So as per the Central Coast race report December has been all about working on a base for the Six Foot Campaign (tracker on the left <-----) Progress has been good with longer runs on Saturday to take the edge out of the legs for the long Sunday run. Have also been continuing with orienteering summer series on Wed night and the last couple of maps have been a lot more encouraging. So to the weekends... (other runs during the week happening but not covered)
Sat 4th - was going to drive up to Ourimbah with the Striders 6ft group but slept in and so instead did a mini lap around Garrigal NP, about 20km of mostly single track running with only about 2km of tar!
Sun 5th - again managed to sleep through the alarm and missed the STaR so went out on a solo run version of the Chatswood Chase STaR starting from home. Very humid and warm and lost about 2.5kgs over the 30km!
Sat 11th - Joined the Striders 6ft group this time for 2 laps of Quarry Road, ran at a comfortable pace, walking the steep sections. Was quite surprised to see when I downloaded from the garmin that I ran about 6 min faster than the same time last year but also finished a lot more comfortable!
Sun 12th - Striders Xmas Star, pretty flat run and shorter than usual, at about 15km the leaders at the front really started driving the pace and so on the last hill coming out of Great North Rd back towards the bay I had a dig coming home at HM pace :)
Fri 17th - Decided to bash the legs up a little on the Friday before a heavy weekend and so opted for my 10km hilly tempo run around the roads from home. Was a tad warm when I went out but still quite pleased to slice off 20 seconds on my previous best from a few weeks ago, down to 43:43! Even better is comparing that back to when I kicked off the running resumption in August when I did 48:27...
Sat 18th - A great run around Terrey Hills with some of the Northern Beaches Beer Betters. Included a tough and testing run down and then back out of Smith's Creek which had a climb of around 1.2km, a real quad and lung smasher!
Sun 19th - Back to Striders for the 10 Bridges run, A good sized bunch at 6:10 which grew a little when we caught the 6am group at the Harbour Bridge and so at the turn off for the short cut there were still around 10 of us going long. As we were running through Pyrmont I noticed the left leg of my shorts & skins seemed to be foaming, which wouldn't stop, much to the amusement of everyone else. Think it was probably that the shorts had not rinsed properly in a wash and had some soap residue left. Anyway as we ran through Gladesville and Hunters Hill the pace started to pick up and after the killer short hill at Riverview there were 5 of us left to run home through the bush. Another positive reinforcement that despite the heavy schedule over the last few days that our time was about 18 minutes faster than when I ran the same Star last year.
So in summary, everything seems on track, benchmark runs and times indicate I'm headed in the right direction, the weight is down a little more, now hovering around 75kg. Just need to keep it going through the excesses of Xmas and NY!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Central Coast Half
A rest day on Thursday, with work Xmas dinner on Thursday night I decided to run in on Friday morning (knowing I'd drink a little at dinner). Friday was quite warm and I was a little hungover so a great way to sweat it off. Even cruising I posted my fastest time for the run to work!
Had another party on Saturday night where I behaved myself drinking wise but probably not ideal food consumption so I topped up when I got home.
Up nice an early to get up the The Entrance to register and get ready for the race. Saw and caught up with a few people beforehand and then we were off to the start line. I had decided I was going to aim for 4:10 splits which would give me around 88 minutes given the stated nature of the course being "flat".
Went out just a little too hot, missed the first km marker and so at 2km I posted 7:53. Eased up a little with a couple of 4:05's and then got into a good groove. Hit the 10km mark at 41:05 and 11km at 45:17 so was on target if I could hold it coming home. Hauled in a few more runners in front as we headed back and 15km was 1:02:28 so all I needed to do was maintain 4:15 pace and 88 was in the bag! However I was starting to fade and my splits started blowing out. It felt like I was running in treacle all of a sudden but the wierd thing is that only 1-2 runners went past me the rest of the race, seems everyone was slowing... A real grind to get to the line as I pushed hard into what seemed to be a head wind, never mind the humidity!
Finally hit the line with a time of 90:28 so for the last 6.1km my time was 28 minutes, enough said... Post race discussions saw everyone commenting on the struggle to get home so while disappointing I suppose thats life!
Rested on Monday, but did do my Pilates class and this morning headed out in wet, muggy conditions for a crack at my 10km tempo course, 2 laps of East Killara, since I had not done this for some time and was keen to review it as a benchmark. Despite it bucketing down in the last few km, I posted 44:06, just under a 2 minute improvement from my previous best back in September, not bad just 2 days after the smashing I gave the legs at the Half!
Thus ends November, December is going to be a pretty heavy month as I work on a solid base for Six Foot. Last year in December I only ran 123km, this year I am aiming for close to 3 times that amount.
Had another party on Saturday night where I behaved myself drinking wise but probably not ideal food consumption so I topped up when I got home.
Up nice an early to get up the The Entrance to register and get ready for the race. Saw and caught up with a few people beforehand and then we were off to the start line. I had decided I was going to aim for 4:10 splits which would give me around 88 minutes given the stated nature of the course being "flat".
Went out just a little too hot, missed the first km marker and so at 2km I posted 7:53. Eased up a little with a couple of 4:05's and then got into a good groove. Hit the 10km mark at 41:05 and 11km at 45:17 so was on target if I could hold it coming home. Hauled in a few more runners in front as we headed back and 15km was 1:02:28 so all I needed to do was maintain 4:15 pace and 88 was in the bag! However I was starting to fade and my splits started blowing out. It felt like I was running in treacle all of a sudden but the wierd thing is that only 1-2 runners went past me the rest of the race, seems everyone was slowing... A real grind to get to the line as I pushed hard into what seemed to be a head wind, never mind the humidity!
Finally hit the line with a time of 90:28 so for the last 6.1km my time was 28 minutes, enough said... Post race discussions saw everyone commenting on the struggle to get home so while disappointing I suppose thats life!
Rested on Monday, but did do my Pilates class and this morning headed out in wet, muggy conditions for a crack at my 10km tempo course, 2 laps of East Killara, since I had not done this for some time and was keen to review it as a benchmark. Despite it bucketing down in the last few km, I posted 44:06, just under a 2 minute improvement from my previous best back in September, not bad just 2 days after the smashing I gave the legs at the Half!
Thus ends November, December is going to be a pretty heavy month as I work on a solid base for Six Foot. Last year in December I only ran 123km, this year I am aiming for close to 3 times that amount.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Summer Series - Epping
Backed up from the Sunday STaR with a return to the hill rep course and a good smashing at that....
Summer Series orienteering tonight and based at Epping. First look at the map reveals a very long course to try and get major points. Anyway, off I go, a half hidden control at about 1km gives ms some extra distance. Get to one of my decision points and have to cut short, a good decision as the stuff through the trails along a creek on the way back was slower going, combined with some very sinister control locations.
Got back lateish for around 10km, but am starting to get a little underwhelmed with a few of the recent events. Seems for some reason that the setters think they now not only need to start setting longer courses, but also combine trickier control locations which only slows you down further. Will persevere for a little while in the hope that this is just a abnormality affected by some relatively new course setters. Easy to criticise I suppose, but the goal should be a course with good route choice options to tempt the faster runners aiming for the lot, with relatively "orange" control locations that are visible if you navigate correctly. Too many times recently I've been in the control circle searching for a "hidden" pot...
Anyway a decdnt run for the legs, recovery tomorrow, then a tempo run on Friday before the Half Marathon at The Entrance.
Summer Series orienteering tonight and based at Epping. First look at the map reveals a very long course to try and get major points. Anyway, off I go, a half hidden control at about 1km gives ms some extra distance. Get to one of my decision points and have to cut short, a good decision as the stuff through the trails along a creek on the way back was slower going, combined with some very sinister control locations.
