Update for the last two weeks

I have been doing a few runs in the last couple of weeks, no hard stuff and just shorter runs. My legs are slowly getting in to shape.

I am going to try a slightly different training schedule in the lead up to the Gold Coast Marathon in 2011. I will try to do more frequent running, shorter distances and higher intensity. Apparently as you get older, higher intensity, shorter workouts are better as you recover more quickly in general compared to _long_ runs.

So I have been trying to build up to running every day of the week, shorter distances. I have also been running with our dog Max every few days - he tends to mix it up a bit, fast slow, random stops etc. Overall much slower than I usually go though.

I will see how I go in running every day, and if it works for me in the short term, I will form a plan around that. I will of course, take complete rest days when I feel I need to. But my aim is to run easy enough so that I _can_ run every day

COmfortable 50 minutes

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59439451

Another easy run. I felt up and down the whole way. AT some stages felt really crap, and others felt good. Toward the end I felt good.

At beginning, my left heel felt quite sore - It seems I am not over that problem, and that was the one reason I stopped running for a month. Once I was warmed up it was ok.

I managed to get 4 runs in this week (including this one) and I was intending to do a short run Saturday as well to make it a total of 5 for this week. But I got home Friday night and suddenly felt incredibly tired. Hit the sack early and was wrecked for Saturday too. I cut my lip shaving Friday and TODAY its turned into a cold sore !!. A sign I am a little run down I think.

I need to remember to be patient and allow my body to catch up with where I want to be fitness wise. Overall I am making good progress. Next week I am going to try to do 6 runs, 2 short 20 ones Monday Tuesday, a longer 30 min Wednesday, a 20 min Thursday. Friday off and then a short 20 minute run Saturday and a long 50 minute run Sunday.

Comfortable 45 min

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59191363

This is the farthest I have run since I returned to training. Only 8.55km and still pretty slow. But heart rate is steadily dropping.

I did 8km on Sunday 3 days ago, slightly slower pace than today and average heart rate then was 154. This run I went slightly faster and heart rate was 148 average. So a tangible improvement already.

I am returning to fitness, but I am fatigued. I have run three days in a row, which is something I rarely do in training. I will have a day off tomorrow (Friday) and do a short easy run Saturday of 30 minutes, and then another run on Sunday of 40 minutes.

I need to come up with a training plan sooner or later too.

Comfortable 34 minute run

Another good run. I relaxed into it and attempted to keep heart rate at or below 150bpm.

My Garmin ANT Agent software pairing app crashed at boot time so I have just updated it. This new run I did today failed to transfer data for this latest run on my watch so I have just set it to Force Send and Pairing On. It then sent all the runs I had on it but still failed to upload the latest run data.

Just noticed that the message when the ANT agent attempted to upload new data was a server error.

So I will have to send it later.

Distance 6kms
Time 34 minutes
Heart Rate 145

Nice low heart rate :)

Comfortable 30 minute run

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/59028496

Good comfortable 30 minute run. Heart rate was significantly lower for this run, which is a good sign that I have adapted to training bagain and feeling the benefits in just one week.

Legs are slightly tired from th running. I will take it easy this week, I plan to do three more 30 min runs this week and a 40 minute 'long' run Sunday. That is 5 runs in a row, an unusual thing or me.

I also need to get my training pan down as well. I will Google Calendar it again as I did for my failed Melbourne Marathon training.

40 min long run

After over a month with no running, I was wondering what a slightly longer run would feel like. I certainly feel I have gained some strength and fitness over the last 5 days and this longer run felt really good.

I could not go very fast at all, but I held up endurance wise just fine. Pace was nice and consistent in the middle of the run with 5 kilometer splits in a row at between 5:15 and 5:19 pace.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58812764

I began quite slow and the hills at the end slowed me a little. Heart rate`was 154. Compare this 8km run that took 42 minutes to my best 10km race that took 42 minutes, heart rate then was 166 average, so I have a way to go to get back to that level of fitness!!

Finally returned to running !!

I have had over month off running. My last run was the Melbourne Half Marathon. I had planned to do the full Marathon but training had been so bad leading up to the race that I had to give up the goal of the full distance.

My legs are now in good shape with no niggling injuries. My left heel is _still_ slightly troubling me, so I simply have to be careful and pay attention to that.

I have done three runs this week:

Monday 29 Nov 2010 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58485225
Wednesday 1 December 2010 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58485230
Friday December 3 2010 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58641783

The Melbourne Half I did:

Sunday October 10 2010 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58485220

The race was _terrible_. I did not feel fresh and was generally lacking in energy. I had done no running for two weeks and the training I had done was not very good.

Anyway I feel pretty good now, and am going to try and do some higher intensity shorter runs, maintaining good form and pace. I will do this for the rest of this year and then begin training for another marathon. And that one will be the Gold Coast event again. IO will plan a training program and get it on my calendar in the next few weeks.

Update after non-blogging

I have been feeling quit bad these last few weeks. I simply could not run as well as I usually do.

I tried going _slow_ for the three hour runs I had scheduled, but I tanked quite early on in each run. So I have failed to complete any of my 3hr runs. I have certainly not felt up to the training physically. My preparation has been badly disrupted by minor injuries - Back, right foot, Back again... So building up to the 3hr runs was not ideal.

The last three hour I was supposed to do, Sunday 12th 2010, I managed 2hr24min and 28km before I tanked. And it was not energy that was the problem. I simply had nothing left in my legs. They were hurting so badly, and unusually so. Just aching incredibly. I have not experienced anything like this, and I found myself groaning out loud trying to keep going.


It seems obvious I need rest. The next run after my awful Sunday run was Tuesday, and I was so sore in joints that I called it off. I recovered well enough to do my scheduled Wednesday run, but I was still not feeling great. I had to pull that one up short because of work issues!!


I had contemplated downgrading my Melbourne Marathon to the half, but I don't want to do that. I will hang in there, and see if I can get the rest of my training done perfectly from now on. It is taper time and the next Sunday run i 2hr30.. I have yet to manage a 2hr30 properly in the lead up, so I will see how I go with that.

My confidence has taken a big battering. I think after this marathon I may take a month off. Then swing to 10km and HM training. And nail that sub 40min 10km goal I have.

Planned run 6 x 500 metres 1:30 recovery

Date: 31 Aug 2010
Time: 19:54 min
Distance: 3.29 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46895800

Quite pleased with this run. I did not feel too bad at all. Maintained pace reasonably well, 4 reps under 3:40 pace, and two over 3:40 pace.

Planned run 3 hours

Date: 29 Aug 2010
Time: 2:43:01 min
Distance: 30.95 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46895791


I set out to try and run 5:20 pace for the first 1hr, 5:10 for the second and 5:00 flat for the last hour. I did that mostly until about 2hr15 point, where fatigue hit me. I struggled for another 30 minutes, and stopped on a small hill that killed me. Not impressed with stopping, but I was pretty wrecked at that stage.

SO my next 3hr run I plan to go out super slow for the first 1hr, at 5:30 pace, build to 5:20 at second hour, and hopefully finish without a fade. I really want that as milestone in my longer runs. I have never finished a 3hr run faster than I started, I have consistently faded at the end, and I want to eliminate that.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 27 Aug 2010
Time: 54:05 min
Distance: 11.72 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46265051

Reasonably fast run this morning. I alternated a fasting pace every second 1km lap, and finished the last 2km easing off on the small hills this routes takes me to.

This week the total distance is 69.24km, the second highest I have ever done. And it seems I did it relatively easily this time, no-where near as fatigued as my last big week 06/05/2010. That was the week of the marathon too !!

Anyway I am very pleased with the way things are going now. The 3hr run on SUnday is going to be difficult, but I have to do it sensibly, slow and steady.

Planned run 1hr30

Date: 25 Aug 2010
Time: 1:30:05 min
Distance: 18.23 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46001919

Good mid week long run. The mileage is stacking up and I am beginning to feel it. It seems the niggling injuries are getting better. Heels were much better this AM, and back , right foot were completely ok.

The pace was reasonable too. I was trying to negative split but the legs just would not do it in the second half. I managed to do an almost exactly even split. There was a headwind on the way back and a couple of little hills, so I did ok.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 24 Aug 2010
Time: 51:54 min
Distance: 11.23 km

Planned run 50 minutes


Pretty good run considering I am a little fatigued by the 2hr25 on Sunday. I ran fastish at the beginning, and eased a little just before halway. After th turn around, I put in a faster lap of 4:10 then cruised for the rest o the run. Pace was fast for a training run.

Planned run 2hr10 - did 2hr25

Date: 22 Aug 2010
Time: 2:25:30 min
Distance: 28.06 km



http://connect.garmin.com/activity/45544853

I seem to be back on rack now. I have had a couple of injuries in the last few months, and they have compromised my training a little. Last weekend I should have done a 3hr run, but pulled up at 2hrs as a precaution. My right foot was beginning to hurt. I had an easy week, a 3km TT and a 1hr10 mid week run. I skipped the speed session ( 10x30second) Friday as I was too shagged.

Today the right foot was no problem at all. And all other niggles were no problem, so that is a good thing. In the run, I tried to stay at around 5:10 pace for the irst 1hr30, and did that ok. Then I picked up the pace and did 6 sub 5min km's in a row (5 of those were sub 4:50min/km). I slowed again to an easy pace at the 2 hour mark and cruised for the last 25 minutes.

