The last few weeks have seen steady progression and I am starting to see the results of fairly regular training.
After the TNF hit out and a day or 2 of recovery had a good tempo run locally and then bit the bullet and stepped up the regime slightly. I have decided to start to try mixing in a few runs to/from work rather than driving and so left the car at work Thu pm ran home and then back in on Friday, the distance is around 13-14km depending upon route choice. Learnt a bit from the first few runs but have just about nailed down a good course that steers clear of major roads and these are proving a very good workout.
Followed this up with the State Night Orienteering championships on Saturday night the 25th. I entered the longest course possible but was one of the last to start. The course was on the University of Western Sydney campus which was actually quite challenging with some small, but good bush sections as well as navigation through the buildings. I was running pretty well but for one bad navigation error. After reaching CP5 and punching I aligned the map and headed for CP6, upon arriving I checked the actual control number and it was incorrect but right location. I then realised that I had actually run to CP9 (having the map aligned upside down) and so then I retraced my steps and raced off to the right control. On looking at Sportstracks I lost around 5 minutes in doing this. In the end I finished 4th, but without those 5 extra minutes would have placed second...
So then for the first time in a while 4 days in a row of running by backing up on the Sunday morning for the Buffalo Creek STaR. While a little bit tight to begin as the run went on I felt better and when we reached the descent into the bush to LCNP at North Epping simply ran away from the group. I waited for them at Waterloo Park and ran through the10km course with them but when we hit the final bush section from Lane Cove West I really lifted my effort to see exactly how much was left. Very pleased with the hit out.
Some more running commuting and a revisit to my local hills course I have mapped out where I took about 4 minutes off my previous best time (over just under 13km).
Friday night saw me headed west and I picked up Mr G, my partner in crime for the 12 hour rogaine in Nangar National Park, between Orange and Parkes. The map was a bit of a surprise, using a different scale which caused us a few problems. Usually the scale is 1:25,000 with 10 metre contours, but this was 1:50,000 with 20m contours. We quickly realised after completely stuffing up the first control that we needed to rethink our route as everything was twice as long to navigate to and also twice the climb expected because of the contour mapping. Coupled to this was the lower resolution of mapped features due to the smaller scale so it was much more of a challenge with gullys/spurs/saddles added to the mix that were not significant enough to feature on the map.
Regardless we had a good hit out, did not overstretch things but just focussed on time on the legs and continually moving, we finally pulled the pin just before 11 as we drifted back towards the hash house with the motivation of hot food more attractive than climbing steep hills for an extra 20-30 points!
The legs and body pulled up well after this and I have since coupled together another set of running commutes this week. The only cloud on the horizon is that work may require me to be in Mumbai on the same weekend as TNF, bugger, but thats life!
Overall very happy with getting a proper base and seeing the results, the body is holding up well, slight tenderness/tendonitis in the left ankle/foot. However for 2009 I have already gone past the total run for 2008 and probably by the end of May will also exceed the yearly total for 2007, depending upon starting TNF.
During our ramblings around the bush I discussed the rest of the years plans with Mr G, the main goal is to keep building base and consistency and enjoy running. My competitive streak will get a workout but for a while yet I'll fly below the radar in smaller events before I set out to tackle some PB's and arch running foes :)
post script : a spectacular improvement this morning for my standard tempo run around the suburb of just over 10km, slicing three and a half minutes off my previous best!!
