Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Bridges 10km
Well, I failed to follow the rules of racing despite best intentions - just once I would like to cross the finish line and throw my guts up just so I would know I had given it absolutely everything.
Not a great result for me personally but hopefully our team won the Open team event (problems with the results meant that the team category was not announced at the presentation).
I liked the change in direction and the start was a big improvement. The leaders didn't go out too quick and there was a decent group of about 15-20 that I sat off the back of for the first km.
Started losing it after about the third km and it was a real struggle from there as the people I needed to be close to if I was going to run what I wanted to either ran away from me or passed me.
Not sure why. In the past, I have run my best even over shorter distances when I have been doing more mileage. I suspect that I am simply not as aerobically fit as I have been in the past when I have been doing 100-120km week despite the more specific 10km training I have been doing over the past 2 months.
Not a complete disaster though and a massive improvement on where I was at the end of January when ran 39.41 @ Matilda Bay.
Splits as follows:
1km – 3.21
2km – 6.56 (3.34)
3km – 10.42 (3.45)
4km – 14.25 (3.43)
6km – 22.07 (7.41 – ie 3.50/km avg)
7km – 25.59 (3.51)
8km – 29.55 (3.55)
9km – 33.54 (3.59)
10km – 37.52 (3.57)
Our other Team Strands members did considerably better than me – Sugar and Simon ran 35.2+ (Sugar just beat Simon).
Presentations were a bit of a shambles – as above no team award and we think that David won his age group but they gave it to a bloke who finished behind me. I’m pretty sure they will fix it up but not good especially when the presentations didn’t start until around 10am (race was at 8am).
Yesterday (Saturday) I did what was Supposed to be an easy run to Mends Street and back. Warm and muggy and a very average run. If I had tried to run harder I felt like I might have bonked – wobbly legs etc. 6.4km in 29 mins (4.31/km)
Don’t know why – had a decent meal Friday night and a glass of orange juice when I got up. Maybe the fact that I was running 2 hours later than I normally do had something to do with it.
Got home had 500ml Gatorade, another big glass of orange juice, two hot cross buns with Nutella and a yoghurt.
Subway for lunch and spaghetti for dinner so should have rectified that problem.
Not a great result for me personally but hopefully our team won the Open team event (problems with the results meant that the team category was not announced at the presentation).
I liked the change in direction and the start was a big improvement. The leaders didn't go out too quick and there was a decent group of about 15-20 that I sat off the back of for the first km.
Started losing it after about the third km and it was a real struggle from there as the people I needed to be close to if I was going to run what I wanted to either ran away from me or passed me.
Not sure why. In the past, I have run my best even over shorter distances when I have been doing more mileage. I suspect that I am simply not as aerobically fit as I have been in the past when I have been doing 100-120km week despite the more specific 10km training I have been doing over the past 2 months.
Not a complete disaster though and a massive improvement on where I was at the end of January when ran 39.41 @ Matilda Bay.
Splits as follows:
1km – 3.21
2km – 6.56 (3.34)
3km – 10.42 (3.45)
4km – 14.25 (3.43)
6km – 22.07 (7.41 – ie 3.50/km avg)
7km – 25.59 (3.51)
8km – 29.55 (3.55)
9km – 33.54 (3.59)
10km – 37.52 (3.57)
Our other Team Strands members did considerably better than me – Sugar and Simon ran 35.2+ (Sugar just beat Simon).
Presentations were a bit of a shambles – as above no team award and we think that David won his age group but they gave it to a bloke who finished behind me. I’m pretty sure they will fix it up but not good especially when the presentations didn’t start until around 10am (race was at 8am).
Yesterday (Saturday) I did what was Supposed to be an easy run to Mends Street and back. Warm and muggy and a very average run. If I had tried to run harder I felt like I might have bonked – wobbly legs etc. 6.4km in 29 mins (4.31/km)
Don’t know why – had a decent meal Friday night and a glass of orange juice when I got up. Maybe the fact that I was running 2 hours later than I normally do had something to do with it.
Got home had 500ml Gatorade, another big glass of orange juice, two hot cross buns with Nutella and a yoghurt.
Subway for lunch and spaghetti for dinner so should have rectified that problem.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Training week leading into Bridges 10k and the Rules of Racing
Wednesday - Easy recovery run – inc a short pit stop. Ran in my new 2130s as a bit of a treat for my legs. 8.6km in 48.40 (5.39/km pace).
Thursday - this was my only speed/slightly hard session for the week. 25 min warm up then 5 × 1min hard/2min easy. Underestimated how quickly I would get back to my turnoff point on the way back so had to go past it and then come back. (actually I didn't because I was only supposed to do 4 x 1 min hard but in my usual style, I stuffed it up).
Actually hit the turn off point at the end of 4th rep so set myself a challenge to turn at end of 2 min easy and then get back to that point in the 1 min hard. Had to stop to quickly tie a shoelace unfortunately so it wasn’t a full 2 min recovery run but ran hard on the 1 min and got 10m or so past start point.
Ran all the reps hard but ran that one the hardest. Felt good.
5-7 min cooldown jog back home.
Saw Clown just before I started first rep. He had 13km under the belt already and was heading home.
Wore my racing flats for this workout and am pleased with how it went.
Friday - Easy recovery run – mostly on grass. Found it easy to keep my heart rate down. I hope conditions on Sunday are like they were this morning – light easterly breeze and cool/cloudy. 8.6km in 45 mins (5.13/km pace).
Saturday - Supposed to be an easy run to Mends Street and back. Warm and muggy and a very average run. If I had tried to run harder I felt like I might have bonked – wobbly legs etc.
Don’t know why – had a decent meal last night and a glass of orange juice when got up. Maybe the fact that I was running 2 hours later than I normally do had something to do with it. 6.4km in 29 mins (4.31/km).
Got home had 500ml Gatorade, another big glass of orange juice, two hot cross buns with Nutella and a yoghurt.
I’ll make sure I get sufficient carbs in today and tonight.
We are going to head out to the Athletics Stadium this evening to watch the last hour or so of the State Champs. Aiming to get there in time to see the Mens 5000m and then the Mens and Womens 400m whic are the last events of the evening.