I did fade in the last ouple of km's, but not too badly. I thing that if I had stuck to a 5:10 pace for the first two hours I would have been pretty fresh at the end. My first 3hr run in th lead up to the Memlbourne Marathon is next week. I will take that one really slow, 5:10-5:15 pace, and if I am able to I will try to put some sub 5min/km speed in the last few kms. Based on how I felt today that is unlikely ;)

Planned run 1hr10

Date: 18 Aug 2010
Time: 1:11:04 min
Distance: 15.25 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44985428

A really good comfortable mid week long run. If I can do this consistently until the October 10 race I will be in great shape.

I am now convinced that shoes are the problem with my right foot. No hint of a problem in this run, using an old pair of Brooks Infinity's I have.

The pace for this run was quite brisk, and I slowed significantly at the end. I don't want to puh too hard.

Planned run 3km TT

Date: 17 Aug 2010
Time: 12:09 min
Distance: 3.01 km


http://connect.garmin.com/splits/44905316


Weird watch data, but pretty sure I managed a sub 12min for 3km. I am reasonably happy with the pace. But the important thing is that the run should benefit the training and race I am aiming for.

The problem with my right foot seems to be caused by my old shoes. A different pair tonight worked ok and no pain. SO I will get to a shop and get a new pair.

Date: 15 Aug 2010
Time: 1:57:25 min
Distance: 22.66 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44592782

Pretty good run despite the fact I pulled up at 2 hours instead of the full 3 I had planned. Right foot felt sore, and I did not want to risk damage.

Will get it looked at and may have to get a new shoe. The problem is present when running on paths that are sloping down to my left in direction of run. Run on an opposite slope and it is quite ok. Weird.

Planned run 6 x 1km with 1:30 recovery

Date: 13 Aug 2010
Time: 51:40 min
Distance: 10.40 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44267590

Could have sworn I had set the watch to do 6 reps but it turned out I did 5 only. Oops!! A reasonably good run considering the injury problems I have had recently and the time off. I don't have the speed that I had in the lead up to my marathon on July 5, and a few weeks after it.

I am back to running and don't seem to hav any problems, back is ok and right foot is fine. The left knee that was a problem for a long time is now good. Heels are still troubling me, but I suspect running has little to do with it.

I have a 3hr run this Sunday, and I will take that SLOW. THere has not been a good build up to the distance at all, so slow is better.

Planned run 1hr10

Date: 11 August 2010
Time: 1:11:05 min
Distance: 14.42 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44267586

Finally got to do a distance run after the series of injuries that stopped me running. First my back - recovered really well - and then my right foot. That is all good now too. But I am very cautious of the two problems.

Planned run 8 x 500m with 30 second rest

Date: 10 August 2010
Time: 17:45 min
Distance: 3.93 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/44267581

First run back after 7 days off to allow right foot to get better. It seems ok now. Run was not too good, I felt a bit soft and could not hold the pace. I stopped after 7 and ran home slowly.

Good to be back running though.

Test from Androblogger

A big test comment

I have a new Android based Mobile Phone now, and have tested a free AndroBlogger app that allows posts to blogger from the phone. Not a very flexible tool, but may be useful for short posts.

I tried another app, blogaway. It falls over when I try to edit posts. I tried the new beta. It falls over when I try to access this blog to read it..


Looks like blogging via an Android Phone is not viable right now.

Meanwhile I have done a couple of runs since my last post and injuries are all good for now. Will update with run details soonish.

Missing some scheduled runs due to injury - Again !!

I have missed my Sunday long run 2hr30 on 1 August. I took off to do the run, feeling quite ok. Was walking to warm up a little, and felt a twinge on my right foot, outside on the sole of the foot, in fleshy part. It did not feel bad, so I took off to run. The pain from it just got worse and worse the further I went.

I pulled up in a bit of pain after about 18 minutes, and limped home. It was actually quite bad, had to walk on the ball of the foot to avoid the pain.

SO I decided right there that I need a week off. No running until Sunday 8th August. I am rather frustrated but it has to happen. I will try to do an easy 2hr run Sunday. Meanwhile I am doing gym work. Tuesday I did a good weights and cross trainer session. 30 minutes on it.

I will do a long session on Thursday.

Date: 30 July 2010
Time: 51:40 min
Distance: 10.40 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42393415

Took this run slightly easier, because of the workload I have had this week. I also needed to recover a little before my 2hr30 run this Sunday.

This 2hr30 run is going to be tough because I missed last weeks 2hr run ( bad back) . Back is good, but I have not had the gradual buildup I should have had from last week.

Planned run 1 hour

Date: 28 July 2010
Time: 01:01:30 min
Distance: 13.12 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42148304

Second run after hurting my back. I went slightly fast tonight, and felt the effects of yesterdays runs too. Great to be back to proper training. I think I may have been very lucky with my back.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 27 July 2010
Time: 57:05 min
Distance: 12.11 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42148297

First run back after hurting my back, five days ago. My back was slightly sore, but my running was not effected by it. I haven't lost much from the break, and I seem to be able to go as fast.

I am very pleased that my back problem recovered so quickly. It was really bad on the day it happened and the next day.

Missing some scheduled runs due to injury

It was bound to happen sometime, I am injured. My old back problem from years ago has flared up again. I personally do not think that my running has caused the problem. On the morning of Thursday 22 July, putting trousers on, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back.

I immediately dropped onto the bed and lay there for a while. Grabbed some Ibuprofen and got dressed, went to work. Hobbled around all day and it was terribly painful. Iced when I got home, and stayed immobile all night. Hobbled to bed.

The back has been gradually getting better each day. Writing this Sunday night, 4 days later and it is stiff and sore but getting better. I missed a 50 minute run Friday and a 2hr run Sunday. Frustrating as I wanted to build distance as early as possible before the Melbourne Marathon. I may try a run on Tuesday, a 50 min run and see how it is.

I put this down to a silly accident. I think I need to strengthen core to avoid the problem. This is a good opportunity to rest the body and allow niggling issues to recover - Achilles, heals, left knee etc. I am really looking forward to getting regular running going again!!

Planned run 1 hour

Date: 21 July 2010
Time: 1:01:17 min
Distance: 13.02 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41251526

Good easy run, picked up the pace at about 7kms and sustained that for 4km. THen eased off on the last 2kms.

I plan to do these types of runs - the long runs - at an easy pace initially and then do a few km's at the end at my ultimate marathon pace or faster. Did that today.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 20 July 2010
Time: 51:32 min
Distance: 10.86 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41060259


Nice comfortable 50 minute run, done recovery style, not fast. I did a reasonably fast race on Sunday, and this week is a recovery one. Averaged 4:44 and it felt really easy.

It seems that the cumulative effect of the marathon training I have done for the last 6 months has paid off quite a bit.

Jetty to Jetty 10km Race Redcliffe

Date: 18 July 2010
Time: 42:04 min
Distance: 9.95 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40788978

Finally got a 10km race in. After 6 months of marathon training I managed to get a personal best for 10km distance by 1min 32seconds. Previous best ( in training ) was 43:46min.

I ran within myself, and did not feel like I could push that hard - also the hills knocked a little out of me. So I think given a flat course and a good day I could go fast. Considering I have been doing marathon training and not specifically speed for 10km races, its a great result.

The race was great too, nice location, excellent weather, and really well organised. The only problem was I had to walk across the start line because of all the bunnies at the front of the start.

If anyone ever reads this and is not a competitive runner, please consider the faster runners and make some room!!! If you are not going to run at the front don't start at the front.

Unplanned run 50 minutes

Date: 15 July 2010
Time: 50:07 min
Distance: 11.04 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40431764

I skipped Tuesday's and Wednesday's runs because I was feeling a bit ill. I did a good gym session Monday night though.

This run was supposed to me a 10x30 speed session, but I felt I needed to avoid fast running. I did a slightly faster 50 min average pace 4:32min/km. I threw in a 4:06 at the 7th km, and that wore my legs down a bit. I rested for the last few km's, apart from the small hills I do on the way back.

I have Fri, Sat off and then the Jetty to Jetty race SUnday, 10kms with a rather long hill ( the bridge ) to do twice along the way. It may not be a fast one for me, but I think I might it it suicide style. Fast up and down the hill, and hold a good pace for the rest of it.

Planned run 1 hour 30 minutes

Date: 11 July 2010
Time: 1:30:03 min
Distance: 17.35 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39973170

Decent longer run, first one after the marathon. I managed a reasonable pace, the run was not exact easy, but had lots of energy. Just the legs were not quite fresh.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 9 July 2010
Time: 52:28 min
Distance: 10.04 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39726910

Another nice recovery run, as per last one no problems to report. I feel that I have slightly less legs than usual, and that is likely due to the nutcases Cycle session I did on Tuesday night as well as the recovery run I did on the same day.

All good, just biding my time till I recover from the race.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 7 July 2010
Time: 52:03 min
Distance: 10.30 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39532633

First run after the marathon. Seems that everything is still intact, none the worse for it. A bit sore, but could run a reasonable pace and felt easy.

I also did a Cycle class at a gym nearby that night. The guy that took the class was a nut case. I do wonder why the heck these gym classes need to have such loud distorted music, and along with it loud and distorted screams from the 'instructor'. I was also a bit irritated by the fact that he was screaming out things like 'DOn't waste my time !! Turn it up!!' etc - Turn up the load on the bike that is. He was going on about singling out people who were going too easy. I was waiting him to talk to me. If he did I would have told him to piss off 'cause I'd just run a marathon three days ago :)

Anyway I am tempted to get myself a half decent stationary bike so I can do my own spin / cycle classes. I just cannot stand the idiots that run these classes!!!

I took it easy today Thursday 8th July, no running. Will do a 50min on Friday..