Got back lateish for around 10km, but am starting to get a little underwhelmed with a few of the recent events. Seems for some reason that the setters think they now not only need to start setting longer courses, but also combine trickier control locations which only slows you down further. Will persevere for a little while in the hope that this is just a abnormality affected by some relatively new course setters. Easy to criticise I suppose, but the goal should be a course with good route choice options to tempt the faster runners aiming for the lot, with relatively "orange" control locations that are visible if you navigate correctly. Too many times recently I've been in the control circle searching for a "hidden" pot...
Anyway a decdnt run for the legs, recovery tomorrow, then a tempo run on Friday before the Half Marathon at The Entrance.
GNW 2010 - The final battle
For what it's worth, here's a quick summary of my 3rd GNW experience that I posted on CR and then some additional thoughts....
Nice steady and easy start along the road, but it was obviously noticeably hot and humid, even at 6am! Immediately fell into my hydration and nutrition plan and as we entered the dirt was hovering around just behind Blue Dog and in front of Horrie with Robin C also there. Took it very easy on the climbs up to the first peak and enjoyed the descent down to Freemans Gap, runnign for a little while with the girl from Singapore. The climb up to Heaton was tougher than I had previously experienced and so I eased up looking to regroup at the top. Enjoyed the gradual downhill to the water tank and entered the rainforest section. Immediately noticed how more humid it was in there, at one point I swear my breath was condensing on exhales. I was also very slipperly through here and there was a group of us (including Kelvin, Graham and Horrie) that sort of hung loosely together, a few wrong turns from the front guys keeping us grouped. The climb up to the hitching post was brutal and I was starting to struggle here and could not get going, starting to get nausea and a few dry retches. I was really looking forward to CP1 but struggled in and was concerned as to how the rest of the day would unfold.
Took quite a while in CP1 to recover, for a while I was not certain that I'd even go back out, but after a rest, some cool drinks and a change of shirt and shoes I felt re-energised. I actually felt quite good along the ridge to Barraba and caught a few people, including ERB and Hermie, but being very careful to taking it easy. ERB and I started the descent down to Congewai Rd, but I eased up a little as we went down starting to feel nausea again. Near the gate I caught up to Brick and we rolled down the rest of the descent. As soon as we hit the road it was like someone hit a switch and I was violently ill, quite a few times. I caught up to Brick and we opted just to walk it out to CP2. A few km along another runner (a girl but cant remember her name) caught us and then shortly after Hermie also caught us. I was starting to flag again and so I opted to ease up further and they kept going. After a little hill I was really struggling to even walk and feeling faint. In the distance I saw a car and umbrella and it was Steve, who was doing some photo's. I got there and sat under the umbrella for a while hoping to clear the head, but instead had another massive vomit attack down to repeated dry retches, ie nothing left....
That was enough for me, knowing what was in store immediately after CP2 and that I was already dehydrated and unable to digest/keep down any fluids it would have been sheer folly to go on and looking at the results it looks like a number of runners had to pull out through that next leg, not making CP3. After 3 unsuccessful attempts at GNW, I've decided to pull up stumps. Clearly my strength is not in dealing with high heat and humidity and with GNW scheduled when it is means it will always be a roll of the dice on weather conditions for me to perform to my expectations. To exorcise the demons properly I may decide to have a solo effort over the course, but in the middle of the year.
So I have contemplated this a little further and still think it best to set aside trying to do GNW while ever it is in November. Amazingly the weather immediately after was much more temperate. So time to get refocussed, not like last year where I dilly dallyed around until mid January for Six Foot prep. This year is my buckle year and I'm revved up for a big run. Actually just under 16 weeks to go so perfect time for a additional base build up. I've had a little break last week and am ready to go, but will have acrack at my new Half Marathon PB this Sunday on what has been described to me as a pancake flat course at The Entrance. After that I'm aiming for a big December, not much on in terms of races so just solid prep.
Did a run with the Striders 6ft traiing grou[ last Saturday on the Equaliser course and felt good, really hammering the climbs and then backed up for the 30km STaR on Sunday at Barrenjoey and again ran well, probably so well that I really should be thinking about moving to the 6:20 group as I well and truly dropped people like Sharpie and Alex on the last big climb near Avalon, who I struggled to keep up with 2 months ago!
The blog is going to get a little mini make-over to keep me even more focussed on the build up for 6 ft....
Nice steady and easy start along the road, but it was obviously noticeably hot and humid, even at 6am! Immediately fell into my hydration and nutrition plan and as we entered the dirt was hovering around just behind Blue Dog and in front of Horrie with Robin C also there. Took it very easy on the climbs up to the first peak and enjoyed the descent down to Freemans Gap, runnign for a little while with the girl from Singapore. The climb up to Heaton was tougher than I had previously experienced and so I eased up looking to regroup at the top. Enjoyed the gradual downhill to the water tank and entered the rainforest section. Immediately noticed how more humid it was in there, at one point I swear my breath was condensing on exhales. I was also very slipperly through here and there was a group of us (including Kelvin, Graham and Horrie) that sort of hung loosely together, a few wrong turns from the front guys keeping us grouped. The climb up to the hitching post was brutal and I was starting to struggle here and could not get going, starting to get nausea and a few dry retches. I was really looking forward to CP1 but struggled in and was concerned as to how the rest of the day would unfold.
Took quite a while in CP1 to recover, for a while I was not certain that I'd even go back out, but after a rest, some cool drinks and a change of shirt and shoes I felt re-energised. I actually felt quite good along the ridge to Barraba and caught a few people, including ERB and Hermie, but being very careful to taking it easy. ERB and I started the descent down to Congewai Rd, but I eased up a little as we went down starting to feel nausea again. Near the gate I caught up to Brick and we rolled down the rest of the descent. As soon as we hit the road it was like someone hit a switch and I was violently ill, quite a few times. I caught up to Brick and we opted just to walk it out to CP2. A few km along another runner (a girl but cant remember her name) caught us and then shortly after Hermie also caught us. I was starting to flag again and so I opted to ease up further and they kept going. After a little hill I was really struggling to even walk and feeling faint. In the distance I saw a car and umbrella and it was Steve, who was doing some photo's. I got there and sat under the umbrella for a while hoping to clear the head, but instead had another massive vomit attack down to repeated dry retches, ie nothing left....
That was enough for me, knowing what was in store immediately after CP2 and that I was already dehydrated and unable to digest/keep down any fluids it would have been sheer folly to go on and looking at the results it looks like a number of runners had to pull out through that next leg, not making CP3. After 3 unsuccessful attempts at GNW, I've decided to pull up stumps. Clearly my strength is not in dealing with high heat and humidity and with GNW scheduled when it is means it will always be a roll of the dice on weather conditions for me to perform to my expectations. To exorcise the demons properly I may decide to have a solo effort over the course, but in the middle of the year.
So I have contemplated this a little further and still think it best to set aside trying to do GNW while ever it is in November. Amazingly the weather immediately after was much more temperate. So time to get refocussed, not like last year where I dilly dallyed around until mid January for Six Foot prep. This year is my buckle year and I'm revved up for a big run. Actually just under 16 weeks to go so perfect time for a additional base build up. I've had a little break last week and am ready to go, but will have acrack at my new Half Marathon PB this Sunday on what has been described to me as a pancake flat course at The Entrance. After that I'm aiming for a big December, not much on in terms of races so just solid prep.
Did a run with the Striders 6ft traiing grou[ last Saturday on the Equaliser course and felt good, really hammering the climbs and then backed up for the 30km STaR on Sunday at Barrenjoey and again ran well, probably so well that I really should be thinking about moving to the 6:20 group as I well and truly dropped people like Sharpie and Alex on the last big climb near Avalon, who I struggled to keep up with 2 months ago!
