What can I say, just a bad day really. Originally I booked in the 6hr race to be a practice run on the track for the 24hr in April. I wanted to see how my body would hold up on the surface. My race went to plan for the first 90 minutes churning out about 19k and feeling comfortable. Then the problems started, my inside leg began to get sore and it became obvious that it was suffering from the constant curve of the track. After 2hrs I began trying to compensate with my other leg and that too became quite sore. We changed direction after 3hrs but by this time it was too late and my legs were shot. I was demoralised as I knew I was running well, none of my injury concerns were an issue and despite running the same pace as my training runs my legs were gone after just 3hrs. To make matters worse I had worked my way into 2nd at the halfway point only to completely fall apart.
Walking the last 75 minutes was a time to take stock and try to process what had gone wrong. I could have pushed through the last hour but oculdn't see the value in it given the 24hr is just 5 weeks away.
So what have I learnt? Well, the biggest challenge in the 24hr is going to be the curve of the track. The race will change direction every 3hrs but it's no good if my legs can't get through 3hrs in one direction. I need to work on this - I'll begin doing at least 1 session per week at Perry Lakes (provided I can get in to use the track) and another session in Secret Harbour which has a 450mtr loop around the oval that has some good curves. If I can get used to running the bends then I'll perform better at the 24hr.
I'm trying to look for positives and I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it again. I know that 13k/hr is sustainable for 4-6hrs and on a more familiar course I would've been able to hold it. I know now what to work on and I have 5 weeks to do it. I will also need to have a detailed plan of projected lap times and distance calculations for the 24hr so that I can go slower and be confident of achieving my goal.
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.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Feeling pretty good
At the airport in Sydney and about to fly to Melbourne tonight. It's just started pouring with rain and apparantly the weather is similar in Melbourne (or at least it will be tomorrow). Went for a 1/2 hour run yesterday around darling harbour with kate and it felt good - a little sore but nothing too bad. Not feeling overly confident of going over 70k but that might be a good thing. 8am start tomorrow so it'll be an early morning and a late night but i'll download my thoughts of the race on Monday.
Doh! Just heard that the tar mac has just been closed so flight will no doubt be delayed. This could get messy!
Doh! Just heard that the tar mac has just been closed so flight will no doubt be delayed. This could get messy!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March Week #1
Week started well with 3 days of solid training, although I've had a niggle in my calf since last Saturday's run and it didn't appear to be getting better. It felt like a slight strain and after realizing that I couldn't run it out, I decided I needed to rest up and get it right for Coburg this weekend. Thursday and Friday were complete rest days and I didn't go for a run until Saturday evening but after 4k I thought I should stop. The calf soreness was still there and running wasn't going to help it. Played Cricket on Sunday Arvo which was a nice way to get some exercise without too much running. I was only planning on a 1 week taper for Coburg but it will end up being 10 days, so I'm not too concerned.
Not sure whether I'll run at all this week or not, priority # 1 has to be getting the calf right for Sunday. Went for a 45 min walk this morning to get some exercise in and will do the same every morning this week. If I start to feel better, will throw in some 30 min runs
Not sure whether I'll run at all this week or not, priority # 1 has to be getting the calf right for Sunday. Went for a 45 min walk this morning to get some exercise in and will do the same every morning this week. If I start to feel better, will throw in some 30 min runs
Monday, March 2, 2009
Feb Week #4
Another week done and dusted!
Picked it up to 172k this week with some quality session in there as well. Another solid speed workout on Wednesday evening with 6k in 23:45. I run these without a warm up so the first lap (2k) is generally slow and then the challenge is to try to get under 4min/k for the run. Lap times were: 8:22, 7:48, 7:35. A good run also on Thurday evening, getting through my 12k loop in 54 minutes allowing a nice slow cooldown jog to make the hour.