Pllan for NEXT Marathon, Melbourne October 10 2010

The Melbourne Marathon is the right one to do next, although it does begin to get hot in Brisbane around that time. I will be training in hotter climate by October. Here is my training plan courtesy of Google Calendar:




I have tweaked the plan a little here and there - Increased all the Sunday runs by 10 mins (apart from the 3hr runs), and the mid-week long run by 10mins too. I have also increased the reps for a few of the intervals and the hills sessions. In detail:

- For the three hour runs, I have 4 in total. I do one a little earlier in the schedule compared to last time, and then back off for a week, then do 3 in a row

- The mid week and end of week LONG training runs are all to be run at a lower intensity. And I plan to put in 20-30 minutes at the end of the run at 4:30min/km pace. This plan is to be done in the 3hr runs as well. SO it will be important to run sufficiently easy enough to make this possible.

- All other non-speed runs will be run at recovery pace

- SPEED runs are where I put speed in

The changes are all to address the problem I feel I have had - I have plenty of speed, but lack endurance. Running slightly longer, lower intensity should bring that extra endurance I need. And running at 4:30 pace for the last 20-30mins in the longer runs should help to condition me in running at that pace while fatigued.

First marathon race

Date: 4 July 2010
Time: 3:49:11 min
Distance: 42.35 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39264755

So I finally have done a full marathon distance race. It did not go to plan at all, all my fault. I put it down to naive optimism and poor decision making!! The pivotal problem was the wrong shoes. I decided to use these Brooks ST-4 'Racing Flats' - and they are supposed to be up to the task of a marathon. The shoes themselves were too soft I think. I had used them for the first time in a half marathon a few months ago. In that race, it was quite hot, and some people had a sprinkler going, spraying people as they went past. They got my feet and that I thought caused blistering on my little toes.

In this marathon race I got blisters on the balls of my feet, something I have _never_ experienced ever in my running. So I do think it is extraordinary and odd that it happened in this race.

From run

A quick run down of the race for me:

- took off far too fast but I still felt nice and fresh

- got to about 15kms and noticed that there was a problem with the balls of my feet burning and hurting in an unusual way

- Encountered a Cool Runner, AndyP at about the 18 or 20km mark, and we briefly discussed the fact that I was way up there in pace. He was very surprised to see me there and I was surprised to see myself where he was!! I said I was 'Ignoring the pain' but I did not elaborate of exactly what the problem was. I felt fresh enough in every other respect though. I knew I was in trouble then, the blisters were well underway.

- Got to about 24km mark and the blisters were totally taking over. Every step was pain and the blisters squelched and squeezed as I rocked over them. It slowed me down and I began to try and change my foot strike to compensate. The race was over by then!!

- I struggled to keep up a decent pace. I began to tighten up because of the pain I think, and was not traveling so well. Trying to compensate for the blisters caused cramps in places I never thought I had around ankles and shins. Suddenly I started getting cramps in thighs and hamstrings too!! Weird how it can come crashing down so quickly.

- The rest of the run was a combination of run/walk, as I was trying to use mind over matter. It was only marginally less painful to walk, and absolute _agony_ when running. Seriously bad. Running for any period caused the most unusual sensation. The pain remained but became less focused. It felt like the socks bunched up under the ball of the foot, and I was 3cm taller. But pretty much unbearable.

My pace at the beginning was far too fast, that is obvious. But what really stopped me was something I never expected, the blisters. The blisters remained 'intact' the whole way, did not burst. So they just got bigger and bigger as I walked or ran.

The poor decision making process - I somehow decided that using these shoes was the right thing to do. They did cause blisters the first time I used them, on little toes, not ball of foot. But then I also had run multiple kilometres in training using my usual training shoes, Brooks Glycerin 8's with NO blisters ever. 35 km in fact. A more sensible and conservative choice would be to use the usual training shoe.

Anyway I did do what I was talking about in previous blog posts. I went and gave it a good shot, went fast and burned badly - Although the burning took an altogether different shape than I had expected!!! The first half was 1:36:00, the second 2:12:00. A 28 minute fade in the second half. I now look forward to my next marathon race, where I can now expect a significant PB by running ultra conservatively :)

Strangely enough I have not be wallowing in self pity. I am happy that I struggled and managed to finish - It was seriously painful, yet at no stage did I think 'I am going to pull out'. I am happy with the first half, the pace was quick and I did it feeling really fresh.

Anyway, no excuses, all my fault. My next race is in a couple of weeks, a 10km..

Planned run 10 x 30 second speed with 30 second jog recovery

Date: 1 JUly 2010
Time: 10:00 min
Distance: 2.44 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38763235

I took it ever so slightly easy on this run, did not to the limit at all. Ended up doing an overall pace a fraction slower than the best ever session of this type I did in April. This is a good sign. Legs are good, and I feel quite strong.

Things were looking a little perilous last night - Yesterday I woke with bad headache and skipped the run I had scheduled in the morning. Began to feel better later in the day, and so did the run in the afternoon.

Last night I began to feel bad again, and a sore throat. I took some paracetamol and a vitamin supplement, soluble, and went to bed. Woke this morning feeling quite ok. So I think I dodged a cold!

So now, two days off and the race. Not really nervous yet. But I will be.

As far as pace is concerned, given the recent form and the good shape I am in right now, I see no reason not to pace off at an optimistic goal for the race. Sub 4:40's I think.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 30 June 2010
Time: 50:04 min
Distance: 10.10 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38694084

This is the last medium run before the marathon race of Sunday. I woke wih a bad headache this AM and felt quite ill - it has developed in to a sore throat tonight. I skipped running this morning and did this one this afternoon instead. I felt quite a bit better.

Run was really easy, felt like I could got really fast, but reigned the pace in carefully.

One more run tomorrow and that is it. I just hope thing throat thing does not develop, but I feel like it is.

Planned run 6 x 1min speed, 3o sec jog AND 4 x 30 sec speed with 30 sec job

Date: 29 June 2010
Time: 13 min
Distance: 3.07 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38264066

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38540653


One of the three last training runs before my marathon race this Sunday 4 July. I seem to be able to push hard and not fade too much, so that is a good sign.

According to the general theory of training most peopl;e subscribe to, a long period of aerobic training, longer distances is frequently followed by a lower mileage, faster interval period. The long aerobic period builds endurance, and the short period where a few intervals are done build anaerobic capability.

It sure did work last year, and I so I have to lay faith in the training program!! I am certainly in the best shape ever for any type of run - 5, 10, HM or whatever. Not at all sure if I am in ideal shape for a marathon. I am slowly getting the sense that maybe a more conservative goal time is sensible. Whatever feels good on the day is what I will do I think.

My 1st aniversary with the Garmin FOrerunner 405 GPS sports watch

The very first run I ever recorded with my Garmin 405 was last years last long run leading up to my first half marathon on July 5 2009.

So it is interesting to make a comparison:

This years run http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38264066
Last years run http://connect.garmin.com/activity/7799277

Both were 1hr 30 min duration. In last years run I believe I was fastidious about warm up so started with a heart rate at around 145 or so for the first 1km split. I did 18.13km in 1:29:52, and according to what I blogged about it, I was fading badly toward the end. In the run it self, I was doing faster splits in the middle but lost all pace at 17 km.

Av HR this year 137 last year 157. Even counting the fact that I warmed up properly before the run last year that is a massive difference. The biggest difference was the even pace this year and no fade what so ever. And this years run was over a hilly course, whereas last year it was almost completely flat.

Even if my marathon race on 4 July is a massive stuff up and meltdown, I have made a huge improvement in fitness overall this year.

Planned run 1 hour 30 minutes

Date: 27 June 2010
Time: 1:36:24 min
Distance: 18.93 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38264066

Deliberately went slow for this one, and ran on the grass verge as much as possible. The dew on the grass made my shoes wet and slightly heavy. The grass slows me down quite a bit, and forces me to lift my feet a little more, so it is slightly harder than running on bitumen and cement paths. But the softer landing on grass reduces pounding.

This run was a lot harder than I had anticipated, some possible reasons - and combinations thereof:

- I have a bit more recovery to do
- The slower pace causes a less efficient running style - I have complained of this before - and makes my legs ache in places a faster more efficient style would avoid
- the grass makes it harder
- I used a slightly hilly course today

Anyway this is a reality check, and my pace should be conservative on race day. Although a more efficient pace is faster and so far seems more comfortable. I have been feeling ever so slightly flat during this taper period - Some literature I have read says that the last long run a week before should 'leave you feeling refreshed and energised'.. Well I do feel good, energy wise, but legs are quite sore and tired!! Other people have say that during the taper if you feel low, heavy that is a good sign, because you have peaked your work load leading up to the taper and maximum recovery happens in the last week of tapering.

Anyway we shall see what happens, 3 more runs to do and then the race. Wow.

Fascinating effects of the taper period

The taper period is quite interesting:

- I feel like I need less sleep
- When I am up in the morning I feel immediately bright, waking is effortless, and I wake early naturally
- All the annoying niggles - long term minor injuries like my left knee 'hamstring' thing and the sore heels have both faded to almost gone.
- I seem to be steadily putting on weight - I was regularly 72.7 - 73.6 at the height of the work load. Now I am bumping 75kgs
- My mood has stabilised - Regretfully, I have been a bit moody for the last 2 months as the work load stacked up. Sorry about that everyone :(


The only concern I have is the weight. I hope that the last long run I have tomorrow, 1hr 30 minutes and the three days in a row Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday running will knock a bit of unnecessary fat off !!!

Overall everything is looking good. The usual mental challenges are coming up - Have I done enough? 'Oh no I feel like I am losing the edge now that I have backed off training' etc. I have to suspend disbeleif for the next 7 days, long enough to get to the race in a good frame of mind.

