Sunday, March 29, 2009

Building up

Spent the week working in Kalgoorlie and enjoyed running with one of my work colleagues most days. Legs feeling really good, although normal piriformis pain in long run.


Week in Summary 73.3k@4:34

Mon pm 10.25k@4:35 5 laps of course around hotel.

Tues pm Intervals 10.55k including 3k@4:33 warmup, 3.5k@4:57 cooldown.
9*300m with 150m recovery jogs, no rest. All up 4.05k@3:49. Run at Oval on quite thick grass which made running a little difficult,happy with effort in warm conditions. 300's run in 1min, 150's all in approx 40 sec. Very impressed with effort from Boyd who managed 8 of the 300's with his rest after rep 5. He really enjoyed the session and may start coming down to Perry Lakes Intervals.

Wed pm 6.55k@4:34 30 minute run after work.
Upper Body session with resistance bands and push ups.

Thurs pm 10k@4:29 Ran with Boyd and included a couple of Marathon pace km's with last km run at 4:00.

Sat pm 4.63k@4:19 20 minute run.

Sun am 31.2k@4:41 Long run with Craig. Very happy with first long run in a number of weeks, first 16km run in 4:32, slowed down to 4:50's for the last few km due to running in the wind and feeling tight in the hip and piriformis. Great catching up with Craig who is running extremely well and looks set for Canberra. Aerobically felt great and lower legs were great, very encouraging signs.

Next week will push up the km's a bit and hope to do WAMC Intervals Tuesday with a tempo session thrown in Friday and long run Sunday

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Watch out Arnie

Included some weights in my program this week, so am all pumped up and thinking of going in some body building comps.

Now being serious, was extremely happy with my running this week and believe that things have turned the corner, not only from the leg soreness but also the mental side, although I'm sure they go hand in hand. The km's weren't high but the quality of a couple of the runs was very pleasing.

Week in Summary 50.7k@4:28

Mon am 5k@4:40 Easy type run
pm upper body weights and abs

Tues am 10k@4:37 Canberra 2008 Pace
pm leg weights and boxing

Thurs pm 14.07k@4:22 incl 2k warmup@4:28,8k mp@4:15,4.07k cooldown @4:35
Very happy with this session that included a quicker pace warmup and then marathon pace on a undulating course. Found the pace a lot easier than I was expecting and was pretty chuffed at the end of the session that included a quicker pace cooldown as well.

Fri am 11.3k@4:39 Easy type run

Sun am 10.33k@4:07 incl 3k warmup @4:15, 5k@3:49 and 2.33k@4:37
Ran in my 2130's I bought yesterday which felt great. Just felt in the zone today and so decided to push myself a bit on this one. Ran the first 3k@marathon pace and then with no break ran my quickest ever training run of 5k in 19.05 on a slightly undulating course, finished up with 2.33k cooldown. Could of pushed the 5k a bit quicker but once again very happy.

Congrats to Epi on a huge HM PB, looks good for Canberra.

It seems as though all the work on the leg is starting to pay off as well as wearing the long skins after running, and the bonus is I haven't lost any speed at all. Much happier running in the Supernova's and 2130's so far, so will stick with these and my old control's for shorter runs. Hoping to add a long run into my program on Sunday of this week as I start to increase the km's.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Massive week

After pulling out of Canberra, I now have an airline voucher credit to use before the end of the year, so may do the Sydney or Melb Marathons later in the year, depends on what happens re Perth City to Surf Marathon and whether I do or not.

Week in Summary 15.55k@4:35

Had a nasty cold early in the week that stopped me from considering running which was a blessing as I may have been tempted to go for a run even though I was supposed to rest(I'm not a good patient). Still lingering at the moment but def on the improve.

Sat 10.55k @4:34 Ran in my Adidas Supernova Sequences and ran a lot quicker than I planned, was very happy with how the legs felt, still a bit of pain in the achilles and shin but certainly a lot better. Have decided not to run in the cursed pair of Adistar Control which I think caused the injury to start off with.

Sun 5k@4:35 Quick run on the grass whilst Trace ran around Yokine Reserve. Legs felt pretty good again,interestingly the left leg is more sore than the right, which was the one causing me most grief before, mixed the pace up a bit incl some at MP and quicker.


