2008 in Review and Running goals for 2009

3450 kms Running and 450 kms Cycling.

Very happy with the year and achieved all the goals set at end of 2007. Posted pb's in Marathon twice (3.09- Perth) and 3.14-Canberra) with pb's in 10k (38.59) and 5k (18.43) as well as doing City to Surf in 47.48.

Most of my running this year was focused on achieving the Boston Marathon Qualifier which was done with Craig in Canberra and then done again at Perth. A bit of speedwork training in the latter part of the year led to pb's in the shorter distances.

Main focus for 2009 is to try and do a sub 3 hour Marathon, hopefully in Canberra and to stay injury free. I'm hoping to do 3 or 4 Marathons(this may depend on who ends up doing the Busselton Ironman run) and would also like to do sub 38 10k, sub 1.26 Half Marathon and sub 18 5k as the other main goals.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and all the best with their goals for 2009 and hope 2008 met their expectations.

Canberra is Booked

Have booked accomodation and flights for Canberra Marathon, so now the countdown officially begins. Was lucky enough to get an upgrade to Business on the way back.

This weeks running : 91.5k Average Pace 4:43


Mon 10.6k@4:43
Tues 11.27k@4:27 7 mile quicker run, slower than tempo pace, felt really good
2.33k@4:50 Cooldown
Wed 8.22k@4:51
Thurs 8.1k@4:35
Fri am 5k@5:24 ran with dog for first time ever, she didn't seem to like running too much.
pm 19.3k@4:43 Medium Long Run

Sat No Running, unfort Trace came down with bad case of Gastro, so looked after her.

Sun am 18k@4:43 Medium Long Run
pm 9k@4:37

If anyone has any ideas on good places to run in Hong Kong, please let me know.

Happy New Years to all.

Yee Ha I'm on Holidays

I'm now on holidays and looking forward to building up some km's over the next few weeks as the focus turns solely to Canberra.

This week Running 6.25kms@4:46 Cycling :51 klms

Took it very easy this week as I was still feeling crook. This afternoon I feel energised again and looking at trying to run every day this week but at a slow and steady pace.

Congrats to Epi on a great 6 inch result and hopefully TB was able to finish in his anticipated time.

Merry Xmas to all.

Maybe I should take it easy for a while

Last week I ended up sick with a cold and headaches which meant only 3 days of running, Thurs, Fri and Sunday, although I did get to try my racing flats which were great. I attempted City Beach run Sunday and only did 1.7k in 6 minutes before pulling out and have been in bed sick since other than for a couple of hours with bad headaches and feeling nauseus.

So it looks as though just for the time being I will take it easy on the running front and just slowly build up the km's and intensity as opposed to what I normally do. The unfortuntate bit is that it rules me out of 6 inch which was only a 50/50 proposition and the Perry Lakes 3000m on the track which I was really looking forward to, although I'm hoping to come down to watch.

Anyway, best of Luck to Epi and Sugar in the 3000m time trial and to Epi and TB and others in 6 inch.

Good long run

Finished the week with a great long run this morning, so feeling pretty happy. Was pretty busy at work this week to make up for last week so was happy with the km's logged.

Week in Summary 87k@4:41 Bike 23k in 45 min

Mon 10.15k@4:55
Tues 10k incl Intervals
Intervals session of 10*300m with 1 min break, time below
57
54
55
54
55
54
55
54
55
51
Wed 10.85k@4:47
Thurs 45 min bike ride
Fri 19k @4:35 Medium long run and very happy with pace.
Sat 5k@4:52 Intended to run 10k but felt a bit off colour so decided to cut it short
Sun 32k@4:43 Long run with Craig, seemed easy considering pace and looking back over past records is my 2nd best long run that didn't include racing or attempting to run at Marathon pace.

Another busy week at work coming up, so will see how the km's go, may be tempted to do City Beach race. 6 inch is 50/50 proposition at present.

Also, need to make decision on Canberra soon, have been toying with the idea on what to do but am on a high at the moment and have seen there is accomodation available at Rydges. Make just bite the bullet over the next few days and book.

Bring on December

This week was a tough one due to my nanna passing away on Wed(she was more like a mum) and my dad's date of anniversary of death on Tuesday. They both gave me so much and I'll always be in debt to both of them.


Week in Summary 71k@4:40

Struggled with motivation this week especially on trying to do any distance in the runs.

Tues: Interval sessions of 400m*12 although I decided to do an extra to get to 5.2k so 400m*13. Happy with session.

400m, 100m jog, 400 m.
90sec rest and then repeat
4x400 with 2 min rest between
400m, 100m jog, 400 hard, 90sec then repeat

81
84
78
80
81
76
76
77
80
83
80
80
81

Wed recovery runs am 6.55k@5:03, pm 8k200m@4:40
Fri 5k@4:42
Sat am 11k@4:39, pm 8.5k@4:20
Sun am 21.1k@4:54 with Craig, Piriformis a bit tight from yesterday pm run. Craig is in great form and should blitz his 6 inch time of last year.


Will try and definitely amp up the km's this week, really need to try and slow down some of these recovery type runs. Will also try to continue to do those morning runs in preparation for morning races.

Movember week 3

Week in Summary 86k@4:48

Mon 6.5k@4:40 EASY RUN
Tues Intervals Warmup 2k, Cooldown 3.5k
Intervals 2*500m,90 sec break,2*1000 2min break 2*500m
500m 1:40
500m 1:40
1000m-3:25
1000m-3:25
500m-1:40
500m-1:40
WED 6.2K @4:51 Recovery Run
Thurs 16.35k@4:35
Fri 12.3k@4:42
Sat 28k@5:14 Trail running with Craig which was very enjoyable, although I did fall a couple of times and badly bruised left big toe.
Sun 7.1k@4:46 Recovery run,toe quite sore from fall yesterday so only did short run, legs felt great which was very pleasing from yesterdays long run.

Not sure whether I'll do Deepwater, would like to get another solid week of training behind me with a long and medium long run thrown in.

Now onto the important thing that being Movember, 3 weeks in and mo is looking very hairy, will try and get some more shots later in the week. Trace is hanging for November to end for me to shave it off

If anyone would like to donate for Movember, here are the details, much appreciated.

http://au.movember.com/ , click on Donate button and then type in my name.

2nd in Peninsula 5k race

Week of Milestones this week as I passed the 3000km for the year and managed a 2nd place and pb in todays race in a small field and got my first medal with WAMC.

Week in Summary 71k@4:33

Mon 1 hour run-13k@4:36
Tues Intervals 2k warmup@4:54 cooldown 2.5k@5:08.

Intervals 4.6k in 14m24s comprising of 200m,300m and 400m with 30 sec breaks between the 200 and 300 and 300 and 400m, 75 sec break after 400m. Certainly put in harder in this session than previous weeks, happy with consistency

202m 0:39
311m 0:58
419m 1:17
200m 0:38
307m 0:57
407m 1:17
205m 0:38
310m 0:58
409m 1:18
207m 0:39
309m 0:57
404m 1:17
207m 0:37
307m 0:58
400m 1:16

Wed 40 min recovery incl hills 8.06k@4:57
Thurs 10.4k@4:36
Fri 10k@4:39 hills

Sun 2k@4:53 warmup for race, 5k@4:48 cooldown. 40 min recovery run 8.53k@4:41

Race report: Warmup just completed and voice came over loudspeaker advising 90 sec to start. Felt a bit funny in warmup and had been a bit off colour since Fri night so was unsure of what to expect, but still had grand plans of 18:20.

Anyway started off in a small field and got off to a good start with only a few in front, wasn't sure as to which runners were going to do the 5 and 10k options so just watched to see what eventuated. At the 2.5k turnaround was suprised to see I was in 2nd place, 3rd was on my tail and from there my race plans changed from going all out to protecting 2nd which I ended up comfortably doing and didn't even do a trademark sprint near the end. Was waiting for a surge from 3rd but it never eventuated, 1st came in 17:42, myself 18:43 and 3rd 18:57 .

Splits are as follows

1k:3:38
2k:3:48
3k:3:48
4k:3:48
5k:3:41

18:43

So I did a pb but was a bit disapponted with my time and effort due to being a bit defensive and protecting my overall place, needed someone to push me a bit harder. Just shows how important being mentally switched on is, felt as though I could have run at that pace for quite a bit further, which is promising.

