Thanks for the reminder Jen ;)
Another tale of woe this week....
More work, more hassles, less running, but hey I am still breathing so things aren't that bad!
No running at all since the 10 Bridges Star, I was aiming for the Short Course XC race at Bankstown on Saturday for a run. Pressed a little for time I opted to get to the event via the freeway route, ie Gore Hill, Harbour Tunnel, East Dist, M5 East and then M5. Of course everything came unstuck due to the semi that decided to break down in the M5 east and after 30 minutes examining the inticate detail of the M5 east tunnel construction I arrived about 2 minutes after the start. Decided to hang around and cheer people on but this turn of events just made a pretty crap week very complete.
Until Sunday that is....
Now I was going to run KOM as per previous post but given everything it was much more judicious to just pop around the corner for the star.
A good pep talk to the masses at 6am and then 6:10am about running together and we charged off into the mist. The words seemed to have an effect as everyone was very well behaved, oh the power :).
At about 15km all the groups seemed to catch each other at the same time and ours got a little disjointed which saw half of us chasing the other half. During the loop around Concord Golf Club I started to feel the pinch and I bade my CR running buddies, sfGnome, Johnny Dark and Professor a slow good bye as I then ground it out back home. In reality the run was not too bad but my lack of training, plus the late tdf nights plus, plus, plus took their toll.
Very heavy rain this morning was enough to ignore the alarm and tomorrow I'm on a day trip to Melbourne so more rest.
The challenge is to break this downward spiral which is becoming increasingly demotivating and not too much time to crack that given the looming runs coming up.
Sorry folks, nothing too exciting here and pretty small fry to what some other bloggers and CR's seem to be going through, I'll try and give myself a few uppercuts which might make a difference.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Up periscope
Yes blog readers, the absolute deluge of work has seen me well below the surface and unable to come up for oxygen or a blog :(
Some catching up to do after the shambles....
Saturday 10km at Homebush, was in 2 minds to run or not with spasms still going on in my lower back/glute area after W2G. In the end I did run and headed out ok but could not stretch out fully. Was actually reasonably happy with my time after sitting about 30m behind Professor and Superflake for pretty much the whole race. Posted a time of 41:23.
Sunday I got up at 5am for the STaR but felt like rubbish and let the doona demon trap me. From there last week was a blur, a quick jaunt across to NZ for work and then a whole heap of deadlines meaning late nights (at least I could also watch the cycling!). Then on Friday part of the work stuff finished as we completed the merger/acquisition of a significant sized competitor! Through all of this no running, the spasms getting worse, despite a visit to the witch doctor.
By Saturday I was jack of it so I headed over to the West Met run at Rydalmere to have a break from the computer, get some fresh air and stretch the legs. A funny course with 3 hairpin turns on the 2km loop made it difficult to get into a rhythm. I ran ok for the first 4km but then faded quite badly, avg HR of 185 so I was working hard!!!
Sunday was the 10 bridges STaR, I resolved to get out and ignore the spasms in the hope that a long hard run might realign things. A good group but once again some likely suspects went crazy pace wise and I ended up doing some fartlek type sections chasing the front runners down to try and keep people together, something I am starting to get pissed off about (sorry Mum if you are reading!). Anyway just started to fade across Iron Cove bridge but kept grinding away home to post about 27km in a round 5:25 min/km avg pace. The good news is that the run did just as intended and the spasms are gone, happy days!!!!
Also of interest was the results of the CT scan which showed that my legs are of equal length so now we know once and for all that everything is around my hip/pelvis alignment and that means it can be focussed on without worrying about inserts etc.
Will probably run the Shoalhaven KOM on Sunday as a longer tempo style run to get some sort of base in for Sydney.
Heres hoping that I can resurface shortly.
Some catching up to do after the shambles....
Saturday 10km at Homebush, was in 2 minds to run or not with spasms still going on in my lower back/glute area after W2G. In the end I did run and headed out ok but could not stretch out fully. Was actually reasonably happy with my time after sitting about 30m behind Professor and Superflake for pretty much the whole race. Posted a time of 41:23.
Sunday I got up at 5am for the STaR but felt like rubbish and let the doona demon trap me. From there last week was a blur, a quick jaunt across to NZ for work and then a whole heap of deadlines meaning late nights (at least I could also watch the cycling!). Then on Friday part of the work stuff finished as we completed the merger/acquisition of a significant sized competitor! Through all of this no running, the spasms getting worse, despite a visit to the witch doctor.
By Saturday I was jack of it so I headed over to the West Met run at Rydalmere to have a break from the computer, get some fresh air and stretch the legs. A funny course with 3 hairpin turns on the 2km loop made it difficult to get into a rhythm. I ran ok for the first 4km but then faded quite badly, avg HR of 185 so I was working hard!!!
Sunday was the 10 bridges STaR, I resolved to get out and ignore the spasms in the hope that a long hard run might realign things. A good group but once again some likely suspects went crazy pace wise and I ended up doing some fartlek type sections chasing the front runners down to try and keep people together, something I am starting to get pissed off about (sorry Mum if you are reading!). Anyway just started to fade across Iron Cove bridge but kept grinding away home to post about 27km in a round 5:25 min/km avg pace. The good news is that the run did just as intended and the spasms are gone, happy days!!!!
Also of interest was the results of the CT scan which showed that my legs are of equal length so now we know once and for all that everything is around my hip/pelvis alignment and that means it can be focussed on without worrying about inserts etc.
Will probably run the Shoalhaven KOM on Sunday as a longer tempo style run to get some sort of base in for Sydney.
Heres hoping that I can resurface shortly.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Shambles!!!
Warning, this is not a post about running..... (mostly a vent today, click on if you want running!)
Thursday morning after my run I dropped my car off at the dealership to get serviced. At the last service they said I had about 5000km left on my brake pads and so being the good camper that I am as the 5000 (well actually 6000!) clocked over I booked in. While there they suggested they also do the 40,000km service as it was about the right timing as well. Thinking this was a good idea I agreed.
Much later that afternoon the dealership rang with the usual, well we think you need to replace blah and blah and blah etc. I asked them what they did and quizzed them when there was no mention of the brake pads, "oh no, plenty of wear left on them, probably another 10,000km"!!! After a terse discussion about why the car was there I got back to work and then bussed it up to pick the car up.
I again expressed my disappointment that the only reason the car was booked in was to replace the pads, as they had told me it would need, felt and indicated that I had been had a little. Anyway not much joy to be had and so I hopped in the car to head home. Their service centre has a pretty tight car park and so I was carefully looking over my shoulder to keep an eye on the cars behind, of course if was actually looking in the rear view mirror I would have seen the bloody big pole that I backed straight into :( :(
After much muttering to myself and checking the damage, yep nice ding in the plastic bumper, I drove home muttering all the way.
