Two weeks into the school term, two ordinary weeks...unfortunately no coincidence.
I'm struggling for fitness and motivation, and as much as I want to run and regain my post-Boston form of February-April, it's not happening. I seem to be making excuses and these seem to be winning. If I was to fill out a questionnaire for all the right things to do from a running standpoint, there would not be an unticked box in the "needs improvement" column. A lot can be read into the "you've done a marathon and you're still finding your feet" but that was 3 months ago. Having said that, results came in February and thereafter post-Melbourne, but I was training for Boston and I had time to adjust and work pressures aren't what they are now. Diet, training, organisation need to improve. Realistically, I just need to write July off as monthus horriblus, get back to basics and run.
The week - 3 runs, about 35 kms total. 1 competition - XC Bundoora (26/7/08). 12kms (accurately measured), 44:40, slower each lap (4 x 3km), really hurting in the last 2kms, activity from both major orifices post-race indicating I wasn't feeling the best, and still don't feel great now.
Let's move on.
PS. A positive has come from the week. We have welcomed Jeffrey the Guinea Pig into the fold. A spritely little shit he is too.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Weekus interrptus...schoolus suckus
Pretty ordinary first week back at school - could not find a groove, the kids weren't all motivated. 5 days of running, 3 days of quality running, a bit over 70 kms total. Took Sunday off - it just didn't happen, and Monday and Friday didn't get a birth either. Copped a few whacks being a step ladder for kids at a footy clinic - the body didn't agree with the contact and two or three days of monstrous morning headaches (including a day off Thursday) is what I had to show for it.
Today's run wasn't all bad - 22 kms, but three hours later than planned. Just along through Newport Lakes, along the river to Dynon Road and back through Yarraville (Cruikshank Park & Hockey Field). A few little climbs and some nice soft ground here and there. If I can get organised for school tomorrow (snigger snigger) I could get in a 5am run - but it won't happen.
Today's run wasn't all bad - 22 kms, but three hours later than planned. Just along through Newport Lakes, along the river to Dynon Road and back through Yarraville (Cruikshank Park & Hockey Field). A few little climbs and some nice soft ground here and there. If I can get organised for school tomorrow (snigger snigger) I could get in a 5am run - but it won't happen.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
tough 10 miler...
The day (yesterday) got off to a good start. I brewed my birthday present (a homebrew beer voucher from www.barleycornbrewers.com,) based on San Francisco's "Anchor Steam" pale ale. Should be available for bottling in about 3 weeks with the fermenting and so on. It was a heap of fun, going through the precise process and watching and discussing with others as they, brewed, bottled and enjoyed their product. They give you a six pack of leftovers to enjoy based on what others had previously brewed, all different styles. Three went to Dad (1 full + 2 halves we'd got started on @ the brewery), two to my brothers and one to Adrian my running teammate.
Went down to Geelong with Adrian where I seemed to appal him with the video of Kevin talking on my phone. As expected in Geelong - cold, not too windy (during the race), compounded by the fact we were relatively close to Eastern Beach and getting the bay breeze. The 4 km x 4 lap course was interesting, not too hilly, but very tricky. I would have been thrilled to go under an hour, but it wasn't to be, as I just wasn't strong enough and the head was too snotty and my time was 60:28, which I'm OK with. Although the spikes were a necesity, my legs aren't really agreeing with me (16km in spikes is quite a way) and this afternoon's run should be interesting to say the least.
Caught up with Rick (work colleague) and went to his house down Leopold way and met his wife Melinda and their feline/canine progeny. Just chilled out, had a chat over a beer, one dog (Oscar) liked the smell of my jeans a little too much (must have sniffed Jarrod's new puppy Chocky) and it was a cruisy late afternoon. Feel asleep absolutely knackered on the train back from Geelong to Footscray, and then got home where Jen and I just ordered out pasta.
Went down to Geelong with Adrian where I seemed to appal him with the video of Kevin talking on my phone. As expected in Geelong - cold, not too windy (during the race), compounded by the fact we were relatively close to Eastern Beach and getting the bay breeze. The 4 km x 4 lap course was interesting, not too hilly, but very tricky. I would have been thrilled to go under an hour, but it wasn't to be, as I just wasn't strong enough and the head was too snotty and my time was 60:28, which I'm OK with. Although the spikes were a necesity, my legs aren't really agreeing with me (16km in spikes is quite a way) and this afternoon's run should be interesting to say the least.
