Wednesday evening: 4 x 1k reps

Just plain gut busting tough and way outside my comfort zone doing these. It has been perhaps years since I did a session like this. It hurts to do them but is so nice a feeling when you finish each one and take the rest and and even more pleasant feeling when the whole session is over.

I was not sure of the pace I could run them but I was hoping to be faster than my 5k average of 4.11 per k. I was not expecting to be below 4 minutes per k. Managed the 4 in the 4.02 - 4.06. Pleased and working on getting to have 4 below 4 in the next few weeks - perhaps.

11 days to Newcastle Marathon: What training now?

Combined with attending radiotherapy for the last 6 weeks I have been able to continue training well. 

I have done the long runs although I rarely have time to run over 19k each day I some times run that 3 days in a row and so I am running fatigued and try to run each day quicker that the day before. However training at a time has been a challenge with the side affect of treatment being increased fatigue. Any way I have done what I could.

A few weeks I stopped doing back to 19k runs and starting focusing on my 13k loop, 5 x 110m hills felt out, 7k around the Bay as quick as possible and the same for 5k's. The Bay and 5k have resulted in runs averaging 4.20 for the Bay and 4.10 for the 5k. For me good pace. This was the sharpening part based on the Lydiard system.

My half on Sunday of 1.37 showed all of this was paying off. 

I am in the taper and I will now add some speed sessions. Yes speed sessions, something that I rarely incorporate into my preparation but I want to continue towards a possible sub 3.30 marathon and so i plan to finish off the preparation with 2/3 sessions of 1k reps getting as close to 4 minutes as I can by the 3rd sessions. Fingers crossed.

SMC Half Marathon: 97.30 ish

Yes comfortably under 100. No one is more pleased than me. Kind of validates the training i have been doing as well as coping with the fatigue from the treatment. 

Thankfully I only have 2 more sessions and it is over. 

Another great morning out at Smithfield. Just getting light for the 7.00 am start.  Overcast to start and cool without being cold. It has been a long time since I have arrived at SMC tapered and ready to run a proper TT. For me at the moment sub 100 is a good run and I have not been in that territory for a long time. Mainly because I have not been tapered etc.

So this morning I arrived tapered and ready with the hope of just scraping under 100. The aim for me is always to run even paced and be able to hold that pace over that last handful of k's. It was just on even paced. Hard to do sometimes when you start fresh and want to be aggressive but i managed to keep that attitude under control over the first half. 

Result 97.xx. A long time since I have seen a time like that against my name at the end of a half. Gives me something to think about for the couple of marathons coming up in a few weeks.

As usual the mornings organisation with the SMC follies and system they have was perfect as it far as I was concerned. 

Bit of an update

Those familiar with theBay will know a sub 30 minute lap is good running at least for me. I went out on Friday afternoon after a session in the morning. As is usual after running in the morning, working all day and then going for treatment does not raise the hopes of going for a run in the afternoon let alone holding out hopes of a sub 30 minute lap.

 

With all that and then feeling like I had lead legs I went out with just enough time to make it around before darkness. 29.48 so it looks like if I can maintain my fitness i have that little challenge nailed for the moment.

 

The other is to run 5k in under 20.52 which is the best I have run that distance in the last 2 years. In fact it was April 2011 in the lead up to the Canberra marathon. Last year I was recovering from an operation and was happy just to be running. This morning 21.02. Getting close and I expect it will come before the April 9 marathon.

 

Touch wood no niggles. I am enjoying the slight change in focus to shorter faster sessions as I do some sharpening.

Update with SMC half on next Sunday

Yes the SMC half is on Sunday. I have not been to many in this series because either i was off running elsewhere, in hospital or recovery from hospital. Usually when I run at SMC it is treated as just a training run on a Sunday however this time it is a focus TT so a taper etc.

The TT is to see where I am at for fitness for the Newcastle marathon in just under 3 weeks and the Canberra marathon the week after.

This is the start of week 6 and the final week of radiotherapy although finish with 2 more sessions the following week. So far most of the predicted side affects have not come. In particular fatigue has not occurred and so i have been able to train as normal. That was not expected. 

I have been training hard and well over the last 13 days with 2 double days. Today is my first rest day and that is because i need a mini taper and ease back before Sunday and i have no niggles etc and do not want to become over confident and have one hard raining session to much and do some damage …. a no run day. 

Not sure where my fitness is at the moment for the TT half. I have for a long while been able to run about 1.45 give or take for the half at SMC. That has been with no taper and dealing with recovering from operations etc. So with that in mind I am hoping to give a sub 100 a real push. 

Bay run 29.52 yeah

I don't often report on a daily session but this is news. Last time I ran the Bay under 30 minutes was in May last year. After that I focused on training, tapering and recovering from a marathons. Then the op .... That is another story.

About 3 weeks I decided to do some shorter faster sessions (including some hills of 5 x 30 seconds).

Looks like it paid off. Happy.

Preparation for Newcastle marathon 6 April

Sure it is over the 3 weeks away and I have just started week 5 of treatment with 2 weeks to go. So treatment will end and I have just under 2 weeks to the marathon. The concern is whether any of the predicted side effects will have kicked in.

They are supposed to start after 3/4 weeks of treatment but I really have not had any of the possible issues. Fatigue a little but I think that had more to do with hard training and work, no lack of appetite no upset stomach. So life I all regards seems unaffected.

On that basis I continue to train daily. The focus has now turned slightly towards adding some shorter faster sessions and not having so many longer runs. For this marathon the base is about built and I am maintaining but not aiming to significantly improve it. So shorter faster and by that I do not mean 1k reps but hard 10k, hard laps of the Bay and hard 5k sessions moved into longer runs.

Okay so no 1k reps but I do do 5 x hills. The hill is runable and about 110m long. They are done flat out with a walk back. They all seem to be 31 seconds. Might need to add something to increase the stress.

Is the change working. Yes. My usual 13.3k run with lots of hills was stagnating in the 66.xx - today low 64 and first time below 65. Could be a fluke or the training. Now if there are no side effect issues with the treatment and training continues to go well, Newcastle has the potential to be a good run. Time, not sure. I don't know the course.

Dolls Point Marathon: 3.37.01

Three (3) laps along the water at Dolls Point as well at three trips up over and back of Captain Cook Bridge. There was lots of activity along the course so it never got boring. In fact it seemed to be over so quickly.

Not an excuse but I did not realise that the Garmin had only a little battery life so with 30 minutes it died and from then on I ran on feel. The start/finish was in the middle of the 14.065k loops so I had just one time check each lap.

The weather was cool and overcast. The rain held off for most of the morning. There was a strong breeze that was obvious in the exposed parts and particularly on top of the bridge. As usual it always seemed to be a headwind. I had a good run and was pleased to be in the 3.30's again. A few weeks off until the Newcastle marathon on 6 April. 

Head down for a few weeks of some solid training provided the radiotherapy does not become an issue. Also will try and get my 5k time down to as close to 20 minutes as I can.