Six Inch Trail Marathon 2012

Back to the Six Inch for my 5th run - a pretty tough day out there

My preparation had been a bit limited - a 3 week holiday largely on a cruise ship meant I mainly did 1 hr runs (struggle to go longer on a treadmill), and then in the 2 weeks on return thought it best not to try to catch up long runs that late. That meant my last 20k plus run was a couple of months ago. So I tapered a little and knew I was probably going to struggle even more than usual towards the end.

Up at 2am, off at 2:30, race start 4:30. the thermometer said 16 degrees at the start but there was a fresh breeze chilling that down and I think it was only about 21 at the end, so heat wasn't an issue.

Despite a bigger field (near 200), the 5k uphill start meant that people spread out quickly. Gerry/Chris/Todd went out togather, then a solitary 4th (?James Roberts) and then a 5th-8th group including myself. Behind us was Big Kev and his cadre.

 Things moved along pretty well to the 23k station, with only one near wrong turn. I knew at this point though that I was going to struggle later. I pushed through the station and decided I'd take a walk and gel going up the steep conveyor belt hill a couple of km later. 1hr 43 at half way - a bit quicker than last year, but that had included 5min getting lost.

I fell to 7th here, but found myself briefly back to 5th & 6th at oakley Dam where they took a wrong turn. They quickly gapped me again and I was going pretty slowly - aiming to hold off Big Kev & Brett at least until the second aid station (34k).

Just like last year they caught me at the station. last year I decided to really push myself and stayed with brett to eventually come 2nd. This year the same thought passed my mind, but also did my wife's suggestion that I not 'kill myself' this year. I took her wisdom on board and let them go (in retrospect I would have been competing for a podium spot had I tried to stay with them).

The last 10k was really just jog/walk territory. I did enough to keep Jockster at bay behind me  -I did see him about 300m behind with 2k to go and knew I was safe where I was.

I came through the finish in about 3hrs 47 min - a couple of minutes behind last years time. I thought I was in 9th. I was a bit surprised not to see any of the top finishers around, and as a friend had kindly come to pick me up I didn't stay around and chat.

Subsequently I found out 5 of the first 6 runners went the wrong way and were disqualified -making james Roberts (3:32), Big kev (3:38) and Brett the top 3. I ended up 4th officially. Looking on facebook quite a few others went the wrong way.

I think this is a bit of an issue for the event. Whilst it started as a 'fat ass' event with a handful of runners who were expected to navigate themselves, now it is much bigger, and people are paying a decent entry fee, I think more needs to be done in terms of signposting. There were several points where there really should have been an arrow on the ground (and had been in previous years) to alert people to the right route. Despite having a GPS, if you are racing and following someone, you're unlikely to stop, let them go and check your GPS.  A decision probably needs to be made whether the event remains small and navigationally challenging, or gets bigger and has better signage. To be honest I'll still run it either way, but i really feel for those who deserved to be on the podium and weren't.

John Gilmour track 10,000m

Last weekend I was in Newcastle for the weekend for work, and ran in the local Parkrun 5k. It wasn't the fastest course with some gravel path and a bit of breeze, but I was a bit disappointed with an 18:00 (second place).

This dropped my confidence/goal pace for the 10k track race last night. 

B'Man kindly offered to pace me for the first 6k, and Craig D did my lap counting (especially useful after my Garmin fell off my wrist on the first lap). The conditions were perfect - little breeze to speak of. The field was down on last year though, with only 15 in the sub 40 race.

I felt alright other than having a large bread roll in the car driving to the race from work, which threatened to come back up for most of the race.

The plan was to run 87/88sec per lap, but predictably wasn't quite so even

I started out 82 then 84 then several 86 second laps. B'Man let me go for the first 3 laps or so before pulling in front of me and doing a great job of pacing me - far enough ahead so i wasn't worried about catching my feet on him but when he got more than 5m ahead pulled back a little.

