Long slow run. Met up with the guys around 7:30 am. Kicked off at very leisurely pace before entering some national park. We went on dirt trails, through paddocks and even had to negotiate a barb wire fence. Apparently at the highest point, we were 250 feet in elevation from our hotel
Saw some great views of the valley and of eastern Bendigo before scaring a mob of kangaroos and we made our way back to the hotel. As I was going for 100 minutes, I had to add a little extra to my run
After checking out and paying for our minibar bill, pretty much everything in it, we had egg and bacon burgers by Lake Weeroona, something of a Coburg tradition
Kylie took the scenic route home, via McIvor Highway, and we were home at 2:30 pm
Rest day tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 20 kilometres
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, 28 June 2008
AV Harcourt to Bendigo Relays
Had the longest leg (for my team that's 8.4 km), which is also one of the toughest. Has an awesome hill that rises 50 metres in elevation over 400 metres. That's at the 2.5 km mark and after that it's mostly downhill to the finish
Felt like once I had gotten over the hilly first part that I was striding out pretty well and generating a bit of pace. It was about a kilometre out from the finish that I started to drop off a bit and th guy that had been tailing me for about four kilometres started to pull ahead
In the end, 29:55 was the official time which was ten seconds quicker than last year. And it was the 20th fastest time for the blokes overall on that leg. All good
Afterwards I went around the various stage finishes with Sam King (Rohan's wife) and we had a little afternoon tea at the South Bendigo finish. Then off to the hotel where I looked after the children while Kylie kicked back in the spa
Dinner was good as the children generally behaved themselves, then I waited in the room for them to fall asleep, before heading around to Brian's room to kick on a bit. Kylie popped around at 11 pm to come get me and I got an attack of the drunken munchies, eating pringles and chocky bars
Long slow run with clubmates tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE : 8.5 kilometres including a little warm up
Had the longest leg (for my team that's 8.4 km), which is also one of the toughest. Has an awesome hill that rises 50 metres in elevation over 400 metres. That's at the 2.5 km mark and after that it's mostly downhill to the finish
Felt like once I had gotten over the hilly first part that I was striding out pretty well and generating a bit of pace. It was about a kilometre out from the finish that I started to drop off a bit and th guy that had been tailing me for about four kilometres started to pull ahead
In the end, 29:55 was the official time which was ten seconds quicker than last year. And it was the 20th fastest time for the blokes overall on that leg. All good
Afterwards I went around the various stage finishes with Sam King (Rohan's wife) and we had a little afternoon tea at the South Bendigo finish. Then off to the hotel where I looked after the children while Kylie kicked back in the spa
Dinner was good as the children generally behaved themselves, then I waited in the room for them to fall asleep, before heading around to Brian's room to kick on a bit. Kylie popped around at 11 pm to come get me and I got an attack of the drunken munchies, eating pringles and chocky bars
Long slow run with clubmates tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE : 8.5 kilometres including a little warm up
Friday, 27 June 2008
Rest day today ahead of big AV race tomorrow in Bendigo
Managed to sneak in a couple of pints at the pub before heading off home. bonus!
Managed to sneak in a couple of pints at the pub before heading off home. bonus!
Thursday, 26 June 2008
Training tonight at the track
Brian said he was giving us an "easy" session. This consisted of a five minute, four minute, and three minute effort with only a minute slow jog recovery between each. Then repeat after a break
I tried to do my first five minute stretch nice and comfortable and was getting up around 88 seconds to the lap. Each of my reps I did a little faster which was good
On the second set, the speed of the five minute effort was probably about the same as the middle section of my last set. And yet the pace still felt reasonably comfy
In the end, however, I really had to work that last three minute set. Still, it was a good hitout ahead of a rest day tomorrow and the AV Harcourt to Bendigo Long Road Relays on Saturday. Been running every day since Saturday, so that's six straight which is what I aiming for at the moment
Even scored a lift home with Liam Magee nice and early so I was able to see my bubbies before they went to sleep
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 8 kilometres
Brian said he was giving us an "easy" session. This consisted of a five minute, four minute, and three minute effort with only a minute slow jog recovery between each. Then repeat after a break
I tried to do my first five minute stretch nice and comfortable and was getting up around 88 seconds to the lap. Each of my reps I did a little faster which was good
On the second set, the speed of the five minute effort was probably about the same as the middle section of my last set. And yet the pace still felt reasonably comfy
In the end, however, I really had to work that last three minute set. Still, it was a good hitout ahead of a rest day tomorrow and the AV Harcourt to Bendigo Long Road Relays on Saturday. Been running every day since Saturday, so that's six straight which is what I aiming for at the moment
Even scored a lift home with Liam Magee nice and early so I was able to see my bubbies before they went to sleep
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 8 kilometres
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Easy 45 minute run into work today
Not much to report except that it wasn't as cold as the last few morning runs to work so that was nice
Was going to attend a committee meeting tonight but decided to give it a miss
TOTAL DISTANCE : about nine kilometres
Not much to report except that it wasn't as cold as the last few morning runs to work so that was nice
Was going to attend a committee meeting tonight but decided to give it a miss
TOTAL DISTANCE : about nine kilometres
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Training at Coburg today. Nice feeling!
Interesting session, and certainly a tough one. We started with 12 minutes of 200 metre efforts with just jog across infield recovery. I think I managed to rack up 9 or 10 of those. Then five minutes rest
We then had 12 minutes of 300 metre efforts with just 100 metre jog recovery. Think I got through eight of those. at least supercoach brian thought so
Then we had a 1500 metre effort. For that I did 4:50, which I wasn't overly displeased with
TOTAL DISTANCE : about seven kilometres
Interesting session, and certainly a tough one. We started with 12 minutes of 200 metre efforts with just jog across infield recovery. I think I managed to rack up 9 or 10 of those. Then five minutes rest
We then had 12 minutes of 300 metre efforts with just 100 metre jog recovery. Think I got through eight of those. at least supercoach brian thought so
Then we had a 1500 metre effort. For that I did 4:50, which I wasn't overly displeased with
TOTAL DISTANCE : about seven kilometres
Monday, 23 June 2008
Boy am I glad that I didn't go for a long run yesterday!
I have all my long run dates written on a slip of paper pinned to my wall at work. This week is easy week!! So there I was all geared up and ready to go for a 100 minute run and I only need to do a shorter one. Legend!! Bonus!!!
So, I just went for an hour run home. Took the Merri Creek bike path once I had gone down Park Street and up St Georges Road
Madeleine turned one today
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 11 kilometres
I have all my long run dates written on a slip of paper pinned to my wall at work. This week is easy week!! So there I was all geared up and ready to go for a 100 minute run and I only need to do a shorter one. Legend!! Bonus!!!
