Restart...
There. I'm staring again. With the financial year coming to a close, and the school term concluding, it's a great opportunity to physically and mentally recharge the batteries and begin a new assault on PB's, shake off physical and mental fatigue and just become a human again.
Saturday's run @ Bendigo didn't go as I'd liked, as I think I'd psyched myself out. I ran tentatively and a little scared, and missed an opportunity to set my team up particularly well. Fortunately for me, everyone else on the team held their end of the bargain and we finished 2nd in our relay - a great result seeing as 1st place was light years ahead of everyone in the division.
Today - run to and from the gym. Just over 6ks of rolling hills on the treadmill in 25 minutes, and 2kms of climbing on the elliptical (spelling??) trainer, plus weight and abdominal work. So just over 90 minutes of work, with 14.5 kms of aerobic stuff. Again, it was good to get it out of the system.
Hopefully the opportunity arises to do some "2-a-day" training with a view of running a solid time at Burnley (sub 77), a fast 10km @ Melbourne (sub 35), a solid track season and then a fast Christchurch in June next year. There, my goals are in the visual media! Thanks Andrew S. (good luck on the Gold Coast!), your sage words have provided some wonderful perspective.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
shoulda been easy, but...
I decided to do it tough, or reasonably tough anyway...
Warm up run to, and cool down from, the gym. At the gym, random incline mode on the treadmill for 3 x 2 km @ 7:15, 7:18 & 7:17. The break between the first two was about 40 odd seconds, as the plan was a threshold run of about 6-8kms dropping the speed every km but it didn't feel right, so I turned into repeats. There was 15 minutes between 2nd & 3rd repeats, as I simply felt knackered but went to do some weights/abdominal work before deciding I needed to a 3rd hitout.
Total running 12.5kms, 6 of those with effort. Today was a struggle, but perhaps the 10 x 250 I did last night might have taken more out of the legs than I'd hoped.
Beer brewing and trivia night with bro & sis-in-law tonight, Jen will probably belt me for being too competitive. Having said that, if we win, some may claim it was rigged as Anna (sis-in-law) is running the show.
Warm up run to, and cool down from, the gym. At the gym, random incline mode on the treadmill for 3 x 2 km @ 7:15, 7:18 & 7:17. The break between the first two was about 40 odd seconds, as the plan was a threshold run of about 6-8kms dropping the speed every km but it didn't feel right, so I turned into repeats. There was 15 minutes between 2nd & 3rd repeats, as I simply felt knackered but went to do some weights/abdominal work before deciding I needed to a 3rd hitout.
Total running 12.5kms, 6 of those with effort. Today was a struggle, but perhaps the 10 x 250 I did last night might have taken more out of the legs than I'd hoped.
Beer brewing and trivia night with bro & sis-in-law tonight, Jen will probably belt me for being too competitive. Having said that, if we win, some may claim it was rigged as Anna (sis-in-law) is running the show.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Reports, doublin' up (sort of)
More reports today...no fun.
Doubled up today - 10 kms in through Yarraville, with 3 x hill/climb from Whitell to Hyde St behind Seddon footy club + Somerville Rd. bridge. About 42 minutes total, HR peaked @ 153, averaged 133. For a nice early run, I'm comfortable with the effort.
Afternoon - tready upstairs. W/U, 10 x 250 @ 19 kmh (3.10 kmh pace) with 40-45 sec. walking recovery between efforts, C/D. 6.5 km total. HR peaked @ 156, averaged 120 which seems low.
Beer brewin' tomorrow + school work, a nice early session should do do the trick.
Doubled up today - 10 kms in through Yarraville, with 3 x hill/climb from Whitell to Hyde St behind Seddon footy club + Somerville Rd. bridge. About 42 minutes total, HR peaked @ 153, averaged 133. For a nice early run, I'm comfortable with the effort.
Afternoon - tready upstairs. W/U, 10 x 250 @ 19 kmh (3.10 kmh pace) with 40-45 sec. walking recovery between efforts, C/D. 6.5 km total. HR peaked @ 156, averaged 120 which seems low.
