Weekly Summary

82k this week and still no real progress with the Baby! No long run this week as I had to stay close to home just in case things happened - it's really tough just waiting for something that just doesn't seem to happen.

Sessions of note were a solid 20k run Wednesday morning in 1:35 - felt really good and time would have been faster but slowed to warm down pace over the final k or so. Speed session was a struggle again, I really don't think I have my speed legs yet as I just don't seem to be able to get any rhythm at all. Might cut the 1k reps to 500m when I start again just to try and ease into it.

IM Marathon this week but the baby still hasn't come so unsure what will happen. Starting to get really concerned as I need to be in Bunbury on Thursday to register and then friday is the race briefing. Baby really needs to come before Wednesday or I'm in real trouble. Till then we just wait and pray that it will all work out ok.

Weekly Summary

Much better week this week with some quality session in the bank. Managed 106k and felt good throughout. Speed Session on Thursday was tough with the wind but still did ok. Did my first track session in my 24hr prep for next year - a solid 20k at PL. Will continue to do this once a week for the remainder of the year and then pick up my track running.

Long run this week was awesome out in Serpentine NP. Some massive climbs (about 3 or 4) and I took them all slow and steady having not done too many hills lately. Felt real nice to get some tough trails done and I'm sure I'll be back out there again in the future. Total time of the run was 2:51 - so about 30k, then another 5k with the dog when I got home.

This week is an unknown as the baby is due on Friday (hopefully earlier). Still hoping for around 100k and certainly not tapering for the IM marathon. Only problem is that I HAVE to be down in Bunbury on Thursday 3rd Dec to register for the IM and then Friday morning for the Race Briefing. If the Baby is late - then I have a serious problem. Here's hoping everything is on time and there is no problems.

Nate

Speed Sessions

Finally got out for my first speed session in about 8 weeks and I decided to get serious and take a gps and a can of spray paint to mark out some acurate 1k and 2k markers. I have been using a rough 1k course for a while but after gps measuring it turned out to be only 910mtrs! All those sub 3:30 1k reps I was doing 2 months ago were actually closer to 3:40, which is significantly slower. My 2k course was also short by about 90mts. Dissaponting but at least I now have an acurate course to train with.

Howling winds and it being my first session in a while prevented fast time with my 4 x 1k times being 3:48, 3:56, 3:47, 4:01. On the second and 4th k there was about 700mtrs running straight into the wind so that affect times. With such a slow start I look forward to seeing these times drop significantly over the next few months.

Weekly Summary

Another 100k this week but there wasn't a whole lot of quality there. Struggled with really sore legs and Back from Cricket on Sunday and was essentially running in recovery mode for the majority of the week.

Had a good 40k in the hills on Saturday although my lack of hill training showed over the last 15k and I had to walk some of the steeper sections. Did the first 6k in 29:15 and was feeling good arriving at Kingsbury Rd (23k) in just over 2hrs. From here though the hills got the better of me and things slowed dramatically finishing in 3:50 - about 1:45 for the last 17k. I knew I needed to work on the hilly stuff so I know I'll gain a lot out of the run, as the saying goes 'if it hurts, it's working!'

Finished the week with the Peninsula 10k in 42:xx, not as fast as I wanted but was pretty sore from the 40k and it was my first real speed session in a few months.

The more I think about the IM marathon the more inclined I am to not push too hard. I'm not in good shape so realistically a PB is not on the cards and the temperature could be a big factor. I'm sure things will change on race day but if I could go under 3:30 I would be happy - I'm there for the experience not to PB.

Looking forward to having some better sessions this week

Nate

Back up to 3 figures

Hit 100k this week for the first time in about 6 weeks and it feels good, although quite tiring. Started running in the mornings this week which basically means getting up at 4:30, running for and hour then getting ready for work and leaving at 6:45. It's quite tough but feels good to get the run done early. Trying to get to bed by 8:30 to get some decent sleep.

Hour runs were slower than previous week due to AM starts and taking 20 min or so to warm up, generally negative split though so that was nice. Had my first speed session on Wednesday evening - 2k warm up - 4k in 15:45 - 2k warm down. Not too sure on the accuracy of the course, although I think the laps are 2k but maybe my halfway split is not quite acurate?

Long run was the Kwinana 32k course, felt sluggish for the first 7k and stomach couldn't seem to settle after the weetbix. Picked it up between 7 and 12, reaching 12k in 56:40ish then headed out for the 8k loop. Within 1k I was vomiting on the side of the road as the remainder of the weetbix came up and out. It seems that as I haven't run on a full stomach in about 2 months I can't really handle it any more. Needless to say I eased off for a while and managed to complete the 8k loop in 39:30ish so lost a lot of time here. This meant that I had to run sub 55min for the final 12k to break 2:30 which was my goal. That was going to be tough as it was warming up and meant I needed to negative split this section. Had my first Gu and put my head down, pushing the entire way and eventually stopping the clock at 2:29.56. Very happy to go under 32 for this as I know I'm not in the best form but this showed that I'm still travelling ok. Warmed down with a slow 4k with Tiko.

This week will continue to run for an hour in the morning, except Wed when I'll do a fast 20k in the evening to get some better heat training for the Ironman. Long Run will be trail to get some Six Inch training and addition strength. Also running the Peninsula 10k on Sunday and hoping for somewhere around 40min although unsure as it will be the day after a long run.

All in All feeling quite good about things and hey the Baby could come at any time now so that is very exciting.

Nate

I'm Back

Finally home after over 3 weeks in Malaysia and China and getting ready for a busy few months. Baby due in less than 4 weeks, IM Marathon on Dec 5th and Six Inch on 20th then training really begins for my next 24hr assault.

Managed 61k and 75k/week repsectively in China which was great and a 2hr run during the first week. Much of the second week was at altitude with 2 days in Kunming (1950m), 3 days in lijiang (2400m) including about 2hrs at 3300m, then another 2 days in kunming (1950m). I felt the difference and posted some distance PB's over some well used 1hr courses in my first few days back.

Looking to build the k's and some quality tempo runs over the next few weeks in prep for the IM Marathon. Revised my goal from sub 3hr to sub 3:10 and a pb as I think the midday start will have a large impact. 34k run last week into a howling wind the whole way. Was still running under 5min/k @ 20k then fell apart a little. A combination of the wind tiring my legs, the midday start (I was really hungry and only had 3 gels) and not having run over 2hrs in 3 weeks. Still good to get back out there again.

I would like to alternate long runs between trail and road over the next month. This week will be a 32k road run(with hills) and the plan will be to run sub 5min/k by as much as possible. Next week I'll head bush for about 40k.

Also want to do the Peninsula 10k next Sunday to get a bit of speed in the legs.

Nate