This was posted on Strands - you must watch from 2.30-5.30 - running cross country but never breaks stride, as smooth as running on a track. Awesome!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Perth 32k (or 32 to somewhere between 32.3 and 32.5k)
Not sure of the actual distance of this one – definitely overdistance and the consensus seems to be somewhere between 300-500m. Apparently we started in the wrong spot – hard to believe but true. I’ll call it 32.3k for now until the actual distance is confirmed when the official results come out.
As a result the km markers were all out but they were also often not 1km apart as well so although I took a lot of splits, I don’t have any confidence in their accuracy.
Plan was to go out at normal long run pace for the the first 16km and then run MP for the second 16km. Certainly started off slowly but I ended up running with Bjorn and by 9km we were clicking along at 4.15km pace very easily. We also started running through the field and probably passed 10-12 runners over the course of the rest of the race without getting passed by any ourselves.
Bjorn was wearing a Garmin and when we passed the 9km mark his Garmin read 9.37km.
As result of running quicker in the first half than I planned, the last 8 kms were pretty hard work. I had pushed on from the turnaround (18km) and lead Bjorn for a while but Bjorn gapped me slightly as we ran between UWA and the Old Brewery. Gap was about 20m and remained constant until we crossed the Narrows when it opened up a bit and was probably 60m or so by the end.
It was so much easier running with someone – even though there was no conversation it was much better than running alone.
2.17.22 by my watch and finished in 13th overall.
I am very pleased with this effort considering where I am in my training – 2 weeks into marathon build/training with increased mileage and no taper. I’ve averaged 4.15/km which is 3 hr marathon pace and haven’t killed myself doing so (although it wasn’t easy!!) Negative split (I think – even with the dodgy km markers).
For what it is worth – here are the splits as I took them:
3km – 14.14 (long)
4km – 18.19 (4.05)
5km – 22.52
6km – 27.05 (4.12)
8km – 35.34 (8.28)
9km – 39.42 (4.07)
11km – 48.08 (8.25)
13km – 56.17 (8.08)
15km – 1.04.52 (8.35)
16km – 1.09.03 (4.10)
17km – 1.13.17 (4.13)
18km – 1.17.33 (4.15)
19km – 1.21.40 (4.07)
20km – 1.26.01 (4.20)
21km – 1.30.14 (4.13)
22km – 1.34.22 (4.07)
23km – 1.38.29 (4.07)
24km – 1.41.10 (2.40 – obviously short)
25km – 1.46.51 (5.41 – obviously long – more likely 8.21 for 2km)
26km – 1.51.10 (4.18 – this is where it started to get harder)
27km – 1.55.26 (4.16)
29km – 2.04.15 (8.48)
30km – 2.08.41 (4.26)
31km – 2.12.32 (3.51 – no way!!)
32km – 2.17.22 (4.49 – more likely 8.40 for last 2km).
Had to head off pretty much straight away afterwards as were participating in a car rally that my Dad had helped organise at church. Nice to get off of my feet (I was navigator) but probably not so good to spend a couple of hours in a car seat. I'm a bit stiff in my back today.
Rest of last week:
Wednesday - Recovery run to Narrows and return via path detour. Very easy this morning – grass wet so couldn’t run on it as much as I would like in places where it was long/spongy. 9.1km in 47.55 (5.15km) HR 132.
Thursday - Another nice morning for running – took it pretty easy but ran a little harder over the last 4kms or so. Good to get the extra miles in my legs. 18.8km in 1hr 23 mins (4.24/km)
Friday - Recovery run to Narrows and return. Didn’t run on the grass at all today and as a result pace was slightly quicker but HR still the same. 9.1km in 44.04 (4.50/km) HR 132.
Saturday - Easy Bridges loop – path through Sir James Mitchell Park is open again so back to the normal length. I may take that detour sometimes though depending on how I am feeling.
Went out a little later this morning and ran at exactly the same time as Monday’s 32k race will be. Conditions were pretty good, cool, only a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. 12.8km in 57 mins (4.27/km)
Sunday - This is only approx distance – started off as normal recovery run to the Narrows and back but on the way back I met Rox who was out on her walk near the Wesley Boat Shed. I ran on to the turnoff at Hurlingham Road then turned and ran back and met with Rox near the end of the path before it crosses the road near the carpark for the scented garden. Then we walked back together and had a nice chat.
Ran on a combination of path and grass for 46 mins - approx 9.5km.
This morning (Tuesday 27 April) - Very easy recovery run after yesterday’s hard long effort. Legs felt fine but I am a little stiff in my back. As above, it probably didn’t help sitting in the car for a couple of hours yesterday doing a car rally.
If you want a good laugh, check out the latest installment of Fatty Fuller's Run for a Reason training.
Highlights include:
Tuesday - This is the alternative to some non specific gym training
Alternative: Sprint 100m from one end to other starting on every 30 ses. Eg if the sprint takes you 15 secs, have a 15 sec rest. Continue for 20 mins. 5 min rest. Jog, slow, for 3kms without stopping. Excellent - so after a couple when our beginner is running 20-22 sec 100m - they get 8-10 secs rest.
Friday - Treadmill: 40 mins cont jogging at 5% incline at 60% of max heart rate. (220 minus your age will give you your MHR) This is good but check out the alternative - if you don't have a treadmill, don't go for a 40 min run do this instead -
Alternative: Hill running. Find steep hill over 60m in length. Run up hard & fast – and jog down, slowly, for recovery. Repeat 20 mins continuously.
Saturday - Here is the alternative to 20 mins of cross skiing (whatever that is)
Alternative: Interval work. Sprint as fast as you can for 1km. Then take a 4 min rest for recovery & stretching. Repeat 6 times. Max effort is required So the person with access to cross skiing barely gets a sweat up but everyone else sprints for 1km x 6
I would have thought that the alternative workouts should work on the same types of fitness/energy systems but it seems that the alternatives are simply an opportunity for Fuller to stick his mitt into his grab bag of workouts and pull one out with all the finesse of a rugby player loading up at KFC.
Check it out here
http://www.hbfrun.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=70
As a result the km markers were all out but they were also often not 1km apart as well so although I took a lot of splits, I don’t have any confidence in their accuracy.
