Perfect Pacing

Worked overnight last night and when Tom said he was keen for a PCRG session I thought I join him. We'd been really busy earlier on and though it was a bit of an effort it was good to get out and hit the road. We ran the 2 1/2k to The Ship Inn from work so we could run straight back there from West End.

The pgm was the same as yesterday (2 x 1500s, 2 x 500s with 45 sec recoveries). I held back a bit today, aiming for 4:20 pace. My times -

6:30 - 1500m
6:29 - 1500m
2:10 - 500m
2:00 - 500m

That last one was a little quicker than planned, I caught up to Cassie with about 150m to go and we upped the ante a tad :-)

Don't Pay The Ferryman

In between a 6.30am trip to the airport and a 11am visit to the accountant yesterday I had time to fit my planned 15k run. But I didn't. I was feeling tired and just a little niggly so gave myself a rest day.

To sort of compensate I ran the 5k to Pat's this morning. To start we had 2 x 1500s with a 45 second standing recovery. He said after we'd finished he'd tell us what to do next. My times -
6:01
6:10
Not sure what happened on that last one, it felt faster!

For those around my speed we had to follow that up with 2 x 500ms. So with just 45 seconds rest we were off. My times -
2:08
1:58
I knew the first was a shocker, those short recoveries are killers. But the second 500m made up for it.

Once again today it was mainly Sal I was working in with. Gnome asked re the previous session who was pushing who. I think its a common thing in the group that we all draw off eachother's strength. I know when I feel like I'm fading I try to hang on to whoever is near me, and I hope that when I'm strong and start moving faster that they try to hang on to me.

Although I had money on me for the Citycat I decided to run back home. No ferries went past me until I was about 500m from where I'd hop off. I put the foot down, I wanted to get to the top of the ramp up from the terminal before any departing passengers did just so I could say I got home quicker than if I caught the Citycat. I got home quicker than if I caught the Citycat :-)

Teamwork

As we were up at Mooloolaba on Sunday morning Clairie, Toasty and I put in an easy paced 8k before all the action started. We ran part of the 10k course and took in the hills that the poor competitors had to face later on in a much hotter part of day. And we only did each hill once, unlike them who had to contend with them a couple of times.

It made me very glad that Helen and I couldn't find a swimmer for our team. Might have helped if we looked :-)


*****


Today at PCRG was 6 x 500m reps with a 45 second SR. Feeling particularly leg heavy on the warm-up I seriously contemplated assisting Clairie in her marshalling, cheering and photography duties, and lining up to start was expecting my times to be in the vicinity of 2:05.

While running the first rep surrounded by a few people including Sal, I thought perhaps I should put in just one big effort to try to stay with her. I managed that and then told myself one more. This went on for the whole session with Carol joining in with the two of us. To my surprise and delight my times were way better than I hoped for -

1:57
1:51 <== Pat was with us in the last 50m saying "hammer yourself" ... and we did :-)
1:56
1:54
1:58
1:55

To finish it (and us) off Pat got us to do 1 minute and back.

I was rapt with how the session panned out, especially considering I didn't really want to do it in the first place. Thanks has to go to anyone who was around me, but particularly Sal and Carol. For what is considered an individual sport its amazing how much team work plays a part in your success. How lucky am I to be part of the fantastic team that is the PCRG :-)

Carol, Tesso & Sal in action


Carol, Sal & Tesso afterwards (my eyes are closed because I'm knackered!)

Last Long Run At Last

Friday

I fronted up for for another PCRG session. It was the same as Thursday (ie 2 x 4 mins, 1 x 8 mins), though the effort I put in was less, maybe 70% - 80%.

I was running at about 4:25 pace and after the two lots of 4 mins was near a guy Tony. So for the return journey I stuck with and encouraged (ok, nagged) the poor bugger the entire way, getting him to target and pass others. I told him about the Eagle Quick Step - when you feel you are slowing do 6 steps fast on each side and you get your momentum back. He worked really hard, and that made me work harder than planned to stick with him. It was fun! We crossed the line in 7:58, a nice negative split and something that few and far between ever do in that session.