Beer brewin' tomorrow + school work, a nice early session should do do the trick.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
f$%kin' reports! but hey, the Celtics are champs!
Reports man! Oh the joys of teaching. But as the masses collectively cry "look at all your holidays, man", I'll seek solace in a bottle!
10K threshold on the tready tonight - just wanted solid, even running and oddly (very oddly) the HR spiked at 192 (avg 156) but I got through in 37:25 and did what was left of 50 minutes as a recovery, so about 12.5 kms in total. No real discernible niggles, no dramas. I've got to get of this funk and get some consistency and routine. A double up tomorrow? We'll see.
10K threshold on the tready tonight - just wanted solid, even running and oddly (very oddly) the HR spiked at 192 (avg 156) but I got through in 37:25 and did what was left of 50 minutes as a recovery, so about 12.5 kms in total. No real discernible niggles, no dramas. I've got to get of this funk and get some consistency and routine. A double up tomorrow? We'll see.
Boston won the NBA championship 4 - 2, in the building Jen and I were in about 9 weeks ago. Kev's happy, he's got his Celtics hat...can't you tell?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Busy days...
Nice early session this morning, showing up again that intermittent training equates to less than desired speed and endurance.
Gym again, session as follows:
1 km - 4.40
4 km - 15 minutes (max HR 170, avg 152)
1.5 minutes walking recovery
3km - 11:10 (max 172, av 166)
3 min walking recovery
2 km - 7:20 (max 171, avg 165)
2 min walking recovery
a bit of weight & abdominal work, 3km of hill climbing (1.5 up, 1.5 down - naturally!) in about 13 minutes with a gentle cooldown, then more weight & abdominal work and some streching.
Not quick but the effort is definitely there - the high heart rate is an indicator of lack of fitness more than anything else, things might click into place over the next few weeks without work stresses.
Early start tomorrow, busy day, big sport meeting, lots of work to do after school. Hopefully I can squeeze in a lazy hour after work.
Gym again, session as follows:
1 km - 4.40
4 km - 15 minutes (max HR 170, avg 152)
1.5 minutes walking recovery
3km - 11:10 (max 172, av 166)
3 min walking recovery
2 km - 7:20 (max 171, avg 165)
2 min walking recovery
a bit of weight & abdominal work, 3km of hill climbing (1.5 up, 1.5 down - naturally!) in about 13 minutes with a gentle cooldown, then more weight & abdominal work and some streching.
Not quick but the effort is definitely there - the high heart rate is an indicator of lack of fitness more than anything else, things might click into place over the next few weeks without work stresses.
Early start tomorrow, busy day, big sport meeting, lots of work to do after school. Hopefully I can squeeze in a lazy hour after work.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
catch up's for dummies!
Due to late arrivals home from work and subsequent dinners on arrival and doing schoolwork at home I didn't run for three days. The annoying part part was being full of good intentions but not backing it up with actions. School's getting very busy again with reports and the return of senior classes, so squeezing out a run or two will do just as much for my sanity as it will my fitness, which will make its way back slowly.
Saturday morning - a few laps of the Newport Lakes for some little climbs. About 7.4ks in total - the HR got very high and whilst I was working hard on the climbs, they must have taken more out of me than what I'd thought.
Saturday afternoon - run to and from the gym (6.6 kms) + 2 x 2K quickish (3:25km pace) on the treadmill with a 4 minute walking recovery between each repeat. After the two quick runs, I did some weights (nothing significant) & some abdominal work. So 10.6 kms of running, 4ks of quality stuff. 18 in total for the day, probably a third of that would be hard, quality running.
Sunday morning - 22.3 ks along the Maribyrnong River and back. Nice morning for a run, reasonably cool, pulled up a bit sore and tender - no surprise considering the work done yesterday. Got a massage which I really needed from the good folk at Max Therapy at Highpoint (cheap plug, but they look after me!).
