Saturday, March 31, 2007

CR 5K Challenge = PB

Parked at Lilyfield Rd this morning so did a 3k warmup over to the start.
The 19 min brigade had about ten people in it. Is this the new 20mins?

Lucky I decided to start off 18mins with Kanser and his mate. Started out too quick as per the norm and ran through 1k in 3:31 with Kanser ahead at about 3:25.
The wind started to kick in on the 2nd k as part of it heads west which was where the breeze was blowing from. Split was just ok with me reaching 2k in 7:17 which gave me a 3:46 for that one.
The third is nearly 90% straight west so found it a real battle to push into the wind. Seeing me labouring in to the 3k point with 11:10 on the clock and a bad 3:53 split.
Started the 4th k with a tail wind which made it a lot better. Uncle Dave and then Tom31 came past before I reached the 4k mark. Which I did in 14:50, a 3:40 split.
Now the turn for home and the k I hate the most as the track winds it way between tennis courts, toilet blocks and playgrounds. Spotted Luke SkyRunner in the distance and tried to catch him but just missed. Hr started off 19.

Finished with 18:28 a 10second PB. And 3:38 for the last k.
Now I'm on the slippery slope towards 18 which is good. Splits of 3:31,3:46,3:53,3:40,3:38. Pretty crap that 2nd and 3rd k but managed to salvage the finish.Jogged backed to my car which was only a k away with Horrie and Professor, who both had great runs.I think there was about 40 of us in total. Can't wait for the next one it was great running conditions this morning.

The 5k time gives me a prospective 38:22 for 10k. I'll see if I can do that next week at the Domain.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Easy 10ks

An easy run around Centennial Park. A bit windy but it was fantastically cool while I was out there. The run was mostly on the grass. Legs and feet feeling good.
Ran 10.2ks in 49:53. Average pace of 4:53 per klm. Didn't push it too hard.

CR5K tomorrow morning around the Bay Run. Should be quick.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Flake Fartlek

Just a quick post as I have to go off to CR drinks and I think I'm a bit late.

Ran down to Anzac Pde and up past the SCG and Aussie Stadium and back.

Managed 6.92ks in the 28 mins. Average pace of 4:02 per klm. Nice and humid conditions to run in tonight as we had some showers today.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Medium Long Run 16ks

Nice weather for it tonight. Close to a full moon and a bit of a breeze meant no humdity during the run.
Did a lap of Centennial Park, Fox Studios, Aussie Stadium and the SCG. With a an extra loop around Fox, SCG and Aussie Stadium to make the distance. Some hills in the run but nothing too serious.

Ran 16ks in 1:20.09. Average pace of 5:00 per klm. Gee paced it well.

Tesso it will be short stuff sort of after Canberra. Just SMH Half in May, Woodford 2 Glenbrook 25k in June and Kembla Joggers Half in July. All the rest will be Cross Country and 10k races until Sydney Marathon in September.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

6x1k Reps

First lot of 1k Reps since Late October. That Six Foot training has a lot to answer for, and I guess short track races over Summer didn't help the cause.

Headed down to the Bay Run to do these tonight. Not as humid as last week and not too much wind blowing, so was confident of them being quite decent in speed. Thought I went too fast doing the first one and was waiting for a nice blowup.

Reps were: 3:29, 3:28, 3:27, 3:29, 3:33, 3:31. All done with a 2 minute walk recovery between each. Did a 1k warmup and a 1k cool down after the session.
I like being consistent!

Monday, March 26, 2007

Recovery Run 7ks

An easy recovery run around Centennial Park. The humidity seems to have gone for the moment after the Southerly came through on Saturday night. Still a nice cool breeze blowing while I was out running.

Legs felt a bit heavy in the calf area but they soon warmed up enough to trot around the park.

Ran 7.4ks in 44:57. Average pace of 6:04 per klm. Very cool.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Centennial Park 37ks

Location: Centennial Park running track which is a distance of 3.7ks for each lap. Basically flat with a rise and fall of about 20metres around the circuit. Shaded from the sun for nearly all of it although not needed this morning.

Conditions: A stiff southerly blew in late yesterday leaving it cool and windy. Breeze between 12-17 knots with gusts up to 27 knots, and the temp ranging from 17 to 19 degrees. And a couple of showers as well during the run.