Caught up with Rick (work colleague) and went to his house down Leopold way and met his wife Melinda and their feline/canine progeny. Just chilled out, had a chat over a beer, one dog (Oscar) liked the smell of my jeans a little too much (must have sniffed Jarrod's new puppy Chocky) and it was a cruisy late afternoon. Feel asleep absolutely knackered on the train back from Geelong to Footscray, and then got home where Jen and I just ordered out pasta.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Outside again, hitting the Newport Lakes for a few undulations and climbs in light of tomorrow's XC. 7ks all up, a shade over half an hour and it was damn cold, but not as windy as expected.
I have some momentum back up and going now, so here's hoping "back-to-school" doesn't screw things up and that running can be my escape and release on returning to work - the simple joy of turning the legs over, fast or slow, and getting home with hands either on my hips (easy) or knees (tough) after a workout.
I have some momentum back up and going now, so here's hoping "back-to-school" doesn't screw things up and that running can be my escape and release on returning to work - the simple joy of turning the legs over, fast or slow, and getting home with hands either on my hips (easy) or knees (tough) after a workout.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
indoor sharpie
With a tough race on Saturday, there's no need for any gut busting sessions, but something nice and sharp wouldn't go astray.
My session (indoors, away from the biting wind) was this 2.5km warm up, and then 8 x 500m reps with a floating (1:15 for 250m, or 5min/k pace) recovery. The reps got progressively slower (that was planned), from 1:42, 1:42, 1:43, 1:44, 1:44, 1:44, 1:45, 1:46. With a slowing 2.75 km cool down, the session in total was 11km long in just shy of 50 minutes. I feel a bit better about Saturday, but let's see what the days bring.
My session (indoors, away from the biting wind) was this 2.5km warm up, and then 8 x 500m reps with a floating (1:15 for 250m, or 5min/k pace) recovery. The reps got progressively slower (that was planned), from 1:42, 1:42, 1:43, 1:44, 1:44, 1:44, 1:45, 1:46. With a slowing 2.75 km cool down, the session in total was 11km long in just shy of 50 minutes. I feel a bit better about Saturday, but let's see what the days bring.
Great outdoors...this is catchy man!!
Had to go down to school today to do some stuff (hideous - back to earth in a few days) and then got home to put the bike in for a service, providing an additional source of cross-training on weekends and quiet days at school allow for the possibility to ride.
Arrived at the gym in the late afternoon and proceeded to run 13.4 kms down along the river to Footscray, back through Yarraville and Spotty and than back to the gym - all in all a smidge over 56 minutes. It's been a good running week so far, with a very easy Friday, an awful Saturday and hopefully a good Sunday run to tip me back up around 90 kms. Lots of work to do...
Trying to get my weight down a little - eating, drinking and relaxing post-Boston (9 weeks on and I'm still using it as an excuse!!)has got me a few kgs above where I want to be, but I should be able to slim down by Burnley and still be strong simultaneously.
Arrived at the gym in the late afternoon and proceeded to run 13.4 kms down along the river to Footscray, back through Yarraville and Spotty and than back to the gym - all in all a smidge over 56 minutes. It's been a good running week so far, with a very easy Friday, an awful Saturday and hopefully a good Sunday run to tip me back up around 90 kms. Lots of work to do...
Trying to get my weight down a little - eating, drinking and relaxing post-Boston (9 weeks on and I'm still using it as an excuse!!)has got me a few kgs above where I want to be, but I should be able to slim down by Burnley and still be strong simultaneously.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
a sharpie indoors....
Back inside for the fast(ish) stuff....
2 x 3K with 3.5 minutes walking recovery + w/u & c/d, total running 11 km. 2nd 3K slightly faster than 1st (10:43 2nd; 10:48 first), HR peaked @ 161. I think this is good, we'll find out Saturday @ the 10 miler down at Geelong.
