Friday, January 29, 2010

PLanned run 40 minutes

Date: 29 Jan 2010
Time: 40:57 min
Distance: 8.01 km

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/23416566

The watch seems to have had a glitch in the first 1km calculation. I suspect that due to the low clouds and rain the watch lost satellite signals. I most certainly did more that 8.01 km this morning. Average` pace was more like a little better than 4:40min/km .

I missed one run scheduled for Wednesday because I was feeling ill. A really frequent affliction I get is an upset stomach. I had a headache and flue like aches, and severe lack of energy for the last few days. I woke this morning feeling marginally better so did this run.

My heart rate was not particularly elevated so that means I am not under too much stress from being ill. So I don't think the run did me any harm.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Planned run 35 minutes

Date: 26 Jan 2010
Time: 36:24 min
Distance: 9.95 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/15815648
Plus return home:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23255981

I did another run where I went out harder and came home easy. Went for a 5km TT style run first. In that I managed what I thought might have been the fastest 5km run I have ever done. But looking back I found that I managed a faster 5km in a 10km race I did:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/15815648

In that I did the first 5km in 21:45, around 15 seconds or so quicker than today's run. I did not really set out to go fast as fast as I possibly could today and felt like I could carry the pace to 8 or 10kms now. Definitely getting faster bit by bit.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Planned run 60 minutes

Date: 24 Jan 2010
Time: 60:06 min
Distance: 12.63 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/23066797

Good comfortable distance run. I am building endurance well, and I am also able to run at a good pace so early in the training. The last time I went this fast in a similar 1 hour long run in training was 24 June, 2009, just a few weeks before the GC HM:

http://mike-k-halfmarathon.blogspot.com/2009/06/planned-run-60-minutes_25.html

So on Jan 24, 2010 only 2 weeks into a 25 week training program, I am now matching a pace that took me almost 5 months to build to last year.

It looks really good this early in the 25 weeks build up. The work load will hit much harder soon, and we shall see how I hold up in that, but speed wise I am doing well.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Planned run 30 minutes

Date: 22 Jan 2010
Time: 30:05 min
Distance: 6.68 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22912096

The second week of 25 is over, and I am running ok. Long run coming up Sunday, another 1 hour run.

This run I did the fast first half thing again, and I managed the first 3kms in 12min54s. Not too bad at all as the pace I did was no-where near as fast as I feel I could do for a TT style run at the moment. I stopped at a toilet, and also had a drink, then did the return trip.

I managed to hang in there with the pace, up until I passed the 6km mark. At that time I hit a long easy hill that always slows me done. I am certainly making good progress holding a faster pace for longer.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Planned run 30 minutes

Date: 20 Jan 2010
Time: 31:43 min
Distance: 6.91km


First 15 minutes done 'effort' faster than usual:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22771143

Second half done comfortably:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22771152


I did the first half with effort, I did not really intend to. Ended up quite fast - The fastest 15 minute run I have ever done. The last 15 minutes 'effort' I did was in in July 2009 after the HM I did on 5th(2009). In that run I had to stop at the halfway mark to catch breath. This run I did not so it seems to be a much better run, and ever so slightly slower. I felt I could have gone further too.

I am definitely a long way ahead fitness wise compared to last year, and this is a good sign. I am looking forward to doing a race now. I wonder where there some 10km races being held :)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Planned run 8 300m hill reps

Date: 19 Jan 2010
Time: 23.02 min
Distance: 3.21km

First one:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22716022
The next five:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22716135
The last one:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22716183

First hills session for the training schedule. There was no specific 'grading' suggested for the hill, just the length at 300m. I found a hard one in my surrounding area, in Gordon Street, near Manly. I do think it was slightly too hard, but if it is difficult it should make me stronger :)

I was supposed to do 8 but it was _so_ hard !! I have been feeling crap all day too, just slightly under the weather. I finished the 7th one short and had a bit of a headache so stopped there. I still have the headache now. Hopefully I will get over it real quick.


There are quite a few hill sessions in this program, th next one being 10 reps and a jogging recovery. I will stick to this same hill so as to help gauge if I am making progress.