The blog is going to get a little mini make-over to keep me even more focussed on the build up for 6 ft....
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
And now, the end is near....
So it is 3 months since I started training again with the goal of GNW. A quick summary of recent activity and then a review of my overall progress.
After the Striders Half PB and a recovery run on the Monday, back to the gym for a treadmill session. Continually improving here with now 6.5 1km reps @ 4min/km pace. Then a good hit out tempo run for Summer Series. I decided to use te long run at Bobbin Head as a hit out for GNW and so loaded up the camelbak. Tough going up the track out of Bobbin Head but as soon as we hit level ground the legs took over and we ran hard all teh way back, just under 30km with an average pace of 5:09!
Back to the hill reps on what should be called Threshhold Tuesday and again an improvement, increasing the number of reps by one, but also decreasing average rep time. A long bash at summer series on Wednesday and then a rest as I tried to sort out an emerging PF problem. Decided to run the CR 5km on Saturday hard and test the PB. Splits were
3:40, 3:44, 3:52 and then 7:57 for the last 2 km, forgot the 4km marker to give me 19:14 which is a 1 second PB! Probably could have done better if I went out a tad slower...
Sunday saw the Running Wild event at Woodford and was a good hitout up some testing hills and technical single track. Ran well against some of my usual benchmark runners but not sure how I did overall. Finally today, back to the gym for my final treadmill hitout. I decided to up the ante and am surprised how I went, running 8 reps @ 3:55 pace with 1:30 jog recovery. This means things must be looking good for the last 10km of the year on Saturday at Lane Cove!
So to a review, I started my campaign on August 1, weighing 85.1 kg. Today I tipped the scales at 77.2kg, I've run 840 km in the 3 months with a total vertical of just over 10km and have had 47 sugar free days from 94. Not only am I in probably the best running form I have ever been in, I know there is a lot more in the tank to come (be scared any beer betters reading this!).
I'll start to ease up a little now but still with 2 Summer Series events plus the Striders 10km before GNW, I'll get some intensity in. Here's a shot from the Running Wild event on Sunday.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Another one bites the dust!
A pretty heavy duty week...
- Pilates session Monday am
- Return to hill repeats on Tuesday for a lung and quad buster
- Start of Summer Series on Wednesday, one significant route choice mistake and went a bit too fast out, saw 9.7km in 46 min for net 500 points, dodged a massive downpour by about 15 minutes!
- Recovery run around the oval up the street with Daisy (the dog) on Thursday
- On Friday I did my Castle Cove loop run, a good mixture of trail, hills and road. Tried to cruise it and the legs felt a little dead, was surprised to see that I ran close to my fastest time for the route
So onto the Striders Half, called the Internal because Ewen as you mentioned members were not allowed to run the open event as they were needed for marshalls etc so I believe there was also an Internal version to cater for the members. This is a handicap start where runners get allocated a suggested half time which is then used to start runners in reverse order, ie slowest first, with the goal of everyone finishing at the same time!
So I got allocated 95 minutes, mostly based upon my 10km handicap. There were 3 in our group but straight from the start that was it, David Martin tore off and the second guy followed him, while I decided to try and stay on my goal pace (which as usual was to also try and threaten my PB, even on this tough course). I kept runner #2 in sight and we fairly quickly started hauling in runners from the groups before us. I caught runner #2 at the top of Scribbly for the first time and put a bit of a gap on the downhill. He went past again on the climb to the gate but on the downhill back I again gapped him and that was that. No chance of catching David but I was still hauling in people continually and also got a good idea as to who was running well from the faster groups.
I deliberately tried to ignore the garmin and splits, just montitoring avg pace and my HR. At the turn around I took a quick peek at the time (halfway) and was pleased/surprised to see that it was 44 something. Tried to keep the pace going with not blowing up on on the climbs. Near the top of Scribbly second time I caught a faster guy gapped him a little on the downhill but he caught me on the flat and we ran together still hauling in people. Another faster runner floated in front but I was struggling to drag him on. The guy I had already caught drew away from me on the climb to the gates but I again gapped him on the downhill (as I ran past he muttered something about bloody fast downhill runner). I drew within 5 metres of the other guy as we continued to haul in front markers, by my calcs David Martin was way too fast and far in front but everything else was up for grabs.
At about 2 km to go I was starting to slip from the guy I was trying to catch and the other faster runner caught me and went past us both. On the last hill I was really struggling but still managed to hold things together. The two guys just in front of me caught another runner who by then was second on the road. I pushed hard all the way, with no idea as to the time, only focussed on trying to haul in the 3 in front and hope no-one faster cam from behind.
In the end, I just could not get up to them and finished over the line in 5th, 3 secs behind 4th, 22 behind 3rd and 38 behind 2nd.
The best bit though was after the line when I checked my watch I had posted 1:29:56, not only had I managed to hang on and break my PB of 1:30:23, but also broke the 90 minute barrier. I was actually a bit gobsmacked at first, especially given the tough hilly nature of the course.
Anyway, a PB is a PB, especially one that has taken close to six years to best!
So the regime seems to be working, a half marathon PB on a tough course with no taper based upon 11 weeks of training. It will be interesting to see what I can do now to my 10km time in a few weeks...
On the weight front, I've now dropped to 78.5kg, so a loss of 6.5kg from the start of August.
Anyway, onwards for GNW prep, a pretty heavy week scheduled this week, culminating in the Bobbin Head STaR
- Pilates session Monday am
- Return to hill repeats on Tuesday for a lung and quad buster
- Start of Summer Series on Wednesday, one significant route choice mistake and went a bit too fast out, saw 9.7km in 46 min for net 500 points, dodged a massive downpour by about 15 minutes!
- Recovery run around the oval up the street with Daisy (the dog) on Thursday
- On Friday I did my Castle Cove loop run, a good mixture of trail, hills and road. Tried to cruise it and the legs felt a little dead, was surprised to see that I ran close to my fastest time for the route
So onto the Striders Half, called the Internal because Ewen as you mentioned members were not allowed to run the open event as they were needed for marshalls etc so I believe there was also an Internal version to cater for the members. This is a handicap start where runners get allocated a suggested half time which is then used to start runners in reverse order, ie slowest first, with the goal of everyone finishing at the same time!
So I got allocated 95 minutes, mostly based upon my 10km handicap. There were 3 in our group but straight from the start that was it, David Martin tore off and the second guy followed him, while I decided to try and stay on my goal pace (which as usual was to also try and threaten my PB, even on this tough course). I kept runner #2 in sight and we fairly quickly started hauling in runners from the groups before us. I caught runner #2 at the top of Scribbly for the first time and put a bit of a gap on the downhill. He went past again on the climb to the gate but on the downhill back I again gapped him and that was that. No chance of catching David but I was still hauling in people continually and also got a good idea as to who was running well from the faster groups.
I deliberately tried to ignore the garmin and splits, just montitoring avg pace and my HR. At the turn around I took a quick peek at the time (halfway) and was pleased/surprised to see that it was 44 something. Tried to keep the pace going with not blowing up on on the climbs. Near the top of Scribbly second time I caught a faster guy gapped him a little on the downhill but he caught me on the flat and we ran together still hauling in people. Another faster runner floated in front but I was struggling to drag him on. The guy I had already caught drew away from me on the climb to the gates but I again gapped him on the downhill (as I ran past he muttered something about bloody fast downhill runner). I drew within 5 metres of the other guy as we continued to haul in front markers, by my calcs David Martin was way too fast and far in front but everything else was up for grabs.