So, I just went for an hour run home. Took the Merri Creek bike path once I had gone down Park Street and up St Georges Road
Madeleine turned one today
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 11 kilometres
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Was supposed to go for a long run today, but it was after the children had gone to bed at 7:30 pm before I could get out. Given that I had a glass of wine with my tuna pasta bake dinner that I made and had with the children, I thought I better scale back the run a bit
So went out on the Merri Creek bike path and did a tempo session. Did 15 minutes easy, 10 minutes of medium surge, then 15 minutes easy back home again. The medium paced bit I was certainly working a bit but it wasn't the hard grind that it usually feels so must have done it right for a change
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 8.5 kilometres
So went out on the Merri Creek bike path and did a tempo session. Did 15 minutes easy, 10 minutes of medium surge, then 15 minutes easy back home again. The medium paced bit I was certainly working a bit but it wasn't the hard grind that it usually feels so must have done it right for a change
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 8.5 kilometres
Saturday, 21 June 2008
Today was the club's 8 km King & Queen of the Mountain Run at Humevale just outside of Whittlesea. In the end, I got to go on that run which I negotiated a compromise solution. We would only go if the two younger girls had a morning sleep
And in the end, it was a close run thing with leaving the house at 1:10 pm (race start 2:00 pm), having to rely on our memories to get us there along with the GPS in Kylie's phone. We eventually made it at 1:55 pm
Started off at what I thought was a comfortable pace. Pretty early on though I was throwing furtive glances at the watch. I figured it would take me about 32 minutes, the same time as last year. Stopped at the halfway point to have a wee, although it was as much to catch my breath
Could not get a consistent pace going. Had to keep slowing for periods to allow my heart rate to retreat a little, so the last three kilometres was more a surge, then slow, surge again kind of thing
Saw Jackie and Michael walking down from the direction of the finish. Asked them how far to the end, and they said "1 km". Doh! Finally crossed the line in 32:22, so I will take that as being the same as last year when you remove the wee time
The "prince" Josh Traine was about three minutes behind. Waited half an hour by which time a few people had finished and ran back down the mountain at a leisurely pace
TOTAL DISTANCE : 16 kilometres
And in the end, it was a close run thing with leaving the house at 1:10 pm (race start 2:00 pm), having to rely on our memories to get us there along with the GPS in Kylie's phone. We eventually made it at 1:55 pm
Started off at what I thought was a comfortable pace. Pretty early on though I was throwing furtive glances at the watch. I figured it would take me about 32 minutes, the same time as last year. Stopped at the halfway point to have a wee, although it was as much to catch my breath
Could not get a consistent pace going. Had to keep slowing for periods to allow my heart rate to retreat a little, so the last three kilometres was more a surge, then slow, surge again kind of thing
Saw Jackie and Michael walking down from the direction of the finish. Asked them how far to the end, and they said "1 km". Doh! Finally crossed the line in 32:22, so I will take that as being the same as last year when you remove the wee time
The "prince" Josh Traine was about three minutes behind. Waited half an hour by which time a few people had finished and ran back down the mountain at a leisurely pace
TOTAL DISTANCE : 16 kilometres
Friday, 20 June 2008
For the first time in a wee while, I have had two days off from running. We had a very quiet day with the children and I figured it wasn't going to hurt me too much by another day off. Already recorded plenty of km's this month
Kylie and I had a bit of discussion today about whether I was allowed to go on a club run tomorrow. The debate continues ...
Kylie and I had a bit of discussion today about whether I was allowed to go on a club run tomorrow. The debate continues ...
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Flight back today, so run not possible
The children were very good on the plane, although Amelia started to get itchy feet toward the end of it. It was 21 degrees when we left Brisbane and 12 degrees and raining when we landed in Melbourne
Hamish and my mother took the bus and train back to our place, while Amelia and I waited for Kylie to pick the car up from the long term car park
We had a frozen casserole in the freezer so we had that for dinner then put the children in their own beds. I would swear that the baby breathed an audible sigh of relief to be back on her nice soft mattress!
The children were very good on the plane, although Amelia started to get itchy feet toward the end of it. It was 21 degrees when we left Brisbane and 12 degrees and raining when we landed in Melbourne
Hamish and my mother took the bus and train back to our place, while Amelia and I waited for Kylie to pick the car up from the long term car park
We had a frozen casserole in the freezer so we had that for dinner then put the children in their own beds. I would swear that the baby breathed an audible sigh of relief to be back on her nice soft mattress!
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Recovery session today, so just 40 minutes on the walkway again up to Moffat Beach. My last holiday run ahead of our plane back tomorrow
Today was cold and drizzly but we headed out to Ettamogah Pub (evidently franchised now) for lunch. Very nice and reasonably priced
Next door is "Aussie World" and Hamish went on all the rides. Becasue we came out of school holidays and the inclement weather, we were the only ones in the park, which was a bit surreal. So we had the staff following us around to open the rides. Our own personal park valet service!
Back home after dropping my cousin Rosie off at the station and Kylie and I had a quiet night. The children had leftovers and were packed into bed nice and early
I folded some clothes then finally had an early night
TOTAL DISTANCE : about eight kilometres
Today was cold and drizzly but we headed out to Ettamogah Pub (evidently franchised now) for lunch. Very nice and reasonably priced
Next door is "Aussie World" and Hamish went on all the rides. Becasue we came out of school holidays and the inclement weather, we were the only ones in the park, which was a bit surreal. So we had the staff following us around to open the rides. Our own personal park valet service!