Now to this morning, it has been 2 years (maybe more) since I had a general check up with the doctor and so about time for another. He was actually pretty impressed, I have lost 11kg since the last check up and had much better blood pressure and resting HR. Anticipating his need for me to have blood test for cholesterol etc I fasted and so trooped upstairs to the pathology unit. The guy here seemed a little cautious and after checking my right arm felt that my veins were a little hard to locate so got me some water to drink (dehydrated?) and checked my left arm. He still seemed a little worried but felt he would get a good enough feed. In goes the needle and on goes the first vial, now I don't get blood taken that often, but he seemed to be stuffing around a lot. Normally I also tend not to watch but felt compelled to see what he was doing. The vial seemed to be filling very slowly and he was wiggling the needle around a bit. By the third vial all the wiggling of the needle he was doing was starting to hurt quite a bit. He asked me if I was ok and/or getting dizzy and I mentioned that all the wiggling of the needle was hurting and yes I was getting dizzy.
Next thing I know it felt like I was dreaming and all I could hear was "sorry, sorry" I had passed out! Now of course there was plenty of blood, mostly all over my arm and shirt sleeve. After a few minutes the diziness and sweating stopped, thank goodness I think he got enough in each vial. Thats enough to make me want to avoid blood tests etc for a while. Told the wife about it, blood tests are a snack for her as she has to get one every couple of weeks and so she thought it hilarious that I had passed out from a blood test.....
Anyway also managed to get into a radiology for a CT scan to once and for all determine if I have equal leg length. That way we can adjust my new inserts if there is a difference and work on the core/pelvis area independently.
Lastly work has been flat out as well and while no Doocing is allowed lets just say there have been a few challenges this week...
10km tomorrow, a fresh six months to obsess about and only 11 weeks until the marathon, there you go, eventually back to running.
Thursday morning after my run I dropped my car off at the dealership to get serviced. At the last service they said I had about 5000km left on my brake pads and so being the good camper that I am as the 5000 (well actually 6000!) clocked over I booked in. While there they suggested they also do the 40,000km service as it was about the right timing as well. Thinking this was a good idea I agreed.
Much later that afternoon the dealership rang with the usual, well we think you need to replace blah and blah and blah etc. I asked them what they did and quizzed them when there was no mention of the brake pads, "oh no, plenty of wear left on them, probably another 10,000km"!!! After a terse discussion about why the car was there I got back to work and then bussed it up to pick the car up.
I again expressed my disappointment that the only reason the car was booked in was to replace the pads, as they had told me it would need, felt and indicated that I had been had a little. Anyway not much joy to be had and so I hopped in the car to head home. Their service centre has a pretty tight car park and so I was carefully looking over my shoulder to keep an eye on the cars behind, of course if was actually looking in the rear view mirror I would have seen the bloody big pole that I backed straight into :( :(
After much muttering to myself and checking the damage, yep nice ding in the plastic bumper, I drove home muttering all the way.
Now to this morning, it has been 2 years (maybe more) since I had a general check up with the doctor and so about time for another. He was actually pretty impressed, I have lost 11kg since the last check up and had much better blood pressure and resting HR. Anticipating his need for me to have blood test for cholesterol etc I fasted and so trooped upstairs to the pathology unit. The guy here seemed a little cautious and after checking my right arm felt that my veins were a little hard to locate so got me some water to drink (dehydrated?) and checked my left arm. He still seemed a little worried but felt he would get a good enough feed. In goes the needle and on goes the first vial, now I don't get blood taken that often, but he seemed to be stuffing around a lot. Normally I also tend not to watch but felt compelled to see what he was doing. The vial seemed to be filling very slowly and he was wiggling the needle around a bit. By the third vial all the wiggling of the needle he was doing was starting to hurt quite a bit. He asked me if I was ok and/or getting dizzy and I mentioned that all the wiggling of the needle was hurting and yes I was getting dizzy.
Next thing I know it felt like I was dreaming and all I could hear was "sorry, sorry" I had passed out! Now of course there was plenty of blood, mostly all over my arm and shirt sleeve. After a few minutes the diziness and sweating stopped, thank goodness I think he got enough in each vial. Thats enough to make me want to avoid blood tests etc for a while. Told the wife about it, blood tests are a snack for her as she has to get one every couple of weeks and so she thought it hilarious that I had passed out from a blood test.....
Anyway also managed to get into a radiology for a CT scan to once and for all determine if I have equal leg length. That way we can adjust my new inserts if there is a difference and work on the core/pelvis area independently.
Lastly work has been flat out as well and while no Doocing is allowed lets just say there have been a few challenges this week...
10km tomorrow, a fresh six months to obsess about and only 11 weeks until the marathon, there you go, eventually back to running.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Trash!
Yep, despite Monday and Tuesday off and a gentle run yesterday the glutes are still tender today. I opted for the stock standard weir run today and see how things went.
As the title says the legs still felt trashy, could not really stretch out. Regardless and despite the cooler conditions I feel better for the run now, especially after a good stretching session when I got home. No doubt about it, not a lot of people down in Lane Cove National Park in the middle of winter and early in the morning!
Stats
Distance 11km
Time 57 mimutes
Avg pace 5:12 (oh so slow compared to my tempo runs through here)
Avg HR 153 (yep pretty much legs holding up the pace)
Not sure how this forbodes for the 10km at Homebush, will see how the recovery tomorrow feels.
As the title says the legs still felt trashy, could not really stretch out. Regardless and despite the cooler conditions I feel better for the run now, especially after a good stretching session when I got home. No doubt about it, not a lot of people down in Lane Cove National Park in the middle of winter and early in the morning!
Stats
Distance 11km
Time 57 mimutes
Avg pace 5:12 (oh so slow compared to my tempo runs through here)
Avg HR 153 (yep pretty much legs holding up the pace)
Not sure how this forbodes for the 10km at Homebush, will see how the recovery tomorrow feels.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Recovery?
Not a lot done since Sunday, Monday was toast and then I Socceroo'd on Monday night and Tuesday Morning which left me in no mood to get up early to go for a run.
However up this morning and out, I shuffled the schedule around a little believing that the body would not be up for a good hill rep set yet I opted to use today as my recovery and try and get things moving again in prep for Saturday.
In the tradition of vat man I then ran around the oval just opposite my place for just over 30 minutes. The decision not to do hills was wise as the hammies/glutes/lower back are still sorting themselves out after Sunday.
Stats
Distance 5.5km
Time 33:17
Avg pace 5:59
Avg HR 140 (yes it was the legs!)
Feeling better for it now amd will aim for a longer run but not high intensity tomorrow with another recovery on Friday before hopefully a fast 10km on Saturday.
