Saturday, 31 December 2005
2005 Summary
2005 Monthly Totals:
Jan - 322
Feb - 233
Mar - 253
Apr - 265
May - 307
Jun - 285
Jul - 290
Aug - 210
Sep - 236
Oct - 280
Nov - 262
Dec - 261
Total = 3196km
2005 Personal Best Times
400m 1:01.00, Dec 05
800m 2:19.22, Oct 05
1500m 4:47.07, Dec 05
3000m 10:52.59, Nov 05
The Tan 14:42, Oct 05
5000m 18:52, Oct 05
10km 40:32, May 05
21.1km 1h 29m 46s, Sep 05
All of the X-C races were PBs too, but courses change and conditions vary greatly.
2005 Racing Highlights
My time & effort in the AV 10km State Champs at Sandown in May, where I hoped to break my PB of mid 43 minutes and run near 41 minutes, I ran 40:30 and I had so many people congratulate me from so many clubs, it was an excellent feeling of support & friendship.
The Victorian Cross Country Champs at Bundoora (12km), I ran a 'massive' PB but the time was not the highlight. For the first time ever I ran this particular course with confidence & aggression and was able to run my last lap faster than the first 2 and I beat a lot of others who I had never beaten before.
The first 1500m race for this season, I hoped to break 5 minutes for the first time, last year I ran 5:02-03 8 times without ever breaking the 'magical' 5 minute barrier, prior to the race I knew I was faster & fitter but I never expected to run as well as I did; I ran 4:49. To say I was happy is an understatement!
31 Dec 2005, New Year's Eve
23km today & 82km for the week so far
The last day of a great running year...and this would be one of the more memorable runs, so very appropriate it was the final run for the year (unless you count me running to the bar later on :-) ).
Whilst my post is a few days late, due to returning back from Canberra, this will be my second last post regarding my 2005 running year, my final post will be a summary of a good year!
Ewen (wombatface - CR) had invited me to meet a group of people for a bush run on Saturday morning starting at Molonglo Reach car park at 7am and move into Mt Majura & Ainslie and I am very happy I did, because this run was one of my highlights for the year. I arrived at 6:50ish and was introduced to everyone, but of course I don't remember all of the names, the guy leading (organising) the group was Steve Appleby (two fruits - CR), an Ultra Nut, so I discovered, he thinks running 10km is short! As I knew it was going to be hot and I would end up very wet in sweat, therefore have rubbing issues I decided no top would be a great way of getting some rays and not having 'nipple' issues.
We started at a very nice and easy pace and I remained near the front of the pack, getting to know Steve, Ewen & a lady (name gone) a little better. The pace was comfortable, but I knew that some BIG hills were still to come so I was very happy with this. The run was dirt trails, grass trails & rocky trails. Both Steve & Ewen had Garmin's so I was always aware of our pace and elevation (I think I may be hooked and this could be a present to Stu in the coming months...). I got shown many of the tracks and even ran on some of the National Mountain Championship course, I am sure I would not be able to complete one lap of the course without walking, some of those hills were very very steep!!! On arrival at the top of Mt Majura I was told we were 904m above sea level, I knew I wasn't in the flats of Hoppers.... The first km of the run down was probably harder than going up, the glutes were tested.
We made our way down via a zig zag course, the entire run was very enjoyable, good company running and chatting with Steve and hearing some of his ultra stories on track and on 6Ft, but I am still not interested, no matter how inspiring the stories may be... By the end of the run I knew it was warming up quite considerably (today got up to 39 degrees), according to my car it was 32 degrees at 9:45am, quite warm.
According to the GPS units I ran 22.6km today, but not like a typical half marathon distance. A couple of days later I feel ok, but the legs are telling me they did a bit of work, with the quads particularly saying hi, but overall not too bad.
Good bye 2005.
The last day of a great running year...and this would be one of the more memorable runs, so very appropriate it was the final run for the year (unless you count me running to the bar later on :-) ).
Whilst my post is a few days late, due to returning back from Canberra, this will be my second last post regarding my 2005 running year, my final post will be a summary of a good year!
Ewen (wombatface - CR) had invited me to meet a group of people for a bush run on Saturday morning starting at Molonglo Reach car park at 7am and move into Mt Majura & Ainslie and I am very happy I did, because this run was one of my highlights for the year. I arrived at 6:50ish and was introduced to everyone, but of course I don't remember all of the names, the guy leading (organising) the group was Steve Appleby (two fruits - CR), an Ultra Nut, so I discovered, he thinks running 10km is short! As I knew it was going to be hot and I would end up very wet in sweat, therefore have rubbing issues I decided no top would be a great way of getting some rays and not having 'nipple' issues.
We started at a very nice and easy pace and I remained near the front of the pack, getting to know Steve, Ewen & a lady (name gone) a little better. The pace was comfortable, but I knew that some BIG hills were still to come so I was very happy with this. The run was dirt trails, grass trails & rocky trails. Both Steve & Ewen had Garmin's so I was always aware of our pace and elevation (I think I may be hooked and this could be a present to Stu in the coming months...). I got shown many of the tracks and even ran on some of the National Mountain Championship course, I am sure I would not be able to complete one lap of the course without walking, some of those hills were very very steep!!! On arrival at the top of Mt Majura I was told we were 904m above sea level, I knew I wasn't in the flats of Hoppers.... The first km of the run down was probably harder than going up, the glutes were tested.
We made our way down via a zig zag course, the entire run was very enjoyable, good company running and chatting with Steve and hearing some of his ultra stories on track and on 6Ft, but I am still not interested, no matter how inspiring the stories may be... By the end of the run I knew it was warming up quite considerably (today got up to 39 degrees), according to my car it was 32 degrees at 9:45am, quite warm.
According to the GPS units I ran 22.6km today, but not like a typical half marathon distance. A couple of days later I feel ok, but the legs are telling me they did a bit of work, with the quads particularly saying hi, but overall not too bad.
Good bye 2005.
Friday, 30 December 2005
Fri 30 Dec 05, road run
13km today & 59km for the week so far
Out the door just past 7am and it was warm already, I think I heard on the local radio that the coolest it was overnight was 26 degrees....
Today I was by myself and made my way towards the home of the Summernats and followed the road for 30 minutes ending on the Federal Hwy for 5 minutes, then walking for 1 minute and then turning and trying to get home under 30 minutes, which I did, even though a few rolling hills on the way home did make it a little harder than I expected.
I later measured the run, 12.9km. Satisifed. Today is expected 37 degrees, so I will be attempting to find air conditioning this arvo and hope it is not to uncomforable tonight.
I am hoping to find Ewen tomorrow morning at 7am, he is meeting some potential 6Ft runners and he tells me we will end up on Mt Ainslie which should be very enjoyable, the shortest run is 14k, so I will see firstly if I can find them and secondly I will wait to see how many hills are involved before deciding how far I run. Just run as far as I am comfortable.
Out the door just past 7am and it was warm already, I think I heard on the local radio that the coolest it was overnight was 26 degrees....