*****

Saturday

Not sure how but Toasty talked me into a 4.30am start for our last long run before Canberra. It sounded like a good idea on Friday afternoon, not so good when the alarm went before sparrow fart. I ran the first 5k with him, Mat and Glenno. Well, with Mat anyway, the other two were obviously on a mission. After that I headed back to the Ship Inn to hook up with the sleeper-inners who were starting at 5.30am.

I stuck with them until the end of the UQ ring road then did about 10 laps of a lovely grassy oval as they went on to do the hills that followed. Al the pod told me to avoid them for a little longer - the hills, not my running buddies ;-) Made my way back to the Ship Inn via Highgate Hill (so much for avoiding hills!) and West End.

I wanted to do a no fuel run (before and during) though carried gels and jelly beans just in case. I didn't use them and at no time was really zapped. I actually felt kinda strong towards the end and was able to chuck in a few sub 5 minute kms.

All up 38k in 3:22.xx (av pace 5:19). And if it came down to it I reckon I could've handled another 4k to make it up to a marathon.

Happy :-)

Not Guilty

I ran the 5k from home to The Ship Inn for Pat's today. On the pgm was 2 x 4 mins hard, with 30sec standing recovery, then turn and run back 8 mins, or to the start (whichever came first).

Those competing at the Mooloolaba Tri or Twilight 5k this weekend were told to take things easier, and to stop after the first 4 mins to do 30/30s before running back. Clairie hung around them and took it upon herself to make sure that they didn't think 'easier' meant 'easy' :-)

I worked hard for the 4min reps and felt strong. A good sign is I was surrounded by the usual suspects, and I don't recall getting any further in distance for the same session. So the extended warmup did me no harm.

Coming back was tough. Just as I was thinking about slowing down Steve FS started doing his best Pat impersonations to fire our little pack up - it worked. There was no way I could hold back now. Celeste and I pushed eachother all the way to the end, it was faaaantastic!

To top off a great session our PCRG Support Team (Team Dedication) got voted by other teams for today's award. Then the members within our had to vote for one of our own and Mat got the gong. Good on ya Mat, you so deserve it!

I had planned to run home but afterwards I was so knackered I couldn't even be bothered walking so jumped on a Citycat. No guilt feelings today though :-)

Mid Week Weakness

I planned to do 20k or so this morning by running 4 kms solo and then joining the others for the 16.3k Story Bridge loop from The Regatta at 5.30am. I couldn't quite get my act together for an early start so figured I would do the extra mileage afterwards.

Different people dropped off at different points, Mat and I were the only ones doing the full loop. Around the 10k mark he was going to slip into 'plod' mode so I headed off upping the pace a bit from our 5:20 - 5:30s. With 5k to go I put the foot down a bit more, coming home around 4:40s to give me a time of 1:22.25.

It was a minute or two slower than the last couple times, but I liked the idea of a cruisey start and a fast finish. Mat came in not too far behind me, he needs to look up the meaning of 'plod' in the dictionary :-)

I was about to head on out for that other 4k but one glance across the road to The Regatta seeing the rest of the gang downing icy cold water put an end to that. Slacker!

Two For Tuesday

Spud asked about my Canberra 50k goal.

'A' - sub 4h20m
'B' - sub 4h30m
'C' - sub 4h40m
'D' - finish smiling
'E' - finish not smiling

Back in 2001 I did the Kurrawa to Pt Danger Ultra (it was only 48k in those days) in 4h21m. That was on bugger all speed work but lots and lots of long slow runs. I'd like to think I could improve on that.


*****


This morning the legs felt just a little heavy after Sunday's half, but that was the extent of the DOMS. So there was no need to hold back at Pat's. He told us this morning's session was 5 x 1 min reps, with 30 sec jog recovery, then turn around and run back to the start doing 30/30s. It seemed short compared to the last few weeks and I was wondering what little surprise he'd throw in at the end.

