Creaky 5km

Wednesday, August 30, 2006
5km | Easy Gee a guy does a long run on the weekend and half of you have got me down for a Marathon. ;-p Sorry to disappoint kids. There will be no marathon in the short term in these legs. In fact I reckon that my fellow Bloggers Ellie, Lulu and Jen will all run their first marathons before I do. Last night I ventured out for a late night 5km around the Junction. That pesky calf thing came back again. The bugger seems to come and go for no particular reason. I'm thinking that I might have to go and see Larry the Physio or even try that acupuncture lady in the Hunter Connection that everyone raves about. In the mean time I can control it with anti-inflammatories so I will be able to race at Striders on Saturday without too many dramas. It won't slow me down none. Looking forward to it too as for one reason or another I have never got to race at North Head. I hear its a PB course. We'll have to wait and see about that. Mood: --->

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Willy envy ?

Saturday, August 26, 2006
25km | LSD | 2:15 Yes Willy envy. Willy to Billy that is. ;-p So with everyone out running in the bush and me being most envious, I decided that I would do my normal beach run down to Coogee and then along the Coastal Walk though Clovelly, Bronte, Glamourama and then Bondi. Then I ran down Curlewis Street to Rose Bay, along O'Sullivan Road to New South Head Road into the City. A few hard lefts around the Museum had me running back towards home along Oxford Street. I felt great throughout the run. Along the beaches part was up and down stairs and steep paths over headlands. I took it easy through there and when I got to Bondi Beach, I ramped it up and ran at a moderate pace into the City and return. Apart from running out of water in my fuel belt at Kings Cross, I ran strong and felt zero niggles for the whole journey. No idea why or how I felt so great. Perhaps all that grog I had out on Friday night had something to do with it ? Is bourbon an anti-inflammatory maybe ? You know what ? This was the furthest I have ever run. Yup I have never ran further than a 1/2M distance. The great thing is that I had a bit left in the tank and could have easily stretched it out to 30km today. Actually, that niggle that kept me out of the CR5kmC, was resolved with ice and stretching. I am happy to say that I have no niggles - today. Mood: --->

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Overdue update

Friday, August 25, 2006
Tuesday 22 August, 2006 Went out for my scheduled 5km Easy run but lasted only 10 mins due to a dodgy airways thing. The shortness of breath I encounted scared me and I was gasping for air. OK maybe not that bad but it was enough for me to walk home. Just a bug I think. Wednesday 23rd August, 2006 10km | Easy I ran at nanna pace down to Bondi Beach and back. The airways thing felt much better and I ran comfortably for the entire run. All good. No niggles. Thursday 24th August, 2006 5km | Easy A quick run around the Junction in prepration for the CR5KMC on Saturday was in order. I finished with a little niggle at the top of my calf and decided that short race might cause a bigger problem. So my debut will have to wait until another month.

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Easy like Sunday morning

Sunday, August 20, 2006
10km | Easy | grass I woke this morning a bit wonky after an afternoon/night of over indulgence with our neighbors. So with a dry mouth and a sore head I ventured out for a lap and a bit of Centennial Park. I ran at Nanna pace for most of the way and was able to increase it a tad after I found that my aches and pains from yesterday chose to stay away. Running past Mackay Oval I said g'day to CR Sparkie, Royworlds (?) and a bunch of others that I couldn't make out in the morning sun doing their Sweat thing. They all looked way too fit and spritely for my liking. How dare they be so bouncy and zippy on a Sunday morning ! ;-p Mood: --->

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Mojo: Lost then found

Saturday, August 19, 2006
7km | Easy | grass I headed out just after 6.00am this morning feeling on top of my game. The rest this week was good for the body and soul methinks. At first my ankles and left quad were tight and complained for a few KMs or two. So much so that I had to stop off at the out door gym in Queens Park for some stretching. I ran at Nanna pace for most of the time and happily watched each and every jogger pass me with ease. I will do the same Sunday morning only will aim to do two circuits with a total of 14kms. Mood: --->

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Fat Friday

Friday, August 18, 2006
Yawn. Done nothing all week. Probably even put on a kilo or so too. Mojo should return maybe Saturday, but I am not really missing her much right now to be honest. I have no niggles - today (der). Mood: --->

