Thu 31 Aug 06, an easy track session

6km today and 50km for the week so far.

Three laps of the VU Complex with Ads and then 6 or 7 laps of bends (rest) & straights (work). A bit of a sweat but all over before any real effort!

A low month of kilometres, no injuries & no real illness just stuff, I only hit the 200k mark in the final few days.

August's Stats:
KM - 229 (missed heaps of days)

YEARLY TOTAL - 2115 (2165km at same time last year)

INJURIES - none

EXCUSES - slight taper & mind games

RACES COMPLETED - AV XC Ballarat & 2 Corporate Cup races (The Tan)

RACES COMING UP - AV Tan relay & maybe SiS

GOALS - For Sep to run the HM as well as my interupted training will allow, then rest a couple of weeks & start working on building some speed to run 2:15 for 800m

Wed 30 Aug 06, Corporate Cup Rd 2 & S2F Run Leader run

20km today and 45km for the week so far.

Corporate Cup at lunch, beautiful day, 20 degrees & only a light breeze. Missed by PB by 2 seconds.

Splits:
3:46
3:55 (majority is on an incline)
3:46
3:03 (846m)

Time: 14:31


Tonight acting as a Run Leader from Fed Square, I took the 10k group, we ran a similar course to last week which is easily 11km, with a run to Fed Sq not a direct route and then running back to Vic Barracks to get my car, easily 14+km tonight, all easy.

Tue 29 Aug 06, a light & easy track session

9km today and 25km for the week so far.

Warm up around the complex x 3 laps and then some basic stretching. Burkie's plan was an easy/light night 4-5k's worth of reps. With three out of five of the group tonight are running the HM on the weekend, I suggested 5x1km reps with the first at 4:15 pace to replicate the first km of Sunday's race and then return to four 1k reps at 3:50 with a 2 min recovery.

Splits:
4:27 (too slow for the first 200m by 9 sec)
3:51
3:59 (too much talking, not concentrating)
3:48
3:47

Very comfortable session, finished with some stretches & slow laps of the track.

Mon 28 Aug 06, lunch time run with guys from work

7ish km today and 16km for the week so far.

Busy after work with an appt and then a Western A's Committee meeting, my first since returning. So I asked around work via email looking for a group who were running an easy 5-5:15 pace. Upto Fed Sq, along the river to Chapel and then back along the river until Morrel Bridge and then onto the Tan until Govt Dve.

Sun 27 Aug 06, an easy jog in the arvo

9km today and for the week so far.

I had visiting boys this weekend, so a 5pm run was registered, just an easy paced 9k from home, sitting on 4:50 - 5 min pace.

With this week to be all easy I think it fitted into the plan ok.

Fri 25 Aug 06, casual run with Clarkey around Albert Park

8.5km today and 60km for the week.

Sent a text to the coach (he is at the Nat XC) & passed on Thu session, response, "good, now all easy until the HM, taper!!".

This morning ran along St Kilda Rd until meeting up with Clarkey, then turned around and ran to Albert Park, did a lap and then finished on the Tan near Government Drive, easy chatting pace in the rain.

No run tomorrow, so that's it for the week.

Thu 24 Aug 06, a quick lap of the Tan + a bit

5km today and 51km for the week so far

Appointments after work, medical, hair, medical & a pers one, so no track tonight. Left work at 2:30pm, quick lap of the Tan + an extra km. Tan in 15:01, then jogged to a marker and ran 1k back towards my car hard, 3:31, jogged for 5 min and then off home to shower and then appts.

Discovered that my new posting style (which is working for me at the moment) is proving unpopular with my regular readers. I received my site meter stats, normal is mid to high 20s per day, the last weeks average 16. :-(

Wed 23 Aug 06, Fawkner & the Tan at lunch

21km today and 46km for the week so far
Lunchtime run with the MMM. Ran to the 'Pillars', from there joined the group and ran through the Gardens to Fawkner Park, a lap, back to the Tan and around to the 'Pillars'. I then jogged back to Victoria Barracks, all recovery pace.

This evening I did a S2F Run Leader role for a 10k group, with running there and back and the run was more than likely 10-11k, I ended up clicking over a few kms today at a nice relaxing pace.

Tue 22 Aug 06, track session

10km today and 25km for the week so far

Warm up, session tonight, 2000m, 2000m, 1000m, 1000m & 800m with a 2 min recovery, 1 & 2k reps at 3:50ish pace.