Well, that's it for the week. About 60ks in total (not enough but a reasonable platform for the holidays), school again has served as the major interruption both physically and mentally. I think there is some residual "holiday blues" or mental fatigue from the trip, as I really feel the need to just start afresh come the school holidays, both in a work and running sense. Work will simply be about "hanging on" and running will be simply getting mind and body right before making my assault on XC/Road season.
Saturday morning - a few laps of the Newport Lakes for some little climbs. About 7.4ks in total - the HR got very high and whilst I was working hard on the climbs, they must have taken more out of me than what I'd thought.
Saturday afternoon - run to and from the gym (6.6 kms) + 2 x 2K quickish (3:25km pace) on the treadmill with a 4 minute walking recovery between each repeat. After the two quick runs, I did some weights (nothing significant) & some abdominal work. So 10.6 kms of running, 4ks of quality stuff. 18 in total for the day, probably a third of that would be hard, quality running.
Sunday morning - 22.3 ks along the Maribyrnong River and back. Nice morning for a run, reasonably cool, pulled up a bit sore and tender - no surprise considering the work done yesterday. Got a massage which I really needed from the good folk at Max Therapy at Highpoint (cheap plug, but they look after me!).
Well, that's it for the week. About 60ks in total (not enough but a reasonable platform for the holidays), school again has served as the major interruption both physically and mentally. I think there is some residual "holiday blues" or mental fatigue from the trip, as I really feel the need to just start afresh come the school holidays, both in a work and running sense. Work will simply be about "hanging on" and running will be simply getting mind and body right before making my assault on XC/Road season.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Threshold run...of sorts
Home late-ish from work, had to do some report stuff, then I couldn't be stuffed going outside. God bless the treadmill! 12K of running, broken down as follows:
750 m warm up @ 4.42 min/km
250 m warm up @ 4.17
3K @ 3.45
3K @ 3.48
3K @ 3.51
2K of cooling down, slowing down 10 sec/km every 500 m from about 4.40. No repetitions, just dropping the speed every 3Ks to ease into solid running again.
Not quick, but a really solid hitout. The HR would have spiked about 166, and the average would be into the 150's. Probably my best hit out, even with a head full of snot, since Boston - seriously! Even with the inevitable presence of DOMS after yesterday's sharpener session, whacking the headphones on and belting out a solid session on the tready just worked for me this evening.
I've been told indirectly to watch my back as some younger runners are creeping up timewise and making big strides. Fantastic! That tells me the club is getting stronger and will get stronger provided we can keep the interest up of the 18-22 year olds. Whilst I have won 2 winter champion awards at the club and I'm chuffed to have done so, I don't believe I'm the best runner at the club and the award reflects consistency rather than being significantly better than anyone else. I'd love to make it three, but missing two races whilst in the US will work against me - just have get back in the groove again.
Some parting wisdom from Kevin.....
0695555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555/
]5u;45]utq54
Translation: daddy, why do you put me on the keyboard and try to make me type?
750 m warm up @ 4.42 min/km
250 m warm up @ 4.17
3K @ 3.45
3K @ 3.48
3K @ 3.51
2K of cooling down, slowing down 10 sec/km every 500 m from about 4.40. No repetitions, just dropping the speed every 3Ks to ease into solid running again.
Not quick, but a really solid hitout. The HR would have spiked about 166, and the average would be into the 150's. Probably my best hit out, even with a head full of snot, since Boston - seriously! Even with the inevitable presence of DOMS after yesterday's sharpener session, whacking the headphones on and belting out a solid session on the tready just worked for me this evening.
I've been told indirectly to watch my back as some younger runners are creeping up timewise and making big strides. Fantastic! That tells me the club is getting stronger and will get stronger provided we can keep the interest up of the 18-22 year olds. Whilst I have won 2 winter champion awards at the club and I'm chuffed to have done so, I don't believe I'm the best runner at the club and the award reflects consistency rather than being significantly better than anyone else. I'd love to make it three, but missing two races whilst in the US will work against me - just have get back in the groove again.