Goals: 4 laps x 17:15(4:39/k) per lap, 4 laps x 15:30(4:11/k) per lap, and then 2 laps x 14:30(3:55/k) per lap. Or run like a Kenyan. The fast finishing long run.

Outcome: 14.8ks in 69:00. Average pace of 4:39 per klm.
14.8ks in 64:04. Average pace of 4:19 per klm.
7.4ks in 30:20. Average pace of 4:05 per klm.
Total 37ks in 2:43.24. Average pace of 4:24 per klm.

Washup: The first 4 laps was easy as I usually do my long runs at around that pace without a problem. It became harder and harder doing the 2nd lot of four laps to maintain the pace I was after which was 4:11/ks. The wind was certainly one factor but I would say that the energy levels are just not there yet to run that quick at that stage of a long run. Or I'm just slow anyway, and shouldn't have tried this concept.
The last two laps were run with the head back and me gasping for air as the legs kept saying you have got to be kidding. Apparently I was!

Did see Kit, Royworlds, Ben-Hur and I think Jen_Runs tooted at me as I ran around and around and around the park this morning. Now for the taper.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Easy 10ks

Did an easy lap of Centennial and Moore Parks on the grass. Pretty easy on the legs but really humid once again.

Total was 10.8ks in 58:12. Average pace of 5:23 per klm.

Gronk the Mona Fartlek is 2x90secs, 4x60secs, 4x30secs, 4x15secs. All of those run hard, and then all with an equal time float after the hard part. The float is run quicker than an actual recovery run. The total is 20 mins.
I just add 2x120sec on the front with equal float to make it 28mins.The "flake fartlek". You try and do the session as an out an back, trying to get back to the start position after you turn around at 10 mins or 14mins, etc.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Flake Fartlek

Back by popular demand! Ok, Six Foot is over so I brought it back myself.
Ran into Centennial Park and did my 28 minute Version of the Mona Fartlek around the running track.
Very windy and really humid as well. Not easy conditions to do a speed session in.

Ran 6.9ks in the 28 minutes. Average pace of 4:03 per klm. Not bad considering the floats were pretty slow because I was buggered. That run yesterday took a fair bit of energy out of me.

Did a 1k warmup before the session and then a 2k cool down afterwards. I'll be happy when I can get this session back under the 4 min/k pace.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Medium Long Run 20ks

A couple of laps of the Centennial Park tarred running track then out up to Aussie Stadium and back home again. A pretty flat run but does have some hills in it near the Stadium.
Very humid, the singlet was really soaked after a few k's. Really annoying as I had to keep pulling it forward again. Shouldn't have worn the Six Foot one, as it is a bit heavy.

Ran 20.4ks in 1:33.01. Average pace of 4:33 per klm. Felt pretty good running at that pace.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

3x3.7k Reps

Ran three laps of the running track in Centennial Park. The light was fading as a storm moved across from the west. The last lap being done in pretty much no light. Very humid and a few drops of rain fell on me during the session.

Reps 14:09(3:49/k), 14:12(3:50/k), 14:19(3:52/k). I had a 5 min walk recovery between each rep. Did a 1k warmup before the session and a 2k cool down after.

Pretty happy with my first speed session since January. Felt really good to run fast again without having to do a heap of endurance work.

BTW: We went to a german restaurant last night. But Mum is a great chef.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Recovery Run 7ks

A late run tonight after having dinner with the parents. So tonight's run was powered by a Schnitzel and a cherry Strudel. It was a nice dinner.

Did a lap around the outside of Centennial Park just after the showers had finished. It was really humid during the run. I would have been drier running in the rain.

Ran 7.5ks in 40:25. Average pace of 5:23 per klm. Slightly faster than I thought it would be after yesterdays hard run on the concrete.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Clovelly Canter 32ks

Woke up a bit late and missed the start of the 6:20am group. I would have run to the start as it isn't that far from my house, about 1.5ks away at Queens Park. The group only left about 20seconds before I got there so I had a bit of an early sprint in the dark to catch them.

A half lap of Centennial Park and then out back nearly past the start again so I ran off to grab my map and then had to chase them for a couple of k's and caught them at a drink stop. We then basically pass through Bronte, Waverley Cemetery, Clovelly, Coogee, Maroubra, Malabar, Matraville, Hillsdale, Eastgardens, Pagewood, Kensington and then back around the outside of Centennial Park to the finish. We had a bit of extra k's added in Malabar as we missed a turn while we were chatting on the run. Of course we did run an extra hill because of it. Lots of stairs running from Bronte to Maroubra slowed us up a fair bit.