On another topic with the Tour de France looming (starts this saturday night!) I am again organising a dream team competition, might be of interest to any bloggers reading this (does anyone?) who don't read Cool Running regularly. All the details are on my "other" site here.
However up this morning and out, I shuffled the schedule around a little believing that the body would not be up for a good hill rep set yet I opted to use today as my recovery and try and get things moving again in prep for Saturday.
In the tradition of vat man I then ran around the oval just opposite my place for just over 30 minutes. The decision not to do hills was wise as the hammies/glutes/lower back are still sorting themselves out after Sunday.
Stats
Distance 5.5km
Time 33:17
Avg pace 5:59
Avg HR 140 (yes it was the legs!)
Feeling better for it now amd will aim for a longer run but not high intensity tomorrow with another recovery on Friday before hopefully a fast 10km on Saturday.
On another topic with the Tour de France looming (starts this saturday night!) I am again organising a dream team competition, might be of interest to any bloggers reading this (does anyone?) who don't read Cool Running regularly. All the details are on my "other" site here.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Woodford to Glenbrook Race Report
Up to the mountains to Glenbrook to meet up with fellow car shufflers Jen and Wazza. The length of the drive is a little scary given we would be running back! Parked the car in a location I was a little worried about and so then found a better park near the station so went back and moved it closer. Then we went up to the start area and hitched a lift on a RFS troop carrier to get our number and tag. Amazingly no safety pins left and the people doing the rego were pretty blase about it, "well too many people took 4 pins and now there are none left"! It was not as if I was registering late and if you give people a number bib with 4 holes how many pins will they take!
Anyway back to the start again with the firies and then loitering around chatting with all and sundry waiting for the bikes to all clear out. Finally they called us up to the line and after a bit of waiting we were off!
The first 4km was mostly downhill and also being a bit technical trail running I was doing quite nicely (4km in 16:33). I was swapping places with Kanagra through here, going past him on the downhill and he likewise on the ups!
The next 8km or so were tougher with a lot more ups and downs into the mix and a few Striders drifted past, including Suzanne K, but I was holding my own in general, about 20-30m behind Blue Dog.
As we approached the downhill I caught up to the Dog at a drinks station and we had a quick chat, I then eased away from him as the downhill picked up. About 500m later he drew back up to me and then easily accelerated away! I was struggling a little with leg speed but tried to focus on form and the people in front of me. Just near the turn off to the smaller track Charles Coville and Barry Rutter caught me. This is now standard practice with Barry hauling me in in pretty much every major race in the last year or so, sigh....
Somehow I kept them in sight and was starting to make some progress on Stephen Kibble, another Strider who went past me on the last uphill and who I had been about 50m behind for about 10km. At about the 2km mark I got to within 5m of him but then slipped away again. Just near the 1km mark I saw colin who had come up to watch the finish, at about the same time Spud drew up to me and despite my efforts slowly drew away, damn good running after running 96km last Saturday and finishing 2nd in PMC!!!
Finally the line arrived and just in time!
Stats
Distance 25km
Time 1:52:40
Avg Pace 4:30
Avg HR 171
Very pleased with this as it is 5 minutes better than last year, so a good indicator as to my improved fitness, despite inconsistent training! I'm sure with a slightly better base, but more importantly better leg speed I could knock a few more off next year.
Loitered around to watch the presentations, quite a few Striders won places and then to cap things off Barry won the major lucky draw prize a Trek Mountain Bike! Then we went in search of the supposed shuttles back to the railway station with no success. Luckily Jen's family helped out to get us back up to the car park. Thanks to Jen for then carting 4 semlly guys back up to Woodford to pick up our respective cars!!
Back to hills and speedwork in search of this elusive leg speeed!
Anyway back to the start again with the firies and then loitering around chatting with all and sundry waiting for the bikes to all clear out. Finally they called us up to the line and after a bit of waiting we were off!
The first 4km was mostly downhill and also being a bit technical trail running I was doing quite nicely (4km in 16:33). I was swapping places with Kanagra through here, going past him on the downhill and he likewise on the ups!
The next 8km or so were tougher with a lot more ups and downs into the mix and a few Striders drifted past, including Suzanne K, but I was holding my own in general, about 20-30m behind Blue Dog.
As we approached the downhill I caught up to the Dog at a drinks station and we had a quick chat, I then eased away from him as the downhill picked up. About 500m later he drew back up to me and then easily accelerated away! I was struggling a little with leg speed but tried to focus on form and the people in front of me. Just near the turn off to the smaller track Charles Coville and Barry Rutter caught me. This is now standard practice with Barry hauling me in in pretty much every major race in the last year or so, sigh....
Somehow I kept them in sight and was starting to make some progress on Stephen Kibble, another Strider who went past me on the last uphill and who I had been about 50m behind for about 10km. At about the 2km mark I got to within 5m of him but then slipped away again. Just near the 1km mark I saw colin who had come up to watch the finish, at about the same time Spud drew up to me and despite my efforts slowly drew away, damn good running after running 96km last Saturday and finishing 2nd in PMC!!!
Finally the line arrived and just in time!
Stats
Distance 25km
Time 1:52:40
Avg Pace 4:30
Avg HR 171
Very pleased with this as it is 5 minutes better than last year, so a good indicator as to my improved fitness, despite inconsistent training! I'm sure with a slightly better base, but more importantly better leg speed I could knock a few more off next year.
Loitered around to watch the presentations, quite a few Striders won places and then to cap things off Barry won the major lucky draw prize a Trek Mountain Bike! Then we went in search of the supposed shuttles back to the railway station with no success. Luckily Jen's family helped out to get us back up to the car park. Thanks to Jen for then carting 4 semlly guys back up to Woodford to pick up our respective cars!!
Back to hills and speedwork in search of this elusive leg speeed!
Saturday, June 24, 2006
CR 5km & house hunting
I decided to rock up to the CR 5km challenge today but not bust a boiler running it. Firstly dropped off the Striders timing system at Action's for a bit of fine tuning before the next 10km race. Cam rocked up just as we finished unloading as Action was going to run with the pram while Cam attempted a fast run.
A smaller crowd than normal with Woodford to Glenbrook on tomorrow and also people tapering for Gold Coast next week. I decided to start with the 22 minute group and joined Johnny Dark, Gnome, Professor and Blue Dog. Close to the 2km mark Blue Dog and Professor had pulled away a little but I was content to cruise with JD, Gnome and now Action with the pram. Just after the 3km mark I opted to up the pace a little and kick the legs over and caught up to Prof at the 4km mark. With about 500m to go MPH cruised by and I decided to see if I could hang on to him until the finish, which I pretty much did.
Ended up with 21 minutes even for the 5km, a quick chat and then now wanting to cool down too much headed back with Cam, the pram and Boof.