Today I was by myself and made my way towards the home of the Summernats and followed the road for 30 minutes ending on the Federal Hwy for 5 minutes, then walking for 1 minute and then turning and trying to get home under 30 minutes, which I did, even though a few rolling hills on the way home did make it a little harder than I expected.
I later measured the run, 12.9km. Satisifed. Today is expected 37 degrees, so I will be attempting to find air conditioning this arvo and hope it is not to uncomforable tonight.
I am hoping to find Ewen tomorrow morning at 7am, he is meeting some potential 6Ft runners and he tells me we will end up on Mt Ainslie which should be very enjoyable, the shortest run is 14k, so I will see firstly if I can find them and secondly I will wait to see how many hills are involved before deciding how far I run. Just run as far as I am comfortable.
Thu 29 Dec, another scorcher, morning road run
12km today & 46km for the week so far
Another scorcher today so Gem and I where out the door just after 8am, she wanted to do her 5k course, a nice pace, probably around 5 min to 5.10 pace, we got to the turn around point and she suggested I should move on, I told her I would stay for another km or so to encourage and chat with her (which later on she told me she was happy I did because she really wanted to walk). With 500m to go Gem pick up the pace and worked home so I sat beside her encouraging and then I continued on into the 'town centre' and had a look at the shops whilst sitting about 4:40 pace. Again very warm and for the final 7k I ran topless, working on tan and dripping with sweat everywhere!
The final 2k is up a slight hill which I really picked up the pace to my 5k race pace then I turned up a little street because it had a 200m steep hill and went up and down that a few times to get the legs screaming a bit and then an easy 500m back to Gem's place, dripping, a lot!
Today I went 'wake boarding' and had a ball on the 'doughnut' behind a boat with a very BIG V8 and a driver who had all intent on getting me some 'G force', which was great, screaming behind the boat and doing some cart wheels flying through the air and crashing into the 'hard' water a few times. I ended up with arms that feel like they have done a BIG arms session in the gym and a couple of very hard slaps on the back of my calves. A great time was had at a lake near Yass!
9km today & 55km for the week so far
Another scorcher today so Gem and I where out the door just after 8am, she wanted to do her 5k course, a nice pace, probably around 5 min to 5.10 pace, we got to the turn around point and she suggested I should move on, I told her I would stay for another km or so to encourage and chat with her (which later on she told me she was happy I did because she really wanted to walk). With 500m to go Gem pick up the pace and worked home so I sat beside her encouraging and then I continued on into the 'town centre' and had a look at the shops whilst sitting about 4:40 pace. Again very warm and for the final 7k I ran topless, working on tan and dripping with sweat everywhere!
The final 2k is up a slight hill which I really picked up the pace to my 5k race pace then I turned up a little street because it had a 200m steep hill and went up and down that a few times to get the legs screaming a bit and then an easy 500m back to Gem's place, dripping, a lot!
Today I went 'wake boarding' and had a ball on the 'doughnut' behind a boat with a very BIG V8 and a driver who had all intent on getting me some 'G force', which was great, screaming behind the boat and doing some cart wheels flying through the air and crashing into the 'hard' water a few times. I ended up with arms that feel like they have done a BIG arms session in the gym and a couple of very hard slaps on the back of my calves. A great time was had at a lake near Yass!
9km today & 55km for the week so far
Wed 28 Dec, a road run around Gungahlin (sp)
12km today & 46km for the week so far
Another scorcher today so Gem and I where out the door just after 8am, she wanted to do her 5k course, a nice pace, probably around 5 min to 5.10 pace, we got to the turn around point and she suggested I should move on, I told her I would stay for another km or so to encourage and chat with her (which later on she told me she was happy I did because she really wanted to walk). With 500m to go Gem pick up the pace and worked home so I sat beside her encouraging and then I continued on into the 'town centre' and had a look at the shops whilst sitting about 4:40 pace. Again very warm and for the final 7k I ran topless, working on tan and dripping with sweat everywhere!
The final 2k is up a slight hill which I really picked up the pace to my 5k race pace then I turned up a little street because it had a 200m steep hill and went up and down that a few times to get the legs screaming a bit and then an easy 500m back to Gem's place, dripping, a lot!
Another scorcher today so Gem and I where out the door just after 8am, she wanted to do her 5k course, a nice pace, probably around 5 min to 5.10 pace, we got to the turn around point and she suggested I should move on, I told her I would stay for another km or so to encourage and chat with her (which later on she told me she was happy I did because she really wanted to walk). With 500m to go Gem pick up the pace and worked home so I sat beside her encouraging and then I continued on into the 'town centre' and had a look at the shops whilst sitting about 4:40 pace. Again very warm and for the final 7k I ran topless, working on tan and dripping with sweat everywhere!
The final 2k is up a slight hill which I really picked up the pace to my 5k race pace then I turned up a little street because it had a 200m steep hill and went up and down that a few times to get the legs screaming a bit and then an easy 500m back to Gem's place, dripping, a lot!
Tue 27 Nov, a double day
14km today & 34km for the week so far
Today was expected to be 36 degrees and today I wanted to run twice, easy morning & a track session with Ewen (CR) in the evening at Calwell. So Gemma (my friend where I am staying) & I were out the door just after 7am. She thinks the course we ran is about 7k, but I would be thinking more 6.5k or less, but a few k's in the legs was my goal and just to chat with Gem, she concentrated on puffing along... :-)
I hopped in my car at 4pm to make my way over to Calwell, according to my car's temp it was 35 degrees and I'm off for a track session (rolleyes). Found the track and met up with Ewen & Jim and a couple of others. Ewen skipped the session but we went for a warm up together, about 1.5-2k from memory and a young one joined us who I eventually did half a track session with. The coach (Mike) had his young charge completing 500, 300, 200 @ 18 sec per 100 with 2 min recov and then 4 minute between the second set. A grass track with big lane markings which meant no setting on the lane, so I sat in the middle of lane 2 which made the session a little harder. It was very hot but no wind and I noticed too it was very dry... I wasn't wearing my watch, but I think we were getting most of the splits but the start of the second set my training partner was having breathing probs and withdrew at the 150m mark, I slowed and stopped (in hindsight I should have continued). I realised that she was out for awhile so I made my way back to the start and did the set again. Second time around for the 500 I found it hard to sit on pace so I stopped at the 400, but had the normal recov and got back into it. Finished with a 2.5-3k cool down with Ewen.
Afterwards, I went back to Ewen's for a shower and then off to dinner with Ewen & Jim at the Vikings Club. Thanks heaps guys and I hope to catch up with Ewen again on Sat morning for a run up Mt Ainslie.
