Jan, should have done much better than that but that is the problem with poor pacing. Oh well there is always next month for redemption!
That also ends the week, a so-so in terms of getting up and doing the running when I should but I covered well. 66km for the week and the Parrot Predictor is showing as a 3:11:11 marathon time.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Easy Friday
Still struggling to get out of bed with the alarm, mainly due to the tennis and also being fully engrosed in one of my Christmas present books.
Decided to head down to run with the Lane Cove River Rats in the afternoon to make up. A pretty good pace with Striders Mohammed and Peter there along with Jim.
Running the Striders 10km course on a hot and humid afternoon and it was a pretty fast pace on the way out averaging 4:40 min/km to the bottom of the hill (that included up/down Scribbly).
Eased up a bit on the way back, taking into account the plan to run the Cool Running 5km challenge tomorrow. Also interesting, the GPS was in perfect synch with Action's certified markings today.
Stats : 10km in 48:04, avg pace 4:49 and avg hr 165.
Decided to head down to run with the Lane Cove River Rats in the afternoon to make up. A pretty good pace with Striders Mohammed and Peter there along with Jim.
Running the Striders 10km course on a hot and humid afternoon and it was a pretty fast pace on the way out averaging 4:40 min/km to the bottom of the hill (that included up/down Scribbly).
Eased up a bit on the way back, taking into account the plan to run the Cool Running 5km challenge tomorrow. Also interesting, the GPS was in perfect synch with Action's certified markings today.
Stats : 10km in 48:04, avg pace 4:49 and avg hr 165.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Summer Series @ Dee Why
Another Wednesday and it is again Summer Series time, this week a beach side Australia Day treat as we run at Dee Why.
Quite a hot and sticky afternoon and the legs were feeling a little tight after the intervals yesterday afternoon.
A quick look at the map and 2 very obvious loops to be done, just which one first?
I opted for the North loop first and then try and squeeze in as many as possible from the South as time allowed.
Pretty simple initial route with 2, 3, 21, 13, 4, 12, 22, 5
Then running on the sand around the lagoon was a little taxing to pick up 23 & 11.
Back on normal ground and swept through 24, 1, 14, 6 and onto the coastal path. This was a lot slower than I was expecting and so after picking up 15 and 28 I opted to heap up a pretty steep gully to get to 7, rather than keep running further from the finish.
Down to 26 and then up (again) to 19 to be able to get to 18. Up again to 27 and time is tight but Murphy steps in and I take a wrong turn, start trying to work through thick bush and lose around 4 minutes in finally getting to 27. Now to compound things there was a path unmarked on the map which I took so headed towards 9 thinking I was getting 20. Sussed this out and was way out of time so collected 10 and 25 on the way back.
Ended up with 470 but all the messing around at 27 saw me back late with 80 points deducted to end up with a net of 390, not good enough! A copy of the map with my route is here
The stats 9.5km in 54 minutes gives avg pace of 5:40.
Quite a hot and sticky afternoon and the legs were feeling a little tight after the intervals yesterday afternoon.
A quick look at the map and 2 very obvious loops to be done, just which one first?
I opted for the North loop first and then try and squeeze in as many as possible from the South as time allowed.
Pretty simple initial route with 2, 3, 21, 13, 4, 12, 22, 5
Then running on the sand around the lagoon was a little taxing to pick up 23 & 11.
Back on normal ground and swept through 24, 1, 14, 6 and onto the coastal path. This was a lot slower than I was expecting and so after picking up 15 and 28 I opted to heap up a pretty steep gully to get to 7, rather than keep running further from the finish.
Down to 26 and then up (again) to 19 to be able to get to 18. Up again to 27 and time is tight but Murphy steps in and I take a wrong turn, start trying to work through thick bush and lose around 4 minutes in finally getting to 27. Now to compound things there was a path unmarked on the map which I took so headed towards 9 thinking I was getting 20. Sussed this out and was way out of time so collected 10 and 25 on the way back.
Ended up with 470 but all the messing around at 27 saw me back late with 80 points deducted to end up with a net of 390, not good enough! A copy of the map with my route is here
The stats 9.5km in 54 minutes gives avg pace of 5:40.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Now thats a set of intervals!
After the debacle from my Yasso 800's last week I've been in serious thought about my intervals sessions and why/what I'm doing.
After reading up on some of the CR threads and also what others are/have done I came to realise that I needed to structure my sessions with a little more planning. I was trying to run too fast for too long too quickly!
Stepping back I'm aiming to have 2 sessions, one of longer intervals, say 1km/800m at around 10km race pace and then the other more of a speed session, say 400's, 30/30's at 3km-5km race pace or faster.
So this afternoon back to the gym and treadmill but set it up for 3:55 min/km pace rather than the 3:40 pace I have had. The difference being that I needed to do more intervals at this slower pace! The result being that I managed 8 full reps and then another half at this pace with 1:55 standing rest. Had to pull the pin as I was sweating so much I wa starting to slip on the belt, but in reality was pretty much toast anyway.
So I think that I should be able to knock out 10 of these (which in itself is a good sign for my sub 40min 10km goal). From there increase the pace and then wait until I get 10 reps out again at the new pace.
So a lot happier after today, a good workout!
After reading up on some of the CR threads and also what others are/have done I came to realise that I needed to structure my sessions with a little more planning. I was trying to run too fast for too long too quickly!
Stepping back I'm aiming to have 2 sessions, one of longer intervals, say 1km/800m at around 10km race pace and then the other more of a speed session, say 400's, 30/30's at 3km-5km race pace or faster.
So this afternoon back to the gym and treadmill but set it up for 3:55 min/km pace rather than the 3:40 pace I have had. The difference being that I needed to do more intervals at this slower pace! The result being that I managed 8 full reps and then another half at this pace with 1:55 standing rest. Had to pull the pin as I was sweating so much I wa starting to slip on the belt, but in reality was pretty much toast anyway.
So I think that I should be able to knock out 10 of these (which in itself is a good sign for my sub 40min 10km goal). From there increase the pace and then wait until I get 10 reps out again at the new pace.
So a lot happier after today, a good workout!
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Balmain Bungle & Bucketing Down!
A new STaR course for me this week with the Balmain Bungle. During the week Horrie had asked me if I was going to run 6:10 or 6:20, I was a little hesitant on the 6:20 knowing that this, as STaRs go, was fairly flat, and that the pace could be on!