B'Man stopped at 6k at which point i had to knuckle down. I was about 50sec ahead of 37:30 pace so thought I'd concentrate on running 90 sec laps then push in the last 3 laps to get under 36:30. This is pretty much how it eventuated, I didn't have anyone to run with but focussed on those who lapped me or those i was about to lap to keep the attention going. I kept all laps under 90sec (just) and pushed the last 2 to finish in 36:23

i never lost form and this given me confidence that a sub 36 is still there for the taking in the right setting - might even run at the Fremantle 10k race next weekend.

Thanks again to Simon and Craig. Roberto won in under 32min and lapped me 3 times, second place lapped me twice. Ended up 7th overall. Next year this race moves to Challenge, so much closer to home but potentially much windier.

Still Here

Thought I'd quickly post an update - if for no other reason than to offer congratulations to Biscuitman, Trailblazer and DB for great efforts in the Melbourne Marathon and to Clown for toughing it out in Berlin despite injury.

I've been in maintenance mode for the last few weeks - running about 100k per week.

Last 4 Tuesday pm's I've run intervals (solo) down at AK reserve - hoping to add a bit of speed for a 10k PB tilt at the John Gilmour track event in early November. Paces are similar to last year when I did some track sessions - although I suspect if I can convince someone to run with me I can shave a few seconds off.

I almost came to grief due to laziness when I missed entry to the Six Inch trail marathon - which sold out much earlier than I expected. Luckily I put my name on the cancellation list and managed to get an entry. This will definitely be a time goal race  - no repeats of my past podium positions, with Gerry Hill, Todd Ingraham, Tom Bakowski, Scott hawker and Liam Fuery all running and likely to fill the top positions - I think I'll be fighting for 5th-10th with the mid-packers - Brett Coombes, James Roberts, Nathan Fawkes, Kevin matthews,John Pendse, Dan Macey.

Beyond that, I still would like to try some shorter track races before deciding on marathon goals for 2013. I had intended on Perth being the one, but noting Biscuitman is targetting Canberra, this might be something to consider. We'll see.

It must be something about the weather this time of year that makes me start thinking about buying a road bike and entering an ironman or 70.3 triathlon. I still think it might be something I'll do eventually, but for now I think I've got a few minutes to shave off my marathon time first.

Perth City To Surf 2012

12k event, 45:25

I've not done a great deal of training since the marathon, and was therefore perhaps a bit hopeful to think i could repeat last year's 44:30 for this one.

I had a quiet week lead in, no injuries and niggles, and start on the startline in beautiful conditions, feeling fine.

headed out fairly hard, but at the time didn't feel ridiculous. Was sitting 50m behond DB for quite some time, and Biscuitman caught me at 5k, stayed with me til 7k and then pulled away. at this point I needed to go to the well for some strength, and found nothing there.

After getting to 8k in 29:16, things went pretty bad with kms of  3:58/4:03/4:14 before some redemption with a 3:35 final km.

I guess the day shows again that you reap what you sow in distance running.


From here, as usual at this time of year i'm a bit mixed in my motivations - might try for a 10k PB on the track in October, will likely look for a PB at Six inch Trail Marathon in December, and there's always the lure of trying some short track races in the summer season, although in previous years I've never followed through with that.

Add in a last minute tight loss in my dreamteam preliminary final, and it's not been the greatest day!

Perth Marathon 2012

We'll start with the good news - 2:50:54 by my Garmin - 7 minute marathon PB and 10 min PB on this course

It was an unusual taper for me.
2nd last week was about 80k including a 20k sunday run with Rob in light rain
Final week 40k 4x10k with a little (3k) MP in a couple of them.

Physically things were all tickety-boo, but psychologically it was a bit of a shocker. First up we lost both internet and TV in the storm and didn't get them back all week - despite daily reassurances from Telstra that things were fixed. This reminded me how addicted I am to both (clearly TV is the opiate of the masses)

Secondly i had a crazy work week including saturday morning and then a couple more hours in the afternoon. Finally I had a puncture driving to work on Thursday and after changing it in the rain spent the rest of the day trying to catch up on the waiting room queue.