The total time for the 10km was 45 minutes, legs felt ok, ran in the Nike Air Zoom Elites again and I think they are starting to wear in. No niggles from any of the usual suspects.
Spent most of the rest of the day at housing estates looking at ideas as we are thinking about bulldozing and rebuilding rather than renovating the house. Actually pretty tiring stuff, keeping an eye on 3 kids who became progressively more bored at the same time looking for stuff you like/hate in designs and trying to note it all down....
A smaller crowd than normal with Woodford to Glenbrook on tomorrow and also people tapering for Gold Coast next week. I decided to start with the 22 minute group and joined Johnny Dark, Gnome, Professor and Blue Dog. Close to the 2km mark Blue Dog and Professor had pulled away a little but I was content to cruise with JD, Gnome and now Action with the pram. Just after the 3km mark I opted to up the pace a little and kick the legs over and caught up to Prof at the 4km mark. With about 500m to go MPH cruised by and I decided to see if I could hang on to him until the finish, which I pretty much did.
Ended up with 21 minutes even for the 5km, a quick chat and then now wanting to cool down too much headed back with Cam, the pram and Boof.
The total time for the 10km was 45 minutes, legs felt ok, ran in the Nike Air Zoom Elites again and I think they are starting to wear in. No niggles from any of the usual suspects.
Spent most of the rest of the day at housing estates looking at ideas as we are thinking about bulldozing and rebuilding rather than renovating the house. Actually pretty tiring stuff, keeping an eye on 3 kids who became progressively more bored at the same time looking for stuff you like/hate in designs and trying to note it all down....
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Rat race
Travelling again and time meant I opted to try the treadmill at the hotel for a session of 500m reps. First problem was in trying to program the bloody things as it was only showing miles and I could not work out how to move it to km. So a few minutes of mental arthimetic to determine a km to m pace for my reps and I was off.
Warmed up first for a mile (of course!) and then into the 500's. I set the pace at 5.36 min/m which equates to 3:30 min/km and then ran for 1:45 with then 1 minute standing rest. At rep 6 I upped the pace to 5.25 min/m (approx 3:20 min/km) but kept the time sequencing the same. I suspect that the treadmill may have been a little out in calibration (or am I just running faster better?) but regardless it was a good session, finished off with a mile cool down.
Warmed up first for a mile (of course!) and then into the 500's. I set the pace at 5.36 min/m which equates to 3:30 min/km and then ran for 1:45 with then 1 minute standing rest. At rep 6 I upped the pace to 5.25 min/m (approx 3:20 min/km) but kept the time sequencing the same. I suspect that the treadmill may have been a little out in calibration (or am I just running faster better?) but regardless it was a good session, finished off with a mile cool down.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
More hills
In a good sign of consistency (or is that insanity?) back to Cox's road for another hill rep session. Straight up it was obvious the legs had not fully recovered from the weekend but I persisted with the 10 reps regardless.
10 reps @ 1:35.5 (LW 1:31.6)
Recovery @ 1:50.7 (pretty much same as last week)
Good news is that neither achilles not ITB nor hammie played up, just general leg deadness.
Backed up from this with a session with Easy Tiger to iron out any kinks which he found heaps. The good news is the extensive work he did on my calves certainly seemed to further ease the tension in the achilles. Pretty obvious however that I desperately need to start stretching my hammies more and he felt that the ITB like tension I was experiencing may have been more associated with my ongoing tight LH hammie!
10 reps @ 1:35.5 (LW 1:31.6)
Recovery @ 1:50.7 (pretty much same as last week)
Good news is that neither achilles not ITB nor hammie played up, just general leg deadness.
Backed up from this with a session with Easy Tiger to iron out any kinks which he found heaps. The good news is the extensive work he did on my calves certainly seemed to further ease the tension in the achilles. Pretty obvious however that I desperately need to start stretching my hammies more and he felt that the ITB like tension I was experiencing may have been more associated with my ongoing tight LH hammie!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Clovelly Canter
A fairly large pack at 6:10 and they took off while I was still chatting and had not even taken my pullover off! Anyway as usual the leaders were directionally challenged in the dark and it was not long before I hauled them in. We had a little break at Centennial Park Kiosk for those needing to heed the call of nature as the facilities at the start were locked. From here we wound a path towards the sea but as usual finding every single hill along the way to Tamarama! Then it was pretty easy navigation, keep the water on the left! But still quite a few twists and turns and lots of bloddy stairs. At one section one of the guys in the bunch tripped and came a cropper but he popped up ok. The sea breeze through here made for very cool running conditions, but I am sure they were tropical compared to the conditions Canberra and Melbourne readers are subject to.
As we neared Maroubra yesterday's race started to tell in the legs. At a drink stop I somehow eased off the back of the group and then as we split 3 ways I was running by myself. I opted for the "B" shortcut which would provide about 23km but I forgot that this was much hillier than the "A" route of 26km. All the way back I sat about 20-30m behind the a group but could not reel them in, instead letting them go in the wrong direction, they couldn't hear me yelling, honest!
A real grind getting back to Queens Park but again in a good sign despite the obviously fatigued legs my pace was not slipping as it usually does. A good crowd at the finish and good to catch up with a whole heap of Striders/CR's.
Stats
Distance 24km
Time 2:08:31
Avg Pace 5:22
Avg HR 161
The legs are pretty shattered as I sit here in my skins and the achilles also seems a little inflamed so I'll break out the ice and anti-inflam. Hoping that this week is again more consistent as we lead into Woodford to Glenbrook on Sunday. Last year I knocked out a 1:57:52 certainly hoping to be a bit quicker than that this time.
As we neared Maroubra yesterday's race started to tell in the legs. At a drink stop I somehow eased off the back of the group and then as we split 3 ways I was running by myself. I opted for the "B" shortcut which would provide about 23km but I forgot that this was much hillier than the "A" route of 26km. All the way back I sat about 20-30m behind the a group but could not reel them in, instead letting them go in the wrong direction, they couldn't hear me yelling, honest!
A real grind getting back to Queens Park but again in a good sign despite the obviously fatigued legs my pace was not slipping as it usually does. A good crowd at the finish and good to catch up with a whole heap of Striders/CR's.
Stats
Distance 24km
Time 2:08:31
Avg Pace 5:22
Avg HR 161
The legs are pretty shattered as I sit here in my skins and the achilles also seems a little inflamed so I'll break out the ice and anti-inflam. Hoping that this week is again more consistent as we lead into Woodford to Glenbrook on Sunday. Last year I knocked out a 1:57:52 certainly hoping to be a bit quicker than that this time.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
NSW State XC Championships
A fairly late decision to drag the whole family down to Nowra withe the incentive for the kids that we would test drive a new dual screen DVD player, the 2 screens hang behind the headrests of the front seats. Quite a classic driving along the freeway with the soundtrack from Madagascar proving amusement, but the kids were quiet! A slight hiccup as I followed the signs through Kangaroo Valley, all the twisty stuff meant a nice case of road sickness for Ruby. Shouted the kids the obligitory junk food and then a quick call in to say hello to my auntie who lives in Nowra. Finally got away and arrived with not a lot of time to stuff around. Got changed, saw the Mad Guz for my number, a quick warm up and then they were calling us to the start.
