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.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Saturday, May 28, 2005
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!
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!
Friday, May 27, 2005
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.
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.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
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!
The legs are still heavy but that should improve tomorrow, at least I'm back out there!
Monday, May 23, 2005
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)!
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.
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.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
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!
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!
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, May 09, 2005
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.
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.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, May 02, 2005
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.
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.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
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.
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!!
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!!
Friday, April 29, 2005
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!!
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!!
Thursday, April 28, 2005
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
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
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
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