Race Report - Woodford to Glenbrook

A hard event for me to resist, 25km of dirt, with an overall elevation drop. For the non locals this is conducted in the Blue Mountains, about an hours drive from the city. Given the recent training efforts no great expectations for me on this run other than to enjoy a good run in the dirt, the rain was an added bonus.

I had arranged to do a car shuffle with Kevin and Colin but got up there way too early so had a read of the paper while waiting. For some reason the guts felt a bit funny so made use of the facilities also while I was waiting. Kevin had texted to say he wasn't coming and Colin rocked up bang on time. We had to pay for both cars to get in and drove down to the finish area to drop my car off. While we were down there a couple approached us looking for the shuttle which was no where to be seen. We gave them a lift up to the start as well. As it happened they turned out to be from Capetown (Colin's old town) as well so a good chat between Glenbrook and the start in the car about the SA running scene.

Bikes everywhere at the start but we linked up with groups of Striders and CR's also waiting for the bikes to go. On time we were off and the first km or so was actually on tar. A fairly good pace early on and I settled into running in a loose group. It wasn't really group running as each uphill different people would slide past me as I controlled my pace and then on the technical downhills I'd scream past them again, lots of fun! However my guts were still giving me trouble and I was certainly jet propelled on certain sections through here.

Through the undulating 12km in pretty much the pace I was expecting and on the last steep downhill I put a gap into most of the runners I had been seesawing with and then it was a case of smooth controlled running on the predominant slightly sloping down hill. At about 20km the legs had used up the endurance I have managed to put back into them since restarting training and then I started to drift back from the people I had been running at the same pace. I was very glad to see the finish line as had pretty much had enough by then.

For sure the last 2km was a tad long, my 301 came up with 25.26km, but it did also measure one of my km splits at around 16km short as it showed a 3:10

Caught up with the usual suspects and some new faces to put names to. Flashduck and twopenny joined us in my car to get back to the various cars. Flashduck rolled her ankle very early into the dirt which must have been disappointing given she drove from Canberra to go in the race.

Overall a PB (well it was my first W2G) with 25.26km in 1:57:52, average pace of 4:40 min/km and avg HR of 167. Interesting to look back and my run on Thursday night was at a faster pace and higher avg HR, supports my thoughts that the legs died.

For interest the 5km splits according to Garmin were
5km 22:04 0:22:04 - more down than up!
10km 24:46 0:46:50 - some nasty little climbs here
15km 23:50 1:10:40 - start of the downhill
20km 21:49 1:32:29 - this was pretty fast!
25km 25:23 1:57:52 - legs fell off here, maybe also a little longer

Rest day on Monday, rhs foot/ankle continues to be mildly sore, ice tonight. Upper quads also caomplaining about all the downhill running :)

Rain interrupted play

Woke up this morning with the sound of heavy rain falling. That coupled with the knowledge that is was already cold was enough for me to roll over and go back to sleep!

A hard day at work and I left a little early aiming to do my run in the afternoon. While it had been raining near home it seemed pretty clear when I set out. The usual run down to the weir and by the time I got there most of the light had gone. I had also got down there at a fairly fast clip. Back through the park, it started raining halfway along, all the way to the top gates and then back home along Lane Cove and Cox's Roads. Pretty drenched with a combo of rain and sweat but quite satisfied with the run although I started to flag just near the end but then saw why in the after run Garmin analysis.

Distance of 15.km in 1:10:08 which has an avg pace of 4:37 and an avg HR of 170 (maybe a bit too hard but it felt pretty good).

I'm going to pass on both the CR 5km challenge and/or the 8km recovery run scheduled and opt for a rest day to ensure a good run on Sunday for the Woodford to Glenbrook.

Weekly summary
In the end a long week with a big start. Total distance of 90km. The Parrot predictor says 3:23:59.

Have to say I am very pleased with my progress so far, if tonight's run is any indication my endurance is certainly improving, who knows about speed, I suppose we'll find out next Saturday @ the Homebush 10km. Next week the program had 84km in total scheduled.

Brass Monkeys

Yes folks, a tad cooler this morning for my recovery run.

Glad to announce I have finally sorted out a route without too much hills and that has a distance close to 8km (5 miles).

Pretty light and easy, although shins are a little tight. I hope MPHaz's "Alan?" is not coming for a visit.

Longer run again tomorrow and I think I'll take Saturday off to get ready for Woodford to Glenbrook on Sunday.

Distance 8km, time 41 minutes, avg pace 5:18 min/km, avg HR 154

Had a good night last night at dinner with a whole host of Cool Runners!

Shortest day of the year!

Yes and so what do I do but go out earlier than normal as I had to get across town (to Milperra) for a 9am meeting.

Aiming for 18km and running in the dark meant avoiding LCNP first up so I headed across ro Quarry Road and ran up to Denistone, extending my usual route to try and make it closer to the goal. In doing so I think I managed to find every hill in North Ryde/Denistone and Marsfield! Got back on the usual circuit near Macquarie Centre and then ran back through a still quite dark, and cool, LCNP.

Ended up with only 15.7km in 1:18:30 (avg pace 5:00 min/km and avg HR 164). The run was a good effort today and despite the cold I was drenched with sweat by the finish. All of that hill running certainly had an effect.

Recovery tomorrow before another longer run on Friday.

Back into it

11 weeks and 5 days to go!

Now properly into the Pfitzinger program (translated from miles to km so I have done some rounding).

Today's scheduled session was a general aerobic runof around 13km including some speed work of 10 x 100m strides.

I decided to do the normal run down to the weir but this time keep going and run through the Chatswood Golf Course and along the eastern bank of the Lane Cove River. A little slower through here with singletrack bush running and a little stair climb/descent to slow things down.

When I got to Rotary Field I then started my 100m strides which consisted of pretty much getting close to sprinting speed and then "floating" for the last 20m or so. Followed by 100m jog recovery. So the fast pieces were on the straight and recovery on the bends. Did not feel too bad doing this and was not watching or fixated on exactly how fast I was running, more focus on form.

Then a run past all the road works, across the pededstrian bridge over the river and up Magdala Rd hill back home. The hill was hard work and the legs were certainly a little fatigued by the top.

Summary 12.2km in 59:58 (those 2 seconds could be crucial!) avg pace of 4:55 and avg HR of 164.

Poor Mans Comrades

A Fat Ass Run that I started in last year really just to support some of the "proper" runners. This year starting in Gosford made it attractive to have another go, with more fitness but not enough to try the whole way. Also given my questionable durability it was going to be a case of see what happens with a hope to at least make it to Mooney Mooney for around 30km like a STaR.

Jogged down to the Gosford Railway Station from my parents with the 3L Camelback filled to about 2L and stashed with a couple of Power Bars. There were 9 of us starting and I was the only one not planning on running the whole way. Nice steady start running through West Gosford and then straight into it with a nasty climb the back way up to Kariong. I knew this road was steep and most of us walked quite a bit of it. Already about 3 guys pulled away into the distance. Crested the top of the hill with Graham Wye but he pulled away from me as we ran down to the highway. There is a great long stretch of road near Old Sydney Town where you can see down and then back up a big dip and there were 7 of us on this section within sight with just the leader and Tim at the rear not visible.

I really enjoyed the run down to Mooney Mooney Creek, running by myself and focussing on efficient running. I could just see a few runners headed around the corner and up the hill as I reached the bottom and crossed the bridge. Sort of the story of the whole run for me in a way. About two thirds of the way up the climb (near the olf fruit and veg stop) Kevin (& kids) and Sean had parked. Just as I was getting there Jan, Spud and Graham were heading out and since I was well stocked I decided just to keep going and try and keep them in range.

By the interchange at Calga they had disappeared again but now there was a lot more traffic with a lot of cyclists (including a few bunches) and also motorbikes on this section. As one of the bunches from Sydney cruised past someone recognised me and shouted out but I don't know who it was. Some nice little rises on this section just to keep you honest and I polished off a power bar, very happy with my pace which was around 5:40 min/km in general.

At Mount White I was just going to keep on going past the cafe but Sean waved me over. Once again I had caught up to Jan, Spud and Graham. I grabbed a bit of a power bar from Kev and then pushed on knowing the others would cruise past soon enough. By the time be got to the underpass at the freeway sure enough I was running solo again, through here my rh foot was complaining a little and now there were a lot of motorbikes going past in both directions. Once I hit the downhill section however it seemed to free up. Close to the bottom and I noticed someone catching me from behind and it did not look like Tim. Just as we arrived at Mooney Mooney it appeared it was Jan, he had made a pitstop in the bush.

Spud had already been and gone and Graham was getting ready to head out again as well. I had decided that Pie in the Sky would be a good point and so got out the mobile to call my support crew (ie Dad who was also babysitter). The battery had run flat and Kev loaned me his to organise the pick up.

Headed out just behind Jan and Graham left a little after as well so the three of us were strung out across the bridge and up the hill towards Cowan. After about 1km climbing plu appeared out of now where on his bike and rode next to Jan for a little while and then came back to me. We had a quick chat, he gave me a frog lolly which was great and then he headed back down the hill to find the others. By now Graham had dropped out of sight and I was really catching up to Jan very quickly. Just after the bridge to cross over the freeway I went straight past Jan and have to admit I felt a little guilty as I knew my run was coming to an end shortly. Up this hill I was very happy with my running and when I got to the pie in the sky was actually feeling quite good, considering I had just done 40km.

Despite Sean's encouragement to continue to Berowra I decided to finish up, my dad had already arrived to pick me up and I really had to get back and sort out the family to pack and then get back home (the wife was on a girls weekend up north).

Jan it seems was suffering quite badly with tummy problems and took quite a few more minutes before he went past. Graham must have then gone past while I was getting changed.

Given I was quite hungry dad and I had an early lunch (of pies of course) the Burgundy Beef pie in particular being very tasty. Got back to Gosford and eventually packed and sorted the kids out, leaving at around 2:30-3pm. I was planning on exiting at Berowra and following the course down to encourage those still running. However at the Hawkesbury Bridge my 2yo son, who has not been well, proceeded to vomit all over himself and everything near him. Pulled over in a safe spot to tidy him up as much as I could but there was now now way we were going to be able to do a slow drive back through Bobbin Head etc.