Back home after dropping my cousin Rosie off at the station and Kylie and I had a quiet night. The children had leftovers and were packed into bed nice and early
I folded some clothes then finally had an early night
TOTAL DISTANCE : about eight kilometres
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
A speed session today
Had to do five sets of three minute hard running with two minute slow jog recovery between each. A tough session and one I was glad to have out of the way by the end of it
Almost cleaned up an old guy on my way through as the walkway was pretty packed at that time of the morning, which was just before 9:00 am
We took the children to Underwater World today. Hamish was a bit ragged and he is feeling the effects of a whole week of no afternoon sleeps. A bit of an incident with him throwing a temper tantrum in the Mooloolabah Wharf, but other than that a pretty good day
We picked up some pizza, then headed around to my nana and jack's for tea
TOTAL DISTANCE : about seven kilometres including warm up and down
Had to do five sets of three minute hard running with two minute slow jog recovery between each. A tough session and one I was glad to have out of the way by the end of it
Almost cleaned up an old guy on my way through as the walkway was pretty packed at that time of the morning, which was just before 9:00 am
We took the children to Underwater World today. Hamish was a bit ragged and he is feeling the effects of a whole week of no afternoon sleeps. A bit of an incident with him throwing a temper tantrum in the Mooloolabah Wharf, but other than that a pretty good day
We picked up some pizza, then headed around to my nana and jack's for tea
TOTAL DISTANCE : about seven kilometres including warm up and down
Monday, 16 June 2008
Long run day today. Decided to head out on the walking paths up north before doubling back past our hotel and head on south
Pretty uneventful run although at the most northern point where I had to turn around and come back towards town, I did some beach running which was quite nice. Found some firm sand and it was great. That was at Moffat Beach
Back towards the hotel and I kept on southwards. Pretty soon the path ended, and I had to run on the street to keep going. Luckily, the footpaths soon gave way to more walkway type thoroughfares. Ran through some mangrove forest which was pretty cool and that was near the turnaround point at Golden Beach
All up 95 minutes and the last of my long runs for this four week cycle
Today I am staying home with the two girls who are going to have a quiet day with me, while Kylie takes Hamish to Australia Zoo for the day
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 19 kilometres
Pretty uneventful run although at the most northern point where I had to turn around and come back towards town, I did some beach running which was quite nice. Found some firm sand and it was great. That was at Moffat Beach
Back towards the hotel and I kept on southwards. Pretty soon the path ended, and I had to run on the street to keep going. Luckily, the footpaths soon gave way to more walkway type thoroughfares. Ran through some mangrove forest which was pretty cool and that was near the turnaround point at Golden Beach
All up 95 minutes and the last of my long runs for this four week cycle
Today I am staying home with the two girls who are going to have a quiet day with me, while Kylie takes Hamish to Australia Zoo for the day
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 19 kilometres
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Rest day today. At least it wasn't supposed to be. But after the baby was up yet again before 7:00 am i just did not have the energy or motivation to get out for a run. I was feeling really heavy in the legs and extremely fuzzy in the head from sleep deprivation. I should really try to get to bed before 11:00 pm one of these nights
After having noticed a wet discharge from Amelia's ear last night, we took her to the doctors this morning whereupon we waited 90 minutes to get seen. Our suspicions were realised with ear infection the diagnosis. No wonder she was up bawling the other night! So that took a chunk out of our morning and by the time we had got medicine and did some shopping for that night's dinner, it was after midday
We were supposed to meet up with the family for a 1:00 pm bbq at Happy Valley on Golden Beach. So you can imagine my chagrine when we arrived there at that time to find all the food cooked and everyone had eaten! Not happy Jan.
I took Amelia to the playground while my mother took the baby in the pram for her sleep and Hamish for a walk. Amelia at least had a good time as the below pics show :
After everyone left, we invited my cousin to stay with us in the apartment. She was keen to do so, but unknown to us her mother my auntie Heather and the rest of her party had already made plans to depart. So Rosie went back to Brisbane
In the meantime, we spent some time on the beach with the children, then I cooked spaghetti bolognaise for the children's dinner
Long slow distance run tomorrow
After having noticed a wet discharge from Amelia's ear last night, we took her to the doctors this morning whereupon we waited 90 minutes to get seen. Our suspicions were realised with ear infection the diagnosis. No wonder she was up bawling the other night! So that took a chunk out of our morning and by the time we had got medicine and did some shopping for that night's dinner, it was after midday
We were supposed to meet up with the family for a 1:00 pm bbq at Happy Valley on Golden Beach. So you can imagine my chagrine when we arrived there at that time to find all the food cooked and everyone had eaten! Not happy Jan.
I took Amelia to the playground while my mother took the baby in the pram for her sleep and Hamish for a walk. Amelia at least had a good time as the below pics show :
After everyone left, we invited my cousin to stay with us in the apartment. She was keen to do so, but unknown to us her mother my auntie Heather and the rest of her party had already made plans to depart. So Rosie went back to Brisbane
In the meantime, we spent some time on the beach with the children, then I cooked spaghetti bolognaise for the children's dinner
Long slow distance run tomorrow
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Our first full day in Caloundra. This time Amelia was up during the night from 4 am, beside herself and utterly inconsolable which my mother dealt with for 90 minutes before shoving her into our room at 5:30 am. We struggled with her until about 6:30 am whereupon we all got up
My run today I wanted to do as an easy 40 minute run after yesterday's abysmal effort. I got out onto the paths next to the Kings Beach and headed north. Much to my non delight, I found that the paths (aka Des Dwyer Walkway) to be quite undulating with plenty more uphill sections than there were down. Indeed, it seemed to be in a mostly uphill gradient before a sharp downhill bit near Moffat Beach about sixteen minutes into the run
I got to where i decided i wanted to turn back in 19:24. After so many disappointing sessions in Brisbane during the week, i decided to make my penance by turning this recovery run into an easy out, steady back. Then again, that wasn't really that hard to do, given it was mostly downhill on the way back. And so it proved with 17:36 on the return leg
Saw Hamish and my mother Catherine at the beach and we walked back to the apartment together. We were fortunate enough to see the first mullet catch of the season. Kylie took Catherine and Hamish around to my nana's as soon as I got back and she brought back my cool cousin Rosie
After the girls had woken up from their morning sleep, we headed into Caloundra for brunch then went around to my nana's to catch up with my grandpa Jack, auntie Margaret and Heather any my Uncle Brian. My cousin Ben was there too but he didn't say boo to us the whole time
We ended up staying there so long, we had to get chinese food on the way home for the children's dinner
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 9 kilometres
My run today I wanted to do as an easy 40 minute run after yesterday's abysmal effort. I got out onto the paths next to the Kings Beach and headed north. Much to my non delight, I found that the paths (aka Des Dwyer Walkway) to be quite undulating with plenty more uphill sections than there were down. Indeed, it seemed to be in a mostly uphill gradient before a sharp downhill bit near Moffat Beach about sixteen minutes into the run
I got to where i decided i wanted to turn back in 19:24. After so many disappointing sessions in Brisbane during the week, i decided to make my penance by turning this recovery run into an easy out, steady back. Then again, that wasn't really that hard to do, given it was mostly downhill on the way back. And so it proved with 17:36 on the return leg
Saw Hamish and my mother Catherine at the beach and we walked back to the apartment together. We were fortunate enough to see the first mullet catch of the season. Kylie took Catherine and Hamish around to my nana's as soon as I got back and she brought back my cool cousin Rosie
After the girls had woken up from their morning sleep, we headed into Caloundra for brunch then went around to my nana's to catch up with my grandpa Jack, auntie Margaret and Heather any my Uncle Brian. My cousin Ben was there too but he didn't say boo to us the whole time
We ended up staying there so long, we had to get chinese food on the way home for the children's dinner
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 9 kilometres
Friday, 13 June 2008
We were off to Caloundra today and Kings Beach in particular but a training session to get out of the way first
Again up at the crack of dawn with the children. They are getting up a tad earlier than usual up here while we are on holiday and its beginning to take a toll. Particularly after getting in so "late" last night
Off to the park where the set session was 3 x 2 km efforts increasing in difficulty, ie easy, medium, hard. Well, I had no idea where the 2 km marker was so had to estimate
The first one felt like it should have been my medium one. I was huffing and puffing quite a bit afterwards. Got in the four minutes recovery, then did the second one, which in the end I ended up stopping about 100 metres short, which was naughty. On reflection. that one felt like what I should have done for the last set
So you can imagine what happened on the third two kilometre effort. I blew up big time. Didn't even finish it and probably covered only 1400 to 1500 metres before I gave it away for being too hard. What an idiot!