Also toying with getting some racing flats for the shorter distances to see whether I can get a bit of improvement there as well.

Anyway have a lot of thinking to do re races over coming weeks and months.
Races considering before End of Year

30 Nov Deepwater 7.5k
14 Dec City Beach 4 or 8k run
16 Dec 3000m time trial with Intervals Group at Perry Lakes, would be a great one to do before track gets dug up. Quite excited about this one.

Anyway onwards and upwards, next week 90+k week planned.

No long run this week

Unfortunately missed out on doing Trail run on Sat am due to being crook, really disappointed that I didn't make it, hopefully there will be another one coming up soon so I can give it a go. Been on boat all day today so decided to have a rest day and will try and do more km's this week than originally planned to make up some of the difference.

Week in Summary 60k@4:34

Mon Recovery Run 7.12k@4:54
Tues Intervals 3k warmup @4:48, 4.6k cooldown @4:52
Intervals 1600m-5:47 3:31 pace
1600m comprising 100m hard, 100m jog *8 - 6:10
1600m-5:47 3:31 pace
Happy with effort as done at aimed pace of 55 VDOT,Craig once again ran really
well.
Wed 10k@4:40 including hills.
Thurs Tempo run, Warmup- 3k@4:45, Cooldown-4k@4:47.
Tempo 5k@4:00 run on slightly hilly course in very windy conditions, happy with effort. Was aiming for 3:56 pace but conditions did not suit.
Fri 10.36k@4:36
Sat 8.05k@4:37.

Still planning on doing Penninsula 5k run on Sunday, although as mentioned previously will do some extra km's, aim will be around the 70-75km mark.

Movember has started

This year I've decided to particpate in Movember a worthy cause and will grow a mo for the month of November.

Now onto the running side of things.

Week in Summary 88k@4:41

Tues pm Intervals as mentioned in previous post.

Wed pm 10.55k@4:52 Recovery run.
Thurs pm 13.5k@4:35
Fri pm 7k@4:55 Hill run, cut short due to shins and calves being a bit sore.
Sat pm 13.5k@4:26 One hour run, felt pretty good so pushed pace up, 4.5k splits were 20.21,19:57,19:42
Sun 31k@4:53 Long run, ran a few km with Henry and Craig and then ran about 20k with Craig only. Felt a twinge in left kneecap around the 23k mark and stopped a couple of times as a result. Knee feeling pretty good at the moment but have taken precautionary measure of icing.

Have been given go ahead by Trace to do 6 inch in December, have a concert to go to later that arvo and so have to be in good spirits, so will just play it by ear as to whether I'll compete or not.

Well done Sling on doing PB in Seoul Marathon and posting a Boston Qualifier, great effort.

Whistle session-Intervals

Today's Interval sessions comprised of the following.

Harder efforts comprised of 30 sec,1min,2min,1min,30 sec with 30 sec float between = 7 minutes * 3 with 2 minute recovery after each 7 minute session.

Only took splits on the harder efforts and they are listed below. Craig recorded the whole session which was approx 5.8- 5.9km , although he did run a bit further in the second 7 min session.

Metres Time
153 30
295 60
570 120
285 60
149 30
145 30
289 60
563 120
270 60
142 30
150 30
288 60
545 120
272 60
170 30

A little bit inconsistent with splits today which is something I'll need to work on over the coming weeks.

Total session after 3.25km warmup and 3.55km cooldown approx 12.6km

Best of luck to Craig if he decides to do John Gilmour, he is running the intervals beautifully and should do a decent pb provided he doesn't get head spins from running around the track over and over again.

Also best of luck to Widi in Seoul Marathon, looking forward to seeing a good pb from him as well.

Progress continues

Daylight saving kicked in today which means that potentially most of my runs will be done at night from now on, unless I can be become disciplined to keep on getting up early, we'll see.

Week in progress 90.3k@4:41

Tues am 8k500m@4:42 Easy run before intervals
pm Intervals as discussed in previous post, very happy.

Wed am 8k500m@4:48 Recovery type run.

Thurs pm 12k incl 10k@4:26, 2k@4:50 cooldown. Faster than plan but found I got into a groove and seemed a lot easier than pace.

Fri pm 9k@4:35 Similar to Thurs in that quicker than planned, drizzled for first 8k and pelted last km.

Sat 13.2k@4:32 Recurring event, faster than planned but was quite easy.

Sun am Long run 27k@4:59 which included over 10k through Bold Park as I decided some hill work was in order and so did a couple of laps of the Zamia trail plus some of Pine trail. Stopped a few times for various things but happy that long runs are continuing to progress. Also very happy that hammies have been great which means the piriformis stretching is working well, lets hope it continues.

Next week will continue in much the same way, next planned race is 16th Nov Penninsular Run, will probably do the 5k.

Intervals

Summary
3.6k warmup, 280m easy after 400m runs, 4.1km cooldown
10*400m with 75 sec recovery with Speedy Gonzalez Craig.
409-1:24
410-1:19
414-1:20
412-1:19
415-1:19
412-1:20
406-1:19
411-1:19
418-1:20
409-1:19

Happy with consistency, first one a bit slower as everyone was quite casual with first lap. Not a full out effort and leg was quite good after resting Monday.

Endurance Week 2

This week was all about increasing the km's, very happy with progress, other than pain in the same area of my leg as just before Canberra, quite sore at present but hopefully the tens machine and applying heat will mean I can run either tomorrow or Tues morning.

Week in Summary 87k@4:40

Tues am 8k500m@4:47 easy run before intervals
pm 2k350m@4:40 warmup before intervals
4k900m@3:29 1240 4:22
821 2:50
400 1:22
1220 4:23
811 2:52
412 1:18
Intervals included 1200m,800m,400m with 3 min break,2min break,2min break. Lot happier this weeks session than last, ran with Craig.

Wed am 8k500m@4:50 Recovery session
Thurs pm 15k@4:49 Hills session

Fri pm Tempo style session 10k @4:11
Splits as follows 4:26,4:20,4:16,4:15,4:11,4:08,4:06,4:06,4:09,3:57.
first 5k-21:29(4:18),2nd 5k-20:26(4:05)

Sat pm Easy style run 8k560m@4:40

Sun am 24k@4:53 Long run with Craig, felt pretty good throughout although felt pain in leg from about 17k in, took last few km quite easy.

Plan for next weeks will be similar type of km's however may only do one of hills or tempo session.

Base Training

Happy with progress as the aim is to start building up the weekly km's and the Sunday long run.

Week in Summary 78k@4:39

Mon 8k@4:36

Tues am 6.6k@4:42

pm Intervals incl 2.5k warmup,4.25k cooldown
Bit disappointed with my efforts which were thrown out by loose shoe lace and toilet break. Sessions were suppose to include 400m with 200m jog, only did 6*200m jogs due to the above. 400m splits are below.

421 85
409 81
419 91
400 89
411 90
413 88
407 94
414 84

Wed No run due to work

Thurs pm 12k@4:39

Fri am 8.06k@4:49

Sat pm 10k@4:30

Sun 22k@4:46 Long run with Craig including the hills in Bold Park, longest run in quite awhile and other than hammies feeling a little tight in the last couple of km's was very happy with the effort. Went a bit quicker than planned but we both seemed pretty comfortable throughout which is promising for us as we build up the km's.

Not much else to report other than I bought some Adistar Ctrl size 12 and love them, they feel a much better fit than the 11.5's I was wearing previously.

Plan this week is to do in the low 80km's with a long run of 24-25kms

Freo 3k

Freo 5k became 3k as unfortunately I had to pull out at 3k due to pretty bad coughing fit all of a sudden coming on, was pretty happy up till then as I'd gone through 3k in 10:55(3:38 average) and was well on track to do a pb, others running around me at the time ended up doing between 18:10 and 18:25. The winner Roberto Busi won in a course record of 15:11, fantastic effort.

These things happen and certainly won't be losing any sleep over it, just need to work out when my next race is do I do Rotto or wait For Penninsula Run which isn't till mid November but gives me 6 weeks to train for.

I now officially have less than 2 years to do a sub 3 Marathon as I turned 38 yesterday, although if all goes to plan will be doing it next year, countdown is now on.