At about 2 km to go I was starting to slip from the guy I was trying to catch and the other faster runner caught me and went past us both. On the last hill I was really struggling but still managed to hold things together. The two guys just in front of me caught another runner who by then was second on the road. I pushed hard all the way, with no idea as to the time, only focussed on trying to haul in the 3 in front and hope no-one faster cam from behind.
In the end, I just could not get up to them and finished over the line in 5th, 3 secs behind 4th, 22 behind 3rd and 38 behind 2nd.
The best bit though was after the line when I checked my watch I had posted 1:29:56, not only had I managed to hang on and break my PB of 1:30:23, but also broke the 90 minute barrier. I was actually a bit gobsmacked at first, especially given the tough hilly nature of the course.
Anyway, a PB is a PB, especially one that has taken close to six years to best!
So the regime seems to be working, a half marathon PB on a tough course with no taper based upon 11 weeks of training. It will be interesting to see what I can do now to my 10km time in a few weeks...
On the weight front, I've now dropped to 78.5kg, so a loss of 6.5kg from the start of August.
Anyway, onwards for GNW prep, a pretty heavy week scheduled this week, culminating in the Bobbin Head STaR
Monday, October 11, 2010
Secret training trip
So for the last 2 weeks I have been on a family holiday in the South Island of New Zealand. We did a counter clockwise lap and I tried to get out as often as possible to see each location from a different perspective. The schedule went a little like this
Christchurch - a long lap of Hagley Park on the Saturday afternoon, legs still a little jaded from the marathon the week before, was a little surprised to post 10km in just under 45 minutes
Kaikora - about 3 hours north of Christchurch and best know for whale watching tours, went out for 2 runs, one a lap of the penninsula, very scenic, but a little hilly and the second day was longer and out into the country side, had to stop for a couple of minutes to let a herd of cows cross the road for their morning milking session.
Nelson - near the top of the South Island and wedged between Queen Charlotte sound and Abel Tasman National Park. A shorter recovery run around a large park
Franz Joseph Glacier - an out an back to the car park of the glacier from the van park. Quite cold as it was very near the snow. Really streteched it out coming home, just under 13km at around 4:25 pace
Wanaka - gateway to the ski slopes and Queenstown. A great scenic run along the lake with a few hills tossed in at the back end. Very windy and quite cold.
Queenstown - sadly missed out on running as we had skiiing and rafting lined up with early morning starts
Te Anu - Another lake run, from the van park all the way around to the start of the Kepler Track and a km or so along the actual start of the track. Really liked it here and may try to enter the actual race next year. Close to 13km at 4:25 average, another good stretch run.
Dunedin - Opted for a hard slog here and so planned a run into the hills at the back of the town. Wow, tough going with a vertical climb of over 600m in around 8km. Then a brutal descent down a gravel single track path followed by a tempo run back along undulating streets. Legs were very smashed after this effort. Not much in terms of views as the lookouts were in coud cover so I could really only see about 20m in front of myself at the top.
Oamaru - A few hours drive south of Christchurch and known for it's penguin colonies and viewing. A flatter tempo run given the hammering from the day before.
Back home in time for the Striders STaR on Sunday at Marsfield (Ryde Rambler). A pretty tough run with undulating road for the first 15 odd km and then a series of roller coaster steepish climbs all the way up to Thornleigh and then a technical descent and run along a very rocky trail before yet another climb back to the start.
Last time I ran this STaR was the week after the 24 hour rogaine and the April 10km race and was where the first signs of my dodgy back started to surface. Felt pretty comfotable, and the pace was a bit quicker on the tar than last time. The sky's opened up and bucketed down as we ran from Cheltenham to Thornleigh. I led out through the return trails section and really tried to push it home. Was quite surprised to finish up with an average pace of 5:10, the April run was bang on 5:30.
So all seems to be coming together, I am now below 80kg, despite having fallen a little off the no sugar wagon during our holiday. Need to keep a strong focus on October training to benefit the GNW attempt, but am going to continue the speed/tempo stuff as well as I'll thinking of having a tilt at the Central Coast Half as well.
The Striders Internal half this Sunday and then the 10km at Lane Cove in a few weeks will be good barometers as to my progress....
Christchurch - a long lap of Hagley Park on the Saturday afternoon, legs still a little jaded from the marathon the week before, was a little surprised to post 10km in just under 45 minutes
Kaikora - about 3 hours north of Christchurch and best know for whale watching tours, went out for 2 runs, one a lap of the penninsula, very scenic, but a little hilly and the second day was longer and out into the country side, had to stop for a couple of minutes to let a herd of cows cross the road for their morning milking session.
Nelson - near the top of the South Island and wedged between Queen Charlotte sound and Abel Tasman National Park. A shorter recovery run around a large park
Franz Joseph Glacier - an out an back to the car park of the glacier from the van park. Quite cold as it was very near the snow. Really streteched it out coming home, just under 13km at around 4:25 pace
Wanaka - gateway to the ski slopes and Queenstown. A great scenic run along the lake with a few hills tossed in at the back end. Very windy and quite cold.
Queenstown - sadly missed out on running as we had skiiing and rafting lined up with early morning starts
Te Anu - Another lake run, from the van park all the way around to the start of the Kepler Track and a km or so along the actual start of the track. Really liked it here and may try to enter the actual race next year. Close to 13km at 4:25 average, another good stretch run.
Dunedin - Opted for a hard slog here and so planned a run into the hills at the back of the town. Wow, tough going with a vertical climb of over 600m in around 8km. Then a brutal descent down a gravel single track path followed by a tempo run back along undulating streets. Legs were very smashed after this effort. Not much in terms of views as the lookouts were in coud cover so I could really only see about 20m in front of myself at the top.
Oamaru - A few hours drive south of Christchurch and known for it's penguin colonies and viewing. A flatter tempo run given the hammering from the day before.
Back home in time for the Striders STaR on Sunday at Marsfield (Ryde Rambler). A pretty tough run with undulating road for the first 15 odd km and then a series of roller coaster steepish climbs all the way up to Thornleigh and then a technical descent and run along a very rocky trail before yet another climb back to the start.
Last time I ran this STaR was the week after the 24 hour rogaine and the April 10km race and was where the first signs of my dodgy back started to surface. Felt pretty comfotable, and the pace was a bit quicker on the tar than last time. The sky's opened up and bucketed down as we ran from Cheltenham to Thornleigh. I led out through the return trails section and really tried to push it home. Was quite surprised to finish up with an average pace of 5:10, the April run was bang on 5:30.
So all seems to be coming together, I am now below 80kg, despite having fallen a little off the no sugar wagon during our holiday. Need to keep a strong focus on October training to benefit the GNW attempt, but am going to continue the speed/tempo stuff as well as I'll thinking of having a tilt at the Central Coast Half as well.
The Striders Internal half this Sunday and then the 10km at Lane Cove in a few weeks will be good barometers as to my progress....
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sydney Marathon race report
Pretty much mission accomplished....
Three different prioritised goals going into the race
A- break PB (3:22:08)
B- break 3:30
C-Finish
The start process was a bit of a shambles for some reason and after the gun for the elites (about 20 metres in front of group A) went off we all looked at each other and then also started running. I started the Garmin about4-5 seconds up the road before I went over the timing mats and then about another 50 metres I heard another gun, so who knows what was supposed to happen the officials near us certainly had no idea....
Anyway, I also broke the first rule of marathon racing, no new gear on the day. I got a race belt and loaded it up with gels, but as we headed up the laneway it was obvious the elastic holding the gels was not tight enough and so I started stuffing around trying to take out and reload the gels so they were tighter, while also still running, managed to lose one and then just ended up stuffing them in my cap so I would not lose them.