No profound insights today, too much to do with school and the house.
Au revoir.
2 x 3K with 3.5 minutes walking recovery + w/u & c/d, total running 11 km. 2nd 3K slightly faster than 1st (10:43 2nd; 10:48 first), HR peaked @ 161. I think this is good, we'll find out Saturday @ the 10 miler down at Geelong.
No profound insights today, too much to do with school and the house.
Au revoir.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Outdoors...this one's for Stu
Shitty wind, a tinge of rain...nothin' like it for a stride!
A moderately easy 19.3 kms (thanks mapmyrun.com) with a few little climbs, made easier by having a slight tailwind home, but the majority of it was in my face. A fellow blogging teammate, whose name (cough! in the title of the post! cough!) shall not be mentioned, rubbished for all my "great indoors" training and stung me into action (well running is an outdoors activity, ja?).
Now to go and enter for Saturday's godwaful 10 mile XC event in Geelong. On the upside, I'll be brewing beer that morning, so it all ebbs and flows, doesn't it?
A moderately easy 19.3 kms (thanks mapmyrun.com) with a few little climbs, made easier by having a slight tailwind home, but the majority of it was in my face. A fellow blogging teammate, whose name (cough! in the title of the post! cough!) shall not be mentioned, rubbished for all my "great indoors" training and stung me into action (well running is an outdoors activity, ja?).
Now to go and enter for Saturday's godwaful 10 mile XC event in Geelong. On the upside, I'll be brewing beer that morning, so it all ebbs and flows, doesn't it?
Sunday, July 6, 2008
a day off, a week complete blah blah blah
Friday - guess what? I ran outside. How about that! A nice 13.5 kms in 56 minutes with a few climbs but for the most part flat. Put the hammer down for about 5-6 minutes but for the most part a fairly controlled run.
Saturday - day off, nothing achieved really.
Sunday - thought about a long run, got up too late, did a sharp work indoors (who'd have thought?) instead. 9.75 kms in total, 8kms hard, 40 minutes. 1km warm up, 8 kms progressing in speed from 15.6 km/h for the first km and progressing .2 km/h each km to finish the 9kms in just over 34 minutes. The remainder was simply a cooldown prgressing from 12km, down 1km/h every 100m or thereabouts. I thought about doubling up, but an adventure by Jen and I to the Belgian Beer Cafe in Southbank (god bless 9% Trappist ales!) kicked that in the arse in a hurry.
Saturday - day off, nothing achieved really.
Sunday - thought about a long run, got up too late, did a sharp work indoors (who'd have thought?) instead. 9.75 kms in total, 8kms hard, 40 minutes. 1km warm up, 8 kms progressing in speed from 15.6 km/h for the first km and progressing .2 km/h each km to finish the 9kms in just over 34 minutes. The remainder was simply a cooldown prgressing from 12km, down 1km/h every 100m or thereabouts. I thought about doubling up, but an adventure by Jen and I to the Belgian Beer Cafe in Southbank (god bless 9% Trappist ales!) kicked that in the arse in a hurry.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Fatigue? fitness? confidence? who knows...
Today's relatively calm day would have been the ideal opportunity for a solid threshold/tempo run, but again I did my short/hard stuff in relative comfort.
W/u & c/d to and fro the gym, with 6ks of gentle rolling hills at tempo/threshold pace (maybe quicker at this point, I'm not sure) on the machine. Started at 15.8 (3:47 km pace), and increased by .1 km/h every km, finishing that in a time of a bit over 22 minutes (HR spiked @ 190 - too high or perhaps an irregular reading). I think honestly it's just a confidence thing - when the time is right, I'll push, but I'm feeling like I'm making incremental (albeit slowly) progress doing fast stuff on the tready, just getting confidence out of being able to complete runs at a particular speed. Did some more weight and core stuff. Total distance covered 12.5 kms, 6 being at "effort". Went for a massage later in the day, as I felt particularly fatigued on the run home, due to the fact that I've done more training in four days (nearly 6 hours) than on average for the past 5 weeks. This is what a relaxed mind and school holidays does for you!!
