"It's a treat being a runner, out in the world by yourself with not a soul to make you bad-tempered or tell you what to do." - Allan Sillitoe


Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Sunday's long run went very well. I have since (painstakingly given the confusingly slow speed of this PC) worked out on Map My Run that it is 26.89kms. Did it in 2hrs 11 minutes which is 3 minutes quicker than the previous week. Actually ran the last approx hour as a bit of a moderate progression ie below tempo pace but above my usual long run pace. Worked out to 12.45kms in 56 mins which is 4mins 29secs per km compared to 4mins 52secs per km overall. Still a bit of work to do but I feel like I am building a very solid base and hope that the improvement comes when I really crank up the speedwork.

Monday's weigh in finally saw some movement on the scales and it was in the right direction!

Weight: 75.6kgs (77kgs)
Body fat: 19.7% (21%)
Hydration: 55.6% (54.3%)

That was bit of a relief as it had been a 4 week plateau but now that Christmas has been and gone should be easier from now on.

Tuesday I ran a 5.6km warm up then did 6 x 1 minute hill repeats (the hill up our street is perfect) jogging back down in between before a 10 minute warmdown. Legs felt good on the hills and maintained my pace well for the full set.

Today I ran the 21 or so km run that I did last week (ie out to UWA and return via the Causeway and the marathon club). Need to work out exactly what that run is. Was intending to do the last 10km as a moderate progression but ended up running harder in patches throughout the run particularly on the run back from UWA along Mounts Bay Road when one of my pet hates (I'm pretty sure I am not alone on this one) occurred. As I reached my turnaround point near UWA a bloke was running towards me so as a result we were running the same way. Hard to say if he sped up but he ran past me at a reasonable click and then when he got about 20 yards in front slowed to my pace and maintained it 20 yards in front of me. Why?? So after a bit it got too much for me so I quickened my pace until I was about 10 yards behind him. Must have heard me because he sped up and it stayed like that until he crossed the road under the Narrows while I continued on. Couldn't resist a glance across and saw that he had slowed right down - at least we both got something out of it. Have to say I was a bit envious - he was about 5'5" and 50kgs, floating along in racing flats and made me feel like a bit of a clydehorse.

On the other hand, maybe he didn't even know I was there but it certainly felt as if he was throwing down the gauntlet.

Recovery run tomorrow so will take it very easy again running on the side of the dual use path out to the Narrows and back.

Also need to get to the post office and get a money order to pay for the tour of the Boston Marathon course. It is run by Marathon Tours who we organised our Boston accommodation through. Only downside is that you can't pay by credit card or online. Really want to do the tour though to get a feel for the course and its history and I think Rox will enjoy it too especially as she won't see much of it as a spectator. I have read heaps about the course and watched the race a few times but I think nothing beats actually travelling on it beforehand.

27km long run on Sunday before we are off to Rottnest on Monday so after Sunday there won't be any updates until we get back. My long run on the following Sunday when we are on Rottnest is scheduled for 32km so I'll have to do a bit of work to plot where I should run on the island. Am really looking forward to it - we are taking our bikes and have found a that some of our friends will be there as well so it will be great to catch up with them even if it will require a bit of discipline and willpower on the beer drinking front.

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