ML1 + Bay : 68.57 & 35.02

I was out at about 5.30 am and caught a wonderful bright orange sunrise over the Bay. It was humid with no wind and the water had just a very small ripple I suspect caused by the tide.

I felt okay after yesterday but did take 5 minutes of warm up exercise before running. I wanted my ML1 lap of 13.25k and was not sure if I would do any more. The lap went okay and so set off for 5mpk lap of the Bay - I hoped. Close enough.

A good session but not sure if it qualifies as a taper for CC Half. I suspect I will just run through this one.

3 x Bay run : 1.39.55

As has developed recently JD and I meet at 5.00am for 3 of laps of the Bay. We are usually able to chat about Lydiard and what we are doing with regard to that theory.

This morning I just never felt comfortable and it was a struggle for he whole session.Therefore there was very little discussion from me just a lot of huffing and puffing proceeding like a badly tuned VW compared to the smooth well tuned Rolls Royce performance of JD. We were in separate showrooms this morning.

At the moment we are happy with no slower than 5 mpk pace and just keep it at that lap after lap. We alternated the lead with JD at a steady pace and I would fall behind and then have to surge to catch up then slow down and so it went - actually the tough session ruined what was a gorgeous morning around the Bay. It was a pity I couldn't enjoy it until I stopped.

So 35 minutes laps were the order of the day but managed 34.25 : 32.35 and 32.55 - no wonder I was suffering !!!! JD should have a blinder at the CC Half on Sunday and I will be attempting to draft behind in his jet stream.

Very wet Tuesday

Very wet all night in Sydney. Much too wet to run and anyway I needed and excuse to not run for as a taper for Sunday

ML1 again : 68.22 @ 5.10

It was very tough to get out of bed and even harder to get moving on the run. I was not stiff I just knew that to get under 70 minutes was going to be tough and I would suffer most of the way. I could have had a rest day but Lydiard would not allow a rest day just less distance but at the same effort - the way according to him of getting to 162k per week.

That's exactly what happened - it was a tough session but I was able to run okay and managed to get under 70.

A big Sunday :34k

Up out in the predawn in great conditions but it soon became very humid although not that warm early. Absolutely no wind and the Bay was mirror smooth.

Wanted a very long steady run to finish the week off. Decided 2 x ML1 + a Bay would be very testing. Ending with a lap of the Bay means I can watch the finishing pace to keep it firm to the end of the mornings session.

Lap 1 : 69.58 - slower that yesterday but I knew there was a long way to go.
Lap 2 : 58.58 - increased the pace overall but was slowing on the hills at the end.
Bay : 36.47 for 5.15 pace for a good solid finish.

Pleased with the weeks sessions for a total of 145k.

13.25k 66.47 @ 5.04 (BL1)

Lets call this Bay Loop 1 (BL1) as this will be my usual loop when not doing laps of the Bay. It has quite a few hills and is quite testing. Also to run it under 60 minutes would be 4.30 pace which is my eventual aim as my base building progresses.

I feel I have recovered enough from GNW to start increasing my k's and I am hoping to get it up to 140k+ a week and maintain that through to the end of January. The pace will be aimed at no slower than 5 minute ks and lots of ks. I will not be doing any short speed work for the next 2 months but expect 5 minute pace will become easier as the weeks go by and I will start to become faster at the same effort because of the increase in the endurance base.

I will then do some hills and some speed work in the lead up to the Canberra marathon.

This plan has not been completely thought out but I will do that in the next week or so as I want to start on 1 December. It is very different to how I trained for Canberra last year when I was doing speed sessions all through the preparation and in the marathon I felt my endurance let me down in the second half and I slowed. I corrected the training after Canberra and improved my times and I will use the same philosophy to prepare for Canberra 2008.

All Lydiard theory that I am convinced works provided it understood and followed.

Also cruised at the 5k Challenge after this session.

Bay x 2 : 34.56 : 33.19

If I thought I was fatigued at the start of yesterday I definitely felt like that again this morning. But I have no injuries or niggles so it was really just a matter of forgetting what he mind was saying, get the body moving and warmed up and just do the session with a positive attitude.

Pre dawn is so pleasant at the moment. There was a heavy cloud cover over the Bay and so there was no colourful sunrise. I refreshing breeze was coming off the water which was more choppy than glass smooth.

Once I was warmed up and thinking positive the session was completed but the effort was hard.

34.56/33.19

Bay x 3 : 35.26/34.35/34.03

Again out before sunrise to enjoy the quietness and the cooler conditions.

I was fatigued before I started as this week has been a steady amount of distance and an large increase over the last few months. I wanted to do 3 laps all about 35 minutes each but doubted if I would/could. I nearly pulled after 2 laps but gritted out the third.