W/u & c/d to and fro the gym, with 6ks of gentle rolling hills at tempo/threshold pace (maybe quicker at this point, I'm not sure) on the machine. Started at 15.8 (3:47 km pace), and increased by .1 km/h every km, finishing that in a time of a bit over 22 minutes (HR spiked @ 190 - too high or perhaps an irregular reading). I think honestly it's just a confidence thing - when the time is right, I'll push, but I'm feeling like I'm making incremental (albeit slowly) progress doing fast stuff on the tready, just getting confidence out of being able to complete runs at a particular speed. Did some more weight and core stuff. Total distance covered 12.5 kms, 6 being at "effort". Went for a massage later in the day, as I felt particularly fatigued on the run home, due to the fact that I've done more training in four days (nearly 6 hours) than on average for the past 5 weeks. This is what a relaxed mind and school holidays does for you!!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Fairweather runners...meh
More indoors stuff - trying to avoid a cold, the wind, all the other elements that actually make running a CHALLENGE AND FUN!!
14ks in an hour. Started the machine @ 13.4 (4.30 pace) and moved up in .2 increments every 1.5 kms and did the last 250 m @ 15.2 (3.55 pace). Max HR was about 160 and that was only brief. 300m of climbing, and that was just playing with inclines here and there. 1 km jog/walk cooldown. Stretch and abdominal work afterwards. All in all, a satisfying workout.
14ks in an hour. Started the machine @ 13.4 (4.30 pace) and moved up in .2 increments every 1.5 kms and did the last 250 m @ 15.2 (3.55 pace). Max HR was about 160 and that was only brief. 300m of climbing, and that was just playing with inclines here and there. 1 km jog/walk cooldown. Stretch and abdominal work afterwards. All in all, a satisfying workout.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
School holidays...god bless 'em
Sometimes, you simply need the opportunity to mentally switch off and enjoy unhindered what you do...run! No detailed analysis, no astrophysics, just lace the trainers up and...run.
Mind you, with the wind as it's been, I've been a wussbag and kept the overwhelming majority indoors. This won't help in competition, but it's getting it done and with a degree of satisfaction.
Monday w/u + c/d to & from gym (running home into yuk nor-wester wind was...well, yuk!). 8kms of rolling hills in the treadmill in about 34 minutes. Weights & abdominal work also. 95 minutes total exercise, 14.5 kms of running.
Today (indoors) - w/u of 1.5 kms, starting @ 12.4 km/h and increasing by .2 km/h every 250m.
9km of solid running - 2 @ 15.6 km/h (est 3:54 km); 2 @ 15.8 (est 3:49-3:50); 2.5 @ 16 (3.45); 1 @ 16.2 (est. 3:41); 1.5 @ 16.4 (est 3:38-3:39) so it was nice to get progressively harder and come close to nailing a tempo/threshold run. Easy 2k of cooling down from about 13.0 km/h and slowing .4 every 250 m to conclude with the 250m @ walking pace (6 km/h, or 10:00 km). A brief (too brief) stretch, and then out the door to meet Jen for Mexican in town.
Mind you, with the wind as it's been, I've been a wussbag and kept the overwhelming majority indoors. This won't help in competition, but it's getting it done and with a degree of satisfaction.
Monday w/u + c/d to & from gym (running home into yuk nor-wester wind was...well, yuk!). 8kms of rolling hills in the treadmill in about 34 minutes. Weights & abdominal work also. 95 minutes total exercise, 14.5 kms of running.
Today (indoors) - w/u of 1.5 kms, starting @ 12.4 km/h and increasing by .2 km/h every 250m.
9km of solid running - 2 @ 15.6 km/h (est 3:54 km); 2 @ 15.8 (est 3:49-3:50); 2.5 @ 16 (3.45); 1 @ 16.2 (est. 3:41); 1.5 @ 16.4 (est 3:38-3:39) so it was nice to get progressively harder and come close to nailing a tempo/threshold run. Easy 2k of cooling down from about 13.0 km/h and slowing .4 every 250 m to conclude with the 250m @ walking pace (6 km/h, or 10:00 km). A brief (too brief) stretch, and then out the door to meet Jen for Mexican in town.
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