Week in Summary Running :65.6k@4:40 Cycling 16k

Mon pm Bike 16k

Tues pm Intervals incl 3.23k warmup with Craig
3.265k@ 3:16, session not very good for vo2 max as included 200m and 400m. Splits are below

4*200m, then 4*400m with 1 min break, then 4*200m

210-0:39
201-0:41
201-0:40
207-0:41
412-1:21
409-1:20
406-1:20
404-1:20
204-0:39
203-0:41
205-0:41
203-0:39

Cooldown 4k

Wed 12.26k@4:53
Thurs 10.56k@4:44
Fri 10k@4:48
Sat 7k@4:47
Sun 2k@4:53, 3k@3:38
pm 10.25k@4:43.

Will aim to increase the kms a bit this week as longer runs on Sun are to start taking place, left calf quite sore at present so may take tomorrow off and just ride the bike.

Great news that TB can do Melb, all the very best.

Good Progress

First of all before anything else, I'd like to congratulate Homo for a pb in Berlin-3:26, well done, look forward to hearing about the experience when you get back.

Pleased with progress this week as I began to start building up the km's with the aim of doing a Marathon in April.

Week in Summary Running 58.5k@4:35 average, cycling 41k

Mon: Cycling 20k
Tues: Intervals :8k incl 3.72k@3:16 for Intervals, warmup and cooldown.
Intervals were supposed to comprise of 2*200m, 30 sec break
2*400m with 90 sec break
2*800m with 2min break.
2*400m with 90 sec break
2*200m, 30 sec break

Missed one of the 800m due to toilet break but was quite happy to do so as I was pushy quite hard and didn't want to kill myself after having being ill and having just recovered from eye infection, also did 4*400m at the end as opposed to combination of 400m and 200m. Splits are below

210-0:38
205-0:40
418-1:21
411-1:20
800-2:50
419-1:22
432-1:17
420-1:22
405-1:20

Wed 8.5k@4:52 On hilly course, really struggled today and did not enjoy at all, stopped a few timesand was concerned that I may have pushed myself too hard yesterday.

Thurs Cycling 21k

Fri am:12k@4:34 progression type run, 4k splits got quicker
1st 4k 18m39s 4m40s
2nd 4k 18m20s 4m35s
3rd 4k 17m55s 4m29s

Sat am:progression type run, 4k splits got quicker
1st 4k 18m20s 4m35s
2nd 4k-17m54s 4m28s
3rd 4k-17m28s 4m22s

Sun pm: 18k@4:45 incl 2* MT YOKINE COURSE
Didn't run this morning due to Late night so decided to run when Homo was doing his Marathon and that inspired me to keep going and finish a bit quicker. Stopped a couple of times for drink and some stretching as right achilles was a bit sore.


Hope TB's leg is ok and that he can run the Melb Marathon in a couple of weeks.

Hope to do Freo 5k next Sun will be interesting to see how I go.

I also need to start planning my programme for aim for a pb in Marathon in Apr, will prob follow last years plan but with weekly Interval training to be included which is the key for getting quicker.

Maybe I should be known as the Pirate

The running was going really well until I came down with an Eye Infection on Thurs and went to the Doctor who prescibed me some ointment and an Eye patch, I look quire ridiculous at present. Maybe wearing that and the skins would be the new look :).

Off to see him again on Monday and need to wear the patches till then which means that running is out of the picture until then and so there goes any plans of running Freo.

Anyway back to the running and was very pleased with runs that were done and the times recorded.

Week in Summary 25.18k@4:19

Tues am 8k@4:27, felt really good, prob ran a bit quicker than I should have.

pm Intervals session 1.22k@4:55 warmup, got there a bit later than normal
5.16k@3:31 pace, Intervals of 1km*5, Garmin read slightly more with 2.5mins breaks between. Felt good throughout the sessions with consistent pacing throughout, seemed not to have lost any pace from sickness.
2.3k@4:46 cooldown

Wed pm 8k500m@4:29 Once again felt reasonably comfortable, although once again prob ran quicker than I should have.


Trace also came down for Interval sessions, which I was really happy with, she's going to try and continue coming down, next time she'll waer some aerogard as the mozzies take a shine to her.

Still going to the physio and he has now giving me some running drills to help with the piriformis and hammies, he's really happy with progress from the stretching exercised I've been given.

Anyway best of luck Homo in yoour running in Berlin and best of luck to Epi and TB for Freo if they run it.

Looking forward to getting some solid km's behind me as Sept has been quite lean.

Hopefully things back on track

What started as a shocking week, ended up with a positive and hopefully the appetite to get back into my normal routine soon.

Unfortunately was off sick from work, Monday and Tues and then struggled on and off Wed and Thurs, still not 100% at the moment as still a bit blocked but def on the improve.

The effort of running was tough, it felt like I was starting from scratch but without the buzz,breathing wasn't easy and the calves and quads also were quite sore

Summary of week 35.25km @ 4:44 pace

Fri pm:8k500m@4:49
Sat am:10k550m@4:50
Sun pm:16k100m@4:38- Was aiming ambitiously to do 20km this morning but the weather was too windy and opted out. Ended up going this arvo and really struggled until the 10km mark and then all of a sudden felt as though it was getting a lot easier and picked up the pace a bit, lets hope this is sign of things to come.

Great catching up with Henry, Craig and Tiff for dinner on Thurs, thanks once again Henry for shouting, will be my turn when you blitz Berlin and do under 3:21.

Henry, all the best with Berlin, looking forward to seeing your result.

Craig, hope the recovery is still going well and the hammies are on the improve.

Not sure what the coming week will bring, I'll take it as it comes. Still tempted to do Freo run, will decide later on in the week.

Also, will take the bike to the bikeshop and get a quote on getting fixed as looking at Henry's Ironman training, it is luring me to getting back onto the bike for some cross training as opposed to the exercise bike.

Sick

Came down sick on Wed, so took it easy with no running for a few days.

Week in Summary 43k@ 4:31 pace.

Not much too report, best runs were the Intervals run on Tues 4.68k@3:25 pace which included running for 4min,2min,2min * 2, rest of 2 min between.

Also ran 14.06k@4:23 pace on Sat pm as well as 12.7k@4:45 am run today. Struggled today, which may have been from over exertion Sat, need to take it easier after being sick, you think I'll learn one day and just over 6k Monday.

May do Lake Gwelup this week and now have go ahead to run at Freo Half due to party being postponed for a week, may do 5k there as not sure whether ready for the 1/2.

City to Surf

47:48

Pretty happy as the aim was to do Sub 48, right shin and left calf caused some grief which stopped me from going a little quicker but the great news was that the hammies and groin that has been causing me problems, all of a sudden decided to behave.

Unfortunately didn't get a warmup at all as we were a bit disorganised this morning.

Splits were pretty even throughout, I think I passed the 6k mark in 23:45, garmin was out of whack from being in the city and fell behind at the 11k mark to about 44m10sec or thereabouts before coming home a bit quicker.

Congrats to Homo on big pb, think Berlin is looking great for you.

Commiserations to Craig for not being able to run due to being unwell, hope you recover soon.

Not much else to post on this week, other than Intervals session which was 6*400m at 80-82 sec wwith 90 sec recovery, also had a couple of 10k runs at 4.40 pace.

One week to go- City to Surf

Pretty good week where emphasis has been on doing some hills and intervals. Very sore in hammies at the moment after Sun am run, however have Physio Tues and Deep tissue Massage Fri which should help things along with easier week in leadup to City To Surf.

Week in Summary : Running 75k@4:40 5h50min
Cycling 21k in 40 mins

Mon pm : 10k500m@4:45 Hills

Tues pm: Just over 10k incl warmup and cooldown for intervals.
3k100m@4:49 warmup
4.862km - 8*600m @ 3:24 km/pace. Intervals session at Perry Lakes which was supposed to be 6*600m with 90 sec break. Wanted to go closer to 5k, so did an extra 2 with last two having well less than 90 sec break.
2.13k@5:08 Cooldown with Craig

Wed pm : 10k@4:48 Flat easy run.

Thurs pm :12k@4:42 Hills

Fri pm : 40 min exercise bike

Sat pm: 12.5k@4:28 Incl warmup and cooldown.

Sun am :20k@4:42. Incl 4k@4:48 warmup.

Last 6k of City to Surf Course@4:08, starting at bottom of Underwood Ave, good little trial incl main hills of the course. Aim was to do under 25:00 which was successful, hammies were very sore,stopping me from going any quicker, breathing was really good. Pace was pretty consistent throughout with only a slight drop in last km ie 3:57 pace.