Today was expected to be 36 degrees and today I wanted to run twice, easy morning & a track session with Ewen (CR) in the evening at Calwell. So Gemma (my friend where I am staying) & I were out the door just after 7am. She thinks the course we ran is about 7k, but I would be thinking more 6.5k or less, but a few k's in the legs was my goal and just to chat with Gem, she concentrated on puffing along... :-)
I hopped in my car at 4pm to make my way over to Calwell, according to my car's temp it was 35 degrees and I'm off for a track session (rolleyes). Found the track and met up with Ewen & Jim and a couple of others. Ewen skipped the session but we went for a warm up together, about 1.5-2k from memory and a young one joined us who I eventually did half a track session with. The coach (Mike) had his young charge completing 500, 300, 200 @ 18 sec per 100 with 2 min recov and then 4 minute between the second set. A grass track with big lane markings which meant no setting on the lane, so I sat in the middle of lane 2 which made the session a little harder. It was very hot but no wind and I noticed too it was very dry... I wasn't wearing my watch, but I think we were getting most of the splits but the start of the second set my training partner was having breathing probs and withdrew at the 150m mark, I slowed and stopped (in hindsight I should have continued). I realised that she was out for awhile so I made my way back to the start and did the set again. Second time around for the 500 I found it hard to sit on pace so I stopped at the 400, but had the normal recov and got back into it. Finished with a 2.5-3k cool down with Ewen.
Afterwards, I went back to Ewen's for a shower and then off to dinner with Ewen & Jim at the Vikings Club. Thanks heaps guys and I hope to catch up with Ewen again on Sat morning for a run up Mt Ainslie.
Boxing Day
10km today and 20km for the week so far
Blogging from Canberra.
I left Melbourne (Hoppers) after washing my car at 9:15am to make the trip to Canberra, with a few stops I had an enjoyable drive and arrived at Gungahlin at 4.20pm, so not bad time. 34 degrees, which proved to be the coolest day so far...
After a quick chat myself and friend for an easy 5k, 26 minutes, she was very happy, but exhausted, I went did another lap of the same course in 21:15, so a nice way to shake the legs after a long drive. The weather was hot & dry with no wind.
Blogging from Canberra.
I left Melbourne (Hoppers) after washing my car at 9:15am to make the trip to Canberra, with a few stops I had an enjoyable drive and arrived at Gungahlin at 4.20pm, so not bad time. 34 degrees, which proved to be the coolest day so far...
After a quick chat myself and friend for an easy 5k, 26 minutes, she was very happy, but exhausted, I went did another lap of the same course in 21:15, so a nice way to shake the legs after a long drive. The weather was hot & dry with no wind.
Sunday, 25 December 2005
Christmas Day 2005
10km today for the week so far
An easy paced 45-46 minute 10k run on the roads in Hoppers.
For readers of CR & Ausrun, you may have seen a post today from me on CoolRunning regarding my forum usage in 2006, due to some comments in the past month or so and my ever decreasing attitude to others snide remarks, I will be making some changes to my forum usage. At this stage I believe I will not be posting opinions and I will probably still to basic chit chat probably about race reports and thats about it. I will be keeping my blog, but more for myself, as I said a day or 2 ago, I am just too lazy to start another log of my kms and times.
Have a good 2006 everyone.
An easy paced 45-46 minute 10k run on the roads in Hoppers.
For readers of CR & Ausrun, you may have seen a post today from me on CoolRunning regarding my forum usage in 2006, due to some comments in the past month or so and my ever decreasing attitude to others snide remarks, I will be making some changes to my forum usage. At this stage I believe I will not be posting opinions and I will probably still to basic chit chat probably about race reports and thats about it. I will be keeping my blog, but more for myself, as I said a day or 2 ago, I am just too lazy to start another log of my kms and times.
Have a good 2006 everyone.
Saturday, 24 December 2005
Christmas Eve
24km today and 70km for the week so far
Spent the day upto lunch with the boys before they needed to go home, finalise the sale of my commodore, hung out at the laundromat (how exciting), finished Christmas shopping and then decided time for nice run.
Well I got ready for my run, I intended to go upto 15k, but I would wait & see... out the door and via Hogans Rd I made my way into Werribee and then along the fwy back into Hoppers, down Morris Rd to Hogan's and back home. On my way up Tarneit I felt very good, so instead of turning left at the cemetary I made my way into Werribee and added a few extra k's. Afterwards I measured by car, 24km..... nice. I was out running for 110 minutes and it felt like just over 75 minutes (no watch, batteries are flat, I must fix that).
I hope everyone has a good Christmas and I will blog my week away in Canberra when I return unless I make my way to a cafe.
Spent the day upto lunch with the boys before they needed to go home, finalise the sale of my commodore, hung out at the laundromat (how exciting), finished Christmas shopping and then decided time for nice run.
Well I got ready for my run, I intended to go upto 15k, but I would wait & see... out the door and via Hogans Rd I made my way into Werribee and then along the fwy back into Hoppers, down Morris Rd to Hogan's and back home. On my way up Tarneit I felt very good, so instead of turning left at the cemetary I made my way into Werribee and added a few extra k's. Afterwards I measured by car, 24km..... nice. I was out running for 110 minutes and it felt like just over 75 minutes (no watch, batteries are flat, I must fix that).
I hope everyone has a good Christmas and I will blog my week away in Canberra when I return unless I make my way to a cafe.
Friday, 23 December 2005
Fri 23 Dec, resting yesterday & today
0km yesterday & today and 46km for the week so far
Thursday was end of year drinks with a couple of guys from work, started in Prahan, The Max Hotel, went somewhere else, returned back to the Max, then went to Christmas drinks with Western A's, yes I was slightly tipsy...........
Friday morning I picked up my 2 boys, so no running today, but I organised to have dinner with the 3 boys, Cam came over from his place and we had a ball, just mucking around and stuff.
Stuarts Running Blog
(s20StuMac)
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 5,535
Average per Day ................. 31
Average Visit Length .......... 1:40
This Week ...................... 215
I will get out for a run on Saturday arvo after Connor & Declan go back to Julie's. I will catch up with the younger ones on Christmas morning and Cam is dropping around in the arvo. See all of you blog readers after New Year, I will do one more entry prior for departing to Canberra for a week or so.
Thursday was end of year drinks with a couple of guys from work, started in Prahan, The Max Hotel, went somewhere else, returned back to the Max, then went to Christmas drinks with Western A's, yes I was slightly tipsy...........
Friday morning I picked up my 2 boys, so no running today, but I organised to have dinner with the 3 boys, Cam came over from his place and we had a ball, just mucking around and stuff.
Stuarts Running Blog
(s20StuMac)
-- Site Summary ---
Visits
Total ........................ 5,535
Average per Day ................. 31
Average Visit Length .......... 1:40
This Week ...................... 215
I will get out for a run on Saturday arvo after Connor & Declan go back to Julie's. I will catch up with the younger ones on Christmas morning and Cam is dropping around in the arvo. See all of you blog readers after New Year, I will do one more entry prior for departing to Canberra for a week or so.
Thursday, 22 December 2005
Wed 21 Dec, You Yangs mid week???
14km today and 46km for the week so far
Picture: Compliments of Steve again, this is one of the typical roads on the Great Circle Drive, nice surface to run on!!