Another factor was that we had friends down from the country over for dinner on Saturday night and while I tried to take it easy, probably a few too many red's were consumed, especially given I was running 30km early the following morning.
Anyway rocked up at Iron Cove, just as a large 6:05 group? charged off. Quickly paid the money and got the map, said Hi to a multitude of Striders and CR's when the 6:10 group headed off. To my surprise Horrie and Superflake both headed out, along with Spud, Blue Dog and my old school chum Silverfox running his first STaR! I had already mentally prepared myself for 6:20 and so continued to chat with a few runners wondering if I was in need of a mental checkover.
This concern was heightened as I had a quick chat with CR's Uncle Dave, Springer and Luke Skyrunner, all who were running 6:20 and not 6:30 and thus increasing the concern as to my wisdom, not to mention a number of other "fast" Striders!
After a couple of nasty hills early in the run I was cruising along ok in the bunch of around 15 and as usual it seems now assisting in making sure we stayed on course. It was an amazing sight as we ran along Lilyfield Road, there was a chain of groups of runners spread out for as far as you could see. At around the same time it started to rain. By the time we got to Parramatta Road it was chucking it down and there was a heap of thunder and lightning to accompany. Around here we caught up to some of the 6:10 group including Horrie, Superflake and Spud, I was a little surprised given this was just over 10km and they has 10 minutes head start. I also noticed at this point the GPS had lost signal a couple of times.
As we ran along Canterbury Road it absolutely bucketed down and crossing streets meant either long jumping about 1.5 metres or running through water above your ankles! By this stage our group had splintered into 2 groups and I elected to loiter with the 2nd group with some runners I knew were a little more my capability. As we ran along Cooks river we went past Professor, also out for his first STaR, the rain dissipated and now it was more a challenge to maintain the pace which was around 4:50 as the legs started to complain.
I rode the elastic band on the back of our second group as the faster group disappeared from sight and eventually, as we were running through Leichhardt dropped off the back to grind it home. Finished off with a time of 2:24 and since the GPS had a few problems I'll claim the published 29.9km which gives an average of 4:49 min/km with an average HR of 166! to finish off spent some good time chatting and catching up with various people afterwards, even if it was still raining.
Pretty stoked with the run today, as it is not far at all away from my actual Canberra pace of 4:47 from last year. Some concern however as my groin/abdomen "issue" seemed to be lurking so I'll up the ante on my preventative routines. A tough rest of the week scheduled, hopefully the legs will take advantage of the day off tomorrow as I continue on a pretty solid program.
Another factor was that we had friends down from the country over for dinner on Saturday night and while I tried to take it easy, probably a few too many red's were consumed, especially given I was running 30km early the following morning.
Anyway rocked up at Iron Cove, just as a large 6:05 group? charged off. Quickly paid the money and got the map, said Hi to a multitude of Striders and CR's when the 6:10 group headed off. To my surprise Horrie and Superflake both headed out, along with Spud, Blue Dog and my old school chum Silverfox running his first STaR! I had already mentally prepared myself for 6:20 and so continued to chat with a few runners wondering if I was in need of a mental checkover.
This concern was heightened as I had a quick chat with CR's Uncle Dave, Springer and Luke Skyrunner, all who were running 6:20 and not 6:30 and thus increasing the concern as to my wisdom, not to mention a number of other "fast" Striders!
After a couple of nasty hills early in the run I was cruising along ok in the bunch of around 15 and as usual it seems now assisting in making sure we stayed on course. It was an amazing sight as we ran along Lilyfield Road, there was a chain of groups of runners spread out for as far as you could see. At around the same time it started to rain. By the time we got to Parramatta Road it was chucking it down and there was a heap of thunder and lightning to accompany. Around here we caught up to some of the 6:10 group including Horrie, Superflake and Spud, I was a little surprised given this was just over 10km and they has 10 minutes head start. I also noticed at this point the GPS had lost signal a couple of times.
As we ran along Canterbury Road it absolutely bucketed down and crossing streets meant either long jumping about 1.5 metres or running through water above your ankles! By this stage our group had splintered into 2 groups and I elected to loiter with the 2nd group with some runners I knew were a little more my capability. As we ran along Cooks river we went past Professor, also out for his first STaR, the rain dissipated and now it was more a challenge to maintain the pace which was around 4:50 as the legs started to complain.
I rode the elastic band on the back of our second group as the faster group disappeared from sight and eventually, as we were running through Leichhardt dropped off the back to grind it home. Finished off with a time of 2:24 and since the GPS had a few problems I'll claim the published 29.9km which gives an average of 4:49 min/km with an average HR of 166! to finish off spent some good time chatting and catching up with various people afterwards, even if it was still raining.
Pretty stoked with the run today, as it is not far at all away from my actual Canberra pace of 4:47 from last year. Some concern however as my groin/abdomen "issue" seemed to be lurking so I'll up the ante on my preventative routines. A tough rest of the week scheduled, hopefully the legs will take advantage of the day off tomorrow as I continue on a pretty solid program.
Friday, January 21, 2005
YAIBO
Yet Another Interval Blow Out!
Scheduled for a speed work out and really have not done one for 2 weeks and the last one was ablowout 1km session.
Was originally going to head down to Rotary for some Yasso 800's, have not done them in ages. Some second thoughts last night during/after the storms and this morning had started to prepare for a treadmill session at the gym. Looked outside and it was a beautiful morning so returned to plan A.
A quick jog down the hill and across the footbridge over Lane Cove River. Think I saw MPHaz driving into the gym on my way down. The concept behind Yasso 800's is they are supposed to be a benchmark/correlation for a marathon performance. If you want to run say a 3:20:00 marathon then you should be able to run 10 x 800 @ 0:03:20 with the same time for a jog recovery.
First couple were pretty much on the mark, the third drifted a little and then the fourth was a complete blowout. I could feel the form going bad and the legs felt full of lactic. No point in belting your head against a brick wall so jogged home back up the hill.
The times were
3:02
3:01
3:04
3:13!
Don't know why but I am having real trouble with speed sessions in training, back to 2 interval sessions next week!
I'm going to call it a week, the legs feel tired, some concern over the continued tightness around the adductors and I really need a good 30km on Sunday. Total for the week 52km and the Parrot predictor says 3:21:46
Scheduled for a speed work out and really have not done one for 2 weeks and the last one was ablowout 1km session.