35.26/34.35/34.03

Just about the perfect session for where I am at, at the moment. That is recovery from GNW and just wanting to build up the k's at 5 mpk pace.

Bay x 3 with Johnny Dark

I was up well before sunrise to meet JD to resume what had been a regular Wednesday run. Sadly it was interrupted by injuries and GNW. In the end I ran 3 laps but didn't keep any time. However JD said a 35 and then a 33 for the first 2. I did half a lap to meet him and a half back home.

I was struggling on the second full lap but it seems the time confirmed we we too fast. 35 minute laps is abut where Lydiard would have us.For the moment I will not increase the distance but concentrate on just some steady 5 minute ks base building.

JD thanks for the run and company.

10% Increase - really : Bay x 2

Felt very good this morning. There was some heavy overnight rain but it had cleared pre dawn. There was a light refreshing breeze around the Bay which took the unpleasantness off the early humidity but caused considerable chop on the water and problems no doubt for the rowers. There were only a scattering of clouds as the orange sun rose over the city.

So much for the weather report - yes I did run 2 laps because ... well it just so nice to be out and enjoying a steady pace.

Laps of 38.19 + 34.32 - how quickly some reasonable pace comes back and the effort was just getting near max of comfortable.

Easy back into it : Crusin' the Bay 41.31

It has been over a week since GNW and I must admit since finishing I have felt physically and mentally very flat and very fatigued. Almost anything that was easy to do before is a real chore to get started and to do. However I know I must get back into things and get the legs turning over and I am sure life will just start to pick up again.

So no real structured set training for the next few weeks just regular running how I feel at the time. So today and easy cruise around the Bay. It was overcast and humid.

No real focus runs at the moment. However I will make the usual annual drive north to run the Central Coast Half marathon on the 2nd December. My usual travelling companion is Johnny Dark and this year there is a guest appearance by Lucklegs.

Update & GNW 2007 : 34 hours 55 minutes

I have not Blogged for a while because essentially there wasn't much to say about the preparation for this event. Most of it was done with the marathons run in the late part of the year.

I had no injuries during the year then had a major calf issue 4 weeks before the event. It was rested and then it was injured again 10 days before the event. In the month before the event I ran 3 times but managed a lot of walking.

I therefore started being very aware the calf could go at anytime and if it did that would be the end. It would not be possible to even walk any significant distance at the speed needed to make the race cut offs. So I started off very slowly and quickly watched most of the field disappear into the distance.

The calf held without a whimper to the 100k checkpoint but I was almost 1 hour 15 minutes behind last year. I finished last year with 1 hour 15 minutes to spare so I knew I needed to go no slower than last year to make the 36 hour cut off. Last year I took almost 16 hours 30 minutes and as I left the checkpoint I knew I needed to run each section faster than last year to make the cut off with some time to spare.

I was relying on the slower start to enable me to run the last 75k faster than last year. My focus changed from protecting the calf from injury to keeping the pace up at all times. I really had no choice my slow start had now put me in a tight time frame. It was no use protecting the calf if I finished after the cut off.

I left the checkpoint feeling well. I had no problems with food, hydration or blisters and I was confident that these would not be a factor as I was sure I could get to the finish - the question was could I hold a faster pace than last year. I was not sure but I had no choice but to push as hard as I could but balance that with making sure I didn't do anything foolish to end the race early.

I made it to CP5 (the next Checkpoint) almost 30 minutes faster that I was last year and so the distance between my actual pace and that invisible cut off line was getting bigger. This was run through the 1.00 am to 6.30am period - and usually have major sleep issues during this period. All I want to do is sleep and my pace slows as I drift in and out of sleep while trying to stay on my feet and run. I had no such problems this year.

The next section took just under 3 hours just under 15 minutes faster than last year. So what I hopped would happen - I was running each faster than last yea. The last section is about 28 k with the first 14k very slow because of the rises and falls and that took 3 hours 45 minutes. At the top of the last big climb there is a unmanned water drop and the group I was with rested for 15 minutes.

My running buddies from 100k or so RunBare, Whippett, USA Phil and Tim (L to R)

There was 15k to go on undulating track. With 3 hours to go we knew we would make it so we savoured the last 2 hours with some easy running and happy chatting. Cut about another 30 minutes of the time from last year.

Finished in 34 hours 55 minutes - about 10 minutes slower than last year but I finished !!!!

It is a fantastic event with great scenery. Will absolutely be back next year.

Update on Monday 22 October

Not much running since the marathon. The right calf was strained and I did not run for 5 days in fact walking was a problem. Did manage some slow Bay walks over the weekend and some very slow jogging on Sunday afternoon. It has taken almost a week for the pain to cease but I suspect it will now mend quite quickly. I will ease back into some running during the week with always the only goal to get to the start line of GNW as fit and injury free as possible.