On that note and with the Bridges tomorrow, I thought I would cross post something that Mike Reneau posted on Strands. They are Mike Dilley's (ie his coach) Rules of Racing:
1st Rule: Place First, Time Second. No race is over before it starts or we would not hold the damn thing!
2nd Rule: Believe in yourself first and play to strengths—you don’t need anyone’s permission to do this, or to run fast
3rd Rule: “Dance to Rhythm”. You have trained as a rhythm runner so do it and make the race cover the whole distance, not just part
4th Rule: Pace/Position/Drive/Kick
5th Rule: GUTS. There is no substitute for genuine guts and raw desire.
I'll let you if I followed the rules tomorrow.
Thursday - this was my only speed/slightly hard session for the week. 25 min warm up then 5 × 1min hard/2min easy. Underestimated how quickly I would get back to my turnoff point on the way back so had to go past it and then come back. (actually I didn't because I was only supposed to do 4 x 1 min hard but in my usual style, I stuffed it up).
Actually hit the turn off point at the end of 4th rep so set myself a challenge to turn at end of 2 min easy and then get back to that point in the 1 min hard. Had to stop to quickly tie a shoelace unfortunately so it wasn’t a full 2 min recovery run but ran hard on the 1 min and got 10m or so past start point.
Ran all the reps hard but ran that one the hardest. Felt good.
5-7 min cooldown jog back home.
Saw Clown just before I started first rep. He had 13km under the belt already and was heading home.
Wore my racing flats for this workout and am pleased with how it went.
Friday - Easy recovery run – mostly on grass. Found it easy to keep my heart rate down. I hope conditions on Sunday are like they were this morning – light easterly breeze and cool/cloudy. 8.6km in 45 mins (5.13/km pace).
Saturday - Supposed to be an easy run to Mends Street and back. Warm and muggy and a very average run. If I had tried to run harder I felt like I might have bonked – wobbly legs etc.
Don’t know why – had a decent meal last night and a glass of orange juice when got up. Maybe the fact that I was running 2 hours later than I normally do had something to do with it. 6.4km in 29 mins (4.31/km).
Got home had 500ml Gatorade, another big glass of orange juice, two hot cross buns with Nutella and a yoghurt.
I’ll make sure I get sufficient carbs in today and tonight.
We are going to head out to the Athletics Stadium this evening to watch the last hour or so of the State Champs. Aiming to get there in time to see the Mens 5000m and then the Mens and Womens 400m whic are the last events of the evening.
On that note and with the Bridges tomorrow, I thought I would cross post something that Mike Reneau posted on Strands. They are Mike Dilley's (ie his coach) Rules of Racing:
1st Rule: Place First, Time Second. No race is over before it starts or we would not hold the damn thing!
2nd Rule: Believe in yourself first and play to strengths—you don’t need anyone’s permission to do this, or to run fast
3rd Rule: “Dance to Rhythm”. You have trained as a rhythm runner so do it and make the race cover the whole distance, not just part
4th Rule: Pace/Position/Drive/Kick
5th Rule: GUTS. There is no substitute for genuine guts and raw desire.
I'll let you if I followed the rules tomorrow.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Moneghetti Training Camp
The problem with waiting to post your own report of a camp that other bloggers went on is that everyone has said the things you would like to say. I was too tired on Sunday (and probably poor form to come home to the family from a running camp and then spend too much time on the computer writing about that running camp).
Yesterday (Monday) the power was out until 9pm due to the storm and when it did come back we had no internet. We got off lightly though having seen some of the photos going around and I see that unfortunately there was quite a bit of damage at The Running Centre.
I had never been to the Nanga Bush Camp before and it is pretty impressive. We were staying in the Woodshed which apparently is the original (first) bunkhouse at the site. It was pretty basic with a large open area downstairs including tables and the kitchen and bathrooms and upstairs was 4 berth "cabins" each consisting of two wooden bunk beds. The numbers worked out that apart from couples, we got a berth each which provided plenty of space for bags and other gear.
Around 6pm we headed out for a recovery pace run. We were a fairly big group and it was pretty hilly. We also took a wrong turn which probably added a km or so to what we planned on doing. The mozzies were out and although I didn't get bitten I think I swallowed a few. Quite a few people had Garmins so there was always someone who could give you a measurement of the run we had just completed which was pretty handy. 8.7km in 46 mins (5.22/km) but included a stop where we tried to work out which way we should be going. We got back just as it was starting to get pretty dark.
Yesterday (Monday) the power was out until 9pm due to the storm and when it did come back we had no internet. We got off lightly though having seen some of the photos going around and I see that unfortunately there was quite a bit of damage at The Running Centre.
I had an absolutely fantastic time at the camp and am so glad that I went.
Training update from last Thursday onwards though before I get on to the camp:
Thursday - Easy run to Maylands and back with Clown. Very pleasant morning for running and we kept it at a conversational pace and had a good chat as we went along. 16.2km in 1hr 14 mins (4.34/km).
Friday AM - Slow easy recovery run. There was a recovery run scheduled for wen we got down to Dwellingup so this was just a shake out to wake up the legs and because I feel really off for the day if I don't run in the morning. 6.4km in 35 mins (5.28/km).
Friday PM - Clown gave me a lift down to the camp. Great to have a long chat on the way down - mostly about running of course but also touching on other vital matters such as cricket and football. We may have discussed work, families and that sort of stuff as well ...
I had never been to the Nanga Bush Camp before and it is pretty impressive. We were staying in the Woodshed which apparently is the original (first) bunkhouse at the site. It was pretty basic with a large open area downstairs including tables and the kitchen and bathrooms and upstairs was 4 berth "cabins" each consisting of two wooden bunk beds. The numbers worked out that apart from couples, we got a berth each which provided plenty of space for bags and other gear.
Around 6pm we headed out for a recovery pace run. We were a fairly big group and it was pretty hilly. We also took a wrong turn which probably added a km or so to what we planned on doing. The mozzies were out and although I didn't get bitten I think I swallowed a few. Quite a few people had Garmins so there was always someone who could give you a measurement of the run we had just completed which was pretty handy. 8.7km in 46 mins (5.22/km) but included a stop where we tried to work out which way we should be going. We got back just as it was starting to get pretty dark.