Planned run 6x2min speed with 30 second jog recovery

Date: 25 June 2010
Time: 15 min
Distance: 4 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/38072048

Garmin GPS watch had a brain explosion today, claims I did 889 metres in 2 minutes. Looking at the track it mapped out it seems it got the co-ordinates just a bit wrong.

Anyway this was a pretty good run for me, I managed all speed sections below 4min/km, and got a good workout from it. Lets hope the session makes the contribution to fitness I need for the race - theoretically this type of run is supposed to improve anaerobic capacity.

I am improving all the time in this taper period. No sign of any new injuries and the ones I have been carrying have come good lately. My last long run is in Sunday, 1hr 30. I plane to do it at about 5:00min/km pace, not too fast and not too slow. I want a nice comfortable run, and to feel refreshed and energised at the end of it.

Some facinating stats

It looks like this month of June will be the highest number of kilometres for a month tally I have ever done. At the moment with 4 more runs to do, it is at 178.01kms, and an average pace of 12.3km/hr, average heart rate of 146bpm.

Counting the two remaining distance training runs I have for this month, I estimate I will do:

1hr30 ~ 18km
50min ~ 10km

So the tally for this month of June will end up being 188kms PLUS. Since there are a couple of speed runs in there as well, I expect to break 190km for the month. Also likely to be a reasonably quick month, as there are shorter distances and speed runs remaining.

It is really clear from all the data collected so far that I can run faster and further, with a lower average heart rate now. Evidence of better fitness.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 23 June 2010
Time: 50:26 min
Distance: 11.16 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37835843

Did this run with the aim to come home faster in second half. In the end I actually did an almost perfect even split, thanks to the small hills toward the end of the route. Still not a bad run. The last two km's are the hardest and I don't think I had ever managed to do them in sub 4:40min/km after 8kms to fatigue me in a training run - this run I did them in 4:37 and 4:34. So a pretty good run.

I am running all the distance runs I have left in my training program at or better than the usual intensity I have been doing for the last 6 months, no need to back off. And I don't think there is much harm in going a fraction harder so long as recovery is good and I don't hurt myself. So far I feel just fine. Again this run was 'Comfortable, not easy but not fast'.

What this run does tell me is that it will be tricky to find that correct pace for the race. I remain convinced that 'feel' is a better way to pace. Just try to find a comfortable relaxed pace for the race itself. And it depends on how I am feeling on the day as to exactly how fast that is. I suspect around 4:40min/km is where I will end up. I found that pace almost naturally last year in my first HM race so maybe I will do it again for this one.

Injury wise - legs are best they have been in months, left knee is manageable, heels are no worse - in fact better these last few days. Everything else is good. Energy levels good during a run, but I have been feeling a bit flat overall, stomach upset.

Planned run 15 x 30 second speed with 30 second jog recovery

Date: 22 June 2010
Time: 15 min
Distance: 3.57 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37725862

This is most certainly the best run of this type I have ever done. I was feeling flat and out of sorts this morning, but just fell into the run. The pace was right on the speed I need to do, except for a couple of lapses in concentration, but I did 5 more repetitions than I have done in the past.

Legs feel great, the rest has been good for them. I felt sore and ached yesterday, took Ibuprofen in minimal amounts and that seems to have done the trick. In particular the sore left knee flared up yesterday but is good today.

So after today's run I feel encouraged again. If all goes well I will be in the best shape I have ever been in for running on the day of the race.

Planned run 2 hours

Date: 20 June 2010
Time: 1:41:30 min
Distance: 20.84 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37606646

Targeted 2 hours for this run, felt good and picked up the pace for a fast finish, but at 1:40 mark encountered my niece sitting alone in dark. I could not just leave her there so stopped and sat with her, eventually walked her home. She has been having arguments with mother, quite bad. No idea what to do about it.

It is irritating that this immature behaviour ( from both mother and daughter ) has knock on effects for everyone, including me. I hjave been training for this marathon for 6 months, and I do not need this sort of incident disrupting my training now. What these two do not realise is that their bad behaviour has a real effect on others, and they are being very selfish.

Anyway back to the running - I was feeling fresh enough at the time I had to stop to be doing 4:30min/km pace, picking it up from an easier 4:55 or so. I had run on the grass all the way, and that adds a little extra fatigue to the run, and I felt that. In fact overall I felt a quite flat compared the 30km race I did last Sunday - a week ago. That may be a good sign, and that I am making some recovery now which should be good for the race itself.

Planned run 15 minute effort

Date: 18 June 2010
Time: 15 min
Distance: 3.83 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37275363

Best 15 minute effort run I have done. The last one was the same time BUT I stopped to rest at the halfway mark. This one I ran steadily and the whole way. The next best run of this type I did April 2, and managed to do slightly slower 3:57, but pulled up 33 seconds early.

So overall a small improvement. The thing is that I feel I could have gone further holding this pace. I felt quite strong.

Deciding the goal time for the Marathon

Here I am again trying to figure out what pace and goal time I should aim for in the marathon.

The last decent hit out I had is last Sunday's 30km race. In that I did :

30 km 2:22:32
21.19 1:35:20

Using the McMillan race equivalence calculator it tells me that for the 30km run and overall time, I can expect to do a 3:21 or there about.

Using my 1:35:20 time for the HM, it says I can aim for 3:18 or there about.

And using an estimation of what I feel my capability for the HM ( given the fact that I did not even try to do a fast HM initially) of about 1:33:00 McMillan says a 3:16:00 marathon is doable.


Note that McMillan equivalence calculator bases the predictions on real world results, and assumes that the required mileage for Marathon Training has been done. I think I may be a touch underdone for that but I will take a leap of faith and assume I have the training under my belt.

So for the three possible target times, plus a goal time of 3:15 for good measure, the 1 km splits are :

3:15:00 4:37min/km
3:16:00 4:39min/km
3:18:00 4:42min/km
3:21:00 4:46min/km

Essentially not that much difference over 1km at all!! I doubt I could really _feel_ the difference of running 1km distances back to back of 4:37 and 4:40 pace.

Looking back on the HM PB I did Sunday, I did 1:35:20, near enough to 1:35. That is almost spot on average 4:30min/km pace. I most certainly had some speed up my sleeve for that whole run, the first 2km were pretty slow. Overall in the 21.19kms, I ran 11 of those in less than 4:30, 6 in the 4:30's and 3 in the 4:40's. I did it relatively easily too. And when I finished the HM distance I dropped back in pace to do a little slower than 5min/km for the last 9km, and did that relatively easily too.

This leads me to think that slightly faster than 4:40min/km is a good conservative pace to take off at and aim to hold all the way. I also think that 4:37 is not that much faster to be something to worry about.


From all the above I can easily come up with my Ultimate, Challenging and Satisfactory goals:

Ultimate 3:15 4:37min/km pace
Challenging 3:18 4:42min/km pace
Satisfactory 3:21 4:46min/km pace

Now some fun and games. I am almost convinced I should aim for 4:37min/km for the whole race. IF I managed to hold that pace for 35kms, and fade to 5:27min/km pace for the rest, I will reach my satisfactory finish time of 3:21:00 for the marathon.


Hmmm. If I fade worse than that I am hosed. What to do!!!

Planned run 1 hour 20 minutes

Date: 16 June 2010
Time: 1:20:10 min
Distance: 15.60 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37131261


Another good easy run, am definitely in need of recovery and so treated this run as a recovery. I went slow and easy, ran on grass as much as I could, even though it was night and dark and that increases risk of hurting or tripping. The grass areas are always uneven. Anyway the tactic paid off, felt comfortable and today (next day) I feel good.

I savoured ever step in this run too. A bit weird maybe, but it just felt good. All ok so far, managing all slight injuries ok, getting no worse, and knee in particular feels much better than usual. Again no injuries cause problems during a run. Energy levels were flaging slightly in the last few days, the only lasting effect of the fast 30km race I did Sunday. The rest of my running wwill certainly be done much easier for the next two weeks.

Planned run 15 hills speed

Date: 15 June 2010
Time: 36 min
Distance: 7.05 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37131228
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37131250

Did this session a couple of days after my hard hit out in a 30km race Sunday. No obvious ill effects from that run, legs are slightly sore, and I am ever so slightly fatigued by it, but overall just fine. No worse than the usual after effects I experience from any long Sunday run.

The Hills session I did ( last night as I write this now) was the best of thus type I have ever done. I used a medium incline that begins at a railway crossing at Wynnum North Station, and I ran up the hill in Wynnum North Road. I managed between 4min/km and 4:22min/km for all the reps, except for a few were I slacked off too much, and that was not necessarily due to fatigue, more to do with lack of concentration. Still this is indicative of a big improvement as I recall doing just 5 reps - not even SPEED reps a while ago on this hill and it used to be very difficult.

So I have clearly made really good cumulative progress over the whole training period. I have a 1hr20 comfortable run this evening - Usually I run in the AM but 'operational' issues have caused me to swap around for these few runs this week - and I am looking forward to be blissful work out such a run gives me. I will do a genuinely COMFORTABLE - NOT easy - NOT fast run for this one, probably about 5:20min/km pace, and aim to run on grass for as much of it as I can manage, to ease the pounding on my feet.

Injury wise, I have slightly tender ball of right foot, but no big deal. Heels are tender occasionally after rest but good after a warm up, no changes there. The long term left knee issue - Had it since August last year !!!! - flares ever so slightly after long runs, but seems to calm down after a nights rest, so that is ever present and looms ready to end my campaign. But never gets any worse so it should be ok.