Next run is a 30 minute tomorrow night. Slightly too easy in my opinion. But I will follow the plan as close as I can.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Report for the year

I have been recording runs since 2009, and produced the following monthly report:

Time Period Count Distance Avg Speed Avg HR
01/01/10 10 44.88 12.5 157
01/12/09 31 78.72 12.8 155
01/11/09 17 90.5 11.6 154
01/10/09 13 71.2 11.7 158
01/09/09 12 108.67 12.2 156
01/08/09 16 122.57 11.9 152
01/07/09 19 160.13 11.4 148
01/06/09 1 18.14 12.1 157


Reached the peak mileage in the month beginning 1 July 2009. I did the HM on 5th July, 2009. Seems clear that I did too much in that month, and I struggled to keep up the mileage in the next three months. I certainly hurt myself doing that.

December 2009 and Januuary 2010 are the fastest months I have ever done for everage speed. That is because I have been doing mostly speed sessions in those months.

The mileage for the full marathon training is going to be even higher, so I have to be careful and avoid injuries. That seems to be the only problem :)

Possible races to enter

Here is a list of the races I might consider doing this year in the lead up to the Marathon:


- 31st Jan - BRR 15km race

- 21st March http://www.twilightrun.com.au/ Half Marathon Brisbane, St Lucia

- 23 May Noosa Half Marathon http://www.usmevents.com.au/noosahalf/index.html



They seem to line up pretty well to my training schedule.

Planned run 1 hour comfortable

Date: 17 Jan 2010
Time: 60 minutes 13 seconds
Distance: 11.8

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22607310

This was the first distance run for the 25 week training schedule I am following. I was seriously fatigued by a couple of things:

- It was my last weekend being able to drink alcohol, because I am going dry for the next 24 weeks. I went out Friday and also had a few Saturday night ( before this run), so hitting the beer two days in a row has affected me.

- I also went and helped a friend with their house for 6 hours or so on Sunday before the run, pulling out staples from their hardwood floor( We lifted old underlay so the floor can be sanded and polished), and helping to fit a new sliding door.

I felt completely shagged before the run, and it was a hot day so I was also quite dehydrated I think. I had 30 minutes or so to prepare for the run, had water, coffee and a sachet of carbs ( sports goo type of thing).

As I was getting ready I recalled when I began training for the HM last year (2009) how I was quite meticulous about preparing for a run. I'd be getting water, collecting a carb sachet, even for runs as short as 40 or 50 minutes - sometimes I'd even have a Paracetamol tab or two to help cope with the pain :) . Such a run was quite daunting for me then.

For this run, even though I was very tired, I knew I was capable of going the distance. So it is really clear how much of a difference the running I have been doing recently has made, as well as the base fitness, strength and _experience_ last year's training has has delivered.

The run was quite hard. Comparing an equivalent run from the lead up to the HM last year, the very first 60 minute run I did last year in the lead up to the HM in July was on 8 March 2009:

http://mike-k-halfmarathon.blogspot.com/2009/03/planned-run-60-minutes.html

In that run I had a lot of problems, cramping shins, etc. I did a about 11.5km's in 61 minutes.

This first distance run I had this year, I did 11.8 km's in 1 hour, 13 seconds. I did not break down at all, it was a good honest steady distance run despite the fatigue. I went faster/further in a shorter time and it proves that I have a good base to build endurance upon.

I did my usual thing, started off slightly faster than I should and steadily slowed down. I ended up doing an average pace of 5:05 which is pretty much spot on what I am aiming for in a run like this.

I will try and ensure that I get my runs in before I do anything that might fatigue me too much in future - That means I will probably switch to mornings rather than afternoons. I need to be fresh and fit enough to be able to make the most of the training runs.

Next runs I have are :

- 30 minute comfortable ( piece of cake these days !! )
- 8x300m Hills - Need to find a 300m long hill of a decent gradient. None around the local area I can recall. May have to be creative
- 30 minute run
- 1 hour long run again

The program builds on distance gradually which is really good.

Planned run 30 minutes comfortable

Date: 15 Jan 2010
Time: 18 minutes 21 seconds
Distance: 4.11km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22606694
Plus
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/22606932

Planned run, 30 minutes, but I had to make a detour to get money from an ATM. I ran hard for 4 km's and then stopped to get the money from ATM.

This run was supposed to be 'comfortable' but I wanted to get a hard fastish run in. Not a bad pace, I could easily have gone faster, ended up 4:27 min/km average.

I did the next part of this run after stopping, only 8 or so minutes, much slower pace of 4:43 min/km

Half Marathon or Full Marathon?

I have begun training again for this years Gold Coast Marathon event.

I have accessed the training diaries that are supplied at the GCM web site. I had planned on doing the HM this year, and using the HM 'Advanced' training schedule.

