Monday, May 29, 2006

Recovery Run 7ks

Into Centennial Park for an easy recovery run. Legs were not feeling too flash tonight.
Ran for 40 minutes and covered 7ks in that time. Average pace of 5:42 per klm.

A great night to run, wasn't cold at all so the singlet and shorts were in vogue. Like I have another option.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Park Prowler 22ks

Looked out the window and saw that the sky was clear so headed out in just the singlet and shorts with the sunnies on.
Unfortunately it took over an hour for the cloud to move so the sun could warm me up a bit. It was pretty chilly at the start at 6:45 this morning.

Into Centennial Park on a car free day. There were heaps of cyclists and runners about early. Did the usual run around the outside fence on the dirt/grass trail. A bit of water about after the overnight showers made the shoes a bit dirty. There were a few tri guys doing brick sessions as I saw a some doing laps in their bike gear with running shoes on.

Covered 22ks in 2:00:33. Average pace of 5:28 per klm. Legs felt pretty sore today, especially the right calf near the stress fracture. I guess it needs the practice after some time off.

Ran into Don Juan late in my run as he was heading back home up through Oxford St.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

East Met Cross Country 6ks

A trip down to Mutch Park at Pagewood for a Randwick Botany Harriers cross country race.
The course was looking a bit softer after the recent showers we have had this week. It was a dustbowl when I was there three weeks ago.
I was doing the 6k which meant 3 loops of the course which has one long hill near the start and a short steep one just near the finish.

Splits were 8:15, 8:35, 8:46. To finish with 25:36 for the 6ks. Average pace of 4:16 per klm.
I have been getting faster without specifically doing 1k reps or hill reps in the last 6 weeks. Only had the one fast session which was the Mona Fartlek 2 weeks ago.

Met Royworlds, Easy Tiger, Mohammad, Long Arms, plus Naomi and Damien fellow Striders at the race. The leg did not like the downhills too much so I took them slower than usual and was consequently passed by a few people.

Long Run tomorrow in Centennial Park early.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Triple Park Loop-12ks

A three parks run tonight.
I passed through Centennial Park first and then into Queens Park and then back into Centennial Park and down to Fox Studios before running into Moore Park and then back home.
Quuens Park was definitely the coldest and darkest for some reason. Very hard to run in even though I was only running on playing fields.

I ran 12.5ks in 1:07:00. Average pace of 5:21 per klm. Ran a bit slower as I had to cross a few roads to do this run plus I have not run in Moore Park or Queens Park at all.
Surface was mostly on grass tonight.

And at the MCG there were 95,100 at the Soccer a record for the sport in Australia and a current MCG record after the recent rebuilding.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Park Run 12k's

A warm 17 degrees tonight and it was time to do some training again after the half on Sunday.
Into Centennial Park along the grass trail and up to Oxford St and then down to Anzac Pde and back again. The Park trust in there great wisdom lopped a dead tree a few weeks ago. I found out tonight they chainsawed the tree up but left it covering the trail. Steeplechase in the dark without a water landing was an option, but I found a way around it.

Ran 12.2ks tonight in a time of 1:01:40. Average pace of 5:03 per klm.
Didn't run it too quick just an easy first run after the half on Sunday. Legs felt good during the run with no evidence of the stressie complaining about the tar on Sunday.

Will probably do the East Met cross country on Saturday and then a long run on Sunday this week.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

A hard rains a gonna fall

Well I thought for half a second about running tonight.
But realised it was raining heavily and 15 degrees. So I turned the heater on and shut that idea up. The legs are still sore from the half on Sunday anyway so it is best not to.

Looked up the results of the SMH Half and they gave me 93:12 same as my watch with a 93:07 as the net time for 622nd place. My watch was behind by 2secs from the clocks the whole race as they shot the gun without telling us. Will be interested to see how the CR's and Striders went in the age and team results.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

SMH Half Marathon

The long morning started at 4am to avoid the use if the port a loos at the start.
Change in diet, avoiding the usual weet-bix with milk which is probably a bit heavy, to go with the toast and jam to wake me up plus a gatorade first up.

Caught the bus down to Circular Quay and had a very leisurely walk along George St, noting the roadworks right on the overhead train line corner, and walked up Argyle Cut to the start.
Ran into Plu and Tux as I was in Kent St and had a brief chat before getting to the start area.
Chatted to Truckie, Aunty K, Uncle Dave, Papa Liugi, Spud, Bernie G and Blue Dog before going down to the actual start line.
Ran into Grandpa, O Runner, Mohammad, Vat, and the Langsworths while we waited for the start.

