Tuesday - Another struggle to get up and so no run :(.
Through the day I swapped emails with a few likely suspects re 6 ft training and the suggestions of running 4:30 eeek! So after a business meeting in the afternoon I headed home, did some work from home until the family arrived, preped teh kids dinner and then laced up the shoes and headed out.
Did my usual down to Lane Cove Weir, where I ran into Jim and the Lane Cover River Runners (who I completely forgot about). Had a quick chat with Jim but opted out of runnign with them the fast guys would have been a bit too much given I was aiming for 15km and racing summer series Wednesday but Jim and his group would have been a bit too slow also. Really focused on pushing the effort on the hills and popped out on Lane Cove Road at the top of the hill and back home via Cox's Road, starting to tire but holding sub 5min/km pace.
Finished with 14.5km in 1:10 (4:50 avg pace and avg HR of 167), a pretty good workout and soon I'll add in another hill towards the end.
Summer Series tonight at Blackman PArk where I have run quite often so hopefully should be a good run/score.
From there on in it is December and the true start of my regime. For reference the new "accurate" scales I got say that I am 78.9kg at the moment. Already have made the conscious decision to dramatically reduce my alcohol intake, especially during the week. Usually I had a couple of glasses of wine most nights, now nothing at all unless I am out at dinner etc. Christmas/December will be a challenge, but even more the reason not to drink if I am at home. That coupled with healthier eating and intense training and it should be interesting to see how much comes off, I'm thinking at least 5kg!
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
The last few days...
Thursday - slacked off and did not go out in morning and then got home too late to run as the wife was going out
Friday - Did my stock Lane Cove National Park Weir run, bang on 5 min/km pace for the 11km
Saturday - CR 5km Challenge
A last minute decision to have a run and I lined up with the other 20 minute people. There was a large 21 minute pack and I think there may have not been a full minute between us?
Professor acted as the initial pacing rabbit and we hit 1km in 3:50. From here a few of us crept up and I was happy to let Nando and another (who I now know as Where Did My Shoe Go?) set the pace and I tucked in about 5 metres behind. Second km was also 3:50 and we then started overhauling the 21 minute stragglers. The 3km mark was a little slower with 3:57 and as I rounded the corner started to struggle to stick with the 2 leader. Along here, just before the UTS Rowers I caught up with team Criniti and edged past as we headed to the business end of the run. The 4km marker saw a 3:59 split, I still had the 2 leaders within 20 metres but really started to struggle as a nasty headwind revealed itself to couple with the usual torture of the winding last km.
Caught BennyR through here and Springer also cruised past, with about 500m to go I could hear Team Criniti coming back and I swear Uncle Dave was 5m behind me encouraging Papa Luigi on. I bashed my way to the line and I think Superflake got a photo as I am sure there were a few runners literally breathing down my neck as I hit the line, holding them off .
Last km of 4:01 to give a total of 19:41 and I was about 2 gags away from undigesting my breakfast so there was not much left in the bank. Even though about 25 seconds from my PB I was pretty happy with my run, given the recent running I have (or have not) been doing.
A good cruise back with plu before I had to head off quicker than I would have liked to let the foxtel man in to fix our service.
Well done to those with PB's, in particular FakePlasticTrees and Papa Luigi (who is on fire!). A good benchmark run for myself which also makes me feel quite good about my Wednesday night Summer Series runs so far (ie what can I do when I am running faster again......)
Sunday - Flew down to Geelong on Saturday night for a corporate golf day, was hoping to go for a 20km run but could not be bothered getting up at 5am.
Monday - Massive problems getting back from Melbourne on planes, spent about 3 hours at Melbourne airport and was knackered by the time I got home and into bed so slept in this morning. I do really need to up the motivation.
The plan for the week, a long run Tuesday with Summer Series at Lane Cove West on Wednesday night. Thursday probably a recovery run before I hop on a plane to Singapore. I was hoping to run the Singapore Half Marathon which is on while I am there but entries have closed. I will pack the race gear anyway and show up at registration on the Saturday begging.