However Once we got on the highway I did follow the course from where it joined the highway at Bobbin Head Road and then down the back way through the lower North Shore.

Saw John (I think) walking slowly near Gordon and then Dave (unless I got him and John back the front) looking a little map challenged near Lindfield. Caught up to Spud just near Mowbray Road and gave him a bit of a cheer before headed home to sort out the kids and try and clean up the car.

Great to see that everyone finished, Spud was looking very strong when I saw him last.

My stats 39.6km according to Garmin in 3:48:47 (I did stop the watch when I stopped at Mooney Mooney). Gives me avg pace of 5:46 min/km and avg HR of 156.

I really did have a good run, some chaffing from the camelbak but today have pulled up very well with minimal soreness. Next year hopefully I'll go further again as I slowly ease my way into ultra type running. For sure I have not done such a hard run up hills since 6 ft with three major climbs each a few km long.

More Riding

As planned up in Gosford for the weekend and organised to go for a ride with some of my old cycling mates from the Central Coast Cycling Club. As it happens they had a race at Calga and so we met at 12:30 to ride up for the race. Great fun cruising along catching up, they gave me a hard time reckoning I was riding too hard since they had to race. At the race start also caught up with a few other familiar faces from 10-15 years ago. Very tempting to race and I probably would have if not for the fact you must have a license.

I watched the A, B & C grade start and then headed off along the same route about 2 minutes behind C Grade knowing that D Grade would also not be far behind. Riding at training pace sure enough after about 5km D grade came through, I let the bunch go past and then when I was about 50m behind them upped the effort to ride at the same pace. Managed this pretty easy and in fact had to ease off when I started catching them going up the long hill into Peats Ridge. They turned around and I kept on going all the way to Somersby before taking a back road back to Kariong and home.

All up 59.2km in 2:17 (avg speed 26kph and avg HR 137) as you can see the slower start (warm up) affected avg speed and HR, I really did push it coming home and it was a great ride over some very familiar territory.

Long end of week

Back in Sydney town and the schedule calls for another medium/long run.

The temperature was not too bad but heading down Scribblys was noticeably colder, ok it was very cold. Decided to run up the river this time and popped out on the cycleway on the north side of Ryde Road. Zig zagged through to Macquarie Centre and then along the nice cycle track to Quarry Road. All the way down to Field of Mars cemetry and then through East Ryde to home. This course is shall we say a little more undulating and the legs really started to feel the pinch coming home.

Ended up with 14.6km in 1:12:56 (avg pace 4:59 and avg HR 163).

Headed up to my parents place at Gosford for the weekend and was thinking about running with the Terrigal Trotters on Saturday morning. Given the running I have been doing however I won't now but will probably go for a ride with one of my mates up to the Central Coast Cycling Club races at Calga.

Then it is Poor Mans Comrades on Sunday for some LSD stuff.

Weekly Summary (given no running tomorrow and cycle/cross training doesn't count!)

75km for the week. Legs are noticeably tired and the niggles as niggling again. Minimal weight loss so far but overall I think the fitness is certainly picking up. Interesting that I have already run more than I did in April or May and am just about to pass the June total from 2004. So motivation is certainly much better.

Next week, after the PMC shennanigans the "proper" 12 week program begins as per Pfitzinger.

Southern Sojourn

Wednesday

Up before the sparrows for a very early flight to Melbourne so no chance for a run. However I did get out late in the afternoon. Ran along the Yarra River to the bridge near Anderson Street and then did close to three laps of the Tan, finishing the third a little short at the official start/finish point then ran back along the Yarra to the hotel. Lots of people (and groups) out on the Tan, it was a tad cool as well. Not sure why but I seem to run fairly strongly when I do this course and this was a hard session, finished feeling a bit tight.

14.5km in 1:07:40 (avg pace 4:40 and avg HR 170)

Thursday

Snuck out for a recovery run and again along the Yarra, this time up to the rail bridge an return. A bit sluggish but did stretch out ok towards the end.

7.4km in 38:30 (avg pace 5:12 and avg HR 159)

Things are still somewhat tight and it seems I may lose the toenail off the 2nd toe on the rh foot. Ice tonight with some self massage to get ready for another 15km type length run tomorrow.

Recovery

Monday - Rest (and drink!)

Tuesday - Recovery

After the battering I gave myself last week and in particular on Sunday (not to mention too much to drink yesterday either) today was a designated recovery run day.

Looking for a somewhat more level run than I usually do and so headed to Nth Ryde Common and did 2 laps of that on the grass. That combined with running there and back plus a little loop at the end saw 7.3km in 39 minutes (avg pace 5:21, avg HR 159).

I am amazed how after a long run like Sunday all of a sudden the pain from the niggles goes away but is replaced by other niggles. This time my calf muscles were both tight. However once I got going the calves were fine. It was a effort to hold the pace this morning and I am not happy with this circuit to use as my recovery run route, back to the drawing board!

Another fairly heavy week which is designed as another base building week before I embark upon the 12 week Pfitzinger program.

Bobbin Head Revisited

And it truly was revisited, twice in 2 days, first riding and then running.

Set off with the 6:10 group which was larger than recent times that I have seen. Including a number of CR, Blue Dog, Spud, gnscon, MikeF and Cherry. Some of the guys were a little excitable and so the pace was on a bit faster than expected. I gave the guys a bit of a dig but nonetheless we got down to the bottom of Bobbin Head (17km) at around 5 min/km rather than 5:30 pace.

From there it was tough going. I kept the faster guys in sight all the way up the main climb but they slipped away as the slope levelled off. gnscon and I shuffled positions back and forward as he alternated run/walk while I just ground out the run.

My form had been fairly good but from Mt Colah I sensed it was going to be a bash home. However in pushing on I also started to work out that my rhs foot problem may actually be a side effect of the lhs core muscle problems. I sensed I was "slapping" my rh foot to compensate for the lack of being able to stretch out the lhs.

Anyway an ugly last couple of km but still at a fair pace to round out the run, the back bit of the run had a few surprises to test the legs out when least wanted.

Stats 30.9km in 2:44 (avg pace 5:18 min/km and avg HR 159)

Just realised I have been a little naughty given no STaR last weekend the last 7 days came out to around 93km, not to mention cycling as well (yikes!). Legs are pretty (ok very) bashed up and I'll enjoy a day of complete R&R.

Overall a great run, running Bobbin Head was great to do after all the rides I've done through there.

Smouldering Quads

As already blogged one of the fathers (Michael) who we have developed a friendship with through our kids being in the same classes is a pretty serious cyclist. He has been at me for ages to go for a ride with him, knowing my cycling background. Finally bit the bullet this morning and off we went.

Aim was to ride Bobbin Head and then return, immediately up the many climbs on the way to Bobbin Head he just powered away from me, really hammering the gears. I had no problems with aerobic fitness it's just the legs (quads in particular) that really started to complain.

As we got near the bottom of the Bobbin Head descent I saw Horrie and Belinda, so we turned around and had a quick chat with them. Up the other side and Michael sat my wheel for the first third and then just cruised past. At the top we then cruised to Mt Colah and back through the back roads to the highway near Wahroonga and then a real fast downhillish ride back home.

Only 45km this week without the Pennant Hills/Beecroft addition but a bit faster.

45.1km (avg 28.3 kph avg HR 154)

A good cardio recovery but nice workout for my obviously under utilised quads.

Back in the same area tomorrow with the Striders and Bobbin Head STaR, first time I've done this one!

Parrot Predictor
A few questions as to what the hell this is! I use the David Hays spreadsheet training log. One of the features it has is the Parrot Predictor, named after George Parrot from memory who has a theory that a benchmark for marathon performance is the time it takes for you to run your fastest 42.2km in a week. So the training log is able to work out your fastest 42.2km (obviously you need to run at least 42.2!) and then calculate the corresponding marathon time. So if you ran 60km in 5 sessions it will work out which sessions contribute to the Parrot time. Make sense???

Longer Friday Run

In the weeks since Canberra normally I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep this morning but was pretty motivated to finish the week on a high so out I went!

Same course as the longer run on Wednesday but for a change as I was headed back up the course from the weir turnaround I saw another CR!! I know the face and probably the name but cannot put the 2 together. Anyway rolled around the rest of the run.

Finished with 14.5km again and about 20 secs faster than Wed. (Avg pace 4:48, avg HR 167)

Thats it for the week running wise. Tomorrow I'll head out for a recovery/cross train session on the bike. One of the fathers we know quite well from school is a good cyclist and has been itching for me to get back on the bike and go for a ride with him. As it happens probably through Bobbin Head which is also where I'll be running the STaR on Sunday.

Weekly recap
62km this week which is all the more impressive given no Sunday STaR. Looking back through the log that is the biggest week I have done since 6ft track. For the newish type runners who I chat with it is a case of do as I say, not as I do! While this does contravene the 10% rule significantly I do have somewhat of a good base still.

Also the Parrot is back (and we are not talking about Gloria here) and says that an indicative Marathon time would be 3:19:33.

Base Building

Another bread and butter run this morning, brisk tempo but not racing down to the weir and back. It is a little wierd, the mornings are cool but not intolerable but it seems others are all rugged up big time. Perhaps I am imprevious to the cold, I know when I used to cycle early mornings in winter I did not seem to notice the cold as much either.

Anyway around 11km (the Garmin always has a problem on Scribbly's for some reason) in a time of 51:34 (avg pace 4:42 min/km and avg HR 165).

Lower back a little tight but better after post run stretching rh foot still niggly in the background.

Self Diagnosis

Did some research online yesterday in regards to mu glute "problem". The more I read the more it seemed to come down to a couple of potentials.

1. Sciatic nerve pain from being pinched by piriformis

2. Iliopsoas Tendonitis

The first seemed more likely and so I focussed on that and found some better stretches. Then I got a last minute appointment with my physio and got him to investigate option 1 as well. As it happens the piriformis was very tight, he showed me an even better stretch! After some painful stretching and also trying to loosen my middle back on the rhs (apparently pulling the left around) I was very sore and so popped a Naprosen with dinner and did ice.