There was no warning of the gun going off so I would say a few people may have there gun times different to what there watches said. Mine was out by 2 seconds the whole way around the course. Took off a bit quick as I had 3:59 at the 1k mark and a dash for the port a loo near the finish line.
I didn't run with anyone, but there did seem to be Striders all around me at times during the race. I reached the 5k mark in 21:35 which I thought was too fast still but I felt ok. Walked through all the drink stations the whole race so you could probably take off 2mins if I hadn't.

Reached the 10k mark in 43:44 but feeling like the endurance was not there. Which it isn't! Damn Stressie. Going up Hunter St the 2nd time I nearly felt like walking as I believed I was in a damn slow shuffle up hill and would move faster walking. I decided against it.
Watched a steady stream of Striders passing me back down Macquarie St. Guzzo was flying at this stage and he eventually got third holding off Magnus Michelsson.

Down into the domain again and feeling better after getting on some good downhills. Reached the 15k mark in 66:10 and walked through the drinks again. Had a much better time getting out of the domain this time and floored it down Hunter St passing a lot of people here. Long Legs helps.
Argyle Cut was an upward shuffle with Fake Plastic Trees at the bottom urging me to keep going. Thanks Mate.

Down to the start again I went through the 20k mark in 88:50 and eventually finished in 93:12 on my watch. The splits were 21:35(5), 22:09(10), 21:26(15), 22:40(20), 4:22(21.1). Average pace of 4:25 per klm.
Six minutes outside my PB but can't expect much after the stress fractures.
This race was only a stepping stone on the comeback so I am not fussed about the time.

And to the matter that concerns all Superflake 93:12, Blue Dog 89:57. Ok he did beat me with a dodgy foot. But it was inside the 5min handicap, so I'm happy.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Light jog 4ks

Headed out around 9am for a slow run around Centennial Park.
Heaps of people in the park this morning, including my old school Scots playing Rugby on a couple of ovals.
I just stuck to the grass area around the horse track, nothing hard. Leave that for tomorrow.

It was 4.2ks in 23:15. Very easy. Just wanted to see if the legs still worked.
Now off to the city to pickup by Bib for the race tomorrow.

Good luck everyone! And go Swans tonight at the SCG.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Lets get ready to rumble

Ah yes folks it is 'fight night'. Mundine 'the man' vs the Green machine.

Treated this run as an easy run after working pretty hard last night to do that Fartlek session.
Shadow boxed my way around the trail inside Centennial Park down to Fox Studios and Anzac Pde and then back home again.

Got through 11.2ks in the 60 minutes I intended to do. Ran only in a singlet and shorts as it felt quite warm.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Mona Fartlek

I added a bit to the version of Mona Fartlek that you read about.

The session I did tonight was:
1 x 120secs, 2 x 90secs, 4 x 60secs, 4 x 30secs, 4 x 15secs. I added the 2 minute bit at the front.
Ran these at a pretty solid pace using a float recovery of the same time length. Meaning I was still moving pretty well when I did the recovery.

All up the session came to 25 minutes and I covered 5:32ks in that time.

I had a 1.25k warmup to get to the oval I used and as I finished over the other side from where I started I had a 1.7k cool down jog back home.

The oval is pretty dark in places so it made it a bit hard to do the last bit with only 15secs of effort required.
Legs felt pretty good as it was all on grass. First time I have done this session and it felt quite good doing it.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Details of SMH Half bet

It seems the Dog underestimates his running ability and my level of fitness.

He only wants to give me 5 minutes.

In a 7.5k Cross Country on Saturday he beat me by 3 minutes, so what will happen in the half.

My suggestion was 10 minutes but he has gone all shy and won't take the bet.

I'm off to the pet shop now to get one of those extendable dog collars so I can keep track of him on Sunday morning.

Expect to see me jump in ahead of Scott Westcott as I need all the start I can get.

And I'm taking today off, so no running.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Afternoon Run-6ks

Well back after the golf and lunch. Into Centennial Park before it got too dark.
I ran around the grass trail again but at a pretty slow pace.

Nine holes of golf and lunch with alcohol doesn't help your running.

Ran 6.51ks in 36:42. Average pace of 5:38 per klm.

Total for the day was 20.13ks in a time of 1:50:19. Average pace of 5:29 per klm.
A bit slower than I wanted for the day, but I guess I am looking at the endurance factor at the moment.

Morning Run-13ks

Woke up a bit late so didn't have time to run what I wanted this morning.
Ran into Centennial Park at about 6:30am and did two laps of the grass trail around the fence.
It was a bit chilly at the start but soon became quite humid when the sun came up.