Friday evening after dinner (pasta of course), we had a talk from Steve Skivinis who is a dietician. It was a bit of an eye opener. Steve has some pretty strong views on diet and nutrition and a unique manner of getting his point across. He certainly had everyone's attention and got us all engaged in what could have been a pretty dry subject. I have takn a bit from it and if I had the luxury of being a full time athlete, I think I would be right into it but I think one of the things about being a recreational (although competitive) runner is the need for balance in your life. My family puts up with a fair bit to do with my running and I don't think it would be fair to impose some fairly restrictive diet requirements on them as well. I'll certainly make some modifications to my diet even though I eat pretty healthily already but I'm not sure I'll go as far as cutting out our access to Thai and Mexican food - that would just be ridiculous!
Saturday AM - we did the famous Mona fartlek session consisting of 2 x 90 secs hard/4x60 secs hard/4 x 30secs hard/ 4 x 15secs hard with equal recovery/float after each rep. We did a 4.15km warm up and then got into it.
I ended up having to slow my recoveries to proper recoveries rather than floats in order to continue hitting the reps hard. We were running the session on a 1.2km (approx 800m gravel/400m grass) circuit and quite a few guys had Garmins so I was able to calculate that I covered around 5.2km in the 20 mins (3.50/km pace). Mona and Raf really did float the recoveries. Mona almost lapped me - another 15secs and I was gone so he would have covered 6.4km in the 20 mins with Raf doing about 6.3km. Gentle 3.75km warm down afterwards.
Seeing Mona cruise around while doing the same workout (although I was concentrating on my own workout and footing most of the time) highlighted the difference between elite and non elite runners even more than it does on tv or in an actual race (where you only see the lead runniers fleetingly at best). He covered the 6.4km at an average 3.07/km pace which is pretty good but when you realise that when he ran the then world half marathon record (60.06) in an average 2.50/km pace (which was around the pace of his hard reps in this workout) it's just another world.
Nearly everyone who is serious about improving their running by doing some speedwork has done a Mona fartlek session. Interestingly, Mona says that it is just another workout and there is no super or secret workout other than 2 x 7 x 52 x 10 (twice a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year for ten years). He was running 200km a week of which he estimated only 19km a week was speed/quality. The rest of his mileage was volume.
We went in to Dwellingup and had coffee and some food before heading back to the camp. We then had a really informative session on core and running specific exercises from Raf and Justin Barich. I initially struggled with one of the exercises but when I had worked out which muscles to engage, I actually found that my glutes etc aren't too bad. Now if only I could get that six pack out of the back of the fridge.
Saturday PM - A few people headed off for a ride with Raf so it was a smaller group that went on this recovery run. We headed down over the bridge across the river and up into a track along the river through some pine forest. The sun was setting and it was just really nice. I had a good chat with Mona as we were running - it doesn't get much better than this. We just ran out for 15 mins and then headed back - 6.4km in 30 mins (4.41/km). A few us us then went straight down to the river and had a bit of a soak of our legs. The water was cool without being freezing cold - nothing like Falls Creek according to Mona.
That evening, Mona spoke to us about his career etc including his views on potential vs talent. He offered to look at any training programs that we might have and I took him up on the offer later in the evening. I have to say that was another highlight in a weekend of highlights for me - having Steve Moneghetti go through your marathon training program day by day. week by week asking questions about why this and why that. Only a couple of minor tweaks was good too - makes me think I sort of know what I am doing (with a bit of guidance).
Mona is pacing the sub 3hr group at the Gold Coast Marathon so I will see him again there. He said he is planning to go through the half at 2.57 pace so that should suit me as I am aiming for a strong sub 2.55 finish at this stage.
That evening, Mona spoke to us about his career etc including his views on potential vs talent. He offered to look at any training programs that we might have and I took him up on the offer later in the evening. I have to say that was another highlight in a weekend of highlights for me - having Steve Moneghetti go through your marathon training program day by day. week by week asking questions about why this and why that. Only a couple of minor tweaks was good too - makes me think I sort of know what I am doing (with a bit of guidance).
Mona is pacing the sub 3hr group at the Gold Coast Marathon so I will see him again there. He said he is planning to go through the half at 2.57 pace so that should suit me as I am aiming for a strong sub 2.55 finish at this stage.
Sunday AM - This was a pretty hard and hilly long run - first 4km all up hill and then lots of hills, some of them really challenging once we hit the tracks. Eventually we got onto a bit of a wider road/forestry trail and were getting along a bit quicker for a while. I felt pretty strong on this run and it was just the right length given the effort. The run was into Dwellingup and back.
The group spread out a bit on the way back and I finished with Clown, Epi, Raf and Mona. Mona went off for a few more kms and a few of us finished up with a good soak in the river - the third for me in two days.
20.6km in 1 hour 38 mins (4.45/km) doesn't seem like a really long run but it was certainly a hard one and a great way to finish off the weekend.
I hope the response to the camp was encouragement to Raf to do something similar again (I got the impresion it was). He really is a passionate and outgoing guy who seems to genuinely want to provide runners with opportunities to learn and improve. He has some great ideas and I'll be backing him all the way.
A pretty big week for me mileage wise - 112km Sunday to Saturday and then 20.6km on the Sunday so 132km in 8 days.
The group spread out a bit on the way back and I finished with Clown, Epi, Raf and Mona. Mona went off for a few more kms and a few of us finished up with a good soak in the river - the third for me in two days.
20.6km in 1 hour 38 mins (4.45/km) doesn't seem like a really long run but it was certainly a hard one and a great way to finish off the weekend.
I hope the response to the camp was encouragement to Raf to do something similar again (I got the impresion it was). He really is a passionate and outgoing guy who seems to genuinely want to provide runners with opportunities to learn and improve. He has some great ideas and I'll be backing him all the way.
A pretty big week for me mileage wise - 112km Sunday to Saturday and then 20.6km on the Sunday so 132km in 8 days.
With Mona before the long run on Sunday
Camp group (minus a few) before heading home.