Up this morning and touch wood the glute pain had vanished!! So headed out for a slightly longer run, still tight from yesterdays physio session but appreciable difference in comfort during running. Ended up doing just short of 15km in just under 1:10 (avg pace 4:48 min/km and avg HR 168).

Also got the physio to look at the rh foot which is still semi sore, he thinks some tendinosis and so some ultra sound and electrical stimulation. Apparently the best thing to repair it is actually massage of the shin muscle to stimulate blood flow to the tendon. Iced the foot last night but it was still in the background today.

Have to say I am sooooo much happier now that it seems the glute problem is sorted, I'll keep doing my core exercises regardless. Now to sort out the rh foot but in the meantime I've got a program to follow!

Holding Pattern

Earlier to bed last night and felt better about getting up this morning. Noticeably cooler outside and I set out for my bread & butter LCNP weir return run like yesterday.

Niggles still there during the run but not inhibiting me, the worst piece is when I stop and have to start again for some reason. Got home and did my exercises and stretches which seemed to make a difference. Groin was noticebly tighter today as was the adductor while doing my exercises. I'd bet that it is all tied in together but will press on and see how things go.

Still on a diet of absolutely no speed, will aim to run every day this week and then maybe a ride on Saturday for some crosstraining and then a 25km option on Sunday at the Striders STaR. Tuesday back to Martin Horne and then I'll have a good idea if things are improving or not.

Blah Blah

Not much to blog about, glute has been sore since Tuesday, improved towards the end of the week and was going to race Striders 10km but then I stuffed up and left a bit of the timing equipment at home and got missing the start.

Early morning trip to Goulburn with the family on Sunday and so no running!

Decided to head out today, ran with a little discomfort but sore tonight, will try again tomorrow.

Attitude at the moment less than 10%

May monthly summary

Well May turned out to be pretty crap in terms of running distance and what I was hoping to do. A nasty cold and the introduction of a glute injury did not help things but I am still following the same pattern as last year. Hopefully I can now get going if the work on the glute continues to take effect.

Monthly distance 136km
Last year May was 114km

Highlight - not much, course PB for SMH I suppose

Lowlight - blogged to death but glute problem and motivation.

Witch Doctor Visit

Made an appointment to see the resident witch doctor for a number of Striders and CR in an effort to sort out glute problem. Had to fill in a pretty extensive questionaire but then he got to work. First was a series of accupuncture needles in my butt for about 15-20 minutes. Then he did some spinal manipulation. We then talked through my xrays from last year when the groin probem first surfaced. At that time it indicated I may have had the right leg shorter than the left, which he confirmed. However unlike the other people I had been seeing he immediately wanted to put in a heel lift on the rhs orthotic to address this difference. After that and getting some arneca cream he sent me off, wanting to see me in 2 weeks.

Have to admit initially the glute was as sore if not sorer, but overnight it has improved significantly but I opted to rest today regardless. Probably part of the soreness yesterday afternoon could also be attributed to the maximal testing I did in the morning (see previous post).

Lab Rat

Given the new program (if I ever get to start it) covers quite a deal more in terms of running within targetted HR zones I thought it was time to go and do another maximal HR test to be able to use actual figures rather than theoretical ones.

Despite the glute and foot soreness I still wanted to do this session. This is conducted by Sydney Uni ate their Cumberland Campus, I did it once previously back in early 2003 when I was just starting to run again. The testing involves 2 components, both on a treadmill and both involve wearing a scuba style mouthpiece through which you breathe and all the exhaled gases get collected in large plastic bags for later analysis.

1. The first test is used to measure oxygen consumption vs heart rate vs running speed. This involved running for 6 minute periods at set speeds, ie 10,11,12,13 km/hr. For the last minute at each of these speeds they measured the gases used and also recorded the heart rate figures throughout.

2. After a short cool down and stretch it is back on the treadmill wearing the mask again for the maximal test. This involves running at 12km/hr (5 min/km pace). Every minute the treadmill increases in slope by 2%. The concept is simple you keep running until you can't run anymore! When you think you can only run for another minute you signal them and they take another sample of gases exhaled. I got up to over 7 minutes which was then 5 min/km up a 14% grade!! At this point they take the HR reading which is considered your actual maximum heart rate. He was pretty impressed as I actually sat on the max HR for about 20 seconds before stopping!

So the results:
VO2 max figure was 65.3, which is "good" for a runner. Top runners usually have figures of between 60-80. For the general population in my age bracket this figure is in the top 1% of the population.

Running economy was 240 which is also "good". Typical range for runners is 250-180, lower being better.

Max HR was 191

Fat oxidation rate - they can now analyse the expired gases and determine my optimum VO2 and thus heart rate to burn fat rather than use glycogen/carbohyrdate. For me this was 67% of my max which translates to around 11km/hr (5:30 min/km).

All in all worthwhile and will be much more useful when I translate back into my HR monitor and training program.

STaR Clovelly Canter

The niggles seemed to subside yesterday after the ride, stretches and exercises so I decided to run the STaR, especially given it is one I have not run before.

Hit the snooze button on the alarm at 4:45 and then woke with a start at 5:15 so there went the relaxed prep. Instead quickly got dressed and out the door with a carbo drink and energy bar. Got the the start just as the 6:00 group headed off and parked and got myself sorted for the 6:10. A good little group with Spud, Professor, MikeF, Aunty Karin, a few other Striders and KT.

The course for this run starts at Queens Park, heads into Centennial Park then back on the other side of the park towards Tamarama before going all the way down the coast to Maroubra. While the glute was sore it did not seem to restrict me too much as we rolled along. The group stayed together until about 15km where the faster groups caught us at pretty much the same time.

The short cut was at Maroubra Beach and everyone split up, Spud/Professor going long, MikeF taking the "long" short cut, while KT and I opted for the "short" short cut. As we headed back a little inland a few nice hills and we caught small groups of Striders along the way. A consequence of this was I had been subconsciously upping the pace a little, with little problem.

End result was 22.9km in 2:04:11 (avg pace 5:25 min/km and avg hr 160). As I cooled down started to tighten up so did some lower back stretches, again managed to "pop" the pelvic area stretching to the right but also to the left this time and this made a MASSIVE difference! Now, although a little tight I am moving more freely than for the last couple of days.

Great run with good scenery and company, spent some time chatting after the run with all and sundry. Best of all I feel/hope that maybe I am over the worst of this glute problem. Still slight tendonitis on the RH ankle though.

Dave's Riding Blog??

After the chat with the physio I popped into my old stamping ground Clarence Street Cyclery for a few things to get the bike ready to ride. Last night did the repairs/tuning in prep for this mornings ride.

Decided to wait until there was enough light and was on the road just after 6:30, headed up through Ryde/Macquarie to cut across Lane Cove river on a bike path that I found out about a while ago which comes on Kissing Point Rd and leads up to Turramurra. From there down the Highway a little and then onto Bobbin Head Road for a nice descent and climb to Mt Colah. Man it was cold headed down the hill, lost all feeling in the finger tips (note to myself, wear full finger gloves next time). The climb is a nice steady pace all the way up. From there down through Hornsby then Pennant Hills, Beecroft and on the M2 to home. The run down from Mt Colah was good fast riding.

I really enjoyed getting out on the bike again, the circuit I did seems to have a good mix. The quads were just starting to fatigue as I headed home along the M2 so about right distance for now as well.

Stats, 54km in 1:58 which is around 27.4 kph average and an average HR of 151.

No pain at all from the glute, the rhs ankle also was quiet, will certainly do this again and more often!

Down time

Well my pain in the arse is rapidly becoming a pain in the arse!

Still not able to walk properly and thus submitted myself to aroun 30 minutes of stretching and "other stuff". The other stuff consisted of ITB roller, man my LHS ITB is still very sore/tight which probably is contributing to this problem. Then I got a tennis ball and literally lay down upon it and used it to massage the lower back/glut and that was also an experience!

The CR 5km challenge is well and truly ruled out now, hopefully by Sunday I'll be right to do 20km at the STaR.

Rest day

Well really an enforced rest day as the problem with the lh glut won't go away and if I am having trouble walking properly not much point in trying to run. The physio did not seem too fussed by it and thinks it may actually be tied into the lhs ITB, which was sore post race Sunday...

So more exercises (graduated to the swiss ball now) stretching and hopefully the pain will have diminished enabling a run tomorrow. Maintaining the advice from the physio it is extremely unlikely I'll run the CR 5km challenge on Saturday, saving up my next intense run for the 10km @ Lane Cove. He actually is very strong on me doing a bit of riding so might dust off the bike and have a cruise on Saturday morning up around Bobbin Head me thinks.

Back into the groove

Happy to report up again early today and out for another run, this time hoping for a little faster but mindful of the niggles post SMH. A little earlier this morning as I also had some work stuff to do first thing and it was just getting towards dawn so I decided to do my usual 10km run in reverse so I was not running in LCNP in the dark.

Still a little tight in the calves and the lhs lower back/glut is certainly a problem child at the moment. The rhs ankle is on the improve but still a little sore. Ended up with just under 10km in just under 50 minutes and as usual with the various hills on the course a good workout.

Had a good lower back stretch once home and "cracked" the hip/pelvis region which immediately provided relief on the glut but not complete so doing a follow up with the physio this afternoon.

Recovery run

Up and at them this morning, looking at a recovery run of sorts as the legs are still very heavy with DOMS and the rhs ankle is still a little sore. Once I got going everything sort of clicked into place I did a run around East Ryde and then opted to run down to Pittwater Rd and run along the Gt Nth Walk for a little and check out all the road works on the way to Rotary Field where I opted for a few steady laps around the outside on the grass for less impact. After a couple of laps Spud showed up we had a quick chat and I pushed on while he seemed to be doing 30/30's. Not nice headed back up the hill but other than that a good first hit out, 9.4 km in 51 minutes. Some good stretching and core muscle work once home.

The legs are still heavy but that should improve tomorrow, at least I'm back out there!

A new beginning!

