A good week

Not a bad week this week with 127k done after the HM last weekend. Had a few easy runs early in the week and my attempt at a speed session was fairly average mainly because I was still sore from the half. 8 x 400 w/ 200 float done in 20:05 (4.8k) so not quick but it was my first real speed session in about 7 months. Was lapping in about 90s.

Thursday's 17k was great, running to netball to watch Noah while Kate played. Got to the court (8.5k) in 37:05 which I was happy with and then just an easy run home in 41:xx. This will be a regular session I think so I look forward to reducing that time in what will be a true tempo session.

Sat long run was a shocker. Worked all day and was on my feet for most of it. Arrived home just after 6pm and left about 6:30. I hadn't had a lot to eat but was trying to drink plenty of sustagen during the early stages. Ran to the track and found it had to get going and my stomach wasn't feeling great. As the sun went down I decided that I didn't really feel safe running around a public oval in the dark in a dodgy area so put the foot down and focused on knocking out 20k on the track then head home and off on a trail run. I was so exhausted that by the time I got home (26k) I knew I had to eat something. Sat down for 25 min and wolfed down some food and then headed out for another couple of hours. The last 21k wasn't my best running but I survived to finish the 47k in 4:26 (not including the break). Backed up with 10k easy the following day.

I want another 130k+ week this week then a taper for the 12hr of 30min a day. Will look to do a lot of circle running this week to get some last minute prep for the 12hr. I want a minimum of 100k during the 12hr and really I'd like to post 110k+, but I'll just try and keep moving and see what happens. Details for the week are below

Rest week/Taper

I felt I needed a rest week after a pretty solid 3 weeks and that was good as it coincided with the Busselton 1/2 on Sat. A few shorter runs during the week and a good run in Kings Park on Wednesday morning. Had an average race on Saturday, started right on pace for the first 5k and held a good pace to half way. I just seemed to fade over the last 10k and couldn't really get going as the legs felt pretty heavy. Finished in 1:26.15 which is 2 min down on last year.

I decided to have another rest on Sunday as I had to work in the morning and I know the next 2 weeks will be pretty big leading up to the 12hr race on the 28th. It's getting darker in the mornings now so it's that much harder to get up at 4:30 now, just gotta push through. Weekly log is below:

Weekly/Monthly Summary

129k this week so my biggest of the year (by 2k) so far. Weekly runs were fairly non-eventful although I seem to be getting faster in the mornings which is good. 14k with Dave on Tuesday was tough but felt stronger for it. 60k long run at Perry Lakes was good. First 10k in 52:45, 2nd in 50:30, then eased off a bit to save the legs. Struggled at about the 40k mark and wanted to stop at 50k, Dave told me I had run the 10k between 30k and 40k in 50min, which may have contributed to me feeling bad. I slowed down and that seemed to help, finished in 5:59.30, would have been about 1 minute quicker but a blister burst with 3 laps to go which was pretty painful. Happy with the way I handled the track, although I need to remember to run slower.

535k for the month is a solid start to the year and a 5k and 10k race kept things interesting. I'm feeling stronger and seem to recover well from the long runs which is a good sign. Feb will be a big month with Busso Half marathon and 12hr race, can't wait. Detailed training week below

Weekly Summary

A solid week with 4 good 15k runs during the week with the last one done slightly quicker (1:07). Rest on Friday and then 56k long run on Sat. Ran to Perth and then along Stirling Hwy to Cottosloe Beach for a swim and breakfast at C-Blue. Felt good covering the first 11k in 1hr and then once I hit the Freeway I picked up the pace. Eventually reaching the Narrows Bridge (45k) in 4:04. Eased off a bit after that as I didn't know how far it would be to Cottosloe but ended up covering 56k in 5:10 - and the swim was awesome!

Sunday I drove up to the Matilda Bay 10k and was tossing up whether to do the 4k or the 10k. Kept chopping and changing my mind and then I found myself running straight past the 4k turnoff so my decision was made. 4k in 16:36 then struggled for the next 3k before putting in a finishing kick with 2k to go. Ran 4:15 and 4:00 for the last 2k so happy to finish in 42:45 given the run the day before. I'll have to rock up fresh to one of these 10k runs one day!

Aim is for about 50k on the track this weekend with Dave before heading to the Ultra Seminar. Feeling really tired although getting 7hrs sleep a night (Friday was only about 5hrs), just all the early mornings are killing me so might have to schedule a PM run this week and sleep in till 6am one morning (as opposed to 4:30). Weekly Training log is below

11th-17th Jan

New Ultra in WA

I can finally confirm that I am holding a 3/6/12hr track race on Sunday 28th Feb this year at the Ern Clark Athletic Track in Cannington. This is basically to replaced the 6/12hr race that the Bunbury Runners Club held until a few years ago.

Details can be found on the WAMC Message Board and Coolrunning or just PM me. The 12hr will start at 9am, the 6hr at 3pm and the 3hr at 6pm.

A New Year!

Well another year is here and with it comes a new set of challenges and goals. My main focus for the first 6 months of the year is to get some consistent training done in preparation for the National 24hr track championships in Brisbane on the 20th June.

This year I will do lots of racing with the WAMC (mainly shorter events) to give me some speed and racing practice. I think this will help strength and condition my body for the major goals I have for 2010. So what are those goals? Well they cover a broad range of distances
5k - Sub 19:00
10k - Sub 40:00
21.1k - Sub 84:00
42.2k - Sub 3hrs
100 mile trail - Sub 24hr
24hr track - 200k+

Major races on my calendar are as follows
Busselton half - Feb 7
40 Miler
Bunbury 50k
National 24hr (Brisbane)
Dwellingup 100 mile
Six Inch
This is just the major races, will be racing every second week or so with the WAMC for shorter races and may do some half's and marathons in their as well. Sub 3hr goal I hope to achieve at Bunbury 50k. Also trying to get a 3/6/12hr race started up late Feb at Coker Park. Was originally going to Coburg 6hr but decided that I really wanted something over 100k so the 12hr is the way to go.

Training wise I want to be more consistent this year and not look to push things to fast. Last year I ran over 2000k in the first 4 months of the year and only 2000k in the next 8 months, so injury took its toll. I just completed a 110k week with some quality sessions and will be looking to post 120k this week and probably hold that for the rest of January. I don't really want to go much past 150k/week before the 24hr. So long as I am getting some good long runs in (50k+) I should be fine. Much more training will be done on the track this year.

All in all very excited about this year. After a shocker in 2009 I have learnt a lot about myself and training. I feel better prepared to tackle the 24hr distance now (although I need some training) than last and I'm still convinced I have my best running ahead of me. Bring it on!

Nate