Splits;
7:48
7:49
3:55
3:53
2:50

It was very windy for the first rep, then settle. 800m was done at similar pace for first 400m and then with a slow increase of pace for final 250m. 3 lap cool down.

Sun 20 Aug 06, You Yangs

15km today and for the week so far

8:30am, 9 degrees, cap, Skins top, Rbk singlet and shorts. Did a lap of GCD + a bit more, very easy pace. GCD in 68 minutes, probably 4 min slower than normal.

Sat 19 Aug 06, Ferny Creek

18km today and 46km for the week

Club run, just over 85 minutes, some new trails, nice run. Still not 100% over my cold. In the last few kms of today's run I 'clicked' over the 2000th km run this year.

Thu 17 Aug 06, rest day

0km today and 28km for the week so far

No track session today, unwell, common cold, sore throat, coughing and head is banging.

Wed 16 Aug 06, Corporate Cup, Round 1

6km today and 28km for the week so far

Corporate Cup, lap of the Tan. Ran equal to my 2nd fastest time, 14:42. Very windy and legs were tired for final 1.5km.

Splits:
3.41
3:54
3:56
3:09

:-)

Tue 15 Aug 06, track session, long reps

12km today and 22km for the week so far

15-16 min w/up, stretching. 4x2km @ 10k pace with 2 min recovery.

Splits (recovery):
7:46 (1:59)
7:53 (2:01)
7:52 (2:02)
7:34 (walked 300m)

Cooldown of 2 laps, easy session, very much controlled. Racing tomorrow, Corporate Cup, lap of the Tan.

Mon 13 Aug 06, a run from home

10km today and for the week so far

6pm start, Adidas tech T, shorts & Garmin. Easy pace, exactly 10km in 46:05

Sun 13 Aug 06, some changes to my blogging style

0km today and for the week so far, 8 runs/13 days this month

No run today or yesterday due to personal reasons and today, family reasons. I have decided that for a period of time I am going to stop blogging, but not completely. My blog started as a place to keep all of running stats and over time I started to write stories with my runs. Then with time I started to include some personal bits & pieces and began writing as if I was talking to friends (which I am). But I was starting to write some very personal things on my blog which didn't just affect me, so I tried to de-personalise my blog for awhile, but me being me, it slowly creeps back.

The past weeks have been very hard on my personal life and I haven't dealt with it very well and without some of my friends I really don't know where I would be! But as I know I can say too much here I have decided that I would curtail my blogging. But as I do not want to create a spreadsheet to keep my info and I don't want to lose my blog history I have decided I will change my blogging for a while. Maybe a week, maybe a month.

My blog will now be somewhere I log my run and the detail/stats associated with that run, no thoughts and NO personal stuff, for the time being. I know I will lose readers but this is something I need to do. Thanks

*******

No run today or Saturday.

Fri 11 Aug 06, an easy morning run in Hoppers

9km today and 54km for the week.

I woke up early today and decided to run from home instead of the city, out the door at 5:40ish and did an easy 9k in the dark. I wore tights, tech T, cap & flashing red lights on my arm that was on the road side.

I didn't get into this morning's run at all, my mind was very busy and the entire time all I could think about was how cold & dark it was and personal matters on my mind. To be honest the entire run all seemed a waste of time that could have been better spent doing something else, but a tick in the box and a handful of slow kms in the book.


With two of my boys coming around tomorrow morning for soccer acadamey and then off to the Swans V Melb, our first AFL game for the season, I hope the typical idiots in the crowd are better than other games I have been too in the past couple of years. It constantly amazes me the inability for some people to see the game being played and not just their own precious team. So no run on Sat or Sunday morning, I may get one in on Sunday evening, will wait & see.



Well we went to the game, Swans won by 32 points and we had a good time. Even though the game was in Melbourne, the crowd was very much Swans orientated, probably 65% of the 43,000 were supporting the red & the white (Onwards to Victory). But generally the Melbourne fans are well behaved, but to be honest there were no Demon supporters within 20 metres of me. The picture was taken 10 min before the start on my phone.

Thu 10 Aug 06, 400s

7km today and 46km for the week so far, 7 runs/10 days this month

Tonight I thought a few of the guys were going to be at the track but for many reasons it ended up being just myself & Dave T (who did about 8-10k on the grass area). A late start to the track session due to the track being locked and we had to wait for the VU Security to open up, the Club key holders were late or working.