As alluded to in my SMH race report it seems that I need to do something to regain focus or I'll spend another winter vascillating about when and what to train for. Clearly I need a major goal to strive for and so have decided to begin immediately a program for the Sydney Marathon. Given this is only 16 weeks away (well actually 15 weeks and 6 days now) I've decided to adopt a program by Pete Pfitzinger and his book Advanced Marathoning.

This program is a paradigm shift for me and what I have been trying to do but also ties back into advice from my physio. For a while I have been trying to run faster and have been doing various interval/rep sessions with not a lot of improvement to really show as a result. That given I am going to forgo immediate speed to try and rebuild my endurance base further and at the same time work much harder on the core muscles which have been giving me grief on and off.

The program is based around the book's "medium distance" timetable for a 12 week prepararation and I am using the four initial weeks to build up to that starting point. It is interesting to note that for the first 4 weeks of the actual 12 week program there are no "intense" sessions but are focussed on endurance base building, then it shifts into Lactate Threshold training, followed by VO2 Max sessions and a taper, all ths time retaining endurance in the background.

I'm feeling pretty motivated to give this program my attention and have have spent a serious amount of introspective analaysis as well as shaping the program around my timetable till September. It will be interesting as it does seem to contravene some of the programs I have seen around the place from Pat Carroll and Sean Williams which have a lot more ongoing focus on speedwork. That said my endurance sessions will not be cruisy type runs and will be run at a tempo which suits my approximate marathon time goal of low 3 hours.

Just as another point of interest, with the fall off in post Canberra running I have added about 2.5kg and am back to 76 kg. I am thinking that with this program I may see the weight drop down close to 70kg which I would say is as low as I want to go. I have not set a "concrete" time for Sydney yet, lets see how things progress, there will be enough opportunities for assessing form/fitness towards the end. However I do want to run this marathon so that I can finish strongly and so the end goal must be achievable so I don't race off and go out too hard (again)!

SMH Race report

I had deliberately keep the run up to SMH very low key given my cold/flu and also pains after the 10km run. Eventually bit the bullet on Tuesday and saw my physio. He reckons in some ways my core strength has gone backwards, even though I have been trying to run faster. In his words "if you don't stop soon, your body will stop for you!". What he wanted was removal of high intensity stuff, returning to steadier pace running which would help the cores muscles regroup. Anyway more on that later, as I said to him, I understand but I'm racing the SMH on Sunday by the way!

So low key but I actually felt ok after a warm up on the way to the start. No running at all last week after the 10km so I was certainly fresh. I decided that if I was going to struggle I may as well go out fast and then struggle so the target pace was 4:15 min/km which would give 90 minutes.

A real good place at the start line and nice clear running right from the gun was great. Through the first 5km a little too fast (20:35, should have been 21:15) so eased up a little and hit the 10km mark bang on pace with 42:30, interesteing that this was 2 minutes quicker than last week @ SMC!). From there however each hill it was apparent that the legs were running out of steam and the pace slowly dropped accordingly. Finished up with 96:08 which at least was just under 2:30 off last years time.

In analysing afterwards I realised (like last year) that my prep for this race was pretty crap, only having run 120km in the 6 weeks after Canberra! You only get out what you put in springs to mind.

Everything is a little sore today and so a massage will be the go. I am also experiencing the same soreness in the rhs ankle tendons that I had after 6 foot, which hopefully will go away as quickly this time.

So time for a new beginning, I do not want to continue the slackness I went through last winter with and so have come up with a plan! Separate post to follow detailing my madness.

Out of action

The last line in my last post says it all, "Woke up with a sore throat today, may have a run tonight will wait and see."

Pretty much downhill from there. Sore throat blew up badly and then attacked sinus and nasal passages. Several nights I went to bed with good intentions of getting up and running but simply did not feel capable in the morning.

Finally on Saturday the throat cleared, just leaving head cold type symptons. I had already discarded the idea of running the 25km SMC so it was a toss up between 10km @ SMC or the STaR. In the end 10km race won, thought being it would be a better gauge as to how I was "really" feeling.

Decided to head out at 4:05 pace and see what happens. Trailed about 5-10 metres behind Blue Dog for the first couple of km but slipped a bit up the hill. By the time I got to the turnaround it was starting to be a struggle and I pretty much bashed it home. Really tried to pick up the pace in the last km to minimal effect finishing in 44:26.

The run did seem to clear the head out initially, however I was quite sore in the lhs midsection, very similar to the incident about 2 weeks ago. After a day of shopping and mowing limping around finally got to do some lower back stretches which pretty much instantly seemed to reduce the pain (that or the voltaren I popped about 5 minutes after).

This week, not sure I'll take tomorrow as rest and see what Tuesday brings in the count down for SMH, will probably reassess the goal for SMH but lets not het too hasty!

A run with the River Rats

Early morning meeting on Tuesday meant no run and so though the day I contemplated how I would have a serious run. Then I remembered the Lane Cove River Rats run Tuesday night through LCNP (on the Striders 10km course) and since Jim normally runs with them I checked with him if it was still the case.

Sure was, kicking off at 5:45 just as the sun vanished, so a new experience running in the dark (no street lights) some of the other guys had led style lights on, something to think about for next time.

Jim suggested I latch on behind the main group as they were a "little more my pace"! So off we go, these guys all knew each other and I was content to just hang around at the back as the pace was pretty good. Held on all the way up Scribbly and until the Rangers hut on the climb to the gates, a few of them had also slipped off by then as well. Pretty impressed the 5km mark was done in around 21:44. Caught back up on the downhill but slowly drifted off on the little pinch climbing up from the bridge. From there I just tried to focus on form/breathing and seeing where I was going on the run back to the weir/finish. Ended up in 43:30, quite a quick time for not racing and an average HR of 171.

Might have to do more runs with these guys (a few were CR's) but it is not an easy run to schedule in with trying to sort out family dinners etc.

Woke up with a sore throat today, may have a run tonight will wait and see.

Weekend Wrap

Saturday
Up early to North Head to set up the electronic timing system. Was in 2 minds as to whether I'd race or not. Everything was set up and one of the people not running, Richard, seemed to be pretty confident of being able to monitor the timing stuff so I decided to run. First couple of km were pretty relaxed, just running about 5-10m behind Spud and Mr G. As we climbed back up from the turn I could feel the exertion in trying to maintain the pace, also started to worry about the timing and if something went wrong. As we ran back down the slope towards the start/finish and turnaround I could feel the niggles start to complain a little more and opted to withdraw so I could make sure everythinh went ok at the finish. At that point I did 5.7km roughly and bang on 4:05 pace which was my target.

As it happens it was a good thing I dropped out as the timing compute did hang and I had to reboot everything, just in time for the leader to finish. To add to the good karma about making sure everything was working 2 of the 4 different timing methods then did subsequently fail as we processed the 330 odd finishers and so it was even more important that the main system was working, phew!!

Sunday
Quite a while earlier I had offered to be the 7am host at the STaR given the timing between Canberra and SMH and also that it was not far from home. A more relaxed group at around 6 min/km pace and we headed from Buffalo Creek up towards Ryde through East Ryde. As we ran I noticed that the legs/body felt fairly average. At about halfway one person who had stopped off for a nature break had not rejoined us so I sent the group on and went back to find her. No such luck so I cut across towards where the group should be and then ran it pretty hard to catch up. Only caught them in the last km or so and have to say the body did not like the run at all.

Upon reflection I did too much last week, first a km interval session, followed by a tempo run followed by 500m reps, three hard runs in a row, not what should be done. That somewhat explains why I was starting to struggle on Saturday and also why I felt pretty crappy on Sunday.

A full recovery/rest day today and will see how I feel tomorrow morning before deciding what type of run to do. Only 2 weeks to SMH so if I am ok will make this week a hard week before a mini taper next week.

Short and fast

The theme is getting the body used to running faster, after the non satisfactory 1km reps on Tuesday decided to head to the gym in Melbourne City for another session.

This time however it is 500m reps @ 3:25 pace with the same time to recover. A much better session, managing 8 reps and boy was I knackered at the end of the eighth! Afterwards did a few core muscle sets and wandered back to the hotel.

In the last 2 days I've managed to build up a nice little blister on the rh heel, first one in a while. Time to whip out the new blister pads I got while in the US and see how they go on Saturday. A shorter and easier recovery run tomorrow.

Interstate Runner

Up early and on the flying 'roo to Melbourne for work. Makes it hard to run in the morning so went out this evening. Quite a temperate climate for this time of the year and I ran from the hotel in the city centre to the Yarra, along the northern bank, crossed a bridge to join up with the Tan at Anderson Street. Then close to 2 full laps of the Tan, stopping a the 0km point 2nd time round and headed back on the south side of the Yarra and back into the city.

I wanted a good hit out tonight but was also focusing on form/style/rhythm/efficiency etc etc. While the Garmin dropped out a couple of times in the end it said 10.8 km in 49:06 which is around 4:32 min/km which was faster than initially planned! A great session to get back into things and another bonus of no pain from the various niggles post Canberra.

A harder rep session tomorrow night on the treadmill and then a nice recovery run on Friday to prepare for the 10km on Saturday that I will hopefully be able to run.

Back into intervals!

Cooler mornings and the plan is to use the handy gym around the corner for speedwork. This is the first interval session for around a month.

Goal was probably ambitious taking the pace up a step from previous sessions to 3:45 min/km from 3:50. Still the same game plan though 1km on and then half the time standing recovery. Wow the gym was packed out this morning but still a few treadmills left. Had my handy iPod shuffle riding shotgun to distract with some up tempo music.

First couple seemed ok but started to develop the soreness I had a week or so ago in the groin /ab area. Kept going but pulled the pin at 3.5km, not worth busting anything. I think this problem is somehow associated with the stomach/digestive system and may even also be part of what happened at Canberra, no scientific fact just gut feel (haha)!

Decided after the warmdown to go and do some core strength work for a change, first time since November, no ill effects so will continue.

Bound for Mexico for a couple of days for work, will pack the woolies and keep things going as the 10km at North Head looms on Saturday.

MetrO League

Been a while since I've done any true Orienteering and Sunday was the first race in the Sydney MetrO League series so thought I'd have a bash for a change!