With "stretch" goal A in mind I aimed for km reps of around 4:45 and given the shambles at the start I was actually in front of the 3:15 group for some time, they finally hauled me in around Centennial Park, was tempted to tag on the back but was close to my zone already and so I stuck to my guns as they slowly drew away. I did like the extension of the course through Centennial and hit the halfway mark just over 1:39 so slower than last year, which is actually good. The long drag back up Anzac Parade needed some focus and I passed a few people through here looking forward to the downhill of Oxford St and then continuing down to Circular Quay. Saw the family here giving me a cheer and then likewise the CR cheersquad as I hit Hickson Road. Caught fellow Strider Alex here who was struggling and I also started to feel some twinges, warning of cramps. I got a salt tablet ready but had to wait until the end of Hickson Rd before the next aid station where I downed the tablet with some extra water and also said hi to Springer who was marshalling.
From here I hit my lowest mental point on the flyovers and resorted to some power walking as the lead 3:30 pacer caught me on the last steep pinch in this loop. Downed my last Gel at the aid station before returning on the flyover and was relieved to start headed downhill back towards Hickson. As soon as I hit Hickson and had a quick drink at the aid station I perked up again and immediately hit a good tempo again. I did however bleed about 3-4 minutes on this 4-5km previous stretch.
The run to home was actually not at all bad, I was close to the rivet (cyclists will know what I mean) but was hauling in quite a few people. By about the Hyatt I was really starting to motor and really enjoyed the CR cheer squad again and also the large sized contingent of people cheering along near the toaster, still passing people!
I knew I had 3:30 in the bag but ran it hard all the way to the end and ended up with a gun time of 3:28:40 which in checking the records is an equal all time 3rd best marathon time. Given that back at the end of June when I had my back problem and I struggled to stay with the 6am group with a 20km run at avg pace of 5:43 and I really did not start training properly until the start of August I am as an understatement very happy with how things turned out in being able to run a marathon at sub 5min/km pace!
In Melbourne for work and went out for a tentative recovery run tonight. The legs felt remarkably fresh and I knocked out just over 11km at 4:57 pace and an average HR of 154 over a flatish course.
So back to building for GNW, some sekrit training coming up that I'll report when I am able to :) October needs to be a big month and another few Kg's off the waist will be a bonus for some of those climbs at GNW, like Heaton Gap and Dora Creek....
Also getting ready for Summer Series, last year in this age bracket but I'd like to give it a bit of a shake
Three different prioritised goals going into the race
A- break PB (3:22:08)
B- break 3:30
C-Finish
The start process was a bit of a shambles for some reason and after the gun for the elites (about 20 metres in front of group A) went off we all looked at each other and then also started running. I started the Garmin about4-5 seconds up the road before I went over the timing mats and then about another 50 metres I heard another gun, so who knows what was supposed to happen the officials near us certainly had no idea....
Anyway, I also broke the first rule of marathon racing, no new gear on the day. I got a race belt and loaded it up with gels, but as we headed up the laneway it was obvious the elastic holding the gels was not tight enough and so I started stuffing around trying to take out and reload the gels so they were tighter, while also still running, managed to lose one and then just ended up stuffing them in my cap so I would not lose them.
With "stretch" goal A in mind I aimed for km reps of around 4:45 and given the shambles at the start I was actually in front of the 3:15 group for some time, they finally hauled me in around Centennial Park, was tempted to tag on the back but was close to my zone already and so I stuck to my guns as they slowly drew away. I did like the extension of the course through Centennial and hit the halfway mark just over 1:39 so slower than last year, which is actually good. The long drag back up Anzac Parade needed some focus and I passed a few people through here looking forward to the downhill of Oxford St and then continuing down to Circular Quay. Saw the family here giving me a cheer and then likewise the CR cheersquad as I hit Hickson Road. Caught fellow Strider Alex here who was struggling and I also started to feel some twinges, warning of cramps. I got a salt tablet ready but had to wait until the end of Hickson Rd before the next aid station where I downed the tablet with some extra water and also said hi to Springer who was marshalling.
From here I hit my lowest mental point on the flyovers and resorted to some power walking as the lead 3:30 pacer caught me on the last steep pinch in this loop. Downed my last Gel at the aid station before returning on the flyover and was relieved to start headed downhill back towards Hickson. As soon as I hit Hickson and had a quick drink at the aid station I perked up again and immediately hit a good tempo again. I did however bleed about 3-4 minutes on this 4-5km previous stretch.
The run to home was actually not at all bad, I was close to the rivet (cyclists will know what I mean) but was hauling in quite a few people. By about the Hyatt I was really starting to motor and really enjoyed the CR cheer squad again and also the large sized contingent of people cheering along near the toaster, still passing people!
I knew I had 3:30 in the bag but ran it hard all the way to the end and ended up with a gun time of 3:28:40 which in checking the records is an equal all time 3rd best marathon time. Given that back at the end of June when I had my back problem and I struggled to stay with the 6am group with a 20km run at avg pace of 5:43 and I really did not start training properly until the start of August I am as an understatement very happy with how things turned out in being able to run a marathon at sub 5min/km pace!
In Melbourne for work and went out for a tentative recovery run tonight. The legs felt remarkably fresh and I knocked out just over 11km at 4:57 pace and an average HR of 154 over a flatish course.
So back to building for GNW, some sekrit training coming up that I'll report when I am able to :) October needs to be a big month and another few Kg's off the waist will be a bonus for some of those climbs at GNW, like Heaton Gap and Dora Creek....
Also getting ready for Summer Series, last year in this age bracket but I'd like to give it a bit of a shake
Friday, September 17, 2010
Progress and now to the Sydney Marathon
A little bit of swings and roundabouts since the end of August. Notable points in the last 2 weeks
- Raced the Striders 10km at North Head. Truly the most attrocious weather conditions I have raced at a Striders 10km, a howling Nor-Easter with driving rain. Tried to help Paul out with the setup of the timing system but the rain managed to penetrate the electronics and so it was kaput... I lined up and charged off, after our second loop of the end of North Head I noticed my right shoe lace had come undone so waited to the top of the hill to stop, retie and double knot. Of course a slew of people went past and I set out right into the wind and rain to try and regain my position. It seemed that no matter where I was, it was either a head wind or climb or both! Started to fade on the second lap but did manage to catch Seagull and hold off Horrie, although Horrie was backing up from Trailwalker the week before so I should have stayed ahead of him! Ended up with 43.51, not what I was hoping for but lots of upside!
Backed up for Middle Harbour Picnic, another tough run and struggled at the back for the long climbs but actually ran home quite strongly after the long climbs were done.
Then the start of an enforced taper with a work trip to Mumbai. Had a few good treadmill sessions on the treadmill and also did a full work through of the weights program set up for me which really smashed me. As it happened the enforced taper was extended as I had to stay over the weekend and fly to Delhi for a last minute presentation. So I shifted hotels in Mumbai (at my bosses advice) to one on the beach and went for one run along the beach. As it happened this was the day after the weights session I did and my legs were absolute toast, the high temperature and humidity did not help and I was glad to get back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. No way in the world would I have swum at the beach, a tanker had dropped a load in the Arabian Sea and the water was not nice...
Some more treadnill sessions before finally getting back to Oz and headed out for a last had hit out on my home base tempo course for a loosener. Was happy and surprised to significantly reduce my most recent times so headed in the right direction!
The sugar free diet regime has continued, a real test when I travel and today when I hopped on the scales I was a little surprised to see 80kg neat. So over 5kg lost since I started back. Other good news is that the dodgy back is getting less dodgy.
So Sydney Marathon beckons on Sunday with what seems a faster and less exposed course. I really am underdone but as usual will give it a red hot go, we'll see what happens.