I feel fine, no effects from yesterday's training session, but my sleep pattern was very ordinary, I'm sure I was still awake at 3am, even though I was in bed by 11.30ish, I kept hearing noises and my head was going around & around, but still I woke 10 minutes before my alarm at 5:45am....
About 2ish I decided I would leave work around 3ish and go off to the You Yangs or Gellibrand, but it was suggested that the YY are closer & easier to get to... At 1pm it was sunny & 32 degrees, 2:45pm it was pouring and was only 23 degrees with a lighting storm to impress. I left work about 3:40ish and drove home in the rain, got changed, still determined I would run. Drove to the YY in off & on rain, 2k's prior to getting to the park, I moved away from the clouds and was bathed in sunshine???
According to my car outside temp gauge (gotta love new car gadgets) it was 18 degrees but the humidity was quite high, so singlet off (esp if it was going to rain again) and this was the right decision, I was soaked when I finished. The first 20 minutes of the run I daydreamed and tried to clear my head, then the hills hit me and I just concentrated and worked the hills, with the second hill I pushed at 10k pace and really worked & puffed a lot. No effects from the past few days & finished well, 65 minutes for the course.
Tomorrow is my last day at work for 2 weeks, I intend to attend some work drinks & lunch, then make the trip home on the train, attend a club Christmas bbq, so no running tmw, just drinks.............. (well it is Christmas).
I pick my boys up on Friday morning and they will stay with me until Saturday arvo and then on Christmas morning I have been invited to spend a few hours with them, thankfully, Christmas is especially for the kids & family!
Picture: Compliments of Steve again, this is one of the typical roads on the Great Circle Drive, nice surface to run on!!
I feel fine, no effects from yesterday's training session, but my sleep pattern was very ordinary, I'm sure I was still awake at 3am, even though I was in bed by 11.30ish, I kept hearing noises and my head was going around & around, but still I woke 10 minutes before my alarm at 5:45am....
About 2ish I decided I would leave work around 3ish and go off to the You Yangs or Gellibrand, but it was suggested that the YY are closer & easier to get to... At 1pm it was sunny & 32 degrees, 2:45pm it was pouring and was only 23 degrees with a lighting storm to impress. I left work about 3:40ish and drove home in the rain, got changed, still determined I would run. Drove to the YY in off & on rain, 2k's prior to getting to the park, I moved away from the clouds and was bathed in sunshine???
According to my car outside temp gauge (gotta love new car gadgets) it was 18 degrees but the humidity was quite high, so singlet off (esp if it was going to rain again) and this was the right decision, I was soaked when I finished. The first 20 minutes of the run I daydreamed and tried to clear my head, then the hills hit me and I just concentrated and worked the hills, with the second hill I pushed at 10k pace and really worked & puffed a lot. No effects from the past few days & finished well, 65 minutes for the course.
Tomorrow is my last day at work for 2 weeks, I intend to attend some work drinks & lunch, then make the trip home on the train, attend a club Christmas bbq, so no running tmw, just drinks.............. (well it is Christmas).
I pick my boys up on Friday morning and they will stay with me until Saturday arvo and then on Christmas morning I have been invited to spend a few hours with them, thankfully, Christmas is especially for the kids & family!
Tuesday, 20 December 2005
Tue 20 Dec, a short track session
5km today and 32km for the week so far
A very warm afternoon, I was very surprised when I left work, I arrived at work just after 7am and it was only 14 degrees or so and I hadn't seen or heard the weather and was very surprised to find it was about 33 degrees and dry.
Arrived at the track about 4:45pm and waited for the gates to be unlocked, got changed and put on a hat and did 6 laps and then some run throughs, already I was quite warm and took off my singlet, which felt better. A few stretches and mentioned to Burkie that I was only here to roll through a session, hadn't been sleeping well, eating well or looking after myself and was stress about stuff. So he suggested a bunch of 200s until I had enough, even it was 4.
I dropped my water at the start finish line and gave myself a big squirt on my face, head & back. I then jogged around to the start of the 200s. Intent was to do the 200 in 33-34 and then roll around to the start and off again.
Splits: 33.1, 33.0, 32.9, 33.2, 32.7, 33.1 & 32.2 = 7
After the last repeat I started to have a lot of trouble breathing and felt very unwell, so I walked off the track and made my way back to my gear, but by the time I got there I continued on to the back of the building and brought up everything in my stomach, wow so much better. Not sure why, probably a few things come to mind, but nothing to be worried about. I went to the toilets and washed my face, mouth and head and started my cool down, again I need to relieve my stomach.
My cool down was a 400m walk and then I made my way home for a shower and a drink of endura to get the electrolytes back into me. Afterwards and now I feel great with no probs, I suspect just one of those things...but I'll take it easy for the next few days and not stress the body. Had a healthy dinner, salmon & salad.
A very warm afternoon, I was very surprised when I left work, I arrived at work just after 7am and it was only 14 degrees or so and I hadn't seen or heard the weather and was very surprised to find it was about 33 degrees and dry.
Arrived at the track about 4:45pm and waited for the gates to be unlocked, got changed and put on a hat and did 6 laps and then some run throughs, already I was quite warm and took off my singlet, which felt better. A few stretches and mentioned to Burkie that I was only here to roll through a session, hadn't been sleeping well, eating well or looking after myself and was stress about stuff. So he suggested a bunch of 200s until I had enough, even it was 4.
I dropped my water at the start finish line and gave myself a big squirt on my face, head & back. I then jogged around to the start of the 200s. Intent was to do the 200 in 33-34 and then roll around to the start and off again.
Splits: 33.1, 33.0, 32.9, 33.2, 32.7, 33.1 & 32.2 = 7
After the last repeat I started to have a lot of trouble breathing and felt very unwell, so I walked off the track and made my way back to my gear, but by the time I got there I continued on to the back of the building and brought up everything in my stomach, wow so much better. Not sure why, probably a few things come to mind, but nothing to be worried about. I went to the toilets and washed my face, mouth and head and started my cool down, again I need to relieve my stomach.
My cool down was a 400m walk and then I made my way home for a shower and a drink of endura to get the electrolytes back into me. Afterwards and now I feel great with no probs, I suspect just one of those things...but I'll take it easy for the next few days and not stress the body. Had a healthy dinner, salmon & salad.
Monday, 19 December 2005
Mon 19 Dec 05, a quick local run
6km today and 27km for the week so far
Even though I had today off I wasn't going to run, but about 8.30ish I decided I needed some fresh air and so I went for an easy paced 6k from home, nothing special just to clear the head. It didn't really work but I tried. Planned track session on Tuesday: ???
I have been thinking of dropping my blog for many reasons, but I have discovered that many of my friends silently read and are able to keep up with some of my comings & goings and to be honest I cannot be bothered to start another running log so this seems as good as anything.
Last night I confirmed with a friend in Canberra that I could hang out at her place for a week or so to help clear my head so those Canberra people who are looking for a run with a Victoria drop me a line here on my blog. I will be in Canberra from 26 Dec until 01/02 Jan 06.