Nice to be home although I was sad to see the camp come to an end. We all went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D in the afternoon - very much the Tim Burton style. Ben surprised me yet again picking the voices of actors within a few words - eg Alan Rickman, Christopher Lee.
Monday - easy recovery run. I was a bit stiff in the legs for the first 20 mins but loosened up fine. It actually felt a bit funny running on my own after 4 consecutive runs with a group. 8.6km in 45.50.
Obviously a very interesting bus ride home on Monday evening right in the middle of the storm. Water coming in under door of the bus and rubbish bins floating down Canning Highway. Our power was out for 4 hours but no other problems.
Tuesday (today) - Easy bridges loop. Met Simon Elliott down at the Causeway and got the run down on his half marathon at Bendigo on the weekend (78mins/5th/1st age group) and I gave him the rundown on the Mona Camp. Pretty windy this morning (especially running back on the South Perth side) but surprisingly little damage/debris evident from last night's storm. This was the first time Simon and I have run together since before the Rottnest Marathon due to my injury. It was good to run together again and although we crack along a bit we always have pleanty to talk about. Simon did have very squeeky shoes this morning. 12.8km in 57 mins.
Pretty much all easy running for the rest of the week. A very short speed session on Thursday before the Bridges on Sunday. I hope conditions are good as I really want to run hard and fast.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Great interval session this morning
After two days of easy running (8.6km on Monday and 12.8km on Tuesday), I fired up for my key speed workout for this week.
4km warm up then 4 x 6min hard/4min easy (24 mins of work/12 mins of recovery). Covered 9.02km in the 36 mins (average pace 3:59/km).
I was able to take a distance/split for the first 6 mins = 1.68km which equates to 3:34/km pace. I think 3:35/km was pretty much the pace I maintained throughout the workout. Hit a good rhythm and was conscious of my form, especially arms which I think helped keep it together.
Total - 14.8km in 1.05 (was actually slightly quicker as warmup included a pit stop courtesy of last night's curry and rice ... )
Apart from a fartlek run on the upcoming weekend running camp and a short 4 x 1min hard session next week, that is it for hard running until after the Bridges 10km. Hope I have put enough hay in the barn.
Received an email this week with the full schedule for this weekend's camp. Have to say I'm realy excited about this.
MONA CAMP SCHEDULE
Friday 19th March
Arrive from 4.30pm at Nanga Bush Camp
6.00pm Easy Recovery Jog (Optional)
7.15pm Dinner served
8.00pm Diet for the Runner Talk (Mr Steve Skivinis)
9.00pm Bed
Saturday 20th March
6.00-7.30am Breakfast
8.30am Mona Fartlek Training Session
11.00am Core Stability Exercises for the Athlete (Physiotherapists- Raf Baugh plus Q+A with Justin Barich elite sports physiotherapist at Physiotherapy Solutions)
12.00pm-1.00pm Lunch
1.00-3.00pm Rest
3.15-4.15pm Formulating your Training Programme (Steve Moneghetti)
5.00-6.30 Easy Ride (Optional for Multi-sports athletes)
OR
5.30-6.30 Easy Run (Optional)
7.15-8.15 Dinner
8.15 Q+A w Steve and Elite Multi-sport Athletes
9.30 Bed
Sunday 21st March
6.00-7.00 Light Breakfast
7.30am Long Run 30min-2 hours (Out and Back for those running less 90 minutes or less)
9.30-11.30 BBQ Brunch and informal wrap up
12.00 Depart
4km warm up then 4 x 6min hard/4min easy (24 mins of work/12 mins of recovery). Covered 9.02km in the 36 mins (average pace 3:59/km).
I was able to take a distance/split for the first 6 mins = 1.68km which equates to 3:34/km pace. I think 3:35/km was pretty much the pace I maintained throughout the workout. Hit a good rhythm and was conscious of my form, especially arms which I think helped keep it together.
Total - 14.8km in 1.05 (was actually slightly quicker as warmup included a pit stop courtesy of last night's curry and rice ... )
Apart from a fartlek run on the upcoming weekend running camp and a short 4 x 1min hard session next week, that is it for hard running until after the Bridges 10km. Hope I have put enough hay in the barn.
Received an email this week with the full schedule for this weekend's camp. Have to say I'm realy excited about this.
MONA CAMP SCHEDULE
Friday 19th March
Arrive from 4.30pm at Nanga Bush Camp
6.00pm Easy Recovery Jog (Optional)
7.15pm Dinner served
8.00pm Diet for the Runner Talk (Mr Steve Skivinis)
9.00pm Bed
Saturday 20th March
6.00-7.30am Breakfast
8.30am Mona Fartlek Training Session
11.00am Core Stability Exercises for the Athlete (Physiotherapists- Raf Baugh plus Q+A with Justin Barich elite sports physiotherapist at Physiotherapy Solutions)
12.00pm-1.00pm Lunch
1.00-3.00pm Rest
3.15-4.15pm Formulating your Training Programme (Steve Moneghetti)
5.00-6.30 Easy Ride (Optional for Multi-sports athletes)
OR
5.30-6.30 Easy Run (Optional)
7.15-8.15 Dinner
8.15 Q+A w Steve and Elite Multi-sport Athletes
9.30 Bed
Sunday 21st March
6.00-7.00 Light Breakfast
7.30am Long Run 30min-2 hours (Out and Back for those running less 90 minutes or less)
9.30-11.30 BBQ Brunch and informal wrap up
12.00 Depart
Sunday, March 14, 2010
WAMC Darlington Half Marathon
Thursday - I ran with Clown. 16.2km - I wouldn't say it was easy,easy but felt pretty good even though we were going at 4.20/km pace according to Clown’s Garmin for part of it.
Overall pace is a bit of a guess because I can’t remember what time I got home.
This is what Clown’s Garmin said for the bit we were running together:
Pace for 10k, averaged 4.21
4:22,4:27,4:18,4:18,4:20,4:30,4:20,4:24,4:13,4:23
Friday and Saturday - I just did 8.6km recovery runs. Slightly quicker than normal but still very easy in anticipation of a hard run on Sunday.
Today (Sunday) Stuck to the plan with this one and glad that I did. The course was changed from last year and made it a bit slower with the addition of a loop in the first 4km that added a big downhill and then an uphill pretty much where you didn’t want them.
