Tuesday 27 September 2011

Last Hurrah

Monday - 2km TT 5:58 (3:00/2:58). On the footpath around Wenty Park, felt ok considering the last few hard days, happy enough with that for now. I wanted to do something fast to tide me over until I can start running again, also gives the cortisone some real damage to repair.

Just had the cortisone in the left foot, the right one is in 2 days, then 5-14 days off depending on how it feels. I picked a good time for a rest, it's the best week of the year. AFL Grand Final Week - added bonus of recovering from the Blaxland H/S Reunion, resting for the Jamison H/S Reunion on Saturday night, a 1st Birthday Party on Sunday then the NRL Grand Final, then a day off on Monday.

I'm hoping for a Cats/Warriors double but suspect the Sea Eagles will smash the Warriors.

Sunday 25 September 2011

The morning after

Quite a big night, just snuck in the door before the sun came up.

32km - 2:27.12, massive struggle, but ticked off nonetheless.

160km's for the week, surprised at the volume considering I only doubled twice. A bit of a forced break now, hopefully the cortisone injections will do the trick.

Saturday 24 September 2011

20 Year Reunion

Thursday -
AM 9km easy, up and out the door at 4am. Akira has been waking up with the birds at 5am, so i'm making sure my run is finished so we can have a play. Loving our man time together.

PM 10x500m 98, 97, 92, 92, 92, 92, 91, 87, 78.4 (tailwind), 81.2 (headwind). On the Bay, was supposed to avg 97's, but felt ok so went with it.

Friday - 22.1km's 90min, pretty hot. Then a big contrast as the change came in, cold and windy in the gardens for the strength session with Megan.

Saturday - 28km's including 16km tempo - 59:58 (3:45km's). Quite even paced except for a 3:25 to start and a couple of slow uphill km's. Effort wasn't even though, I was pretty shattered in the last 4km's, a bit of fatigue from yesterday's run in the heat.

Off to my 20 year High School reunion tonight, anything could happen.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Cruising

Just enjoying the footy finals and biding my time until the cortisone injections, which have now been delayed until Tuesday and Thursday next week.

Friday - 12km easy
Saturday - 28km easy + strength
Sunday - 30km while watching the Sydney Half.
Monday - 12km easy + strength
Tuesday - 16km including 10km-37:20
Wednesday - AM 9km easy, PM Strength then 10km-39:25

Thursday 15 September 2011

10km PB

Sunday - Joined Steve and Megan for their 6km TT's as they prepare for the half this Sunday. Steve went out like a maniac, 1st km 3:35 and I couldn't keep up with him, he died in the last 2km's but still managed a pb 23:17, hopefully he can crack 85min on Sunday. Megan continues to improve out of sight and took a big leap forward with 23:38 including a 3:43 final km, giving herself a good shot at sub 90min on debut despite a short prep.

Monday and Tuesday just did some strength sessions, Wednesday was an easy 16km-67:50 in Centennial Park with Emma Rilen, with a guest stint from Jeremy Roff.

Today I had to race from work to a Dr's appointment then off to the specialist, pretty hungry so chomped down 2x foot long meatball subs thinking I wouldn't get a chance to run. Zipped through the appointments with the plan now to cortisone the left plantar next Thursday and the right on the following Tuesday.

Millie, Akira and Koji were stuck in traffic coming back from the Blue Mountains, so despite my very full stomach decided to head out for a 10km around The Bay. Managed 43:10 which i'm pretty sure is my fastest 10km less than 1 hour after 2x Foot Longs. Dumped and puked about 5kg's straight after the run, feeling better now.

Have a 2 hour appointment with Emma the dentist tomorrow, then off to dribble beers out of the side of my mouth at the pub watching the footy feast.

Saturday 10 September 2011

Coastal Classic

3:17.01 87th, victory in the award for most positions lost special victims category.

Tough start, straight up a steep hill aggravated the plantars, by 2km I was in agony. Was with a good group almost to Gaerie Beach and was having fun taking leaps of faith with Jamie Stewart on some pretty hairy trails. Looks like the group finished between 4th Terrence Bell to about 15th. Pretty sure I would've dropped off that group regardless, they were going pretty well.

After that it was ugly, I couldn't even walk without cramping, so had a long sit down while I tried to get some fluids into me. The last 4km's from the final aid station included a couple of blistering 13min km's but somehow I managed to make it to the finish, to a heap of deserved sledging from the boys.

I always knew it was stupid to race given my feet and fitness levels, but i'm bloody glad I did it and got to the finish. Despite the slow time I couldn't have managed to finish one second quicker and fought hard for every step. It is an excellent event and I'll definitely be back for redemption next year.

Brilliant running by Tucks to smash the record by 17mins and win by 4mins. I didn't get to see him in action after the 2nd km, but he obviously has a talent for the trail runs and i'm declaring him hot favourite to win 6ft track next year.



Will take a rest week to see if the feet settle and reassess from there. Hopefully they're ok as I seem to have been getting some decent training done lately as long as I stay just below max effort...and apparently away from hills.


In the mean time, I love September, best weather of the year and footy finals plus Rugby World Cup.

Thursday 8 September 2011

Rrrunning

Reduced the volume this week with The Coastal Classic 29km trail race coming up on Saturday, last years winning time was 2:32 so unless I want to be stuck out there all day I'll need to be fairly fresh.

Using the easy week to add some quality, nothing special, but happy that it is all heading in the right direction:-

Monday - 10x500 (3min Cycle), averaged 94's. Slow as expected, but a step in the right direction.
Tuesday- Easy 12km's.
Wednesday - 22min fartlek at Wenty Park 6.13km @ 3:35km's
Thursday - Hard 2km, 6:24 (3:12, 3:12), quicker and easier than expected.

Feeling good, no excuses, looking forward to racing.

Saturday 3 September 2011

On The Road Again

Back into it, feet continue to improve whilst increasing the volume and intensity. Managed 6km-22mins (3min), 4km (2km@4:10's, 2km@3:30km's) this morning in Centennial with Megan and Steve K, still over 2mins off top form but 1min better than 2 weeks ago. The other guys ran well. Megan did a 10km tempo in 42:10, looking good for her debut half. Steve did 2x3km, 1x4km (2km @ 1/2 pace, 2km hard), building nicely for NY Marathon.

Definitely going to race Coastal Classic on Saturday, i'm fascinated to see what it's all about. Have managed 3x consecutive 130km + weeks, whilst it's all been rubbish, i'm confident I can run it quite hard without doing any damage.

Apparently a cracker jack field of trail runners is assembling for this race. A pro from NZ is being shipped over by the sponsors InnoV8, Tucks after demolishing the Willy 2 Billy field, Brendan Davies 2nd place at this years 6ft track and soon to head over to Wales with the Australian Ultra Marathon team,  Scott Milson former Bush Capital 60km champ fit as a fiddle after a few months training in Europe, Fats former 6ft champ and record holder, defending champ Damon Goerke winner of multiple international stage ultras, John Mergler age group record holder for bike leg at Hawaii Ironman and Poor Mans Comrades Record Holder.

Who knows who else will turn up, I'm looking forward to seeing these guys in action, for the record i'll tip Tucks. Not sure why, but i'm actually excited about this race. Probably because I've been in cotton wool for so long and looking forward to a world of pain.

Well done Tom Highnam on his win and PB at Striders this morning, held off a quality field, Chris Truscott, Thamal Cooray and Jeremy Horne.