Plan was to go out at normal long run pace for the the first 16km and then run MP for the second 16km. Certainly started off slowly but I ended up running with Bjorn and by 9km we were clicking along at 4.15km pace very easily. We also started running through the field and probably passed 10-12 runners over the course of the rest of the race without getting passed by any ourselves.
Bjorn was wearing a Garmin and when we passed the 9km mark his Garmin read 9.37km.
As result of running quicker in the first half than I planned, the last 8 kms were pretty hard work. I had pushed on from the turnaround (18km) and lead Bjorn for a while but Bjorn gapped me slightly as we ran between UWA and the Old Brewery. Gap was about 20m and remained constant until we crossed the Narrows when it opened up a bit and was probably 60m or so by the end.
It was so much easier running with someone – even though there was no conversation it was much better than running alone.
2.17.22 by my watch and finished in 13th overall.
I am very pleased with this effort considering where I am in my training – 2 weeks into marathon build/training with increased mileage and no taper. I’ve averaged 4.15/km which is 3 hr marathon pace and haven’t killed myself doing so (although it wasn’t easy!!) Negative split (I think – even with the dodgy km markers).
For what it is worth – here are the splits as I took them:
3km – 14.14 (long)
4km – 18.19 (4.05)
5km – 22.52
6km – 27.05 (4.12)
8km – 35.34 (8.28)
9km – 39.42 (4.07)
11km – 48.08 (8.25)
13km – 56.17 (8.08)
15km – 1.04.52 (8.35)
16km – 1.09.03 (4.10)
17km – 1.13.17 (4.13)
18km – 1.17.33 (4.15)
19km – 1.21.40 (4.07)
20km – 1.26.01 (4.20)
21km – 1.30.14 (4.13)
22km – 1.34.22 (4.07)
23km – 1.38.29 (4.07)
24km – 1.41.10 (2.40 – obviously short)
25km – 1.46.51 (5.41 – obviously long – more likely 8.21 for 2km)
26km – 1.51.10 (4.18 – this is where it started to get harder)
27km – 1.55.26 (4.16)
29km – 2.04.15 (8.48)
30km – 2.08.41 (4.26)
31km – 2.12.32 (3.51 – no way!!)
32km – 2.17.22 (4.49 – more likely 8.40 for last 2km).
Had to head off pretty much straight away afterwards as were participating in a car rally that my Dad had helped organise at church. Nice to get off of my feet (I was navigator) but probably not so good to spend a couple of hours in a car seat. I'm a bit stiff in my back today.
Rest of last week:
Wednesday - Recovery run to Narrows and return via path detour. Very easy this morning – grass wet so couldn’t run on it as much as I would like in places where it was long/spongy. 9.1km in 47.55 (5.15km) HR 132.
Thursday - Another nice morning for running – took it pretty easy but ran a little harder over the last 4kms or so. Good to get the extra miles in my legs. 18.8km in 1hr 23 mins (4.24/km)
Friday - Recovery run to Narrows and return. Didn’t run on the grass at all today and as a result pace was slightly quicker but HR still the same. 9.1km in 44.04 (4.50/km) HR 132.
Saturday - Easy Bridges loop – path through Sir James Mitchell Park is open again so back to the normal length. I may take that detour sometimes though depending on how I am feeling.
Went out a little later this morning and ran at exactly the same time as Monday’s 32k race will be. Conditions were pretty good, cool, only a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. 12.8km in 57 mins (4.27/km)
Sunday - This is only approx distance – started off as normal recovery run to the Narrows and back but on the way back I met Rox who was out on her walk near the Wesley Boat Shed. I ran on to the turnoff at Hurlingham Road then turned and ran back and met with Rox near the end of the path before it crosses the road near the carpark for the scented garden. Then we walked back together and had a nice chat.
Ran on a combination of path and grass for 46 mins - approx 9.5km.
This morning (Tuesday 27 April) - Very easy recovery run after yesterday’s hard long effort. Legs felt fine but I am a little stiff in my back. As above, it probably didn’t help sitting in the car for a couple of hours yesterday doing a car rally.
If you want a good laugh, check out the latest installment of Fatty Fuller's Run for a Reason training.
Highlights include:
Tuesday - This is the alternative to some non specific gym training
Alternative: Sprint 100m from one end to other starting on every 30 ses. Eg if the sprint takes you 15 secs, have a 15 sec rest. Continue for 20 mins. 5 min rest. Jog, slow, for 3kms without stopping. Excellent - so after a couple when our beginner is running 20-22 sec 100m - they get 8-10 secs rest.
Friday - Treadmill: 40 mins cont jogging at 5% incline at 60% of max heart rate. (220 minus your age will give you your MHR) This is good but check out the alternative - if you don't have a treadmill, don't go for a 40 min run do this instead -
Alternative: Hill running. Find steep hill over 60m in length. Run up hard & fast – and jog down, slowly, for recovery. Repeat 20 mins continuously.
Saturday - Here is the alternative to 20 mins of cross skiing (whatever that is)
Alternative: Interval work. Sprint as fast as you can for 1km. Then take a 4 min rest for recovery & stretching. Repeat 6 times. Max effort is required So the person with access to cross skiing barely gets a sweat up but everyone else sprints for 1km x 6
I would have thought that the alternative workouts should work on the same types of fitness/energy systems but it seems that the alternatives are simply an opportunity for Fuller to stick his mitt into his grab bag of workouts and pull one out with all the finesse of a rugby player loading up at KFC.
Check it out here
http://www.hbfrun.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=70
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Back to civilisation after a massive weekend
Telstra managed to knock out cable service to part of Kensington on Friday evening and despite a few phone calls to a some very polite Indians, service could not be restored until Monday. So no internet or Foxtel for the whole weekend - it was like being on the Survivor island - talk about cruel and unusual punishments. Luckily, we got reconnected on Monday in time for the Boston Marathon that night.
Our terrestial ABC reception is crap so it spoilt the first episode of the new Dr Who series a little. I read in today's paper that there has been a bit of bleating about the tweaking of the theme music - some people just can't handle change. I'll reserve my judgement on the new Dr for a few episodes but I like the new music and the new logo.
On Saturday morning I went for a solo long run. I decided to run the last 12.45km @ marathon pace/marathon pace effort. The first 14+ kms were a little boring. I have done this run so many times and was just chugging along waiting to get to the business end. Also missed having the company for both a chat and maintenance of some pace and focus.