However, looking at the schedules for the HM 'Advanced' and the Full Marathon 'Intermediate', I see that they end up doing very similar mileage. The HM Advanced has more frequent runs, sometimes 6 days in a week. The Full Marathon Intermediate has Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday schedule all the way through, but typically has a much longer Sunday 'Weekly Long Run'. Effectively I would end up doing very similar mileage in either schedule.

In my experience so far I have found that I really do need the rest days, and tend to get hurt if I run too often without enough rest. Mileage over a week did not seem to have that much effect on me, mostly frequency and lack of rest does.

I feel that more rest days and the same mileage will be a better option. So I have decided to go for the GC Marathon, all 42.195 km's of it. If I am going to do such high mileage, I might as well do the full marathon at the end of it.

I began the 25 week training program last week, 11 Jan 2010. I missed Tuesday, Wednesday as I have had a bit of a twinged knee - The same old knee problem that has troubled me for some time.

This knee thing is really the only chronic problem I have had, and have to be careful with it.

Anyway, so here begins my training for the 2010 Gold Coast Full Marathon. I do think I am way ahead of where I was in January 2009.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

30x10 speed with 30second jog recovery

http://connect.garmin.com/splits/21837987

Feeling the pinch of a a few hard fast runs and distance on top of that. This run was marginally quicker than any similar interval style run I have done like this, so considering the pain and tiredness it was quite good.

I do feel that given a little bit of a taper I will suddenly go much faster. Hopefully building up speed now will pay off when I begin the training for the half marathon. I hope be close to 4 minutes per km pace consistently over 3km's before that time.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Interval speed 2:20, 1:30 recovery jog, repetitions 4

Did an interval session, again last night, this time I did 2:20 fast and 1:30 slow. Attempted 4 repetitions but managed only to get to about 3km's distance. I will repeat this session a few times until I am faster and can endure a complete 4 repetitions.

The Link below is the data recorded:

http://connect.garmin.com/player/21782998

This time I was slightly faster overall than the last session, but only by a few seconds. Tonight I will do the same session again. I am trying to force myself to run with elevated heartrate.

Monday, January 4, 2010

A new year and new goals

Not much activity recorded in this blog, but I have been doing some running. I plan to do a lot of hard fast runs in January 2010, to try and improve speed overall. This is in preparation for my next 20 week training period leading up to the Gold Coast Marathon again in July this year, the program will commence in Feb 2009..

My goals for 2010:

- Break 4min/km average over 3km
- Break 4min/km average over 5km
- Break 4min/km average over 8km
- Break 4min/km average over 10km
- Go faster in the next GC HM in July

So far I have managed over the Christmas and new year break to get in a few speed runs. In general I am going to try and incorporate speed and endurance in the following manner:

- Any normal week ( non-recovery), in 30, 40 or 50 minute runs I do will have an initial speed component
- In any given week I may be in recovery so will not do any speed component
- The weekly long run will have no speed component.

The speed component will be a simple interval scheme, and in several stages:

Stage 1: 2 minutes at speed, 1:30 normal pace, work up to doing that 5 times in a row in a distance run. Once I can do that consistently move to the next stage

Stage 2: 2:30 at speed, 1:30 normal pace. Work up to doing that 5 times in a row in a distance run. Once I can do that consistently, move again to the next stage

Stage 3: 3 minutes at speed, 1 minute at normal pace. Work up to doing that 5 times in a row in a distance run. Once I can do that consistently, move again to the next stage

Stage 4: 3:30 at speed, 30seconds normal. Work up to doing that 5 times in a row in a distance run. Once I can do that consistently, move again to the next stage

Stage 5: 4 minutes at speed, work up to doing that 5 times in a row in a distance run.


At the moment I am only at Stage 1, and only 2 minutes speed/1:30 normal sequence 3 times in a row. I did that Saturday 2nd Jan :

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21642174

In that run I managed 12:41 min for 3km doing the interval pacing, which is quite interesting. My previous efforts doing 3km TT's :

- 12:32 on Oct 16 2009

- 12:14 Aug 4 2009

- 12:57 and 12:54 on July 23, 2009


So it appears that I am running at a similar pace overall to previous 3km TT's, apart from the faster one I did in Aug 2009. I recall that Aug 4 was around the time when things started to wrong - flu, and bad left knee.

I think that overall I am at a good point for this early stage of the year, pace is good and endurance ok. I am at a point where if I work hard enough sped will improve.