MetrO League is pretty complicated in the way that it works and I'm not in the mood to try and fully describe it. Anyway I'm seeded as the first runner in our team in division 3 which also makes me runner 2 of 30 headed out on this course.

The start is at the ovals just below Pennant Hills and extends through the Lane Cove River Valley in the vicinity. First control was across a river gully and in a group of rocks just off a network of trails. Managed to screw myself up in said network and lost a few minutes realigning myself.

From there it was pretty good, hitting the rest of the controls pretty much bang on. An interesting choice of routes from 3 to 4 which involved some serious bush bashing and climbing at the same time. Then it was faster around the back of netball courts only slowed down by the massive crowds of netballers at some carnival who had set out seats etc on the carefully planned courses!

Really ripped it home catching a guy from Central Coast on the way into control 5 and then really hammering to control 6 and home, putting just about a minute into him in not much distance. It seems quite a few of the earlier runners struggled and this helped the later runners as groups formed so my time while fast was outdone by later runners. However our team still won our match up!!

Only short distance, about 3.5km and it took jusy over 35 minutes, proably should have been low 30's if I had my head on for control #1.

April Summary

To start April is a tough month for training this year. It involved taper for Canberra, the race itself and post race recovery. To add to the mix I spent a week and a bit travelling overseas which also reduced the number of runs.

So summary is 127km for April which interestingly enough was pretty much identical to last year (128km).

Highlight - well I did do a 10km PB at the domain!

Lowlight - Canberra run, enough already said.

The challenge is now to get back on track for May, which I could not do last year with only 114km, be interesting to see what happens and how I do at SMH, hoping for a sub 90 half PB.

CR 5km Challenge

Actually felt pretty good as I arrived for the monthly CR 5km challenge, this will be a benchmark run for the next few months. The soreness has gone completely from the percieved injury but I was still unsure as to how I would go. Despite posting a 19:15 last month I opted to stay with the 20 minute group believing I would probably be a bit slower.

Only 4 runs in total since Canberra and pretty much all of them involved some sort of pain from various niggles etc so expected the fitness to have dropped slightly as well. Stand in starter Fats did a fine job in sending off a good sized group and we quickly settled into a good pace. Redback darted out about 5-10m off the front but we all ran quite a bit on the road in the first km or so as there were a lot of people out enjoying the excellent weather.

First km split was 3:50 bang on the money, I hung back near the front of the pack, still a few metres behind Redback. Missed the 2km mark and as we neared the 3km mark Redback had come back to the pack and I was tucked just in behind Mike F and 2 other Striders, one being Tim who I have seen around before. The 3km mark was a 7:44 for 2km which averages out at 3:52/km just a tad slower.

Just after the 3km mark you do a sharp left turn and it was here where I slipped off the back of the three in front running the 4th km pretty much by myself, catching a few earlier runners in the last 400m. The 4th km always seems to be the hardest and I went through in 3:56. Just after MPHaz cruised up and encouraged me to run with hime but I struggled a little with the twisty last km and could not keep up. Still passed a few more and came in just ahead of a heap of runners with a 3:56 final km to give me 19:28 all up just over 10 sec slower than last month.

Have to say I was actually pleased with this given the circumstances and enjoyed the recovery run back having a good chat with various people including Miss Skarmel who smashed another PB!! Great dining at the Blue Dog cafe serving up blueberry pancakes.

Also pleasing that this was the first post Canberra run that something was not hurting and this was at a serious pace as well! Tonight the legs are a little tight, to be expected I suppose. Something different tomorrow where I'll be foregoing the STaR and going Orienteering in the first Metro League round at Pennant Hills, should be great fun!!

A couple of no's

No run but also no injury it seems???

After blogging yesterday and feeling very sore the day progressed well, some ice last night and it seems as good as gold this morning. Not wanting to chance anything, especially given I am running the 5km on Saturday I awarded myself a rest day. April is gone in terms of any decent milage but thems the breaks!

No idea what the problem was but it has gone away completely, I am now thinking it was some sort of muscle spasm....

CR 5km challenge tomorrow, no idea what sort of time I'll run but at least I am very fresh!!

Back to reality!

Yes I am still alive folks. A combination of the post Canberra blahs along with a full on overseas business trip saw me take the easy way out and have a break.

I did some running while away, managing 3 x 10km hit outs in the morning while jet lag had me waking up early and I did not have too late a night the evening before. One of the guys from our office in France is also a runner and did New York last year in 3:15. So we hooked up and went out a couple of times around Disney World near our hotel. There was a pretty safe loop of just over a km around a lake/bay that we ran laps of. Certainly still banged up from Canberra as both the groin/adductor and interestingly enough my rhs ITB were not happy about this running caper again.

Back in Oz now and eventually motivated myself to get out this morning and have a good hit out and try out my new Shuffle. Felt real good on the run down to the LCNP weir and so much so opted to extend the run back through Ryde rather than heading straight home. Not a good move it seems, as I was climbing up to the gates and then along Lane Cove Rd my niggle in the groin area really started complaining. In the end it got so sore I walked the last km and a half. Did a heap of stretches once I got home and I'm pretty sure my hips might be out of alignment as the lower back/hips area "cracked" a couple of times as I really stretched this area out. Still very stiff/sore now, have popped a Naprosen and hopefully will go and see my osteo to check my alignment. This puts some risk into my planned run at the CR 5km challenge on Saturday.

Ignoring present issues from above I have been doing quite a deal of thinking about goals for the rest of the year to strive for. These fall into 2 categories, general and specific.

For the general side I am aiming to train through winter properly this time and will also run as much of the Striders 10km and Super Series events possible as well as others that make sense. Where I have done a particular race before then I will be aiming for a new PB. Through this program I aim to break 40min for 10km and depending upon how I am feeling try to break my PB and 90 @ SMH.

On the specific side I have decided I will run the Sydney Marathon and will go through a structured 12 week program for preparation. In these 12 weeks there will be quite a few races as well such as C2S and W2B for instance and I'll be using these as form guides for the Sydney run. Initial goal is to run a PB and I think 3:10 should be within reach if I train/prepare properly and race with a brain on the day. While it will be very tempting to aim for faster I now need some confidence over the longer races and 3:10 will do me for this year.

Race Report Canberra Marathon 2005

All the prep was done, just the actual race now.

Pre Race - Headed down to Canberra on Saturday morning to catch up with a cousin for lunch who I have only met a couple of times. From there it was across to the motel to register, meet and greet and then cheer on the runners in the 5/10km.

Had great fun watching the races as there were a number of laps so we got a good chance to cheer a lot of people. In particular Clairie with her pace escorts Mr G and Spud, but also Aki, Luke Skyrunner and a heap of Striders. Also good to see a couple of supported Cool Runners do real well!

Dinner was a good pasta load at a Italian restaurant in Kingston, I was slightly late as I needed to pick up last minute supplies.

Race Day - Slightly disturbed sleep but up at around 5am ready for action. The great thing about where I was staying was it was a walk out the door to the start! Popped over early to put my drinks in for the drink stops. Finally headed back over around 6:15, trying not to get too tense etc. There was certainly a mood of tension in the air.

Soon enough and we were off. I had decided to run by myself and keep a steady pace. If someone that I knew was around then great! Nice even splits early, ran with sportsman for about a km but he was going a little more conservatively so I pushed on. Back to the Bowen Cres turnaround and 10km just before it in 44:09, bang on my plans. A great lift from the crowd as we went through. From there it was just stay as smooth as possible, not far ahead was Philip B, another strider, and he was running probably only a second slower than me so it took until the tunnel until I caught him, we had a quick chat and I kept the momentum going. Back up the hill and through the tunnel and hit the 20km mark in 1:28:09 so a 2nd 10km of 44:00. This put me through the half way point in about 1:33. About here Philip B caught back up to me and we had another quick chat but he moved away from me pretty quickly mainly due to the fact that my pace was slowing.

Made concerted efforts to step it up again but to no avail so I decided to stay running comfortably and see what happened. As we got closer to the Bowen turnaround I could feel myself struggling more. Steve B, caught me at about the same time as I caught Mohammed just at the turn. Again the crowd was great but I was starting to hurt, the stomach in particular was beginning to spasm. Everytime I had a drink it gotr worse so I (maybe unwisely) started to limited fluid intake. Coming out of the turn Amjan gave me a big cheer and I think I said to her things were starting to hurt. Back out along the bridge and just at the drink station after the bridge things got worse. At the same time Superflake, vat_man and Blue Dog caught up to me. We had a quick chat but there was not a chance I could hold on to them.

Now I'm of the opinion that a blog must be honest and so this next bit is difficult...
About a km after the water station I really started to get bad stomach cramps and felt like chucking. I eased up further and around the same time the legs etc also started cramping, calves first probably due to the reduced fluid and also the increasing heat. The 30km time was 2:17:14 so a 49 minute 10km split. By the time I got to where the runners were coming the other way and turning on the bridge I was down to around 7 min/km pace and in semi tears from the pain/frustration. Really contemplated pulling out right there but did not want a dnf. I kept on going in this manner and now people were starting to stream past me. Finally got to the turnaround and shuffled back up the hill. By then I knew I would finish but it would be ugly.

Finally got back across the lake and not many people moving much faster than I was now, the 40km time was 3:24:36 so a 1:07 10km split. The stomach had eased up a bit by now but the damage was done and no way I could get the legs to turnover faster.

Finish time of 3:40:24. Not aware at the time but Miss Skarmel did a cartwheel about 20 metres behind me, and redback was also not too far back. I caught up with a few people right after the finish, including Tesso who had passed me during my worst section but had also slowed. Rather than sit around feeling sorry fro myself I dragged myself to the Striders tent had a couple of drinks and then went back to the finish line to cheer home the others. What an emotional experience cheering on the runners still finishing. Probably brought more of a tear to the eye yelling for people like Psychoma and Bernie G as they finished their first marathon than my own experience. Eventually I had to sit down as I was starting to feel woozy.

The whole race can be best summarised by the 2 half splits, 1:33 and 2:07 for 21 km. I feel somewhat guilty about being down on my time when many, many other people toughed it out for much longer than me. But I expected a whole lot better and am really at a loss as to what happened. Maybe I just went out too hard and did not factor in the warmer weather, it seems I was not alone as many people I know struggled today and missed what they were aiming for. Given my fluid/stomach problems I only used 1 of the 3 gu's I was carrying as well.