I started my night's session with 3 laps of the Complex, dodging the 'stupid attacking' plovers and then stretching for a little while. Tonight, by myself I was hoping to run 6x400 @ 72-73 sec with a 90 sec recovery. I still haven't mastered these sort of sessions, the shorter and faster stuff just isn't working at the moment, especially in comparison to the longer reps.

Splits (recover):
73.9 (92)
71.1 (90)
73.9 (91)
75.7 (92)
76.5 (91)
78.1 (walked 600m)

Once dressed I did 2 slow jogging laps to cool down. Burkie said I looked nice and strong but when I told him the times he was surprised, he thought the session looked better than the times showed. The 90 sec break seems to hurt, but sadly I want to reduce that a bit more in time.



--- Site Meter Summary ---
Visits

Total ....................... 13,156
Average per Day ................. 22
Average Visit Length .......... 1:35
This Week ...................... 153

Average of 22 a day is lower than last months average but it still amazes me that I get that many visitors. I suspect that the people that average 5-8 comments on their blog each day must have a very high number of visitors or my visitors just don't like leaving messages.

Wed 09 Aug 06, an easy run & gym session

10km today and 39km for the week so far, 6 runs/9 days this month

Today I included my run whilst running an errand for a friend. One of the girls from my aths club wanted to get her watch fixed at a place in St Kilda Rd, but she works in Melton so I happily dropped it off and then made my way across the road to Fawkner Park. It was starting to cool down and the wind was picking up terribly. After running up St Kilda Rd, across Kings Way I ran 2 laps of Fawkner Park and then crossed over to the Tan and ran from the top of Anderson St and completed the Tan in an anticlockwise direction, they I continued on along St Kilda Rd until nearing 50 minutes before turning around so I could finish near work on 50 minutes.

Overall I probably ran over 10km but approximate is good enough. The final 15 minutes was in awful conditions, the wind and rain was very cold and the rain was horizontal. A warm shower was most appreciated.


After finishing work at 5ish I went to the gym and did 20 minutes of free weights and then 20 minutes of core work and a final 10 minutes of stretching.

Tue 08 Aug 06, 8x1000m

13km today and 29km for the week so far, 5 runs/8 days this month

After a shocking trip home from the city, there was an accident between the tunnel and the Kings Rd entry onto the Westgate Fwy involving numerous cars and a semi, it took me over 30 minutes to get from Southbank to the Westgate Bridge... grrrr Eventually I arrived at the track just after 5:15pm, straight into the change rooms and into my warm up gear.

Very windy tonight in Werribee, this was going to make rep work quite difficult. Prior to taking off for my warm up with Dave S (back from illness) I reminded Burkie we were 4 weeks out from the Half Marathon and we needed to work hard tonight and ignore the wind. After completing the normal 3 laps of the Complex I concentrated on doing some good long stretching, especially the quads & ITB (noting legs feel good now, the day off worked wonders). Whilst stretching Burkie suggested 8kms worth of rep work at 3:55 pace, pick any intervals and do it a little slower to ensure the wind doesn't destroy the session and to build confidence.

Tonight Darren & Rorie joined myself and Dave for the first reps, so a nice little pack was formed, with the knowledge that the leaders and the inside running would be shared. Rorie only completed 3 reps before having to leave, Dave struggled after a week of laying up in bed he managed 4x1k & 1x800 before calling it a day and Darren ran 6 reps he is stilling having ankle issues from the Vic XC Champs. I comfortably completed all 8 reps, surprisingly easily. Our recovery tonight was walking diagonally across the grassed area back to the start/finish line and then an immediate re-start.

Splits (recovery):
3:54 (1:18)
3:56 (1:18)
3:52 (1:20)
3:55 (1:20)
3:57 (1:19)
3:55 (1:11)
3:45 (1:09)
3:36 (walk 200m)

I then took my wet top off and put on a dry T and jacket and put my pants over my Skins and slowly jogged 3 laps of the track. Chatted with a few of the guys from the Committee about some plans on the Western A's website, including our monthly Newsletter and a few other bits & pieces.