After what I felt was a pretty ordinary fartlek session on Wednesday, this is yet another pretty slackarse effort that i am not particularly proud of. Hopefully I will run better up north
The van arrived, an 8 seater that was flasher than i expected. We just had enough room for our 11 bags and suitcases plus all the children. We arrived in Caloundra around 4:00 pm. The apartment was gorgeous, despite being one of the cheapest we could find on the internet. Three bedrooms, with an ensuite bathroom to the master bedroom, and another bathroom and toilet at the other end of the apartment. A dishwasher was awesome as was the balcony and the great view. albeit of the other apartment blocks on the other side of the street. Even then, we did get a few glimpses of the ocean through all the high rises
My nana and Granpa Jack arrived at 5 pm with a tummy casserole dinner. which was perfect as we were able to give the children an early dinner and put them down to bed after their big day. Tomorrow we plan to head around there for lunch if things work out with Amelia and Madeleine's morning sleep
TOTAL DISTANCE : about ten kilometres
Again up at the crack of dawn with the children. They are getting up a tad earlier than usual up here while we are on holiday and its beginning to take a toll. Particularly after getting in so "late" last night
Off to the park where the set session was 3 x 2 km efforts increasing in difficulty, ie easy, medium, hard. Well, I had no idea where the 2 km marker was so had to estimate
The first one felt like it should have been my medium one. I was huffing and puffing quite a bit afterwards. Got in the four minutes recovery, then did the second one, which in the end I ended up stopping about 100 metres short, which was naughty. On reflection. that one felt like what I should have done for the last set
So you can imagine what happened on the third two kilometre effort. I blew up big time. Didn't even finish it and probably covered only 1400 to 1500 metres before I gave it away for being too hard. What an idiot!
After what I felt was a pretty ordinary fartlek session on Wednesday, this is yet another pretty slackarse effort that i am not particularly proud of. Hopefully I will run better up north
The van arrived, an 8 seater that was flasher than i expected. We just had enough room for our 11 bags and suitcases plus all the children. We arrived in Caloundra around 4:00 pm. The apartment was gorgeous, despite being one of the cheapest we could find on the internet. Three bedrooms, with an ensuite bathroom to the master bedroom, and another bathroom and toilet at the other end of the apartment. A dishwasher was awesome as was the balcony and the great view. albeit of the other apartment blocks on the other side of the street. Even then, we did get a few glimpses of the ocean through all the high rises
My nana and Granpa Jack arrived at 5 pm with a tummy casserole dinner. which was perfect as we were able to give the children an early dinner and put them down to bed after their big day. Tomorrow we plan to head around there for lunch if things work out with Amelia and Madeleine's morning sleep
TOTAL DISTANCE : about ten kilometres
Thursday, 12 June 2008
A long day yesterday, given the baby woke at 6:00 am. Today was a little better with the baby up at 6:30 am!
Am trying to keep my training as normal as possible in that it reflects what I would do at home, so today the plan was for an easy 40 minute run. Something I would normally do after a Tuesday/Thursday training session
Was feeling reasonably good, so I decided to push ten minutes through the middle of the run. While I though the pace was just a gentle surge on what I had been doing for the first part of the run, I am sure I must have subconsciously upped the pace somewhere through that ten minute spurt. It ended up being a very solid pace by the end of it. The sort that had me looking at my watch every other minute
An easy 15 minutes home for a shower and to see what lay ahead. My mother took my son into the city for a presentation on Gondwana and a visit to the museum. We met her for lunch with my cool cousin Rosie aka black sheep of the family. After lunch Rosie went with Catherine my mother, and Hamish, to the museum, while Kylie and I looked for somewhere to buy sausages for the children's dinner. While in the supermarket, my middle child finally had an afternoon sleep in her pram, however unconventional as the below pic taken at the bottom of the Queen Street Mall attests :
After hitting an internet cafe to do some banking and email checking and not wanting the snags to get warm, we headed back to my aunts. My mother Catherine and my aunt kindly decided to look after the children while they decreed we hit the town, which was nice
We went out to Fortitude Valley and had dinner at a okay pizzeriea. We both had these huge steaks which was great but we were still a bit hungry. Onto dessert and we could decide between three of them so we ordered all three!
Off to the Elephant & Wheelbarrow afterwards which had pokies attached. After listening to a really ordinary band in the half empty venue we hit the pokies and lost some pocket change
Back home and tucked in by midnight
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 9 kilometres
Am trying to keep my training as normal as possible in that it reflects what I would do at home, so today the plan was for an easy 40 minute run. Something I would normally do after a Tuesday/Thursday training session
Was feeling reasonably good, so I decided to push ten minutes through the middle of the run. While I though the pace was just a gentle surge on what I had been doing for the first part of the run, I am sure I must have subconsciously upped the pace somewhere through that ten minute spurt. It ended up being a very solid pace by the end of it. The sort that had me looking at my watch every other minute
An easy 15 minutes home for a shower and to see what lay ahead. My mother took my son into the city for a presentation on Gondwana and a visit to the museum. We met her for lunch with my cool cousin Rosie aka black sheep of the family. After lunch Rosie went with Catherine my mother, and Hamish, to the museum, while Kylie and I looked for somewhere to buy sausages for the children's dinner. While in the supermarket, my middle child finally had an afternoon sleep in her pram, however unconventional as the below pic taken at the bottom of the Queen Street Mall attests :
After hitting an internet cafe to do some banking and email checking and not wanting the snags to get warm, we headed back to my aunts. My mother Catherine and my aunt kindly decided to look after the children while they decreed we hit the town, which was nice
We went out to Fortitude Valley and had dinner at a okay pizzeriea. We both had these huge steaks which was great but we were still a bit hungry. Onto dessert and we could decide between three of them so we ordered all three!