Well done to those that posted PB's on a tough day. I did some quick analysis and for those runners that ran in 2004 and 2005 as a group we were 3.1% slower this year.

Two days later now and while the upper quads and lh adductor are still a little sore I have pulled up pretty well. I'm going to go introspective for another day or so before I decide on the program forward. I do have a few ideas in mind and have already entered the SMH half so will be there for that.

Thanks to all those who posted here on my blog and also who were out on the course, both runners and spectators for the encouragement. I had a great weekend of meeting and socialising with Striders and Cool Runners, it is just that hour and a half or so mid Sunday morning that was certainly not enjoyable.

For posterity 5km splits were
5km 22:12 22:12
10km 21:57 44:09
15km 21:54 1:06:03
20km 22:06 1:28:09
25km 23:10 1:51:19
30km 25:55 2:17:14
35km 34:38 2:51:52
40km 34:44 3:24:36
End 3:40:24

Last serious hit out

Getting down to the line now....

Was going to head to the Bay for this session but instead opted for my local run down to the weir and back. A nice 4km warmup and then 3km @ just below target Marathon Pace, a little harder given the undulations and turns @ Lane Cove. Then a warm down on the way home. Felt a little awkward and was a little inconsistent at pacing but in all not too bad.

Just after I finished the MP section I saw Mr G headed down towards the weir.

A minor concern on adductor, a little tender still from Saturday, will focus on ice and NSAID for the next day or so.

That is pretty much it, maybe a 5km lite stretch out on Fri/Sat. Getting ready for loading up on carbos and reducing alcohol intake for the next couple of days.

Tapering time

Sunday

The Striders STaR was based at Balmoral this week and has a number of hills and singletrack over the long distance. In the end I decided to show up at 7am and run the shorter option at a gentle pace. Quite a group as the MTG planned to do the same thing and I ran along with Redback and Mohammed near the front most of the time, pausing at water stops to regroup. As we came into Mosman the longer runners were coming the other way and I did a fartlek type run up the long hill from the Mosman Ferry wharf to tag onto the back of the 6:20 group. Left them there though and continued up the hill. As I waited for the group to catch up Luke Skyrunner came through, cutting short his long run and I joined in with him to run back to the start. Probably around 12-13km all up at around 6 min/km pace. Very easy!

Canberra prep
A few things on the checklist this week and the short "racing " hair cut has happened, the legs are waxed and I've booked a massage for towards the end of the week. Missed the run this morning so will pop out this afternoon for a nice "recovery" run.

Am still tossing up my pacing strategy but am leaning towards (in 10km increments)
45/44/44/43/9 which will give 3:05 (some rounding in there). The fall back is to run @ 4:30 pace the whole way which will give around a 3:10. Ultimately at the 30km mark I will be running as hard/fast as I and anything could happen....

Race report Striders 10km @ The Domain

Not a perfectly scheduled race for a fast 10km time only one week out from Canberra and also a tight twisty udulating course, described as not a PB run!

Anyway, got there early to help setup, next month I am flying solo on the timing/results so this was a dry run while I could have some mentoring as required. I have found one of the good things about being involved in the setup is that is distracts from any pre race nerves.

Next thing you know it I'm with just over 300 runners near the point of Lady Macquarie's Chair opposite the Opera House at the start line. Course is three laps and a little bit around Lady Macquarie's chair and The Domain. Heavy congestion for the first couple of km but I am surprised with the splits I am recording as they are faster than I though I was going.

Settle in at a steady pace which felt real comfortable and it just happens to coincide to being about 15-20 metres behind vat_man. At the same time I am swapping places with a couple of other Striders who are usually a bit quicker than I am. Coming through the final lap I missed the 9km marker and decided just to run the same steady pace to the line and not go crazy, knowing I was close to a PB but not stressing about it.

Ended up across the line just behind the group I had been tailing and with a new PB of 41:14, a ten second improvement. The best thing is I ran within myself and felt relatively composed at the end.

Splits were
1km 4:14 4:14
2km 4:00 8:14
3km 3:44 11:58
4km 4:17 16:15
5km 4:13 20:28
6km 3:58 24:26
7km 4:16 28:43
8km 4:30 33:12
10km 8:02 41:14

This is yet another great positive piece of feedback for Canberra. The week summary is 53km but the real interesting thing is the Parrot Predictor says a 2:59:44!!

With 7 days to go this week is critical in the taper and will have no high intensity or long distance. For tomorrow I'm probably going to do the STaR but run the 7am group at an easy pace with a few mates for about 15km.

March review

Hey it's the end of March I just realised!!

A quick review shows

Total for March = 236km, quite a bit below initial plan but that can really be put down to 6ft taking more out of me than planned and thus wiping out pretty much a week of training.

In comparing to March last year where I did 294km!

Interesting also to see that my average pace this year vs last year was actually the same. Again that 6ft influence where the avg pace was 7:51 for 45km.

Highlights for March - completing 6ft and also a 35second PB for 5km

Lowlight for March - struggling on 6ft much more than planned

As sharp as it gets

The days continue to tick down and this morning I had scheduled my last "high intensity" pace session. Back to the treadie but this time 500m reps.

I planned to do between 8-10 but slightly slower than I would do normally (3:20) and so set the pace guide for 3:30 and did 8 (with 1:45 standing recovery). Once again could have done more but felt 8 was about right!

I call this high intensity given it is well below my Target Marathon Pace. Next run is on Saturday where we have the Striders 10km in the domain, was tempted to give this a real thrash but I think I'll now run the first 5km at around 4:15 pace and then see what happens.

Time to sharpen up!

No more long stuff, time to get the legs used to turning over quicker.

A good session this morning of 6 x 1km @ 3:50 pace with 1:55 standing recovery.

No problems at all with this and really could have done at least another 2 but that is not the program at this point.

Combined with a nice warm up/down another good session to have under the belt and a further confidence booster. Rest tomorrow and then some shorter faster reps on Thursday.

I like this taper business!

Homebush Hustle STaR

Last "long" run on the schedule before Canberra and you could not pick a better STaR to do it with. Starting in Concord you proceed straight through Olympica Park, then along Parramatta River crossing at Silverwater Rd, back along the northern shore and then across to Rhodes on the way home.

I wanted to have a pretty hard/fast hit out today and so decided to go out with the 6:20 group. Pretty much straight away the pace was one and after about 10km the group split into about 3 sub groups. I stayed towards the back and ended up running with Action, Luke Skyrunner and vat_man. We had a great time chatting and joking as the km steadily ticked by and I just started to struggle a little as we headed back through West Ryde/Meadowbank. Popped a gu and held it together as we too the short option "B" and headed back through Rhodes, just hanging on on some of the inclines. The guys knew I was being stretched but thought I should step up the pace on the way home. With a couple of km to go Luke offered to run with me at my actual Marathon Pace and we took off from the others. As it happened we only has about 1.5 km before a overpass to cross the railway line but we really turned it on and actually went a bit faster than MP, and just before the bridge headed up a slight hill I was really going for it!

Got back to the finish a little knackered and sore but very happy with the workout

26.3km in 2:04:06 (avg pace 4:43min/km and avg HR 163)

EDIT : Action dropped me a note saying his calculations make it 27.1km which then makes it an avg pace of 4:35 min/km!! Who am I to argue with a certified course measurer... (makes the run even more pleasing)

After cooling down had some good chats with different people at the finish and on reflection am very happy with this run as a last long hit out, the groin is still a bit sore but some rest and care should sort that out before race day. Some real sharpening this week as the focus shifts to intensity and rest rather than distance.

CR 5km Challenge

A different approach to this week's run, I know I can break the current PB of 19:50 if I sort out my pacing. Decided to use the virtual partner feature on the Garmin 301 and set it for 3:55 pace which would give me a 19:35.

Up in the morning and as I'm eating toast and getting ready it starts to rain. No problems, a mere distraction. Get to the start early and watch/listen to the rain on the car roof. It eases up as 7am approaches and people start to arrive. I also decide to run with 20 minute group rather than 19 minutes so I don't get caught up following someone out too hard.

Action sends us off and while I'm at the front, no heroics and pretty soon Redback and Mr WT ease past into the lead. I'm happy with this as I'm feeling comfortable and this will stop me being silly at the front. Also in our bunch were Horrie and Mr G plus at least one other but really never saw them. At about the 3km mark Mr WT slipped back a little and I moved up next to Redback, we ran next to each other for a couple of hundred metres and then he started to drift back. Still feeling good and merely maintaining my pace we entered the last km and also started catching some of the earlier starters.

That last km is a bugger with a twisting path to keep you honest but I gritted the teeth and kept it going, as I rounded the final curve for the finish straight Luke Skyrunner and pram came up along side and cruised past, not much I could do about that. Crossed the line and immediately attempted to try and recover the oxygen that the lungs seemed to be a little short on.

The end result was a PB of 35 seconds with a new time of 19:15. Splits roughly were
3:43
3:56
3:53
3:49
3:54

Very happy with that and did a return warmdown run back for brekky in the cold and rain but good company!

This is a new benchmark for me and according to various calculators I a on line for a 40 min 10km and also a 3:10 marathon!! Just the tonic needed for the mind with 2 weeks to go.

So ends another week, seemingly a turnaround physically and mentally after 6 foot.

53km for the week and the parrot predictor says a 3:36:47, heavily influenced by last Sunday's struggle in the STaR.

Sharpen up time

A nice sleep in this morning but still wanted to get out today so headed out this afternoon. Wanted to do a pretty hard session but not a full on headbanging interval set. I decided to do my normal run through the park to the weir and back. Main difference being that at 3km I'd shift down to around Half Marathon pace and hold that through the undulations for 5km. As it happened the start and end of the 5km were both halfway down Scribbly so a nice uphill finish to really test things out.

The warm up was pretty good and I was really floating but still running sub 5 min/km pace. When the 3km distance beep went off I immediately upped the effort and then monitored things on the garmin. At the end of the 5km I ended up in a time of 21:04 so slightly sub 4:15 pace, again on a undulating course.