Was originally going to head down to Rotary for some Yasso 800's, have not done them in ages. Some second thoughts last night during/after the storms and this morning had started to prepare for a treadmill session at the gym. Looked outside and it was a beautiful morning so returned to plan A.
A quick jog down the hill and across the footbridge over Lane Cove River. Think I saw MPHaz driving into the gym on my way down. The concept behind Yasso 800's is they are supposed to be a benchmark/correlation for a marathon performance. If you want to run say a 3:20:00 marathon then you should be able to run 10 x 800 @ 0:03:20 with the same time for a jog recovery.
First couple were pretty much on the mark, the third drifted a little and then the fourth was a complete blowout. I could feel the form going bad and the legs felt full of lactic. No point in belting your head against a brick wall so jogged home back up the hill.
The times were
3:02
3:01
3:04
3:13!
Don't know why but I am having real trouble with speed sessions in training, back to 2 interval sessions next week!
I'm going to call it a week, the legs feel tired, some concern over the continued tightness around the adductors and I really need a good 30km on Sunday. Total for the week 52km and the Parrot predictor says 3:21:46
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Recovery
Certainly still felt a little tight in both legs around the adductor and/or upper quads, even after icing last night. I enjoyed the extra distance through LCNP the other day so decided to test out a new recovery run course by running to the weir and then back the same way.
Slightly warmer today than Tuesday but eventually got going and ended up with
11.8km in 58:10 (4:56 min/km) and avg HR of 166
Certainly felt last nights effort but a good slightly longer stretch out. Speed session tomorrow morning!
Slightly warmer today than Tuesday but eventually got going and ended up with
11.8km in 58:10 (4:56 min/km) and avg HR of 166
Certainly felt last nights effort but a good slightly longer stretch out. Speed session tomorrow morning!
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Summer Series @ St Joeys
After a week off from Summer Series during my sojourn in the USA it's back to the map and this week not too far from home and I think in vat_man's backyard! Missed out on the planned short recovery run this morning.
The start was at St Josephs Sports Ground (for those not in the know St Josephs is one of Sydney's more exclusive private schools and has a lot of boarders from the country. Luckily today there was a decent breeze blowing which kept things a little cooler. The map area is bounded by Victoria, Pittwater, Ryde and Burns Bay Roads, mostly centred around Tarban Creek back up into Gladesville.
Here's a link to a copy of the map and my route
http://www.users.bigpond.com/dmbray/villa%20maria.jpg
Started off pretty well, downhill to 13, then 3. A little wobble on 2 and then ran past the drop down to 21. Up hill to 11 and traversed across to 14 pretty happy so far! Finish the loop and cross the creek for 6, another little relocate and then ran out the wrong way (not up) to cut across to 22.
Now I really came unstuck at 24 confusing myself with stone fences and completely overshooting which means a climb back up, then manage to miss the cleared bush approach to the creek crossing at 7, prefering to bash through pretty green and thick creekside bush. That little section really soaked up some time. Back on track up to 4, across to 23, 17, 10 and 19. Still too many points further out and running low on time but continued on to 27, 29 and then up to Tarban Creek bridge to cross over for 30. Looking to run a fairly direct route back so it's 25,9,16 and then 5.
At that point time was pretty much up but I opted to pick up 15 and then run along to 1 only to realise 1 was on the other side of the fence. Another bit of time wasted before I eventually find a way under the fence, across to 12 and back to the finish.
Ended up with 53:48 and 490 points so a 90 point penalty gives a net of 400. Distance was 8.4 km at 6:22 min/km. Thats what happens when you stuff up a couple of controls!
Still not a totally bad scoae but will probably end up around 68 points, one which I'll need to drop in the overall pointscore.
Used my new Trance shoes acquired at the Brooks outlet store for a bargain and no blister problems, feeling more confident each day that I might have sorted them out! Of course now I'm icing up as both LH and RH adductors are a bit tight
The start was at St Josephs Sports Ground (for those not in the know St Josephs is one of Sydney's more exclusive private schools and has a lot of boarders from the country. Luckily today there was a decent breeze blowing which kept things a little cooler. The map area is bounded by Victoria, Pittwater, Ryde and Burns Bay Roads, mostly centred around Tarban Creek back up into Gladesville.
Here's a link to a copy of the map and my route
http://www.users.bigpond.com/dmbray/villa%20maria.jpg
Started off pretty well, downhill to 13, then 3. A little wobble on 2 and then ran past the drop down to 21. Up hill to 11 and traversed across to 14 pretty happy so far! Finish the loop and cross the creek for 6, another little relocate and then ran out the wrong way (not up) to cut across to 22.
Now I really came unstuck at 24 confusing myself with stone fences and completely overshooting which means a climb back up, then manage to miss the cleared bush approach to the creek crossing at 7, prefering to bash through pretty green and thick creekside bush. That little section really soaked up some time. Back on track up to 4, across to 23, 17, 10 and 19. Still too many points further out and running low on time but continued on to 27, 29 and then up to Tarban Creek bridge to cross over for 30. Looking to run a fairly direct route back so it's 25,9,16 and then 5.
At that point time was pretty much up but I opted to pick up 15 and then run along to 1 only to realise 1 was on the other side of the fence. Another bit of time wasted before I eventually find a way under the fence, across to 12 and back to the finish.
Ended up with 53:48 and 490 points so a 90 point penalty gives a net of 400. Distance was 8.4 km at 6:22 min/km. Thats what happens when you stuff up a couple of controls!
Still not a totally bad scoae but will probably end up around 68 points, one which I'll need to drop in the overall pointscore.
Used my new Trance shoes acquired at the Brooks outlet store for a bargain and no blister problems, feeling more confident each day that I might have sorted them out! Of course now I'm icing up as both LH and RH adductors are a bit tight
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Back in the swing
Determined to get back on track today and also to rack up a bit of distance. Rather than doing some short fast stuff I opted for a 15km run at reasonable pace.
Fiddled around for quite a while last night trying to alleviate the blistering on the heel problem and put a variety of different solutions in place. The most significant being using a heat gun on the heel of the shoe to try and mould the cup a bit to fit where I am suffering. Also tried a new lacing technique and I'm posting some stuff on cool running to ask the experts.