Friday - Did my stock Lane Cove National Park Weir run, bang on 5 min/km pace for the 11km
Saturday - CR 5km Challenge
A last minute decision to have a run and I lined up with the other 20 minute people. There was a large 21 minute pack and I think there may have not been a full minute between us?
Professor acted as the initial pacing rabbit and we hit 1km in 3:50. From here a few of us crept up and I was happy to let Nando and another (who I now know as Where Did My Shoe Go?) set the pace and I tucked in about 5 metres behind. Second km was also 3:50 and we then started overhauling the 21 minute stragglers. The 3km mark was a little slower with 3:57 and as I rounded the corner started to struggle to stick with the 2 leader. Along here, just before the UTS Rowers I caught up with team Criniti and edged past as we headed to the business end of the run. The 4km marker saw a 3:59 split, I still had the 2 leaders within 20 metres but really started to struggle as a nasty headwind revealed itself to couple with the usual torture of the winding last km.
Caught BennyR through here and Springer also cruised past, with about 500m to go I could hear Team Criniti coming back and I swear Uncle Dave was 5m behind me encouraging Papa Luigi on. I bashed my way to the line and I think Superflake got a photo as I am sure there were a few runners literally breathing down my neck as I hit the line, holding them off .
Last km of 4:01 to give a total of 19:41 and I was about 2 gags away from undigesting my breakfast so there was not much left in the bank. Even though about 25 seconds from my PB I was pretty happy with my run, given the recent running I have (or have not) been doing.
A good cruise back with plu before I had to head off quicker than I would have liked to let the foxtel man in to fix our service.
Well done to those with PB's, in particular FakePlasticTrees and Papa Luigi (who is on fire!). A good benchmark run for myself which also makes me feel quite good about my Wednesday night Summer Series runs so far (ie what can I do when I am running faster again......)
Sunday - Flew down to Geelong on Saturday night for a corporate golf day, was hoping to go for a 20km run but could not be bothered getting up at 5am.
Monday - Massive problems getting back from Melbourne on planes, spent about 3 hours at Melbourne airport and was knackered by the time I got home and into bed so slept in this morning. I do really need to up the motivation.
The plan for the week, a long run Tuesday with Summer Series at Lane Cove West on Wednesday night. Thursday probably a recovery run before I hop on a plane to Singapore. I was hoping to run the Singapore Half Marathon which is on while I am there but entries have closed. I will pack the race gear anyway and show up at registration on the Saturday begging.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Summer Series @ Lindfield
A new map, which always makes for a level playing field. As I suspected after a quick review of the map, quite a bit of up and down and also a bit of bush that I did not know existed.
Quickly realised the lot was not a possibility and ruled out a couple of groups of controls that would have sucked up a bit of time. Was interested to see how the legs would hold up, still some residual stiffness in the outer lower hammies, but much better than yesterday.
A quick loop through a few controls close to the start and then through teh bush section. Each of the controls here were not too bad. Then towards the UTS campus, but I did not venture all the way to where there were a couple of controls on the other side of the campus near the bush. Along and up towards the highway and another set of parks before zig zagging parallel to the highway all the way to behind Lindfield shops. Then back down the slope towards the finish. Actually got to a control not far from the finish right on 45 minutes but added another 50 points through a little loop and got back 4 minutes late so the loop was a good idea.
All up my score was 500 and for a while this was the best, a couple of faster guys came in in front towards the end though and I probably ended up around 4th. Highest score was 550 so I was pretty pleased.
Caught up with seagull (who I again managed to beat by around 20 points!), Hefty and I am sure I saw Running Nicho out there was well.
Very happy with the run, both route selection, navigation and how the legs actually went. Legs feel fresh today but will do a recovery run tonight.
Stats: 8.7km in 49:27, avg pace of 5:40 min/km and avg HR of 175.
Quickly realised the lot was not a possibility and ruled out a couple of groups of controls that would have sucked up a bit of time. Was interested to see how the legs would hold up, still some residual stiffness in the outer lower hammies, but much better than yesterday.