The surprise was there was no surprise, after that we jogged back to the Ship Inn :-)

The shortish session actually fitted perfectly into my plan to make today a double up day, I wanted to do a second run in the afternoon. What didn't fit in perfectly was the weather, it was 29 degrees when I was about to set off. So rather than the great outdoors I hit the gym and did just over 8.5k on the tready.

I find treadmill running so much more difficult and I'm wondering if its because of my short stride. I messed around for a while lengthening my stride and was able to increase the speed with no added effort. Interesting ....

Monday Music - 19th March 2007

Serena Ryder - Sing Sing (2004)

Woohoo! I just saw in the TV guide that Serena is a guest on Rockwiz this Saturday. Hope I didn't just ruin the "Who Can It Be Now" bit for anyone :-)

What a voice, and she's only 24 years old. She's just released an album called "If Your Memory Serves You Well", a compilation of Canadian songs from the past 100 years. It includes "Good Morning Starshine" from the musical Hair. I'm hoping that's what she'll sing when she's introduced on the show just so I can hear those classic lyrics ....

Gliddy glub gloopy
Nibby nabby noopy
La la la lo lo
Sabba sibby sabba
Nooby abba nabba
Le le lo lo
Tooby ooby walla
Nooby abba naba
Early morning singing song

BRRC Half Marathon Champs

After such a big week of training there was no way I was going to go flat out in the Half Marathon today. I thought I'd aim for around 4:45 pace but if it proved too much then around 5:00 would be okay. If I got through the 21k that would bring up a weekly total of 106k, my second biggest ever (behind the one where I did the Caboolture 12 hours last year).

The course was an out and back 1.1k before 4 x 5k loops. I ran 5:17 for the 1.1 and then for the first loop managed to sit on 4:45s or less. In the next two laps the legs felt heavy and my pace dropped to around 4:50s, Friday's 35k was taking its toll. It didn't bother me too much, just as long as I could stick to sub 5s.

There must've been something in the water at the 16k mark because after I went through I started feeling great and was able to resume my earlier pace of 4:45s or less. I passed a couple of guys and then saw a girl and guy not too far in front, she became my next target as I started thinking about championship points. I got her at 18k.

About 1km from home I noticed I was gaining on one of my training buddies Celeste. I thought it would be quite an achievement to finish not too far behind her, but with 300m to go I'd caught up. My next thought was how cool it would be if I could hang in with her and we could cross the line together as we were wearing matching PCRG outfits :-) Unfortunately for her she was really fading but I was feeling really strong so forged on. That last km was the fastest, 4:30.

Total time was 1:40.56 - an average pace of 4:46. Not sure how I did in the points race as I don't know how many members finished in front of me. The time is way off my PB, but I'm happy considering I wasn't going flat out. Best of all I felt soooooo good in that final 5km!

The Canberra Confidence Meter just shot up a couple of notches :-)

The Old Switcheroonie

I had the day off yesterday (Friday) so instead of the usual easy run I decided to do my long run then and the easy one today. That way I should be able to at least get through the distance at the BRRC Half Marathon Champs tomorrow.

Had plans to hit the road by 5am, but it was 6.30am before I was out the door. I paid the price for that extra sleep, within an hour it was so hot out there :-( Headed out to New Farm Park, then South Bank, Orleigh Park, back through South Bank and home. By chucking in a couple of laps of NF Park and a complete lap of The Gardens it brought the total to 35k or so.

Not much to report, other than almost getting run over by a black Mercedes that came hurtling out of a driveway in Moray St.

It was a slow one, but that was the plan. Finished in 3h16m, or around 5:40 pace. Happy to get that one done as on more than one occasion (NF Park, Sydney St, Riverside, South Bank, Orleigh Park, South Bank again, North Quay) I was sooooo close to bailing and jumping on the Citycat home.


