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.