Had a minute break and then warmed down heading home. The final stats were

10.97 km in 49:41, avg pace 4:32 (which is pretty much my new Canberra target MP) and avg HR of 170.

I have had the "blahs" since 6 ft but I think this session has turned the corner for me mentally. Not even that fussed by the blister I managed to pick up on my heel. No niggles from either lower leg and I did plenty of stretching at the end of the run.

A rest day tomorrow and the CR 5km challenge at the bay to round out the week and keep teh sharpening coming!

Lets get back on Track!

Ok, time to get serious again.

Summer Series final event at Macquarie Uni. The scene is I am running 4th by 2 points from 5th. If we both run the same score then he goes past me as he gets to drop a lower scoring poor run. So I need to beat him by a bit, hard to do when he is significantly faster than me.

To complicated things further it had been absolutely bucketing down with rain here and when I got to the start part of the course was closed, as it was on sporting grounds (as you will see from the map scan). So a max of 480 up for grabs which means need a perfect score as 480 is gettable!

A route selected I'm off, good thing is I have run this map twice before so have a bit of an idea what to expect. Out to 3, down to 7 and in and out to 22. Around to 2 and another in and out for 13. Running very freely here, quickly past 12 down the hill to 15. First muddle here as I misinterpret the map and stumble for a minute or 2 with another runner. He leaves, I re-establlish map contact and sort out the problem. Back out up the hill for 21 on the way to 1. Continue up the hill and across an overgrown paddock for 25, down the hill to the dam and 14.

Major stuff up here as I completely fumble 26, but it seemed I was not the only one... Lost many minutes here, very frustrating. Finally sorted myself out and then raced across the paddock towards the campus and got 4/23 and 5 very quickly. Around the buildings now and extra complication of people everywhere. Slow down for 23 and then again lose map contact on the way to 6 sucking up at least another minute.

Now on to 23 and it is obvious time is not good and so opt to miss 30/19/20. Through the buildings again for 16 then real open running for 27 and home.

Here is the map and my route

http://www.users.bigpond.com/dmbray/Uni.jpg

End up back in 50:38 so 60 points deducted for lateness. Given I got 410 that gives a net of 350, a terrible score given the fast guys got the lot in under 40 minutes. The only saving grace is 5th place did not show up so I managed to keep 4th place!! Also scored a special award and a bottle of wine for the work I did on the web site.

The run stats, 9.1km in 50:38, avg pace of 5:33 and avg HR of 168.

So the season ends, ended up 4th. Interesting looking at the three guys in front of me. First just finished 6th @ 6ft in 3:43, 2nd also just ran 6ft in 4:30 and 3rd has run a sub 4hr 6ft as well. Pretty esteemed company!!

The other good thing is both lower leg niggles gave no problems, the groin was a little sore but I think that will be the case for a while whenever I am running this type of event with sudden changes in direction etc.

I think next year I'' approach SS a bi differently and always aim to get the lot, just to stretch me out a bit further.

Whats been going on??

Yes I have been slack in blogging! Quite strange I seem to have drifted into a mental "blahness" since 6ft, sort of like how I felt after Canberra last year. Maybe subconsciously I am still beating myself up....

Anyway not that much to report so here goes

Wed 16th - Summer Series @ Lane Cove
Not going to do the usual detailed thing here. The map is a good one with challenging climbs on the way home and lots of undualtions and some nice bush sections. Headed out and the legs seemed to turnover ok, however the brain took about 3-4 controls before I was back in the groove navigating. Ended up coming back late, and it was getting dark and cool now as well. Overall a nice fast hit out but as I cooled down the upper quads were getting tight.

Had Thursday and then Friday off which meant after the big night on the beer for Cool Running drinks no running on Saturday either.

Sun 20th - STaR, North Ryde Rambler
Another night out on Saturday night (not big time drinking this time) and a need to be home by 9am so we could take the kids to the show saw me stumble out of bed and get to the STaR to run in the dark with the MTG who were doing a little extra distance. So a nice 5km in just over 30 minutes took me back to the start to head out with the 6:10am group. Just the four of us with Kev, Horrie and Spud and we cruised having a good chat about all sorts of stuff. The 6:20 group screamed past us after only about 5km but I could not be bothered trying to hang on so early. As we headed back towards the start (this star is like a figure 8) I was starting to feel the effects of 6ft but opted to continue into the bush for a little while where I knew there was a logical turn point. As we dropped down I noticed my rh ankle was starting to get sore (just to accompany the already complaining lh calf and groin). Turned around and ran back to the start and I quickly headed off to get ready for the show.

By the time I got home and had cooled down the niggles were all a good deal sorer and in particular the front of the rh ankle (near the tendon) was not good. Washed up and changed and headed to the show and proceeded to limp around for about 5 hours on a painful ankle. That night my wife was laughing.shaking her head as I rotated ice packs between the ankle, calf and groin. I think all three are tendonitis type problems and the ice was working (along with the naprosen).

No way I was running Monday and today I used discretion as well (I am now officially tapering!) but everything was certainly feeling better. The plan for the rest of the week is as follows :
Wed - Last summer series event at Macquarie Uni. I'm defending 4th overall by only 2 points now and due to the way the best 12 runs are calculated actually need to beat the guy in 5th by about 6 points due to the next worst run that we both drop! Needless to say I'll be having a go.
Thursday - recovery of around 10km but will include some MP fartlek pieces in as well.
Friday - rest
Saturday - CR 5km challenge
Sunday - a good paced 25km at the STaR on a nice flat course out at Homebush.

Hopefully this will shake out the "blues" as I get back on track with not that many days before Canberra, I need to get focussed and motivated.

Six foot Garmin 301 data

Forgot to include the HR/Elevation from the Garmin 301.

Pretty interesting, maybe I did go out a tad too hard looking at the HR.....

Race Report 6 foot track

I've expanded upon my CR post re 6ft, read on for a more detailed version!

Wow, what an experience!

Running 6ft was the end of an 18 month goal, set when I started running seriously. A slight change in priorities saw a fast run in Canberra take precedence over a fast first 6ft. So the end goal was to do the run at a more leisurely pace and soak up the atmosphere. After a lot of reading and researching I determined that between 5:30-6:00 would be a realistic target given the above goal. In the end I worked out some splits which would keep me on track for a 5:45 finish. Some heavy milage in the weeks before and pretty much no taper were also the lead in for the run.

I had found some great accommodation in the Megalong Valley just off Nellies Glen Road and as we got there the eveing before scanned up the escarpement trying to work out the path of the track. Early morning rise and my brother in law dropped me off. Caught up with a few familiar faces and then boarded the shuttle bus to the start.

At the start the atmosphere was amazing as there was this real feeling of tension in the air as all the runners wanted to get going! Seeded in wave 2 I was a couple of rows back from the front and we were off!

Now I run trails (and downhill ones especially) fairly well and so was already zipping past people in the wide beginning section. Finally get to the "real" descent and form an orderly supermarket queue. Everyone was well behaved but still there were people slipping on the more difficult pieces. Gaps started to form and when we got to a slightly more level area I started going past slower runners when the track allowed. By the time we got to Nellies Glen Road it was pretty open running and I caught up to Spud and Jan. Was feeling great and well within myself so kept going and along the road could see other runners such as coaster and RMC just ahead.

At the first fence crossing (and aid station) my family were there cheering. As it happened it was also my birthday and they had some signs made up. A runner behind me joked as we went over the stile about a wierd way to celebrate a birthday. Along the section to Megalong Road caught up to Mr G and went past him as he stopped at the aid station to refill. Still felt great and ran just behind some Striders (Barry, Stephen, James and Tim) through this section. As we descended from pinnacle towards Cox's on singletrack sections I left them behind as my track running shone through. Caught up to a couple of conga lines and slowly moved my way through when opportunity allowed.

As we approached Cox's I was in the clear by myself for about a km or so and thus was not real sure about the crossing but picked my way over the stones on the right. At this point the time was 1:22 and so I was way ahead of the 1:35 that I had calculated. Knowing the hardest bit was just about to start I felt very comfortable and was planning to walk most of the climbs, only running on any flatter or downhill sections. Had my first gu here.

I could see a Strider in the distance but we seemed to be climbing around the same rate. Not too soon and coaster, Spud and Jan went past. Just as we approached the cattle yards you could see quite a bit ahead as the trail twisted, saw Mohammed (easy with the red cap) and maybe Blue Dog there. I then caught up to the Strider who I had been following and was surprised to see it was MPHaz, had a quick chat at the aid station and then kept going, his calf was not good but there was no way he was not finishing!

Soon after Mr G loomed up next to me and we had a quick talk, during which he commented he thought I was limping! As he moved forward up the climb, I thought bollocks, but then all of a sudden my left calf started to grab. Through here the group of Striders I went past earlier also went past but I was just managing my pace and adjusting my style so the calf did not complain.

A bit disappointed at the top of Mini Mini (no big sign saying you have climbed Mini Mini etc!) and started downhill. Was a little surprised at how much harder it was to stretch out after the walk/climb. Went through the aid station at Alum Creek (2nd gu) and splashed straight through the different crossings.As the pluvio climb progressed the calf complained more and more but I just slowed my walking to alleviate the pain. At that point I was pretty convinced I had pulled the muscle now based upon my previous calf strain last year. MPHaz went back past here, bloody tough bugger. Some of the other muscles in the left leg were now complaining as I am sure I had subconsciously adjusted my gait.Many people walking but I was slower than most. Very happy to get to the top in 3:08, losing a bit of time gained to Cox's but still ahead of original schedule.

The horror that I know now as Black Range immediately commenced. As I tried to shift back into running the legs refused to co-operate and now I was getting intermittent lock up of a muscle I had never even heard of before (which I now know was the Sartorius) crossing from inside the knee to the hip flexor, very hard to move your leg when this locks up!Black Range was much more about walking than running and I contemplated on a number of occasions quitting at the next aid station. Grabbed a banana and it seemed to make a difference so on I went breaking down the remainder of the race into chunks. Around here another Strider Dave King caught up to me and we swapped places about 20 times before the finish, both struggling badly.