10k@4:58 Recovery.

Congrats to Widi on HM result in Singapore, great to see him go well under 1:29 in tough conditions.

Looking at doing another interval session this Tues at Perry Lakes and then will take it pretty easy for the rest of the week.

Half Marathon pb attempt for this year now officially off as of Thurs due to invite to party the night before which is likely to be a big one. May do the 5k at Freo Half depending on how previous night goes.


Looking forward to City to Surf 12k next week, will be interesting to see how it goes.

When does 10k become 5k

When I can't be bothered doing another lap of a 2 lap course.

Lake Joondalup 5k - 18:46 3.37/3:47/3:50/3:46/3:37, garmin registered 5.05k

Beautiful morning and a pretty flat course. Was feeling pretty comfortable at 3k and decided that a sub 19 was quite achievable for 5k and mentioned this to Craig who also decided to just run the 5k. Pretty happy with the time as I had quite a bit left in the tank which is good for the future.

Warmup - 1.5k @ Marathon pace
Cooldown 6k- With Craig.

Week in summary 61k average pace of 4:32.

Great doing some Intervals at Floreat Tues and this will become a weekly must session, will be interesting to see the variety as this week had the shorter stuff.

Also ran a couple of Marathon pace runs and an easy run.

Huge congrats to Henry on another big pb,it's great to see you're on fire, keep it up.

Congrats to Craig on doing sub 19 5k.


Looking forward to doing more intervals this week and also doing some more hill work.

Working on those hills and intervals

Focus at present is working on Hills and Intervals with City to Surf in mind.

Summary of last 2 weeks is 135k running and 3h15min Exercise Bike.

Great catching up with Widi whilst in Singapore and seeing the tough conditions he goes through.

Won't bore to much with details over last couple of weeks but highlights include

19k and 9k run in Singapore in humid conditions.

Two hills sessions with Craig in Bold Park, week gone by was quicker than last.

Tough 10k hill tempo run at 4.20 pace.

Quite sore at present having done hill tempos late Fri, followed by City to Surf run and back Sat am and 1.5 hours on bike this afternoon.

Calf been sore doing hill intervals, hammies been very sore, physio has given me some exercises and believes he has solution to ongoing problem.

Hope to do reasonable time at Lake Joondalup this week.

Commenced Intervals

Pretty happy overall with week with commencement of intervals and Sun run done incl 3* Mt Yokine Hill Course

Week in Summary 4 runs 55.5k@4:40
2 exercise bike sessions 1h45m

Tues 12k incl 3k@4:45 warmup
6*800m @3.46 pace with 1m30 sec recovery jogs
3.27k@5m2s cooldown
Ran the first couple of recovery runs a bit quick and had a walk between my 3rd and 4th 800m. Overall felt pretty good throughout.

Wed 45 min exercise bike

Thurs 12k@4:39 Progressive type run with each 4k split quicker than the previous.

Fri 1 hour on exercise bike

Sat 10k incl 3k@4:43 warmup
1k800m@3:53 took a bit of a break
3k700m@4:38 took a couple min break whilst waiting for Trace
1k500m@3:38
Was intending on doing a tempo session around Yokine Reserve but for some reason there I get lazy and never do it properly, I'm not struggling, I just all of a sudden can't be bothered. So decided to mix it up a bit. Happy with faster finish which made the session seem worth it, 1500m in less than 5.30.

Sun run 21k500m@4:54 Most enjoyable run in a long time which included 3* Mt Yokine course. Ran in the arvo and there was a bit of rain, didn't worry about the time at all and found the hill easier than ever before, although I didn't try and push it at all.

Trace has started running again and has done a couple of 5km runs which is great as she starts to get ready for City to Surf.

My plans for the next month or so incl some more interval and tempo work, need to do some hills and prob will do Wally Cairns if it is hilly , Lake Joondalup 10k and then City to Surf. Still haven't registered yet for City to Surf but will prob do 12k and try and do a good time.

Building up

Increased my km's this week despite being out of action for 3 days this week with migraine caused by bad neck and back.

Week in Summary 53.5k@4.43 average. Haven't bothered listing all sessions as most were done at similar pace.

Highlights were longest run since Marathon 21.1k@4.50 Ran the City to Surf course from West Perth and then ran back, first 10k run at 4.43 and intentionally slowed down the last half. Was 1.2 deg at 7.10 when I started.

Also ran an 8k run which incl 2k run at <4min/km.

Interval work done on exercise bike 5*4min fast with 2 min recoveries.

Went to the physio this week and had some video analysis done on my running, physio is convinced he can make me quicker and get rid of my hammie and groin problems. He was very happy to say that he believes it is all to do with technique and that lot of the issue is that I don't use my glutes very much, hence putting extra strain elsewhere. Will be going back once I get back from Singapore and he will be introducing some running drills to help fix the issue. I'm sold, bring it on, watch out Olympians :).

Time to start targetting some interval work and may start doing some weekly sessions with Epi.



Have identified some key races to target over the next 6 months with aims to bring down my pb's in 5, 10 and HM, although haven't decided on whether to run Run for Gold next week but if I do maybe the 5k will be the option.

Recovery Week

Recovery was pretty good from the Marathon last week, although ITB was extremely sore Sunday night. The good thing was that it was fine throughout the race and come Monday morning was a lot better. Hammy and Plantaris are a bit sore at present but this is a regular occurrence so overall have come out of it pretty well. Had a deep tissue massage on Friday which confirmed the tightness in these areas, have another booked for Friday.

Week in Summary

2 rides on Exercise bike, Wed and Thurs 30 and 35 minutes.
3 runs 24k @4.37 -Fri,Sat and Sun, each of approx 8km's.

6 days leading up to Marathon was 28k.

Next week I'll increase the km's and have a running analysis session with the physio, so this will be an interesting exercise to see what comes of it and whether any suggestions can be made.

Hope Epi and TB have recovered well from last week. Homo, hope the heel is recovering well.

Good to see that Sling is thinking of running another Marathon, hope to catch up with you in a few weeks time and go for for a run.

Perth Marathon 2008- 3:09

Well another Marathon has been finished, my 5th and 3rd Perth and I've been lucky enough to post another pb. I'm also feeling pretty good at present which is a bonus as I know from past experiences, mainly my first two how bad you can end up feeling. Had the usual aches and pains and also have some small blisters but what would be a marathon without some of those. I think the short skins under the shorts certainly helped the hammies.

The aim all along was to do sub 3.10 and I was happy with my time of 3.09.10, although unfortunately I had to stop and go to the loo which cost me between 1.00-1.30.

Race report

Summary : 1st half 1.32.30 2nd half 1:36:40, all 10k times are based on Garmin which measured 42.5 km and times mentioned below represent Garmin km's.

Started a bit quicker than planned as I got into a nice rhythm early and there were plenty of people around and passed the 10k mark in just under 43 mins and then continued churning out 4.20-4.25 km's for the next few k's and then passed the 20k mark in just under 1.27.

The numbers started thinning out around the 24k mark and I was soon running on my own with nooone within a few hundred metres for what seemed like eternity and passed the 30k mark in 2.12. This section was the toughest in the race as the only motivation was to try and keep the sub 3.10 under control, however around the 34k mark started to reel in a few people and passed a no of people from then up until 40k mark which was hit in 2.58, Also had a young lady pass me with a sub 3.30 singlet around the 34k mark and she was flying, later found out her pb was 2.55 so don't feel so bad.

The last 2.2k was picking up the pace a bit to ensure 3.10 was achieved and was very happy to see Trace and then Henry at the finish.





Congrats to Craig on doing his 5th Marathon and doing a good time of 3.19 with limited training, I hope the recovery goes well and I'm sure we'll be doing some training and 10k's together in the near future and to TB for doing a 3.55.



Will take a few days off and then look at getting in a few 10k races in before year end. It is certainly something that I need to start working on ie regular speedwork if I want my Marathon times to come down.

Easy week

Countdown is on to Perth Marathon and this week was all about running at approx Marathon pace for the majority.

Week in summary 43.6k@4:34

Tues 10k@4:32
Fri 8k@4:28
Sat 8k@4:36
Sun 17.6k@4:38

Still like to think that sub 3.10 is on track. Would like to do first half in 1.33-1.34 and hopefully can hold on for a sub 1.36 on the way back. Hardest thing may be in the last half not having runners around me and trying to stay motivated. Oh well in a week we will know.