Even though I had today off I wasn't going to run, but about 8.30ish I decided I needed some fresh air and so I went for an easy paced 6k from home, nothing special just to clear the head. It didn't really work but I tried. Planned track session on Tuesday: ???
I have been thinking of dropping my blog for many reasons, but I have discovered that many of my friends silently read and are able to keep up with some of my comings & goings and to be honest I cannot be bothered to start another running log so this seems as good as anything.
Last night I confirmed with a friend in Canberra that I could hang out at her place for a week or so to help clear my head so those Canberra people who are looking for a run with a Victoria drop me a line here on my blog. I will be in Canberra from 26 Dec until 01/02 Jan 06.
Sunday, 18 December 2005
Sun 18 Dec, north west CRs run in Willi
21km today and for the week so far
Meet a bunch of CRs at the Newport Aths track just before 8am. Roll Call: Left to Right - John, Morley, Hobsons Bay runner, Jo C & Pete, Grasshopper or Steve (depends which photo), Wiseman (yellow six foot t-shirt), Hobsons Bay Runner (ultra marathoner), Stu Mac, Tiger Boy and Also Ran (Stephen from Hoppers). Photo: compliments of Steve (copied from his blog)
We made our way along the foreshore into a headwind which was also swirly, a nice easy pace for the group of 10 or so and we stayed together easily for quite a while, according to those who wear the Garmins, I think I heard we were sitting at 5.10 pace. We stopped for water stops and continued our way thru Altona and into the swamp area passed Altona.
We stopped to turn around at 10.7k in 55 min or so, very easy, I decided I would push home by myself and get the heart rate up, so top off and off I went, the return trip in 45 minutes. Walked around and chatted with a few Western A' U18 girls who were warming up for the Club Team Championships, drank a bottle of endura and had 2 bananas and did minimal stretching.
Chatted with the everyone when they returned and then went to say hi to Sam & Clare on their arrival at the track. Off home, stopped for subway & paper. Will be off to Newport again to watch the Open 4x1500 race at 2pm.
Meet a bunch of CRs at the Newport Aths track just before 8am. Roll Call: Left to Right - John, Morley, Hobsons Bay runner, Jo C & Pete, Grasshopper or Steve (depends which photo), Wiseman (yellow six foot t-shirt), Hobsons Bay Runner (ultra marathoner), Stu Mac, Tiger Boy and Also Ran (Stephen from Hoppers). Photo: compliments of Steve (copied from his blog)
We made our way along the foreshore into a headwind which was also swirly, a nice easy pace for the group of 10 or so and we stayed together easily for quite a while, according to those who wear the Garmins, I think I heard we were sitting at 5.10 pace. We stopped for water stops and continued our way thru Altona and into the swamp area passed Altona.
We stopped to turn around at 10.7k in 55 min or so, very easy, I decided I would push home by myself and get the heart rate up, so top off and off I went, the return trip in 45 minutes. Walked around and chatted with a few Western A' U18 girls who were warming up for the Club Team Championships, drank a bottle of endura and had 2 bananas and did minimal stretching.
Chatted with the everyone when they returned and then went to say hi to Sam & Clare on their arrival at the track. Off home, stopped for subway & paper. Will be off to Newport again to watch the Open 4x1500 race at 2pm.
Saturday, 17 December 2005
Sat 17 Dec, a run in Willi
11km today and 39km for the week so far
Another low kms week, but I think the k's will start to rebuild and the consistenty will return, a few low weeks every so often is always good. I meet a few guys from work in the city for drinks in a bar in Collins St (an English tavern), which was good for a change. The last meet for little A's today prior to Christmas, I handed out candy canes and wore reindeer antlers which lit up and play carols...
The AV State Relays were on today, Western A's had many teams, especially juniors, but also a couple of open teams as well. I took one of the open girls who had her car written off yesterday and I stayed and watched Cam's 4x800m (bronze) and then watched the open 4x800 and watched Glenhuntly (with Kris McCarthy) demoralise their opposition, then I got changed and went for a run along the foreshore towards the Westgate bridge and surrounding area. I ran for 25 minutes easy out and then returned and added a lap of the exterior of the aths facility, probably ran 11.5-12km.
A nice run, very windy, ran without my singlet for the majority of the time, not to sunny so not much work on the tan....
Another low kms week, but I think the k's will start to rebuild and the consistenty will return, a few low weeks every so often is always good. I meet a few guys from work in the city for drinks in a bar in Collins St (an English tavern), which was good for a change. The last meet for little A's today prior to Christmas, I handed out candy canes and wore reindeer antlers which lit up and play carols...
The AV State Relays were on today, Western A's had many teams, especially juniors, but also a couple of open teams as well. I took one of the open girls who had her car written off yesterday and I stayed and watched Cam's 4x800m (bronze) and then watched the open 4x800 and watched Glenhuntly (with Kris McCarthy) demoralise their opposition, then I got changed and went for a run along the foreshore towards the Westgate bridge and surrounding area. I ran for 25 minutes easy out and then returned and added a lap of the exterior of the aths facility, probably ran 11.5-12km.
A nice run, very windy, ran without my singlet for the majority of the time, not to sunny so not much work on the tan....
Friday, 16 December 2005
Thu 15 Dec, a late track session
7km today and 28km for the week so far
Arrived at the track at 6:15pm, so I would be training by myself, did 5 lap warm up with Narelle whilst she was doing her cool down, then some stretching and 5x60m strides. I got to have a chat with Mark Cornish about his great win in the Vic Milers 800m race over Kris McCarthy, he was very happy and he was especially happy with running a 1 sec PB, low 1:50s WOW WOW.
Tonight I was given the choice of bends & straights (boring) or 6-8x200m @ 36-27 sec, so I choose the 200s but I ended up doing them faster, with a diagonally cross of the track for a recovery (jogging, approx 1 min).
Splits (recover):
33.5 (1:03)
33.9 (1:04)
34.4 (1:01)
34.3 (1:14)
35.01 (1:05)
35.2 (1:17)
35.5 (1:01)
34.8 (walked 200m & then jogged for 3 laps for a cool down)
Found it to be very dry and breathing felt harder than normal, legs felt a little trashed, probably a few hard days in a row (note). I will do an easy 45-60 minutes tonight, hopefully off road too, maybe along the river.
Western A's have a lot of teams in the State relays this weekend, Cam is competing in a weakened U20 4x800m race & the Open 4x1500m. I am the team managfer for the Men's U20 & Open teams, but this will not involve a great deal at all. Last round for Little A's, the U6s and I intend on playing up, and I hope to get a few k's in this weekend as well. Should be making my way to Geelong for the Ron Clarke Classic meet at the John Landy field.
Arrived at the track at 6:15pm, so I would be training by myself, did 5 lap warm up with Narelle whilst she was doing her cool down, then some stretching and 5x60m strides. I got to have a chat with Mark Cornish about his great win in the Vic Milers 800m race over Kris McCarthy, he was very happy and he was especially happy with running a 1 sec PB, low 1:50s WOW WOW.