Planned run 2 hours 30 minutes

Date: 13 June 2010
Time: 2:22:32 min
Distance: 30.32 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36632743

Did a Brisbane Road Runners Club self select race this AM. A 5km lap, and you choose how many laps to do. I tagged along with some guys that were doing good consistent 1km pace of about 4:30min/km - Damon, Pete, Wayne . They were certainly a step ahead of me in fitness and speed, they were doing the 35 km distance - 7 laps. I was doing 6 laps. Tagging along with them I found that I was going to be 3 minutes ahead of my Half Marathon PB of 1:38:58, so at about 19kms I took off to see if I could scrape up a few more seconds. I ended up doing 21.15 at 1:35:04, so I estimate that the final time was about 1:35:20 . That is a PB by 3min 18seconds, pretty impressive. To be honest I had that in me for the last 3 months I just have not had an opportunity to do it.

I then did another 9kms slow, walking to get water, and ended up 30.32km at an averaged pace of 4:39min/km. That pace is the same as my previous best HM. Not sure yet if 4:40min/km is the right pace to do the full marathin at yet, shall see how I am on the day, and how training goes in the mean time.

The only question is - did I work too hard today iven the fact I am in a taper now? I don't think so personally, I should recover pretty well. Heart rate at the beginning was pretty nutty, I think it was s=not sensing beats properly. After I start running it settled into some readings that made sense. Haert rate average over the whole distance was 145BPM, which indicates that overall I did not work that hard at all.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 11 June 2010
Time: 51:26 min
Distance: 10.53 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36416447


Last of the recovery runs for this recovery week. Legs are in good nick, energy levels really good, and aerobically probably in the best condition I have ever been in my life.. At least _trained_ condition. When I was a kid I could do pretty fast 400's 800's and 1500 metres runs, just run until I dropped.. These days I need to work at it.

In this run again there was no fast running, I was comfortable. It was not easy, and I did put in two km's in a row at 4:30min/km pace. Reigned it in a bit and ended up about 4:50 pace average.

I still have the left heel pain at the beginning of a run. It was especially sharp this morning, despite trying to warm up first. I do recall last winter having a similar problem and I was using a heat pack to warm my feet up before I hit the road. That worked really well, so I will do that from now on. Cannot hurt. The fact that the problem has been fairly consistent, not getting much worse at any given time makes me think this is just something I have to live with and manage rather than a dire sign of injury.

I am really looking forward to the rest of the training, I seem to be enjoying the running so much. And as far as the race on July 4 is concerned, I am so tempted to throw caution to the wind and hit it hard. The way I see it, training is the big pay off and the fun part. Races are were you should hurt and suffer!! The race is only a few hours long after all.

Planned run 1 hour 20 minutes

Date: 9 June 2010
Time: 1:21:55 min
Distance: 16.62 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36244518

Good mid week longish run. Energy levels were really good, aerobically comfortable. legs are still fatigued from the 35km run from Sunday, and the easy run yesterday.

This run was _still_ too fast according to conventional running literature. It was in fact faster than my marathon race pace, or if I am a little more ambitious, about smack on marathon race pace. The thing is that this run is quite short, and it is easy for me to get this run done at this pace. It most certainly was not hard or FAST at all.

I feel great after this run, only slightly worked and pleasantly tired. That is how I should feel after a run like this. Legs in good condition, no injury problems.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 8 June 2010
Time: 54:28 min
Distance: 10.23 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/36089418

This week is a recovery period, where I am supposed to do no fast running. For me after the last 3hr run on Sunday, this recovery week is certainly necessary. I did run too fast, and ended up very sore and fatigued.

The run today, I did as much as I could on grass to ease the pounding on my feet and joints. Running on grass helps me go slower and also causes me to lift feet slightly more than going slow on a smooth surface. That should be good for me too.

Heart rate average was 133BPM, and average pace 5:19min/km. Not exactly 5:30min/km pace or even slower as some pacing charts from famous running coaches suggest, but a good easy recovery run for me.

Injury wise, I have not accumulated anything new - The old left heel pains on hills occasionally, hurts when I am cold but completely disappears once warmed up, so no worse than it has ever been. The left knee problem flared a little this week too, felt a twinge as I began this run, but again it is no-where near as bad as it has been.

Overall a good way to be right now. Two more recovery runs this week and a 2:30:00 long run this Sunday. I plan to do that run easy for the first 2hrs and try to do my ultimate marathon race pace for the last 30 minutes.

Planned ruin 3 hours

Date: 6 June 2010
Time: 3:00:13 min
Distance: 35.34 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35814556

The final 3hr run is done. I have made incremental improvements each time I did the 3hr run, three in three weeks in succession:

Jun 6 - 3:00:13 35.34km Average pace 5:06min/km Heart rate 143 average
May 30 - 2:59:02 34.17km Average pace 5:14min/km Heart rate 145 average
May 23 - 2:56:20 31.55km Average pace 5:35min/km Heart rate 140 average

This one I went out just running comfortably, not looking at 1km splits at all. Looking at the data from my watch, I pretty much held up until around 24kms where I started to slow down. That lines up with what I felt a while after I turned around at 1hr30.

The pace I did was far too fast, that is obvious - and faster than the last two 3hr runs. But I still held on better in the later stages than for any of the other 3hr runs.

I ended up with an average pace of 5:06min/km, which is a shade too slow for a 3:30 marathon. Somewhere between the close to 4:40min/km pace I did for the first 21kms or so and the average of 5:06 is the optimum pace for the 35km distance I ran today.

I just need to figure out what that pace might be. I should have been feeling the effects from the last two 3hr runs today, and that will slow me down. The taper for the next 4 weeks should build on today's effort and I should also be fresher for the race. So I should accumulate more speed and be in better shape.

I can only hope. Now I need to avoid getting a flu or cold and avoid injuries for the next 4 weeks, hit the speed. interval and hill runs hard and eat properly.

Planned run 10x30 second speed with 10 second recovery

Date: 4 June 2010
Time: 10 min
Distance: 1.99 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35583234

Bit of an idiot on this run - Ran fast for 30sec, and stood for recovery instead of the corect JOG recovery. Regardless I felt fast with plenty of spring and strong. So it was a worthwhile workout even if incorrect.

I have my last 3hr run on Sunday, and am tempted to do a 10km race in the AM with a easy run after to make up the time.. We shall see. I do need to see how my pace is going over that distance to help gauge the pace I should aim for in the marathon race in less than 5 weeks time...

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 2 June 2010
Time: 50:04 min
Distance: 10.95 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35419306

Pretty good slightly faster run this evening.. I was not feeling that good, and took off reasonably easy. I soon started going faster. Again I did not monitor my pace at all during the run, just ran to how I felt.

I did push toward the end, but not to any extreme effort at all. Overall, I seem to be in good shape. Just need to complete all the training runs and sharpen up speed wise. I do feel I am slightly behind on where I was in April. However I think my endurance is much more advanced than I was in April.

Planned run 3km TT

Date: 1 June 2010
Time: 11:42 min
Distance: 3.0km km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35258740

The break from proper training up until 19th May does seem to have had a lasting effect. My ability to run fast over shorter distance has deteriorated quite a bit. My legs feel ok right now, but aerobically I feel a bit low. I cannot sustain 3:30 pace repeatedly at all, I just run out of breath.

Perhaps this is a result of the longer distances as well as the disrupted training. I have been told that focusing on longer runs tends to slow you down a bit over shorter distances.

I had to stop at each 1km split today, and I used the convenient excuse that my shoelace came undone. It actually DID come undone twice, each time just before the 1km split. I could have kept going with the loose lace but I didn't.

Tomorrow I have a 50min run and a 10x30sec speed run with 30sec rest the next day. Three days off and then a 3hr run.

I plan to do an accurate dressed rehearsal of the race in that run. That includes taking Gu at each 10km mark and drinking 200ml of water. I will try to pace at exactly 4:55km/min as well, a pretty ambitious time. But the only way to know what goes one when I do that pace over a longer distance is to actually try!!

Planned run 3 hours

Date: 30 May 2010
Time: 2:59:02 min
Distance: 34.17km km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34997928

Finally I have completed a decent _long_ run. The pace and distance is exactly what I had hoped for. In this run I tried not to monitor my watch so much to get feedback on my pace. I just ran to how I felt.

As per usual, I ran much faster than I should early on, lots of 1km splits under 5min per km, and most at around 4:50min/km. That pace slowed to about 5:10 after 20km or so, and after 24km's I slowed even more. I ultimately ground down to slower than 5:30min/km pace after 27km's with the pace blowing out to 6min/km after 30km's.

The 6min/km pace coincided with hills that have in the past _stopped_ me in 50min runs in the past. So the fact I held 6min/km pace on those hills in the last few km's of a 3hr is really good.

SO overall realy satisfied with this one. I legs were massively fatigued, and I had signs of low energy at the end - Hands tingling, teeth tingling. I did not take any food along the way except for a bannana. I certainly will take a Gu every 10kms in the race, and slurp 200mls of water with it. That will likely eliminate that energy loss.

Injury wise, I have none of the old problems. The week off seems to have helped the left knee recover almost completely. There is an ever so slight twinge there but it is fine. The only real worry is that my left heel is painful. It looks a lot like this Retrocalcaneal Bursitis


The symptoms I have match precisely. The treatment is 'stop running' etc etc.. I am certainly not going to do that after nearly 6 months build up to the marathon. I have had the issue on and off and in varying severity ever since I began running. If it is bad after the marathon, I will seek treatment and stop running for a while until it is totally recovered.

Planned run 4x1km speed with 1min30 standing recovery

Date: 28 May 2010
Time: 21:24 min
Distance: 4.42 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34818538

Not the greatest speed run for me today. Felt quite tired and lacking energy. If a speed run goes well for me I feel strong and have a good springing step. Today none of that I had to grind it out.