- Raced the Striders 10km at North Head. Truly the most attrocious weather conditions I have raced at a Striders 10km, a howling Nor-Easter with driving rain. Tried to help Paul out with the setup of the timing system but the rain managed to penetrate the electronics and so it was kaput... I lined up and charged off, after our second loop of the end of North Head I noticed my right shoe lace had come undone so waited to the top of the hill to stop, retie and double knot. Of course a slew of people went past and I set out right into the wind and rain to try and regain my position. It seemed that no matter where I was, it was either a head wind or climb or both! Started to fade on the second lap but did manage to catch Seagull and hold off Horrie, although Horrie was backing up from Trailwalker the week before so I should have stayed ahead of him! Ended up with 43.51, not what I was hoping for but lots of upside!
Backed up for Middle Harbour Picnic, another tough run and struggled at the back for the long climbs but actually ran home quite strongly after the long climbs were done.
Then the start of an enforced taper with a work trip to Mumbai. Had a few good treadmill sessions on the treadmill and also did a full work through of the weights program set up for me which really smashed me. As it happened the enforced taper was extended as I had to stay over the weekend and fly to Delhi for a last minute presentation. So I shifted hotels in Mumbai (at my bosses advice) to one on the beach and went for one run along the beach. As it happened this was the day after the weights session I did and my legs were absolute toast, the high temperature and humidity did not help and I was glad to get back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. No way in the world would I have swum at the beach, a tanker had dropped a load in the Arabian Sea and the water was not nice...
Some more treadnill sessions before finally getting back to Oz and headed out for a last had hit out on my home base tempo course for a loosener. Was happy and surprised to significantly reduce my most recent times so headed in the right direction!
The sugar free diet regime has continued, a real test when I travel and today when I hopped on the scales I was a little surprised to see 80kg neat. So over 5kg lost since I started back. Other good news is that the dodgy back is getting less dodgy.
So Sydney Marathon beckons on Sunday with what seems a faster and less exposed course. I really am underdone but as usual will give it a red hot go, we'll see what happens.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Month end
So at the start of August I decided on a few goals and its time to put these out in the public domain and see how I'm going against them
- Enter GNW : done but that was pretty easy!
- Try and sort out dodgy back : still work in progress but Pilates is certainly making a difference and the witch doctor is helping keep things on track
- Adopt concepts from the book "Sweet Poison" by dramatically reducing my intake of sugar, particulary sucrose : For the 31 days of August I managed 17 complete sugar free days, much better than my old habit of 1-2 cokes per day but can still do a little better!
- Try to reduce alcohol intake : not very successful there, needs more focus
- Return to some consistency in training : done pretty well on this front, especially with a mind on not over doing it off a low base, 21 days of running from 31
- Re introduce speed training : LSD and tempo are not enough so back to the treadmill and can already see an improvement, first benchmark test is the Striders 10km on Saturday at North Head
- Reduce weight, based upon the cumulative effort of all the above : well on track at the start of the month I was 85.1kg, this morning before my run I weighed in at 81.3 so just under 4kg gone, but a noticeable difference around the waist so I think some weight has been redistributed from fat to muscle....
So the real positive point for August was my totals, knocking out 310km at an average of 5:15 min/km. For perspective as stated above I was mindful of coming off a low base (my previous 3 months combined totaled 312km) and also taking into account the sore back so I am stoked to have done this total. Amazingly enough in looking through my training logs the last time I broke 300km was way back in 2006! (even with prep for 6 ft this year).
The aim for September is to keep the momentum going, will not taper that much for the Sydney Marathon as it is really a stepping stone for GNW prep, which is actually also a stepping stone for Six Foot 2011 as I attack a BHAG for my buckle run....
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Rat race
I've signed up for some extra sekrit training, which has included a Pilates reformer session once a week to try and sort out my dodgy core stability. Also have gone back to the future with interval work in a move to try and (re)improve leg speed. Flat sections of terrain around home are few and far between, great for hill work, but not good for leg speed and so back to the gym. Have had a few sessions now with a very dodgy first session cut short due to expectations far exceeding capabilities. Since then though steady improvement, culminating today with 6 1km reps @ 4:08 pace with a 90 sec jogging recovery @ 6:00 pace. Much more to come there!
Also have now added on top of the pilates session the start of a weights program, specifically targetting the body areas not used by running. Lower and upper back in particular with an eye on the fact that I'll have to lug a 5-6kg camelbak on the GNW. The trainer laid out a good program, included some leg stuff, heavy going after the intervals and pilates session but I think I surprised him. No surprise that upper body strength was pretty pitiful, but at least I still had good technique from all that gym work 20 years ago when I was track cycling!
So, the additional goal is to blog on a regular basis, maybe with mostly drivel but we'll see.
Flake, I don't think my marathon PB is in danger in a few weeks, just not enough prep I think.
Ewen, I should be clearer, it is not just sugar but sucrose in particular that I am avoiding. The good news is that the sugar/sucrose in most wine & beer gets transformed in the fermentation process, into alcohol! (well thats what the book says, and who can argue with that!). The main thing is I am pretty much completely wiping out my previous habit of usually a muffin for morning tea and a bottle/can of coke with lunch, every day.....
Also have now added on top of the pilates session the start of a weights program, specifically targetting the body areas not used by running. Lower and upper back in particular with an eye on the fact that I'll have to lug a 5-6kg camelbak on the GNW. The trainer laid out a good program, included some leg stuff, heavy going after the intervals and pilates session but I think I surprised him. No surprise that upper body strength was pretty pitiful, but at least I still had good technique from all that gym work 20 years ago when I was track cycling!
So, the additional goal is to blog on a regular basis, maybe with mostly drivel but we'll see.
Flake, I don't think my marathon PB is in danger in a few weeks, just not enough prep I think.
Ewen, I should be clearer, it is not just sugar but sucrose in particular that I am avoiding. The good news is that the sugar/sucrose in most wine & beer gets transformed in the fermentation process, into alcohol! (well thats what the book says, and who can argue with that!). The main thing is I am pretty much completely wiping out my previous habit of usually a muffin for morning tea and a bottle/can of coke with lunch, every day.....
Monday, August 23, 2010
Blog reborn (again)
Yet another long time between drinks, after Six Foot, I then competed in the Australian Rogaine Championships in the Snowy Mountains. My partner and I were going very well until about 2am and then managed to get tragically misplaced, stumbling around for a few hours until we opted to stop, have a snooze and wait for sunrise. With light we finally determined we were about 2-3km off course....
Then backed up for a fastish 10km the following week, best time in the last few years, however the following day during the STaR I noticed my RH hammie was quite tight which extended to the lower back. This continued over a few weeks and with quite a bit of travel over April saw me with no training and in fact the back worsened leaving me with no choice but to withdraw at the last minute from the TNF 100 :(
The back pain continued through June/July and motivation (and running) was at a pretty low point, but with some help from a return to my witch doctor I finally got back out on a regular basis. While the back is still sore seems running now does not impact it and vice versa! August has been a lot better and I am now much more motivated and have entered GNW 100 again as a goal!
Have also adopted a sugar free (or at least much less sugar) diet and have stripped off 2-3kgs in the same amount of weeks. Not as successful on reducing alcohol intake to the same extent yet though. The build up to GNW will include a tilt at the Sydney Marathon amongst other things and really all is part of a buckle run at Six Foot and lowering that PB by quite a bit more....
Sunday I joined the 6:10am group for Clovelly Canter, have not run the full course before. A real tough first half which goes down the coast line from Tamarama to Maroubra and lots of short climbs and steps etc. I was perpetually struggling to stay with the group on each climb but kept in touch on the downhills & flats.
Eventually the rubber band broke as I slowly drifted off near Pagewood, keeping the group in sight but not able to stay at their sub 5 min/km pace. Ended up doing the 30.3 in 2:41 at average pace of 5:20, not bad given the stairs etc in the first 10-15km.