I did the Burswood/Ascot/Garrett Road/Maylands loop. I have measured this on Map My Run previously and although there is a small change with the new bike path in South Perth, I don’t think it has altered the difference at all.
Really surprised and encouraged to have run 50mins for the last 12.45km. Even if the distance is slightly off, I can compare to previous efforts in previous training cycles and that tells me it was one of my best training runs. All up 26.6km in 1 hour 58 mins but with the last 12.45km in 49.59 (4.00/km pace).
On Saturday afternoon, we rode our bikes down to the river to watch the qualifying of the Red Bull Air Race. I quite like the Air Race. I know it is essentially a marketing exercise for Red Bull rather than a sport but it is competitive and pretty spectacular up close - even when they don't crash into the river. I've been following Nigel Lamb ever since the first race here in Perth and think that he was very unlucky not to win it this year. He was close though which hopefully carries through for the rest of the season.
On Saturday evening, we arranged babysitting and Rox and I went out to the Athletics Stadium for the evening session of the National Championships. We forked out the extra for seats in the stand and got some right in front of the pole vault pit where the women's pole vault was on. We also got some expert commentary with World and Olympic Champion, Steve Hooker, sitting in the row directly in front of us.
The women's pole vault was a good competition and pretty exciting. Very engaging having training partners of the competitors sitting so close and riding every vault.
For me though. the highlights of the evening were the 5000m and 400m finals. The 400m final had Ben Offereins, Sean Wroe, John Steffenson and Joel Milburn all trying to get one of the three spots for the Commonwealth Games. I think everyone had Ben Offereins down as a definite given his form but it was a raffle for the other two spots. As it turned out, Sean Wroe missed out but what an awesome relay squad.
The 5000m also promised to be a great race with Collis Birmingham, Ben St Lawrence and David McNeill as well as the race within a race between the WA pair of Courtney Carter and Roberto Busi. Courtney beat Roberto quite comfortably at the State Championships a few weeks back and I think most people, me included, had him down as favourite to be the first WA runner again.
Started off as a very tactical race and they really were dawdling along (relatively speaking - it was still way quicker than my pace) but slowly Collis Birmingham stated to wind it up and with about 1200m to go he and Ben St Lawrence had dropped the field, including David McNeill (a little surprisingly for me) with Birmingham then establishing what looked like a winning break over St Lawrence. Then with about 280-250m to go (and we had a great spot to see it looking across to the back straight) - Birmingham's stride started to noticeably shorten, I guess as lactic acid started to kick in. St Lawrence noticed too and wound him in and passed him in the straight to win. McNeill third. Jeff Hunt ran fourth - he looked strong but understandably lacked a bit of pace given his recent marathon efforts. Roberto eighth in 14.21 and Courtney 9th in 14.29. A bit of surprise but well deserved by Roberto. He races regularly in Perth despite rarely getting much competition so it was nice to see him get the reward for his hard work. I expect Courtney may be a bit disappointed as I think he was hoping to set a good PB. Perhaps the way the race turned out worked against that - the pace was so slow early and then it would have been suicidal to try and cover Birmingham when he cranked it up.
The night finished with the Mens and Womens 100m finals - great to see Patrick Johnson still out there and running really well. He finished second.
On Sunday morning, we had the first games of the soccer season for Ben and Sammie. Ben's game was at home while Sammie's was out at Forrestfield. Apparently, it was a complete debacle organisation wise out at Forrestfield for the small sided games but Sammie got a couple of games in and seems happy enough. Rox said she got a couple of kicks and I'm sure she will catch on soon.
We won 4-2 against East Fremantle. I think this is the first time in the four seasons that Ben has played that we have won our first game. We were 2-1 down (after leading 1-0) so it was really encouraging that we fought back. Defence was solid, Ben had a good game and we actually seemed fitter than the other team. All good signs for a successful season hopefully.
Sunday afternoon - back to the track for the last session of the Nationals. We just sat on the grass banks this time, which wasn't so great for the sprints or the pole vault, but ok for high jump and the middle distance events. Womens 800 and Mens 1500 were both good races with excellent finishes in both. Marc See threw it all on the line in the 1500m and got some great crowd support. Steve Hooker didn't have a great time of it in the pole vault but 5.80 is still a good jump. Performance of the day was Fabrice Lapierre in the long jump - 8.78 (wind assisted but still awesome). Sugar took some photos - the one of Lapierre is one of the best of them
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/cane.david/CommonwealthGamesSelectionTrials2010Day3?authkey=Gv1sRgCLqE8ensmuSHLw
Monday - I ran what was quite literally, a blistering tempo run. Ran the Maylands 8km tempo course this morning. Wore new Brooks Green Silence racing flats for their first outing as I would like to wear them in the HBF Run for a Reason but hadn’t even worn them yet.
Really comfortable but can definitely notice the lower profile/lower rise to the heel over the Asics Ohana Racers. Managed to get blisters on both feet, (right worse than left), between the big toe and the ball of my foot. I think the friction point was when I was driving off when running quicker as I felt the right one starting to come on about 2.5km into my tempo run.
The aim for this run was to do the 8km @ half marathon pace which for me at the moment, I estimated at 4.00/km pace. I had a feeling I was going to have a good run and go slightly quicker after my really good long run on Saturday and also quite inspired/motivated after watching the Nationals over the weekend.
This was easily the quickest that I have done this 8km tempo run (I think quickest previously was 32.11 at end of February).
8km in 30.59 (3.52/km pace). Splits for whole run as follows:
Warm Up 1 x 4.1 km 00:19:00 4:38 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:43 3:51 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:52 3:56 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:46 3:53 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:37 3:48 min/km
Cool Down 1 x 4.1 km 00:19:00 4:38 min/km
Back on January 7 – I made this comment on my blog about this tempo workout – “My 2km splits were 8.18; 8.30; 8.34 (4.17 + 4.17); 8.41. The last 1.5km was into a bit of headwind. A solid effort – I think I will do this once a week and will know that I am making progress when I get the 8km in under 32 mins”.
So I think I can say that I have made some progress over the past three and a half months.