Although it was overcast at the start, the sun was soon out and it warmed up considerably.
Ran a steady comfortably hard pace on the way up but with the change to the course, we didn’t really hit the downhill until the 14km mark. On the way back, I got into a group of three and there were lots of little surges by the other two as I maintained a good tempo pace.
Took a gel at about 13km, Strawberry Banana. Didn’t go down to well and seemed to re-initiate some stomach issues I had earlier in the morning. It stopped me really going hard until about 18km.
With about a km to go, our group was down to 2 and we picked off a young bloke who had been in about 8th just after the turnaround but who had died on the way back. He fought back briefly but was gone and I then caught another runner who had been about 100-150m in front of us for most of the last 10km.
Gary Carlton was a marshall and he called out some support and said “300m to go”. I went hard past the guy I had just caught, he kicked back and with about 150m to go we were both flogging it, neck and neck.
A left hand turn and he was on my inside, I accidentally bumped him with my elbow, I apologised but I lost momentum a bit and was gone. We had dragged off the others behind us though so I slowed to the finish in 1.27.53.
I did 1.24 here last year but raced it flat out on a better day and in better shape. I could have gone a bit harder on the way out but I think I paced it reasonably well.
These are the splits I got:
3km- 12:33
5km- 21:11
6km- 25:10 (3.59)
7km- 29:35 (4:24)
8km- 33:52 (4:17)
10km- 42:49
11km- 47:00 (4:11)
12km- 51:19 (4:19)
13km- 55:27 (4:08)
14km- 59:50 (4:22)
15km- 1:03:42 (3:51)
16km- 1:07:38 (3:55)
18km- 1:15:51
21.1km- 1:27:53
Did a 2km warmdown with Clown(1:30) and Epi (1:26). The up and downhills were not good for Clown's adducter which has been giving him problems. Still an excellent training run which will have huge benefits for Boston. Epi had a great run - I reckon this puts him back in the running for sub3 at Boston. I could see him up ahead for a lot of the way out - he motors up those hills. Well done guys!
I’m happy with this a hard training effort. I’m not in half marathon PB shape though and 2mins was probably as much as I had up my sleeve here.
Heard the winner mention to someone that his Garmin had the course 300m long. Hope that wasn’t the case.
Clown has the route with elvations on his Strands page
http://www.strands.com/clown
Overall pace is a bit of a guess because I can’t remember what time I got home.
This is what Clown’s Garmin said for the bit we were running together:
Pace for 10k, averaged 4.21
4:22,4:27,4:18,4:18,4:20,4:30,4:20,4:24,4:13,4:23
Friday and Saturday - I just did 8.6km recovery runs. Slightly quicker than normal but still very easy in anticipation of a hard run on Sunday.
Today (Sunday) Stuck to the plan with this one and glad that I did. The course was changed from last year and made it a bit slower with the addition of a loop in the first 4km that added a big downhill and then an uphill pretty much where you didn’t want them.
Although it was overcast at the start, the sun was soon out and it warmed up considerably.
Ran a steady comfortably hard pace on the way up but with the change to the course, we didn’t really hit the downhill until the 14km mark. On the way back, I got into a group of three and there were lots of little surges by the other two as I maintained a good tempo pace.
Took a gel at about 13km, Strawberry Banana. Didn’t go down to well and seemed to re-initiate some stomach issues I had earlier in the morning. It stopped me really going hard until about 18km.
With about a km to go, our group was down to 2 and we picked off a young bloke who had been in about 8th just after the turnaround but who had died on the way back. He fought back briefly but was gone and I then caught another runner who had been about 100-150m in front of us for most of the last 10km.
Gary Carlton was a marshall and he called out some support and said “300m to go”. I went hard past the guy I had just caught, he kicked back and with about 150m to go we were both flogging it, neck and neck.
A left hand turn and he was on my inside, I accidentally bumped him with my elbow, I apologised but I lost momentum a bit and was gone. We had dragged off the others behind us though so I slowed to the finish in 1.27.53.
I did 1.24 here last year but raced it flat out on a better day and in better shape. I could have gone a bit harder on the way out but I think I paced it reasonably well.
These are the splits I got:
3km- 12:33
5km- 21:11
6km- 25:10 (3.59)
7km- 29:35 (4:24)
8km- 33:52 (4:17)
10km- 42:49
11km- 47:00 (4:11)
12km- 51:19 (4:19)
13km- 55:27 (4:08)
14km- 59:50 (4:22)
15km- 1:03:42 (3:51)
16km- 1:07:38 (3:55)
18km- 1:15:51
21.1km- 1:27:53
Did a 2km warmdown with Clown(1:30) and Epi (1:26). The up and downhills were not good for Clown's adducter which has been giving him problems. Still an excellent training run which will have huge benefits for Boston. Epi had a great run - I reckon this puts him back in the running for sub3 at Boston. I could see him up ahead for a lot of the way out - he motors up those hills. Well done guys!
I’m happy with this a hard training effort. I’m not in half marathon PB shape though and 2mins was probably as much as I had up my sleeve here.
Heard the winner mention to someone that his Garmin had the course 300m long. Hope that wasn’t the case.
Clown has the route with elvations on his Strands page
http://www.strands.com/clown
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
How to make things harder for yourself ...
... always run your Bridges loop in the same direction so you finish up running into the wind and always run one of your interval reps over the Narrows Bridge.
Saturday 6 March - Long run with Sandgroper. Garrett Road loop and then back via Maylands and East Perth. We went out fairly slowly for the first half, probably around 4.40/km pace and then brought it home a bit quicker at around 4.20/km for an average pace of 4.32/km.
We took a gel just past half way. Mine was a Vanilla Powerbar one. First time I have had this flavour and it was nice - gave a good boost as well which might have contributed slightly to the quicker second half.
26.6km in 2 hours and 44 secs.
2 hour long run is my longest for a while. Again I felt pretty strong and comfortable on this – not wiped out at all.
Sunday 7 March - 63.87km bike ride with Neil. Down the Freeway to Canning Bridge, along the river to Fremantle, along the coast to City Beach and then home via the Freeway, Northbridge and Burswood. Stop for coffee in Cambridge Street (took ages for the coffee – broke up the ride after 47km).