*****


Clairie was planning a shortish run this morn (12k or so) and after yesterday's effort that sounded perfect to me. We had quite a few starters, and most had the same thought as they were either recovering from 6ft Track or tapering for the Half tomorrow.

Ended up in a nice little pack with Clairie, Rent Boy and Tomas and did a cruisey 13k. It was just enough to work out all the stiffness from the legs.

Still not sure how I'll approach the Half tomorrow. It won't be flat out, or even close to it, that's a certainty. This is going to be my biggest week km wise in over 12 months so I'm not going to worry about championship points. There's a couple of people aiming to go sub 1:45, might just hang in with them.

Won't Get Fooled Again

Tom and I slipped out before the end of our shift to do a PCRG session. Yep, last time was so good he's going back for more! We worked out rather than drive it would be quicker to run to the Ship Inn and then run straight back to work from The Gardens. It meant a way longer warmup and a shorter warmdown but what the heck.

Today was 5 mins, 4 mins, 5 mins, 4 mins with 30secs standing recovery. I like these longer efforts, I feel the strength and endurance from the long runs really kick in, especially for the last couple of reps. That said I busted a gut coming home in the final 4 minute one only to find ... you guessed it, we didn't stop at 4 minutes. Pat made us continue on up the hill and around the corner, how could I forget that he always does that to us. It really hurt!

I've finished work for the week now and so have decided to do my long run (35k) tomorrow. Its going to be tough on my own, I'd better get some really good music happening on the iPod.

Virtual Visit

Pat's today was in The Gardens and started off with 2 mins fast, 30 sec jog, 1 min fast, 20 sec jog, 2 mins fast, 30 sec SR. Then turn around and go back the other way doing the same thing.

Heading back on the second set I spotted this tall dude in brand spanking new 6ft Track top watching on. It was Brendan (CR Virtual)! He'd messaged yesterday to say he'd be in Bris so I let him know details of the session. He missed the start but found us after asking a passing cyclist up near the Story Bridge and he was able to tell him exactly where we were :-)

Anyway, he joined in for the rest of the sess. Which was great as I was ready to slack off a bit but pushed myself so I could hang in with him.

After the last two minute effort we had to run fast 2 1/2 minutes out and turn and run straight back for the same amount of time. Or so we were told. Of course Pat made us add a little extra on the end to finish at the cafe.

Brendan sure has recovered well from his 98k on Saturday, I'd love to know how he does it. If I wasn't struggling to breath I would've asked him :-)






I picked up my new orthotics later in the day. Al the Pod recommended alternating them with the old ones for a week or so until I get used to them, and to use the old ones for my long run this weekend. I couldn't wait to test drive them so hit the bike path this arvo for an easy 5k.

They feel a little different but comfy. And they are lighter than the old ones. After paying for them so is my wallet.

Monday Music - 12th March 2007

Heywood Banks - Yeah Toast

I downloaded this song some time ago. It was on my playlist for my run this morning and I decided that it was so good I just had to share it. Funny, it reminds me of someone I know .... but I just can't think who it is ;-)

The song itself was recorded live on some comedy show, hence the (slightly annoying) laughing in the background. Seems like lots of people have made videos to go with it. It was a hard job choosing one.

One Uncrowded Hour

On day shift today (7am start) and so was up and at 'em early to squeeze in a short recovery run before work.

It was still dark when I hit the bike path just after 5am to do the South Bank loop (10k). It was pretty deserted out there, just the odd runner and cyclist. And there wasn't a single car at the Ship Inn, the same time other days that's premium parking space. Wierd. Though I guess Monday is a rest day for many. It wasn't until I was about 3km from home that it seemed other Brissos were finally awake.

I was only travelling around 5:30 pace but after such a big weekend of running and with the humidity at 94% that was plenty fast enough for me.

A 50k Weekend

It was straight from work to The Ship Inn again on Saturday morning. I was a tad tired so wasn't sure how far or how fast I'd be going, all I knew was I'd follow the podiatrist's advice and avoid hills.

