Another Good Week

Another good week this week, cracking 100k for the first time since February. 4 Solid 1hr runs and a 30min run during the week had me well poised for a good total. After 2 weeks of fast long runs, decided to head for the hills for some strength and endurance training. Ran the 40k from North Dandalup to Kingsbury Rd return 40k in 3:45. I have a feeling some re-routing has made this run more like 41k and it is probably the hilliest 40k on the Munda Biddi. Felt good throughout, struggled up some of the hills but still ran the entire way, pretty much and even split so didn't slow down at all. Was planning on a negative split but the knees started to get a little sore hammering the downhills so eased off for the last 12k or so.

With 360k done in the last 4 weeks (80, 90, 90, 100) it is time for a rest week. I pulled up pretty sore after the long run this week so a rest week should do me good. Will continue running through the week but probably no long run as I'm heading to Geraldton on Saturday for work. Will focus on getting some speed in the legs this week in preparation for the Perth Half in 2 weeks.

Great to be stringing some good weeks together.

Build-up Continues

After setting new goals for the year the training continues for the City to Surf Marathon. Another 90k week last and I am starting to see some real results. Decided to be conservative during the week as I pulled up a little sore from last weekends running, so only managed 43k. I've transitioned to morning running again as things too busy in the afternoon with feeding and bathing Noah. So my days now begin at 4am when I'm up and out the door in 15 minutes.

A sleep in on Saturday saw me up at 6am and off to attempt another solid 32k run in Kwinana. Wasn't really expecting to beat my 2:25 from last week but wanted to go close. From the outset I was trying to make up time wherever I could. 12k in 54:28, then my 8k loop in 35:40ish had me 2min up on last week. I had run 52:45 for the final 12k last week so I knew that it would be tough to beat that. Pulled out something special to go sub 50min for the final 12k to finish in 2:20.07 for a massive 5 minute PB. Absolutely stoked with the time as I was on track for a 3:02 marathon on a fairly hilly course. The 3k warm down was tough as I'd really pushed it towards the end.

Pulled up fairly sore on Sunday and just ran an hour recovery to finish the week with 90k. Looking to crack 100k this week with a longer run out in the hills to get some strength and endurance.

Nate

A Renewed Vision

After an injury hampered 3 months I am finally back running well. I have decided that I need to not run anything over 100k for the next 18 months and work predominantly on my speed over shorter races (marathon to 100k). I am really enjoying running quicker at the moment and focusing on the City to Surf Marathon at the end of August, hoping to go sub 3hrs. Things are progressing well and I am happy with my speed and endurance.

After the City to Surf marathon the rest of the year is pretty solid with the Dwelliingup 50 miler (80k) at the end of September, Fremantle Half Marathon and Rottnest Marathon in October, a few shorter races in November (5k, 10k) and then the 6inch Trail Ultra (46k) in December. Looking forward to posting a few PB's between now and the end of the year.

Training-wise I am almost up to 100k/week which is where I want to be for the next 5-6 weeks. Long runs are up over 30k again with last weeks 32k completed in 2:25.08 and then a 3k warm down (35k in 2:40). Excited about the rest of the year and will be posting updates regularly.

Nate

A Change of Plans

After a slow week last week with only 54k and still feeling sore on Sunday I have decided not to run the nationals in June. I simply won't be ready and the last thing I want is another disaster like last year. Caboolture 24hr is now my focus although at the moment I'm probably only about 70% chance of running it.

This quad soreness is taking some serious time to heal and I am taking a complete week off this week to try and speed things up. Bunbury 50k is also out of the question as I really just want to get back into some decent training and racing will just set me back even further. April will be a complete right off with only about 150k, but I'm hoping that by resting now I will be able to resume training in May - giving me almost 3 months to get ready for Caboolture.

On a separate note, Dave ran an unbelievable 223k at Coburg last weekend to book himself a spot on the Australian Team for 2011. There are now 5 runners with 220k+ distances in the last 12 months so the team is filling up fast and the standards are sky rocketing. I can't run 220k at the moment, I feel that 210k would be my limit if I had a good race so I'm certainly not expecting to make the team any time in the near future. 200k remains my goal for the year, I just hope I can get back into training soon. The up side is I get to focus some more time on completing the first unit of my Masters, which is certainly much more intense than a bachelor degree.

Nate

Slowly but Surely

Recovery is going well, although taking longer than expected. The problem turned out to be some deep tissue soreness in my quads and that means massage - painful massage. Dave tendorized me a few times last week and I have had a few goes on the massage roller. Seems to be helping as I managed 54k last week with 2 x 1hr runs on the weekend with minimal soreness. Will be doing 1hr every 2nd day this week with a 1/2 hour in between. Pulled up a little sore after yesterdays hour in my left quad sore punished it with a rolling pin for an hour or so. Seemed to work well so might keep doing that.

I am confident that I am slowly on the mend, but I will need to focus on working my quads for the next few weeks. So long as I keep massaging them, they should come good eventually and I can continue to build up slowly. Bunbury 50k is the next race however I need to get at least 2 x 50k training runs done before I'll race it. Not going to do anything that might jeopardize the 24hr race now. I made the decision last week that if I don't feel 100% ready for the Nationals in June then I have the option of skipping them and aiming for Caboolture instead, which is about 5 weeks later. This decision will probably need to be made by the end of May.

In the mean time I'll just continue to do what I can, run every day and massage, massage, massage.

Nate

Still recovering

80k last week and started to feel a bit better towards the end of the week. No long run, just ran every day and sometimes twice a day. I am really wishing I hadn't done any speed work the other week as I seemed to be recovering well until I did that session. 40 miler is now definitely out of the question.

Went for a 15k run today and quads were sore by 9k and slowly became worse even though I slowed to what felt like 6min/k. This is really getting beyond a joke now! with barely 300k in March and still not back to any decent training I have starting to think that my 24hr prep is going to be affected. I mean I haven't run over 3hrs in 5 weeks since the 12hr so strength and fitness will be suffering. I can't believe this might be happening 2 years in a row.
Not happy right now!

Long Road to Recovery

Haven't posted in a while, work has been pretty busy and I haven't really done much to be honest as I am still trying to get over the 12hr race. 15k the week after the race and then started to build again with 83k the following week including a 2hr run on the weekend, which I pulled up really sore from. Ankle seems so be recovering well but I just get so sore during my runs. Last week I thought I was getting back on track with a couple of great 15k runs, one of which was 1:07.40 (32:26 second half). I think this actually made things a lot worse as I was sore the following day and sore during my 3hr run on the weekend.

I will be unlikely to start in the 40 miler now as I know I won't be ready to race the distance and if I'm not racing, I don't see the point. It will probably just take another few weeks to recover and that will seriously affect my 24hr preparations. I have just done 2 x 10k runs this week and although I am pretty sore after them, I am confident of gradually getting over the soreness.

I suppose the up side of taking so long to recover is that I and really looking forward to getting back into some good training. The first 3 months of the year have been quite solid and I should end up with roughly 1300k at the end of the month. This gives me a solid base to work with and then really pick things up over the next 8-10 weeks.

Nate