Tonight I was given the choice of bends & straights (boring) or 6-8x200m @ 36-27 sec, so I choose the 200s but I ended up doing them faster, with a diagonally cross of the track for a recovery (jogging, approx 1 min).
Splits (recover):
33.5 (1:03)
33.9 (1:04)
34.4 (1:01)
34.3 (1:14)
35.01 (1:05)
35.2 (1:17)
35.5 (1:01)
34.8 (walked 200m & then jogged for 3 laps for a cool down)
Found it to be very dry and breathing felt harder than normal, legs felt a little trashed, probably a few hard days in a row (note). I will do an easy 45-60 minutes tonight, hopefully off road too, maybe along the river.
Western A's have a lot of teams in the State relays this weekend, Cam is competing in a weakened U20 4x800m race & the Open 4x1500m. I am the team managfer for the Men's U20 & Open teams, but this will not involve a great deal at all. Last round for Little A's, the U6s and I intend on playing up, and I hope to get a few k's in this weekend as well. Should be making my way to Geelong for the Ron Clarke Classic meet at the John Landy field.
Wednesday, 14 December 2005
Wed 14 Dec, the S2F Christmas Run @ Albert Park
12km today and 22km for the week so far
I decided today I would compete in a fun run, mainly to try and run quick, but Albert Park is not the place to generally do this, but...oh well. It wasn't until probably 90 minutes prior to the race I decided I would run the 5k instead of the 10k, for various reasons, a hard track session the night before and knowing there was a wind and the course was tight and Albert Park is not great for fast times at the best of times.
I parked in the Bob Jane car park and went for a warm up along the course running out to the 2k marker and then returned, the course had a few skinny spots and lots of tight turns with a U-turn thrown in for good measure.
I got into the starting pack a little too late and was probably back about 20 deep, way to far back for a fun run, oh well. And I paid for it on take off, with the majority in front of me running 25-30 minute pace. For the first km I was passing people nearly continually, and I passed a few more in the 2km, but was passed by no-one (until later). I forgot my watch today, so I had no idea if I was going to fast or slow, the first 2k + a bit were affected by a head wind, but I was happy it was in the opening part of the race instead of the finish. Around the 3k marker a female runner pulled alongside me and we continued to run side by side for just over 1km, but she moved slowly away from me in the closing km.
I crossed the line in 19:50ish (I originally thought it was 18:50ish, but it would appear I can no longer read when running "rolleyes"). Not a bad run, fairly happy, but I should have given myself a better start.
Chatted with a few guys I knew and then finished with a 3k cool down.
I decided today I would compete in a fun run, mainly to try and run quick, but Albert Park is not the place to generally do this, but...oh well. It wasn't until probably 90 minutes prior to the race I decided I would run the 5k instead of the 10k, for various reasons, a hard track session the night before and knowing there was a wind and the course was tight and Albert Park is not great for fast times at the best of times.
I parked in the Bob Jane car park and went for a warm up along the course running out to the 2k marker and then returned, the course had a few skinny spots and lots of tight turns with a U-turn thrown in for good measure.
I got into the starting pack a little too late and was probably back about 20 deep, way to far back for a fun run, oh well. And I paid for it on take off, with the majority in front of me running 25-30 minute pace. For the first km I was passing people nearly continually, and I passed a few more in the 2km, but was passed by no-one (until later). I forgot my watch today, so I had no idea if I was going to fast or slow, the first 2k + a bit were affected by a head wind, but I was happy it was in the opening part of the race instead of the finish. Around the 3k marker a female runner pulled alongside me and we continued to run side by side for just over 1km, but she moved slowly away from me in the closing km.
I crossed the line in 19:50ish (I originally thought it was 18:50ish, but it would appear I can no longer read when running "rolleyes"). Not a bad run, fairly happy, but I should have given myself a better start.
Chatted with a few guys I knew and then finished with a 3k cool down.
Tue 13 Dec, track session
10km today and for the week so far
Oh where have I been, no running since Saturday..... off for a warm up with the 2 Dave's, lots of chatting about my new car and our racing on the weekend. Heard about Dave's Ironman racing on Sunday at Ocean Grove, whilst enjoying a nice and easy warm up of just over 15 minutes. Then I did 5x70m strides at a quick pace with some stretching included.
Tonights session was 6x800 @ 5k pace, approx 85 sec per lap was the plan, but the first 200m into the wind was 41-42sec. I did 5 at a quick pace, not entirely sure of exact times as I forgot my watch, but I do remember 2:40ish to 2:50 for the majority of the session. My last 500 of the final rep was fairly ordinary with the legs feeling very 'trashed'. Recoveries varied from 70 sec upto 2 min for the final couple.
Three lap cool down and then some stretching. Tonight's run took me over 3000km for the year, which was one of my goals. Wed night I am planning to run inthe Christmas Run at Albert Park, either 5k or 10k, yet to decide and therefore will miss my last pilates class.
Oh where have I been, no running since Saturday..... off for a warm up with the 2 Dave's, lots of chatting about my new car and our racing on the weekend. Heard about Dave's Ironman racing on Sunday at Ocean Grove, whilst enjoying a nice and easy warm up of just over 15 minutes. Then I did 5x70m strides at a quick pace with some stretching included.
Tonights session was 6x800 @ 5k pace, approx 85 sec per lap was the plan, but the first 200m into the wind was 41-42sec. I did 5 at a quick pace, not entirely sure of exact times as I forgot my watch, but I do remember 2:40ish to 2:50 for the majority of the session. My last 500 of the final rep was fairly ordinary with the legs feeling very 'trashed'. Recoveries varied from 70 sec upto 2 min for the final couple.
Three lap cool down and then some stretching. Tonight's run took me over 3000km for the year, which was one of my goals. Wed night I am planning to run inthe Christmas Run at Albert Park, either 5k or 10k, yet to decide and therefore will miss my last pilates class.
Saturday, 10 December 2005
Sat 10 Dec, Shield Comp @ Newport
10km today and 48km for the week so far
With warm ups, cool downs, a few strides & 2 races I ran at least 10km today. A beautiful morning and a nice arvo, mid 20's, a bit breezy and lots of sun, made for ok to good race weather.
Today's North West Shield comp was at Newport, home of Williamstown AC, program 1 (1500s, Steeples & 400s). Today I considered running the Steeple but I decided there wasn't much to gain from it and I thought I'd rather have a go at my 400 PB and collect some points for the club, where as I would have had to run Div 4 in the steeple and we do not have a team in that Div.
I was allocated the 3rd heat for the 1500, 19 starters, I finished 9th, but had a ball racing and I got a new PB, which is always good! The first lap was 77, then another 77 and the biggest surpise was the 3rd lap was 75, resulting in a finish of 4:47.07. Second time in the 47s but with the wind and big field I was very happy with my controlled race!!!