Sadly there was not the traditional pasta dinner on Fri night - had a prearranged dinner at a tapas restaurant - barely a carb in sight, and a little too much wine to calm my frazzled nerves.

In the end I calmed down after a sat pm coffee with Rob and a quiet pasta at home.

Race day, had slept OK and felt pretty good in the morning.
Rob & I decided to run together at least initially, but fairly early on he was having some issues, and I found myself ahead of the BigKev/Jockster group.

I went past the 10k marker in 39:15 which i felt was OK, perhaps a few seconds fast.
I ran pretty much the entire race alone - this is a pattern for me and I'm not sure if it's luck or subconscious preference, but it is what it is.

20k marked 79:25 so 40:10 for the second 10k
Half way was 1:23:35 from memory, so pretty much where I was hoping to be.

I'd dropped off drinks, had 2 gels on me and had gels taped to drinks at 30 and 36k. I did pretty well finding them, only the 36k one I missed but luckily still had the second one in my pocket and took it then. First gel was at halfway and second at 30k.

About 24k I developed a stitch (or more of a stomach cramp actually) and this upset my breathing as i tried to get through it. it did clear after about 5 min, and my pace had slowed a little here. At halfway I noted i wasn't too far up on the BigKev group, and at about 26k Steve Mundell passed me, with a somewhat faster km split as I tried to keep in touch.

20-30k Garmin split was 40:42 (wasn't concentrating on marker times at this point)

i was initially concerned re the wind on the frewway section as it had been pretty blowy early on, but things had quietened down by then. Luckily I had someone to catch 100m ahead of me from 31-33k and then another from there to the narrows, getting me through the drudgery of this section.

At 36 I knew it was going to get tough. I slowed to 4:10s for the last 6k, and ran out of people to chase/pass. One quick look behind didn't show anyone in near pursuit. The 30-40k garmin split was 41:17

I was pleased to at least push on after a poor record on this course, but did and passed though the finish just inside 2:51.

Overall I'm very happy with the result even if it wasn't quite the sub 2:50 aim.

Most importantly thanks go out to Biscuitman who accepted the challenge of coaching me. I know it was the increased mileage and medium long runs in his training plans which saw me break out from my run of 3hr marathons to a whole new level. i've never been one to like being told what to do, but his approach seemed to be just right for me. Secondly thanks to Rob as a long run training partner and long term yardstick of my performance. Really sorry to see you have to pull out early today but of course there are bigger fish to fry in Berlin (I think they eat fried fish in berlin)

2 weeks to go & Lake Gwelup Fun Run

1st taper week of 118k - shows how my perception of mileage has changed this year - previously this would be peak mileage.

Mon am 10k recovery @4:44 - tired legs from race
Tues am 16k - supposes to be with 5x800m at 5k pace but only managed 10k pace with legs still heavy
Tues pm 10k easy @4:42
Wed am 21k medium long @4:42
Thurs 12k with 8x100m strides
Fri 11k easy - legs feeling normal again
Sat 28k@4:19 with Simon & Rob - did the last 5k@4:05s - felt good
Sun pm 10k easy@4:40

Monday Public Holiday (now 'WA day') Lake Gwelup Fun Run
As noted last year, this is the fun run of the primary school near my practice, and the site of my only funrun victory (last year). There is some pride involved, although this year I was feeling a little cautious not to injure myself.
Legs felt a bit flat after still a 118k week and a pm run yesterday.

Ran out a bit more controlled than last year and found myself 5th at halfway, but just in 3rd when 2 of them veered to the 3k finish. A long way in front was Sam Maxwell - one of the orange singletted young runners seen at the front of perth's big funruns. he was clearly a class above me, finishing a minute ahead. I pushed into second early on the second lap before hitting the traffic of the one-lap walkers - I seemed to run into more of them this year, as well as having to contend with some trash talking by one of my teenage patients! Despite this i was never challenged by those behind me a cruised into second place in 22:02 - 5 seconds faster than last year (although my pace was much more even this year). i did have a little skirmish with the race officials at the finish - at the end of the first lap we were supposed to grab a black wristband from an official to prove we didn't chest and run one lap. Unfortunately I didn;t grab mine properly and it fell to the ground - this was just the time i was making my move and I wasn't about to stop and go back to get it. At the finish they didn't want to record me as finishing - in the end this might have been better as I sat around for an hour and a half to collect a certificate.(Perhaps a hanson moment on my behalf)

Now for a bit more tapering - 89k week with only a 3x1600m quality session and some strides.

