Nice quick session : 13k @ 4.41

Nice and rested after the day off yesterday. Felt strong after the Pilate's class last night.

It was the day to push hard to just see where I was at in regard to regaining some fitness. Very pleased to finish the 13k in 60.50. That is the fastest I have run this loop it since stating it about 5 weeks ago. It it no where as quick as I was just before Canberra but I believe I am as fit as I have/could be post Canberra.It seems as if the last months sessions have at least resulted in a good improvement which is what I was hoping would happen.

It give me a good positive outlook for the next 4 months leading up to GNW in mid November.

All my training and marathons will be focused on getting prepared for that. Even the Glasshouse 100 miler is just being treated as part of the preparation although I am also looking forward to that event as well but it certainly is not the highlight of the second half of the year.

Rest, recovery & taper

Yep all done by no running this morning although I was tempted. I have to respect the marathon and despite having no training to taper from I still need to be fresh.

Sunday recovery

Just an easy 13k in 5.09. Then some stretching for 30 minutes. The 3 x 500m in about 2.20 and finished off with 1k in 4.30. A good solid little session a week before the Marathon with just a hint of a little speed session just to add a bit of sharpness.

CR 5k Challenge

I haven't pushed a 5k since I ran this in 19.35 or so at the end of April. So I really thought on present training paces that around 24 would be the mark.

I arrived just in time to see the 23 minute group off. Oh well I would start with the 22 group and just let them glide off into the distance. The Garmin was not on to GPS so I had no idea of the pacing. Ran next to Warren my mate from the Summer Series. The first k always feels tough because it is always run too fast - it felt tough but a 4.15 was insane.

I eased off in effort and just relaxed and wanted to glide along using a little effort as possible and without losing too much pace. 2k in 8.30 was a sup rise. It started to get tough and it was necessary to concentrate on effort and relation. 3k in 12.40 - I was now starting to doubt the accuracy of the watch as the pace was too quick and the bear would soon jump on my back and I would be reduced to jelly.

I pushed much harder through that very difficult 4th k and arrived at the marker in 16.55. A quick calculation - well nothing come from it it was hurting too much and the only thought was to get this over as quick as possible and with as little pain as possible. That meant no insane sprint just a controlled sustained effort.

Relief with the finish and a very very much out of the box 20.55. Just goes to show sometimes it is impossible to predict a race outcome.

I now have a sniff of a 3.30 at GC. And my thinking now is start off just behind that group and see if I can hold it or crash and burn as the 3.45 and maybe 4.00 groups gobble me up and spit me out in the last 10 k.

Improve pace : 13k @ 4.52

Where did that one come from !!!!

One days rest would not have been enough to take over 3 minutes off in one go. Maybe the steady training is paying off. No training run for months has approached that pace. I will not get too excited however as it is a long short of the marathon distance.

Rest

I was needed very early at work. I could have squeezed a very quick hours training but thought I would have a rest. With the marathon less that 2 weeks away I need to move into taper mode and for this one it will be reducing the runs to just the 13k loop but as quick as I can. The classic reduce the distance but increase the intensity.

Improve run : 13k @ 5.04

I needed to HTFU and so it was the usual loop pushed all the way. It really was not as bad as I thought but I think I could not have gone faster. But is that the mind telling the body to take the soft option.

It was a glorious still and quiet morning around the Bay. The weather is cool but with gloves and a beanie to start with is fine but a few k's into the run they have to be removed to avoid really over heating. I am glad the day are now getting longer and am looking forward to running more in the light of dawn then the darkness.

Recovery Run: arn't they all at this age

A steady 22k in about 5.40. Well really a loop of 13k @ 5.45 and then a flat 9k @ 5.29. The 13k has plenty of testing hills in the last 5k that can really blow out the average pace.

Thank you all for the well wishes they are all greatly appreciated.

SpeedyGeoff: yes it should get easier in the 60+ age group as more of us die or give up. At the moment I am in neither group.

Monday 19k @ something close to 5.40 & Happy 60th

Just could not get going this morning as it was light depressing drizzle but not cold. Felt heavy and slow. I just clunked along for the whole morning. I though I would feel light and quick.