Afterwards I chatted with Burkie re the session, I mentioned that the session felt very much within myself and I really noticed going a few seconds slower in the early part made the whole session very achievable, I have no doubt I could have continued on and done another 2 reps! :-)

Mon 07 Aug 06, no running today

0km today and 16km for the week so far, 4 runs/7 days this month

I decided I wouldn't run today, I think the race and then backing up at the You Yangs took more out of me than I thought would have been so. Today I could feel that both of my quads were very tired, my left ITB up high in the hip region was tight, the patella tendon in my right knee was a tad sore and I could feel a spot on my left shin. Overall it sounds like I am falling apart but I suspect not, just a little bit of maintenance required, a massage, lots more stretching and time to replace some of my shoes. I am going to trail a pair of Reebok Premier Lites that I have discovered I can get on the cheap, so that will be the first new shoe, these will replace my very dead DS Trainers and take some of the strain off my Zoom Elites and then in a fortnight I will find a cheap pair of Kayano.

So today no run and no gym due to work restraints and not getting home until just before 7pm allowed enough time to have dinner, do the dishes and then off to a Little A's meeting and then bed.

Sun 06 Aug 06, You Yangs +

16km today and for the week so far, 4 runs/6 days this month

Last night Burkie sent me a text message telling me that Narelle was off to the You Yangs on Sunday morning and she was looking for running partners. I was intending on running early but I had thought a flat run would be better for me, but after chatting with Burkie he suggested nice and slow and up & down would be fine. So I rang Narz and organised a meeting time that worked for both of us. One of the dangers of running with Narz is, firstly she is faster than me, she was only running 75 min and she is preparing herself for C2S and she will work those hills... Oh well I was hoping all would be fine.

My initial plan was to run 20-24km but when I woke my legs were feeling fairly tired from yesterday, so I decided I would play it by ear. Starting from the front gate we went up the first rise and both commented that we could feel our legs more than we thought we should have, but of course we continued on running and chatting. I asked about C2S, last year she finished 21st and she believes she is running faster and is very hopeful of a top 15 placing, good luck Narz.

We stayed together for the first 30 min until the hills became steeper and she moved slowly but surely ahead. I continued on and struggled a bit in a few spots and walked a little, which I have no problems with. As I was nearing the exit I found Narelle running back for her extra 15 min work so I tagged along with her and completed the final 15 minutes at 4:30 pace. I decided 16km was enough today, if I am feeling enthused later I may go for an easy 30 min in the evening, but probably not.



This picture was emailed to me today by Julie, the three boys on the couch together, L-R, Connor (8 in Oct), Kaelan (4 months) & Declan (5).

Sat 05 Aug 06, Ballarat 8km XC Race

12km today and 61km for the week so far, 3 runs/5 days this month

A busy day today, Connor (7)had his final Little A's XC race which doubled as a handicap race and then the Club's Presentations & BBQ.



Connor was ranked 3rd in the U7s boys, this being his third year of XC and the second time he has finished in the top 3. Of course he was very excited to get his trophy, but the popular things were the Freddo frog, the Natural confectionary lollies & drink and he also got a MacDonalds Happy Meal voucher and some vouchers for a Pizza place.


After the Presentation I went home to get ready for the trip to Ballarat, with Cam & Ads for company on the way. Whilst on the road we discovered one of the girls from the club were following us, she was hoping we knew our way once in Ballarat.

Having run the course 4/5 years ago I had a fair idea of the course and knew that it was generally wet & muddy and the Secondary XC races had been held very recently. I started the day with a warm up and investigation run with Ads & Louise. We discovered that there was a fair amount of mud in the first km and we all knew that would be very messy by the 4th lap of the men's race. As per normal the women's race was prior to the men's, today due to work & illness we sadly didn't have a complete team, Narz was hoping to edge closer to a top 10 finish and Lou was hoping her very sore legs would hold out for her. After 2k Narz was sitting 8th but she wasn't able to hold that and finished a very credible 13th for a second race in a row. And Lou, well her shins are a mess and I hope she can get them sorted, this was sadly probably her final race with the Club due to work & other sporting commitments.

Western A's had 6 men competing today which meant 5 for Div 4 and only 1 for Div 6, which would more than likely be me. I started in the back half of the pack and tried to concentrate on a steady start and try and get a feel for the course, at this stage I was feeling a little hesitant as I was wearing spikes in a XC race for the first time, this was strongly suggested by Burkie and of course proved to be an excellent choice. Today's course was 4 x 2k laps, for the second race in a row I forgot my watch but this time I wasn't able to borrow one from one of the girls. According to the clock on the start finish line had my first lap in 8 min 20sec, second lap 16:50, I didn't notice my 3rd lap, but my finish time was 34:30. I still felt fairly strong in my last lap and was happy enough with my race and effort and this week I actually finished with a lot of faces that I was finishing with in the early races but had dropped off. I haven't compared my time to previous 8k courses because every XC course is different and its just not worth it. The last time I ran at Ballarat I was 95kg and I withdrew at the 5k mark, so I'll take that improvement.