Then backed up for a fastish 10km the following week, best time in the last few years, however the following day during the STaR I noticed my RH hammie was quite tight which extended to the lower back. This continued over a few weeks and with quite a bit of travel over April saw me with no training and in fact the back worsened leaving me with no choice but to withdraw at the last minute from the TNF 100 :(
The back pain continued through June/July and motivation (and running) was at a pretty low point, but with some help from a return to my witch doctor I finally got back out on a regular basis. While the back is still sore seems running now does not impact it and vice versa! August has been a lot better and I am now much more motivated and have entered GNW 100 again as a goal!
Have also adopted a sugar free (or at least much less sugar) diet and have stripped off 2-3kgs in the same amount of weeks. Not as successful on reducing alcohol intake to the same extent yet though. The build up to GNW will include a tilt at the Sydney Marathon amongst other things and really all is part of a buckle run at Six Foot and lowering that PB by quite a bit more....
Sunday I joined the 6:10am group for Clovelly Canter, have not run the full course before. A real tough first half which goes down the coast line from Tamarama to Maroubra and lots of short climbs and steps etc. I was perpetually struggling to stay with the group on each climb but kept in touch on the downhills & flats.
Eventually the rubber band broke as I slowly drifted off near Pagewood, keeping the group in sight but not able to stay at their sub 5 min/km pace. Ended up doing the 30.3 in 2:41 at average pace of 5:20, not bad given the stairs etc in the first 10-15km.
Friday, March 19, 2010
The Dragon Has Been Slain!
So it has been a while since my last post, lots has happened since then and no blogging was actually deliberately part of that. I kept on building up for GNW, mixing in travel for work.
I'm not going to go into a blow by blow account of GNW 2009, the summary is that I made it a lot further than my first attempt but had massive problems with heat/dehydration and nausea which saw me have to withdraw at 82km.
To be honest in retrospect this knocked me around badly from a mental and confidence point of view. I resumed training in December with the goal of Six Foot with a good plan in regards to a program, but with always the doubt now of the seemingly recurring hydration and nausea/vomitting problems from last year at 6 ft reinforced by the horrendous GNW experience. To this end I visited a natropath/dietician and commenced a program of experiments to try and identify cause/effect and how to deal with or avoid the situation from a more structured approach.
This actually went through most of January with a series of longer runs scheduled on top of the normal Striders STaR diet. By the end of January I was even more depressed....
Each event/experiment that I conducted actually seemed the same/worse. Back to Black Stump followed by Narabeen All Nighter followed by the Oz Day fatathon all saw me experience the problems to varying degrees. My fellow runners were however more supportive and provided great input from their experiences that I took on board.
Finally in February, for the 6 hour Metrogaine I had one last go at another diet/hydration schedule. This was a brutally humid and warm day, but for the first time in a long time I experienced no nausea for an effort that went beyond around 30km. It was so successful in fact that the last hour of our run was our best and we won the overall event! The main key/change was the addition of salt tablets and gels with a reduction/watering down of electrolyte for fluid. I also ran with a waterbottle enabling sipping rather than gulping and also better monitoring of electrolyte concentration.
So it was with a cautious sense of confidence that I lined up at the top of Nellies Glen on Saturday morning. I had somewhat been involved in the banter of the Beer Bet on Cool Running and was viewed as a middle of the pack runner in the silver stubbie field. I knew I had some good distance/endurance in the legs compared to some previous attempts and it seemed that my nausea issue was now under management. Also I was about 5-6kg lighter than last year. However the confidence level was not high, I have spectatularly crashed and burned on this race at every serious attempt. In my heart I believed that I could perform a lot better than my PB of 5:52 and the goal was to try and break 5 hours as part of the beer bet. The race plan was centred around using my downhill running ability to get a decent position for the descent of the stairs and then moderate my pace based upon heart rate with a goal of being able to get to the top of Pluvi in decent shape/time and then deal with Black Range and the run down to Caves House.
Some joking around with fellow beer betters helped ease the nerves and then we were off! I deliberately did not sprint as hard as last year but still found myself mostly clear at the top of the stairs with about 10-15 people in front. I had no delay at all going down, did manage to slip at one point but no real damage and by the bottom I actually had no one close behind at all and a few in sight ahead as we already started passing the slower wave 1 runners. I immediately switched into running based upon heart rate, aiming for low to mid 160's a a guide and felt very comfortable. Very few people came past through here, and by my calculation I had about 3-4 beer betters in front, probably all gold but not sure. Around Megalong Rd Tallgeoff and Terry caught me and I let them ease forward, focussing on my own pace but seemed to keep them in sight. Just after Pinnacle I was surprised to see Hamburglar just ahead, he had accidentally run off at the back of wave 1 but to have put five minutes into him was a surprise. This combined with no silver runners at all in sight caused some worry that I had gone out too fast. Anyway we had a quick chat and he confirmed 5 runners in front, as I went past on the descent to the river. Along here I caught up to Tallgeoff but no Terry in sight. I was happy just to cruise behind him but at one point he mentioned we were on 4:25 pace which again caused some concern...
Just before the river I went past him and at the river crossing I was suprised to catch another beer bet runner. I did not know him but found out later it was Cedric. The official river split for going through here for me was 1:22:02. Immediately I began the climb up Mini Mini, steady walking for any steep uphills but running where it made sense for most of this keeping Tallgeoff in sight. JohnBo came through shortly and we had a quick chat and he looked strong as we approached the cattleyards Milov also caught me. The descent down to Alum was less painful than previous experiences and I was surprised to see Blue Dog and Sailaway at the aid station, again actually causing me some concern that despite my caution I was still out too fast.
Just at the bottom of the Pluvi climb Hamburglar caught up to me and we had another quick chat, he told me that Dan was not far behind and sure enough a few minutes later Dan caught me and went past. About halfway up Exe also caught me and we talked for a little while before he powered away and caught Dan. At each of the aid stations where I had my previous "episodes" I drank a little coke and was glad I felt so much better this year! Finally got to the top, just passing Barry and Kevin the 7 hour pacers for the early wave and recorded my split at the top of 2:49:53. Very pleased with this and I felt quite fresh and ready to tackle Black Range, knowing from previous discussion on cool running that 2 hours from pluvi to finish was a benchmark and so I was on track for sub 5 if I did not fade.
For the first couple of km I still had Dan and Exe in sight but they slowly drifted out of sight, Walshy must have passed me here but I cant remember it and Run2work also came by.In hindsight I was probably too conservative through here, lacking confidence and watching out for the piano and cramp bears. Just before deviation I caught another early start Strider, Dale and gave some encouragement. My spirits were lifted coming through Deviation and the first downhill running for a while, I was catching quite a few people through here but still restrained myself with a few little twinges emerging, especially on the steep climb in this section.
Was very pleased to see Caves Road and started to open up a little more, knowing the distance to finish and feeling quite good. I was very surprised that I had not seen any more beer betters through here and was confident that once I made it to the firetrail descent anyone would have a hard time going past. Was very surprised at the condition of the firetail section, much more technical than previous year memories and was glad to turn onto the singletrack. About 50 along I just about had a huge stack, catching my right foot on a stone and went for probably 50m totally out of control lucky not to fall before the legs got back under the body properly which caused a few cramps. Passed a few more people through here and saw Buzz right near the bottom as he urged me on to break 5 hours. By here I knew it was in the bag and so I yelled back, bugger breaking 5 hours, I'm going to smash it!
Finally hit the path down to caves house and I kept up my momentum, passing a few more people and turned at the end of the stairs sprinting for the line to make sure I broke 4:50 and thus passed a few more!
