Sick! (...again)

Well I'm not a happy camper today.

Last weeks virus seemd to be settling - ran Tue, Wed, Fri - with periods at MP.

Woke sat with cracking headache, left upper tooth/cheek tenderness and now a thick discharge from left side of nose - - Sinusitis. I've gone straight onto antibiotics, decongestants and saline nasal spray in an attempt to stop it in it's tracks. Unfortunately the average duration of sinusitis is 7-10 days and noe of the above measures have convincingly been shown to reduce that duration.

My gut feeling (?delusional) is that I'm still a 75% chance of running, most likely with a reduced target, but I hold out some hope of a rapid recovery and sub3:20 run. If it wasnt for the left side of my head, I actually feel quite good, but my resting HR is up a bit.

I'll play this weeks training by ear - hopefully three 10k easy runs just to keep the blood flowing so to speak. Either way I'll still go to the carboload dinner on Friday.

Part of me says 'theres always Rottnest later in the year' and the other part says 'I've spent 6 months running to get here, nothings going to stop me finishing'

Can only wait & see.

Sick!

Well the decision whether to run the Lake Monger 10k was made for me - came down with a viral infection on Friday. I tend to get one each year in early winter , then stay immune despite ongoing exposure.

Felt like death warmed up yesterday and overnight, but starting to come good today - wont run til tomorrow though.

So it will be a long taper, not necessarily by choice. I'd only done 30k Mon-Fri, planning a 25k saturdayy and 10k recovery today.

But I'll resist the temptation to make up the distance - stick to 50-60k this week with a 15k effort on the weekend, then 30-35k in the final week.

Will do the 3 day carbo load, and am working on my drinks plan. Entry form says something about getting drinks externally not being allowed - was going to have Dad hand me some at a couple of points. Might drop some off early to be on the drink stations and have him have some just in case I dont find mine on the table. I also think I'll cut down from my 600ml size bottle to a childrens juice type bottle, and use more. Gel strategy will also be thinking about - will take 3 I think - 1st halfway, second 30-45 min later, and a third if needed for the last 30 min. Finally the ipod - might try to borrow my sisters nano to use as its less bulky than my mini, and better battery. I've run well without ipod recently , but remembering the return straight next to the freeway, music may be necessary to push me through.

If any of the Perth guys who read this are interested in catching up for a pasta meal on the Friday or saturday, let me know. Wife is out of town and some conversation may ease my nerves.

Freo Half !!!

Quiet week training - 10k runs each of Tues to Fri, mixed sessions including two Progression runs up to 5k pace. HM today with some warm up made 65k week only.

Was jumping out of my skin on Sat night, full of nervous energy, even though I haven't really focussed on this one. Freo HM was my first race last year after 6 months training, keen to see improvement in 12 months.

Woke 5:15, wholemeal bread and honey, nervous stomach. Arrived 7am, realised I didnt bring a drink so jogged down the road to get a powerade. Ran with Pattstrap first km but came loose. Shin (anterior comp.) Pain first 6km gradually settled. Started too fast (as always) 3:59 then 4:11, 4:14, 4:15, 4:25 for 21:06 5k. Stayed a bit slow next 2km then was challenged by a few runners and went back to 4:15s to halfway. Dropped powerade at 7.5k to pick up on the way back. Ran faster and smoother without - may need to change my drink strategy in the mara.

Halfway 44:09 and I was thinking 4:25s would get me back in 1hr30. I was spurred on by Widi passing me and had a very even paced13-19k at 4:15s. Didnt quite sprint the end but was amazed to see 1:27:40 at the line. My Garmin showed 20.68kms and I was expecting to just dip under 1:30.

Not sure how short it was but cant believe I had a 1:27:xx in me - aims of maybe 1:32 seemed to fit my form.

Great to see TB out and about again (not that I recognised you without the standard top and cap) - not challenging me this year thanks to his injury woes but pushed through impressively.

So now- Lake Monger or not? How many kms - 65/55/35?What to aim for the Mara -3:20 pace? Some thinking needed this week.

1-5k 21:06
5-10k 21:30
10-15k 21:24
15-20k 21:14

Good Week

Nice to have a week where things go right. New Garmin arrived and is working already much better than the old one - seem to pick up satellites better. Ran in skins in cold&rain successfully. No injuriy problems.

90k week (including a planned 10k recovery tomorrow). This included 2xMP 10km sessions, a threshold 1k intervals session and today a35.2km long run at 5:15min/km average, faster than my usual long run pace and again with the middle 10k being over hilly terrain in Bold Park. It was a fairly evenly paced run, last 5k being the fastest.

Next week should be the last full on training week before a gradual taper over the final 3 weeks.