HBF Run For A Reason 2012

Really enjoyed today's race - nice to have a race which isn't a priority - takes the pressure and nerves out of it.

I had a light week in leadup - partly as programmed and in part due to a hectic working week.

Monday 10k recovery
Tuesday am 16k with 6x1200m intervals. Didnt use the interval function on my garmin, but intervals 2-5 were 4:14 or about 3:32 pace. I jog recovered the first 3 and standing the next 3

Tues pm 9k recovery
Wed pm - 12k@4:20  - after a frustrating day at work with a very early start preventing a morning run, this was a hilly circuit around Bold Park hammering some of the hills to work off the frustration - seemed to work!

Thurs am 16k@4:40
Fri am 12k recovery
Sat am rest

Sunday - 3k warmup, 7k cooldown, 14k race

I arranged a preferred start this year, and it was definitely worth it. no standing still for 30 mins in a corral.
I set out with the aim of keeping in touch with B'Man, and achieved it, getting to 4k in 14:12 and passing/gapping him here. i felt good other than some shin soreness I often get early in shorter races.

Garmin lost the signal under the tunnel, but i kept pace here, struggling a bit mentally into the wind with noone nearby. Km pace here slowed to 3:45s, and i passed the 10k marker at 36:50.

Interestingly I was pretty much exactly the same pace to this point as last year's race, but went 20 sec faster in the 10-12k section, and finished a bit faster at 3:34 pace for the last km. i managed to hold off B'Man and also Lauren Shelley - the leading woman.

Overall it was a pleasing effort off marathon training with very little faster stuff in the last few months. I felt fresh at the end and the 6k cooldown with Simon then 1k to my car were comfortable, and apart from some calf soreness i've felt good this afternoon.

3 weeks til the marathon - taper week starts counterintuitively with an increase in mileage! (118k after only 100k this week)

4 weeks to marathon

So, 4 weeks to go 'til Perth marathon. It was a bit of a nothing week this week, spent much of it battling gastrointestinal issues unfortunately.

Total 136k

Mon 10k recovery
Tues am 16k with 5x800m@5k effort - pace a bit disappointing, not much different to tempo pace
Tues pm 8k recovery
Wed am 24k medium long run @4:40s approx
Thus off - struggling a bit with the stomach
Fri am 24k medium long run@ 4:30s
Sat am 12.5k back to the hills of Bold park
Sat pm 9.5k recovery in Hattoris/barefoot
Sun am 32k@4:28 solo long run on my old coast/Hale Rd course

This week should see a drop in mileage prior to HBF Run 4 A Reason on Sunday (14k). I'm told I should nail this one! although I'm not entirely sure. I'm keen not to put mental pressure or expectations on it lest it affect my mindset leading into the marathon, so it'll be a 'take it as it comes' scenario.

Two Solid Weeks

A couple of good weeks training since my last post, with confidence a bit higher.

Week 1  -146k
Mon 12k easy @ 4:51
Tues am 16k@4:19 with some fartlek
Tues pm 10.8k@4:28 easy barefoot
Wed am 8.5k easy
Wed pm 18k@4:30 - belated medium long run
Thurs am 10k recovery
Fri am 19k with 11k(7 then 4) tempo@3:52
Sat am12.5k recovery
Sun am 40k@ 4:37 long run with Rob

Week 2 - 134k
Mon am 10k recovery
Tues am 16k easy (mild virus)
Tues pm 11k@4:28 with some barefoot
Wed am 24k medium long
Thurs off
Fri am 24k@4:19 medium long rum
Sat am 12k recovery
Sun am 36.5k with last 18k@3:55 (overall 4:14)

So overall a couple of solid weeks training.
The plantar fascia is OK - tried without taping on one of my easy runs though and paid a price - back to being taped (self taping) 24/7. the rest of my body seems to be holding up OK
I had a little bit of a crisis in confidence last week, but a solid couple of long runs have helped.