Off to the Elephant & Wheelbarrow afterwards which had pokies attached. After listening to a really ordinary band in the half empty venue we hit the pokies and lost some pocket change
Back home and tucked in by midnight
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 9 kilometres
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
The first of what I hope to be six consecutive training sessions in a row. Brian had texted me six programs to do, which I would intersperse with recovery and long runs. My aunt showed me on a map this park which was only a short distance from her house. Upon arriving there I found it to be 2.2 kilometres in length, or so this sign stated. Actually, it said 2200 metres to Spencer Park
The first of his sessions was a 40 minute fartlek with at least 4 x 2 minute slow jogs. I did the ten minute easy run he prescribed as the warm up, then began fartleking. I must point out here that the head was not quite as clear as it could have been after the bottle and a half of fine red wine I had consumed the night before. In fact, on beginning the run I wasn't sure I wasn't still a little inebriated
I kinda alternated between one minute hard, one minute medium and one minute easier over a course of 8 to 9 minutes and then put in that two minute easy jog. In the end, I was alternating 30 to 40 seconds between each of the different paces
The last eight minute stretch I did on the way home which was interesting, as it incorporated a long, long hill about 400 metres in length. I was quite puffed afterwards so I at least managed to finish strong
Sightseeing that day was in Brisbane where we saw a demonstration of aboriginal dancing, before hopping on the ferry to a park to have a late lunch. Kylie took Amelia back for a sleep while I pushed the baby Madeleine who was sleeping in her pram, and my son, my mother and I visited the museum next to the park. The adults had a coffee while my son Hamish played
I had to catch the ferry and train back to my aunt's as she she did not have a baby seat in her car. An interesting experience on the night of Rugby League State of Origin 2! The baby was a bit cranky but she perked up a bit and we had a most enjoyable 40 minute trip back. Pic below is taken at Central Station while we wait for our Ferny Grove train
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 10 kilometres including warm up
The first of his sessions was a 40 minute fartlek with at least 4 x 2 minute slow jogs. I did the ten minute easy run he prescribed as the warm up, then began fartleking. I must point out here that the head was not quite as clear as it could have been after the bottle and a half of fine red wine I had consumed the night before. In fact, on beginning the run I wasn't sure I wasn't still a little inebriated
I kinda alternated between one minute hard, one minute medium and one minute easier over a course of 8 to 9 minutes and then put in that two minute easy jog. In the end, I was alternating 30 to 40 seconds between each of the different paces
The last eight minute stretch I did on the way home which was interesting, as it incorporated a long, long hill about 400 metres in length. I was quite puffed afterwards so I at least managed to finish strong
Sightseeing that day was in Brisbane where we saw a demonstration of aboriginal dancing, before hopping on the ferry to a park to have a late lunch. Kylie took Amelia back for a sleep while I pushed the baby Madeleine who was sleeping in her pram, and my son, my mother and I visited the museum next to the park. The adults had a coffee while my son Hamish played
I had to catch the ferry and train back to my aunt's as she she did not have a baby seat in her car. An interesting experience on the night of Rugby League State of Origin 2! The baby was a bit cranky but she perked up a bit and we had a most enjoyable 40 minute trip back. Pic below is taken at Central Station while we wait for our Ferny Grove train
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 10 kilometres including warm up
Tuesday, 10 June 2008
Rest day today
Had to get up at 6:30 am to get all children ready and pack car. Got underway for airport only to hit horrendous traffic jam. In the end, Kylie made it to check in after placing car in Long Term car park with 20 minutes before our 10:15 am lift off. Luckily our flight was delayed on account of fog at Sydney Airport affecting all flights
Try to keep the children occupied while we wait by reading a few stories. This older lady comes over and tells me I am reading the stories too loudly!! Can you believe it?? I was stunned. All the moms around me come over in a real spirit of solidarity and say good on you, keep on reading. Legendary!! Anyway, we are finally in the plane and lifting off at 11:45
The children were fantastic during the flight and I was very pleased and thankful there were no major frights or tantrums. Even on the very bumpy landing my middle child laughed with glee while the rest of us gritted our teeth
We just missed the airport train, so another delay while we wait half an hour for the next one. Then we finally get to my aunts and she has put on this opulent spread and its only 4 pm on the afternoon. Anyway, it was a good excuse to pack the kids into bed early, before my aunty treated us to a couple of yummy bottles of wine with our dinner. Perfect end to a stressful day
Had to get up at 6:30 am to get all children ready and pack car. Got underway for airport only to hit horrendous traffic jam. In the end, Kylie made it to check in after placing car in Long Term car park with 20 minutes before our 10:15 am lift off. Luckily our flight was delayed on account of fog at Sydney Airport affecting all flights
Try to keep the children occupied while we wait by reading a few stories. This older lady comes over and tells me I am reading the stories too loudly!! Can you believe it?? I was stunned. All the moms around me come over in a real spirit of solidarity and say good on you, keep on reading. Legendary!! Anyway, we are finally in the plane and lifting off at 11:45
The children were fantastic during the flight and I was very pleased and thankful there were no major frights or tantrums. Even on the very bumpy landing my middle child laughed with glee while the rest of us gritted our teeth
We just missed the airport train, so another delay while we wait half an hour for the next one. Then we finally get to my aunts and she has put on this opulent spread and its only 4 pm on the afternoon. Anyway, it was a good excuse to pack the kids into bed early, before my aunty treated us to a couple of yummy bottles of wine with our dinner. Perfect end to a stressful day
Monday, 9 June 2008
Queen's Birthday Holiday. As I am not at work today, I had to amuse myself with a hill session. Kylie wanted to put some hours in at work today, so I had to get my session out of the way early
Headed out just before 9 am to the back of the Coburg track. Was planning to run six sets of a long and a short hill. In the end, I felt pretty good so I did eight of each instead
Back home for more child minding. My mother is coming to stay tonight ahead of our nine day holiday in Queensland. We fly out early tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 7 kilometres
Headed out just before 9 am to the back of the Coburg track. Was planning to run six sets of a long and a short hill. In the end, I felt pretty good so I did eight of each instead
Back home for more child minding. My mother is coming to stay tonight ahead of our nine day holiday in Queensland. We fly out early tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 7 kilometres
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Long slow distance run today
Supposed to go for 90 minutes and not at all enjoyable! Decided to try a different route today. Headed up Bell Street to the Upfield bike path. Wanted to see where the connection was at the Zoo to the bike path that supposedly begins at Docklands
In the end, I found that path and ran along the bike path to Docklands, which comes out near the football stadium. With 55 or so minutes on the clock, I had 40 minutes to kill. Not in a position to go back the way I came, I ran through the city. Big mistake! I ran up this long street (Dudley St?) up a big hill and I was virtually hyperventilating at the top.
I ran into the Flagstaff Gardens in search of a tap and had a nice long drink of water before getting underway again. I was then following my usual route home from work which includes the back of the Vic Market. Well, you can imagine how crowded it was there!
So after getting stopped by about four traffic lights from lonsdale street all the way up to Royal Parade, I was not in a good humour
In the end, I made it out to St Georges Road before time ran out and I caught a tram the rest of the way home. As soon as I get there, I am lumped with child minding duties as Kylie is off to visit a friend. The perfect conclusion to a crappy run ... not!
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 18 kilometres
Supposed to go for 90 minutes and not at all enjoyable! Decided to try a different route today. Headed up Bell Street to the Upfield bike path. Wanted to see where the connection was at the Zoo to the bike path that supposedly begins at Docklands
In the end, I found that path and ran along the bike path to Docklands, which comes out near the football stadium. With 55 or so minutes on the clock, I had 40 minutes to kill. Not in a position to go back the way I came, I ran through the city. Big mistake! I ran up this long street (Dudley St?) up a big hill and I was virtually hyperventilating at the top.
I ran into the Flagstaff Gardens in search of a tap and had a nice long drink of water before getting underway again. I was then following my usual route home from work which includes the back of the Vic Market. Well, you can imagine how crowded it was there!
So after getting stopped by about four traffic lights from lonsdale street all the way up to Royal Parade, I was not in a good humour
In the end, I made it out to St Georges Road before time ran out and I caught a tram the rest of the way home. As soon as I get there, I am lumped with child minding duties as Kylie is off to visit a friend. The perfect conclusion to a crappy run ... not!