Nice morning for it but a bit of a late start. Best ride I have ever had - felt really strong on the hills and could see how people ride all day, although it was pretty hot later in the day.
In the evening we had a family bike ride down to watch the WAMC Twilight Run (An 8.2km round trip). Saw Sugar finish 6th in 17.11 after he ran 32km yesterday. Caught up with a few people and nice to be at a WAMC race without the nerves of running. Rode the mountain bike and towed Sammie on the Trailgator. It was harder work than it should have been.
Monday 8 March - Moderate effort – bridges loop. Wish I had run in the other direction as the wind picked up about half way in and it was in my face on the way home. 12.8km in 54 mins.
Tuesday 9 March - this was my key workout for the week as I won't be doing a tempo run on Thursday to save myself for the due to Darlington Half on Sunday.
4km warm up (19-20mins) then 6 × 4mins hard/3mins easy. A minute into the first hard rep I was thinking that I had possibly done too much in the previous few days to get top quality out of this workout but I then quickly settled into a pattern. Passed 1km in first rep at 3.25. Didn’t have any km markers for remainder of run but on effort would guess that all were 3.25/3.30km pace.
Hard going for the last three reps – rep 4 was over the Narrows Bridge about 2 mins in, and then reps 5 and 6 were into a stiff easterly wind.
Didn't feel too bad about having to work really hard over the Narrows as we will hit the Narrows at the 8km mark in the Bridges run in a couple of weeks and it will certainly be hard work then.
Probably scrimped a bit on the cool down – only about 1.2km but I hit the turnoff to my street and was pretty tired.
I estimate that I covered 9.8km in the 24 mins hard/15 mins easy section of the run.
Wednesday 10 March (today) - Recovery run. HR got up to 130 fairly quickly but didn’t really go anywhere.
Took it easy as usual and appreciated the recovery day after a few harder days recently.
Had a song stuck in my head – great song but only two lines which kept repeating over and over “Dashboard” by Modest Mouse. This was a single when Johnny Marr was playing with them and has some classic Johnny Marr rifs.
“Well, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio”.
I have started some preliminary planning for my Gold Coast Marathon schedule. I have a week between the Bridges and the start of my 12 week marathon specific program. It's not as bad as it seems though as I have built up to a reasonable base and it won't take much to increase a mid week run and start extending my weekend long run a bit. I like the planning bit - it's good fun playing around different workouts and ideas.
Saturday 6 March - Long run with Sandgroper. Garrett Road loop and then back via Maylands and East Perth. We went out fairly slowly for the first half, probably around 4.40/km pace and then brought it home a bit quicker at around 4.20/km for an average pace of 4.32/km.
We took a gel just past half way. Mine was a Vanilla Powerbar one. First time I have had this flavour and it was nice - gave a good boost as well which might have contributed slightly to the quicker second half.
26.6km in 2 hours and 44 secs.
2 hour long run is my longest for a while. Again I felt pretty strong and comfortable on this – not wiped out at all.
Sunday 7 March - 63.87km bike ride with Neil. Down the Freeway to Canning Bridge, along the river to Fremantle, along the coast to City Beach and then home via the Freeway, Northbridge and Burswood. Stop for coffee in Cambridge Street (took ages for the coffee – broke up the ride after 47km).
Nice morning for it but a bit of a late start. Best ride I have ever had - felt really strong on the hills and could see how people ride all day, although it was pretty hot later in the day.
In the evening we had a family bike ride down to watch the WAMC Twilight Run (An 8.2km round trip). Saw Sugar finish 6th in 17.11 after he ran 32km yesterday. Caught up with a few people and nice to be at a WAMC race without the nerves of running. Rode the mountain bike and towed Sammie on the Trailgator. It was harder work than it should have been.
Monday 8 March - Moderate effort – bridges loop. Wish I had run in the other direction as the wind picked up about half way in and it was in my face on the way home. 12.8km in 54 mins.
Tuesday 9 March - this was my key workout for the week as I won't be doing a tempo run on Thursday to save myself for the due to Darlington Half on Sunday.
4km warm up (19-20mins) then 6 × 4mins hard/3mins easy. A minute into the first hard rep I was thinking that I had possibly done too much in the previous few days to get top quality out of this workout but I then quickly settled into a pattern. Passed 1km in first rep at 3.25. Didn’t have any km markers for remainder of run but on effort would guess that all were 3.25/3.30km pace.
Hard going for the last three reps – rep 4 was over the Narrows Bridge about 2 mins in, and then reps 5 and 6 were into a stiff easterly wind.
Didn't feel too bad about having to work really hard over the Narrows as we will hit the Narrows at the 8km mark in the Bridges run in a couple of weeks and it will certainly be hard work then.
Probably scrimped a bit on the cool down – only about 1.2km but I hit the turnoff to my street and was pretty tired.
I estimate that I covered 9.8km in the 24 mins hard/15 mins easy section of the run.
Wednesday 10 March (today) - Recovery run. HR got up to 130 fairly quickly but didn’t really go anywhere.
Took it easy as usual and appreciated the recovery day after a few harder days recently.
Had a song stuck in my head – great song but only two lines which kept repeating over and over “Dashboard” by Modest Mouse. This was a single when Johnny Marr was playing with them and has some classic Johnny Marr rifs.
“Well, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio”.
I have started some preliminary planning for my Gold Coast Marathon schedule. I have a week between the Bridges and the start of my 12 week marathon specific program. It's not as bad as it seems though as I have built up to a reasonable base and it won't take much to increase a mid week run and start extending my weekend long run a bit. I like the planning bit - it's good fun playing around different workouts and ideas.
Monday, March 8, 2010
NYC Half Marathon live on UniversalSports.com next Sunday evening (21 March)
The additions to the lineup for March 21’s race are two-time ING New York City Marathon champion Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil, Irish 10,000-meter record-holder and former University of Arkansas stalwart Alistair Cragg, and 2009 World Cross Country champion Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia.
A 90-minute live broadcast of the event will start at 7.30pm Perth time (they just moved to daylight saving) and be streamed on UniversalSports.com.
