is shit better than nothing?

Today's workouts bring this to mind.

Yesterday - nice and early before the Big Day Out. 7.62 kms in just over 30 minutes, rolling through the Newport Lakes. This put me in a great frame of mind, culminating in a terrific day at the Big Day Out.

Today - yuk. Whether it was residual from yesterday, the heat, the hour I spent on the Tennis Court acting as ballboy for some friends and rediscovering the flat forehand of my youth, most likely a combination of all of them, and perhaps the fear of being woken from my 5 1/2 week mental slumber also, today's efforts didn't go any good.

AM - treadmill (prob. too late in the morning). 5 x 800 @ 18.2 - 18.4 km/h (3:15-3:18 pace) with a gentle rolling 200m recovery + w/u & c/d of 2km each. Just terrible. Heart rate only peaked at 168, but the effort didn't feel right, and I actually wanted to 8 reps but cut things short @ 5.

PM - treadmill. 4 x 500 @ 19.2 km/h with a rolling 250m recovery @ 10 km/h. Again, the goal was to get through 6 after pulling up on the morning one earlier than planned, and still couldn't get through that. HR peaked @ 165, which doesn't imply much, but if it doesn't feel right, what can you do? A 2K warm up + a walking cooldown of 1km.

Finally hit 30...

Sunday's long run finally got to 30K's - 30.8 to be precise, in 2:12. Nice comfortable run, some good climbs around Essendon + the usuals (Somerville Rd. Bridge, Harris St, Bunbury St, Edgewater Blvd) and it only really got to be hard work just beyond the hour mark. Felt pretty knackered afterwards and not taking my gels may have been both a help and a hindrance. Went for a massage later in the day and the massueur found some spots...he worked on those spots...it hurt...a whole stack, but there's some tenderness on my upper inner calf which is rearing its head again, and he did an absolute number on it.

Saturday I stayed inside as I was doing some work for school, so I did a tempo session on the treadmill. 10 minutes of warming up, 30 minutes of effort and 10 minutes of cooling down.
The effort went as follows: 5 @ 16.0 km/h, then in .2 km/h increments for each subsequent 5 minutes, so the last 5 minutes were done @ 17 km/h. 12.5 kms of running.

The upcoming week should be interesting, with a music festival and a city gig, plus the return of school, the candle need only burn at one end, as the small folk return the week after, and my life then gets turned upside down.

108 kms for the week...baby steps, baby steps.

ya bin doon it ul roooooong

That's what a drunk Scotsman might say to me.

Yesterday I went for a blood lactate test out at Moonee Ponds with a coach who coaches some of the state's (and the one of the country's) most promising runners. The test consisted of four 1600m repetitions @ 4:20; 4:00; 3:40; and 3:20 m/km, with Gregor (abovementioned coach) taking a blood sample to detemine the level of lactic acid in the blood after each repetition. The result basically indicated I'd not done enough anaerobic threshold/lactate threshold work, as indicated by my drop off in the 5K on Tuesday. This only makes for a minor adjustment in my training, moreso in intensity rather than volume (although that's coming) and I'll start to do more of the stuff I was doing post-Boston.

It's really only been December (or perhaps late November) when I really started to plan for the Canberra Marathon, and there's plenty of work to be done.

Estimated kms 11.4 (5 ks of w/u & c/d).

Today - 5 laps of the Newport Lakes inner track (working all relevant hills) + getting there via Blackshaws Rd. Bridge & coming home down down Watt via Blackshaws. A bit of intensity (got up to 161 HR) and the total of the run was 43:13 for 10.46kms, so I'm happy with the hitout.

dead legs...

Monday - nice and easy through Yarraville & Seddon with the usual climbs thrown in. 11.2 kms in 47 minutes, and it felt OK, inspite of a bit of fatigue from Sunday's run.

Tuesday - big day.
AM - easy 6.9 kms on the treadmill in half an hour, including 2 x 2kms @ marathon pace (3:54 m/km). I was asked about the treadmill running and it raises a valid point. Why do it? I guess it's a convenience, a crutch of sorts. Yesterdays was simply to beat the heat in the morning, as I'd be racing that evening, but it's also very handy for controlled speedwork/intervals/tempos, and for those days when you need a run but just can't be arsed leaving the house for whatever reason - more a winter thing than anything else.

PM- racing a 1500 @ a 5K + just shy of 5K's of warming up & cooling down. Cool changes are a bit of a chook raffle in light of the type of wind they throw up, but the conditions presented for us all to run tonight were absolutely spot on.

1500 - another season's best, albeit by about half a second or so. 4:27:7 - I'll take that in light of the big k's I'm trying to do. Aside from a slower 3rd lap (I don't know how this came about), the race felt even and controlled and my finish was strong.