Monday night - Rox and I settled in to watch the Boston Marathon. Woeful coverage on ESPN. Commentators were wallies of the first degree and they had the knack of going to an ad break everytime there was a development in the race. Far too much too much time spent on what was a pretty boring women's race until the last 3-4 miles and completely missed the surging and breaking up of the pack in the men's race.
The Athlete Alert emails didn't work. The only ones I got were two splits for a guy called Roberto Mendoza who was wearing my number from last year (He ran slower than me). Luckily we could still track via the BAA website.
Congratulations to Simon E (2.56), Clown (3.02 - 5 min PB) and Epi (3.01). I'll let them tell their own stories but I have exchanged some texts with Simon and Clown and it seems like there are some good ones to tell. Seems all three of them faded a bit after 20km although Epi was still on for sub 3 hours until the last 5km it seemed. Well done guys!!
Bit of a late night waiting for the splits to come through and it was nearly 1.30am by the time I hit the sack.
Tuesday - Up at 6am for a 16.2k general aerobic run. Just did the Maylands out and back.
A little fatigued after yesterday’s hard effort and then only 4.5 hours sleep.
Beautiful morning for running – had some fog in a few places (although there was also some smog over the city which was not so nice). No wind and just great to be out there with lots of thoughts of Boston in my head.
(Wore my HRM – only because my usual watch was in the bottom of my bag somewhere. Average HR 148).
16.2km in 1hr 13 mins (4.30/km pace).
Recovery run tomorrow after a good night's sleep. I'll be calling it a night straight after Survivor.
Our terrestial ABC reception is crap so it spoilt the first episode of the new Dr Who series a little. I read in today's paper that there has been a bit of bleating about the tweaking of the theme music - some people just can't handle change. I'll reserve my judgement on the new Dr for a few episodes but I like the new music and the new logo.
On Saturday morning I went for a solo long run. I decided to run the last 12.45km @ marathon pace/marathon pace effort. The first 14+ kms were a little boring. I have done this run so many times and was just chugging along waiting to get to the business end. Also missed having the company for both a chat and maintenance of some pace and focus.
I did the Burswood/Ascot/Garrett Road/Maylands loop. I have measured this on Map My Run previously and although there is a small change with the new bike path in South Perth, I don’t think it has altered the difference at all.
Really surprised and encouraged to have run 50mins for the last 12.45km. Even if the distance is slightly off, I can compare to previous efforts in previous training cycles and that tells me it was one of my best training runs. All up 26.6km in 1 hour 58 mins but with the last 12.45km in 49.59 (4.00/km pace).
On Saturday afternoon, we rode our bikes down to the river to watch the qualifying of the Red Bull Air Race. I quite like the Air Race. I know it is essentially a marketing exercise for Red Bull rather than a sport but it is competitive and pretty spectacular up close - even when they don't crash into the river. I've been following Nigel Lamb ever since the first race here in Perth and think that he was very unlucky not to win it this year. He was close though which hopefully carries through for the rest of the season.
On Saturday evening, we arranged babysitting and Rox and I went out to the Athletics Stadium for the evening session of the National Championships. We forked out the extra for seats in the stand and got some right in front of the pole vault pit where the women's pole vault was on. We also got some expert commentary with World and Olympic Champion, Steve Hooker, sitting in the row directly in front of us.
Me with Steve Hooker
The women's pole vault was a good competition and pretty exciting. Very engaging having training partners of the competitors sitting so close and riding every vault.
For me though. the highlights of the evening were the 5000m and 400m finals. The 400m final had Ben Offereins, Sean Wroe, John Steffenson and Joel Milburn all trying to get one of the three spots for the Commonwealth Games. I think everyone had Ben Offereins down as a definite given his form but it was a raffle for the other two spots. As it turned out, Sean Wroe missed out but what an awesome relay squad.
The 5000m also promised to be a great race with Collis Birmingham, Ben St Lawrence and David McNeill as well as the race within a race between the WA pair of Courtney Carter and Roberto Busi. Courtney beat Roberto quite comfortably at the State Championships a few weeks back and I think most people, me included, had him down as favourite to be the first WA runner again.
Started off as a very tactical race and they really were dawdling along (relatively speaking - it was still way quicker than my pace) but slowly Collis Birmingham stated to wind it up and with about 1200m to go he and Ben St Lawrence had dropped the field, including David McNeill (a little surprisingly for me) with Birmingham then establishing what looked like a winning break over St Lawrence. Then with about 280-250m to go (and we had a great spot to see it looking across to the back straight) - Birmingham's stride started to noticeably shorten, I guess as lactic acid started to kick in. St Lawrence noticed too and wound him in and passed him in the straight to win. McNeill third. Jeff Hunt ran fourth - he looked strong but understandably lacked a bit of pace given his recent marathon efforts. Roberto eighth in 14.21 and Courtney 9th in 14.29. A bit of surprise but well deserved by Roberto. He races regularly in Perth despite rarely getting much competition so it was nice to see him get the reward for his hard work. I expect Courtney may be a bit disappointed as I think he was hoping to set a good PB. Perhaps the way the race turned out worked against that - the pace was so slow early and then it would have been suicidal to try and cover Birmingham when he cranked it up.
The night finished with the Mens and Womens 100m finals - great to see Patrick Johnson still out there and running really well. He finished second.
On Sunday morning, we had the first games of the soccer season for Ben and Sammie. Ben's game was at home while Sammie's was out at Forrestfield. Apparently, it was a complete debacle organisation wise out at Forrestfield for the small sided games but Sammie got a couple of games in and seems happy enough. Rox said she got a couple of kicks and I'm sure she will catch on soon.
We won 4-2 against East Fremantle. I think this is the first time in the four seasons that Ben has played that we have won our first game. We were 2-1 down (after leading 1-0) so it was really encouraging that we fought back. Defence was solid, Ben had a good game and we actually seemed fitter than the other team. All good signs for a successful season hopefully.