2 weeks to go

Countdown begins for Perth Mrathon as k's are reduced and speed increases.

Week in Summary 80k@4:40

Tues pm 11.05k@4:53 Recovery type run

Wed pm 15k500m incl 2k@4:50 warmup
10k@4:11 tempo type run
3k500m@4:51 cooldown



Fri pm 12k incl 2k@4:47 warmup
6k@4:17
2k@3:50
2k@4:47 cooldown

Sat pm 11.5k@4:40

Sun am 30k@4:49 Ran 25k with Craig on an absolutely fantastic morning and then ran the last 5 on my own with last 2 at MarAthon pace for a faster finish. Was very happy to do the 30k run as it is a big psychological boost for me and something that has worked well doing 2 weeks out from last 2 marathons. Lets hope the trend will continue.

Off to Kal again this week for a couple of days. Will aim to do around the 60k mark and will do some quicker stuff again with a longer run of approx 20k on Sunday.


Very sad news to hear that Jane McGrath passed away today and was devastated when I heard the news. It certainly puts other things into perspective, condolensces to Glenn and the kids .

Perth Half Marathon

Perth Half was run in quite wet conditions this morning and was pretty happy with the time of just under 1.31.56 which was faster than I was expecting.

Ran with Craig for the first half in very even splits and then thought I had a chance of doing sub 90 so went a bit quicker for about 1-1.5k before deciding that I was being stupid by pushing myself too hard and so settled back to a more reasonable pace. Craig caught up quickly and then we settled down to running at about 4.20 pace for most of the remainder of the race, although he did seem to be doing it a bit easier for most of that portion and had to hold himself back, so thanks once again for running with us.

It was great seeing TB out there doing a good time and also knowing that he'll be out there once again for the Perth Marathon. Also good to see Jackson and a couple of guys from work before the race.

Week in Summary 101.15k @4.43

Mon pm 14k100m@5:00 Recovery type run

Tues pm 11k@4:51 Run in Kalgoorlie, would have liked to have run more but was warned by the locals not to stay out for too long after dark. Was also pretty tired from a 4am wakeup with little sleep to get ready for Kal.

Thurs am 14k200m@4.45 Nice run done at 4.30 am before early morning start, run in skins and wasn't as cold as was expecting, really nice time to run.

Fri pm 16k100m@4.33 Bit slower than marathon pace run, although I did run some at mara pace.

Sat pm 10k550m@4:55 Recovery type run that incl hills.

Sun am 21k100m@4:21 Perth Half

pm 14k100m@4:55 Recovery type run

Now is the time to start easing off the km's as tapering begins, will also try and run at least one tempo style run with a slow 30k run to be done on Sun.

Lake Monger 10K Race

Due to travel, work commitments and head cold my km's were down this week but may have been a blessing in disguise as I in effect had a taper week for this week's 10k race.

Anyway, pb of 38:57 for the 10k race, so very happy as I wasn't sure what to expect.

Summary 50km's Average pace 4:30

Wed pm 10k@4.05 Decided to have a quicker type run as a bit of a trial for the 10k race on Sun, prob somewhere between tempo and race pace. Gave me a fair bit of confidence for Sun race.

pm 2.5k@5.00 cooldown

Thurs am 11k@4.51 Recovery type run

Sat pm 8k@4:50 Easy run to see how I was feeling after a couple of days down with cold.

Sun am 1.5k@5.00 Warmup for race

10k@3:53 Lake Monger Race- felt a bit of a twinge in the hammy early but got into a good rhythm and ran with Craig for the first 5k with a couple a little bit ahead.

Splits on garmin were as follows, I hit the 5k mark at 19.28 and thought a sub 39 was possible.
3.45,3.58,3.56,,3.52,3.58-19.28

Ended up taking off slightly from Craig at this stage and basically ran by myself for the last half of the race, passed a couple of people and got bassed by one guy with about 1km to go. Sprinted the last bit to do a sub 39
3.58,3.52,3.52,3.54,3.45-19.22

Garmin had the 10k-38:50, 10.08k-38.57.

Sun am 7k@4:49 Cooldown of two laps of Lake Monger, 1 with Craig.

Big congrats to Craig for smashing the 40 min barrier.

Looking forward to doing some 10k's in the last half of the year with training to be focused in this area and hopefully lowering the pb time.

Off to Kalgoorlie for a couple of days this week, hopefully will get some reasonable km's in before Perth Half, aim is to do at marathon pace if possible.

Pretty good week

Was a little concerned with how I would back up from last week but ended up with some reasonable k's at reasonable pace, intentionally slowed it down a bit this week. Also have made a concerted effort to start doing more early morning runs and also have started wearing short skins in some of the runs underneath the shorts to see how they go re recovery.

Also did my best ever month of 393km's for May

Week in summary 100k@4:44 average pace.

Mon pm Exercise bike for 30 mins, a bit sore from Sun run.

Tues am 10k@4.47
pm Upper body weights

Wed am 12k@4:41
pm Leg weights

Thurs am 13k@4:53 Recovery type run done at 4.30 am.

Fri pm 25k@4:40 Took Friday afternoon off and ran and struggled with the run, was quite humid and I struggled a bit on the motivation side and so had some rest breaks. Time looks better because of this.

Sat am 12.5k@4:48

Sun am 6.4k@4:30 Decided to do a marathon pace styled run, however unfortunately dodgey tummy forced me to abandon at the causeway and head back home.

am take two 21.1k@4.48 Waited a couple of hours and then tried again but this time decided to ease off the pace and try and just have a nice run. Was still plagued by the tummy causing me to stop a couple of times but overall happy with run.

Off to Sydney now and back late tomorrow . Not sure on how I'll tackle this week leading up to Lake Monger as I'm likely to be full on at work and may end up doing a mini taper, will just see how it goes.

Two long runs makes for lots of k's

As mentioned last week, due to the fact that I didn't run Sunday was able to do two 30k+ runs. With work being quite quiet this week, about to get full on and I am going to be travelling a bit, it was nice to be able to dedicate a lot of time to running this week, so hopefully will have some k's in the bank for some of the quieter weeks that may eventuate.

Also trying to make the most of being in the zone right at the moment, most of my runs were run quite a bit faster than intended, although haven't really done any proper speedwork as yet.

Update re shoes and orthotics, orthotics feeling good, Infiniti's now having heel resurfaced after another 90k, all being done for free at this stage so that's good, wonder whether it will last. In the meantime alternating between the Adistarts that have been returned,Adrenaline and Nimbuses that have had heels replaced previously.

Week in Summary 130.65k@4.42 10h15m

Mon pm 32.2k@4.44 Long run that was a bit quicker than expected. Didn't take any drinks with me which was a bit silly, wasn't sure where I was going to go and just made up the route as I went along so had a quick water stop at 18k and 24k and then stopped at home at 28k quickly to have half a bottle of powerade.

Tues pm 10.05k@5.04 Recovery run incl hills, was expecting to have been sore from yesterday but was actually feeling pretty good.

Wed pm 13.62k@4:24 Incl hills, Pace ended up being more of a tempo run than was intended as this wasn't the intention of the run but felt pretty good.

Thurs pm 10.2k@4:54 Recovery type run.
Upper body and legs weights session.

Fri pm 18.03k@4:30 Once again ran faster than intended in drizzling rain, ran mostly on the flat and on the paths.

Sat pm 10.55k@4:54 Recovery type run. Felt a bit of a twinge in the right knee so stopped on a couple of occasions to stretch .

Sun am 36k- made up of 33k@4.37 Ran mostly with Craig and on the flat and stopped quickly for toilet breaks and stretching, once again quicker that was expected but felt pretty comfortable.

3k@5.04 Cooldown

So extremely happy with the week as I'm feeling pretty good at the moment but mindful not to get to carried away. Next week will obviously be back to normal type of km's, fingers crossed it is not a bad one and I need to control the pace a little better.

Looking forward to running my first 10k in over a year at Lake Monger in a couple of weeks time and seeing what sort of time I can do without any proper speedwork.

No Sunday Run

Been a tough week personally with Trace's grandma taking a turn for the worse all of a sudden and then passing away Thurs. At least she didn't suffer for too long, funeral is on Wed.