A decent group of Striders at the line with 8 of us in the open division and 5 in the 45+. Only the best 6 and 4 respectively would count to the teams titles though. I had never run here before but had heard quite a bit about the hills, one in particular. Anyway the gun is fired and we are all off! I deliberately tried to take it easy to begin and after about a km assumed my usual position in respect to others who I run against in the West Met races. This was handy and I used them as a general pace guide throughout the run.
Well no one was joking about the hill, looking at the GPS info the 2nd km was pretty much all up hill with a vertical climb of about 60 metres! This was then compensated by the third km which then dropped back down by about the same amount through a series of switchbacks.
After the first lap I pretty much had my place in the field locked, a few going past me but I also went past a few as well.
Stats
Distance 12km (Garmin 305 said 12.23)
Time 54:56
Avg pace 4:29 (based upon Garmin)
Avg HR 177
My 3 lap splits were
Lap 1 17:31
Lap 2 18:39 36:10
Lap 3 18:46 54:56
Pretty happy that I held the 3rd lap close to the same pace as lap 2. Actually pretty happy with the run in general, no niggles and my customary fade at the end of races is well, fading!
A pretty good day for Striders with I understand a 2nd and 4th in the Womens and then the Mad Guz getting second in the mens, I reckon then mens 45+ team might figure in the placings as well. Alas the only downer on the day was that apparently the kids were absolute ratbags while I was out racing and so it seems going forward my race outings will not be a family affair :(
A decent group of Striders at the line with 8 of us in the open division and 5 in the 45+. Only the best 6 and 4 respectively would count to the teams titles though. I had never run here before but had heard quite a bit about the hills, one in particular. Anyway the gun is fired and we are all off! I deliberately tried to take it easy to begin and after about a km assumed my usual position in respect to others who I run against in the West Met races. This was handy and I used them as a general pace guide throughout the run.
Well no one was joking about the hill, looking at the GPS info the 2nd km was pretty much all up hill with a vertical climb of about 60 metres! This was then compensated by the third km which then dropped back down by about the same amount through a series of switchbacks.
After the first lap I pretty much had my place in the field locked, a few going past me but I also went past a few as well.
Stats
Distance 12km (Garmin 305 said 12.23)
Time 54:56
Avg pace 4:29 (based upon Garmin)
Avg HR 177
My 3 lap splits were
Lap 1 17:31
Lap 2 18:39 36:10
Lap 3 18:46 54:56
Pretty happy that I held the 3rd lap close to the same pace as lap 2. Actually pretty happy with the run in general, no niggles and my customary fade at the end of races is well, fading!
A pretty good day for Striders with I understand a 2nd and 4th in the Womens and then the Mad Guz getting second in the mens, I reckon then mens 45+ team might figure in the placings as well. Alas the only downer on the day was that apparently the kids were absolute ratbags while I was out racing and so it seems going forward my race outings will not be a family affair :(
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Recovery
Gee it was bloody cold this morning, a quick look at the kids thermometer on the window showed 4 degrees!!
The glutes and lower back were a little tight after the hill reps yesterday and I decided for a recovery run rather than my planned 1km reps, especially with the 12km XC race looming on Saturday.
So a nice jaunt around North Ryde for 5km, with gloves and beanie on but still just a running t shirt and shorts.
Stats
Distance 4.9km
Time 27:13
Avg pace : 5:33
Avg HR : 145
Then popped over to see Martin Horne again to continue the good progress being made on the achilles, a few needles there and on the ITB alng with another injection of the homeopathic anti inflam and things are looking up!
To answer Brendan's question the impact on the fitness of racing on Saturday followed by the long run on Sunday is certainly having a positive impact on the fitness and something I will look to continue. Up to now I really have not run on Saturdays as a way of being fresh for the long runs on Sunday but in shuffling the program and workouts around a bit I think this will make a good difference down the line!
For sure another easy/recovery run tomorrow followed by an absolute thrashing Saturday afternoon at the State XC champs, which I hear has an impressive hill included in the 4km loop that we run 3 times !
The glutes and lower back were a little tight after the hill reps yesterday and I decided for a recovery run rather than my planned 1km reps, especially with the 12km XC race looming on Saturday.
So a nice jaunt around North Ryde for 5km, with gloves and beanie on but still just a running t shirt and shorts.
Stats
Distance 4.9km
Time 27:13
Avg pace : 5:33
Avg HR : 145
Then popped over to see Martin Horne again to continue the good progress being made on the achilles, a few needles there and on the ITB alng with another injection of the homeopathic anti inflam and things are looking up!
To answer Brendan's question the impact on the fitness of racing on Saturday followed by the long run on Sunday is certainly having a positive impact on the fitness and something I will look to continue. Up to now I really have not run on Saturdays as a way of being fresh for the long runs on Sunday but in shuffling the program and workouts around a bit I think this will make a good difference down the line!
For sure another easy/recovery run tomorrow followed by an absolute thrashing Saturday afternoon at the State XC champs, which I hear has an impressive hill included in the 4km loop that we run 3 times !
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Hill reps
Quite a deal cooler this morning as I headed out in the dark for a warm up before attacking Coxs Rd hill again.
Hill reps are not a very exciting blog posting but it sort of went up/down repeat ten times. Always get a good burn on the legs from this session but was pretty happy that the various niggles remained for most part pretty quiet.
End result
10 reps @ avg of 1:31.6, slightly faster than the last session (1:32.2)
The average rest however was quite a deal less at 1:50.6 vs previously 1:54
I think this session will pay dividends, just need to be consistent about doing it more regularly.....
Not going to taper much for the State XC champs which are on Sunday (hey there is nothing much to taper!). I do however think that racing Saturday followed by a long run Sunday is certainly having an effect on my fitness.
On a totally different subject, while everyone is going feral about the soccer world cup, my mind is already starting to think about the TDF and I am planning on running my dream team comp again!
Hill reps are not a very exciting blog posting but it sort of went up/down repeat ten times. Always get a good burn on the legs from this session but was pretty happy that the various niggles remained for most part pretty quiet.
End result
10 reps @ avg of 1:31.6, slightly faster than the last session (1:32.2)
The average rest however was quite a deal less at 1:50.6 vs previously 1:54
I think this session will pay dividends, just need to be consistent about doing it more regularly.....