Also happy 60th Birthday for today.

Nothing special happening just the usual Monday night Pilate's class with my wife and daughter. Sounds boring but when you are 60 you have to do everthing and anything you can to stay healthy. There was a family meal on last Saturday night and will have another meal with friends next Sunday.

Sunday sleep in !!

Had plans to run the 30k at SMC but I was out very late on Saturday. I decided that if I woke up in time I would go if I did not the one run of 30k was not going to be a serious issue. Woke up too late to go and enjoyed the sleep in.

Friday Recovery

A steady Recovery run of 19k or so @5.25.

A very steady week of about 130k where I did not feel there was any improvement but I just have to be patient and believe that the steady run and solid distances will eventually have an effect but definitely not for GC. I still think about 3.40 finish time is about right but I suspect I will push the fitness level beyond what it is and have ago at 3.30.

A day off is fine

Did not run on Wednesday. I will recall it a planned passive recovery day. Others could call it a wimp out as it was raining heaving when I woke up - so instead of running I went to work early.

So today I was rested and although I felt slow and that I was struggling the time were an improvement on the recent one for the same loops. In fact I did the same as Tuesday and improved the 13k from 5.14 to 5.04 pace. The shorter 5.5k of hills improved from 5.35 to 5.14 pace. At this stage I will take any improvement I can and use it to inspire me to push harder on those days that I need to do that.

Question is have much improvement can I achieve before Gold Coast marathon. Who knows but I think it will be between 3.40 - 3.45 but I do hope to be able to just squeeze under 3.30.

Dare I say Improve pace for 13k @ 5.14

A few months ago this pace was a recovery session but with a lack of all things it now counts as a hard session to improve the pace. How things change when you do very little fora couple of months. I suppose I should be pleased as it was quicker that the last few days and I have certainly significantly increased the distances being run daily in the last week.

Finished off with 6k of hills.

Recovery run 21k @ 5.28

A recovery in the sense that it was shorter than yesterday but not slower. The legs felt okay and I also felt fresh like the about 9 degrees Celsius temp at 5.30am. I know doing this will fatigue me but I also know that whilst I am injury/niggle free I need to put as many k's in my legs as I can at a good firm pace. Well as firm as I cam manage in a very unfit state.

Steady 26k @ 5.28

I think my longest run since Canberra. It was really just a recovery run pace - that is a pace that is building aerobic capacity and not hard enough that I will need to ease off tomorrow. It was firm with 2 loops: the first @ 5.33 and then as I like to do push harder on the second @ 5.25. I need to build aerobic capacity quickly before Gold Coast so it will be a combination of running as long as I can and at a firm pace each time with the aim to be able to do the runs each day without the usual hard/easy days.

Each day will by hard/easy but the difference between them will not be a great as is usually the case. This is about building that capacity as quickly as I can. I will start using the HR to assess how I am going. I should be able to run the same pace but see the HR drop. If that happens the mt aerobic capacity is improving.

Steady Saturday: 15.5k @5.02

As usual for a Saturday morning I did the fruit and veg shopping at Paddy's Market at Haymarket. I have been doing that for years. My daughters basekball was at her school at 9.00am.

So I had time to get home and run to her school with a lap of the Bay thrown in. It was a solid time and a reasonable distance. All just base building so that I can do a reasonable impression of a marathon runner at the Gold Coast. As the clock says just 21 days to go. There will be no taper as I have not build up any distance to taper from.

Recovery : 21k @ 5.18 and some thoughts

I suppose all journey's start sometime and somewhere. I hope today was the start of some steady training for the second half of the years running. As I have said the big goals I had for Gold Coast Marathon will not happen but on the long term I have to start preparation for other running events in the next 6 months.

If I am lucky I will fit in 7 more marathons. I will miss Melbourne as it is on when the Masters events are on in Sydney and I have entered all of the long running events. So I will focus on getting in shape for thise although they are on after all of the marathons. Off course the Glasshouse 100 miler in September is on as well as the GNW 100 miler in November.

So I must think about the preparation for those and not dwell on the missed opportunity at Gold Coast.

