Dusk To Dawn, Winning A Watch, Nursing A Niggle

Picking up from where I left off two weeks ago ...

Thu 7/2 - 4k w-u then abt 10k at av 5:04 pace at PCRG steady run.

Fri 8/2 - PCRG. 3 x 2 mins and lots of 1 mins.

Sat 9/2 - 17k at easy to steady pace.

Sun 10/2 - ran in Gale Force relay team at Caboolture Dusk to Dawn. 3 hrs from 3am until 6am. This was going to be my long run and so wasn't going to race it. Due to severe sleep deprivation (maybe 30 minutes all night) was doing it tough for the first two hours, running at about 5:40 pace. Once the sun came up I was able to lift my game and the last half hour or so was around 4:40s. Did 33k in the 3hrs (total of 34.5k including w-u and w-d).

Weekly total - 114k



Mon 11/2 - easy 8k recovery run.

Tue 12/2 - 13k incl PRCG which was a mix of shorter efforts (1min, 30sec, 15sec). This was the third last session where Pat was giving away a watch (started mid December) and I finally had my name drawn out of the box - thanks Celeste :-) And Pat!

Wed 13/2 - a very lazy 10k in the arvo. Afterwards I had a slight niggle in the adductor/groin.

Thu 14/2 - tired from work so took it easy at PCRG. Sess was 2 x 3min then turn around and do 1 x 4min, 1 x however long it takes to get back to the start. Plus 4 x full GC hills. Niggle still just a niggle.

Fri 15/2 - same PCRG format as Thurs but went 100%. Did 4 1/2 hills :-) New push up PB post run - 45. Niggle still a niggle, though as the day wore on it got worse.

Getting cheered (or maybe jeered) up the hill by Matty

Sat 16/2 - the groin/adductor thing wasn't too good, it hurt a little to walk. Thought I'd front for the long run and see what happened. Running faster there was no pain, slower running there was a bit. Called it a day after 20k.

Sun 17/2 - pain still there so rested.

Weekly total - 77k



Mon 18/2 & 19/2 - rest. By Monday night I was virtually pain free but took Tuesday off just to be sure.

Wed 20/2 - all better ... if not I'd soon find out. Ran a bit over 18k averaging just under 5 min pace. Lots of PCRG-ers out and about on what was a great morning for it.



So feeling okay again after that little scare. Today's run, although at a solid pace, wasn't too stressful at all. Suppose three days off helped in that regard :)

Plugging Away

The momentum continued with another solid week, though I was a bit tired on a couple of days.

Still in Sydney on Monday. Did an easy run from Annandale to the bay, a lap, then back. 12k all up.

Tuesday at PCRG I think Sunday's 38k finally caught up with me and so wasn't firing on all cylinders for the sess. Still, did my best for what was a mix of 1min and 30sec efforts plus a hill rep.

Wednesday was back to Coot-tha - took it easy this time.

Thursday at PCRG was 1k, 500m, 1k, 500m, 1k with a 45sec SR. Times were 3:55, 1:56, 4:00, 1:55, 4:09. Died on that last one but was rapt with the rest. My best session of the type in months.

Friday at PCRG was the same as Thursday, though I held back and just ran at 4:10 pace. Felt easy :-)

Saturday was 30k at around 5:30 pace.

Sunday I did 18k at a sendoff run for Stevie, who's been a PCRG member for a few years. He left to go home to NZ on Monday. Clairie and I can remember his very first session, we both said to eachother "this guy's gonna be so much fun!". We were right. He really is such a special guy, always so positive, and encouraging, and good for a laugh etc etc. We're gonna miss him :-(

Weekly total - 112k

Sneaking a drink from the BRRC water table during Stevie's run


So far so good this week ....

Monday - easy 5k. Unfortunately I managed to miss the rain which meant it was warmish out there.

Tuesday - 3k TT at PCRG. Goal was 12:20 but wondered if I could do it considering the rain, those massive puddles we had to run through make for very heavy shoes. Ran the 1st km in 4:07, the second in 4:06, and put the foot down to run 4:03 for the last one. Total time - 12:16. That was my equal best in 14 months :-) Finished off with a push-up PB of 40 (previous best was 36).

Wednesday did 20k with 5k easy then 15k averaging 5:03 pace. It was a bit humid out, I lost 1.5kg in sweat!


I've decided to skip this weekend's Caboolture 6hrs. I'm worried about how long it would take to recover from properly and thus resume normal training. And if things continue on the way they are going now, I reckon I can do a 50k PB in Canberra. Hope so anyway.