Looking at previous runs I have done of this type, I did a more consistent pace over all reps, all around 3:50 last time. Last year I could not manage any better than 4:00 for each rep. Today I did :

3:35
3:48
4:00
3:59

I guess it is not so bad considering I am feeling crap.

Planned run 1 hour 20 minutes

Date: 26 May 2010
Time: 1:20:39 min
Distance: 16.37 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34606816

Good longish run for the mid-week. The pace I did this one in - 4:57min/km - is pretty much what I need to do for the full marathon distance if I want to get in under 3hr30min. I am seriously fatigued right now, sore from an accumulation of all the runs I have done since I returned from travelling. I also did a pretty hard gym session last night - hard on legs, buttocks and stomach muscles.

I am having a whole day off tomorrow so as to recover properly. I will do some sit ups though just to keep building core strength. 4x 1km on Friday, and then gym again Friday night, and Saturday off. Sunday another 3hr run :)

Planned run 6 x 500 metres with 1 minute standing recovery

Date: 25 May 2010
Time: 15:20 min
Distance: 3.26 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34497310

Decent speed session considering how sore I am. I have returned from travelling for work, when I missed 19 days of planned runs - I managed to get a little bit of running in that time, but ended up with 7 days straight no running at all.

When I returned, I did a 1hr20 run straight up, then a 50min run the next night ( Friday last week). Then I did a really tough 3hr run Sunday. I had Monday off, and went to the gym last night Monday. That all added up to very sore legs!

I worked out steadily at the gym, easy weights on these 'Smart Strength' machines. I like them because they are smooth. There are a collection of 10 of them, each working all the muscle groups, including legs. I worked legs much harder than anything else.

I also did 15min on a cross trainer machine, set on 'Round the World' and maximum effort setting 25. It is a good strength/aerobic work out with no impact.

I have a 1hr20 run tomorrow, I might see if I can do that a little harder than I have recently, depending on how my legs are tomorrow.

Planned run 3 hours

Date: 23 May 2010
Time: 2:56:20 min
Distance: 31.55 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/34206981

Yet another mile stone distance, I did 31.55km in 2hr56. Farthest I have ever gone, but I did do it very slowly.

The disruption to my training schedule that my work travel has caused certainly made me lose condition. I have taken a small step backward, but it is not too bad. I have speed sessions this week, relatively low km's, so that will give me a chance to recover for my next 3hr run next week. I hope to do a slightly faster pace next week.

The run was quite painful. I began with sore legs from the previous two runs I did this week. My energy levels were ok, no sign of any fade or 'wall' in that respect. I did hit a point where fatigue in my legs was a bit too much. I maintained a reasonably good pace until around 29kms, a bit better than 5:25min/km, but nose dived from there.

The distance I can do before the fatigue nose dive happens seems to be steadily extending to further, so hopefully that trend will continue.

7 weeks to go

So, it is now 7 weeks to go before my first full marathon race. I had planned to do the Noosa Winter Festival Half Marathon on 23rd May, but decided not to. I have one of the total of three 3 hour runs scheduled on the 23rd, and I was willing to do a half marathon race instead. The other two 3 hour runs happen on 30 May and 6 June.

But since all the disruption that this travelling has caused, I was in no shape at all to do a decent HM, and the benefit of such a race is minimal. I really need to get the endurance aspect of training done so the 3 hour run is more important at this stage in training.

Just to summarise - I went to Canberra on the Monday, May 3rd. I did the following runs while away:

- 5km on May 4
- 18km on May 5
- 10km on May 7
- 4km on May 13

I returned to Australia on 19 May, and needed a day to recover from jetlag and the horror of the travelling itself:

- Up at 5AM in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia on 17 May
- Worked up until 5:15PM in Al Khobar , finally found evidence required to locate where a technical issue could be resolved. It ended up being in a third party software module
- Got back to Hotel, grabbed a limo to Bahrain, had dinner in a Turkish Restaurant
- Had to catch a plane from Bahrain to Dubai at 3:50AM 18 May, so went to a late night bar, had a few beers
- Got to Airport Bahrain at about midnight, checked in
- Flew to Dubai, had a few hours wait there then 6:50AM flight to Brisbane.
- 14 hours to Brisbane.

I was lucky the aircraft was not full, and I had seat D, with two seats vacant. That allowed me to stretch out and sleep a little. Even then I was sleep deprived.

From now on I need to make every run count, and hit the gym to build up strength again. The 3 hour run in two days will be very hard, so I will take it really slow.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 21 May 2010
Time: 50:02 min
Distance: 10.47 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33998240

I felt quite sore from the 1hr 20 run yesterday. Ordinarily I would have had a day rest after that run. I did the run Thursday instead of Wednesday, because I was so tired after the travelling. I am keen to get back into the schedule so I did the next run (this one) on the day specified. The 50 minute run was not too bad.

I managed a reasonable pace considering how sore I am, 4:46min/km average. I did the last three km 4:30, 4:37 and 4:35 min/km, which is not too bad. I am still able to run fastish and feel ok aerobically, so I think I retained some speed. Just that the muscles have gone backwards a little in conditioning.

Planned run 1 hour 20 minutes

Date: 20 May 2010
Time: 1:22:16 min
Distance: 15.85 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33998207

I am finally back from work trip. It was altogether an ordeal. Too hot to run at all in Saudi Arabia, even at night!! The Gym at the Hotel was useless, a few free weights and a broken stationary bike. So I could not even do some strength work or a spin session.

I am hoping that the cold I got will be the last one for the year for me, and I will have nothing else leading up to the marathon. Considering the last decent _planned_ run I did was 19 days ago, this run was ok. I certainly lost some condition, and the run was quite hard - I felt aerobically ok, but just did not have the strength in my legs. I write this the next day, and I have muscle soreness that has not been present after a run in a long time!!

Pace was slow, deliberately slow so as to ease into the running again. Overall a satisfactory return to proper training.

Unplanned run 4km

In Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia for work. It is quite remarkable that I actually got here after the ordeals endured last week.

Anyway, I have had a classic and proper 'airport cold'. The type you can only get in airports. It started in Canberra with a sore throat, caught international flight from Sydney to Dubai via Bangkok, and then on to Bahrain and finally Al Khobar by car. So the basic cold was worsened by the long flights.

If I was not so sick I may have had the chance to actually enjoy myself !!! Anyway I am here for work, things are going much better today than they were when I arrived on Monday. My own plan had me gone and home by the 12 May, but that is a long forgotten idea.

It is Thursday 13 May here, and I am _almost_ over my jetlag, and my cold. So I decided to go for a run. The temperature was between 34 and 37 degrees I estimate, and the weather stations here say that the morning temp would range between a min of 37 and a max of 42 today.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33109619

The run was quite bad. I was still slightly ill, and breathing was hard right at the beginning. The heat was terrible, so I decided to do a short run. 4kms!! I might do a longer run tomorrow, get out a lot earlier, with the sun just coming up and it should be better.

I am looking formward to getting home and returning to my routine - proper training.

Plan leading up to HM in Noosa 23rd May

I plan to do the Noosa Winter Festival Half Marathon on 23rd May.

I have had my training schedule disrupted due to work travel, and so I am getting some runs in where I can right now. I _should_ be back on Wed 12th May, with my last run done on 7th May. I may get another run in somewhere but it is doubtful.

So I will hook straight in to the usual speed sessions pattern from 12 May on assuming I am back by then:

Wed 12 1hr run
Thu 13 REST
Fri 14 4x1km 1:30 recovery
Sat 15 REST
Sun 16 2 hour run
Mon 17 REST
Tue 18 3km TT
Wed 19 50 min run
Thu 20 10x30 speed with 30second jog recovery
Fri 21 REST
Sat 22 REST
Sun 23 RACE

Unplanned run 10km

I am currently still in Canberra, and have finally received my Visa to travel Internationally. My flight leaves tomorrow (Saturday).

This week has been a bit of an ordeal, and I don't feel any satisfaction at all in finally getting the Visa. I have had enough, and look forward to getting home.

Anyway, another run I did today, simply to get something good happening for the end of the week. I have not followed any of my training schedule, only did a couple of runs this week. I will miss my weekly long run on Sunday, as I am scheduled to arrive at my destination Sunday morning and expect to get to work / consulting immediately.

So I did a run where I started slow and steadily built up speed. I ended up doing better than 4:20 pace quite easily in the last 4 kms, ( one km I was slowed by pedestrian traffic ) so that is a good sign. I am definately fast now, and all I need to do is try to maintain this fitness until I can return to proper training. Luckily this weekend is a scheduled low km week so it is a good chance to allow legs joints, tendons, muscles to recover.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32477125

I did a short jog to the City Centre to grab a taxi back to the hotel:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32477140

Unplanned runs in Canberra

I am currently stuck in Canberra, a work thing. Meant to be on my way to somewhere else. Lets just say that it has been a terribly frustrating time so far.

To help me stay sane I have managed to get two runs in - neither match any of my planned runs, but I needed to run just for the fun of it.

The first one was on Tuesday night, 4 May:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32281910

I took off just to enjoy it, it had been raining heavily earlier in the day. It began raining heavily during the run, hence I pulled up at 5km to get shelter. Luckily there was some available. I then walked back to the hotel.

The second is a longer run of 18km done on 5 May:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/32281920

I set off aiming to run around a section of Lake Burley Griffin. But I made a wrong turn up Clunies ROss Road instead of follow Parkes way. It was night by then - and got pretty lost. I asked someone where Capitol Hill was and he was amused as I was heading in completely the wrong direction. I turned around, reached the City Centre and found an IGA super market. There I bought some bananas and a few other bits and pieces and grabbed a taxi back to the hotel.

The run did its job, cheered me up. And it was very scenic while the sun was up.