I thought after Deviation (final gu) it would improve, and it did until I turned the corner to see the "short steep" section Mr G had written about. Somewhere along here Sarge and Horrie went past. Finally made it to Caves Rd and knew I'd get home, to be honest the downhill was not that bad for me, but I could not stretch out. The progression of runners going past continued and Amjan went past, running really well at this point.Finally made it down and as I turned the last corner both calves locked up as I tried to run to the line so it was more a limp across the line.Many, many lessons learned, ended up close to my original target but not in the style or manner planned. In the end it seems the calf/achilles was just a cramp as the legs have recovered pretty well, which is a relief!

A great day and all of the volunteers were magnificent in encouragement. I certainly appreciated the novelty of seeing the course first up on race day, adding to the whole experience.Some great runs and very definitely some gutsy runs from people I know (or know of). I perhaps treated 6ft with not enough respect first up and it certainly sorted me out. I'm already thinking about next year! Onwards to Canberra....

Stats 5:53:22

Summer Series (with a twist!)

Catch up time, craziness at work along with 6 foot have combined to delay my blogging considerably.

First up lets deal with Wednesday, travelled to Melbourne for work meetings and decided to head out to Mullum Mullum (near Ringwood) for a spot of Street Orienteering Melbourne style. Mentioned to fellow CR and chatter Louise that I might do this and she came up and introduced herself at the start.

The style of event is a little different compared to Sydney. The maps are black and white and are "melways" style. There are 20 controls put out and these are 2 x orienteering punches chained and locked to the base of trees, power poles etc. It is a mass start and you nominate a grade, I went for A grade which meant I had to get any 17 of the 20 controls. Ended up 9th in A grade and there were some pretty prominent elite orienteers there!

The distance was 9.1km in 40:57 (avg pace 4:30 and avg hr of 171)

A nice fast hit out and felt good at the end. Missed catching up with Louise afterwards.

Recovery run to weir

A lighter mid week this week to do a "mini taper" for 6foot.

Headed out for the usual weir run in LCNP, a little cooler and less humid this morning. I do like running this time of year.

Nothing extraordinary, 11km in 52:18 (4:47 min/km and avg hr of 154).

Yesterday I went for a massage to iron out the little kinks from the last couple of weeks. I asked the masseur to be pretty firm especially on my calves and lhs ITB. In the end I reckon she was sorer than I was as she went at the legs hammer and tongs with deep elbows etc but could not get me to say that it was a little too much pressure :).

Melbourne bound for the remainder of the week, may try and do a evening orienteering event on Wednesday and then a light run on Friday.

STaR - Western Wanderer

Have been looking forward to this STaR, a little flatter than most and one I have not done for the longer distances before. As usual a big 6am pack went out, it was actually quite cool standing around in running kit. Decided to run the 6:20 group, given the target pace of around 5 min/km.

Off we went and it was a pretty good sized group. A nice easy first km and then the hammer went down as they churned out a string of 4:30 min/kms. After about 8km I eased off the back with Action and a few others so I could actually make 20km! The speedsters kept on going but we regrouped to around 10. At one point we split as some wanted 20km and some 30km, I of course wanted about 25km so went my own way as well.

It was a bit of a push by myself but regrouped and upped the pace for the last couple of km back to around 4:30 (which is a planned Marathon Pace).

Ended up with 25km in 1:57:50 (avg pace of 4:43) and avg Hr of 156.

Slightly easier week this week as I mini taper for 6ft. The niggles continue and I want to settle them down a little.

Race Report, Striders 10km @ Homebush

Time for some speed and back to Homebush the site of my current 10k distance PB. A fairly flat course in a figure 8 type shape based on the Homebush Olympic games site. A small loop (around 800m) then a large loop (around 4km), repeat and then another small loop to finish.

Got there around 6am to help set up (doing backup learning on the new electronic timing system). The mozzies made an appearance at around 6:30 and another large crowd, around 250+ runners faced the gun @ 7am. Someone tripped over a couple of metres into the race and there was a bit of congestion but after the first km it was pretty open running. The plan was for even pacing throughout and the first 3km were just that. After that however I started drifting a little and while the lungs felt ok the legs could not go faster. Finished up with 41:43 6 seconds slower than last month at Lane Cove and 20 seconds off my PB, however it was 1:40 faster than the race at Homebush at the same time last year leading into Canberra.

Probably a bit ambitious to expect a PB based upon what distance I have been running and also since I have not been as diligent on my speed sessions in the last couple of weeks. Plenty of time for speed after I knock over the next couple of longer races!

Did not get a chance to talk to too many runners afterwards as I found the guy that fell over and made sure the St Johns people patched him up and then went through the steps in finalising the electronic finish results with Action (we'll be flying solo in 2 races time as he goes on holidays!). Ended up a beautiful morning, although again quite humid.

Distance	Lap Time	Split
1km	4:01	4:01
2km	3:58	7:59
3km	4:02	12:01
4km	4:12	16:13
5km	4:05	20:19
6km	4:15	24:34
7km	4:17	28:51
8km	4:27	33:18
9km	4:21	37:39
10km	4:04	41:43

Weekly Summary
Total distance 92km and Parrot Predictor says 3:28:08 for a marathon time. This coming week is another tough one with probably 30km tomorrow in the Striders STaR, some shorter hit outs mid week and a mini taper for the big one, Six Foot Track. This time next week I expect to have done my first 6 ft and will no doubt be hooking into a few refreshing ales!

Recovery & physio

Again a steady run down to the weir at LCNP and back, done the 11km in 52:28 (about 2 minutes faster than Tuesday) so an avg pace of 4:51 and avg hr of 155. Certainly felt the efforts of the night before and again noticed little niggles where I have had problems in the past.

Given what has happened to MPHaz in regards to an injury sneaking up on you, and also being slightly paranoid I made a booking with my physio as a precautionary measure. I really wanted him to have a look at my previous core muscle issues and stance etc to catch anything that may have been happening since I saw him last (late last year).

The good news is no obvious problems looming but I still have a dodgy stance, tending to tuck my hips/pelvis too far forward and this reducing the impact of my gluts and hamstrings while also causing adductor problems. He gave me a series of different exercises/activities to focus on. My physio know heaps about running and orienteering (he was in a team that finished ahead of us in the Metrogaine and has also run 6ft) it was well worth the effort to check in with him as I can now focus on some areas as a preventative approach to injury.

Rest day scheduled for Friday and then Striders 10km @ Homebush Saturday morning. This is where my current 10km PB was set and I am quietly confident about breaking that and perhaps also getting very close to 40 minutes. If I can do that now on a pretty heavy training load I will be very happy!

Summer Series Slip Up

After tossing it up this afternoon, taking the cooler weather into account, wanting to defend my position on the points table etc etc I decided to run Summer Series again. This week a little further afield at West Carlingford. The map centred around a creek running through the suburb and some nice bush and corresponding tracks for some different types of running. Before I left I noticed the points leader had already finished and got all the controls in 39 minutes and so I resolved to go for the lot as well.

A fast start through to 9, 11 then a quick in/out along a trail to 7. Pretty easy to locate 10 under a power line tower and then some trail running for 24 and 4. (massive mistake here but more on that later). Further along the track to 19 then some faster street running with 25, 15, 30 and 20 in quick succession. A nice downhill stretch back to the bush and 18 then 22. Decided to duck in for 27. Excellent time to this point and I was feeling pretty good.

Up to 5 and then 8 with a bush bash to cut back to the higher track and pick up 12. More street running again and 6, 29, 13 were all pretty easy. Still looking good on time but in going so fast I had now reached the point where I had stopped planning ahead while running. A little of a muddle both in and out of 23 and it took a little while to regain map contact. Slowed down to ensure I got 14 right but had a poor route to then get to 17 which was also a little more difficult to find.

All of a sudden time which had seemed plentiful was running out! Street running again now and back up a hill to get to 28 and then 16 and headed back to the school grounds. As I entered and got 3 time had pretty much run out but I decided to get 2, 26 and 1 to complete the card. As I was running from 26 to 1, much to my horror I noticed there were 2 empty controls, number 21 was missing!! Too hard to work out why while also running late and I got 1 and then ran it home.

Here is the map and my route

http://www.users.bigpond.com/dmbray/Hunts%20Creek.jpg

Ended up back in a time of 50:11 which means a 60 point penalty so 2,26 and 1 balanced out. I now got a chance to work out where 21 was and it was back up between 20 and 4. (Grrrrr). Anyway that leaves me with 510 points, normally a good score but not tonight with a number of people getting the lot in early time. Still holding onto 4th overall as 5th did not run again tonight and I did at least increase my best 12 runs points tally by 2 points! However another person has now leapfrogged into 5th place and is only 22 points behind me. Will be very interesting to see how the final 3 events turnout and how these affect each of our 12 best events points. No Summer Series for me next week as I am in Melbourne for work and miss out on a new map based around Milsons Point and Kiribilli.

Distance covered was 9km and so an average pace of 5:36 and avg hr of 169. Some good lessons to be learned but the good thing was the legs felt fine after the 50km epic on Sunday.

Recovery and test drive of 301

Monday off and the body needed it, surprisingly the sorest part is still the shoulders and upper back from the camelbak.

Wanted to get out and see what the body said to more running. In general it was a pretty good shakeout. First use of my "Birthday Pressie" a Garmin 301, needed to do a few test runs before my actual birthday (6 foot). Used one of my more usual runs, straight to the Lane Cove weir and back. Got down there pretty bang on what I did last time I ran. The legs felt fairly good but I did notice the odd twinges appearing from the sites of my more significant injuries (ie RH Soleus and LH ITB).

Ended up running the 11km in 54:19 (slowed down a little on the way back) for an average of 4:55 min/km and avg HR of 163. Some good stretching for the aforementioned twinges worked a treat on the ITB (also did the roller tonight). Backed up with ice on the RHS calf. Again the LHS calf with the problem last week was fine.

The 301 was absolutely brilliant! Now way I can go back to the bodylink now. Easier to use, less bits and much, much better software!

Undecided as to what to do tomorrow, leaning towards not doing Summer Series and just some straight line running.