A quick loop through a few controls close to the start and then through teh bush section. Each of the controls here were not too bad. Then towards the UTS campus, but I did not venture all the way to where there were a couple of controls on the other side of the campus near the bush. Along and up towards the highway and another set of parks before zig zagging parallel to the highway all the way to behind Lindfield shops. Then back down the slope towards the finish. Actually got to a control not far from the finish right on 45 minutes but added another 50 points through a little loop and got back 4 minutes late so the loop was a good idea.
All up my score was 500 and for a while this was the best, a couple of faster guys came in in front towards the end though and I probably ended up around 4th. Highest score was 550 so I was pretty pleased.
Caught up with seagull (who I again managed to beat by around 20 points!), Hefty and I am sure I saw Running Nicho out there was well.
Very happy with the run, both route selection, navigation and how the legs actually went. Legs feel fresh today but will do a recovery run tonight.
Stats: 8.7km in 49:27, avg pace of 5:40 min/km and avg HR of 175.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Recovery
Monday - generally pulled up ok after a good sleep. Had a massage to try an loosen up the tight spots and went to a new guy in North Sydney who was very good. Combining Shiatsu and sports massage he gave me a very good work over.
Tuesday - was planning to do a short recovery run this morning but the back of the legs behind the knees are still extremely tight. Not sure if it is muscular (DOMs), tendonitis, or a combination of both. Have worked out that it is not only from a higher leg lift running in the bush but also thinking about it I twist/splay the legs outwards at the same time for better clearance. For sure I am activating some muscles in a different direction to normal.
Something to think about next time I am out there, not sure how I can train for this other than more bush running. Given my time in the immediate future will not be spent running through the bush but on roads or trails I think I'll leave it for now.
Summer Series tomorrow on a new map at Lindfield, around MPHaz's 'hood so I expect we'll be shuffling up and down the sloped between Lady Game Drive and the Pacific Highway.
Tuesday - was planning to do a short recovery run this morning but the back of the legs behind the knees are still extremely tight. Not sure if it is muscular (DOMs), tendonitis, or a combination of both. Have worked out that it is not only from a higher leg lift running in the bush but also thinking about it I twist/splay the legs outwards at the same time for better clearance. For sure I am activating some muscles in a different direction to normal.
Something to think about next time I am out there, not sure how I can train for this other than more bush running. Given my time in the immediate future will not be spent running through the bush but on roads or trails I think I'll leave it for now.
Summer Series tomorrow on a new map at Lindfield, around MPHaz's 'hood so I expect we'll be shuffling up and down the sloped between Lady Game Drive and the Pacific Highway.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Illawarra Socialgaine
My first longer distance hitout for some time and wow what a tough run. A socialgaine is essentially a Rogaine based in more of an urban setting with some fun stuff added in. There were four different options to also be able to acrue bonus points by selecting one of four categories. We of course went for the "extreme" option! My partner Warwick and I nutted out a rough plan of action, which involved climbing up the escarpment from the north Wollongong suburbs and then sweeping back through along the flatter coast.
Up the hill with a slight hiccup on the first control. We finally made it up and starting accumulating points well. A bit of a stuff up at the first bonus control but it was pretty tough going through some heavy scrub (and without leg protection which I thought would not be required. A few more good controls and then a massive stuff up which had us wandering around for quite a while in totally the wrong area...
Finally managed to relocate (with red faces) and try and recover. Picked up the next bonus control and then it was time to head back down the slopes. Another stuff up, missing a very discrete trail, but this time we were not alone with many other groups also having to back track. By now we were considerably off target and opted to miss a couple of controls in order to get down to the flatter sections. By now my legs were also starting to complain. Around here in talking with Warwick, discovered that he has finished 11 6ft tracks and has never run slower than 4:30 so I was doing quite a bit of brain picking!
The more flat running and the more the legs started to tighten up. We stopped for a coke to try and top up the sugar levels but with about 1:30 to go the inevitable cramps started to appear. We kept on pushing on but gradually slowed as my cramps spread to different muscles on different legs. We ended up getting back a few minutes late after pushing hard for some extra points.