Ran 13:62ks in a time of 1:13:37. Average pace of 5:24 per klm. A bit too slow for my liking.

Had to race off home as a game of golf and Mothers day lunch was needed to be done.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

East Met Cross Country 7.5k

Down to Sydney Park in downtown St Peters for the East Met Cross Country race. Either 2.5ks, 5ks or 7.5ks today, so chose the 7.5ks. Not that I was going to do anything else.

The course has one long hill plus two other short sharp hills. All in all a tough Cross Country course.
Splits as called by the Time Keeper were 10:30, 21:52 and the finish 33:29.
So 2.5ks of 10:30, 11:22 and 11:37. Probably too fast at the start.
Average pace of 4:27 per klm for a hilly cross country course is not too bad considering the Novice 10k pace on a flat course two weeks ago was 4:32 per klm.

Met up with Jo Cowan, Bernie G, Blue Dog, Vat, Royworlds and Timinerko at the race.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Sixty Minutes- A park investigation

A change in title you lot!

Into Centennial Park for the hour with side trips up to Oxford St and back down to the Horse Stables and Anzac Pde thrown in.
The ground was noticeably softer underfoot after the rain yesterday afternoon and last night in the area. There was actually still a pretty big puddle at one of the gates even after today's sun.

The plan was run for an hour. As I did this as an out and back I thought I would struggle to get back to the same spot. So it turned out.
Splits were 30mins for 6.09ks and then return 30mins for 5.81ks.
All up 11.90 ks in the sixty minutes. Average pace of 5:02 per klm.
Not bad on a hilly, tree rooted, sandy, grassy and dark run. More excuses for being slow.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Recovery Run 10.2ks

I thought it was Wabbit season when I saw a pair playing up on Oxford St. They soon scurried off to begin breeding like Wabbits.

Into Centennial Park with the bats and the rabbits, and probably a few other animals as well.
Run was meant to be a slow run to help the legs recover from yesterdays effort.
Ran 10.2ks in a time of 57:18, Average pace of 5:37 per klm. A bit too quick, but I really didn't feel it.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Park Monster-30ks

Ran into Centennial Park early this morning about 6:45 am. Was very chilly on the first lap making my eyes water and nose run. And then the sun came up with the warm Northerly breeze, and kept getting warmer.

Ran ok for the first 3 laps but doing a 4th and part of a 5th lap starting getting boring.
Lots of dogs, runners and cyclists in the park this morning.

Ran into Royworlds in the toilet, and then Sparkie, Don Juan, Easy Tiger and Lucy all doing Sweat training.
I went past Shuffling feet in disguise as she was running towards Queens Park. I guess that sighting counts.

Any way, distance was 30ks on purpose in a time of 2:46:29. Average pace of 5:33 per klm. Not bad pace on a sandy, rocky, tree rooted path.
My longest run since July last year. Stress fracture didn't hurt at all which is real good. The rest of the body is a different matter. Someone come over and get me a gatorade from the fridge as I am having trouble walking.

Friday, May 05, 2006

A warm 10ks in the park

A pretty late start tonight at 7:15 as I ran into Centennial Park.
While running around the grass trail a bat swooped across my face scaring the crap out of me.
Not sure what is worse in the park, the bats swooping at you or the possums screeching in the tree branch you run under.

Distance was 10.02 ks in a time of 53:03. Not fast but I am running without too many lights on a grass course with tree roots to dodge. Is that enough excuses?

Will do next run Sunday morning. It will have to be a long one to see if I can handle the Half in a couple of weeks.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Do you run for a Living?

I had to laugh when the local Service Station operator asked me the question. I said it costs me money to run and slowly ran off proving my theory of definitely not running for a living.

After Wombatface made a comment about doing the run/walk thing on Monday I decided I better get on with it and cut the walking out.

Ran for an hour which equated to 10.8ks at my current slow pace. I did the run around Centennial Park in the dark on the grass trail, down to Fox Studios and back again.
Only stopped once for a drink and that was at Fox Studios.

The leg certainly does not like the downhills still, I guess because the muscle next to the bone is fully stretched out waiting for the foot to land again. Doesn't hurt going uphills, for I guess the reverse reason.

Monday, May 01, 2006

A run in the rain or was it the possums?

Well it tried to rain on me a few times tonight. Either that or it was those damn possums in the park having fun.
Didn't have much time tonight so it was a short session.
Walk 3 mins, Run 22mins,Walk 3 mins, Run 22mins. And that was it.

All up 50 minutes for a total of 8.45 klms.

Legs felt fine with no pain from the stressie at all. Just feeling tired from the 12 hour day at work. Start of the month lots to do.