As I headed out the door this morning another runner was headed past, going in the opposite direction to me. I had decided to try a different option today and turn right at the bottom of Scribbly's to run down to the weir, turn and then see how the time and body were going for a 20km option. Just as I was getting to the weir I saw the same runner from earlier headed in the other direction.
Grabbed a quick drink at the bubbler and headed up the 10km course towards Ryde Road. There were a lot of people out running this morning and as I neared the 2km mark I saw I was gaining on that same runner again, slowly but gaining. Eventually caught up to him at the 4km mark and we had a quick chat as we headed up the hill. Turns out it was a fellow Strider and Cool Runner Steve (Kanangra) who also lives in the area, but we had never met before. He was a little stronger on the hill than me but then we ran pretty much all the way back to my place.
Given my extra effort to catch him and then a pretty good pace for the rest of the run it was a fairly good session over a non-flat course. The stats
14.69km in 1:08:30 (avg pace 4:39 min/km) and avg HR of 167.
A change in my schedule tomorrow with a 5km recovery run in the morning and then probably a fairly fast Summer Series around Hunters Hill/Gladesville based at St Josephs. the plan will be to extend these Wed morning recovery runs out to 10km.
Fiddled around for quite a while last night trying to alleviate the blistering on the heel problem and put a variety of different solutions in place. The most significant being using a heat gun on the heel of the shoe to try and mould the cup a bit to fit where I am suffering. Also tried a new lacing technique and I'm posting some stuff on cool running to ask the experts.
As I headed out the door this morning another runner was headed past, going in the opposite direction to me. I had decided to try a different option today and turn right at the bottom of Scribbly's to run down to the weir, turn and then see how the time and body were going for a 20km option. Just as I was getting to the weir I saw the same runner from earlier headed in the other direction.
Grabbed a quick drink at the bubbler and headed up the 10km course towards Ryde Road. There were a lot of people out running this morning and as I neared the 2km mark I saw I was gaining on that same runner again, slowly but gaining. Eventually caught up to him at the 4km mark and we had a quick chat as we headed up the hill. Turns out it was a fellow Strider and Cool Runner Steve (Kanangra) who also lives in the area, but we had never met before. He was a little stronger on the hill than me but then we ran pretty much all the way back to my place.
Given my extra effort to catch him and then a pretty good pace for the rest of the run it was a fairly good session over a non-flat course. The stats
14.69km in 1:08:30 (avg pace 4:39 min/km) and avg HR of 167.
A change in my schedule tomorrow with a 5km recovery run in the morning and then probably a fairly fast Summer Series around Hunters Hill/Gladesville based at St Josephs. the plan will be to extend these Wed morning recovery runs out to 10km.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Recap since Arizona
Not much to report actually.
Had a work retreat up at Sedona, it was cold there was snow on the surrounding mountains.
The work schedule & socialising pretty much made running impossible made an attempt to get up but it was still dark and cold and not enough time when the sun did come out as we were having breakfast sessions at 7:30.
Back to Scottsdale and my one major chance was stuffed up as I set the alarm wrong.
So after a long set of flights back home (Los Angeles to Sydney via Hong Kong) I was determined to get out on Sunday morning. Had to wait for the kids to stir so they knew I was home and eventually got out at around 9am. Man it was hot/humid. I felt really good for about the first 5km doing my 10km circuit in reverse so I could in a longer option if I felt like it. Wisely taking into account the heat I opted for the 10km and then pretty much straight away started to fade.
The run in either direction is a down and up run so you always get a nice hill headed home. This time it really hurt and I was contemplating walking it! Really struggled in the last km and was even starting to feel faint, noticed my HR was way up there for a shortish run so backed off.
A couple of cordials and then about 10 minutes under a cold shower made life feel a little better, I gues the combination of the heat and jet lag etc had more of an effect than I thought.
The stats 10.4 km in 49:30 (4:46 pace) but an average HR of 179!!
Now that I'm back in the Trances I also noticed the scar skin tissue on the heels did not like that so more remedial shoe action will be done.
Nothing this morning (Monday) as it was chucking it down with rain which killed the small amount of enthusiasm for running vs staying in bed and catching up on sleep.
Need to really sort myself out as January is over halfway and have now missed out on anumber of days.
Had a work retreat up at Sedona, it was cold there was snow on the surrounding mountains.
The work schedule & socialising pretty much made running impossible made an attempt to get up but it was still dark and cold and not enough time when the sun did come out as we were having breakfast sessions at 7:30.
Back to Scottsdale and my one major chance was stuffed up as I set the alarm wrong.
So after a long set of flights back home (Los Angeles to Sydney via Hong Kong) I was determined to get out on Sunday morning. Had to wait for the kids to stir so they knew I was home and eventually got out at around 9am. Man it was hot/humid. I felt really good for about the first 5km doing my 10km circuit in reverse so I could in a longer option if I felt like it. Wisely taking into account the heat I opted for the 10km and then pretty much straight away started to fade.
The run in either direction is a down and up run so you always get a nice hill headed home. This time it really hurt and I was contemplating walking it! Really struggled in the last km and was even starting to feel faint, noticed my HR was way up there for a shortish run so backed off.
A couple of cordials and then about 10 minutes under a cold shower made life feel a little better, I gues the combination of the heat and jet lag etc had more of an effect than I thought.
The stats 10.4 km in 49:30 (4:46 pace) but an average HR of 179!!
Now that I'm back in the Trances I also noticed the scar skin tissue on the heels did not like that so more remedial shoe action will be done.
Nothing this morning (Monday) as it was chucking it down with rain which killed the small amount of enthusiasm for running vs staying in bed and catching up on sleep.
Need to really sort myself out as January is over halfway and have now missed out on anumber of days.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Rock 'n' Roll Half Race Report
Ok second attempt at posting this, my computer ate the first version.
Warning, my first attempt was reasonably long and detailed so I have decided to introduce an:
Executive Summary
Had to go to Arizona for work, found out that The Rock n Roll half was on while I was there, travelled over, ran the race and posted 4 PB's and was very impressed with the organisation and running of the race. (thought it might make life easy for a blog review!)
Pre Race
After confirming I was required to visit Arizona for work (my company's head office is based there) I did a quick search for a Striders style running group to do a run with during my visit. Found that the second annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half were on when I was there so decided to have a crack at the half.
