January is almost over and although the 3rd training week was a little down (100k) I was still happy with the quality of some of the sessions. Main reason for the k's was I only managed 2hrs on Saturday as Kate was on a retreat and I was looking after Noah, who was sick. After easing back into it on Monday and Tuesday this week, I discovered that the Bunbury Runners Club were holding an Australia Day 5/10k on Wednesday. I was already in Bunbury and decided to run the 10k instead of a tempo run for the week. The goal was to go sub 40 and I wanted to be conservative in doing so. I have never broken 40min in a 10k race (although I have during a HM) so decided to go out at 4min/k and then kick at the end to go under. After getting stick at the start behind some very inconsiderate 'Runners' I was happy to go through the first k in exactly 4:00 and held this pace nicely to get to 9k in 36:00. A strong finish and I ended up finishing in approx 39:45. Very happy with the race as I went perfectly really and was a good solid hitout in preparation for the Busselton half in 10 days.
This will be my final training week before a decent taper leading into the half at Busselton, where I hope to go close to 84:00.
I am a 27yr old ultra runner from Rockingham WA, married to Kate and we have a son called Noah. I run because I have a passion for it and I find freedom in pushing the limits of my ability.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
First 2 weeks done
'Train hard and race easy' a little mantra that the African runners live by and I really like. At the moment I'm in the 'train hard' phase and I can tell you that it is HARD!!! I've just completed the first 2 weeks of training in 2011 and I feel like I need a rest week already. 110k and 111k respectively so the k's aren't incredible but still it's been hard yakka with some good quality mixed in there. I've been doing 3 quality sessions a week with a track session on Tuesday (400's), Tempo run (6k 2 4min/k) on Thursday and then Long run on Saturday.
The week just gone I was showing some real signs of fatigue (and probably suffering a little from the heat). Track session at AK was tough with the 400's being 3-5sec slower than usual, but is was about 35 degrees! Tempo on Thursday was a disaster, definitely the worst tempo I've ever done. First 2k in 8:06 and I started to think I might be in trouble. Again it was well over 30 degrees and the course was extremely windy. When I hit 3k in 12:09 I knew I was gone. Struggled home to finish in 24:48 (4:08 pace) and almost a full minute slower than last week. Not too upset after the run, they can't all be good sessions and I have a feeling I was still struggling from the track session on Tuesday.
Long runs at the moment are alternating between a long slow distance (40-50k somewhere below 6min/k) and a shorter, sharper effort (30-40k somewhere below 5min/k). After last weeks 44k, this week it was time to get some speed on. Got up at 3:30am on Sat and was back in bed but 3:40am, I was so tired and figured I needed some more sleep. Long Story short was I started my run @ 10:15am!!! Plan was to go about 35k at a decent pace. I decided that because I was running in the middle of the day I wouldn't push the pace early but just work into it. Got to 3k in 13:45 and couldn't believe I was running that fast as I felt like I was just cruising. I decided to check my pace using the bike path markings which are very accurate and it turns out I was consistently running 4:40's or just below. I was running into a slight headwind so the heat wasn't a factor. My 10k between 3k and 13k was 45:56 and I knew I was in for something a bit special. I turned around at 1:21 (which I calculated was about 18k) and set about the run home. Tailwind made it pretty hot and I struggled to push the pace over the last 10k or so. This was probably a combination of the heat, pushing hard early, and the fact that I did the run on a single gel. Filled my handheld bottle twice over the last hour (about 1lt) and finished in 2:44.23 for the 36k. Very happy with the run and the time and even happy to park myself in front of the airconditioner when I got home.
All in all, I'm happy with the first 2 weeks of my year, slowly building up the k's and getting in shape. I'll have another 2 solid weeks before kicking off my year with the Busselton Half Marathon in Feb.