Sunday afternoon - back to the track for the last session of the Nationals. We just sat on the grass banks this time, which wasn't so great for the sprints or the pole vault, but ok for high jump and the middle distance events. Womens 800 and Mens 1500 were both good races with excellent finishes in both. Marc See threw it all on the line in the 1500m and got some great crowd support. Steve Hooker didn't have a great time of it in the pole vault but 5.80 is still a good jump. Performance of the day was Fabrice Lapierre in the long jump - 8.78 (wind assisted but still awesome). Sugar took some photos - the one of Lapierre is one of the best of them
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/cane.david/CommonwealthGamesSelectionTrials2010Day3?authkey=Gv1sRgCLqE8ensmuSHLw
Monday - I ran what was quite literally, a blistering tempo run. Ran the Maylands 8km tempo course this morning. Wore new Brooks Green Silence racing flats for their first outing as I would like to wear them in the HBF Run for a Reason but hadn’t even worn them yet.
Really comfortable but can definitely notice the lower profile/lower rise to the heel over the Asics Ohana Racers. Managed to get blisters on both feet, (right worse than left), between the big toe and the ball of my foot. I think the friction point was when I was driving off when running quicker as I felt the right one starting to come on about 2.5km into my tempo run.
The aim for this run was to do the 8km @ half marathon pace which for me at the moment, I estimated at 4.00/km pace. I had a feeling I was going to have a good run and go slightly quicker after my really good long run on Saturday and also quite inspired/motivated after watching the Nationals over the weekend.
This was easily the quickest that I have done this 8km tempo run (I think quickest previously was 32.11 at end of February).
8km in 30.59 (3.52/km pace). Splits for whole run as follows:
Warm Up 1 x 4.1 km 00:19:00 4:38 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:43 3:51 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:52 3:56 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:46 3:53 min/km
Tempo Run 1 x 2.0 km 00:07:37 3:48 min/km
Cool Down 1 x 4.1 km 00:19:00 4:38 min/km
Back on January 7 – I made this comment on my blog about this tempo workout – “My 2km splits were 8.18; 8.30; 8.34 (4.17 + 4.17); 8.41. The last 1.5km was into a bit of headwind. A solid effort – I think I will do this once a week and will know that I am making progress when I get the 8km in under 32 mins”.
So I think I can say that I have made some progress over the past three and a half months.
Monday night - Rox and I settled in to watch the Boston Marathon. Woeful coverage on ESPN. Commentators were wallies of the first degree and they had the knack of going to an ad break everytime there was a development in the race. Far too much too much time spent on what was a pretty boring women's race until the last 3-4 miles and completely missed the surging and breaking up of the pack in the men's race.
The Athlete Alert emails didn't work. The only ones I got were two splits for a guy called Roberto Mendoza who was wearing my number from last year (He ran slower than me). Luckily we could still track via the BAA website.
Congratulations to Simon E (2.56), Clown (3.02 - 5 min PB) and Epi (3.01). I'll let them tell their own stories but I have exchanged some texts with Simon and Clown and it seems like there are some good ones to tell. Seems all three of them faded a bit after 20km although Epi was still on for sub 3 hours until the last 5km it seemed. Well done guys!!
Bit of a late night waiting for the splits to come through and it was nearly 1.30am by the time I hit the sack.
Tuesday - Up at 6am for a 16.2k general aerobic run. Just did the Maylands out and back.
A little fatigued after yesterday’s hard effort and then only 4.5 hours sleep.
Beautiful morning for running – had some fog in a few places (although there was also some smog over the city which was not so nice). No wind and just great to be out there with lots of thoughts of Boston in my head.
(Wore my HRM – only because my usual watch was in the bottom of my bag somewhere. Average HR 148).
16.2km in 1hr 13 mins (4.30/km pace).
Recovery run tomorrow after a good night's sleep. I'll be calling it a night straight after Survivor.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Very excited about Boston, Nationals (and then a bit of a rant)
I'm very excited about the Boston Marathon on Monday night. Mostly because I am looking forward to following Simon, Clown and Epi via the athlete alert emails but also because I think it is going to be a cracking race. The forecast at the moment is fantastic - about 11C with only 10% chance of rain and a tailwind!! I'll be hoping Ryan Hall wins although my pick is Abderrahim Goumri but with seven runners with a PB under 2:07 I wouldn't be betting much on this race. Live on ESPN from 9.30pm (if you have Foxtel) and also streaming on http://www.universalsports.com/
Nationals are on at the Athletics Stadium all weekend. We are planning to get out there on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. I'd love to spend all of Saturday out there but I guess there is a need for a bit of balance. We should still get to see the 400m, 1500m and 5000m finals as well as the pole vault.
First game of soccer this weekend (and very first game of soccer for Sammie). I think our 12s team should go well this season. We are on the correct league this time and have picked up some useful players. Ben seems to have made some big improvements, he really is quite a solid defender now. I quite disappointed that I will miss Sammie's game (she is away while we are at home).
Incidentally, we weighed Sammie this morning and she weighs 18kg which is about the same amount of weight that I have lost between my fattest/heaviest and now. Back in 2002, I weighed around 89kgs and was doing no sport at all - I was just too fat. I managed to drop 4-5kgs through dieting so that I could start running again and then started playing masters soccer. Got down to around 76kgs before I started running seriously back in 2007. Sometimes I give Sammie a piggy back or a shoulder ride if she is tired when we are out walking. I can't imagine having to carry that amount of weight around with me all the time but I guess I used to. I will never get like that again.
Training recap for this week - the first week of my marathon training/build:
Monday - Longish run to kick off my Gold Coast marathon training. I was down to do this tomorrow but bumped it forward a day so that I could squeeze in one more run with Sandgroper before he flys out to Ghana.
Right on queue it started raining the second our feet hit the road to start. Quite a heavy shower that cleared after getting us wet. First run in the rain for about 5 months so I shouldn’t complain.
We did the 3 Bridges loop but it was a little longer due to the diversions for the Red Bull Air Race. Sandgroper has the time as 1.25 but I think we may have been slightly quicker as I had total time at 1.27 and I am sure the pit stop at the Marathon Club was longer than 2 minutes.
Easy paced run, although I did have to work a bit harder as we ran a few 4.15 kms towards the end and then a sprint finish up the hill at the end. Sandgroper beat me and worst bit is I have to wait weeks before I get a chance to rectify the situation.
This was a good start to marathon training - I'm focusing on aerobic development/fitness rather than speed intially.
18.8km @ 4.31/km pace
Tuesday - Bridges loop with detour around the back of Sir James Mitchell Park. Wore my Brooks Adrenalines – they are getting there but I wouldn’t wear them on a long run yet.