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C2S autopsy

Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Yes the results are out and I finished 2,308th in an official time of 64:39. A quick calculation has me finishing in the top 5% of the 53,000 odd entrants (yes I know that the vast majority of the punters walked the bloody thing ! Shhhhh !!!!). Better still my finishing time appears on page 1 with the winner and the rest of the greyhounds. Makes me feel like a fast runner anyway. ;) Yesterday my legs were on strike, however today they are feeling somewhat normal. I'm thinking that these long skins might actually work with recovery ! No running again today, but I might head out Wednesday for a little jog. No hurry really. Mood: --->

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C2S Pics

Monday, August 14, 2006
GoGirl & Podrunner Podrunner's nipples. Kit (& Monas in background) (l to r) Bluedog, Tesso & Redback Kit & Bernie (l to r) Cassig, Redback, Kit, Bernie & Tesso Looking backwards from the Start line. (l to r) FakePlasticTrees, Professor's finger & RunWolf (aka Spiderman). GoGirl & Blue Dog at the finish line. (l to r) Owl, Sparkie, Lulu, Nando, Lulu's nephew, O Runner, Papa Luigi & Digger. (l to r) Go Girl's arse, Papa Luigi, Superflake (standing) Johnny Dark, Rags, Blue Dog & Bernie

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2006 City to Surf

Sunday, August 13, 2006
64:36 | Race | PB I met CoolBlogger Blkbox & Will at Bondi Junction and we made our way to the start line were we met a constellation of CoolRunners. The 2.5 hour wait went quickly and soon we were off. The Tesso/Go Girl train didn't happen with everyone disappearing into the zillion strong crowd. Again my GPS couldn't find itself a satellite, so I was pretty much in the dark as far as pace was concerned. I ran to Double Bay pretty conservatively and was lucky enough to catch my wife and 2 kids at Manning Road for a quick hi-5. That was really cool. It was frustrating because I just couldn't find a KM marker. Throughout that time I was asking anyone who looked like they had a fancy gadget on their wrist how far we had gone and at what pace we were traveling ! Thankfully I found a KM marker at 6km and saw that I was pretty much on target for a 65:XX finish. I cruised up Heartbreak Hill pretty comfortably but found the next few KMs through Dover Heights a real challenge. I reached the 10km marker in 46:45 which was OK, as I knew that there were only a few hills to go together with lots of downhill bits and flats. My splits were: 26:56 6km 33:13 (6:17) 7km HBH 37:50 (4:36) 8km 41:54 (4:04) 9km 46:45 (4:50) 10km 51:54 (5:08) 11km 56:20 (4:26) 12km 59:41 (3:21) 13km wooshka ! 64:36 (4:55) 14km (1.1km maybe ?) Yes it was PB and based on my 2004 run I managed to slice a tad under 30 minutes of that 94:11 result. LOL. I'm a bit tired now and am about to take the family out for pizza and then I will crawl into bed for a looong sleep (in my skins). Mood: --->

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C2S Eve

Saturday, August 12, 2006
5km | Easy Week 11 of 11 I ran last night a quickish spin around the block as my last hit out before Sunday. I ran feeling strong and full of energy. I did notice a few little twinges here and there, but that will be resolved with a voltaren at race start with breakfast. Not sure if the sub 65 goal is realistic but I will make mental note of the 4:38/km pace required try and stay under it as best I can. One thing for sure is that I aim to make it hurt and don't intend to go down without a fight. After missing last year, I can honestly say that I have never been more excited about a race. Can't wait ! Mood: --->

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Dumbo

Friday, August 11, 2006
Week 11 of 11 I have been trying to work out why my legs have been feeling heavy of late. Recovery seems to be slower than usual. Then the penny drops whilst I am updating my Longrun spreadsheet. My mileage for July has spiked most irresponsibly. What happened to the ten percent rule Marty !!!! Yes, damn lucky that I don't have another injury frankly. Will aim to be more aware of mileage in the future. ================================ FAT FRIDAY ! Weight @ 01/01/06: 83.0kg Weight last week: 75.8kg Weight this week: 75.7kg Comment: Yay ! A whole 100gms ! ================================ Mood: --->

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Full Moon

Wednesday, August 09, 2006
5km | Easy Week 11 of 11 I'm spending my time this week taking it easy. Trying to put good food inside my body and plenty of fluids daily. Tonight I went for a slowish run through Bondi Junction. I was a bit stiff in the legs for a while, but they seemed to iron themselves out after a Km or two. Nothing much else to report apart from that I bought the long Skins I have been promising myself, to assist in my recovery dramas. I have been wandering around the house in them all week looking like a very average version of Rudolph Nureyev. I have no niggles - today. Mood: --->

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Argh ! No more hills !