Previously announced NYC Half-Marathon professional entrants include marathon world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia,2009 ING New York City Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi, 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor, three-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman, two-time Olympic steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti, 2006 NCAA Cross Country champion Josh Rohatinsky, 2009 London Marathon runner-up Mara Yamauchi of Great Britain, 2008 NYC Half-Marathon runner-up Madaí Pérez of Mexico, and 2009 Hokkaido Marathon champion Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan.
The NYC Half-Marathon will offer the largest half-marathon prize purse in the United States: $100,000. The men’s and women’s champions will each earn $20,000, the largest first-prize checks for a non-marathon race in the USA.
A 90-minute live broadcast of the event will start at 7.30pm Perth time (they just moved to daylight saving) and be streamed on UniversalSports.com.
Previously announced NYC Half-Marathon professional entrants include marathon world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia,
The NYC Half-Marathon will offer the largest half-marathon prize purse in the United States: $100,000. The men’s and women’s champions will each earn $20,000, the largest first-prize checks for a non-marathon race in the USA.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Loving running
Really enjoying running lately (apart from one funny day on Wednesday). Great to see some more mates on Strands - it's a good way to keep in touch and see training and races appear on a daily basis. I have some brochures to share around at Moneghetti training camp and a few t-shirts to give away. I might try to set up a local group on Strands if others are interested.
Friday 26 Feb - just an easy recovery run, 8.6km in 46 mins with average HR 132.
Saturday 27 Feb - Set out in the dark at 5.30am with Sandgroper and ran along the river, across the Narrows, followed the river through Nedlands and then up onto the road through Dalkeith, Claremont etc before we hit the beach at Scarborough. Followed the coast along to Port Beach. Grabbed some drinks and then into the ocean for a soak of the legs before finishing up with a coffee.
It's bloody hard to run when you are laughing ... Sandgroper cracked me up as we were running through Dalkeith as the swarms of weekend cyclists streamed past. We agreed that expensive bikes are the Harley Davidsons for late middle aged men these days which is healthy but as Sandgroper said, while lycra is functional for cycling it's not great down at the cafe "I don't want to see their fat guts, saggy arses and splodgy legs while I'm trying to eat my scrambled eggs".
Pace this week was steady, slowish start then 4.20ish pace for the middle part of the run and possibly slowed a little toward the end.
I felt strong and ran well up the hills that we came to. This was a good solid run and a great way to start a long weekend.
Sunday-Saturday weekly total - 107.6km First week over 100km for the year.
Sunday 28 Feb - I had my first full rest day (ie no running or cycling) for the year. While it was hard to have day off, I was due having run for the previous 20 days and with a race scheduled for Monday.
We took the kids to the Hyde Park Festival and had a decent walk around without spending too much money - which was a bonus.
Monday 1 March - Pretty warm, course was short according to the winner’s Garmin and Map My Run. Went out pretty hard into a strong easterly wind and led for approx 1km. The 2nd placed runner sat on me briefly but then went past and didn’t hang around. I briefly entertained ideas of maintaining some sort of contact and then making a move in the second half (it was an out and back course) when we had the wind behind us, No km markers.
The guy in front ran on strongly and gave me no chance, finishing approx 1 min in front of me. I finished in 2nd well in front of the 3rd placed runner.
No prizes for 2nd and although the winner was in his early 30s, the age group was 30-45 so no age group award for me either.
The winner received $250 + a $100 dinner voucher so it would have been a nice one to pull off.
This was a reasonably hard hit out, particularly into the wind. Average pace 3.45/km.
I’ve trained through this one, with a 6 mile tempo run on Thursday and 25.2km long run on Saturday for a total of 107km for that week – so a reasonable effort when looked at from that angle.
The run was for a pretty worthwhile charity - the Esther Foundation and was part of the South Perth Fiesta. There aren't many races in Perth that offer prize money of this size so I expect this may be a bit bigger and more fiercely contested as word gets around. There was probably about 150 people in the race but it was pretty low key.
Like a Liberal Party convention with 3 Federal members and 2 State members there. Graham Jacobs, the Minister for Water Resources and Mental Health won the Male over 45 category (I think he is actually over 60) and his wife won the Female over 45 category. I often see them both out running around the Bridges in the morning. Jacobs was the Shadow Minister when my previous boss Margaret Quirk was Minister for Disability Services. I've always found him to be a very decent, genuine and friendly guy.
On the other side of the coin, Julie Bishop was there as well ... (Mum taught me though that if you can't say anything nice about someone ... )
With a 2km warm up and a 2km warm down (should have done more but the race didn't start until 9am so it was over 30 by the time it was finished so 2km was more than enough) total was 8.8km for the day.
Tuesday 2 March - Easy bridges loop from home. 12.8km in 57 mins. Although I normally do an interval workout on Tuesday, I took advice from Matt Downin and treated yesterday's race as my tempo effort for the week and moved my interval workout to Thursday (when I normally do my tempo run).
Wednesday 3 March - another easy bridges loop. 12.8km in 58.30. Bridges loop – ran in the opposite direction that I normally do – ran clockwise this morning. This will be the direction that the Bridges 10km is run at the end of the month.
Felt a bit flat this morning and lacking motivation. This was a chore rather than being enjoyable which is a bit of a downer. Perhaps because this was bit of a purposeless run = junk miles. Nearly every run that I do is aimed at stimulating some sort of physiological improvement either through stress or recovery and I think just going out and running because that's what I do was missing that focus.
Thursday 4 March - this became my key workout for the week. 7 × 3min hard/2min easy after a 4.1km warm up and with a 4.1km cool down. All up 16.2km in 1.13.30.
I ran the intervals along the usual 8km tempo route and hit the 8km mark at 32.45 (ie with 15 secs to go on my last hard rep). 32.45 for 8km is 4.05/km pace so considering 12 mins was easy running (progressively a bit slower) – I’d estimate that I was running between 3.35-3.40/km pace for the hard reps, maybe even slightly quicker.
This was pretty encouraging but in a way also a bit frustrating. If I can run 32.45 for 8km with 12 mins of that being easy recovery running, I should be able to run my temp runs at quicker than 4min/km pace.