Ran with Mick and Dave on Saturday for a nice swift 50k. Started at Peachy rd and ran up the heritage trail to Ash road and back for 50k. The run up the hill took 2:08 and the return leg in 1:57ish to finish in 4:05. Wanted to go closer to 4hrs but happy with that given the first leg was so slow.
backed up with 20k on Sunday morning and felt good throughout. On a downer I dislocated my finger at cricket on Sun arvo which has provided some pain in the last few days. Went for a catch and the top 3rd of my little finger was bent back to about 45 degrees, managed to pop it back into place almost immediately so not too much damage done. It is pretty bruised and swollen but doesn't affect running too much, I haven't missed a session so I am happy with that.
Only 1 more week of training to go until a 1 week taper for Coburg 6hr. Coburg 6hr Goals: 1. Run 70k 2. Run more than 70.8k to get the Official AURA 25-29 Age Group record 3. Run more than 72.4k to beat the Unofficial AURA 25-29 Age Group record (Peter Gray ran this in 1991 when he was 27 but without any official documentation the record remains unofficial. I was told by AURA records secretary Dave Billet that if I beat 70.8k then I would be credited with the record).
Time will tell
Picked it up to 172k this week with some quality session in there as well. Another solid speed workout on Wednesday evening with 6k in 23:45. I run these without a warm up so the first lap (2k) is generally slow and then the challenge is to try to get under 4min/k for the run. Lap times were: 8:22, 7:48, 7:35. A good run also on Thurday evening, getting through my 12k loop in 54 minutes allowing a nice slow cooldown jog to make the hour.
Ran with Mick and Dave on Saturday for a nice swift 50k. Started at Peachy rd and ran up the heritage trail to Ash road and back for 50k. The run up the hill took 2:08 and the return leg in 1:57ish to finish in 4:05. Wanted to go closer to 4hrs but happy with that given the first leg was so slow.
backed up with 20k on Sunday morning and felt good throughout. On a downer I dislocated my finger at cricket on Sun arvo which has provided some pain in the last few days. Went for a catch and the top 3rd of my little finger was bent back to about 45 degrees, managed to pop it back into place almost immediately so not too much damage done. It is pretty bruised and swollen but doesn't affect running too much, I haven't missed a session so I am happy with that.
Only 1 more week of training to go until a 1 week taper for Coburg 6hr. Coburg 6hr Goals: 1. Run 70k 2. Run more than 70.8k to get the Official AURA 25-29 Age Group record 3. Run more than 72.4k to beat the Unofficial AURA 25-29 Age Group record (Peter Gray ran this in 1991 when he was 27 but without any official documentation the record remains unofficial. I was told by AURA records secretary Dave Billet that if I beat 70.8k then I would be credited with the record).
Time will tell
Monday, February 23, 2009
Feb week #3
Brought up the 1000km for the year this week, which is a nice little boost. Week started well with a couple of morning runs but then the tiredness caught up with me and ended up sleeping in on Wednesday and Thursday. This meant that I was forced to do my 20k run in the evening heat which wasn't nice and I struggled towards the end. Through in a speed session this week (tue pm). 3 x 2k building up, lap splits were 9:10, 8:10, 7:46. Not a real fast hit out but more than I usually do, was nice to clock a 7:46 on the last lap which felt good.
My through the night run on Friday didn't come off and I bailed @ 20k, luckily I have an understanding wife who came and picked me up :-) Decided to take Saturday off completely to recover somewhat, although I had to work. Went for a nanna nap at 6pm Sat night for 20 minutes and woke up at 8:30pm! So I got up, had a drink, said good night and went back to bed!
Up again at 3:30 Sunday for the postponed long run. Headed down to Mandurah along the rail trail and felt ordinary. Funny thing is that onceI arrived in Mandurah (32k) I started to feel good and decided to go for 50k rather than 40k. Made it back to the train station in 4:16, for what I estimated was 48k, then just another 3k home from the Rocko station to make it 50 with a bonus K if I needed it! Total time was 4:30 for 50k - not the quickest run but I was running strong toowards the end which is the main thing. Ended the week with 162k again.