Planned run 2 hours 30 minutes

Date: 2 May 2010
Time: 2:30:55 min
Distance: 29.04 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31894965


Another milestone run, and a greatest distance ever. 29.04km in 2:30:55. Average pace 5:12min/km. That is after tanking terribly at 25km's and slowing to almost a shuffle. The last 3 km's were all slower than 6min, the last one 6:40min/km!! If this were a full Marathon I would have had over 13km left to run. It would have been abject misery!!

So I have a clear picture of what going too fast for my capability will do to my run. I reckon if I paced sensibly at the beginning, 5:10min/km, I would be able to hold that pace the whole way, and not feel so wasted at the end.

One thing to note here is that I have worn my water belt for the last two long runs. And those runs have been very difficult in the last 6-8 kms. The one great long run I have done is the first 2hr20, where I did 28km's. I felt really good in that one, and I did NOT wear the water belt. However I also had to stop at 13km mark in that run to get water and toilet, so I had a break to freshen up. Today I wore the belt and my mobile, and that is close to an extra 1kg weight. And I ran completely non-stop.

So it seems clear that the extra weight does make a difference, as does a break at 13km!!.

I have a good idea were I am at right now. I am not in a condition to run 5min/km for the full Marathon distance. I have 9 weeks to go to build that endurance up. I wont be using the water belt, and I will have tapered so I will definitely be in it with a good chance to make it to 5min/km and around 3hr 30min goal finish time.

Planned run 15 minutes effort

Date: 30 Apr 2010
Time: 15 min
Distance: 3.79 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31716390

I split this 15 minute effort into two 7:30 repetitions. The first one 3:57min/km and then stopped for about 3 seconds. Then started again and did _exactly_ the same pace for the second one.

I felt like I could do this pace for at least another 2 km's it was reasonably comfortable. My heart rate was higher than the last 15minute effort run I did earlier this month, but only marginally. In fact pace ended up identical to the last 15min effort run today too.

I actually felt really flat today, a bit stressed from work, so I was not feeling particularly fast. I have to fly to Saudi Arabia ( Bahrain ) this Monday and will likely miss a few runs as a result. This may be a blessing in disguise as it will be a chance to allow my body to make a bit of recovery. I will hit the (hotel) gym hard while I am there as much as I can, as well as do my own spin/rpm thing on a bike. I may even come home faster than when I left !! The timing is ok as the time away will be on a weekend that had me backing off on distance for the long run.

Last week I did 58kms. Just short of the highest I had done in one week in March.
This month I have done 178kms total. This is the second highest I have done for a month and follows the previous month of 181kms ( the highest ever ).

It looks like next month would have been the highest if I didn't have a likely forced break for travel. But I should be ok. All I have to do is come home in one piece !!

Planned run 1 hour

Date: 28 Apr 2010
Time: 1:00:02 min
Distance: 12.52 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31503792

Good sensible 1hr run. The first of my longer mid week runs. Managed a faster pace of 4:47 min/km for this one. I went out fast, aiming for around 4:30min/km pace for the first 5kms. Then settled down for a slower pace for the rest of the duration.

Heart rate was elevated more than usual, which might be from the stresses of the Sunday run and yesterday's hills session.

Injuries are seemingly under control. Heat and ice keeps them ok. So I am holding on. Mileage is going to increase again soon, so I have to use self discipline and go slow. I keep saying that...

Planned run 10 hills speed

Date: 27 Apr 2010
Time: 22:02 min
Distance: 4.02 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31390035

Used a medium to easy hill, and ran at maybe 5km race pace. So fastish. Each rep 210metres. I seem to do these hill reps much easier now than ever before. I used to use this hill ages ago, and found it difficult just running slow up it.

I seem to have recovered quite well after my stupid Sunday run a couple of days ago. Heel and Achilles are ok, I have been treating them with heat and cold. I also ice the left knee.

I actually hurt my knee yesterday when I was trying to flatten a cardboard box, kicked out and over extended it. That seems to be the trigger, I hardly ever hurt it while running. I am holding up ok with the mileage. This week is a slightly lower km's load so it is a chance to repair.

All good.

Planned run 2hr 20 min

Date: 25 Apr 2010
Time: 2:10:42 min
Distance: 25.11 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/31132220

I decided in this run to become acquainted with what is commonly described as 'The Wall'. My recipe:

- DO 3 10km runs in the days leading up to the long run, a fast one Tuesday at around 4:30min/km pace, then a slower one at 5min/km pace. Then another on Friday at 4:23km/min pace. That one set up some good muscle pain and fatigue for the run today.

- Eat no particularly high carb foods in the days leading up to the long run

- On the Saturday night before I ate a very small meal for dinner

- ON the morning of the run, ate no breakfast and had no food before taking off (Usually half a banana works well for me)

- In the run I took off faster and held better than 5km/min pace for as far as I could, in this run that ended up being around the 13th km

- Took no 'sports supplement' - I usually take a Gu at around the 10km mark on longer runs

- Wore my water belt with about 860grms weight - consumed most of it.

- It was also slightly warmer than last weeks run where I managed to do 2hr20, 5km/min average and managed 28kms


So all that set up a dramatic wall for me, at around 13km was where I felt a little bit bad, but it hit me harder at 19th km. From there on I dropped pace steadily to around 6min/km!!

The symptoms I experienced: Heart rate did not increase, I was well hydrated, legs were horribly fatigued. Every niggling pain I have ever experienced appeared, and I simply could not achieve my usual 5min/km easy pace - I got slower and slower. No cramps, but my hands began to tingle slightly. I hit the 2hr10 point and just stopped dead. My upper front teeth began to buzz and I was foggy.. I stood there for a little while and found myself staring off into the distance, so I did drift off for a while, no idea how long. A toilet was nearby so I went. Grabbed more water, and decided I should trot the 10min home. I took off at a shuffle and I seriously could not continue!! So I walked home. Walking was even a struggle.

So that was possibly a worthwhile experiment. The question is 'Is this sort of run and hitting a wall beneficial to training?' It depends on how rapidly I recover from it I guess.

When I was trying to become a musician, a mantra I often heard was 'Perfect practice makes perfect performance'. Essentially you get everything right in practice and your performance benefits. That is probably true in training for running. I am aiming to get the best out of myself on the day of my Marathon race. So am I better off deriving the best performance in training, doing everything right to run the best I can in training, or is setting up a serious struggle like I did today going to actually help?

Something to think about.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 23 Apr 2010
Time: 43:52 min
Distance: 10.02 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30955968

I took off with the mind set to go slow. But I had toyed with the idea of seeing how fast I am for 10kms. Sort of a 10km time trial. So I took off slow, looked at my watch to check pace and saw it was around 5:35min/km or something. I pushed up the hill to see if I could get the pace down to 4:40 or so. And from then on I was just going fast. I did a 10km TT :)

First 1km done in 4:21 pace, next at 4:07. Paced back a bit at 4:20 for the third km, next 4:21, and another at 4:21. Good even pacing there. By then my heart rate was at 164. I backed off and did the sixth km in 4:30. Then a 25,31 and 28 for the next 3km. In the last km the heart rate 169, pace 4:17.

Final average heart rate was 160bpm, and the MAX heart rate was 171 in the last few metres. My theoretical MAX` heart rate is supposed to be about 178. As a percentage, my heart rate reached 96% of the maximum. The average was 89% of maximum. That was a good hit out I think!!

So finally I have a 10km time that I can use as a gauge of where I am training wise. I feel I could go faster if I paced out better, but this will do. What it tells me is that I am on track _now_ for a 3hr20 Marathon, and a 1hr36 HM. Also training paces are for the time being :

5:24 min/km Easy run training pace
4:29 min/km Tempo run training pace
4:03 min/km Maxmum oxygen training pace
3:45 min/km Speed form training pace
5:24 - 6:06 min/km Long run training pace
3:20 min/800 Yasso 800s training pace

Planned run 60 minutes

Date: 21 Apr 2010
Time: 54:51 min
Distance: 10.35 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30726878

Oops !! Meant to do 60 minutes. Does not matter one bit, I need the rest !!


Took this run very slow, averaged 5:17min/km. Heart rate average was ridiculously low, below 130bpm. During some laps after warming up and doing a slightly faster pace, HR went to around 136. So I think 5:17pace will yield close to 133 or so HR.

I am a bit weary from the faster 50 min run yesterday and the 28km run on Sunday, but am in great shape overall. I will enjoy the rest this week, and plan to do the 50min run on Friday slow too, to allow myself to recover. My body seems to react well to recovery weeks like this.

I look forward to the next long run. I will try to go slower than 5min/km pace, probably around 5:10 or so.

Looking forward to any races coming up, there are a few:

May 2 5,10,15 or 20km I should do a 10km I think, and then make up the distance after in a long slow

May 16 7 and 14km I should do the 14 and make up the distance again with a long slow

May 30 10 and 5km handicap race.. May skip this one

June 6 a HM and 10km race , at the QLD Half Marathon .. This one lines up well for me. Again I should do a long slow after it to get distance.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 20 Apr 2010
Time: 50:10 min
Distance: 11.04 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30611845

A good faster 50 min run this AM. I took off slow, and built up tempo gradually. Threw in 2 kms in a row faster at about 4:11min/km pace at the 7th and 8th. Then just held pace to get home. Good average speed of 4:32 according to my timer. Heart rate was good at 148 average. Elevated during the faster pace km's at 160 or so. As soon as I backed off HR went back to 157.

My heel and Achilles twinged slightly at the beginning, but came good quickly. No pain at all during the greater part of the run. The heat treatment must work.

I have 2 50min runs this week, one tomorrow and one on Friday, I plan to do NO fast running in those, 5min pace all the way.