Not going to taper much for the State XC champs which are on Sunday (hey there is nothing much to taper!). I do however think that racing Saturday followed by a long run Sunday is certainly having an effect on my fitness.
On a totally different subject, while everyone is going feral about the soccer world cup, my mind is already starting to think about the TDF and I am planning on running my dream team comp again!
Monday, June 12, 2006
Holiday - rest
A nice long weekend sleep in and then not a lot through the day, was tempted to head out for a short run but let the thought pass. The legs have pulled up pretty well after the weekend, no doubt helped by wearing skins most of yesterday.
For Tesso, the ITB is in the background slightly if I manipulate the knee the right (wrong) way and seems better once warmed up and stretched. I have the roller out tonight and will give it a bashing while watching the soccer (sorry Omni!).
Horrie, I hear you on the pacing! A couple of times I made my thoughts pretty clear out on the road to those doing the damage and I did go back with both Blue Dog and Gnome making sure they were ok or running with someone else before chasing the group back down (which was an effort in itself!). Homebush is always seemingly going to be a bit faster and last week I did get a pretty good workover from the 6:20 group....
For Tesso, the ITB is in the background slightly if I manipulate the knee the right (wrong) way and seems better once warmed up and stretched. I have the roller out tonight and will give it a bashing while watching the soccer (sorry Omni!).
Horrie, I hear you on the pacing! A couple of times I made my thoughts pretty clear out on the road to those doing the damage and I did go back with both Blue Dog and Gnome making sure they were ok or running with someone else before chasing the group back down (which was an effort in itself!). Homebush is always seemingly going to be a bit faster and last week I did get a pretty good workover from the 6:20 group....
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Homebush Hustle
Woke up at 5am to the sound of torrential rain. After vascilating for 5 minutes got up and prepped to go. Amazingly the rain pretty much cleared as we headed off. Straight away the ITB started complaining but I ignored it hoping that after a km or 2 I would be warmed up. As usual the 6:10 group was a little too agressive on pace but I hung back with Blue Dog for a chat before chasing them down as we entered Olympic Park. By then everything was warmed up and I felt pretty good. Tried to calm down the speedsters which worked for a little while but as we ran towards Parramatta River we were still cracking along. Now I dropped back with Gnome who was finding the pace a little hot. We ran together for a while and I managed to make a small navigation error which put us a little bit further back. I left Gnome when we caught one of the 6am groups and again set off after the 6:10 bunch, just catching them as we got to Silverwater prison and the water stop.
Over the other side of the river and along the bike path and I felt pretty good and moved to the front. Some of the runners who were hammering along earlier were just starting to struggle a little and so I upped the ante :) Through the back of the Ermington industrial area with a few ups and downs we really got going as langswd and I pushed things along. In keeping with my immediate plans for Sunday I took the shortcut that would give me 25km as everyone else went long. Ran it out hard home and I think the distance was just right as I just started to feel the pinch in the last km or so.
Stats
Distance 26.4km
Time 2:06:54
Avg pace 4:48
Avg HR 165 (quite pleasing)
Looking back through the log I ran the same option as my last longish hit out before Canberra 2005 and ran 2:04 so am happy with todays run.
Aiming to get a little more consistent this week and work on loosening up the ITB while still watching the achilles which is fine after 2 hard days running :)
Over the other side of the river and along the bike path and I felt pretty good and moved to the front. Some of the runners who were hammering along earlier were just starting to struggle a little and so I upped the ante :) Through the back of the Ermington industrial area with a few ups and downs we really got going as langswd and I pushed things along. In keeping with my immediate plans for Sunday I took the shortcut that would give me 25km as everyone else went long. Ran it out hard home and I think the distance was just right as I just started to feel the pinch in the last km or so.
Stats
Distance 26.4km
Time 2:06:54
Avg pace 4:48
Avg HR 165 (quite pleasing)
Looking back through the log I ran the same option as my last longish hit out before Canberra 2005 and ran 2:04 so am happy with todays run.
Aiming to get a little more consistent this week and work on loosening up the ITB while still watching the achilles which is fine after 2 hard days running :)
Trials and tribulations
Started off the week with focus on trying to reduce the inflammation in the achilles.
Wednesday
Headed down to the weir and back on a tempo style run. Noticed that at points the LH ITB complained and still a little noise from the RH achilles as well. Made a booking for Friday morning with the witch doctor to look at the wheel alignment. In the interim I did some self diagnosis, last week I put in a heel lift on the rh shoe to try and shorten the stretch on the rh achilles which I believe then lengthened the stretch on the lh ITB. Anyway, the lift is back out!
Stats
Distance 10.85km
Time 50:02
Avg pace 4:36
Avg HR 172
Thursday
An early start and then hectic day at work but I took my gear in to attempt a session. As it happened the opportunity presented itself between work and the Striders committee meeting and I popped down to the gym with plans for a hard 500m interval rep session on the treadmill. As soon as I started striding out the ITB twinged badly. I tried to persevere but it was not improving so I hit the stop button and trudged back to get changed :(
Friday
An early morning session with the witch doctor, after I explained my woes he went to work with the needles and left me to "relax" as they did their job. After that he suggested injecting a natural anti-inflam solution (Traumeel) as the sheath around the tendon was inflamed (but not the tendon itself!). The heel felt a little wierd through the rest of the day.
Saturday
The rain cleared at the right time as I headed to Smiffo for the West Met XC race. The course was 2 laps (4km each) with a couple of loops around the ovals/parks and bike tracks near where SMC is based. Was concerned with the warmup as the ITB again niggled but opted to race and see what happened. As usual out a little too fast with 3:50 firstkm but then tucked in about 20m behind Graham S where I stayed for most of the race, just drifting in the last km or so. A couple of Hills Aths guys picked me off in the last km but I managed to hold them within reach to the finish. Afterwards one of them mentioned to me that I run with quite a high elbow action on the rhs which was interesting! ITB was fine during the run but tightened up a little as I cooled down
Stats
Distance 8.07km (which I reckon is about right)
Time 33:54
Avg pace 4:11
Avg HR 180
Wednesday
Headed down to the weir and back on a tempo style run. Noticed that at points the LH ITB complained and still a little noise from the RH achilles as well. Made a booking for Friday morning with the witch doctor to look at the wheel alignment. In the interim I did some self diagnosis, last week I put in a heel lift on the rh shoe to try and shorten the stretch on the rh achilles which I believe then lengthened the stretch on the lh ITB. Anyway, the lift is back out!