Departed Sydney on the Saturday, to arrive in Phoenix, via Los Angeles at about the same time on the Saturday. Given I was running the next morning I was meticulous in regards to hydrating etc and also attempted to realign my body clock on the flight to avoid jet lag. Managed about 4 hours sleep over the Pacific. After picking up the rental car and checking in at the hotel I headed off the the race registration to pick up my kit, number and chip. This was being held at an exhibition centre with an accompanying expo. Very smooth registration process and the expo was massive!
For those that have visited Sydney or Melbourne exhibition halls this filled up one complete hall. There were all sorts of stands : a massive range of event specific souvineer clothing, heaps of running gear vendors, all of the major shoe manufacturers, a lot of different sports drink/gu/bar suppliers, other US marathons promoting for entry and then some other stuff like a place that specialises in creating special stands to hold and display your different finishers medals. I picked up a few bars and gus and after a bit of a look around headed off. A major problem in getting the car out, there was a traffic jam in the parking station and it took close to an hour to get the car out!
Headed back to the hotel for dinner, the stomach was starting to complain a little about being given food when not expecting it and then not being given food when it usually was. I sorted out dinner with some chinese and keep up the rehydration regime, finally hitting the sack at around 9pm.
Up the next morning at 5am to sort myself out and drive to the finish line. Thankfully the predictions of rain did nott seem to hold up and while it was a little chilly (hey it is the middle of winter!) I'd say the temperature was around the same as at the City to Surf start. Parked the car in the parking station near the finish and then boarded one of the waiting shuttle buses to take me to the start area, all very efficient. Got to the start area and there were people everywhere! They had around 18,000 running the half and another 11,500 running in the marathon. The start area was amazing, heaps and heaps of portaloos, with the obligitary queues. But then also supplies of fresh fruit, bagels (what is it with bagels in the US?), coffee and water. I wandered around soaking up the atmosphere and headed over to look at the Marathon start. The Marathon and half had 2 separate start lines, one block apart and totally different courses all the way until the finish.
On the way I stopped off at a portaloo queue and was amazed at the casual approach that a lot of runners for the marathon had. It was 10 minutes to the start and they were still arriving and waiting in line without any stress! After watching the start I sorted out my gear to dropoff. Another great system here where your race bib had a detachable section that you cable tied to your bag, very easy to identify. The best bit then was they had around 20 UPS vans backed up, each with a section of runners allocated by surname. You just find the right van and drop off your stuff! The other great feature they had was a series of corrals, 19 for the half marathon, all based upon your approximate finishing time. As it happens I was put into corral number 1! With nothing else to do I entered the corral and lounged around. I should have made another loo stop but more of that later.
Again I was amazed at the casual approach, no big crowds, in fact with 15 minutes to go there would have only been say 20 people in my corral! I think this is because the US runners are so much more used to chip timing and base their performance on chip rather than gun time. Anyway chugged some more water and watched as a couple of running Elvis's gained a bit of attention, it seemed they were locals. I felt the need to visit the portaloos but the queues looked too long. Given the sparse crowd it would have been difficult to do a City to Surf job so I decided to hang on and hope it wouldn't get worse. With about 5 minutes to go I was expecting a whole heap of elites to be shuffled in in front of us but only a handful, so I was about 1 row back from the front, amazing! They did the national anthem thing with some Marines holding the flags and a few Arizona American Idol entrants singing and then Senator John McCain did a quick speech before firing the gun.
The actual run
Anyone still reading??
Given my prime start position there was no jostling and we went off down a long wide street. One of my identified prerace challenges was going to be pacing/splits given this would be marked in miles, so I had the trusty GPS riding shotgun to keep me honest. Was just focussing on a good efficient pace and so was surprised that the first beep from the watch indicating one kilometer showed 3:52! So I decided to ease up a little but still hit the next km with a 3:59. Despite still looking to ease up a little my third km came in at 3:48 and so I just (unofficially due to GPS measuring) broke my 3km PB with a 11:38 (the old one being 11:40 in July at Homebush for a Striders 10km).
Now I was a little worried but still felt really good, to distract myself I was also trying to do mental maths as at each mile marker they also had a timer so you could work out your splits so I was trying to determine if the GPS was maybe a bit out. At the 5km mark I found out, as they actually had a timing mat down and my official 5km time was 19:51, another PB! (previous was again the Homebush run with 19:57). Still too fast, and I still had another 16.1km to go.
On the course at around every mile they had different bands playing (thus the Rock 'n' Roll) and then each other half mile there were local cheerleading squads, I have to say you did seem to pick up the pace going past these groups, especially when they saw the Striders singlet and yelled out about Sydney! Coming up to 10km and I had slowed down a little. Another timing mat gave me an official 10km time of 41:18, thus another PB (once again bettering the Homebush run of 41:24).
I thought bugger it, just keep on going. As usual my race tactics see me in a state of never die wondering mode. The next 5km or so were all at around my original goal pace of 4:15 as I continued the mental math but also started to deal with both an urgent need to pee while also my travellers tummy was complaining. A wierd split from the GSPS at around 15km had me worried and I knew I was slowing a little. No surprise I'm sure to the experienced readers given my fast start.
The last 5-6km did see me slip in my pace a little and I felt some cramping/stitches in my gut but I had some time up my sleeve to still give 90 minutes shake. The last 2 km or so was through the Tempe (a large suburb of Phoenix where Arizona State Uni is) shopping district and there was a large crowd lining the streets. At this point I was in just get me to the line mode, not sure as to how I was going given the wierd split around 15km and unable to focus enough to convert from miles to km. Finally it seemed we were close as the Sun Devil Stadium became visible and I consciously picked up the pace. Then I could see a timer which was in the 89's and knew I must have only been a few 100 metres at the most from the finish, As I rounded the bend I could see the line but the clock had just clicked over to 90 so just ran it out to the line. Just near the line the commentator saw the Striders singlet and asked if I was from Australia and I did the thumbs up, the crowd gave a big cheer as I crossed the line with 90:25 showing, a new PB over my previous time of 93:44 set at Lane Cove in the Striders half in September.