Some parting wisdom from Kevin.....
0695555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555/
]5u;45]utq54
Translation: daddy, why do you put me on the keyboard and try to make me type?
Monday, June 9, 2008
Celtics 2 - 0, Federer destroyed and some short, sharp stuff.
6 - 3, 6 -1, 6 - 0. Scores Roger Federer wins with on a frequent basis, but this was the caning that Rafa "half-popeye" Nadal handed out to him the French Open final. Wow.
Celtics up 2 - 0. Off to LA now, Kobe gets better calls, the front row seat holders have better tans and the Celts get "road-itis". Paul Pierce needs to keep delivering "Truths" to the Lakers.
Doggies still sitting in 3rd on the AFL ladder, yet to play Geelong or Collingwood but showing signs of very good things to come.
Easy day today - tried the XC/Track Flats I bought earlier in the year for the first time to do some short stuff on the track before a big session tomorrow. Run to & from the gym, strides, 6 x 200 with a 100 walk, 100 jog recovery. All between 31 & 33 secs - not setting the world on fire, but it was nice striding out in that manner for the first time in god knows how long and just pushing. Est. 8ks total + some weights + abdominal work, so a good day.
Now for schoolwork....AAAAAAARGH!
Celtics up 2 - 0. Off to LA now, Kobe gets better calls, the front row seat holders have better tans and the Celts get "road-itis". Paul Pierce needs to keep delivering "Truths" to the Lakers.
Doggies still sitting in 3rd on the AFL ladder, yet to play Geelong or Collingwood but showing signs of very good things to come.
Easy day today - tried the XC/Track Flats I bought earlier in the year for the first time to do some short stuff on the track before a big session tomorrow. Run to & from the gym, strides, 6 x 200 with a 100 walk, 100 jog recovery. All between 31 & 33 secs - not setting the world on fire, but it was nice striding out in that manner for the first time in god knows how long and just pushing. Est. 8ks total + some weights + abdominal work, so a good day.
Now for schoolwork....AAAAAAARGH!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
a fluff day, really...
My run...yeah, only 10 hours too late, but it was alright. 18ks along Newport lakes, Willi foreshore & beach & back through Newport in 78 minutes, max HR 153, av 140. Beautifully cool, still night to run, again it felt good, and then got the reward of Pork burritos w/salad + a beer for tea. Once I get rid of this head/throat full of snot I can really knuckle down with training.
Went for a massage at Highpoint, ran into a work colleague (Orlando, or Scalz as I call him) and espoused benefits of said massage therapy centre. Probably haven't worked as hard as I should have, but it's a long weekend and tomorrow's the day for that. Jen's off to see Indiana Jones so i'll be at home working like a boring tit.
Jen has put a 14 second video of Brian on YouTube and for those who'd met him, it captures all of his silliness. Awesome!
Went for a massage at Highpoint, ran into a work colleague (Orlando, or Scalz as I call him) and espoused benefits of said massage therapy centre. Probably haven't worked as hard as I should have, but it's a long weekend and tomorrow's the day for that. Jen's off to see Indiana Jones so i'll be at home working like a boring tit.
Jen has put a 14 second video of Brian on YouTube and for those who'd met him, it captures all of his silliness. Awesome!
the day just gets away from ye...
I planned to double up yesterday, but the day just got away and it never eventuated.
The initial plan was to go to the gym and do a track session in the afternoon (2 x 2K hard + the run there and back) but after doing my initial session (5K of rolling hills on the treadmill, 21 minutes, 250m of climbing elevation, max HR 160) too late in the morning, time just ran out with grocery shopping & house stuff & various forms of stuffing around. On the upside, all those giving me crap about looking like Wolverine or House with the growing hair and the crazy chops (I do love the stirring though, it's great!) have to (and will) find something to stir me up about as I took the #3 to my noggin. I feel quite dirty doing what I'm about to do, but I'm going to bastardise a quote by Shania Twain...