Stats
Distance 10.85km
Time 50:02
Avg pace 4:36
Avg HR 172
Thursday
An early start and then hectic day at work but I took my gear in to attempt a session. As it happened the opportunity presented itself between work and the Striders committee meeting and I popped down to the gym with plans for a hard 500m interval rep session on the treadmill. As soon as I started striding out the ITB twinged badly. I tried to persevere but it was not improving so I hit the stop button and trudged back to get changed :(
Friday
An early morning session with the witch doctor, after I explained my woes he went to work with the needles and left me to "relax" as they did their job. After that he suggested injecting a natural anti-inflam solution (Traumeel) as the sheath around the tendon was inflamed (but not the tendon itself!). The heel felt a little wierd through the rest of the day.
Saturday
The rain cleared at the right time as I headed to Smiffo for the West Met XC race. The course was 2 laps (4km each) with a couple of loops around the ovals/parks and bike tracks near where SMC is based. Was concerned with the warmup as the ITB again niggled but opted to race and see what happened. As usual out a little too fast with 3:50 firstkm but then tucked in about 20m behind Graham S where I stayed for most of the race, just drifting in the last km or so. A couple of Hills Aths guys picked me off in the last km but I managed to hold them within reach to the finish. Afterwards one of them mentioned to me that I run with quite a high elbow action on the rhs which was interesting! ITB was fine during the run but tightened up a little as I cooled down
Stats
Distance 8.07km (which I reckon is about right)
Time 33:54
Avg pace 4:11
Avg HR 180
Monday, June 05, 2006
Catch up
As I mentioned in my last post from Adelaide it seemed as if things would be hectic and I was not wrong
Tuesday
Up early but had to do final prep for my business meeting, then on a plane back to Sydney to connect to another plane to get to Wellington NZ.
Wednesday
I managed to wake up at 5am NZ time (3am Sydney) but it was pitch black outside and very windy. Running in teh dark in a strange city in a cold wind was enough demotivation to stay in bed :(
Thursday
Back home late last night and wanted to spend some time with the family so running missed out. Did go and visit Therese for some accupuncture on the achilles. She also detected the early stages of a cold and so added a few extra needles to sort that out. She put some wierd smelling herbal patch over the achilles to help reduce the inflammation and told me not to run for at least a day.
Friday
Rest as per instructions
Saturday
I dressed up prepared to run the 10km but also wanted to see what my team mates for the relays in the afternoon were doing. As vat and superflake were also saving themselves I opted to do the right thing and not smash my legs up. I did load my 305 to Cam as he forgot his watch. The trace below is more evidence of the much better tracking the 305 offers, the 301 always struggled at Lane Cove. My watch now has a new 10km PB of 35:06, no way it will ever get close to that while on my wrist!
Headed to Ramsgate in the afternoon for the State XC relays and I was the anchor mane for the Striders 35+ team. The course was 2 laps of a 2km loop, which had a little out and back loop added to make up the distance. Apparently the start was a shambles with mixed up officials seeing some doing the out and back while others being told to miss it on the first lap!
Eventually it was my time to get tagged and off I went, sprinting out way too fast. I slotted in just behind Darren Benson who was on his second lap and actually held him at about 20m for the first km. Then the body started to winge a little and I eased up to ensure I could finish the 4km running.
The soft ground underfoot and a howling wind into your face along the back section made for tough running, I eventually finished with only 2-3 teams going past me, what a lung burner! After fumbling with the watch at the start and finish had no real idea as to my time, but saw the results today and I ran 15:54 and our team finished 5th in our category.
Actually felt ok after the race, commenting to Horrie that the achilles felt ok and also no niggles recently for the LH hammie/glute.
Sunday - Pymble STaR
Up early to drive over to Pymble, one STaR that I have not done yet somehow! In keeping with my new approach I hung around waiting for the 6:20 group and off we went. Had not realised the extent of the hills on this course, that coupled with a twinge in the LH hammie and I was starting to struggle a little before dropping off just before the short cut turn off. After here I also noticed the achilles was starting to complain and so I also took the 2nd shortcut which was still going to see me do about 24km. Caught up to a slower group near Turramurra shops and a few of them joined me on the downhill run back down to Lane Cove River for some biush running before climbing back up to Pymble.
Stats
Distance 24.3 km
Time 2:11
Avg Pace 5:23
Avg HR 162
The achilles has pulled up quite tender (again) and I am getting a little frustrated with the scenario.
Tuesday
Up early but had to do final prep for my business meeting, then on a plane back to Sydney to connect to another plane to get to Wellington NZ.
Wednesday
I managed to wake up at 5am NZ time (3am Sydney) but it was pitch black outside and very windy. Running in teh dark in a strange city in a cold wind was enough demotivation to stay in bed :(
Thursday
Back home late last night and wanted to spend some time with the family so running missed out. Did go and visit Therese for some accupuncture on the achilles. She also detected the early stages of a cold and so added a few extra needles to sort that out. She put some wierd smelling herbal patch over the achilles to help reduce the inflammation and told me not to run for at least a day.
Friday
Rest as per instructions
Saturday
I dressed up prepared to run the 10km but also wanted to see what my team mates for the relays in the afternoon were doing. As vat and superflake were also saving themselves I opted to do the right thing and not smash my legs up. I did load my 305 to Cam as he forgot his watch. The trace below is more evidence of the much better tracking the 305 offers, the 301 always struggled at Lane Cove. My watch now has a new 10km PB of 35:06, no way it will ever get close to that while on my wrist!
Headed to Ramsgate in the afternoon for the State XC relays and I was the anchor mane for the Striders 35+ team. The course was 2 laps of a 2km loop, which had a little out and back loop added to make up the distance. Apparently the start was a shambles with mixed up officials seeing some doing the out and back while others being told to miss it on the first lap!
Eventually it was my time to get tagged and off I went, sprinting out way too fast. I slotted in just behind Darren Benson who was on his second lap and actually held him at about 20m for the first km. Then the body started to winge a little and I eased up to ensure I could finish the 4km running.
The soft ground underfoot and a howling wind into your face along the back section made for tough running, I eventually finished with only 2-3 teams going past me, what a lung burner! After fumbling with the watch at the start and finish had no real idea as to my time, but saw the results today and I ran 15:54 and our team finished 5th in our category.
Actually felt ok after the race, commenting to Horrie that the achilles felt ok and also no niggles recently for the LH hammie/glute.
Sunday - Pymble STaR
Up early to drive over to Pymble, one STaR that I have not done yet somehow! In keeping with my new approach I hung around waiting for the 6:20 group and off we went. Had not realised the extent of the hills on this course, that coupled with a twinge in the LH hammie and I was starting to struggle a little before dropping off just before the short cut turn off. After here I also noticed the achilles was starting to complain and so I also took the 2nd shortcut which was still going to see me do about 24km. Caught up to a slower group near Turramurra shops and a few of them joined me on the downhill run back down to Lane Cove River for some biush running before climbing back up to Pymble.
