Week 17 to Canberra Marathon

18.7 Sunday 14 December : Recovery
Planned: 30k @ 5.40 HR 132 - 138
Result : 31 k @ 5.39 HR 129 - 169

Pacing was steady for the 3 loops with a faster finish than lap 2. HR was again all over the place with a huge spike in the last lap. I think my max is 170 - 172. Also tested mt resting HR that is now down to 48. I was getting very fatigued over the last loop but held on okay. The Achilles was better than expected. I was very fatigued during the day.


18.6 Monday 15 December : Improve
Planned: 21k @ 4.55 HR 144 - 155
Result : 21k @ 5.05 HR 135 - 148
My 21st straight day running. It was 3 laps of the Bay and I wanted to get a close to 5.00 minutes k's as possible. I hada good nights sleep and so felt fresh in the legs and no aches etc. Pleased with the even steady times of each lap.

18.5 Tuesday 16 December : Recovery

Planned : 20k @ 5.30

Result : 20k @ 5.27 per k

I have decided that the build up few weeks is coming to an end and so I do not have to be so concerned about HR now but can focus more on pace and occasionally I will go back and do a run and compare pace and HR to make sure the training is going in the right direction. But also the pace of the IMPROVE runs needs to be made a bit quicker over the next few weeks and I have to be guided by the pace and not the HR.

At the moment the pace I will be aiming for in each session is as follows:

Improve : 4.50

Maintain : 5.15

Recovery : 5.30

Today went well I was almost always needing to slow down to maintain the 5.30 pace but I know that the recovery run should not and must not be run too fast otherwise the other sessions suffer. Recovery is not training in the sense that it will directly improve your fitness what it does is recover you for the hard improve session the next day.

18.4 Wednesday 17 December : Improve
Planned 16k @ 4.50
Result 16 k @ 4.46
A morning again that is just so pleasant as the sun is rising with just a slight chill in the air that soon goes. The usual run with JD and joined by the Proff who kept the pace very steady and firm. The pace always seems to be a bit faster when you run with others who do the pacing and you just have to struggle to hang on but somehow you seem to manage to do it.

In the afternoon out to Homebush Bay for the second run of the Twilight Series. I wasn't sure how it would go. Ran beside MissZ to start with and we seemed to cruise the first k in 4.15 to my horrow and I spent the next few ks trying to ease it back a lot. Got it back to about 4.35 and thought I would try and see how long I could hold that. Managed a 45.20 for 4.32 pace for the 10k. It was very much full on at the moment with the max HR going to 171. I had always thought it was 172 which maybe about right. A good improvement in the time from 10 days ago. Progress is going well.

18.3 Thursday 18 December : Recovery

Planned 16k @ between 5.30 - 5.45

Result : 18k @ 5.37

After a tough day yesterday I knew it would be hard to get going this morning but I wanted to do a solid active recovery session. It was firm all the way and perhaps just a little too quick for the recovery that was needed. I will know tomorrow when I see how the maintenance session goes.

18.2 Friday 19 December : Maintenance

Planned: 21k @ 5.00 - 5.15

Result: 21k @ 5.09

It felt just right today. I was in much better control of the pace. That is I could have gone slower or quicker and was able to maintain it within the planned range. I have really no idea if the planned range is right. It is a guess by me and I think the real test of whether the programme is working is whether the races that I run hard start to show some improved speed without ever training at that pace like Wednesday evening.

18.1 Saturday 20 December : Maintance
Planned : 16k @ 5.00 - 5.15
Result : 16k @ 5.08

In the afternoon a 10k Improve ( 4.30 - 5.00 pace) ran in 45.53 @ 4.35

Thoughts for the week
All up a very good week. Near the end the pace was falling more often within the range that was planned. I will try to slightly improve the pace slowly over the next few weeks. However with a disrupted routine over the next 3 weeks it will be difficult to gauge how it is going with runs over different courses and being away. So the runs on Saturday will be a bit of a guide.

Total for the week a pleasing 173k which seemed to be managed without too much of a problem. I was never really fatigued and even after a hard session one day was able to do a solid recover the next day. Also the Achilles is getting better as I continue to do intensive exercises on a 3 times a day basis. I suppose I should be very pleased it is improving considering the k's it is being subjected to.