Today's long run included 18k finish at MP - ended up being a pretty consistent 3:55 and garmin dying at 16k and unavoidable toilet stop at this point didn't faze me.

Upcoming weeks include the 14k Run For a Reason race in a fortnight and potentially the 6k Lake Gwelup Primary funrun (scene of my only ever funrun victory) 13days out from the marathon.

Race day nutrition was on my mind today - tried some 'Winners' Gels (Coles/Cadel Evans brand) on Clowns advice. They are the most palatable gels I've come across. The carb content is listed as corn syrup solids - which from my reading is the same thing as maltodextrin and not the high fructose corn syrup which is oft blamed as the culprit for the downfall of Western Civilisation. I just need to decide how much gel to use, given I will have carbs in sports drinks I'll leave at each station.

Maybe Confidence Boost

Perth 32k Race today

The plan today was to head out easy and push the second half at MP. Helping resist my urge to go faster early were - moderately heavy drinking night last night, pouring rain in the first 5k, and running with Rob who was suffering some leg pains in the first half hour.

This worked and we reached 10k in 43:15 - around 4:20min/km. Once we crossed the narrows, we passed Nera Jareb and friend, speeding up in the process and running the next 7k@4:10s. At the turnaround about 18k I picked up to 4:00s and ran a very consistent 4:00 pace for the last 14k (fastest km 3:57, slowest 4:02).

Things went quite well in this section, I passed 8 or 9 people and they were fairly evenly spread, giving me something to focus on each time. The effort only became hard in the last 2k, but I think part of this may have been lack of calories in - running with no sports drink and only one gel at 15k.

Plantar fascia was manageable during the race but really quite sore afterwards - i restrapped it with some relief.

Week leading up:
Mon 12k@4:53 recovery
Tues am 16k with 8k fartlek in about 31:30
Tues pm 9k@4:45 recovery
Wed am 23k@4:37 medium long
Thurs am 10.6@4:45
Fri am 14k@4:33
Sat rest day

118k for the week

One advantage of the sore foot (and associated pes anserine pain) is that my recoveries have slowed to be closer to true recoveries.

This week sees a return to 130+km with a medium long, a medium long including 9k tempo and a longer long run with time on feet the same as on Marathon day. 

Pushing Through

I've been fortunate to have a (so far) good recovery from my injury. I decided early in the week to push through, and a change in my taping technique really helped. Having said this, there is still pain with each step, but now it's more a nagging pain, not a knife digging into my heel.

Mon am 13k@4:35 - trying to ward off jetlag, helped by no running 48hrs
Mon pm 10k@4:30 - had turned up at the surgery to do a pm session only to find I'd booked myself off - bonus pm run
Tues am 12k incl 8k tempo (split into 2) - foot actually felt better running fast as I tend to midfoot strike more at that pace - less heel-toe transition and less strain in the arch
Tues pm 8k@4:40 - jogged with Rob prior to his interval session - heel starting to get pretty sore
Wed am 12k@4:40 - sore
Wed pm 8k@4:40 - sore
Thurs am 10k@4:40 - a bit better
Fri am 12k@4:35 - flare after stopping anti-inflams due to stomach pains
Sat am 12k@4:35 - included some strides done the wrong way again (trying to be quick before work)
Sun am 33k@4:34 - met Rob with the intention of holding on as long as i could. Heel pain was a stable 3/10 throughout, bigger issue was the rest of the leg coping with gait change - nasty pes anserine bursa pain for the rest of the day.