Post race
More great organisation with a space blanket, water and finishers medallion handed out in progress as I made my way to be dechipped. Then into a large area with sports drink, fruit, more bagels, water and even Krispy Kreme mini donuts! Sat down and had a chat with another finisher for a little while but then had to get going. Very smooth gear pick up, all of the UPS trucks had parked in a big parking lot, very efficient. I made my way past the marathon finish line and they were just getting to 2:50 when I went past. The crowd was in the middle between the half and full finish lines and there was a lot of atmosphere! Got the car and went back to the hotel for a cold bath, then a shower and prepare for the drive up to Sedona for work.
All in all a great experience, I ended up finishing 178th out of 15,848 finishers. The organisation of this event was an eye opener and while it cost me around 100 AUD it certainly was worth it and I would be sure to contemplate running in another US race if and when the opportunity arises in the future. I'm sure that if I had been a little calmer in the first phase of the race I probably would have broken 90 but am stoked to have been able to perform the way I did really on the back of one months training since resuming after the groin injury. Am now very positive about breaking my shorter distance PB's just need to work out how to push myself harder or run more efficiently when I'm trying to run fast. Somewhat on target for Canberra but need to run twice the distance at just a shade faster pace as well. Can't argue with 3 official PB's and one unofficial one however!
Oh and some photos are here http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=4353&BIB=21819
The guts took a couple of days to settle down, interestingly no issues with my problematic blisters on the heels but I do notice my adductors are still both sore, hopefully not related to my recent groin injury.
Warning, my first attempt was reasonably long and detailed so I have decided to introduce an:
Executive Summary
Had to go to Arizona for work, found out that The Rock n Roll half was on while I was there, travelled over, ran the race and posted 4 PB's and was very impressed with the organisation and running of the race. (thought it might make life easy for a blog review!)
Pre Race
After confirming I was required to visit Arizona for work (my company's head office is based there) I did a quick search for a Striders style running group to do a run with during my visit. Found that the second annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half were on when I was there so decided to have a crack at the half.
Departed Sydney on the Saturday, to arrive in Phoenix, via Los Angeles at about the same time on the Saturday. Given I was running the next morning I was meticulous in regards to hydrating etc and also attempted to realign my body clock on the flight to avoid jet lag. Managed about 4 hours sleep over the Pacific. After picking up the rental car and checking in at the hotel I headed off the the race registration to pick up my kit, number and chip. This was being held at an exhibition centre with an accompanying expo. Very smooth registration process and the expo was massive!
For those that have visited Sydney or Melbourne exhibition halls this filled up one complete hall. There were all sorts of stands : a massive range of event specific souvineer clothing, heaps of running gear vendors, all of the major shoe manufacturers, a lot of different sports drink/gu/bar suppliers, other US marathons promoting for entry and then some other stuff like a place that specialises in creating special stands to hold and display your different finishers medals. I picked up a few bars and gus and after a bit of a look around headed off. A major problem in getting the car out, there was a traffic jam in the parking station and it took close to an hour to get the car out!
Headed back to the hotel for dinner, the stomach was starting to complain a little about being given food when not expecting it and then not being given food when it usually was. I sorted out dinner with some chinese and keep up the rehydration regime, finally hitting the sack at around 9pm.
Up the next morning at 5am to sort myself out and drive to the finish line. Thankfully the predictions of rain did nott seem to hold up and while it was a little chilly (hey it is the middle of winter!) I'd say the temperature was around the same as at the City to Surf start. Parked the car in the parking station near the finish and then boarded one of the waiting shuttle buses to take me to the start area, all very efficient. Got to the start area and there were people everywhere! They had around 18,000 running the half and another 11,500 running in the marathon. The start area was amazing, heaps and heaps of portaloos, with the obligitary queues. But then also supplies of fresh fruit, bagels (what is it with bagels in the US?), coffee and water. I wandered around soaking up the atmosphere and headed over to look at the Marathon start. The Marathon and half had 2 separate start lines, one block apart and totally different courses all the way until the finish.
On the way I stopped off at a portaloo queue and was amazed at the casual approach that a lot of runners for the marathon had. It was 10 minutes to the start and they were still arriving and waiting in line without any stress! After watching the start I sorted out my gear to dropoff. Another great system here where your race bib had a detachable section that you cable tied to your bag, very easy to identify. The best bit then was they had around 20 UPS vans backed up, each with a section of runners allocated by surname. You just find the right van and drop off your stuff! The other great feature they had was a series of corrals, 19 for the half marathon, all based upon your approximate finishing time. As it happens I was put into corral number 1! With nothing else to do I entered the corral and lounged around. I should have made another loo stop but more of that later.
Again I was amazed at the casual approach, no big crowds, in fact with 15 minutes to go there would have only been say 20 people in my corral! I think this is because the US runners are so much more used to chip timing and base their performance on chip rather than gun time. Anyway chugged some more water and watched as a couple of running Elvis's gained a bit of attention, it seemed they were locals. I felt the need to visit the portaloos but the queues looked too long. Given the sparse crowd it would have been difficult to do a City to Surf job so I decided to hang on and hope it wouldn't get worse. With about 5 minutes to go I was expecting a whole heap of elites to be shuffled in in front of us but only a handful, so I was about 1 row back from the front, amazing! They did the national anthem thing with some Marines holding the flags and a few Arizona American Idol entrants singing and then Senator John McCain did a quick speech before firing the gun.
The actual run
Anyone still reading??
Given my prime start position there was no jostling and we went off down a long wide street. One of my identified prerace challenges was going to be pacing/splits given this would be marked in miles, so I had the trusty GPS riding shotgun to keep me honest. Was just focussing on a good efficient pace and so was surprised that the first beep from the watch indicating one kilometer showed 3:52! So I decided to ease up a little but still hit the next km with a 3:59. Despite still looking to ease up a little my third km came in at 3:48 and so I just (unofficially due to GPS measuring) broke my 3km PB with a 11:38 (the old one being 11:40 in July at Homebush for a Striders 10km).
Now I was a little worried but still felt really good, to distract myself I was also trying to do mental maths as at each mile marker they also had a timer so you could work out your splits so I was trying to determine if the GPS was maybe a bit out. At the 5km mark I found out, as they actually had a timing mat down and my official 5km time was 19:51, another PB! (previous was again the Homebush run with 19:57). Still too fast, and I still had another 16.1km to go.
On the course at around every mile they had different bands playing (thus the Rock 'n' Roll) and then each other half mile there were local cheerleading squads, I have to say you did seem to pick up the pace going past these groups, especially when they saw the Striders singlet and yelled out about Sydney! Coming up to 10km and I had slowed down a little. Another timing mat gave me an official 10km time of 41:18, thus another PB (once again bettering the Homebush run of 41:24).