So for today a steady but firm recovery run of 21k in 5.18 pace. It was really 3 sets of 7k although not repeated loops. The pace for each 7k got quicker being 5.30, 5.21 & 5.05 for the 5.18 average.

Thursday 11 June

Bula!!!

Thank you to all my friends who made the effort to make comment. It is very nice to know others have an interest in what I do and say. Some I have not ever meet. Thank you to each of you and I suppose there are others who read and don't make a comment.

Fiji has been and gone. It was a wonderful trip although I was working most of the time. The was great weather with the temperature range between 18 - 28 Celsius - just perfect running and beach weather. I did run each day but only around 15k. Not sure if the mojo is back but most of the niggles have gone - thank heavens.

It was a reality check this morning with a pre dawn run around the Bay and it was freezing compared to the last few days. Just on 13k @ 5.02 which was fine as I was just cruising and enjoying it.

Just some steady running in the lead up to Gold Coast with an increase in the k's run each morning.

Monday 1 June

This brings back some very pleasant memories and I wish to than all those that supported me on the weekend

I have not posted for a while for various reasons. For the first time in along while I went very flat after Canberra. I was strong for a a few weeks and then a deep fatigue set in.

I was busy with teaching and doing a lot of interstate travelling and days on end teaching. It was relentless and I don't think I relised how much it was draining me. I then started to get on top of it and a minor hamstring injury on the Friday before the Herald Half set the positive progrees back.

It was depressing to be injured and also to realise that my long held plans for the Gold Coast marathon had disappeared. For the last few weeks I have had great difficulty in being focused on training & running in general. I did set the I st of the month as a point to start to rebuild the mind and body.

In early May I was doing a 13.5k loop and had managed to get it down from 69 minutes to 59 and then the hammy injury. I then ran it on Monday after about 2 and a bit weeks off. It was wellinto the 70's and was a slow painful plod. Tuedsay got it down a few minutes to 73. Wednesday was off and today it was 66 so some good progress was being made but that still is over 5 minutes a k and is not easy.

Tomorrow I am off to Fiji for 6 days for a conference and so I am not sure what will happen with training.

Anyway I have entered the Gold Coast Marathon and have no expectations other than a hope not to go slower than 4 hours plus.

6 days to go and the TAPER

The last week of 20 since I started back at the end of November. I know I could not have done much more but the overwhelming feeling is that I should have squeezed a bit more but I know that would have not been possible and not risk injury for a rather minor gain if any. Apart from 4 taper days I have missed just 5 other days out of the 135 days to date and I have averaged almost 135k a week over that period. I know I could just not have done anymore.

The running plans for this week are:

S: Easy 45 minutes

M : Hard 7k, easy 5k & 10 hils

T: Easy 60 minutes

W: Maybe 5kTT or just 3kTT

T: Either easy or 3 x 1k at Timbrell

F: Rest

S: Easy 30 minutes and some quiet time to reflect

6 days: Sunday 12 April: Very easy around the Bay

I really was not concerned if I ran or rested. So no alarm and no stress to run. Eventually decided to run and out about 7.45. It was no more than an amble accross Iron Cove Bridge when I ran into Blue Dog and we chatted for a while. Then continued and completed with 3k @4.00.

5 days: Monday 13 April

Firm 7k @ 4.18 then easy for 5k. Hill strides of about 250 up and then back. Concentrating on knee lift and strong ankle push off. Just on 4 minutesa loop.

4 days: Tuesday 14 April: Easy 60 minutes

Really no concern about the pace but I was interested to see what pace resulted from a 80% of MHR effort. Over 3 k's that was 4.21 pace so with a bit more of a taper I might have 80% at 3 hour pace.

3 days: Wednesday 15 April: 5kTT in 19.40 @ 3.56
Pleased to get under 20 again with a firm effort but perhaps just holding back a little so that no strain happens. Some months ago I though getting under 20 would never happen again as it just seemed at that time too fast and just too hard. Its nice to be able to to run them seemingly at will or at least 3 time in the taper.

It would be nice to hold that fitness or lose it and gain it again so I could go under when I am 60 in June. I might just sneak that in just before the Gold Coast marathon or I should be positive and believe that I will just hold that pace for the next few months. I like that idea better.