I suspect there will be no more serious training between now and the race with everything focused on recovery from the injury. I suppose that is fine as I needed a mini break and mentally I should be able to handle the much reduced running and justify it by convincing myself the benefits of the rest will show on race day or more than likely on the second day of the race!!!

Fitzroy Falls Marathon : 3.56.xx

I drove down to the Southern Highlands early on Friday and had a wonderful lunch at a one hat resturant at Berrima. I then spent the rest of the day just doing some easy sightseeing in a wonderful part of the country that reminds me so much of England.

Last year I finished just under 5 hours in second half meltdown of nearly 3 hours in the heat. This year the plan was about the same as last year but with the hope of no second half disaster - that was to run the first half steady and get to halfway in just under 2 hours and then hope to hold the pace to the end. I got to halfway feeling good in about 1.56 so the first part of the plan was achieved. I was hoping the cooler weather this year would result is a better second half. I managed that with about a 2 hour second half.

I went into the run with a tendon problem behind the right knee. That caused me almost no problems but at about 36k a sharp pain in the right calf meant a major problem. I managed to limp to the end and was suprised that I almost held my pace despite the increasing discomfort. It is a problem that will have to be sorted out quickly with GNW close.

On the way home dropped into have a very pleasant afternoon tea with LucklLegs and Jim.

Melbourne Marathon : 3.10.34

Was I disappointed? Should I have been disappointed? I still am not sure.

I had no real idea of what would happen in this race as since late August I have done no real sustained quality aerobic training. I have either been tapering for a marathon or in recovery mode and so the best I could have expected was to not loose to much endurance/speed. Don't get me wrong I have been happy with what has happened since Gold Coast as it has all gone according to plan as preparation for GNW.

At the start line I set a plan to stay with the 3 hour pacer for as long as I could - they entered the start and stood next to me - so I was on the bus by default.I knew I would not be able to go the distance but thought it would be nice to go quick for while. Then I planned to back off to a maintainable pace and hold it for as long as possible until the early fast start caught up with me.

The run then went very much to plan. I stayed with the 3 hour pacers until 15k and then eased very much off to run through the half in 92.45. At that time my very best finish was going to be 3.05.30. I just about held onto that pace until 35k when I slowed to take on water and then just lost the rhythm and could not get it back. That resulted on 35 minutes for the last 7.2 k and the time slipped back to put me over 3.10. Still better than the last two Melbournes that have been 3.17's.

Nice finish in the MCG. The ran back to about 34k mark and ran into the finish again with LuckyLegs. What a pleasure to be with such a detrmined runner. She would not give in and walk although it looked and sounded like she was doing it very very tough. There were tears in her eyes when she realised she would make it into the MCG before the gates were closed.

Update

Wednesday 3 October
Easy run with JD and Tess around the Bay It was a beautiful morning with just a touch of humidity. The Bay was absolutely flat because of no breeze and sparkling like a diamond. Total of 22 k with just a hint of the tendon giving some discomfort in the last few k's.

Thursday 4 October & Friday 5 October
As they say 'respect the distance' so have put in place an intensive 2 day taper of no running as the perparation for the Melbourne Marathon. Still no definite race plan but still toying with the idea of pushing hard for the first half and then consider what needs to be done - slow down and survive or continue and more than likely hace a 'crash and burn' finish.

Update

Thursday 27 & Friday 28th September

After the run on Wednesday I had a slight strain of the ligament behind the right knee so a few days rest was called for. However the expected sleep ins didn't occur. Even without an alarm I was still up at 5.00 am so I headed off to work early to catch up.

Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th

Resumed some light running which seemed okay although the strain is still present. Also did a lot of walking and I mean a lot in preparation for GNW.

Monday 1 October

I have a hilly course that I run that is a 7.5k loop and ran this twice : 41.30 & 40.30. Hills and GNW seem to go together. I think for GNW preparation I don't need leg speed or much more endurance but some strength on hills might come in handy. And so I will do these for the next few weeks as well as some longer running when the strain is better.

Tuesday 2 October

Ran the same course again in 38.30 and 39.30. The ligament strain is still presence and it restricts the running a bit. I am hoping that I will be able to 'run through' by reducing the speed of the session and the distance of the session.

With the strain the marathon on Sunday will require a rethink of the race plan. It will partly depend on how the recovery goes and making sure I do nothing stupid on the day for a short term result and put at risk getting to the start line at GNW. I think no matter what it will be very slow and steady.

A Recovery run ? 26k

Beautiful morning around the Bay.

Met up with JD, Tess and AK which has been the usual for a number of weeks. We cruised an talked at about 5.20 pace. The others left at various stages and I continued for a bit further. I was not expecting to go so far but it all felt too easy.

Thanks for the company.

No run : recovery

No run