Stats
Distance 24.3 km
Time 2:11
Avg Pace 5:23
Avg HR 162
The achilles has pulled up quite tender (again) and I am getting a little frustrated with the scenario.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Recovery run - Adelaide
Yes, in my never ending quest to identify a good recovery run route I ventured to Adelaide for a gentle run along the Torrens.
A great venue for running, minimal cycle traffic along the shared path and a variety of different route options. The legs felt pretty good but the achilles is again tender, so much so that I abandoned my planned run this morning and have now booked to see master needlesmith Teresa Lee on Thursday when back in Sydney.
Stats
Distance 11.13km
Time 57:45
Avg pace 5:11
Avg HR 154
Stay tuned, to see where I pop up next :)
A great venue for running, minimal cycle traffic along the shared path and a variety of different route options. The legs felt pretty good but the achilles is again tender, so much so that I abandoned my planned run this morning and have now booked to see master needlesmith Teresa Lee on Thursday when back in Sydney.
Stats
Distance 11.13km
Time 57:45
Avg pace 5:11
Avg HR 154
Stay tuned, to see where I pop up next :)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
SMC 10km - Race
Out to Smiffo and it was quite cool, a quick catch up with the 25km runners and a good chat with Horrie and vat before opting to try a warm up. Certainly the bashing I gave the legs yesterday was evident and it took a little while to get going, threw in a few stretches as well which seemed to help.
Over for the start of the combined 5km and 10km and a decent crowd. I had already decided today was not a PB tilt option but more aiming for a steady consistent pace, trying not to fade too much which is my usual form.
Kept it fairly steady and soon was running pretty much by myself when the 5km runners turned. I was about 30-50m behind the guy that I have labelled "budgie smugler" as that is all he runs in (plus shoes), a bit cool for that today I thought!
Hit the turnaround in about 21:26 and while it was a press to hold the pace I was not struggling, in fact managed to pick the pace back up before the long climb. Near the 2km mark Ron and Barry were coming back towards me, on their second lap of the 25km course. Ron told me to make sure I beat "budgie" and in fact now I was only about 20m behind him.
At the 1km mark I caught the very relaxed 25km bus with Plu and Bernie sitting in the drivers seat and I set out to try and drag in the 20m to budgie. I was gaining but slowly and as we hit the grass he was still 10m in front, here I decided to engage my withering finishing burst and to my amazement it worked and I went straight past him :). Crossed the line in 42:06 which means a back 5km split of 20:40 giving a negative split of 26 seconds!!
Usually in 10km races my last km is my slowest but today I posted about a 3:50 which was actually the fastest km for the whole race.
Stats
Distance 10km (9.96 by garmin)
Time 42:06
Avg Pace 4:12
Avg HR 175
Splits
1km 4:11 4:11
2km 4:08 8:19
3km 4:19 12:38
4km 4:24 17:02
5km 4:26 21:28
6km 4:09 25:37
7km 4:21 29:58
8km 4:12 34:10
9km 4:12 38:22
Fin 3:44 42:06
Quite pleased overall, certainly the legs had been blunted by the XC yesterday afternoon so to post a 42 was about right. Will be interesting to see how fresher legs perform at Lane Cove next Saturday.
A very hectic week looming workwise but I'll be hard at it to fit in some running.
Over for the start of the combined 5km and 10km and a decent crowd. I had already decided today was not a PB tilt option but more aiming for a steady consistent pace, trying not to fade too much which is my usual form.
Kept it fairly steady and soon was running pretty much by myself when the 5km runners turned. I was about 30-50m behind the guy that I have labelled "budgie smugler" as that is all he runs in (plus shoes), a bit cool for that today I thought!
Hit the turnaround in about 21:26 and while it was a press to hold the pace I was not struggling, in fact managed to pick the pace back up before the long climb. Near the 2km mark Ron and Barry were coming back towards me, on their second lap of the 25km course. Ron told me to make sure I beat "budgie" and in fact now I was only about 20m behind him.
At the 1km mark I caught the very relaxed 25km bus with Plu and Bernie sitting in the drivers seat and I set out to try and drag in the 20m to budgie. I was gaining but slowly and as we hit the grass he was still 10m in front, here I decided to engage my withering finishing burst and to my amazement it worked and I went straight past him :). Crossed the line in 42:06 which means a back 5km split of 20:40 giving a negative split of 26 seconds!!
Usually in 10km races my last km is my slowest but today I posted about a 3:50 which was actually the fastest km for the whole race.
Stats
Distance 10km (9.96 by garmin)
Time 42:06
Avg Pace 4:12
Avg HR 175
Splits
1km 4:11 4:11
2km 4:08 8:19
3km 4:19 12:38
4km 4:24 17:02
5km 4:26 21:28
6km 4:09 25:37
7km 4:21 29:58
8km 4:12 34:10
9km 4:12 38:22
Fin 3:44 42:06
Quite pleased overall, certainly the legs had been blunted by the XC yesterday afternoon so to post a 42 was about right. Will be interesting to see how fresher legs perform at Lane Cove next Saturday.
A very hectic week looming workwise but I'll be hard at it to fit in some running.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
West Met XC - North Ryde Common
This week's West Met was just around the corner at North Ryde Common, the site of many of my recovery runs. For a change the whole family walked up and we met up with another one of the families from school there. Stella had opted out of having a run but Ruby (6yo) was keen and so we lined up together at the back of the 2km pack, Alex from the other family joined us. The course was actually quite tough, starting straight into a climb up to Wicks Rd, then along Wicks, zig zagging back down past the start area for a loop to return, making up 2km. She struggled just near the top of the hill, walking a bit but went well around the course and was stoked to finish with everyone cheering her on! That gave me a nice easy warm up covering the 2km course in 15 minutes.
So the 8km race was 4 laps of the same course, first time up the hill was ok but was not looking forward to another 3 climbs! A real tough course with the undulating terrain, a number of tight turns to break your momentum and all on grass, good for impact reduction but harder to get traction.
Stats
Distance 8km (garmin said 8.15)
Time 35:36
Avg pace 4:25
Avg HR 178
Legs felt it a little but more a lung burner, achilles was a little tender during the 2km warm up but no problems in the actual race. Tomorrow out to Smiffo (Smithfield) for the last SMC race, I'll opt out of the 25km, preferring to have a crack at the 10km.
So the 8km race was 4 laps of the same course, first time up the hill was ok but was not looking forward to another 3 climbs! A real tough course with the undulating terrain, a number of tight turns to break your momentum and all on grass, good for impact reduction but harder to get traction.
Stats
Distance 8km (garmin said 8.15)
Time 35:36
Avg pace 4:25
Avg HR 178
Legs felt it a little but more a lung burner, achilles was a little tender during the 2km warm up but no problems in the actual race. Tomorrow out to Smiffo (Smithfield) for the last SMC race, I'll opt out of the 25km, preferring to have a crack at the 10km.
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