TOTAL DISTANCE : about 18 kilometres
Saturday, 7 June 2008
Club ran today at Waringal Park in Heidelberg. A mostly flat 8 km out and back course mostly on gravel path. This has been a tough run for me in the past and not one I have enjoyed very much at all
Started off comfortably enough but from the 2 km mark things started to feel a bit tough and I was glad to see the turnaround mark with Neville Wilson of Coburg Masters offering words of encouragement
I passed my first competitor at about the five kilometre mark and was grimly trying to hang on. Last year, I had to check my pace quite a bit at about 5.5 kilometres and this year was a little bit the same. However, I continued to pick up quite a few runners and ended up finishing in fifth place, which I was pretty happy with. If the race had been a kilometre longer, I probably would have placed
In the end it was 28.21, which I think is a personal best time for the distance. Certainly it is better than the 28.50 I recorded last year and 28.34 in 2006. A good sign heading towards Bendigo for the AV relays
TOTAL DISTANCE : 8 kilometres (yes, naughty me no warm up or down)
Started off comfortably enough but from the 2 km mark things started to feel a bit tough and I was glad to see the turnaround mark with Neville Wilson of Coburg Masters offering words of encouragement
I passed my first competitor at about the five kilometre mark and was grimly trying to hang on. Last year, I had to check my pace quite a bit at about 5.5 kilometres and this year was a little bit the same. However, I continued to pick up quite a few runners and ended up finishing in fifth place, which I was pretty happy with. If the race had been a kilometre longer, I probably would have placed
In the end it was 28.21, which I think is a personal best time for the distance. Certainly it is better than the 28.50 I recorded last year and 28.34 in 2006. A good sign heading towards Bendigo for the AV relays
TOTAL DISTANCE : 8 kilometres (yes, naughty me no warm up or down)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Friday, 6 June 2008
Very easy thirty minute run towards work today that wasn't. Easy, that is
Felt crap, sore feet and just a struggle to get through - at least for the first half or so. Strange, because I usually feel really good coming down St Georges Road, which is the start of my run, and don't feel good through Park Street which I turn right into and head towards the Zoo under Princes Park
And yet this time, it was the opposite. A real effort down to Park Street, even though I can assure you I was running slow, and then kinda breezed through that last bit. Well, I was running a little easier at any rate
Caught the train the rest of the way to work. As the day wore, I started to feel really good and once we return from holiday in a couple of week's time, I am going to start doing this half hour towards work on a Thursday and then train that night with Brian. Should be interesting!
TOTAL DISTANCE - about six kilometres
Felt crap, sore feet and just a struggle to get through - at least for the first half or so. Strange, because I usually feel really good coming down St Georges Road, which is the start of my run, and don't feel good through Park Street which I turn right into and head towards the Zoo under Princes Park
And yet this time, it was the opposite. A real effort down to Park Street, even though I can assure you I was running slow, and then kinda breezed through that last bit. Well, I was running a little easier at any rate
Caught the train the rest of the way to work. As the day wore, I started to feel really good and once we return from holiday in a couple of week's time, I am going to start doing this half hour towards work on a Thursday and then train that night with Brian. Should be interesting!
TOTAL DISTANCE - about six kilometres
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Training with Brian tonight. I forgot to pack my running shoes, so after Kylie had gone home to get them and dinner for the children, I missed the entire warm up set
Interesting session tonight. There were five reps of a two-pronged set. Each set would be a cross country circuit on the infield, then 100 metres walk recovery, then a 300 metre rep on the track, then walk back to infield circuit start. Repeat five times
Not sure how quick I was going but it was pretty solid. Probably just one or two sets short of a really tough little session. Then again, after yesterday's stupidity in treating my recovery session like a race, I was feeling very heavy in the legs. Also, I didn't do myself any favours by getting to bed very late
TOTAL DISTANCE = about 4.5 kilometres
Interesting session tonight. There were five reps of a two-pronged set. Each set would be a cross country circuit on the infield, then 100 metres walk recovery, then a 300 metre rep on the track, then walk back to infield circuit start. Repeat five times
Not sure how quick I was going but it was pretty solid. Probably just one or two sets short of a really tough little session. Then again, after yesterday's stupidity in treating my recovery session like a race, I was feeling very heavy in the legs. Also, I didn't do myself any favours by getting to bed very late
TOTAL DISTANCE = about 4.5 kilometres
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Went for a run at lunchtime today with boundary Shane Jansen and his entourage. I arrived there a few minutes late to find Scotty already there - he had been late every other time I had met Shane for a run
We ran out to the Tan and met up with Ian Burrows. There was also a guy I hadn't met before in John Morris (?). We completed the first lap in a relatively comfortable 16 minutes for the 3.83 kilometre circuit. Certainly it was on the upper end of comfortable
I was feeling pretty good, nevertheless, so upped the pace a little through the second lap. I was trying out what worked for me so well at La Trobe, in that up the tortuous Anderson St hill, I was going for balls of the feet, high knee's sort of stuff
Felt pretty good, but halfway through the lap I was starting to fatigue and the pace was starting to tell a bit. Johnny Morris started to "stride" out at this point, so I tried to slot in behind him for the rest but he maintained a comfortable twenty metre gap. Not sure what I was thinking really, considering this was supposed to be an easy recovery session. In the end, Johnny and I completed the second lap in around 14:15. Thinking about it later, I realised that was pretty much my race pace from Sunday's road race, so it was stupid to replicate that in what was supposed to be a recovery run
Still, it was a solid hitout - the sort of ones Brian likes me to do with two paced sessions in between training night. I am feeling pretty heavy in the legs and hopefully will pull up alright tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE - about 11 kilometres including distance to Tan to and from work
We ran out to the Tan and met up with Ian Burrows. There was also a guy I hadn't met before in John Morris (?). We completed the first lap in a relatively comfortable 16 minutes for the 3.83 kilometre circuit. Certainly it was on the upper end of comfortable
I was feeling pretty good, nevertheless, so upped the pace a little through the second lap. I was trying out what worked for me so well at La Trobe, in that up the tortuous Anderson St hill, I was going for balls of the feet, high knee's sort of stuff
Felt pretty good, but halfway through the lap I was starting to fatigue and the pace was starting to tell a bit. Johnny Morris started to "stride" out at this point, so I tried to slot in behind him for the rest but he maintained a comfortable twenty metre gap. Not sure what I was thinking really, considering this was supposed to be an easy recovery session. In the end, Johnny and I completed the second lap in around 14:15. Thinking about it later, I realised that was pretty much my race pace from Sunday's road race, so it was stupid to replicate that in what was supposed to be a recovery run
Still, it was a solid hitout - the sort of ones Brian likes me to do with two paced sessions in between training night. I am feeling pretty heavy in the legs and hopefully will pull up alright tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE - about 11 kilometres including distance to Tan to and from work