Woke up this morning feeling not the greatest after going to bed with bad headache last night, may have been because the Eagles lost again, only joking and felt dodgey all day, so decided not to run. Will try and make up for it early on in the week with a 20k+ run.

Other than that, very happy with how the running is going, just need to control myself as I ran a no of runs quicker than I intended.

Week in summary 66k@4.43

Mon pm Weights session including legs,abs and upper body.

Tues pm 11.5k@4.39 Run incl hills was extremely easy, felt like I was floating.

Wed pm 10k@4.26 Went out for a 4.40 type run incl hills and just felt in the groove, so made it a bit quicker. Also only hard time for a quick run as we headed into hospital

Thurs pm 10k@4.57 Recovery type run.

Fri am 16.5k@4.45 Incl hills
pm 8k@5.08 Recovery run

Sat pm 10k@4.35 Incl hills and then a quick upper body weights session.

Good progress

Very happy with the weeks running as I start to get back into a routine after Canberra. Also have started running in my new orthotics after getting them Friday, they are very different than my previous ones so it will be interesting to see how they go and will build the k's gradually in these.

Also got back my Infiniti from the sports store after being at the bootmakers and they have done a great job, much better than the previous bootmaker, lets hope they last a while. Have also got them to do the same on the Adidas so looking forward to getting them back and running in them again soon. In the meantime will do most of my runs in the Nimbus, have a few pairs that have been built up and will look at building the k's with the Infiniti. The thinking from the pod over time is to do most of my training in the Infiniti and Adidas and racing in the Nimbus as I love them so much and maybe even look at racing flats but we will take it one step at a time. Lets just see some shoes that will last for a while.

Week in summary 84.1k@4:51

Mon pm Upper body and abs workout.

Tues pm 14.07k@4:28 Marathon pace run, wasn't planning on going quite so fast but felt in the zone and decided to make it into a good session. Included a few hills.

Wed am 10.03k@4:59 Easy run done on the streets.
pm 6k@5:07 Recovery run done incl 4k on the oval.



Fri am 20k@4:59 Real struggle where I stopped a no of times, quite humid and went through drinks quickly, wasn't in the zone. Included hills.
pm Upper body and abs workout

Sat am 10k@4:47 Included 5k in new orthotics, really felt the diff between the 2.

Sun am 24k@4:54 Including 8k in new orthotics. Stopped at home at 16k and swapped orthotics. Felt pretty good throughout run with a quick drink at 10k and then 1/2 a bottle of powerade at 16k.

Had a look at the race calendar during the week and will potentially look at doing 10k Lake Monger and Perth Half Marathon before Perth Marathon. Not really sure as to what to expect in 10k as I haven't really done any speedwork and haven't run a 10k since Bridges last year. Perth Half will be around the 1.33-1.35 mark I would have thought.

Aug onwards will have the focus on lowering 5 and 10k times.

Haven't decided on exact goal for Perth Mara yet will just see how the weeks go before deciding on aims but would like to at least do a reasonable one in my home state.

Shoes driving me nuts

The Brooks Infiniti I decided to try lasted a whole 40k's, yes 3 runs and I had to take them back as the outersole was worn through in the one place on the left heel and I was into the midsole. The sports store were shocked and took them off to the bootmaker to get fixed and in the meantime have got me to try some adidas, not faring much better with those.

I'm due to get my new orthotics next week and hope they will fix the issue, have also booked into see a biomechanist who is coming over from the Eastern States, please can one of these assist me as running is becoming a very expensive hobby at present.

From the running perspective was pretty happy with the week in general, the plantaris is still sore but is on the improve and other than the odd niggle on my right foot, things seem to going pretty well. Also been very tight in back and neck, maybe because of upper body stuff. Would have liked to have done a few more k's on the longer run but ran out of time due to other commitments.

Week in Summary 62.25k@4.53

Mon Upper body and abs workout

Tues 13k@4:52 incl hills

Wed 10k@4:59 Recovery

Thurs Upper body and abs workout

Fri 12k@4:47 Quickest run since Canberra. Also had deep tissue massage which included back and neck

Sat 10.25k@4:52

Sun 16.5k@4.55

May not opt for the 32k run next Sun, maybe a bit soon. Aim is to continue to build up k's over the next few weeks esp long run and gradually include some small tempo k's into the mix

Building Slowly

The last couple of weeks have been about recovery and trying to get the plantaris sorted, still hurts but nowhere near as bad as it was and taking it easy more out of precaution. The exercise bike has been getting some more work and have started doing some upper body and ab exercises again

Had some more acupuncture done on the calf and another deep tissue massage, have also started trying Brooks Infiniti to see how they go as I'm still going through shoes like no tomorrow, hopefully one day will find some that last the distance and there will be no more whingeing.

Week commencing Mon 14th Apr 41k on bike and 6k run.

Wed : Exercise Bike 20k in 42 min and upper body and abs workout.
Fri : Exercise Bike 21k in 40m30s and upper body and abs workout.
Sat Run 6k in 31m12s, plantartis still sore so kept run short.

Week commencing Mon 21st Apr 57k bike and 26k run
Mon : Upper body and abs workout
Tues : Exercise Bike 22k in 42m
Wed : Run 8k500m incl hills @4.55
Fri : Run 12k500m@4.50 and abs and upper body
Sun Run 5k@4.48, niggling plantaris and then Exercise Bike 35k in 1h6m.

Hopefully next week can start running a bit more and look at the 50-60k mark.

Canberra Marathon

Been a bit slack re writing up my post but here goes.

Got a bit of a scare earlier in the week when I strained my plantaris muscle(3rd muscle of the calf) and was quite concerened that I may not get to do the race. Hastily booked into the physio and then had some ultrasound done and for the rest of the week was using my tens machine as well as continuously applying flexall or tiger balm for heat.


Fri pm 6km jog, plantaris feeling quite a bit better, more confident I could now run Sun.

Caught up with Trace, Craig, Henry and family for dinner Sat night.

Ran 3.14 with splits of 1.36 and 1.38, so very happy in that both Craig and myself met our goals which was to do under 3.15.59 and qualify for Boston 2009. Also happy that I finished pretty well and felt reasonably comfortable throughout.

The race itself began in rain and it rained constantly throughout the first 2 hours. The calf held up pretty well and the normal nemesis of the right hammy and left groin reared its head fairly early on was annoying but manageable.

Unfortunately lost Craig at the start and I started a bit quicker than I expected, although I think that may have been in part to trying to find him. He ended up behind us and caught me at around the 10k mark at approx 45 min and then we slowed the pace a bit and back to our goal pace. At that point the 3.15 pacer passeed us and disappeared into the distance, although we both mentioned he was going quite a bit quicker than pace required and was obviously trying to allow for a reasonable fadeout later on.

At half way point, we were spot on with our pre race goal of 1.36 which gave us 1.39.59 to finish to meet the target and we were feeling comfortable. The next 10-15k were just consolidating our pace and ensuring enough fluids, gels or snakes etc were taken. We were closing in on the 3.15 pacer and then passed him with about 4-5k to go. Really enjoyed the last couple of k's knowing that the goal was going to be met and saw Trace just before the finish line as she yelled out and took a photo.

Felt pretty good afterwards, legs were sore, suprisingly quads were really sore after stopping but other than that was in pretty good shape. Had a quick bath and then went out for lunch with Trace.

Mon was spent at the war memorial which was pretty touching and then flew home Mon night.

Congrats to Craig for running a huge pb, it was great running with him and certainly made the race a lot easier.

Also big congrats to Henry for also running a big pb, glad to hear the knee held up pretty well.

Now for easier couple of weeks and then focus turns to Perth, hopefully can run a good one there.

Interesting buildup

Certainly been an interesting buildup to this marathon and now I'm just looking forward to running this sucker.

This week had a deep tissue massage and then same day went to a new podiatrist who ended up giving me acupuncture to free up the very tight calf, he reckons this may be part of the reason for the issues with my shins and soreness in back of left leg. Once back from Marathon he is going to do some more acupuncture and look at guiding me re my shoe choice etc.



Week in summary 50k avg 4.40. Also rode 26K in 50 min on the exercise bike on Sat.

Highlights of the week were 8k tempo@4.15 incl small hills, last k done in 4.00. Also another marathon pace run and then 17k run with Craig.

This week taking it easy with a couple of small runs, do a carbo depletion run of 11k incl 4k at Marathon pace and just looking forward to Sun.