Weather was bit cooler this morning and even though there was a bit of a breeze, running was much better than the recent heat and humidity.
Friday 5 March (today) - easy recovery run 8.6km in 44.59 with an average HR 126 which was lower than last week despite running a minute faster – I think the cooler temperature had a lot to do with it. This was a very easy and enjoyable run.
Long run with Sandgroper tomorrow with a 6am start. I think this will end up being 27km on the Garrett Road loop but taking in East Perth on the return leg.
Mileage for the week will be slightly down with no running on last Sunday and only 8.8km on Monday.
I'm planning on doing the Darlington Half Marathon as next weekend's long run but haven't decided exactly how I will run it.
Friday 26 Feb - just an easy recovery run, 8.6km in 46 mins with average HR 132.
Saturday 27 Feb - Set out in the dark at 5.30am with Sandgroper and ran along the river, across the Narrows, followed the river through Nedlands and then up onto the road through Dalkeith, Claremont etc before we hit the beach at Scarborough. Followed the coast along to Port Beach. Grabbed some drinks and then into the ocean for a soak of the legs before finishing up with a coffee.
It's bloody hard to run when you are laughing ... Sandgroper cracked me up as we were running through Dalkeith as the swarms of weekend cyclists streamed past. We agreed that expensive bikes are the Harley Davidsons for late middle aged men these days which is healthy but as Sandgroper said, while lycra is functional for cycling it's not great down at the cafe "I don't want to see their fat guts, saggy arses and splodgy legs while I'm trying to eat my scrambled eggs".
Pace this week was steady, slowish start then 4.20ish pace for the middle part of the run and possibly slowed a little toward the end.
I felt strong and ran well up the hills that we came to. This was a good solid run and a great way to start a long weekend.
Sunday-Saturday weekly total - 107.6km First week over 100km for the year.
Sunday 28 Feb - I had my first full rest day (ie no running or cycling) for the year. While it was hard to have day off, I was due having run for the previous 20 days and with a race scheduled for Monday.
We took the kids to the Hyde Park Festival and had a decent walk around without spending too much money - which was a bonus.
Monday 1 March - Pretty warm, course was short according to the winner’s Garmin and Map My Run. Went out pretty hard into a strong easterly wind and led for approx 1km. The 2nd placed runner sat on me briefly but then went past and didn’t hang around. I briefly entertained ideas of maintaining some sort of contact and then making a move in the second half (it was an out and back course) when we had the wind behind us, No km markers.
The guy in front ran on strongly and gave me no chance, finishing approx 1 min in front of me. I finished in 2nd well in front of the 3rd placed runner.
No prizes for 2nd and although the winner was in his early 30s, the age group was 30-45 so no age group award for me either.
The winner received $250 + a $100 dinner voucher so it would have been a nice one to pull off.
This was a reasonably hard hit out, particularly into the wind. Average pace 3.45/km.
I’ve trained through this one, with a 6 mile tempo run on Thursday and 25.2km long run on Saturday for a total of 107km for that week – so a reasonable effort when looked at from that angle.
The run was for a pretty worthwhile charity - the Esther Foundation and was part of the South Perth Fiesta. There aren't many races in Perth that offer prize money of this size so I expect this may be a bit bigger and more fiercely contested as word gets around. There was probably about 150 people in the race but it was pretty low key.
Like a Liberal Party convention with 3 Federal members and 2 State members there. Graham Jacobs, the Minister for Water Resources and Mental Health won the Male over 45 category (I think he is actually over 60) and his wife won the Female over 45 category. I often see them both out running around the Bridges in the morning. Jacobs was the Shadow Minister when my previous boss Margaret Quirk was Minister for Disability Services. I've always found him to be a very decent, genuine and friendly guy.
On the other side of the coin, Julie Bishop was there as well ... (Mum taught me though that if you can't say anything nice about someone ... )
With a 2km warm up and a 2km warm down (should have done more but the race didn't start until 9am so it was over 30 by the time it was finished so 2km was more than enough) total was 8.8km for the day.
Tuesday 2 March - Easy bridges loop from home. 12.8km in 57 mins. Although I normally do an interval workout on Tuesday, I took advice from Matt Downin and treated yesterday's race as my tempo effort for the week and moved my interval workout to Thursday (when I normally do my tempo run).
Wednesday 3 March - another easy bridges loop. 12.8km in 58.30. Bridges loop – ran in the opposite direction that I normally do – ran clockwise this morning. This will be the direction that the Bridges 10km is run at the end of the month.
Felt a bit flat this morning and lacking motivation. This was a chore rather than being enjoyable which is a bit of a downer. Perhaps because this was bit of a purposeless run = junk miles. Nearly every run that I do is aimed at stimulating some sort of physiological improvement either through stress or recovery and I think just going out and running because that's what I do was missing that focus.
Thursday 4 March - this became my key workout for the week. 7 × 3min hard/2min easy after a 4.1km warm up and with a 4.1km cool down. All up 16.2km in 1.13.30.
I ran the intervals along the usual 8km tempo route and hit the 8km mark at 32.45 (ie with 15 secs to go on my last hard rep). 32.45 for 8km is 4.05/km pace so considering 12 mins was easy running (progressively a bit slower) – I’d estimate that I was running between 3.35-3.40/km pace for the hard reps, maybe even slightly quicker.
This was pretty encouraging but in a way also a bit frustrating. If I can run 32.45 for 8km with 12 mins of that being easy recovery running, I should be able to run my temp runs at quicker than 4min/km pace.
Weather was bit cooler this morning and even though there was a bit of a breeze, running was much better than the recent heat and humidity.
Friday 5 March (today) - easy recovery run 8.6km in 44.59 with an average HR 126 which was lower than last week despite running a minute faster – I think the cooler temperature had a lot to do with it. This was a very easy and enjoyable run.
Long run with Sandgroper tomorrow with a 6am start. I think this will end up being 27km on the Garrett Road loop but taking in East Perth on the return leg.
Mileage for the week will be slightly down with no running on last Sunday and only 8.8km on Monday.
I'm planning on doing the Darlington Half Marathon as next weekend's long run but haven't decided exactly how I will run it.
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