Some analysis tonight and worked out that with the 2 major navigation slip ups we lost close to an hour, not to mention the energy expended on the tougher terrain. Tonight I am knackered, the legs have lots of cuts/grazes from all the scrub and I am getting still getting cramps (especially in the foot). Have doned the skins and also just stuffed my face with some chips to try and top up the salt levels. A good hit out but I will be sore tomorrow, a great way way to formally kick off my Six Foot campaign, 16 weeks to go!!!!
Up the hill with a slight hiccup on the first control. We finally made it up and starting accumulating points well. A bit of a stuff up at the first bonus control but it was pretty tough going through some heavy scrub (and without leg protection which I thought would not be required. A few more good controls and then a massive stuff up which had us wandering around for quite a while in totally the wrong area...
Finally managed to relocate (with red faces) and try and recover. Picked up the next bonus control and then it was time to head back down the slopes. Another stuff up, missing a very discrete trail, but this time we were not alone with many other groups also having to back track. By now we were considerably off target and opted to miss a couple of controls in order to get down to the flatter sections. By now my legs were also starting to complain. Around here in talking with Warwick, discovered that he has finished 11 6ft tracks and has never run slower than 4:30 so I was doing quite a bit of brain picking!
The more flat running and the more the legs started to tighten up. We stopped for a coke to try and top up the sugar levels but with about 1:30 to go the inevitable cramps started to appear. We kept on pushing on but gradually slowed as my cramps spread to different muscles on different legs. We ended up getting back a few minutes late after pushing hard for some extra points.
Some analysis tonight and worked out that with the 2 major navigation slip ups we lost close to an hour, not to mention the energy expended on the tougher terrain. Tonight I am knackered, the legs have lots of cuts/grazes from all the scrub and I am getting still getting cramps (especially in the foot). Have doned the skins and also just stuffed my face with some chips to try and top up the salt levels. A good hit out but I will be sore tomorrow, a great way way to formally kick off my Six Foot campaign, 16 weeks to go!!!!
Family Vacation
Yes, this time the reason for my lack of blogging was because we were off imitating the Griswalds up on the Gold Coast. Given some other events recently I deliberately did not blog this (not wanting to broadcast to anyone who might read that the home would be empty!). Also apologies to any Bris Vegas readers, at one point I was going to try and catch up with them for a run but an extremely hectic week put a stopper on that idea. I did get a chance to go out one morning (just also happened to be probably the warmest while we were there. Ran from Surfers Paradise to Burleigh Heads and back. An interesting course, some very boring streets mixed in with some magnificent ocean/surf views. Really started to struggle towards the end but put this down to the combined heat/humidity.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Still alive!
Yes folks I am still here. Some major internet access problems and a few other committments have made blogging (and reading others blogs) a tough task.
I've been running (not heaps though) with Summer Series on Wednesday then the Striders 10km @ Lane Cove on Saturday followed by a long distance orienteering event on Sunday from Castle Hill to Parramatta along the various sections of bush (you'd be amazed how much bush is actually between Castle Hill and Parramatta!).
Another Summer Series tonight and a major stuff up at one (very technical, ie hard to find control).
I'm hoping to blog more regularly again but probably not for another week and a bit until I sort out the internet problems.
On a significant note from last Sunday there were 18 weeks until Six Foot Track!!!
I have formulated a program which should get me moving again on the training front and also drop a few kg's ;)
I've been running (not heaps though) with Summer Series on Wednesday then the Striders 10km @ Lane Cove on Saturday followed by a long distance orienteering event on Sunday from Castle Hill to Parramatta along the various sections of bush (you'd be amazed how much bush is actually between Castle Hill and Parramatta!).
Another Summer Series tonight and a major stuff up at one (very technical, ie hard to find control).
I'm hoping to blog more regularly again but probably not for another week and a bit until I sort out the internet problems.
On a significant note from last Sunday there were 18 weeks until Six Foot Track!!!
I have formulated a program which should get me moving again on the training front and also drop a few kg's ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)