Better week

As last couple of weeks have been a bit low decided to do some higher k's this week and get that last 30k run in.

Week in summary 87.1k Avg Pace-4m49s

Mon 8k@4:54 Recovery run

Tues 14k@4:55 Wore new pair of Nimbus, looking at maybe using these for Marathon

Wed 8k incl 6k@4:23 pace, bit slower than tempo but quicker than marathon pace.

Thurs 8k500m@4:58 Recovery run

Fri 5k500m incl 3k@4:19 Was intending on doing more but just wasn't in the zone so decided to give up. Had deep tissue massage in the afternoon which relieved some of the back tension I had had and good workout on the legs especially the hammy and the itb's, jeez that hurts.

Sat 13k on hilly course incl 8k@4.15 tempo pace. Was quite warm and struggled with the pace on the hills. Overall quite happy though

Sun 30.1k@4.59 Just wanted that last 30k run. Stopped a few times to give the hamstring a stretch as was quite tender from yesterday arvo's tempo session.

Anyway, pretty happy with week and will now look at doing a lower week this week as concentration now turns to taper and speedier sessions.

Bit of a struggle

After a great week 2 weeks ago, the last couple of weeks have not lived up to goals and have been low on the km's where the long runs have been cut short.

Week ended 16th Mar 33k@4:54
Came down with virus Mon arvo leaving me with a virus that included vommiting,headaches and cold , had 4 days off of work.

Sat 8k@4:51 Easy run to see how I was feeling after illness
Sun 25k@4:55 Mid long run with Craig

Week ended 23rd Mar 68.5k@4:44
Happy with week in general where a couple of runs were done at Marathon pace. Unfortunately was hoping to do a long run of 35k, however dodgey tummy I think from pizza at footy made running quite uncomfortable and only 22k in total. Had a bit of a scare with the groin during the week and a trip to the physio and some ultrasound has assisted there. Hamstring still suss on the longer runs, will have physio work on this on Tues when I'm there as well as the groin and have a deep tissue massage scheduled for Fri

Wed 7k@4:45
Thurs am 11.25k@4:32 Marathon pace
Thurs pm 7.25k@4:51
Fri pm 12.75k@4:42 Last 7k run at Marathon Pace
Sat pm 8.25k@4:41
Sun am 22k@4:50 Mid long run with Craig

Where that leaves me I'm not sure, I was hoping to have done a few more 30+k runs, have done 4, have I done enough and should I do another one? Also my first 10 weeks of my marathon plan had me averaging in the mid 80's, the last 7 weeks have been only 70 so have I pushed myself too hard and now suffering?

From a positive perspective, the average pace and k's stack up well with previous attempts at the Marathon.



Number of long runs in last 17 weeks
30k+ 4
25-29k 6
20-25k 13

Forerunner died

Unfortunately the forerunner died on Tues and have ordered a new one, at least it occurred well before Canberra so new one should arrive soon. Was tempted to order the 405 but was concerned about any time delays so have opted again for the 205 which did a great job.



Went to the physio on Fri who has given me a new exercise for my hamstring, have a strain and also diagnosed me with medial compartment syndrome hence why the shins have been sore. Received a massage whilst there and am looking at booking in a couple of deep tissue massages over the next few weeks



Week in summary 96.5k@4.43



Very happy with the week in general, the plan was to do some Intervals but due to the hammie, decided against these and concentrated more on the marathon pace runs.



Mon 10k@4.48

Tues 12k@4.49

Thurs 20k@4.42 Incl Hills and very humid

Fri am 5k@4.51 Recovery type run

pm 8k@4.28 Marathon Pace

Sat pm 8.5k@4.49 Recovery

Sun pm 33k@4.41 Long run done with Craig incl warmup and cooldown of 4k each. 25k run at Marathon Pace, right hamstring a bit tender so some stretching done. Pretty happy with run in general as we just seemed to ease into that pace and then kept it there.



Next weeks plan is to do similar k's with longer run being slower and working on strengthening the hamstring

Slack in the mornings, means running in heat

A combination of early starts and just being plain slack meant that all my runs were done in the afternoons and a lot in the heat of the day. I hate this time of the year for Daylight saving. Shins have still been playing up as has left groin and right hammy, although the latter two have been more sore when lazing around as opposed to during runs

Overall happy with the week, even though the k's were down, long run was out and a combination of marathon pace and tempo were run instead.

Week in Summary 71k Avg Pace 4m48s

Tues 15k500m@4m55s Shins were extremely sore and I stopped at 3k for a while before continuing, the grass certainly made things easier and the run got quicker as time progressed .

Wed 8k500m@4m48s Included hills in the heat, went through whole bottle of powerade in that time.

Thurs 6k@4m58s Recovery run on the flat, very very hot, once again went through whole bottle of powerade.

Fri 12k700m@4m43s Run at lunchtime and the aim was to do 15min efforts with pace increasing on each one. Took a a break between efforts, so times are a lot better than if done as a continuous run.
3.05k@4m57s
3.12k@4m49s
3.22k@4m41s
3.3k@4m33s

Sat 10k800m@4m51s Fairly flat run although did incl a couple of hills, pace increased as time progressed

Sun 10k@4m21s Run on hilly course- Combination of marathon pace and tempo run, reason for this run being that I'm unlikely to do any races before Canberra and doing some quicker stuff was a good substitute. Quick break between each set and felt really great throughout and afterwards
4k@4m30s
4k@4m10s
2k@4m25s

Hope to up the ante with the k's this week as the temp becomes more normal, hopefully some intervals as well as a half marathon run at marathon pace run on flat course will be done.

Record week

Did my most ever kms in a week this week as a result of there being some cooler weather and a less hectic week at work. Shins were very sore Sat but they managed to hold up nicely for long run Sun, maybe the Voltaren Gel worked well there.

Summary 107k @ 4.52

Tues : Hilly run 10k550m@4.42
Wed: Semi Long Run 22k@4.55
Thurs: Recovery run: 6k450m@5.16
Fri am: Warm up for tempo 3k700m@5.06
Tempo Run 11k300m@4.22
Cooldown 3k@4.58
pm: 7k@4.49
Sat: Recovery run 8k@5.06
Sun: Long run 35k@4.54

The tempo run was great to do Fri, pace was constant throughout, although did do the last km in 3.55 just to finish well, run was quite tough though as I had a bit of a stitch from about the 5k mark but managed to run through it nicely, nice little confidence booster.

Long run with Craig felt pretty good, although right hammy did tighten and as a precaution didn't run the Hale Road Hill. Finished at 35k due to time constraints but felt as though I could have continued for a bit longer.

Lets hope this is a sign of things to come and the next few weeks can be similar k's. Ready now to take on the Race Preparation Cycle which includes some VO2 max sessions.

Hill training

Unfortunately put swiss army knife through my thumb on Sun night and as a result went to Doctor on Monday and ended up having a couple of stitches. Result was that I needed to stop running for a few days to aid in keeping the blood pressure down. Hopefully stitches will come out tomorrow.

Ended up doing just over 55k which was less than the grand plans I was hoping for but instead managed to get in some hill training whilst doing at marathon pace, 7k and 10k efforts. Also manged a 17k run which included 6*600m at 5k pace with 90 sec recovery jogs as well as another 17k on hilly course.

Need to ramp up the training again to the 90k+ mark, thinking of either doing a longer tempo run on Fri or may use Point Walter 16k race as a tempo run, would want to do under 1h10m if I go down that path.

Lower K's but good finish to the week

Unfortunately due to longer work hours and me being a bit slack was unable to run early on during the week and the weather Thursday(being a wuss) meant my first run was on Friday. Did a quick interval session on the exercise bike Thurs.

Trace has decided to meet up with me in Canberra so that has me pumped up a bit at the moment and hopefully she can inspire me to reach my goal. It was great her being there at the finish for Sydney

Had a Physio session Friday for some massaging on the calves, also went to podiatrist about outside heel wear, not much can be done there. Shins have been quite sore recently and Podiatrist mentioned that going to Kayanos may assist there so will just see how we go as I really like the Nimbus and have been doing my long runs in these.

Week in Summary 62.1k @ 4:49.

Fri 20k@4.47 Medium long run that was interrupted a few times due to work phoning the mobile. Finished with last couple of k's in 4.20's. Was quite tough in patches running into a strong wind

Sat 10k@5.08 Recovery type run in Kayanos and I'm hoping that this may have broke through the mental barrier as I intentionally ran laps of the oval(18) with the ipod, fingers crossed there.