Easy paced run although I did run hard up the last hill home.
13km in 58 mins (4.27/km pace).
Wednesday - Easy recovery run to the Narrows and back. I have re-checked the distance change with Map My Run. The detour around the back of the park adds 280m so total for this run is 9.1km in 48.51(5.22/km).
Rain overnight had cleared by this morning. it was a bit windy but it swung around and I had a tailwind for most of the way out and back. It almost seemed a pity to waste good fortune like that on a recovery run!
Thursday - Three Bridges loop – this is somewhere between 18.8 - 18.9km. No stops on this one just two pauses for drinks at drink fountains. Didn’t even stop for a chat with Sugar and Kim when I saw them down at Mends Street.
Lots of moisture in the air but no rain. Got up a good sweat probably from the humidity but also possibly because I had a flu shot last night. Arm was a little sore this morning but no other side effects. 18.8km in 1.24 (4.28/km pace) so a bit quicker than Monday. Building up nicely.
Friday - Easy recovery run to Narrows and back. Not as much on grass as usual as it was very wet and a bit long and spongy.
Had a nice chat with a guy from Sydney who ran up alongside. He is here for work and then the weekend watching Red Bull Air Race.
HR was nice and low at an average of 129. I've really enjoyed this week, probably because I haven't flogged myself through an interval or tempo workout.
9.1km in 48.17 (5.18/km pace).
Now for the rant. I know a few people have been waiting for another one after my (possibly misguided) commentary on Rupert McGuiness' shirts on last year's Tour De France coverage.
I actually contemplated writing something about this last week but thought I'd wait and see what he came up with this week. As it is even worse, I can contain myself no longer!!
Fat ex rugby players (BTW reformed fat people are second only to reformed smokers in self rightousness) should not be offering running advice when they don't know what they are doing. Yes Matt Fuller I'm talking about you (and I do have too much time on my hands).
Let's have a look at what you are suggesting is a good training program for a beginner training for the upcoming HBF Run for a Reason (my comments in italics). You can find this load of crap on the race website or printed alonside the rest of the rubbish in Tuesday's West Australian:
WEEK 1 TRAINING
Beginners 14km running program
We’ll start off easy. Remember to warm up before any session with a 5-minute slow jog and stretch and be sure to cool down by stretching at the end of each workout. The following weeks’ training sessions will become harder as we increase intensity and workload, so it is important that during this time you eat well and drink plenty of water. Try to get enough sleep for you to perform at your best.
Tuesday - 20 min power-walk. Walk as fast as you can without stopping. (Fair enough – our athlete is a beginner but as they are training to run shouldn’t they do a little bit of running. Maybe 1 min run/4min walk).
Wednesday - Rest day (Yes it is important to rest after a harder workout – hang on yesterday's session was only a walk – hmmm??)
Thursday - Fartlek training.* Jog for 1 min slow, run hard for 1 min. Repeat pattern for 20 mins without stopping. (This is more like it – now we are running. Our first running session is – an interval session. Let’s start running fast right from the start, that way if we are going to get injured at least it will be early and we won’t have wasted all that time out on the training track. Our athlete is only a beginner yet this session has a warmup which lasts all of 1 min before they are asked to start “fast sprinting”. WTF!!
Friday - 20 min power-walk (same as Tues). (This is almost sensible after yesterday)
Saturday - 20 min continuous jog easy, slow pace without stopping. (Hooray – finally we have got to run continuously for more than 1 minute)
Sunday - Rest day
Monday - Interval training. 5 min slow jog. 1 min running hard and fast, 1 min slow. 4 x 1 min sprints. 3 x 45 sec sprints. 1x 15 sec sprint. 5 min slow jog (Back to the interval training – no mention of the rest/recovery that should be taken between the 1min and 45 sec sprints. What beginner can “sprint” for a minute let alone do 4 of them followed by 3 x 45sec “sprints”.
* Fartlek training is where the pace varies from fast sprinting to slow jogging. It really helps to increase your fitness and endurance ability to be able to surge quickly during a race.
WEEK 2 TRAINING
Beginners 14km running program
This week, we will step up our training from last week’s easy introduction (Oh OK – that was an easy introduction – it seemed more like throwing someone in at the deep end twice when they hadn’t learned to swim yet but let’s give you a chance to redeem yourself). We need to build the base for what will be the nucleus of your training sessions. That is, continuous jogging, interval training, hill work and low-impact water running (interesting). Remember to work at your own pace, eat well and drink plenty of water.
Tuesday - 20-min continuous slow jog. Work up good sweat & get heart rate up slightly. Should be an easy pace & feel comfortable. (This should be the nucleus of any beginner’s training program)
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - 25 mins interval training. Increase intensity. 5 min jog warm-up pace, stretch. 2 x 400m running 70% maximum capacity with 1:1 recovery.* 5 x 200m runs flat out with a 1:1 recovery. (The warm up is pathetic – the instructions for the recovery are confusing – does the athlete recover for an equal time or equal distance? I’d like to see Fatty Fuller run 5 x 200m flat out with a 40 sec recovery – although that’s probably being generous as to how fast he could run 200m)
Friday - 20 min slow jog then 20 min fast power walk. Stretch. (The “jog” is good but why not mix it up. This will just get you ready to start walking after 20 minutes. 10 minute run/5 minute walk x 3 would give 30 mins running and 15 mins walking and be far more beneficial).
Saturday - Steep hill training. Jog up 40m from the bottom. Walk down to recover. Then sprint up, flat out. Walk-down recovery & repeat for half an hour. (This is the best one of the lot – I couldn’t do this and why would I want to – you don’t need this type of explosive power to run 14km especially if you are a beginner. Any proper training program that introduces hill sprints has no more than 2 or 3 initially but super coach has our beginner doing them continually for half an hour. Let’s say 40m x 20secs for each hill sprint and 40 secs to walk down = 1 min per rep x 30 mins. 30 hill sprints first time out for a beginner – this is actually negligent. Also the warm up appears to be one 40m jog to the top– our poor beginner following Fatty’s every instruction would just then leap straight into 30 flat out hill sprints).
Sunday – Rest (I bet they are resting – I hope they can find a physio on a Sunday!!)