The week just gone I was showing some real signs of fatigue (and probably suffering a little from the heat). Track session at AK was tough with the 400's being 3-5sec slower than usual, but is was about 35 degrees! Tempo on Thursday was a disaster, definitely the worst tempo I've ever done. First 2k in 8:06 and I started to think I might be in trouble. Again it was well over 30 degrees and the course was extremely windy. When I hit 3k in 12:09 I knew I was gone. Struggled home to finish in 24:48 (4:08 pace) and almost a full minute slower than last week. Not too upset after the run, they can't all be good sessions and I have a feeling I was still struggling from the track session on Tuesday.
Long runs at the moment are alternating between a long slow distance (40-50k somewhere below 6min/k) and a shorter, sharper effort (30-40k somewhere below 5min/k). After last weeks 44k, this week it was time to get some speed on. Got up at 3:30am on Sat and was back in bed but 3:40am, I was so tired and figured I needed some more sleep. Long Story short was I started my run @ 10:15am!!! Plan was to go about 35k at a decent pace. I decided that because I was running in the middle of the day I wouldn't push the pace early but just work into it. Got to 3k in 13:45 and couldn't believe I was running that fast as I felt like I was just cruising. I decided to check my pace using the bike path markings which are very accurate and it turns out I was consistently running 4:40's or just below. I was running into a slight headwind so the heat wasn't a factor. My 10k between 3k and 13k was 45:56 and I knew I was in for something a bit special. I turned around at 1:21 (which I calculated was about 18k) and set about the run home. Tailwind made it pretty hot and I struggled to push the pace over the last 10k or so. This was probably a combination of the heat, pushing hard early, and the fact that I did the run on a single gel. Filled my handheld bottle twice over the last hour (about 1lt) and finished in 2:44.23 for the 36k. Very happy with the run and the time and even happy to park myself in front of the airconditioner when I got home.
All in all, I'm happy with the first 2 weeks of my year, slowly building up the k's and getting in shape. I'll have another 2 solid weeks before kicking off my year with the Busselton Half Marathon in Feb.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A new Year
Well I've been getting back into training this week after a few weeks of little running (although 50hrs of paving has kept me in good shape!). Struggled on the first 1hr run of the year because it was so hot, but seemed to have hit my straps now heading towards the end of the first week. Speed sessions also kicked back in this week with a disasterous track session on Tuesday. Managed to get through 4 x 400 with a 200m float recover @ an average of about 85sec, up about 2-3 seconds from last time. Could only manage 2 x 400 after that before my stomach went and I headed home. Although I didn't complete the full session I'm still happy with it.
Tempo run last night was great. Haven't run hard since Six Inch and was not expecting much, however I managed to run 23:50 for my 6k course to go sub 4min/k. The course isn't real friendly (2k square loop, very windy and 2 U turns) so really with happy with that. I'll stick with 6k for the tempo next week before increasing to 8k the following week. Sub 4min/k will remain the target time.
Long run tomorrow will be 40k+ how much depends on how I'm feeling. My next major race will be the 40 miler in April so I have about 10 weeks of prep time but am keen to get back up to 50k Long runs ASAP.
I'm looking forward to a big year in 2011, not big in terms of distances, but rather consistency and quality performances. My goal races at this stage are:
40 Miler - April
Kep 75 - June
Dwellingup 50 Miler - September
Six Inch - December
Marathons, halfs and others races will fit in around these 4, but in the mean time there is lots of training to do.
Nate
Tempo run last night was great. Haven't run hard since Six Inch and was not expecting much, however I managed to run 23:50 for my 6k course to go sub 4min/k. The course isn't real friendly (2k square loop, very windy and 2 U turns) so really with happy with that. I'll stick with 6k for the tempo next week before increasing to 8k the following week. Sub 4min/k will remain the target time.
Long run tomorrow will be 40k+ how much depends on how I'm feeling. My next major race will be the 40 miler in April so I have about 10 weeks of prep time but am keen to get back up to 50k Long runs ASAP.
I'm looking forward to a big year in 2011, not big in terms of distances, but rather consistency and quality performances. My goal races at this stage are:
40 Miler - April
Kep 75 - June
Dwellingup 50 Miler - September
Six Inch - December
Marathons, halfs and others races will fit in around these 4, but in the mean time there is lots of training to do.
Nate
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