It is great to be abl to follow up on my farthest distance run of 28km 2 days ago and do such a fast run. I felt good, slight muscle soreness but that is it. I anticipate that I will be a bit sore tomorrow.

Planned run 2hr 20min

Date: 18 Apr 2010
Time: 2:21:17 min
Distance: 28.02 km


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30369693

This is the farthest I have ever run. I felt really good all the way, energy level was perfect, and legs only began to feel really heavy at 24kms. I took off trying to keep the pace down, that ended up being around 5min/km to 5:11min/km or so. Again I had difficulty staying at the slower pace.

I ate half a banana and had a strong coffee before I left, and at the 10km point had a Gu and a bit of water. It rained heavily at that point too, and so I got wet and cold. In fact it was quite cool for the whole run, and that made a huge difference. I went a bit faster to try and warm up a bit!! The fact that my shoes were full of water and very heavy makes the pace from that point on pretty good I think. Conditions were not ideal at all.

Occasionally during the run, when I felt like I was tightening up a bit, I would try a short surge, as well as at any slight incline, I also tried to surge a bit. I seemed that I responded well to that as a tactic, it kept me feeling loose and relaxed. I will keep that in mind for the race, as it may help.

So a significant milestone today. The marathon distance looks 'doable' now. Given the time left for training, I should be able to build strength and endurance to make a good go of it in the race. Today was very cool, and that made a huge difference to the run and how I felt in it, thus the pace was faster than I planned. I do need to reign in my pace - I have another 2hr20 next week, and a 2hr30 the week after. The week after than I back off the distance and do a 2hr run, probably so I can get some recovery.

Injury wise, I had the left heel and Achilles pain. The Achilles twinges a little in the first 3km or so, and then is hardly noticeable. On hills the heel hurts a bit. I hope a bit of rest and ice will help that.

Planned run 4x1km speed with 1:30 standing recovery

Date: 16 Apr 2010
Time: 17:30 min
Distance: 3.66 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/30196139

Yet another speed run. I used my metronome to set pace, began at a slower tempo, and built up for each 1km repeat.

I felt quite flat on this day, and pulled up early in the last 1km repetition. I am slightly disappointed with myself in that, but I think I derived some benefit from the training anyway. I an certainly getting faster.

Planned run 50 minutes

Date: 14 Apr 2010
Time: 50:18 min
Distance: 11.02 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29979959

I did this run faster than 'comfortable' - I am certainly getting faster and capable of doing a faster 'comfortable' run. This looks like the fastest ever 50 min training run I have done. And it felt pretty comfortable too.

I did this one tempo style, or at least attempted to do so. I started slow, 4:58min/km and built to under 4:30min/km pace .. Ended up average 4:34min/km pace. Very good !!

Planned run 6x500metres with 1:30min tanding recovery

Date: 13 Apr 2010
Time: 19:29 min
Distance: 3.34 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29910223

Yet another speed run. Certainly getting faster and getting more endurance. I used my metronome today, set at 180/90.

The cadence for the speed sections was spot on 90 except for one where I did 89. A small difference. I may set a slightly higher cadence just as an exercise when I next have a run of this type.

Something conspicuously absent from my blog lately is injury status. I have almost completely recovered from the left knee problem I have had since August last year. I have a niggling sore heel and Achilles that hurts just a little until I am warmed up. It also was flaring up occasionally with a burning sensation. It seems to be getting better and I hardly notice it now.

All looking good, getting faster, fitter, better endurance and almost injury free.

Unplanned run 5km race

Date: 11 Apr 2010
Time: 20:42 min
Distance: 5.04 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29626941

I entered a 10km race this morning, but I was yet again having a stomach problem. I took off in the race pretty fast, doing the first 1km in 4:03, and the second in 3:57min/km. The third one I started to get a little more sensible at 4:11 .

I started getting bad stomach / gut pains at the 4th km, and slowed a little more. Felt a rather dire need to get to a toilet in fact, which is not what you want in a race. So I decided right then to do the 5km, and get to the toilet!!

Thankfully, the system BRR's uses allowed me to swap to the 5km race instead of the 10, and I got to a toilet just in time.

I did the last 1km in 4:01min/km or so. This is the fastest 5km run I have ever done. It would have been nice to get the 10km race done as I need to prove my speed over a greater distance, but my 5km pace is a good sign anyway.

SO yet again I felt ill on Sunday. Bahh!!

Unplanned run 1h 20 minutes

Date: 11 Apr 2010
Time: 82:37 min
Distance: 16.18 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29626983


This is a follow up run done on the morning of April 11 after I did a Brisbane Road Runners 5km race. I was concerned that the 5km race was not enough distance for the training for the Marathon. So I did this run. I took off a little later in the morning, and had to endure heat and humidity. That slowed me down in the last few km's. The 5km race set me up for some good fatigue too!!

I am pleased I decided to do this extra run. It was suitably hard.

Planned run 10x30 seconds speed with 30 second jog recovery

Date: 8 Apr 2010
Time: 10 min
Distance: 2.45 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/29338393

I skipped a planned 50min run yesterday as I was feeling a little flat. Also I have a slightly sore left calf/Achilles/heel that I thought I should rest for a bit. It hurts only slightly during warm up, and sometimes on a longer run. It also flares spontaneously, a burning sensation not exactly on the heel or Achilles, just around that area. It is much better after the rest.

So I did this 10x30 second speed, swapped from next weeks scheduled runs ( doing this weeks runs next week). I did that to form a mini taper leading up to my 10km race on Sunday.

I did this run in the middle of the day, normally not a sensible thing to do in Queensland as it is far too hot. But for such a short run it was just fine. In fact I felt really good and warmed up, and I am sure that helped.

I pushed much harder today than I have ever done for a training run of this type, heart rate got to 172bpm toward the end. In the speed period, I managed to do a 3:30 pace or better for all of the runs except for two, and the first one was a 3:06 min/km pace. That is much faster than my previous similar runs.

I need to get my legs and lungs to a point where I can run consistently with an elevated heart rate for faster runs. I think that is what I need to be able to do a fast 10km time.

I am headed in the right direction, I am doing best ever times for speed runs frequently, and the weather has cooled significantly in recent weeks. This all sets up for a PB for my 10km run Sunday - If I am feeling good on the day.

I used my foot pod again to measure cadence. I found that in the fast sections, I am around 88 to 92. For the fastest rep, 3:06min/km I did 92 steps per minute, higher than usual. And cadence dropped slightly in the later reps. I was tiring, speed did not drop that much so stride length must have increased a little. I have a pretty good idea how cadence affects my speed now, and I could benefit from practice with a metronome. Next week after my 10km race is an ideal time I think.

Oh yeh and I think the recent longer runs I have been doing have resulted in a lot of fat burn as I am now suddenly 73.8kg's after this speed run. I am not particularly dehydrated either. That is the lightest I have been in years, even lighter than after last years gastro problem where I lost 5kg in a week of misery. The weight loss by itself accounts for some of the improvement in speed I think.

Planned run 3km Time Trial

Date: 6 Apr 2010
Time: 11:40min
Distance: 3.00 km

I have rearranged my training schedule to have a mini taper leading up to a 10km race I am doing on 11th April. The schedule typically has a 3km TT, a 50min run next day and a 10x30second speed on the third day leading up to a race.

I felt a little sore from the 23km/2hr run I did on Sunday (two days ago) and did not feel very fresh at all today. I took off slightly easier than the last couple of speed runs I have done recently, and did a 3:51min/km for the first 1km. The next I eased up slightly again to do 3:56min/km for the second 1km. The last one I pushed slightly harder to finish with 3:53min/km.
Overall I think I paced a lot better for this one, more consistent. That left a little bit more to push and finish faster I think.

I used the footpod again and find that cadence was ever so slightly lower today, 89steps per minute average. Thew first 2kms were at 89, the last 90. Nothing wrong with that at all.

I feel that I am closer to being able to manage 4min/km for a distance run. Just a little more conditioning and I will be there and be able to run a sub 20min 5km as well as a sub 40min 10km. All this training is paying off.

What is particularly pleasing is that I am definitely not fresh today, yet I was still able to do another personal best for 3km. I have a 50min run tomorrow. I plan to do a tempo run at 4:20min/km for this run. For a run like this I will take off and do around 5min/km pace for the first 15min, then jump to 4:20min/km pace for the rest of the distance. This should help for finding the pace in teh 10km race too.

Planned run 2 hours

Date: 4 Apr 2010
Time: 2hr00:39min
Distance: 23.13 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28904961

Been sick all day, stomach pain and headache. With monotonous regularity I am suffering this illness. I think I will go to the doctor this week, as this is quite ridiculous. One week feeling good, the next this consistent illness. Sometimes bad like now, some times just a hint of it. And rarely simply feeling 'good'. After the run I felt quite bad too, elevated temperature, etc. Took two paracetamol and rehydrated.

Anyway, I ran this one at the right pace according to my training pace review, at 5:12min/km average pace. Last 2 hour run I did 4:57min/km and heart rate 140. This run, 5:12min/km and heart rate 134. Nice and low, indicating an easy pace.

I tightened up at around 20km tonight, and I felt quite bad after 18kms. Hips felt really sore. I think that this slower pace leads to a different running gait, and I got sore in a different way to usual. Maybe this slower run will help me in my survival pace. I definitely feel better running slightly faster.

Woke next day, felt much better. Headache and stomach ache gone. Also I weighed 74.3kg's this morning. That is the lightest I have been in at least 10 years. I don't seem to be dehydrated at all either, all signs show I am ok there. Pretty sure that January I weighed around 78kg's. So I am approaching racing weight. I could lose maybe 1kg more.