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Tuesday, 3 June 2008
Kylie my partner had a meeting to go to tonight, so had to train on my own
Did a session at Princes Park on the way home. As warm up, I ran from work to the park. Session was a 2 km, 1.5 km and a 0.5 kilometre with 500 metre recovery between each set
I was going to try to manage it so I started in the reverse direction from the Park Street end, back around to the cemetery side and south toward the city. In the end, I started on the bottom side of the park at Gatehouse St (?), so that my 2 km effort took in the uphill incline at the top of the park. not to worry, at least I know I will have worked
Knocked over the 2 km effort in a touch over 7 mins, which is a little slower than I would have liked. Had to use the loo on that side, so had to guestimate my recovery. I think I did my 1500 metre effort after 2.5 minutes recovery
This effort was really hard and I was having to push pretty hard to finish it off. Was not much fun from about 1 km on. Managed a proper 500 metre recovery this time, which I clocked at three minutes so probably stung myself thirty seconds recovery after that first set. Still, the 1.5 km effort was a touch over 5 minutes which pleasingly was quicker paced than the first (I guess it should have been)
Cranked out the 1 km effort in 3:16 which does not sound much but I will take it on account of running on gravel in my heavy asics uphill for over half the distance
A ten minute run along Park St though to St Georges Rd where I hopped on the tram for home
TOTAL DISTACNCE = 9 kilometres including warm up and down
Did a session at Princes Park on the way home. As warm up, I ran from work to the park. Session was a 2 km, 1.5 km and a 0.5 kilometre with 500 metre recovery between each set
I was going to try to manage it so I started in the reverse direction from the Park Street end, back around to the cemetery side and south toward the city. In the end, I started on the bottom side of the park at Gatehouse St (?), so that my 2 km effort took in the uphill incline at the top of the park. not to worry, at least I know I will have worked
Knocked over the 2 km effort in a touch over 7 mins, which is a little slower than I would have liked. Had to use the loo on that side, so had to guestimate my recovery. I think I did my 1500 metre effort after 2.5 minutes recovery
This effort was really hard and I was having to push pretty hard to finish it off. Was not much fun from about 1 km on. Managed a proper 500 metre recovery this time, which I clocked at three minutes so probably stung myself thirty seconds recovery after that first set. Still, the 1.5 km effort was a touch over 5 minutes which pleasingly was quicker paced than the first (I guess it should have been)
Cranked out the 1 km effort in 3:16 which does not sound much but I will take it on account of running on gravel in my heavy asics uphill for over half the distance
A ten minute run along Park St though to St Georges Rd where I hopped on the tram for home
TOTAL DISTACNCE = 9 kilometres including warm up and down
Monday, 2 June 2008
Long slow run today
Had to go for 85 minutes, so took in three laps of Princes Park on my way home. Was a nice easy pace until stupid male ego took over and pushed away from this idiot who was "tailgating" me for a kilometre or so. He was fair dinkum close enough to lick the back of my neck for about ten minutes. Creepy
Finished the third lap and realised that I would over by about five minutes if I took the normal long run route home. Ran down Park Street to St Georges Rd and up to the Merri Creek bike path. Traversed this up towards home, whereupon I hopped off at Normanby Road and took a more direct route home
In the end 87 minutes all up. A very enjoyable run, and my heart rate was really low at the finish. It wasn't too cold, although there was a lot of frigid air off the Merri Creek
TOTAL DISTANCE = about 17 kilometres
Had to go for 85 minutes, so took in three laps of Princes Park on my way home. Was a nice easy pace until stupid male ego took over and pushed away from this idiot who was "tailgating" me for a kilometre or so. He was fair dinkum close enough to lick the back of my neck for about ten minutes. Creepy
Finished the third lap and realised that I would over by about five minutes if I took the normal long run route home. Ran down Park Street to St Georges Rd and up to the Merri Creek bike path. Traversed this up towards home, whereupon I hopped off at Normanby Road and took a more direct route home
In the end 87 minutes all up. A very enjoyable run, and my heart rate was really low at the finish. It wasn't too cold, although there was a lot of frigid air off the Merri Creek
TOTAL DISTANCE = about 17 kilometres
Sunday, 1 June 2008 - AV 15 km Road Race
A bit of a sleep in this morning, and with the race starting at 10:00 am it was probably not a good idea to only be getting up at 8:45 am. Gave the children their breakfast and then we were out the door at 9:20
After some very cool mornings over the past few weeks and the last two rounds of the AV season being cold and wet, I was hopeful this day might be different. All good when I got out of bed and my feet weren't scalded by a frozen kitchen floor. But boy did I get a rude shock when I opened the front door to pack the car. A biting cold and I thought it's Sandown all over again
Arrived with twenty minutes to race time so not the ideal preparation and did a short warm up. Last year at this race I went out way too hard and had nothing left in the tank with still a lap to go. As a result I walked for short periods in two sections and crashed and burned my way to 55:56. I was determinted not to let that happen this year
Plopped myself near the front of the pack and waited nervously for the gun to go off. It had warmed up a bit but it was still only eleven degree's. After setting myself up to not run well at Sandown with some negative thinking, I did not place any expectations on myself for this race, other than to pace myself at the start - like I do for HM's - and try to hold onto that, rather than last year's strategy. I did have a goal in mind of 54 minutes, or 18 minutes to each 5 km lap. I would have been satisfied with that (3:40 min/km), given I had barely managed 3:30 min to the kilometre at Sandown
All according to plan through the first two kilometres, with 3:38, then 3:30 - a bit of downhill section on the second km. Went through 5 km in 17:52 and was feeling pretty good. I remember someone shouting out I was on track for 54, and that gave me a bit of a boost. After the horror of last year, I was pleased with the way the km markers seemed to be flying by.
Get to the top of the course and the halfway mark, feeling strong and suddently I feel like I want to push the pace a bit. Surged for about two kilometres or so, but then felt ordinary and wondered if that had been such a good idea. Nevertheless went through 10 km in 35:56 for an 18:04 lap
Things started to feel a bit tough from here, although I was still generating a reasonable pace. Once I had got all the hills out of the way, the 13 km marker seemed to lift my spirits a bit and I tried to push for home. With 47:04 on the clock I remember thinking that sub 54 was now out of the question. In the end, I passed a runner in the home straight to cross the line in 54:05 and had done the last two km in 3:30 k's for an 18:09 last lap, so very, very pleased about that
All in all, I was rapt with that run. A strategy of easy paced start, getting up on the balls of my feet in the hill sections, and trying to push the downhill/straight sections worked a treat and is just the confidence builder I needed after the last two AV runs, which I thought were pretty ordinary
As the yardstick, I did check Shane Jansen's time from last year to see how mine rated and I would only have been 20 seconds behind him, so another thing to be pleased about. He will be happy that he still holds the Coburg Harriers course record at La Trobe, after I knocked off his Jell's Park course record this year by one second!! Bring on the Sandown relays, I say!