Monday - Deep-water running for 25 minutes.** (The only possible reason I can think of why he would recommend this is because he knows our athlete will be injured by now if they have followed his training program. Our athlete is supposed to be training to run 14km – why not get them running on the land like they will in the race).
* You need to know how to work out your maximum capacity: Subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate, e.g., a 40-year-old man’s maximum heart rate is 220-40 = 180. So Then you can work out what percentage of your maximum heart rate you need to work at for maximum benefit. This is more effective if you wear a heart monitor. If you don’t have one, you can check your pulse by counting the beats over 15 seconds. Then multiply the result by four and this will also give you your heart rate. To work out your resting heart rate, take your pulse (for 15 seconds and multiply result by 4) first thing in the morning when you get out of bed over a one-week period and average it out.
1:1: Means however long it takes you to complete the interval sprint, you then have that same amount of time as rest/recovery, e.g., if you do a one-minute sprint, you have a one-minute rest. If you do a 45-second sprint, then you have a 45-second rest or a 15-second sprint, you get a 15-second rest.
** Water running is a great cardiovascular work-out while being very low impact on your body. What to do: Go to your local pool. In the deep water, sprint (running style) at maximum capacity for 30 seconds and then tread water for one minute slowly to allow your body to recover. Repeat this 15 times.
I should say that I have no reason to dislike Matt Fuller based on anything other than his appalling ignorance about what consitutes a proper training program especially for a beginner. A beginner's training program should be moderate and consistent - two elements completely lacking in the first two weeks of Matt Fuller's program. On the evidence so far, any beginner who is fortunate enough to make it to the starting line uninjured, will be completely ill-equipped to tackle a 14km run. It seems that Matt Fuller has sat down and thought up as many workouts as he can and then tried to squeeze them into his program. He probably knows a lot about preparing elite rugby players for the power and short sprints required for their sport but he clearly knows bugger all about running.
Anyone who is reading this and is looking for a real beginners training program for a 14km run should go to the Run For The Kids website and follow the program created by Steve Moneghetti.
http://www.runforthekids.com.au/r4k/training01-1.asp
Nationals are on at the Athletics Stadium all weekend. We are planning to get out there on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. I'd love to spend all of Saturday out there but I guess there is a need for a bit of balance. We should still get to see the 400m, 1500m and 5000m finals as well as the pole vault.
First game of soccer this weekend (and very first game of soccer for Sammie). I think our 12s team should go well this season. We are on the correct league this time and have picked up some useful players. Ben seems to have made some big improvements, he really is quite a solid defender now. I quite disappointed that I will miss Sammie's game (she is away while we are at home).
Incidentally, we weighed Sammie this morning and she weighs 18kg which is about the same amount of weight that I have lost between my fattest/heaviest and now. Back in 2002, I weighed around 89kgs and was doing no sport at all - I was just too fat. I managed to drop 4-5kgs through dieting so that I could start running again and then started playing masters soccer. Got down to around 76kgs before I started running seriously back in 2007. Sometimes I give Sammie a piggy back or a shoulder ride if she is tired when we are out walking. I can't imagine having to carry that amount of weight around with me all the time but I guess I used to. I will never get like that again.
Training recap for this week - the first week of my marathon training/build:
Monday - Longish run to kick off my Gold Coast marathon training. I was down to do this tomorrow but bumped it forward a day so that I could squeeze in one more run with Sandgroper before he flys out to Ghana.
Right on queue it started raining the second our feet hit the road to start. Quite a heavy shower that cleared after getting us wet. First run in the rain for about 5 months so I shouldn’t complain.
We did the 3 Bridges loop but it was a little longer due to the diversions for the Red Bull Air Race. Sandgroper has the time as 1.25 but I think we may have been slightly quicker as I had total time at 1.27 and I am sure the pit stop at the Marathon Club was longer than 2 minutes.
Easy paced run, although I did have to work a bit harder as we ran a few 4.15 kms towards the end and then a sprint finish up the hill at the end. Sandgroper beat me and worst bit is I have to wait weeks before I get a chance to rectify the situation.
This was a good start to marathon training - I'm focusing on aerobic development/fitness rather than speed intially.
18.8km @ 4.31/km pace
Tuesday - Bridges loop with detour around the back of Sir James Mitchell Park. Wore my Brooks Adrenalines – they are getting there but I wouldn’t wear them on a long run yet.
Easy paced run although I did run hard up the last hill home.
13km in 58 mins (4.27/km pace).
Wednesday - Easy recovery run to the Narrows and back. I have re-checked the distance change with Map My Run. The detour around the back of the park adds 280m so total for this run is 9.1km in 48.51(5.22/km).
Rain overnight had cleared by this morning. it was a bit windy but it swung around and I had a tailwind for most of the way out and back. It almost seemed a pity to waste good fortune like that on a recovery run!
Thursday - Three Bridges loop – this is somewhere between 18.8 - 18.9km. No stops on this one just two pauses for drinks at drink fountains. Didn’t even stop for a chat with Sugar and Kim when I saw them down at Mends Street.
Lots of moisture in the air but no rain. Got up a good sweat probably from the humidity but also possibly because I had a flu shot last night. Arm was a little sore this morning but no other side effects. 18.8km in 1.24 (4.28/km pace) so a bit quicker than Monday. Building up nicely.
Friday - Easy recovery run to Narrows and back. Not as much on grass as usual as it was very wet and a bit long and spongy.
Had a nice chat with a guy from Sydney who ran up alongside. He is here for work and then the weekend watching Red Bull Air Race.
HR was nice and low at an average of 129. I've really enjoyed this week, probably because I haven't flogged myself through an interval or tempo workout.
9.1km in 48.17 (5.18/km pace).
Now for the rant. I know a few people have been waiting for another one after my (possibly misguided) commentary on Rupert McGuiness' shirts on last year's Tour De France coverage.
I actually contemplated writing something about this last week but thought I'd wait and see what he came up with this week. As it is even worse, I can contain myself no longer!!
Fat ex rugby players (BTW reformed fat people are second only to reformed smokers in self rightousness) should not be offering running advice when they don't know what they are doing. Yes Matt Fuller I'm talking about you (and I do have too much time on my hands).