We all headed out New Farm way, and Kate, Helen and I settled nicely into a decent pace, not slow but not so fast that we couldn't talk :-) Helen turned for home at NF Park while Kate and I continued on to Newstead before heading back. Around the 20k mark Kate decided to slow down a little. I was still feeling good so forged on along and just ran back doing a loop of the Gardens and other stuff to bring up a total of 30k averaging 5:16s.

Although I was totally knackered at the end I was rapt considering how tired I was before I started and that the run was done on no fuel before or during the run, just water.


*****


As yesterday wasn't quite as far as I wanted for my long run I thought I'd back it up with a longish one today. After getting to bed a bit late I slept in until 6am and after much stuffing around it was 7am before I was out the door.

At the end of The Gardens I bumped into Lizzle and some of the Gale Force mob so turned and ran back to Chalk Hotel with them. I stopped for about 15 minutes for a chat and lots of cold water before running back home, doing a Story Bridge loop in the process. All up around 20k. Not sure how long it took (no watch), it felt to be close to 6 minute pace.

I thought it was hot and humid yesterday, it was nothing in comparison to today - the mercury had hit 30 degrees by the time I finished.

It was a big weekend of running. Still, I'd like to have cranked out 35k+ in a single hit. Might have to do that next weekend, though that means sacrficing 'racing' the BRRC Half Marathon. Canberra is more important I guess.

We We're On A Break

My workmate Tom is in training for the Gold Coast Half and has done a few evening speed sessions with the Run Inn. But mostly he has been running on his own. We were on night shift last night and things were pretty quiet at work around 5.15am. So I thought I take the opportunity to squeeze in another PCRG session for the week and dragged Tom along. It worked out perfectly, we were back in the office before 7am ready for our shift handover.

On the agenda at Pat's was 4 x 2 minute efforts and 4 x 30 second efforts, with 30 second jog recoveries. As always what's on the agenda isn't all that's on the agenda. Thinking it was the last one I busted a gut for the final 30 seconds only to discover that we had to do more - a 1 minute out and 1 minute back. He always does that to us, how could I forget!

Tom was rapt with the session. We would have been pretty much neck and neck except for the fact that my recovery jogs were quicker. Unfortunately he noticed this. I was hoping he would think I was just really fast :-)

Missed It By 'That' Much

Being the Thursday after our monthly TT on the pgm at PCRG was a light 50 min run followed by the no-watch 1k. I was after something a bit tougher and so moved to the front of the pack straight away and hung in there with the fast guys. We turned around at the 27 minute mark and it was a PB of sorts for me, its the furthest I've got before turning around in one of these sessions :-)

Heading back Jonesy and I had a quick water stop while the others continued on, they picked up the pace as well and got away from us.

We hit The Gardens only to see the crowd already running down the pathway for the 1k thing. Seems today we were supposed to turn around after 25 minutes, not 27 - whoops! We kept the same pace as earlier going, bar speeding up in the last 50 metres. Did the last km in 4:29 and Pat called 5 minutes as we crossed the line, so we were only 31 seconds late.

I was more than happy with that run. Not counting the warm down it was a bit over 11k averaging around 4:35 pace.

Re the foot, it was a little achy before we started but not while running except on a couple of sharp turns. It hurt for a little while afterwards too but is okay now. I'm still banking on it just a tendon thing.

Podiatry 101

Saw the podiatrist yesterday and he said the foot/ankle injury was hopefully just a flexor tendon or retinaculum strain. If not then was likely to be a stress fracture of the navicular or talus.





He gave me a stretch to do a couple of times a day and said I should resume normal training including speedwork - yay! But to totally avoid hills for at least the next week - double yay! The tell tale sign of a stressie would be pain when running and/or pain when inactive, and so I've got to take note of all that before seeing him again next Tuesday.

He's making me new orthotics, the existing ones are over 4 years old and may have contributed to the injury. They are the 3/4 length ones and as they are getting worn out, he wonders if the left one was slipping a bit. My new ones will be full length.