My second race was the 5th rounds of the 400s, was suppose to be the 63-65 group, I finished 5th in a PB (yep another one) of 61.00, nearly 2 seconds, the winner ran high 58s.
So overall a good days racing with some nice PBs, a nice way to finish off the track racing for the year, prior to Christmas. And for the club, we had 2 open runners who made their season debuts for the 1500 and 2 others for the 400s, good to see.
With warm ups, cool downs, a few strides & 2 races I ran at least 10km today. A beautiful morning and a nice arvo, mid 20's, a bit breezy and lots of sun, made for ok to good race weather.
Today's North West Shield comp was at Newport, home of Williamstown AC, program 1 (1500s, Steeples & 400s). Today I considered running the Steeple but I decided there wasn't much to gain from it and I thought I'd rather have a go at my 400 PB and collect some points for the club, where as I would have had to run Div 4 in the steeple and we do not have a team in that Div.
I was allocated the 3rd heat for the 1500, 19 starters, I finished 9th, but had a ball racing and I got a new PB, which is always good! The first lap was 77, then another 77 and the biggest surpise was the 3rd lap was 75, resulting in a finish of 4:47.07. Second time in the 47s but with the wind and big field I was very happy with my controlled race!!!
My second race was the 5th rounds of the 400s, was suppose to be the 63-65 group, I finished 5th in a PB (yep another one) of 61.00, nearly 2 seconds, the winner ran high 58s.
So overall a good days racing with some nice PBs, a nice way to finish off the track racing for the year, prior to Christmas. And for the club, we had 2 open runners who made their season debuts for the 1500 and 2 others for the 400s, good to see.
Friday, 9 December 2005
Fri 9 Dec , 5k to wake up
5km today and 38km for the week so far
Rested yesterday, no real reason, just didn't find the time. I woke very early this morning (5:10am, so I went for a run around home, did a 5k course in 22 minutes. Nice morning, very little wind. Tomorrow is the last round of the Shield comp prior to Christmas, I will race a 1500 and maybe a Div 4 Steeple, will wait and see how the legs feel before I decide for sure. If not I will do the 400m & shot put.
Rested yesterday, no real reason, just didn't find the time. I woke very early this morning (5:10am, so I went for a run around home, did a 5k course in 22 minutes. Nice morning, very little wind. Tomorrow is the last round of the Shield comp prior to Christmas, I will race a 1500 and maybe a Div 4 Steeple, will wait and see how the legs feel before I decide for sure. If not I will do the 400m & shot put.
Wednesday, 7 December 2005
Wed 7 Dec, an easy 10k & pilates
10km today and 33km for the week so far
I had a late night last night, not much sleep, just over 4 hours or so, but strangely I feel ok, and funnily I woke with a big smile on my face, relief and the knowledge of good friendship I guess. I worked a full day and finalise my purchase of a new car via salary sacrificing (leasing), in the next day or two I will pick up my 2005 Honda Accord Euro, artic blue, very nice, with just over 6000kms on the odometer.
I arrived home just before 5pm, quickly got changed and took off for an easy run, just over 10k, legs are a little heavy from Monday night, but I think they are ok and the easy k's will be fine and will assist with my recovery. This evenings run took in mainly road but also a little bit of grass & dirt around some local footy ground reserves, just to get off the hard stuff a bit. Tonight I ran in my version 11 kayanos.
My fourth pilates class tonight, a mixture of the beginners & intermediates tonight in the class, the 2 classes were combined. Many of the exercises are more testing, with some of the core work very hard tonight and I actually failed to hold one of the positions for the time allocated, but the stretches are very beneficial.
With Zatopek still very much in my mind and me not achieving my goal of sub 40 minutes I still wish it wasn't so and I wonder if I could have done something different.... As I have said previously, I received a many emails and text messages which is proof that the running community is a close group who all understand the dedication that each other put into our passion, some may say, our obsession.
Two messages stand out for me, one from a fellow CR/Ausrunner/AV member who said, "I logged onto your blog tonight and read down your list of goal times for 2005. As you said in the blog, all knocked off except for one. Its been a great year, mate with probably only one bad race. Awesome! Imagine what 2006 holds for you. You've come a long way with no doubt even more improvement to go." These words make me realise I should be very happy where I have ended up, the improvements made this year are great, last year I battled to run sub 44 min for 10k.
The other message is something many of us bloggers should take note of, a very close friend said to me, "You know what – you are pretty brave in my eyes…
I would never, ever put a big build up on a race, simply because I couldn’t handle it if I didn’t get what I wanted. You’ve seen examples of that…
You should be proud of the fact you put yourself out there, I wish I could do it…
When you write on your blog what happened, everyone will be positive…"
Thank you to all, I will put the Zatopek race to bed now and leave it alone and start to refocus on my running wants & desires!
I had a late night last night, not much sleep, just over 4 hours or so, but strangely I feel ok, and funnily I woke with a big smile on my face, relief and the knowledge of good friendship I guess. I worked a full day and finalise my purchase of a new car via salary sacrificing (leasing), in the next day or two I will pick up my 2005 Honda Accord Euro, artic blue, very nice, with just over 6000kms on the odometer.
I arrived home just before 5pm, quickly got changed and took off for an easy run, just over 10k, legs are a little heavy from Monday night, but I think they are ok and the easy k's will be fine and will assist with my recovery. This evenings run took in mainly road but also a little bit of grass & dirt around some local footy ground reserves, just to get off the hard stuff a bit. Tonight I ran in my version 11 kayanos.
My fourth pilates class tonight, a mixture of the beginners & intermediates tonight in the class, the 2 classes were combined. Many of the exercises are more testing, with some of the core work very hard tonight and I actually failed to hold one of the positions for the time allocated, but the stretches are very beneficial.
With Zatopek still very much in my mind and me not achieving my goal of sub 40 minutes I still wish it wasn't so and I wonder if I could have done something different.... As I have said previously, I received a many emails and text messages which is proof that the running community is a close group who all understand the dedication that each other put into our passion, some may say, our obsession.
Two messages stand out for me, one from a fellow CR/Ausrunner/AV member who said, "I logged onto your blog tonight and read down your list of goal times for 2005. As you said in the blog, all knocked off except for one. Its been a great year, mate with probably only one bad race. Awesome! Imagine what 2006 holds for you. You've come a long way with no doubt even more improvement to go." These words make me realise I should be very happy where I have ended up, the improvements made this year are great, last year I battled to run sub 44 min for 10k.
The other message is something many of us bloggers should take note of, a very close friend said to me, "You know what – you are pretty brave in my eyes…
I would never, ever put a big build up on a race, simply because I couldn’t handle it if I didn’t get what I wanted. You’ve seen examples of that…
You should be proud of the fact you put yourself out there, I wish I could do it…
When you write on your blog what happened, everyone will be positive…"
Thank you to all, I will put the Zatopek race to bed now and leave it alone and start to refocus on my running wants & desires!