I crossed the line and the reality hit me that I had finally run 6 ft to my potential and had carved off over 1 hour off my previous PB with a finish time of 4:49:47. It was such a relief that I became a bit emotional, not knowing to laugh or cry, especially given the trials and disappointments of racing over the last 12 or so months...
I am confident based upon this experience and knowing how I could improve my training, quantity mainly, for next year that I could reduce this further for my buckle year attempt on 6 foot!
So despite the last 12 months being somewhat disappointing from a results perspective on reflection they have been invaluable for my progression as a runner, building a good injury free base, learning more about becoming mentally stronger and also seemingly finally sorting out how to balance my sweat loss to fluid and electrolyte intake.
Now to build further upon this base and tackle some of my other long standing PB's across a variety of distances as well as finishing my first 100km in May with TNF100. I'll re-start blogging but more likely on a weekly basis as it will keep me more honest as I work towards my goals for the rest of 2010.
I'm not going to go into a blow by blow account of GNW 2009, the summary is that I made it a lot further than my first attempt but had massive problems with heat/dehydration and nausea which saw me have to withdraw at 82km.
To be honest in retrospect this knocked me around badly from a mental and confidence point of view. I resumed training in December with the goal of Six Foot with a good plan in regards to a program, but with always the doubt now of the seemingly recurring hydration and nausea/vomitting problems from last year at 6 ft reinforced by the horrendous GNW experience. To this end I visited a natropath/dietician and commenced a program of experiments to try and identify cause/effect and how to deal with or avoid the situation from a more structured approach.
This actually went through most of January with a series of longer runs scheduled on top of the normal Striders STaR diet. By the end of January I was even more depressed....
Each event/experiment that I conducted actually seemed the same/worse. Back to Black Stump followed by Narabeen All Nighter followed by the Oz Day fatathon all saw me experience the problems to varying degrees. My fellow runners were however more supportive and provided great input from their experiences that I took on board.
Finally in February, for the 6 hour Metrogaine I had one last go at another diet/hydration schedule. This was a brutally humid and warm day, but for the first time in a long time I experienced no nausea for an effort that went beyond around 30km. It was so successful in fact that the last hour of our run was our best and we won the overall event! The main key/change was the addition of salt tablets and gels with a reduction/watering down of electrolyte for fluid. I also ran with a waterbottle enabling sipping rather than gulping and also better monitoring of electrolyte concentration.
So it was with a cautious sense of confidence that I lined up at the top of Nellies Glen on Saturday morning. I had somewhat been involved in the banter of the Beer Bet on Cool Running and was viewed as a middle of the pack runner in the silver stubbie field. I knew I had some good distance/endurance in the legs compared to some previous attempts and it seemed that my nausea issue was now under management. Also I was about 5-6kg lighter than last year. However the confidence level was not high, I have spectatularly crashed and burned on this race at every serious attempt. In my heart I believed that I could perform a lot better than my PB of 5:52 and the goal was to try and break 5 hours as part of the beer bet. The race plan was centred around using my downhill running ability to get a decent position for the descent of the stairs and then moderate my pace based upon heart rate with a goal of being able to get to the top of Pluvi in decent shape/time and then deal with Black Range and the run down to Caves House.
Some joking around with fellow beer betters helped ease the nerves and then we were off! I deliberately did not sprint as hard as last year but still found myself mostly clear at the top of the stairs with about 10-15 people in front. I had no delay at all going down, did manage to slip at one point but no real damage and by the bottom I actually had no one close behind at all and a few in sight ahead as we already started passing the slower wave 1 runners. I immediately switched into running based upon heart rate, aiming for low to mid 160's a a guide and felt very comfortable. Very few people came past through here, and by my calculation I had about 3-4 beer betters in front, probably all gold but not sure. Around Megalong Rd Tallgeoff and Terry caught me and I let them ease forward, focussing on my own pace but seemed to keep them in sight. Just after Pinnacle I was surprised to see Hamburglar just ahead, he had accidentally run off at the back of wave 1 but to have put five minutes into him was a surprise. This combined with no silver runners at all in sight caused some worry that I had gone out too fast. Anyway we had a quick chat and he confirmed 5 runners in front, as I went past on the descent to the river. Along here I caught up to Tallgeoff but no Terry in sight. I was happy just to cruise behind him but at one point he mentioned we were on 4:25 pace which again caused some concern...
Just before the river I went past him and at the river crossing I was suprised to catch another beer bet runner. I did not know him but found out later it was Cedric. The official river split for going through here for me was 1:22:02. Immediately I began the climb up Mini Mini, steady walking for any steep uphills but running where it made sense for most of this keeping Tallgeoff in sight. JohnBo came through shortly and we had a quick chat and he looked strong as we approached the cattleyards Milov also caught me. The descent down to Alum was less painful than previous experiences and I was surprised to see Blue Dog and Sailaway at the aid station, again actually causing me some concern that despite my caution I was still out too fast.
Just at the bottom of the Pluvi climb Hamburglar caught up to me and we had another quick chat, he told me that Dan was not far behind and sure enough a few minutes later Dan caught me and went past. About halfway up Exe also caught me and we talked for a little while before he powered away and caught Dan. At each of the aid stations where I had my previous "episodes" I drank a little coke and was glad I felt so much better this year! Finally got to the top, just passing Barry and Kevin the 7 hour pacers for the early wave and recorded my split at the top of 2:49:53. Very pleased with this and I felt quite fresh and ready to tackle Black Range, knowing from previous discussion on cool running that 2 hours from pluvi to finish was a benchmark and so I was on track for sub 5 if I did not fade.
For the first couple of km I still had Dan and Exe in sight but they slowly drifted out of sight, Walshy must have passed me here but I cant remember it and Run2work also came by.In hindsight I was probably too conservative through here, lacking confidence and watching out for the piano and cramp bears. Just before deviation I caught another early start Strider, Dale and gave some encouragement. My spirits were lifted coming through Deviation and the first downhill running for a while, I was catching quite a few people through here but still restrained myself with a few little twinges emerging, especially on the steep climb in this section.
Was very pleased to see Caves Road and started to open up a little more, knowing the distance to finish and feeling quite good. I was very surprised that I had not seen any more beer betters through here and was confident that once I made it to the firetrail descent anyone would have a hard time going past. Was very surprised at the condition of the firetail section, much more technical than previous year memories and was glad to turn onto the singletrack. About 50 along I just about had a huge stack, catching my right foot on a stone and went for probably 50m totally out of control lucky not to fall before the legs got back under the body properly which caused a few cramps. Passed a few more people through here and saw Buzz right near the bottom as he urged me on to break 5 hours. By here I knew it was in the bag and so I yelled back, bugger breaking 5 hours, I'm going to smash it!
Finally hit the path down to caves house and I kept up my momentum, passing a few more people and turned at the end of the stairs sprinting for the line to make sure I broke 4:50 and thus passed a few more!
I crossed the line and the reality hit me that I had finally run 6 ft to my potential and had carved off over 1 hour off my previous PB with a finish time of 4:49:47. It was such a relief that I became a bit emotional, not knowing to laugh or cry, especially given the trials and disappointments of racing over the last 12 or so months...
I am confident based upon this experience and knowing how I could improve my training, quantity mainly, for next year that I could reduce this further for my buckle year attempt on 6 foot!
So despite the last 12 months being somewhat disappointing from a results perspective on reflection they have been invaluable for my progression as a runner, building a good injury free base, learning more about becoming mentally stronger and also seemingly finally sorting out how to balance my sweat loss to fluid and electrolyte intake.
Now to build further upon this base and tackle some of my other long standing PB's across a variety of distances as well as finishing my first 100km in May with TNF100. I'll re-start blogging but more likely on a weekly basis as it will keep me more honest as I work towards my goals for the rest of 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)