Sun am 21k100m@4.33 Marathon pace run with Craig, felt really comfortable and finished strongly. This run was a real confidence booster and hopefully gets me back into the groove. Unfortunately Craig hurt his achilles, fingers crossed it is just a niggle and he is back up and running in a couple of days.

Sun pm 11k@5.10 Recovery type run but on a hilly course in 33-34 deg temp. Other than legs being slightly sore from this mornings session, good run.

Hope to do some decent k's this week and think I'll flag Matilda Bay 10k to concentrate on the longer stuff but will make final decision later on in the week. Lets hope I'm now back on track

Average Week

Week in Summary 90.55k @4.57

Funny that I now consider this as being an average week as a week like this a few months ago, I would have been ecstatic.

Still struggling with the monotony and the mental side at the moment and give in too easily and all of a sudden become lazy and make excuses and stop. Classic examples were my tempo session cut short and long run today after parting ways with Craig when I'm on my own where I just couldn't be bothered anymore. The legs and body were feeling great, I just don't understand.

On a positive note, 7 of the last 9 weeks have been 90k+ and Canberra will have plenty of runners so I won't be on my own and hopefully won't give in. Also tried the High 5 drink which will be used at Canberra and quite enjoyed the taste as well using gel for long run.

Mon am 8k250m@5.27 Recovery run, legs especially shins very sore from yesterday.
Tues am 10k @4.46 Easy run
Wed am 10k250m@4.47 Easy run
Thu pm 3k50m@4.55 Shins very sore and quite hot in the arvo, so cut run short
Fri am 13k500m@4.37 incl 3*2.5k tempos at 4.20 pace,short break in between
pm 8k@5.06 Recovery run in 34 deg
Sat pm 8k500m@4.58 Easy run in 35 deg
Sun am 29k@5.01 Long run with Craig

Next week I hope to increase the km's and won't be doing any tempo work during the working week. Would love to try and get a mid long run mid week in and hope to do a 25k run next Sun with 20k@ Marathon Pace. Also have a Podiatrist and Physio sessions booked in.

Congrats to Craig for reaching the 100k mark this week.

Better week

This week was able to increase the k's, however did not get to the 100k's as planned due to not getting up early enough on a couple of occasions and as a result running in 33-35 deg which cut the distance I ran. Struggled a bit on those days I stopped on a few occasions and took it easy and drank plenty.

Week in summary 94k 7h36m Avg Pace 4:51

Tues am 10k250m @4:26 incl 8.25k @ 4:20 which is slightly slower than threshold pace. Felt quite comfortable at that pace which incl some small hills.

Wed am 13k @ 4:58 General type of run
pm 7k @5:07 Recovery

Thurs pm 6k520m @4:59 run in 35 deg and struggled stopping a few times as I wrestled with my mind

Fri pm 11k250m @ 4:52 run in 33 deg and once again struggled with the heat mentally more than physically. Took a gel at 10k which enabled me to finish strongly.

Sat am 13k @ 4:51 incl 8*250m pickups run at threshold to interval pace. Finished with last 3.75k run at 4:30 pace (hopefully marathon pace).

Sun am 33k @4.55 Tough run with Craig incl hills through Bold Park and Hale Road. Tackled the hills pretty hard through Bold Park which made it tougher later on. Was happy to finish the last few k on my own without dropping the pace and feel as though it was good to do a run like this and simulate being quite tired . Definitely the toughest long run I've done in a while and even had a quick nap afterwards which is something I haven't done in a while.

Week ahead will be similar in overall structure with hopefully a 100+ k a week. Long run to be slower and slight increase in no of k's run at approx threshold pace.

Just what the doctor ordered

Unfortunately ended up with a virus that kept me in bed from Sun night to Thurs and as a result running for the week was limited to Fri,Sat and Sun. Had full intentions of doing long run with Craig on Sunday am but ended up watching the tennis as I couldn't sleep and got to bed really late, sorry Craig and ended up doing pm run instead.

Going through my records for Sydney I also noticed that the 7th week of the programme was when I struggled and was very lethargic, recovered and then did a great week after that.

Still having excess wear on the outside left heel and the Glycerines are nearly worn completely out at less than 250k's, Nimbus are up to 380 with a little bit of wear left. May go to a shoesmith and see whether they can build the heel, have tried shoe goo previously and not a big fan. Will visit podiatrist again in the next few weeks and show results, last time gave us some exercises to do to try and assist but still obviously not changing my foot strike which has changed since orthotics buildup. Hopefully they can assist as going through shoes very quickly, although at least not so many injuries.

From a positive note, most of the niggles have disappeared and as it was going to be a recovery week, just meant that the k's were a bit lower than I was anticipating. Felt refreshed on my Sun run and the motivation that was waning appears to be back.

Week in Summary 41k 3h13m11s Avg 4.42

Fri 12k340m 1hr 4.52 Hills
Sat 12k660m 58m incl 7k@4.20, bit slower than tempo pace
Sun 16k 1h15m11s Progression Style run with 4k splits being 19:02,19:18,18:44,18:07

Next week I hope to do 100k+ incl some tempo running, long run Sun am. Going to be a challenge trying to do all running in the am which means very early mornings.

Bit of a struggle this week

Struggled a bit this week due to extremely sore achilles that occurred at end of medium long run on Wed and has been sore since , maybe due to do tempo the day before and as a result popping quite a few Nurofen Plus and times have been a bit slower this week.

Managed to complete nearly the no of k's I wanted, thanks to Craig and long run with him this morning, thanks for inspiring us to continue as I'm sure if I had have gone solo today, wouldn't have gone close to no of k's I did. Limping quite badly at the moment but am due for a recovery week this week, perfect timing so hopefully that and maybe a physio session will help.

Last 6 weeks running has been 90k,75k,93k,90k,101k and this week of 100k which is by far the most no of k's I have run in a 6 week period.

Starting to learn the importance of the recovery runs and hopefully will slow them down further and get some more quality into some of the other runs I'm doing which will be the focus over the next few weeks.

Week in Summary 100k 8h19m Avg Pace 4:59

Tues pm - 14k500m 68m incl tempo run of 7.2k in 30m12s(4.12 pace). Was only going to do 6.5k tempo but because I stopped a couple of times, still a disciplinary issue(mental) I increased the distance.

Wed pm- 22k400m 1h50m28s Found another route which was quite good for medium long run and happy with pace, unfortunately hurt achilles near end and foot still quite sore from previous week

Thurs am 8k350m 44m30s Recovery run and very painful one at that. Dragged myself through the k's. Would have liked to have done Thurs pm but off to Mandurah

Fri pm 13k250m 1h6m15s Was meant to do 19k but combination of still being very sore and being on holidays with Trace meant run was cut short.

Sat am 10k500m 51m43s Another recovery type run.

Sun am 31k 2h37m48s Long run with Craig, today. Scheduled to do 32k today but car was right at 31k and was very sore in the last 6k's so decided a good time to stop. Couldn't have run much quicker today so hopefully I didn't hold Craig up too much .

Schedule I've been following reasonably closely has next week as a 88k recovery week but will probably reduce that to around 70-75k. Was tempted to do Christchurch next Sunday but think I may be best suited to doing a medium long run instead. All the best to Henry should he decide to do Christchurch.

Mental toughness required for those longer mid week runs

Have been struggling a bit with the longer midweek runs ie all of a sudden decide I can't be bothered again more, stop for a bit and then start up again and thus begins a vicious cycle. Not sure whether it is because of the heat, running the same route ie Yokine Reseve Route (3.5km) a no of times, combination or just being plain lazy. Something I need to work on that's for sure.

On a positive note, however was able to run even with foot playing up by popping some nurofen plus a couple of hours before each run and really enjoyed the long run Sun am although the right hammy did tighten up near the end. Keeping fairly well to schedule at present whilst on holidays, will be interesting to see when I go back to work how I'll go.

Week in Summary: 101k 8h19m Avg Pace 4m56s
Tues 16k 1h15m12s
Wed 6k 31m30s
Thu 19k 1h34m22s
Fri 23k 1h54m54s
Sat 8k 40m46s
Sun 29k 2h22m30s

If everything goes to plan the week coming up should be fairly similar k's although will be hoping to do some tempo work and increase my long run to 32k