Tuesday, 6 December 2005
Tue 6 Dec, 40 minutes
15km yesterday, 8km today and 23km for the week so far
The day after, lots of emails and a few phone calls. I arrived at the track late and chatted with a few friends and then went for a very easy run, legs felt trashed, but I just cruised through. Nothing hard, a bit of sweat very cruisy.
Chatted with Peter re the race and we analysed a bit more, but nothing really known.
The day after, lots of emails and a few phone calls. I arrived at the track late and chatted with a few friends and then went for a very easy run, legs felt trashed, but I just cruised through. Nothing hard, a bit of sweat very cruisy.
Chatted with Peter re the race and we analysed a bit more, but nothing really known.
Monday, 5 December 2005
Zatopek Classic, E Grade
I have obviously been talking too much about this race, thank you to everyone who has left comments here on my blog, posted comments on CR & Ausrun, sent me emails and sent me text messages. I hope all goes well and I will post a 'quick' note on CR & Ausrun tonight & maybe my blog.
Race Results:
Very busy at work so this will be short for the time being, the race didn't go as planned, I went thru the 5k mark on 20:01, after 6 or 7 laps I knew I was in trouble, I had no energy and my times where slipping. My km splits were 3:58, 3:51, 4:05, 4:10, 4:15, 4:15 I then withdrew on the 18th lap with the knowledge that I was not going to run sub 40 minute and I did not want to run a 41 min something, that wasn't why I was there.
Throughtout the day or this evening I will post more but I need to do some work.
Evening post: With time to analyse the race, I haven't really worked it out, I know it wasn't the wind, but maybe the heat, only 4 out of 34/37 ran sub 40 in my grade, so maybe the heat or my diet & sleeping patterns could have finally caught up with me??? Or just plain inexperience at such a long track race.
Below is an email from Burkie (coach):
Stu, Don't be disheartened by the 10k. I am pretty sure you will attain your aims. Certainly on the road. I am sure you can race well up to 3k. You are probably not fully ready to tace 5k let alone 10 on the track.
We did attempt to develop the rhythmn method with your long reps but we are not there yet. It is at this stage more of a technical challenge and a learning of a
mindset.It is no failure of fitness or effort...a learning experience yet to fully come
Burkie
Back to my thoughts, I wished that the sub 40 had happened but it didn't but life goes on, many are very surprised, so to am I. I kind of thought it was in the bag... oh well, the only goal I didn't achieve for the year, it just happened to be my main one! I'm not sure what for the next few weeks, probably just long & gentle.
Thanks again everyone for your support!
Sunday, 4 December 2005
Sun 4 Dec, the day before Zatopek
6km today for the week so far
An easy/slow 6k run on the road in Hoppers. Tomorrow my race is at 7:15pm at the Box Hill aths track and all is ready, legs feel good, I want to race and I know my schedule, I know a few friends are coming out to support me, which will be good and I have received lots of good vibes from others.
Whilst the major goal is to run sub 40 minutes and I will be happy with 39:59 I do think I will be capable of running 39:15, so I will wait and see. Plan is to be relaxed for the first 7km and not do anything stupid!
I'm sure for those who are interested will hear about my race.
An easy/slow 6k run on the road in Hoppers. Tomorrow my race is at 7:15pm at the Box Hill aths track and all is ready, legs feel good, I want to race and I know my schedule, I know a few friends are coming out to support me, which will be good and I have received lots of good vibes from others.
Whilst the major goal is to run sub 40 minutes and I will be happy with 39:59 I do think I will be capable of running 39:15, so I will wait and see. Plan is to be relaxed for the first 7km and not do anything stupid!
I'm sure for those who are interested will hear about my race.
Fri 2 Dec, a massage
0km today and 42km for the week so far
Did consider an easy 30 minutes at lunchtime, but it was raining and I got a better offer of lunch with a close friend, so lunch it was, an easy choice. I've done the work and I had a massage schedule for 5:15pm.
Massage went very well, I was told the legs had no tight spots, felt 'light & ready', I hope she is right.
Did consider an easy 30 minutes at lunchtime, but it was raining and I got a better offer of lunch with a close friend, so lunch it was, an easy choice. I've done the work and I had a massage schedule for 5:15pm.
Massage went very well, I was told the legs had no tight spots, felt 'light & ready', I hope she is right.
Thursday, 1 December 2005
Thu 1 Dec, first day of summer
8km today and 42km for the week so far
What a GREAT morning, I arrived at the Tan at 6:20am and too off straight away, ran approx 1km stopped and did some stretching and then continued on, every 250m I surged at 1500m pace and then slowed down to 5:00ish pace, 2 laps in beautiful sunshine, no wind and lots of others running too.
The Zatopek Classic today at Olympic Park, should be a great meet with the majority of the elite distance runners competing, some of the names that comes to mind that are not running are Craig Mottram, Lee Troop & Dan Green, but the majority of others are. My money for the men's race is on Brett Cartright or Martin Dent and for the women, Susan Michelsson or Hayley McGregor, Anna Thompson. A few from my club will be in attendance supporting our sport.
What a GREAT morning, I arrived at the Tan at 6:20am and too off straight away, ran approx 1km stopped and did some stretching and then continued on, every 250m I surged at 1500m pace and then slowed down to 5:00ish pace, 2 laps in beautiful sunshine, no wind and lots of others running too.
The Zatopek Classic today at Olympic Park, should be a great meet with the majority of the elite distance runners competing, some of the names that comes to mind that are not running are Craig Mottram, Lee Troop & Dan Green, but the majority of others are. My money for the men's race is on Brett Cartright or Martin Dent and for the women, Susan Michelsson or Hayley McGregor, Anna Thompson. A few from my club will be in attendance supporting our sport.
Wed 30 Nov, pilates and that's all
0km today and 34km for the week so far
Pilates only, didn't do the swim, couldn't be bothered. Pilates was a little more difficult but was enjoyable and challenging.
Stats for the month:
TOTAL KM:262km (Missed days: 5 days), included 3 pilates classes & 1 massage
YEARLY TOTAL: 2933km, only 67km to reach 3000km, WOW
EXCUSES: none, there were a few days I could have extended myself
PROBLEMS: none
RACES: The Nigel Aylott Relay & a few track races, with a PB for the 3000m
DECEMBER RACES: E Grade Zatopek, some Shield track races & maybe a Vic Milers race
GOALS: Run sub 40 minutes on Monday 5 Dec 05, nothing else matters!
Pilates only, didn't do the swim, couldn't be bothered. Pilates was a little more difficult but was enjoyable and challenging.
Stats for the month:
TOTAL KM:262km (Missed days: 5 days), included 3 pilates classes & 1 massage
YEARLY TOTAL: 2933km, only 67km to reach 3000km, WOW
EXCUSES: none, there were a few days I could have extended myself
PROBLEMS: none
RACES: The Nigel Aylott Relay & a few track races, with a PB for the 3000m
DECEMBER RACES: E Grade Zatopek, some Shield track races & maybe a Vic Milers race
GOALS: Run sub 40 minutes on Monday 5 Dec 05, nothing else matters!
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