Oh I almost forgot, after 50k Sun morning, we had the under 30 vs Over 30 Church T20 cricket game in the Arvo. I am the <30 captain so had to play and it was great fun. A couple of stumpings in the field then 30 with the bat. SHould have made more but took on the field 1 too many times and was run out - Doh! Ended up loosing again, dropped catches and misfields cost us and it was always going to be tough chasing 171 for victory in 20 overs. We we all out for 113, which although better than last year was still well below par - Considering Dave and Myself put on 50 for the first wicket. Next year
My through the night run on Friday didn't come off and I bailed @ 20k, luckily I have an understanding wife who came and picked me up :-) Decided to take Saturday off completely to recover somewhat, although I had to work. Went for a nanna nap at 6pm Sat night for 20 minutes and woke up at 8:30pm! So I got up, had a drink, said good night and went back to bed!
Up again at 3:30 Sunday for the postponed long run. Headed down to Mandurah along the rail trail and felt ordinary. Funny thing is that onceI arrived in Mandurah (32k) I started to feel good and decided to go for 50k rather than 40k. Made it back to the train station in 4:16, for what I estimated was 48k, then just another 3k home from the Rocko station to make it 50 with a bonus K if I needed it! Total time was 4:30 for 50k - not the quickest run but I was running strong toowards the end which is the main thing. Ended the week with 162k again.
Oh I almost forgot, after 50k Sun morning, we had the under 30 vs Over 30 Church T20 cricket game in the Arvo. I am the <30 captain so had to play and it was great fun. A couple of stumpings in the field then 30 with the bat. SHould have made more but took on the field 1 too many times and was run out - Doh! Ended up loosing again, dropped catches and misfields cost us and it was always going to be tough chasing 171 for victory in 20 overs. We we all out for 113, which although better than last year was still well below par - Considering Dave and Myself put on 50 for the first wicket. Next year
Monday, February 16, 2009
Feb Week #2
Back into training this week and happy to log another 160k+ week. Was fairly sore from the half for the first few days but struggled through. Starting to really suffer time wise, just too much on outside of running that makes fitting in sessions really tough. Have resolved myself to the need for changes next week to reduce the stress.
Wednesdays 2hr run was possibly the toughest training run I've EVER done. When I arrived home @ 5pm it was 40 degrees, I had something on at Church @ 7:15 so needed to leave ASAP to get the session in. First few k's were ok and I had a quick (3 seconds) cold shower at Waikiki Beach. After this point things got tough. Temp hadn't dropped much and the breeze was hot, I was still running at a good pace - maybe 12.5k/hr. Another shower at Warnbro Beach (10k) and another at Port Kennedy Beach (13.5k). Once I moved away from the beach things got worse, temp rose, I was dehydrated and soon lost all kick in my legs - I was in survival mode. During the last few minutes I was deliberately running through any sprinklers I found to provide some relief. In the end I made it, barely and resolved never to do it again.
A solid 30k on Saturday morning before going to work, was comfortably under 5min/k so happy with that. Sunday was a 40k with no real time goal at all, just wanted to log the k's. 1:48 at halfway and managed a 1:37 on the return leg and felt stronger the longer I went. Really happy that the last hour was faster than any others. Total k's for the week 162k and closing in on the 1000k for the year. Bring on next week.
Wednesdays 2hr run was possibly the toughest training run I've EVER done. When I arrived home @ 5pm it was 40 degrees, I had something on at Church @ 7:15 so needed to leave ASAP to get the session in. First few k's were ok and I had a quick (3 seconds) cold shower at Waikiki Beach. After this point things got tough. Temp hadn't dropped much and the breeze was hot, I was still running at a good pace - maybe 12.5k/hr. Another shower at Warnbro Beach (10k) and another at Port Kennedy Beach (13.5k). Once I moved away from the beach things got worse, temp rose, I was dehydrated and soon lost all kick in my legs - I was in survival mode. During the last few minutes I was deliberately running through any sprinklers I found to provide some relief. In the end I made it, barely and resolved never to do it again.