"man, I feel like a runner..."
YUK, it's done (shudder!). Seriously though, getting the clippers to my head just puts me back in running mode, a mode I've struggled to recover since arriving home and coping the subsequent school load and other goings on.
The day ended on a very good note - Jen and I caught up with Marita and Andy for a feast of Norweigan meatballs, alcohol and homemade peppermint slice, out at their Coburg unit. We just chatted about the trip, played with their Guineas Elsie, Eddie and Gloria and watched a bit of Father Ted. A relaxed, unpretentious night-in with friends is pretty hard to top.
Ana Ivanovic won the women's French Open - her "grunt-free" beauty could well send the sport through the roof. Now for the Rog to beat Nadal...yeah right...
The initial plan was to go to the gym and do a track session in the afternoon (2 x 2K hard + the run there and back) but after doing my initial session (5K of rolling hills on the treadmill, 21 minutes, 250m of climbing elevation, max HR 160) too late in the morning, time just ran out with grocery shopping & house stuff & various forms of stuffing around. On the upside, all those giving me crap about looking like Wolverine or House with the growing hair and the crazy chops (I do love the stirring though, it's great!) have to (and will) find something to stir me up about as I took the #3 to my noggin. I feel quite dirty doing what I'm about to do, but I'm going to bastardise a quote by Shania Twain...
"man, I feel like a runner..."
YUK, it's done (shudder!). Seriously though, getting the clippers to my head just puts me back in running mode, a mode I've struggled to recover since arriving home and coping the subsequent school load and other goings on.
The day ended on a very good note - Jen and I caught up with Marita and Andy for a feast of Norweigan meatballs, alcohol and homemade peppermint slice, out at their Coburg unit. We just chatted about the trip, played with their Guineas Elsie, Eddie and Gloria and watched a bit of Father Ted. A relaxed, unpretentious night-in with friends is pretty hard to top.
Ana Ivanovic won the women's French Open - her "grunt-free" beauty could well send the sport through the roof. Now for the Rog to beat Nadal...yeah right...
Friday, June 6, 2008
Celtics 1 - 0, getting the groove back.
It was a relatively slow day at work - exam correction and tying up loose ends admin wise, I even got to show off the Boston Marathon DVD to a couple of the colleagues. They seem to understand the significance of the achievement, moreso the PE teacher (congrats on fatherhood Scotty!) than Jess and Jan, but as colleagues who I value highly, I'm glad they stuck around for a few minutes of boredom.
The Celtics are up 1 - 0. I've adopted them ever since qualifying for Boston and being able to see a Celtics game in the flesh. I've had a soft spot for them, the Knicks and probably the Pistons ever since getting into the NBA in my mid-late teens, but running the marathon there and getting caught up in the Celtic hoo-ha has roped me in. Three "Kevins" have made their mark on this great franchise (see pics above)
1. Kevin McHale - hall of famer, current GM of Minnesota Timerwolves, potential deliverer of Celtics championship due to trading away...
2. Kevin Garnett - acquired from McHale's Wolves for half of the Celtics bench, crazy intense.
3. Kevin - 5 years old, Geelong AFL fan. Loves a good bandwagon and parsley. Our bud!
Run stuff - 12ks around Willy, Newport and Spotty. No breeze, cool, nice rhythm. 51 minutes, the heart rate topped out at 153, but it felt terrific.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Speedwork, sleeping in meetings...all in a days' work.
I got through those practice exams and was actually OK with the results. The kids made an effort and most passed, with errors being lapses rather than fundamental stuff.
A senior administrator today dished out one of the finest sprays to a group of kids I've seen. It was nice to see leadership show a bit of passion and anger towards a group who might still be in la-la land and metaphorically bitch-slap these kids out of their apathy and "handout" mindset. What was just as impressive was a student standing up for herself and whilst accepting all that was said (note: the spray didn't really apply to her as she's a worker) she threw the onus back on some staff not doing the right thing by their kids. It's all about caring, man!