Monday, August 07, 2006
11km | Recovery Week 11 of 11 I have blogged time and time again that I don't recover as well as I should. On the morning where a bunch of CRs were running through the Royal National Park, I was walking down stairs sideways. Yeah damn envious. So my goal after the C2S is to sort out my body so that my recovery rate is on par with the rest of the running nation rather than me doing my impersonation of John Wayne after a 6 day ride. I recall having a winge to Larry the Physio last year about it and he suggested me jumping into a cold bath after a race or hard session. Even add ice to the water he said. Yeah right. You see the footballers do it all the time to fast track recovery I guess. I might have to try that (brrr) , buy those long skins that I have promised myself for ages and google warm down runs and post race stretching. Gotta try something as whatever I am doing is not working. By lunchtime Sunday my DOMS had calmed down with the aid of Voltaren Rapid and the odd ice pack, so I decided to head out for my last hilly hitout before next Sunday. McMillan says that my recovery runs should be at 6:10/km and I had no problem adhering to that pace ! I ran down through Randwick to Coogee Beach and then north along the coastal track. My quads,calves, tib-ants and other assorted muscles were killing me along the way. By the time I got down to Bronte a rational voice told me not to trash myself a week out from an important race, so I took a detour home rather than continuing to Bondi. That detour then presented a loooong climb back up from the beach to Charing Cross, so needless to say I was pretty pleased to arrive home shortly after that. So that's it for hills this week. No more. Zip. Zero. Tuesday I will do a girly flat 5km and repeat that on Thursday. Hopefully that will leave me fresh and zippy for Sunday. I have no niggles - today. Mood: --->

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Sydney Striders 10km - Lane Cove

Saturday, August 05, 2006
10km | Race | 44:04 PB Week 10 of 11 Gee that was unexpected ! After a really bad nights sleep I was feeling tired and very crappy. I drove out to Lane Cove thinking that I will aim to better my February race time of 47:31 only. That at least would give me some confidence leading into the C2S next week. I started at the gun with Spud's 45 minute train, but quickly lost him into the distance. I think I caught him about the 1km mark and ran comfortably behind him for the km or two. I was feeling pretty good and thought that I may be able to actually give a sub 45 a shot if I can get to the turn around at the 5.5km mark in a decent time. Then a downhill section gave me the opportunity to move ahead so I put on a bit of a surge and was able to hold that rhythm and move ahead of the 45 group by about 30 seconds I think by the time I hit the halfway mark. From there I knew that I only had one or two mini hills home and concentrated on running any rises smoothly and leaning forward on the downhills. I found the return leg pretty easy and reckon that I had a fair bit left in the tank. "Maybe you need to start running some 1km intervals to teach yourself to run harder and make it hurt !" - is what a wise old Strider said to me on my warm down jog. Hmmm point noted. My Splits were: 24:04 at 5.5km drink station 19:59 at 10km Time by my watch was 44:04 which gave me a 3:26 course PB and an even better 1:12 10km PB ! Happy days ! Mood: --->

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Overdue update.

Friday, August 04, 2006
Friday 4th August Week 10 of 11 ================================ FAT FRIDAY ! Weight @ 01/01/06: 83.0kg Weight last week: 75.5kg Weight this week: 75.8kg Comment: Huh ? Must have been that mud cake I glanced at in the shop window yesterday. ================================ Mood: ---> Thursday 3rd August Week 10 of 11 6/7km | Hill Reps Having missed my mid-week secret training long-run, I contemplated doing it last night but concluded that I lacked the mojo to do it and it was probably too close to Striders on Saturday for my old bones to cope. So I headed across the park t Darley Road. I did 8 reps, untimed because I forgot my watch. I did OK. Took it easy and concentrated on form. I have no niggles - today. Mood: ---> Wednesday 2nd August Week 10 of 11 I had a secret training run scheduled however the Bride announced when I got home that she was off to Jackson's School for a meeting and I was accordingly on baby sitting duties. I'll take that as fate and be happy that I avoided that out of control semi-trailer that would have cleaned me up half way up Heartbreak Hill. Mood: ---> Tuesday 1st August 7km | easy Week 10 of 11 As usual I was a bit sore after my Sunday race. Yeah no amount of stretching seems to avoid the DOMS. I saw Ellie mentioned in her blog the other day cool down and I thought - interesting concept. I must look into that. I also thought I might buy myself a pair of long SKINS and wear them around the house all day for recovery. That seems to be the go. I'll probably duck out to Rebel this morning and buy a pair. Anyway the run was uneventful and boring. I had no niggles that day. Mood: --->

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