A solid 30k on Saturday morning before going to work, was comfortably under 5min/k so happy with that. Sunday was a 40k with no real time goal at all, just wanted to log the k's. 1:48 at halfway and managed a 1:37 on the return leg and felt stronger the longer I went. Really happy that the last hour was faster than any others. Total k's for the week 162k and closing in on the 1000k for the year. Bring on next week.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Feb week #1
AHHH a rest week. It was nice not having to drag myself out of bed every morning to go running and even nicer not having to go out for too long after work. Was feeling great on Tues so ended up doing 1 hr and then a good run Wed with 2hrs (24k). Basically still wanted to get good runs on Wed, Sat and Sun just cut down the k's in between.
Went down to Busso on Saturday morning for the 1/2 marathon. Thought it would be a good chance to run well being during a rest week and substituted the long run nicely. I wanted to go sub 1:30 again and was really looking forward to running with Mick and Michael. Started well and I wanted to stick with Mick as long as possible and then hold on in the later stages. Michael and another guy took off quick and a group of 5 runners formed the chase pack (myself included) 1st km in 3:48 and 2k in 7:34! I thought, "this is insane, I'm never gonna hold this pace!" but I decided to just roll the dice and hold on as long as possible. At 3k Myself and another guy dropped about 10 meters off the pack, but were still running strong. At the 5k turnaround I was about 20 meters off the pack and by 6k I was still feeling good but around 50mtrs behind. I decided to surge and try to get back on which I did at 7k then sat behind for a while. Kept thinking I would clip the guy in front so I ran out wide and suddenly found myself on Mick's shoulder. I decided to go to the front and do my bit and the next time I glance sideways I noticed I was alone. Going through the 10.5k turnaround I noticed I had a 20mtr lead. Ran strong over the next 5 and by the final turnaround had maybe 25mtrs on Mick so tried to surge again which went well for 3k then I started to have a few stomach issues and slower over the final 2k. I was running scared and managed to hold him off by about 40sec to come second and achieve a lifetime goal which was to break 4 min/km for a half (although it was 3:59/k I'll take it!). A little disappointed there were not prizes for 2nd/3rd considering there were about 100 spot prizes but I had an unexpected 4 min PB so I was happy.
Sunday's run went well with a nice 20k fairly comfortable to log 90k for the week. Looking forward to a good week this week although hopefully the scans on Wed ahow good news for my foot. No issues over the weekend so looks good, now we just wait and see.
Went down to Busso on Saturday morning for the 1/2 marathon. Thought it would be a good chance to run well being during a rest week and substituted the long run nicely. I wanted to go sub 1:30 again and was really looking forward to running with Mick and Michael. Started well and I wanted to stick with Mick as long as possible and then hold on in the later stages. Michael and another guy took off quick and a group of 5 runners formed the chase pack (myself included) 1st km in 3:48 and 2k in 7:34! I thought, "this is insane, I'm never gonna hold this pace!" but I decided to just roll the dice and hold on as long as possible. At 3k Myself and another guy dropped about 10 meters off the pack, but were still running strong. At the 5k turnaround I was about 20 meters off the pack and by 6k I was still feeling good but around 50mtrs behind. I decided to surge and try to get back on which I did at 7k then sat behind for a while. Kept thinking I would clip the guy in front so I ran out wide and suddenly found myself on Mick's shoulder. I decided to go to the front and do my bit and the next time I glance sideways I noticed I was alone. Going through the 10.5k turnaround I noticed I had a 20mtr lead. Ran strong over the next 5 and by the final turnaround had maybe 25mtrs on Mick so tried to surge again which went well for 3k then I started to have a few stomach issues and slower over the final 2k. I was running scared and managed to hold him off by about 40sec to come second and achieve a lifetime goal which was to break 4 min/km for a half (although it was 3:59/k I'll take it!). A little disappointed there were not prizes for 2nd/3rd considering there were about 100 spot prizes but I had an unexpected 4 min PB so I was happy.
Sunday's run went well with a nice 20k fairly comfortable to log 90k for the week. Looking forward to a good week this week although hopefully the scans on Wed ahow good news for my foot. No issues over the weekend so looks good, now we just wait and see.
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