So I've done much better than anticipated, and really wasn't too far off a normal training week other than not feeling up to medium long runs.
I've now got some questions to ask re the perth 32k race next weekend, which was going to be a key prep race run at MP. A taper week was planned. Should I just ramp up the mileage and run it as a long run, or a fast finish long run, or still try to run it hard. I'll discuss with 'coach'.

Plantar fasciitis

Timing is a funny thing. After my last post I ran 12k recovery on Monday and a 24k medium long on Tuesday. We were due to fly out wed am so i got up early to do a tempo run. About 4k into the tempo I felt a sudden onset pain in my heel, and over the next 2k it got progressively worse such that I couldn't run. I hobbled home and had to pretty much jump straight into the taxi after showering.

I've had mild PF on & off over the years - pain first getting up, pain in the first couple of minutes running, nothing to write home about. Obviously on this occasion I tore my PF acutely

In the airport and in transit, I could barely walk, and this persisted for about 36-48hrs. I had time at home to throw some local anaesthetic and cortisone into my case, so once in maui I injected some steroid into the PF - I wasn't going to let this ruin my holiday (but it was the most painful thing I've done to myself).

With rest & anti-inflams, the pain settled and on the Friday I did some elliptical and stairmaster at the hotel gym, and on sat & sun some painful 5k walk/jogs - not the oceanside morning run's I'd envisaged.

Beyond my foot, maui was incredible - the Four Seasons far eclipsed any other resort style hotel i've ever stayed at - especially the adults only pool area. In further proof of the smallness of the world these days, Henry/Homo - erstwhile running friend in Perth, happened to be staying at the same hotel at the same time, and recognised me from the other side of the aforementioned pool. (in arranging a time to catch up, he simply said he'd be sitting by that pool the entire day - it was that kind of place).

So if one is going to withdraw from running anywhere, that would be the place. I managed to do some (poor) surfing and standing paddle boarding, but walking and running were still very painful.

After 6 nights of heaven, MaiTais and 3 cooked meals a day, we headed back to honolulu. I managed 3x8-10k treadmill runs here, but still pain with every step unfortunately.

Back on Monday I managed 13k, and this morning 12k - pain no better though (and some problems with other parts of the foot due to altered gait)

Not sure how things will go from here - obviously I've done a lot of reading on plantar fasciitis and PF tears in the last couple of weeks. It looks like there are a couple of scenarios. One is that my acute tear heals within weeks and I go back to normal training perhaps within a month. The second is that the injury becomes chronic and this is a scenario I know all too well from patients,work colleagues and family members who still struggle to run 6 months down the track.

Cross the fingers. Either way my Perth training program seems screwed, will just run what I can and make plans once I am running painfree again.

(looking at the net whilst i was away, it seemed like a time for injuries with B'Man and DB going down at a similar time. Good luck recovering guys)

Another good week

Further increase in mileage this week - 146k a record for me. Same structure as last week - tempo 8k Tues am, medium long runs Wed and Fri am, long run this morning with a 10k fast finish in 39:25 - much easier effort than last time I tried this.

Quads much improved with the introduction of hills again (in my recovery runs) - thanks Simon.

Fridays medium run was a 'flow' or 'in the zone' run which was effortless and confidence building.

Otherwise - I've enjoyed reading some articles on 'sweat science' blog linked to through B'Man via Science of Sport blog - I was particularly interested in an opinion on methods to improve your recovery ( ICE, massage,anti-inflams) might be also reducing your adaptation to the injury and thus reducing the benefits of training. On a personal front I've had several patients ask this week about strontium - which apparently has been shown to increase thickness of knee cartilage (ie reverse early arthritis/degenerative change). the study hasn't been published yet but I can see it becoming the next big thing given nothing else has been shown to do this (other than the limited evidence for glucosamine/chondroitin)

Monday 12.12k 0:56:19 4:39

Tuesday

AM 4.04k 0:18:51 4:40

AM 8.00k 0:30:15 3:47

AM 4.17 k 0:19:35 4:42

PM 8.34k 0:38:17 4:35

Wednesday

AM 23.61k 1:46:01 4:29

PM 5.20k 0:25:00 4:48

Thursday 10.17k 0:48:19 4:45

Friday 23.99k 1:46:41 4:27

Saturday 12.97k 0:59:25 4:35

Sunday 33.63k 2:30:24 4:28

This Week 146.25k 10:59:07 4:30

This week off to Maui then Honolulu total 10days, hope to keep up some easier mileage.