We had roast beef for lunch at my mother's, then as we got home late Red Rooster for dinner, which is the only takeaway fast food I let my kids eat (other than fish n' chips, of course)
TOTAL DISTANCE = 15 kilometres
After some very cool mornings over the past few weeks and the last two rounds of the AV season being cold and wet, I was hopeful this day might be different. All good when I got out of bed and my feet weren't scalded by a frozen kitchen floor. But boy did I get a rude shock when I opened the front door to pack the car. A biting cold and I thought it's Sandown all over again
Arrived with twenty minutes to race time so not the ideal preparation and did a short warm up. Last year at this race I went out way too hard and had nothing left in the tank with still a lap to go. As a result I walked for short periods in two sections and crashed and burned my way to 55:56. I was determinted not to let that happen this year
Plopped myself near the front of the pack and waited nervously for the gun to go off. It had warmed up a bit but it was still only eleven degree's. After setting myself up to not run well at Sandown with some negative thinking, I did not place any expectations on myself for this race, other than to pace myself at the start - like I do for HM's - and try to hold onto that, rather than last year's strategy. I did have a goal in mind of 54 minutes, or 18 minutes to each 5 km lap. I would have been satisfied with that (3:40 min/km), given I had barely managed 3:30 min to the kilometre at Sandown
All according to plan through the first two kilometres, with 3:38, then 3:30 - a bit of downhill section on the second km. Went through 5 km in 17:52 and was feeling pretty good. I remember someone shouting out I was on track for 54, and that gave me a bit of a boost. After the horror of last year, I was pleased with the way the km markers seemed to be flying by.
Get to the top of the course and the halfway mark, feeling strong and suddently I feel like I want to push the pace a bit. Surged for about two kilometres or so, but then felt ordinary and wondered if that had been such a good idea. Nevertheless went through 10 km in 35:56 for an 18:04 lap
Things started to feel a bit tough from here, although I was still generating a reasonable pace. Once I had got all the hills out of the way, the 13 km marker seemed to lift my spirits a bit and I tried to push for home. With 47:04 on the clock I remember thinking that sub 54 was now out of the question. In the end, I passed a runner in the home straight to cross the line in 54:05 and had done the last two km in 3:30 k's for an 18:09 last lap, so very, very pleased about that
All in all, I was rapt with that run. A strategy of easy paced start, getting up on the balls of my feet in the hill sections, and trying to push the downhill/straight sections worked a treat and is just the confidence builder I needed after the last two AV runs, which I thought were pretty ordinary
As the yardstick, I did check Shane Jansen's time from last year to see how mine rated and I would only have been 20 seconds behind him, so another thing to be pleased about. He will be happy that he still holds the Coburg Harriers course record at La Trobe, after I knocked off his Jell's Park course record this year by one second!! Bring on the Sandown relays, I say!
We had roast beef for lunch at my mother's, then as we got home late Red Rooster for dinner, which is the only takeaway fast food I let my kids eat (other than fish n' chips, of course)
TOTAL DISTANCE = 15 kilometres
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Rest day today, perhaps more accurately a lazy day today. Pretty much spent most of it in front of the television when I wasn't chasing after two toddlers. Hamish was at my mother's house for the weekend
Kylie left just before lunch to get a spa treatment with a friend of hers as part of a radio competition she won before christmas. she had only just this weekend got a chance to use the voucher
So I was home all day with the kiddies which was interesting. Kylie did not get home from dropping off her friend until after the children had gone to sleep for the night. I had a little trouble with the kiddies while I tried to get dinner ready so Kylie kindly bought me a bottle of red so I could relax a bit after the little mites were in bed. A little bit stressed daddy Grey was
Had a few glasses of that, and some chocolate some kids sold me when they came to our door earlier in the evening, and we had a very relaxing evening. Even went to bed earlier so all in all, good preparation for the big 15 km road race tomorrow
Kylie left just before lunch to get a spa treatment with a friend of hers as part of a radio competition she won before christmas. she had only just this weekend got a chance to use the voucher
So I was home all day with the kiddies which was interesting. Kylie did not get home from dropping off her friend until after the children had gone to sleep for the night. I had a little trouble with the kiddies while I tried to get dinner ready so Kylie kindly bought me a bottle of red so I could relax a bit after the little mites were in bed. A little bit stressed daddy Grey was
Had a few glasses of that, and some chocolate some kids sold me when they came to our door earlier in the evening, and we had a very relaxing evening. Even went to bed earlier so all in all, good preparation for the big 15 km road race tomorrow
Friday, 30 May 2008
My last day of running for the month - a 30 minute recovery run, which takes me from home to the zoo, where I can hop the train or tram to work
Felt really good all the way down St Georges Rd, but started to feel heavy from Park Street on. Could feel myself surging a little when I wasn't concentrating on slowing my pace. In the end, pretty glad to finish
Running under Royal Parade, I could hear the city train heading towards Royal Park station. In the end, I missed it by about 30 seconds, which was frustrating. Hopped on the tram, which luckily came straight away
TOTAL DISTANCE = about six kilometres
Felt really good all the way down St Georges Rd, but started to feel heavy from Park Street on. Could feel myself surging a little when I wasn't concentrating on slowing my pace. In the end, pretty glad to finish
Running under Royal Parade, I could hear the city train heading towards Royal Park station. In the end, I missed it by about 30 seconds, which was frustrating. Hopped on the tram, which luckily came straight away
TOTAL DISTANCE = about six kilometres
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Looking forward to an easy session on the track tonight ahead of the AV 15 km road race at La Trobe University, Bundoora on Sunday morning. Brian may have said it was going to be an easy night but certainly didn't feel that way
The first set was a steady five lapper, and the legs felt pretty heavy after last night's run home. Didn't feel like I had much drive
A good recovery and the second set was 4 reps of easy 200, surge 200, then medium 200. I felt like I was working pretty hard on these, probably harder than Brian intended but he seemed happy. Had Josh Persson on my tail for a lot of it, but he dropped off a bit through the last two
I was pretty stuffed at the end of it all and was glad to head into the clubrooms where it was a bit warmer. A few beers then off home thanks to a lift from Rey
TOTAL DISTANCE = about five kilometres including warm up and down
The first set was a steady five lapper, and the legs felt pretty heavy after last night's run home. Didn't feel like I had much drive
A good recovery and the second set was 4 reps of easy 200, surge 200, then medium 200. I felt like I was working pretty hard on these, probably harder than Brian intended but he seemed happy. Had Josh Persson on my tail for a lot of it, but he dropped off a bit through the last two
I was pretty stuffed at the end of it all and was glad to head into the clubrooms where it was a bit warmer. A few beers then off home thanks to a lift from Rey
TOTAL DISTANCE = about five kilometres including warm up and down
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Run home from work tonight. Wanted to get home in time to spend at least an hour with the children before my Coburg Harriers commitee meeting. Had to push the run a bit, which made things interesting
Still, a reasonably comfortable 45 minutes and will be interesting to see how I pull up tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE = about 9 kilometres
Still, a reasonably comfortable 45 minutes and will be interesting to see how I pull up tomorrow
TOTAL DISTANCE = about 9 kilometres
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)