Aiming to run a bit more this week, I know it's hard to believe that I could and may even be tempted to do Darlington Half if things go well, probably wishful thinking. If I do run it,will treat it as a long run and aim to do around 1.40, so certainly not trying to race.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Out of Canberra

Pulled out of Canberra after going to the Podiatrist yesterday and being advised to ease right back. I have some issues with my Extensor Digitorum Longus(hopefully spelt right) which is inflamed and very tight and the use of acupuncture produced a number of very decent spasms, also got some nice ones out of the calves.

The end result is that it is causing my feet to slap,especially the right one and the gait analysis on treadmill was awful. This then puts a lot of extra strain on the achilles and shins as a result of the gait change to accommodate. Will continue to go along to get needling once or twice a week and been given some exercises to do to assist.

I've been very lucky over the last couple of years with injuries, so this is a minor setback . I can now for the next few weeks, either rest completely or go out when I want and just take it easy and get back to enjoying running. Maybe I'll even take up Henry on his offer to go swimming and get some video analysis of the stroke, that is if they can do that after swimming about 2 metres :).

Looking forward to reading the guys blogs leading up to and including their respective Marathons and seeing some significant pb's, especially from Epi. My focus will now turn to Perth which is great as Trace will now be there to see me do sub 3.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Visit to the Podiatrist

Been in a fair bit of pain this week as the injury flared up again, seems to start getting better around the 5-6k mark but its tough getting to that point. Still been taking the Nurofen and applying Volatern a number of times each day and I know this needs to stop pretty soon as I've been taking for a number of weeks. Also know rest is best but Canberra isn't far away,still thinking positive.

Anyway booked in for a quick visit to the Podiatrist who taped up the feet and advised that the orthotics were shot, so he's quickly getting them fixed. Got another session booked Friday where he can have a good look at everything and do some massaging before my long Cliff Young shuffle on Saturday.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Progress Continues

Just as a batsman, sometimes struggles towards the ton, the same applied to me this week with a battle in the 70's,80's and 90's. Great thing is the legs were pretty good for the week.

Week in Summary 102.22k@4:44

Mon am Recovery run 8k@5:00

Tues am Easy run in leadup to Intervals 7k@4:50

Tues pm Intervals 8.7k all up incl warmup of 2.1k@4:45,cooldown of 3k@5:00
Fairly easy session of only 3.6k in total, which was fantastic as I didn't want to push it to hard with leg, leg was quite sore early on but improved the further the session went on. Ran comfortably within myself and the session comprised 3.6k@3:20.

Can't remember exactly the recoveries but didn't take the 30 sec recovery between the 200's.
800m 168 sec
400 79 sec
400 75 sec
600 122 sec
600 122 sec
400 79 sec
200 36 sec
200 38 sec

Wed pm Easy 8.1k@4:56

Thurs No run, migraine in the arvo from back and shoulder.

Fri am :Massage that did wonders to the back,shoulder and legs.

11am Tempo Style run 12k@4:14 incl 2k warmup @4:24, 4k@3:58,1k@4:45,2k@3:54 and then cooldown of 3k@4:32. Pretty happy with run, although I know the need to increase the length of the harder efforts, pretty quick warmup and cooldown.

3pm run 9k@4:41 Bit quicker than planned considering the break but felt pretty good.

Sat 7am run : 7.3k@5:00 Struggled a bit with this one, came down from the high of yesterdays run and legs a bit sore.

6pm run : 7.4k@4:53 Felt a lot better than this mornings run and ran in the rain, which got a bit heavy at times, very enjoyable run.


Sun 7am run :27.6k@4:49 Humid morning with temps ranging from 24-27.5 deg with humidity bewteen 54 and 65. Ran around the river with Craig but just really struggled the whole way, the breathing felt out of whack but the legs felt good. Craig took off and did some impressive bursts at Marathon pace and then we met back at the cars where we grabbed another drink and then ran the last 3k together. Stopped and took about a 200m walk break at the 21k mark and was very happy when finished, need to take some TUP pills (Toughen Up Princess).

4 pm run 6.65k@4:53 Hot afternoon with temp ranging at 32 deg with humidity at 45.Wanted to get in some extra km's as a result of this mornings run and felt better than I did this morning. Ran with the skins ice top on and cap, still sweated like a pig but happy with how I'm feeling.

So overall pretty happy with the week as there have been a lot of positives but still probably a couple of weeks away from getting back to pre injury form. The next couple of weeks focus is turning the double runs per day into one longer run, I think this will do me the world of good from an endurance perspective. There will also be Intervals on Tuesdays and some running done at Marathon Pace.