5K - 17:22:xx. Controlled first km (3:28:xx), quicker 2nd & 3rd (3:24;xx; 3:26:xx); slower 4th & 5th (both 3:31:xx). I finished 18th overall, which indicates how strong the field was on the whole, and three of the quicker guys over longer distances ran the 3K and the fastest guy in the region was off pacing a 3K interstate from all accounts.

I'm very happy with the results as I'm in a "big" phase with the training at the moment, which I hope to carry well into the school year.

Cracked the ton - finally.

Still haven't done a 30k run, but through some easy work yesterday + a stride on the treadmill, I got it done - 104kms for the week.

So here's what it looked like -
Thursday: Run to & from Gym (track) to warm up & cool down. Speedwork "ladder" session (it must have some sort of wanky name, it's not an original workout) of 100/200/300/400/3/2/1/2/3/4 @ 3:00 m/km pace (18/36/54/72) with a jogging recovery @ 5:00 m/km pace (30/60/90/12) of the distance just covered. 4.6km covered on the track (2.5 @ effort) + 6.6 round trip to & from the track.

Friday - early run through Spotty/Yarraville/Seddon, taking in the usual climbs. Easy effort, 12.25 kms in total.

Saturday - am. 5.5 kms on the treadmill, including 3 x 1km intervals @ 3:54 m/km , which is my goal marathon pace. Very comfortable - jumk miles of sorts.

pm - race day. Easy warm up of about 2.2 kms, then a 1500m race. Aside from last Saturday's 3K, this was probably my best effort for the season. I finally managed to crack a 4:30 (4:28:XX I think) after an evenly run race (3rd lap probably the slowest), something that I'm doing is working. Followed that up with 2 laps of the river from the track (2 separate runs). Total for the day is in the vicinity of 15kms or so.

Today - long easy run down to Apex Park in Altona, and back through Willi to home via Melbourne Rd. Ran mostly on the road (grass rather than footpaths where there was no road) to see how the Lunartrainers felt as I plan to run Canberra in them, and they ticked many boxes. 29.4 kms in 2:09, average HR of about 133, so a very comfortable (albeit flat) run indeed. Got a very good massage (ie it friggin hurt!) and the legs feel fantastic.

Last week of freedom, best to utilise it!

Beatin' the heat...

It's been a warm few days here in Melbourne town, which is naturally going to have an effect on one's running.

Monday - took the day off completely. Felt a little sore combining track with Sunday's long run, and I still felt a little bit ginger afterwards.

Tuesday - "beat the heat" interval session. 7am start, 15 minute warm-up (or shuffle if we're getting technical) then 6 x 5 minute efforts through Newport & Williamstown, with a two minute recovery job between each. Nine minute cool-down to front-door. Just shy of 15kms covered. It's great to get in those extra efforts. Streching afterwards.

pm - break in the new Livestrong Lunartrainers (as modelled by the boys on the right) on the treadmill with an easy 30 minutes, alternating speeds between 12.6 through to 13.4 km every 500 metres. Just over 6 kms done. Aside from the heat inside (even with the fan blaring), it was an easy effort. Did some weights, stretching & abdominal work afterwards.

Today - am - 35 minutes spinning on the wind trainer + weights, abdominal work & stretching. At 9:30am with the fan on it was still stinkin' hot, and got a little more drenched than usual.

pm - So-called recovery run in the midst of the so-called cool change. Well it was definitely cooler, the breeze was definitely a southerly. So why did I average about 147 for my HR? As it turns out, the 14 kms I covered took me just over 58 minutes, which is slightly slower than my target marathon pace, so that might explain it. Hopefully the cold bath helps too.

Made further steps towards a transition to the new school sorting out old junk from the old place that I won't use, or have surplus of, and did a little more reading.

times are a comin' down

Friday was an easy 10km in 42 minutes, with 35 minutes of wind trainer + some weights & abdominals in the late afternoon befor tea.

Saturday - race day. In the late morning I had a Cookies & Cream Cheesecake with a cappuccino just before going to track. In the dark recesses of my mind a voice (who sounded remarkably like Skeletor..."Adaaaaaam, you will paaaaaaaay for this with your booooooooooowels" (cue evil Skeletor laughter)) told me the Cheesecake was an unwise move. Perhaps it was, but man, it was good.

The program this week called for an 800m and a 3K. I'm happy with incremental improvement over the season, PB's would simply be a bonus but improbable as the focus is on the Canberra Marathon. Easy 10 minute warm up running up a couple of nice hills at the back of Coburg's track and down again. Was in the 2nd heat of the 800m, those up to 2:15 and ended up running what would have been low 2:13's, so a season's best thus far. Cooled down with another easy 10 minutes.
Again, just hoping for a better 3K than the last one I did, just to tell me I'm improving. Again, another success. 9:46 - with a 3:10 or 3:11 opening km, but struggled with the last 800m (Cheesecake wanting to leave my body through the rear orifice perhaps?).