I thought bugger it, just keep on going. As usual my race tactics see me in a state of never die wondering mode. The next 5km or so were all at around my original goal pace of 4:15 as I continued the mental math but also started to deal with both an urgent need to pee while also my travellers tummy was complaining. A wierd split from the GSPS at around 15km had me worried and I knew I was slowing a little. No surprise I'm sure to the experienced readers given my fast start.
The last 5-6km did see me slip in my pace a little and I felt some cramping/stitches in my gut but I had some time up my sleeve to still give 90 minutes shake. The last 2 km or so was through the Tempe (a large suburb of Phoenix where Arizona State Uni is) shopping district and there was a large crowd lining the streets. At this point I was in just get me to the line mode, not sure as to how I was going given the wierd split around 15km and unable to focus enough to convert from miles to km. Finally it seemed we were close as the Sun Devil Stadium became visible and I consciously picked up the pace. Then I could see a timer which was in the 89's and knew I must have only been a few 100 metres at the most from the finish, As I rounded the bend I could see the line but the clock had just clicked over to 90 so just ran it out to the line. Just near the line the commentator saw the Striders singlet and asked if I was from Australia and I did the thumbs up, the crowd gave a big cheer as I crossed the line with 90:25 showing, a new PB over my previous time of 93:44 set at Lane Cove in the Striders half in September.
Post race
More great organisation with a space blanket, water and finishers medallion handed out in progress as I made my way to be dechipped. Then into a large area with sports drink, fruit, more bagels, water and even Krispy Kreme mini donuts! Sat down and had a chat with another finisher for a little while but then had to get going. Very smooth gear pick up, all of the UPS trucks had parked in a big parking lot, very efficient. I made my way past the marathon finish line and they were just getting to 2:50 when I went past. The crowd was in the middle between the half and full finish lines and there was a lot of atmosphere! Got the car and went back to the hotel for a cold bath, then a shower and prepare for the drive up to Sedona for work.
All in all a great experience, I ended up finishing 178th out of 15,848 finishers. The organisation of this event was an eye opener and while it cost me around 100 AUD it certainly was worth it and I would be sure to contemplate running in another US race if and when the opportunity arises in the future. I'm sure that if I had been a little calmer in the first phase of the race I probably would have broken 90 but am stoked to have been able to perform the way I did really on the back of one months training since resuming after the groin injury. Am now very positive about breaking my shorter distance PB's just need to work out how to push myself harder or run more efficiently when I'm trying to run fast. Somewhat on target for Canberra but need to run twice the distance at just a shade faster pace as well. Can't argue with 3 official PB's and one unofficial one however!
Oh and some photos are here http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=4353&BIB=21819
The guts took a couple of days to settle down, interestingly no issues with my problematic blisters on the heels but I do notice my adductors are still both sore, hopefully not related to my recent groin injury.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Newsflash
Hi team, sorry for the abbreviated blog but time has been scarce since I left the Aussie shores.
Anyway a quick update with a more detailed ramble (as per usual) to follow.
Ran the Rock n Roll Half at Arizona.
Posted 3 PB'S!!!! (the most important being the half in 90:23)
Details to follow.....
Anyway a quick update with a more detailed ramble (as per usual) to follow.
Ran the Rock n Roll Half at Arizona.
Posted 3 PB'S!!!! (the most important being the half in 90:23)
Details to follow.....
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Where was I....
Ok a little slack in updating, spent my available time doing my turn at the blog review.
Monday
Rest day but went into the podiatrist to try and sort out my blistering heels. Can't say I'm still happy after the session, they patched up the wear spots on the shoes and dropped the heels of the inserts slightly but it seems no magic bullet.
Tuesday
Was going to do intervals down at Rotary but it was raining so decided to treadmill it out at lunchtime. Not a good session, my heels were already sore after my warm up and while I started of well for 1km reps @ 3:40 pace it just was not going to happen. Knocked out just over 3 reps, had a 1km recovery jog and then tried again but only finished up with 4km. Not sure why, maybe Sunday took more out than I thought, anyway my heels were now severly sore and painful to even walk in. It seems the patches they put in were now putting more pressure on my hot spots.
Wednesday
Summer Series time again and this was another tough one, starting at Tunks Park and covering Northbridge through Naremburn and Cammeray, lots of ups and downs. For those with a copy of the map here was my route choice
First the controls on the flat at Tunks Park 12, 13, 2, 11, 3, 18
Then up the REALLY steep climb under the suspension bridge 19 and then stupidly across the bridge to 5 which did not seem to be there, back to 20, 27, 28, down to 23 (steep up again)
29, 6, 30, 9, 16, 8, 7, 17 and then already out of time and down to finish through 21.
Back, just over 4 minutes late so lost 50 points. Net score will depend on the verdict on control 5. With 5 included its 360, without control 5 it's 350. Top score was a pretty low 450 when I left so around 80 points towards the pointscore.
Boring I know but experimented with a different taping on the heels which failed miserably and thus earned a very nice/nasty blood blister on my lhs heel this time.
Thursday
Recovery run time, decided to do it at lunch time from work, running across the bridge, down the cahill, around the Opera House to Lady Mac's chair and the back. Very warm but did 10km in around 48 min, not too bad for recovery. Another new approach to taping seemed to ensure a neutral result, still sore while running and afterwards but at least no more blistering.
Where to from here??
I'm hoping on a plane to the US on Saturday morning for work stuff and when I found out that the annual "Arizona Rock N Roll" marathon and half marathon was being held in Phoenix on the Sunday I thought what a better way to break the jet lag than race the half!
I was going to do a fast short hit out tomorrow morning but may now decide to rest my feet and try to let them heal a little. In case I do week to date is 56km and Parrot predictor says 3.34.38.
Not sure how often I'll be updating while on the move but I'll certainly slip in a race report from the half where I hope to break 90 minutes. I need to do this really if I am at all going to be able to crack 3hours for the big one!
Monday
Rest day but went into the podiatrist to try and sort out my blistering heels. Can't say I'm still happy after the session, they patched up the wear spots on the shoes and dropped the heels of the inserts slightly but it seems no magic bullet.