I went for a test drive this morning. Clairie was planning a steady 12k from The Regatta, that sounded perfect to me. If my foot did start hurting and I had to stop I wouldn't be too far from home. It was a great morning for a run, and was especially nice when the rain started.

A couple of kms from the finish I had a tiny bit of pain but nothing too drastic. Whew :-)

Canberra training will resume with a vengeance!

Monday Music - 5th March 2007

Maia Hirasawa - And I Found This Boy

This is the debut single from Maia Hirasawa, a member of Swedish band Hello Saferide. I first heard it about a month ago when checking out one of my favourite music blogs. Its the story of a one-night stand love affair gone wrong between members of two Swedish bands.

Of this song the author said "Sometimes you get a special song that you want to scream about from the rooftops. But you can't. I wish there was some way to take a regular blog post and somehow broadcast it to the world, instead of just to one a little corner of it."

Maybe now its reached another little corner :-)

Train Wreck

It was a 5am start at The Ship Inn on Saturday. I was hoping to do 38k but would be happy with anything over 35k. It was going to be slow too, and hopefully on no fuel. Thankfully a few of us, including Mat and Clairie, had the same idea re the pace - we were just under 6min per km. And I carried a gel and $20 on me just in case the old 'no fuel' thing didn't work and I needed to stop for a Powerade or Coke or a hamburger with the works along the way.

On the gravely track around the UQ (8k or so in to the run) I stopped and got rid of a tiny stone from under the tongue of my shoe that was annoying my foot. Minutes later I had to stop again as that part of my foot was a bit niggly. I thought maybe there were more stones in there but there weren't. I thought maybe my shoelaces had been too tight, as that's sort of what it felt like, so retied them.

A few kms on we hit some hills, and the pain wouldn't go away. It was worse on the downs. I hoped I could run through it but at our water stop just over the Indooroopilly Bridge I realised that even running on the flat wasn't good. It was 17k in, not even close to what I wanted, but I thought it best to bail rather than risk further damage.

We weren't far from Indooroopilly station. To get back to South Bank I had jump a train there and then switch at Roma St - luckily I had that money on me. I got more than a few stares from my fellow commuters. It was such a humid morning, I was totally drenched in sweat and so couldn't even sit down and hide.

I rang my pod as soon as I got home and made next available appointment, tomorrow at 1.30pm. I'm sure its nothing serious but with Canberra less than 6 weeks away I'm not taking any chances.

No Need For Speed

Went to Pat's again this morn. The session was the same as yesterday - 2 x 1500m plus 2 x 500m. For me today my plan was to just try to run a particular pace, not bust a gut but quicker than 'steady'.

I settled nicely into 4:30 pace. Rather than stop for the 45 second recovery after the first rep I headed straight back. With about 400m to go I siddled up beside James and suggested we chase down Gary. So we both stepped it up a gear. James managed to get him before the line, I couldn't though! My time for the 3k was 13:20. After a 40 second standing recovery its was the 2 x 500s, again with no rest in between for me. Time 4:25.

Although for me it wasn't a true 'speed' session it was well worth going along. If I'd run on my own I would've just plodded. So I'll definitely be making the effort to get there on Fridays more often to do something similar. Besides the training benefit its nice to catch up with the Friday crowd, for some of them its the only day they go.

New Kid In Town

I wasn't expecting any flash results at Pat's this morning. Yesterday's steady 21k took it out of me a bit so I didn't push it too much.

We had 2 x 1500m followed by 2 x 500m with 45 second standing recoveries. My times were 6:17, 6:22, 2:08 and 1:59. Even though my times were way off what they should be I was pretty content, especially being able to bring in home strong in that last 500m.

Joining us this morning was Carol, Steve's friend from Japan ... well, from the UK via Japan. I reckon she'll fit in with our mob quite nicely. Thanks for sending her over here Steve :-)