Total for the day (est. warm ups & cool downs about 7.5 - 8kms) about 11kms.

Today - wanted to do 30kms, did 29. Wanted to run for at least 2:10-2:15, ran 2:06. No matter, all the signs were good. Av HR about 136, max 147, generally a flat run through Willi & Newport & Yarraville but took in the usual climbs to liven things up a bit.

Managed to get a massage in at Highpoint and will be attending the "hit-and-giggle" 20-20 match between the Aussies and the South Africans with a few mates (Poms at that!). A few beers beforehand to save consuming the swill they sell inside and a feed, and it'll be a good night.

running and school stuff

Made some purchases for school today - how friggin' exciting! Just some things which I will recommend students to purchase as well to save me a national budget in printing and photocopying, but alas, more stuff to correct. If they're names are on it though, I'll be ever-so-slightly more scared than usual of losing it. Had a peep out the factory outlets too - looking to add to the rotation & or find some spikes (the spikes themselves, not shoes) without success. Money saved though, so I can't complain.

But this is a running blog, or at least its supposed to be. So here's some running stuff.

Monday - am: Way-too-lazy 30 minutes on treadmill before heading out for a massage. 6.5 kms covered, barely broke into a sweat, heart rate got no higher than about 138. Cool, but a bit junkish. Easy stretching.
-pm: 35 minutes on the bike (wind trainer) + weights + abdominal work + stretching.
Tuesday : ran to the gym/track @ Willi hoping to do a particular session on the track, but council works to upgrade it were going on (as the sign at the track said they would, but you can never guarantee that it actually occurs), so that forced the session inside. The session was as follows:
400/600/800/6/4/6/8/6/4/6/8 with a 38 (400); 48 (600) & 58 (800) second rest before the treadmill restarted and the next effort commenced. As the treadmill took about 150 metres to get to the prescribed speed (18.3 for 400, 18.2 for 600, 18.1 for 800), I got in an extra 1500 metres of running in somewhere between 30-35 sec. per 150 metres. So the workout was at about 3k pace (that will hopefully get quicker), and all up about 14.2 kms. Felt OK too.
Wednesday - easy run through Spotty, Yarraville and Footscray along the river. A few climbs here and there and 13.1 in 55 minutes.
Today - Harris St. hill repeats x 10. 220 m in length, unsure of the gradient, but it took 45 seconds on average to climb, with a 1:15 easy jog back down. With the run there & back included, the good folk at mapmyrun measured about 12.23 kms in total in 55 minutes. Easy stretching afterwards.

Thinking about an easy 30 minutes on either the bike or the treadmill (or even oustide in the sun & wind dare I say it) + some weights before I cook tea. Jen's back at work so if there's actual cooking to do (she's been on a creative salad trip which has been kind of cool to have light-ish dinners), I do it.

Next post will hopefully incorporate some improved 800 + 3K times (and a 30K run), as I feel I'm getting just that bit stronger.

2009 - time flies when you're gettin' old

Shit, we're in 2009. 2008 is, like, you know, so last year.

Solid week of running this week, even though I took Friday completely off (didn't intend to, it just panned out that way).

Today's long run was how last week's long run was supposed to be. 28.5 kms in 2:07, 200 odd calories less burned and a subsequently lower average heart rate over the couse of the run. Similar time of the day, similar climbing, but slightly cooler weather and aside from heavy legs it just felt a whole lot better.

I'm vague on my Monday - Wednesday runs, but I'll give it a go.
Monday - Newport Lakes (4 circuits) + to & from home via Blackshaws Rd. Bridge - some nice rises and relatively comfortable. 40 minutes, est 8.5 kms.
Tuesday - run to & from gym. 8km tempo on the treadmill gentle rolling incline (too windy outside, wanted to find a groove) in 29:50. Some weights. Bit over 14.5 in total.
Wednesday - easy hour through Willi & Newport. 13kms. Went to Bright an hour or so later.
Thursday - pulled up well from relatively low-key NYE celebrations. 7 x 3 minute efforts with easy 2 min floating (4:45-5:00 m/km) pace out and back run along Wang-Bright rail trail. About 13.5 kms in 55 minutes (including w/u & c/d).
Friday - chose to eat & drink & chill. First nothing day for some time.
Saturday - same as Saturday, but 5 x 5 minute efforts with the 2 minute float. Tough run. 59 minutes, 14.2 kms (mapmyrun.com guestimates for most runs). Returned from Bright.

According to the calculations that's 92 odd kms. No wonder the legs feel tired - and this will only increase, particularly the long runs and the need for regular 30+ runs here on in.