Let's have a look at what you are suggesting is a good training program for a beginner training for the upcoming HBF Run for a Reason (my comments in italics). You can find this load of crap on the race website or printed alonside the rest of the rubbish in Tuesday's West Australian:
WEEK 1 TRAINING
Beginners 14km running program
We’ll start off easy. Remember to warm up before any session with a 5-minute slow jog and stretch and be sure to cool down by stretching at the end of each workout. The following weeks’ training sessions will become harder as we increase intensity and workload, so it is important that during this time you eat well and drink plenty of water. Try to get enough sleep for you to perform at your best.
Tuesday - 20 min power-walk. Walk as fast as you can without stopping. (Fair enough – our athlete is a beginner but as they are training to run shouldn’t they do a little bit of running. Maybe 1 min run/4min walk).
Wednesday - Rest day (Yes it is important to rest after a harder workout – hang on yesterday's session was only a walk – hmmm??)
Thursday - Fartlek training.* Jog for 1 min slow, run hard for 1 min. Repeat pattern for 20 mins without stopping. (This is more like it – now we are running. Our first running session is – an interval session. Let’s start running fast right from the start, that way if we are going to get injured at least it will be early and we won’t have wasted all that time out on the training track. Our athlete is only a beginner yet this session has a warmup which lasts all of 1 min before they are asked to start “fast sprinting”. WTF!!
Friday - 20 min power-walk (same as Tues). (This is almost sensible after yesterday)
Saturday - 20 min continuous jog easy, slow pace without stopping. (Hooray – finally we have got to run continuously for more than 1 minute)
Sunday - Rest day
Monday - Interval training. 5 min slow jog. 1 min running hard and fast, 1 min slow. 4 x 1 min sprints. 3 x 45 sec sprints. 1x 15 sec sprint. 5 min slow jog (Back to the interval training – no mention of the rest/recovery that should be taken between the 1min and 45 sec sprints. What beginner can “sprint” for a minute let alone do 4 of them followed by 3 x 45sec “sprints”.
* Fartlek training is where the pace varies from fast sprinting to slow jogging. It really helps to increase your fitness and endurance ability to be able to surge quickly during a race.
WEEK 2 TRAINING
Beginners 14km running program
This week, we will step up our training from last week’s easy introduction (Oh OK – that was an easy introduction – it seemed more like throwing someone in at the deep end twice when they hadn’t learned to swim yet but let’s give you a chance to redeem yourself). We need to build the base for what will be the nucleus of your training sessions. That is, continuous jogging, interval training, hill work and low-impact water running (interesting). Remember to work at your own pace, eat well and drink plenty of water.
Tuesday - 20-min continuous slow jog. Work up good sweat & get heart rate up slightly. Should be an easy pace & feel comfortable. (This should be the nucleus of any beginner’s training program)
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - 25 mins interval training. Increase intensity. 5 min jog warm-up pace, stretch. 2 x 400m running 70% maximum capacity with 1:1 recovery.* 5 x 200m runs flat out with a 1:1 recovery. (The warm up is pathetic – the instructions for the recovery are confusing – does the athlete recover for an equal time or equal distance? I’d like to see Fatty Fuller run 5 x 200m flat out with a 40 sec recovery – although that’s probably being generous as to how fast he could run 200m)
Friday - 20 min slow jog then 20 min fast power walk. Stretch. (The “jog” is good but why not mix it up. This will just get you ready to start walking after 20 minutes. 10 minute run/5 minute walk x 3 would give 30 mins running and 15 mins walking and be far more beneficial).
Saturday - Steep hill training. Jog up 40m from the bottom. Walk down to recover. Then sprint up, flat out. Walk-down recovery & repeat for half an hour. (This is the best one of the lot – I couldn’t do this and why would I want to – you don’t need this type of explosive power to run 14km especially if you are a beginner. Any proper training program that introduces hill sprints has no more than 2 or 3 initially but super coach has our beginner doing them continually for half an hour. Let’s say 40m x 20secs for each hill sprint and 40 secs to walk down = 1 min per rep x 30 mins. 30 hill sprints first time out for a beginner – this is actually negligent. Also the warm up appears to be one 40m jog to the top– our poor beginner following Fatty’s every instruction would just then leap straight into 30 flat out hill sprints).
Sunday – Rest (I bet they are resting – I hope they can find a physio on a Sunday!!)
Monday - Deep-water running for 25 minutes.** (The only possible reason I can think of why he would recommend this is because he knows our athlete will be injured by now if they have followed his training program. Our athlete is supposed to be training to run 14km – why not get them running on the land like they will in the race).
* You need to know how to work out your maximum capacity: Subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate, e.g., a 40-year-old man’s maximum heart rate is 220-40 = 180. So Then you can work out what percentage of your maximum heart rate you need to work at for maximum benefit. This is more effective if you wear a heart monitor. If you don’t have one, you can check your pulse by counting the beats over 15 seconds. Then multiply the result by four and this will also give you your heart rate. To work out your resting heart rate, take your pulse (for 15 seconds and multiply result by 4) first thing in the morning when you get out of bed over a one-week period and average it out.
1:1: Means however long it takes you to complete the interval sprint, you then have that same amount of time as rest/recovery, e.g., if you do a one-minute sprint, you have a one-minute rest. If you do a 45-second sprint, then you have a 45-second rest or a 15-second sprint, you get a 15-second rest.
** Water running is a great cardiovascular work-out while being very low impact on your body. What to do: Go to your local pool. In the deep water, sprint (running style) at maximum capacity for 30 seconds and then tread water for one minute slowly to allow your body to recover. Repeat this 15 times.
I should say that I have no reason to dislike Matt Fuller based on anything other than his appalling ignorance about what consitutes a proper training program especially for a beginner. A beginner's training program should be moderate and consistent - two elements completely lacking in the first two weeks of Matt Fuller's program. On the evidence so far, any beginner who is fortunate enough to make it to the starting line uninjured, will be completely ill-equipped to tackle a 14km run. It seems that Matt Fuller has sat down and thought up as many workouts as he can and then tried to squeeze them into his program. He probably knows a lot about preparing elite rugby players for the power and short sprints required for their sport but he clearly knows bugger all about running.
Anyone who is reading this and is looking for a real beginners training program for a 14km run should go to the Run For The Kids website and follow the program created by Steve Moneghetti.
http://www.runforthekids.com.au/r4k/training01-1.asp
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