Last few notes on the working day - last night's lack of sleep caught up with me at approximately 3:38pm during a meeting, and required a wake-up pen thrown at my head by Lefty Brad to save me from snoring and getting caught.
Rightio, now for the running stuff. Ran to the gym and back. In between doing that I fit in some speedwork on the treadmill. 2 sets of 5 x 600 at about 2.02 with 90 rest, and 3 minutes between sets. Felt good to be able to belt out something a little quicker than what I've done of late, but I've sweated out a packet due to a newly acquired head cold so with a bit of luck I'll manage to avoid having a head full of snot tomorrow but I know now, as I type, that this is improbable. Ball park kms for the day about 14.
A senior administrator today dished out one of the finest sprays to a group of kids I've seen. It was nice to see leadership show a bit of passion and anger towards a group who might still be in la-la land and metaphorically bitch-slap these kids out of their apathy and "handout" mindset. What was just as impressive was a student standing up for herself and whilst accepting all that was said (note: the spray didn't really apply to her as she's a worker) she threw the onus back on some staff not doing the right thing by their kids. It's all about caring, man!
Last few notes on the working day - last night's lack of sleep caught up with me at approximately 3:38pm during a meeting, and required a wake-up pen thrown at my head by Lefty Brad to save me from snoring and getting caught.
Lefty Brad (a reference to his strong political leanings) dropped me off home and we had another of our regular discussions/arguments about how to change the world one piece at a time. Today's discussions were Barack Obama and public health, tomorrow he'll have a go at me for being a snob (???).
A Run Day, yay!
A break from exam correction - yay yay f$#kin' yay! At least I squeezed a run - just shy of 10K, just over 40 minutes around Hoppers. Not really inspiring terrain, a familiar, flat course to those runners in the area - along the Fed Trail and around the streets. The ticker got higher than expected and the overall feel and vibe of the run was heavy and sluggish - a shame, as conditions were ideal. Kind of describes where my head's at moreso than it does the rest of me. A long way to go to regain pre-Boston race form, but the rhythm and routine probably won't re-appear until the new financial year.
Love hurts, death hurts. After the euphoria of the trip, reality had to return. It was good to be back among familiar faces, particularly our boys (guinea pigs) Kevin and Brian. But tragically, our time with little B was cut short. Last Friday (30/5/08) a relapse of kidney stones came on in a hurry and just overcame him. Jen and I weren't able to say goodbye to our previous two, but our vibrant, cheeky and ridiculous little mate Brian was in so much pain we got to spend his final minutes with him at the vets before making that agonising decision to end his pain. It's still raw, and combined with the stresses and intensity of returning to the classroom after six weeks away, things could be better.
So above are a couple of pics of Brian at his most absurd - RIP Beautiful Bud, we miss you (Ads, Jen and your brother Kev!)
Now, back to the corrections.
Love hurts, death hurts. After the euphoria of the trip, reality had to return. It was good to be back among familiar faces, particularly our boys (guinea pigs) Kevin and Brian. But tragically, our time with little B was cut short. Last Friday (30/5/08) a relapse of kidney stones came on in a hurry and just overcame him. Jen and I weren't able to say goodbye to our previous two, but our vibrant, cheeky and ridiculous little mate Brian was in so much pain we got to spend his final minutes with him at the vets before making that agonising decision to end his pain. It's still raw, and combined with the stresses and intensity of returning to the classroom after six weeks away, things could be better.
So above are a couple of pics of Brian at his most absurd - RIP Beautiful Bud, we miss you (Ads, Jen and your brother Kev!)
Now, back to the corrections.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Genesis...in the beginning, Ads...
Welcome to my blog - a blog about running and the odd snippet into the cesspool that is my thought process. Thanks to my innovative, clever work colleague and friend Tay, I have purchased a pass on the "BlogTrain" and will now humour, challenge, perplex, inform and bore you senseless on a daily basis.
Stay tuned...a run report to follow.
Stay tuned...a run report to follow.
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