Tuesday
Was going to do intervals down at Rotary but it was raining so decided to treadmill it out at lunchtime. Not a good session, my heels were already sore after my warm up and while I started of well for 1km reps @ 3:40 pace it just was not going to happen. Knocked out just over 3 reps, had a 1km recovery jog and then tried again but only finished up with 4km. Not sure why, maybe Sunday took more out than I thought, anyway my heels were now severly sore and painful to even walk in. It seems the patches they put in were now putting more pressure on my hot spots.
Wednesday
Summer Series time again and this was another tough one, starting at Tunks Park and covering Northbridge through Naremburn and Cammeray, lots of ups and downs. For those with a copy of the map here was my route choice
First the controls on the flat at Tunks Park 12, 13, 2, 11, 3, 18
Then up the REALLY steep climb under the suspension bridge 19 and then stupidly across the bridge to 5 which did not seem to be there, back to 20, 27, 28, down to 23 (steep up again)
29, 6, 30, 9, 16, 8, 7, 17 and then already out of time and down to finish through 21.
Back, just over 4 minutes late so lost 50 points. Net score will depend on the verdict on control 5. With 5 included its 360, without control 5 it's 350. Top score was a pretty low 450 when I left so around 80 points towards the pointscore.
Boring I know but experimented with a different taping on the heels which failed miserably and thus earned a very nice/nasty blood blister on my lhs heel this time.
Thursday
Recovery run time, decided to do it at lunch time from work, running across the bridge, down the cahill, around the Opera House to Lady Mac's chair and the back. Very warm but did 10km in around 48 min, not too bad for recovery. Another new approach to taping seemed to ensure a neutral result, still sore while running and afterwards but at least no more blistering.
Where to from here??
I'm hoping on a plane to the US on Saturday morning for work stuff and when I found out that the annual "Arizona Rock N Roll" marathon and half marathon was being held in Phoenix on the Sunday I thought what a better way to break the jet lag than race the half!
I was going to do a fast short hit out tomorrow morning but may now decide to rest my feet and try to let them heal a little. In case I do week to date is 56km and Parrot predictor says 3.34.38.
Not sure how often I'll be updating while on the move but I'll certainly slip in a race report from the half where I hope to break 90 minutes. I need to do this really if I am at all going to be able to crack 3hours for the big one!
Sunday, January 02, 2005
Cherrybrook STaR
My first STaR in around 4 weeks and so 30km was compulsory, even though I knew this was a tough course.
Opted for the 6:10 group, numbers were a little down with the Fat Asses mostly not backing up. We had a group of 5 including Horrie and Superflake from CR. Stayed ahead of pace with the reasoning that the bush and hills later on would slow us down. I was sort of surprised that we held the pace pretty well regardless and thus really started to struggle everytime we hit a hill.
Not sure why but I can run at pace on level ground but hills at the moment seem to knock me around! The guys were semi relying on me for navigation, having done it before and also doing orienteering. As we headed up the clmb to Pennant Hills Rd I again slipped off the back and couldn't get their attention that we needed to cross because of the fence in the median strip. They caught me again just after the Comenarra Parkway hill and I was pretty much into grit the teeth and grind it home mode.
My Timex calleed it 30.7km in 2.46.40 (avg 5.26 min/km and avg hr of 163). Now the benefits of being obsessional means that I have all the details from the same run which was on 1/Feb/04 where I ran the same course (that time was 2.52.00). So 5 minutes faster a month earlier than my previous Canberra prep, not too bad but need to really pick it up further.
Opted for the 6:10 group, numbers were a little down with the Fat Asses mostly not backing up. We had a group of 5 including Horrie and Superflake from CR. Stayed ahead of pace with the reasoning that the bush and hills later on would slow us down. I was sort of surprised that we held the pace pretty well regardless and thus really started to struggle everytime we hit a hill.
Not sure why but I can run at pace on level ground but hills at the moment seem to knock me around! The guys were semi relying on me for navigation, having done it before and also doing orienteering. As we headed up the clmb to Pennant Hills Rd I again slipped off the back and couldn't get their attention that we needed to cross because of the fence in the median strip. They caught me again just after the Comenarra Parkway hill and I was pretty much into grit the teeth and grind it home mode.
My Timex calleed it 30.7km in 2.46.40 (avg 5.26 min/km and avg hr of 163). Now the benefits of being obsessional means that I have all the details from the same run which was on 1/Feb/04 where I ran the same course (that time was 2.52.00). So 5 minutes faster a month earlier than my previous Canberra prep, not too bad but need to really pick it up further.
2004 in review and 2005 preview
2004 was my first "full" year of running. Monthly totals were :
Jan 227
Feb 302
Mar 294
Apr 128
May 114
Jun 143
Jul 146
Aug 237
Sep 87
Oct 139
Nov 92
Dec 231
Total 2140
PB wise I went into the year with
Half 1.51.27
10km 44.53
C2S 74.34
Came out the other end with
Marathon 3.22.01
Half 1.33.43
10km 41.24
C2S 61.30
Also ran new races such as NOSH and Willy to Billy.
Best performance - easily my debut marathon.
Most disappointing effort/s - post marathon training blues and then injuries once I did get my act back into gear.
For 2005 I have a 6 foot debut followed by a return to Canberra, various races through winter trying to peak again for the Sydney marathon.
Goals
To train 3000km over the year which should lead to....
Marathon sub 3hr(probably a stretch!)
Half - sub 90 minute
10km - sub 40 minute
C2S - sub 60 minute
Jan 227
Feb 302
Mar 294
Apr 128
May 114
Jun 143
Jul 146
Aug 237
Sep 87
Oct 139
Nov 92
Dec 231
Total 2140
PB wise I went into the year with
Half 1.51.27
10km 44.53
C2S 74.34
Came out the other end with
Marathon 3.22.01
Half 1.33.43
10km 41.24
C2S 61.30
Also ran new races such as NOSH and Willy to Billy.
Best performance - easily my debut marathon.
Most disappointing effort/s - post marathon training blues and then injuries once I did get my act back into gear.
For 2005 I have a 6 foot debut followed by a return to Canberra, various races through winter trying to peak again for the Sydney marathon.
Goals
To train 3000km over the year which should lead to....
Marathon sub 3hr(probably a stretch!)
Half - sub 90 minute
10km - sub 40 minute
C2S - sub 60 minute
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