The group was small but included Chris Truscott, Paul Mackay, Jono Worswick, Timinerko, Grandpa and Virtual as well for awhile.

Ran a total of 32.5ks after the Malabar mix up. Time was 2:37.41. Average pace of 4:51 per klm.
Next week I'll do a long run at Marathon Pace as it will be 3 weeks to go for Canberra.
Legs felt very slow from about the 20k mark of the run today. Hope to get some freshness in them when I start the taper.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Goals 2007

I've just realised that I never posted my goals for the year. How slack, it's now March.
Not really in any order at all. I'm putting the PB's that I had at the start of the year.

1. Sub 3 hour Marathon.(PB-3:16.32)
2. Sub 80 min Half Marathon. (PB-84:40)
3. Sub 37 min 10k. (PB-39:11) Current 38:31
4. Sub 17 min 5k. (PB-18:54) Current 18:38
5. Sub 5hr Six Foot Track. Done almost 5:02.05
6. Sub 55min City 2 Surf
7. Canberra 50k

Along the road I'll be running for the Striders during Winter as a registered Athlete again plus next summer on the track as well.
If I break my marathon PB it will qualify me to run Boston Marathon next year. Fingers crossed.

Centennial Cross Country 14ks

A couple of laps around the cross country course in Centennial Park. Pretty humid tonight and windy. Plenty of people about enjoying the weather.
Legs felt pretty dead actually. Must have been that race on the weekend. I'm joking I'm just tired anyway from work this week.

Today it was 14.1ks in 1:17.08. Average pace of 5:28 per klm.

Running ok Tesso because I treated Six Foot as a training run and ate and drank from start to finish at every aid station. No chance of being dehydrated during the race.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Medium Long Run 16ks

Did a lap of the running track in Centennial Park and then out around the outside of the park and down to Anzac Pde. Then along past Aussie Stadium and the SCG and back home.
Pretty humid tonight and the sun was going down as I ran with the bats returning home to eat in the trees above my head.

Ran 16.1ks in 1:21.15. Average pace of 5:02 per klm. Wore the Pegasus T/C shoes again. Which are feeling great doing these runs. Still thinking of using them in Canberra for the Marathon.

Probably do the run/off/run for this week to help the recovery from Six Foot.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Stop lazing around already

The quads still feeling sore and the bruises are coming out nicely with the scars from the Six Foot race fall on Saturday.
I had a day off on Sunday so that was enough.

Trotted out into Centennial Park running around the outside fence. All on grass mostly and was met with a few very refreshing passing showers from the Southerly. Lovely stuff.

Ran 11.5ks in 74:00.00. Average pace of 6:26 per klm. Not pushing hard at all to do that pace. More of a shuffle as the quads didn't like anything resmbling downhill. They will be right pretty soon for some punishment.

Ran in my new Six Foot 2007 singlet. Show off!

The report on Six Foot is here sixfoottrack.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Centennial Cross Country 14ks

A run around the cross country course in Centennial Park. Gave the new trail shoes a workout again. During the run did some downhill reps as well, but that's on the other blog.

Felt good during the run, not puffed at all actually. Legs feeling good and no niggles at all.

The run was mostly on the grass and dirt trail. It was 14.5ks in 74:10. Average pace of 5:06 per klm.

Why was the run so long today. Because I'm still training for Canberra a month later, remember.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Easy 10ks

A very late run last night. 10:30pm around Centennial Park. Batfink took off and nearly ripped my head off as I just happened to see him out of the corner of my eye and ducked my head in time. Mongrel.

Just ran around the outside of the park down to Fox Studios and back.
All up 10.2 ks in 50:12. Average pace of 4:55 per klm.

The Kahana shoes don't seem to be too much heavier than the Nike Pegasus I wear on the road.
I needed some new shoes anyway Don Juan as the two pairs of pegasus were worn out on the soles.
The Trail shoes do keep out the dirt more as the mesh is not open on the side, so they may be a bit hotter on my feet.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Recovery Run 7ks

Tested out my new pair of trail shoes tonight. Well as much as running through sand, mud, grass and puddles can test a pair of trail shoes. No slippery Pluvio rocks, or Cox's river crossings in Centennial Park to try them on.