After the race all of the men took their spikes off and left then in a pile, one of the club coaches took a pic, I'll try and post as I think it will give a good insight to the day's activities. I finished off with a 15 min cool down on the ROAD!

Due to the inadequacies of Blogger I have tried numerous times to post the picture mentioned above, so here is a link to the picture.

Drove home and then bummed around and relaxed trying to organise a Sunday morning run with a few from the Club. Throughout the night I notice my legs felt quite tired, in hindsight it would have been a good night to wear the Skins, oh well....

Thu 03 Aug 06, rest, not feeling the best

0km today and 49km for the week so far, 2 runs/3 days this month

Last night I slept for over 10 hours straight and for anyone who knows me would be very aware this is not normal for me. I didn't eat much last night and this morning I struggled through my cerial.

Most of the morning at work I was feeling a little off, but nothing to bad until 10ish when I started to feel a bit of nauseau, struggled on for a few hours trying to finish off a few jobs. Just before 12pm I was getting the hot sweats and the cold shivers, a quick visit to the bathroom and emptied what little was in the stomach and then left and made my way home.

On the couch by 12:45 and slept for 90 minutes, watched a movie and then slept for another 60 min or so. Very lacking in energy and of course I did not train tonight. I will try and eat a little bit but a quiet night at home and maybe another day off tomorrow, will wait and see.

Wed 02 Aug 06, an easy paced run in Hoppers

9km today and 49km for the week so far, 2 runs/2 days this month

Even with very little sleep overnight I still woke early and made my way into the city and did a 45 minute session in the gym. All light weights and introducing a few others into my set, now doing 2 different sets of 8 exercises x 3 reps with only a break in between each set (30 sec), not sure if it makes sense, but it does to me. Then I did 15 minute of core work broken up with groups of 15 push ups.

Today I had to finish a Records Management Sentencing Workshop which required me completing some open book testing etc which I found extremely easy and finished at lunch, so I was able to use the remainder of the day to do more testing or finish for the day, of course I finished early! I have been 'bullyied' into doing this training as it has been discovered that I have Cert IV in Assessment and Workplace Training and they want me to complete the entire suite of courses so I can be utilised as an Trainer/Instructor, not very happy about this decision, whilst enjoy teaching/instructing. Whilst I do enjoy teaching, I am not keen on teaching applications or courses that no-one really wants to be on.

Anyway back to running, once home I had a chat online and then made my way out on the roads for 40 minutes as agreed with Burkie, roll the legs over and try to freshen a little for this weekends race cross country over 8km at Ballarat Uni. A non eventual run wearing a T and shorts.

Tue 01 Aug 06, track session

11m today and 40km for the week so far, 1 run/1 day this month

Off to the track night tonight arriving just before 5pm with the knowledge I was going to have someone to warm up with only and I would have to do my rep work by myself. Started my warm up with Dave T, we did four laps of the VU Complex, not sure where that extra lap came from, we must have been too busy chatting. I completed about 10 minutes of stretching and then I got into my session of 6x1k reps.

There has been a little bit of discussion regarding the usage of lane 1 for training and how the Committees of Little A's & Western A's should be considering closing it from training, esp with the poor condition of the railing and also & more importantly to protect the condition of the track. So I thought I would try a session from lane 2 to see how much it plays in the 'head'. So I ddin't make any changes to my distances even with the knowledge that a lap in lane 2 is 6m longer, so this would mean my 1k reps would be approx 1015m. My recovery tonight would be a walking recovery diagonally across the track and then recommence immediately.

Reps (recovery):
3:52 (1:12)
3:52 (1:13)
3:55 (1:15)
3:58 (1:14)
3:57 (1:15)
3:55 (walked 600m with stretching and then 2 slow laps in lane 8)

Well I managed to be fairly consistent in lane 2 and it was too hard on the mind, not to many mind games.

Re Steve's comments regarding the weights, whilst not being to scientific about it, I am doing light weights with high reps in the hope of reducing fat and helping to make me stronger. I am sure some of the PTs could better explain it.