They are Asics Kahana in a pre dirty colour of grey. Hides the dirt real well. No dirt got into the shoe as the mesh is not open to the air like a normal road shoe. Should do well in the Mountains on Saturday.

Tonight was a run in the light rain and very windy Southerly. Ran 7.5ks in 44:18. Average pace of 5:54 per klm. Nice!

Legs feeling good.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Balmain Bungle STaR-20ks

A shortened version of the Striders STaR today with conditions just as bad as yesterday morning. High humidity 86% and 23 degrees at the start and no wind whatsover.
A run mostly around Balmain and Leichhardt and then a finish back around the bay run.
Had Springer and Silver Fox for company for part of the run and then Grandpa on the short version as he is doing Six Foot next week as well.

Ended up as 20ks exactly in 1:40:48. Average pace of 5:02 per klm. Pretty slow for the 6:20am pace group. We usually run quicker. But that's ok I wasn't keen on it being fast today.

Later in the morning I headed to my surf club for some races. The swim was pretty tough as there were strong rips running and heaps of seaweed to deal with. The washing machine would be good to describe the choppy conditions. The run handicap was chopped a bit for me so I took advantage in the last round of the comp to take my first win for the year.
Had to buy beers for the BBQ. Excellent. No more surf club races for me till next season.

Legs feeling good for Six Foot. But the Sydney weather forecast is a worry. 19-29 degrees. I think I'll dip myself in a vat of suntan cream Saturday morning.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Striders Homebush 10k race- PB Yeehah!

Gave Will a lift out to Homebush this morning. 93% humidity according to MPH. Very sticky it turned out to be. We arrived at about 6:20 and there would have already been about 100 cars in the carpark. Turns out we had 350 finishers for the race today. Huge!

I wasn't expecting any PB's with my last, what I call speed session in mid January. But as MPH pointed out I have been doing fast downhill rep sessions which need high leg turnover. I guess he has a point.

Just tried to start off slow keeping the speed in me for the whole 10k and not the 1st k. A 3:43 1st k was ok. Kept going at that pace with 7:32 for 2k, 11:15 for 3k, 15:05 for 4k and going through the 5k in 19:01. Drenched in sweat at this stage and I wasn't feeling good about doing another 5k at that pace.
Next 2k went by in a slack 8minutes with me at 27:01 on the 7k marker. There are a few hairpin turns and a hill between the 5-7k but I think the foot came off the pedal too much. And panic set in as I thought the PB was sliding away at this point.
Finally did some work and was at 8k in 30:56 and then the sand pit 9k mark in 34:53. The foot was back on the gas and I belted the last k passing about 4 people along the flat section and then a female in the sprint across the bridge after the corkscrew. She was ahead the whole race so don't panic I'm not posting on 'that CR thread'.

Finished in 38:31. A 40 second PB. A course PB as well since it was at Homebush in July 2005 when I ran the last PB. Very happy to have finally knocked off that old PB.
Now I can get some work done for Six Foot Track and Canberra. Thanks to everyone for encouraging me for the last 2 years. And as the saying goes, The best is yet to come!

Edit: Blue Dog was beaten!

Friday, March 02, 2007

Easy 30 Minutes

A very easy run tonight as I have the 10k tomorrow at Homebush.
I'm expecting to smash Blue Dog as that is what his mum wants me to do. I just have to do what mum wants. Haha.

Ran 5.5ks in 33:05. Average pace of 6:00 per k. How was that for pacing it easy?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

3x3.7k Reps

Headed into Centennial Park to do some reps of the running track. Jumped into a new pair of shoes that I bought last week. A pair of Nike Air Pegasus T/C. Looking at using them for Canberra Marathon as they weigh less than the standard Air Pegasus.

The park was getting a bit dark due to the dark clouds and the sun going down so the bright white shoes stood out a bit strangely. Very humid tonight, it was incredibly sticky.

The reps were 14:28(3:54/k), 14:23(3:53/k), 14:31(3:55/k). These were done with a 6 minute walk recovery between reps. Did a 2k cool down after the session.

Looks like I still have some pace but probably not enough to run the 10k this weekend for a PB.