Sore quads

Funny training week this week - suffered a viral gastro in the first half of the week which didn't really affect my running but left me with fatigue the rest of the time, and i had nasty quad soreness persisting all week, which seemed out of proportion to my flat fast finish 30k last Sunday - not sure if the virus exacerbated this.

Monday 12k easy @4:47

Tues am 16k with 8k at tempo (3:49)

Tues pm 7.25k recovery @ 4:41

wed 21.3k@4:29

Thurs pm 10k recovery @4:48

Fri am 21k@4:35

Sat am 14k@4:36

Sun am 31k@4:39

Nothing much to remark on the runs beyond the first paragraph. All were dominated by sore quads but I was able to run through this. This mornings long run with Rob was along part of the Perth marathon course and a nice comfortable pace.

In the end, 132k for the week - getting it done

American vacation

Reduced mileage this fortnight thanks to a flying visit to the US for my brother's 40th and a once-in-a-lifetime wine tasting. Only managed 4x1-12k treadmill runs in my 8days away.

Week 1

Mon am 12.25k @ 4:40 recovery

Mon pm 6.6k@4:51 treadmill recovery

Tues am 16.16k including Mona 5.3k in 20 min, overall @4:23

Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sunday - treadmill runs mainly at easy pace with a bit of MP thrown in

Week 2

Wed pm 18.57k@4:34 - jetlagged recovery medium long run

Thurs am 11.26k@4:35 recovery

Fri am 12.16@4:27 - last 3k MP

Sat am 14.17k@4:26 including 10x100m strides

Sun am 30k with last 10k@ MP (4:00) riverside run with Clown - struggled to hold form in last 3k of the MP section

I know it's only mental, but i feel i've lost some momentum with the trip - need to get back to the plan this coming week

Bought 4 pairs of shoes in the US - 2x Kinvara2, 1x Mizuno Elixir, and a pain of Brooks Pure Flow. The Brooks Pure series is their Kinvara equivalent with very little heel-toe drop but still more cushioning than a true minimalist shoe. I quite like the stability but there is too much of a 'platform' feel to the shoe and a loss of feedback from the ground to foot - Kinvara are far superior for me and I'll keep these for easy and recovery days.

Week 1 Training - Reaching new heights

A very satisfactory start to my formal Perth marathon Program this week - I ticked all the boxes and the body held up well

Monday 12k recovery @ 4:39

Tuesday am 16k with 8k tempo @ 3:49min/k - ran around Herdsman and felt like the correct tempo effort

Tuesday pm 8.3k recovery@ 4:36

Wed am 19k@4:34 medium long run. This was definitely the hardest run of the week - all mental. The whole way I ran an inner discussion about needing to finish early to get to work, and took it pretty much a km at a time to push it out to the planned distance. This was where having a program helped as it was the potential shame of not sticking to the very first week of the plan which kept me out there

Wed pm 7.4k@4:44 - on the treadmill to slow my recovery down a bit (this second run wasn't on the program but i couldn't fit in the pm Thursday planned run)

Thurs am 12k@4:47 recovery - this one felt like a true recovery run

Fri am 20k@4:33 - pleased with this effort around lakes monger and herdsman

Sat am 13.3k @4:36 - did 10x100m strides towards the end of the run. Am I supposed to stop and do strides/walk back or should they just be incorporated as very short fartleks in the run? ( I did it the latter way).

Sun 30k@4:37 - Cott run with DB, Braddles and Chris Letts. felt a bit fatigued and the knee was hurting early on but gradually loosened up and DB&I pushed the pace in the last 5k 4:22/4:16/4:11/4:07/4:04.

Ended up with 138k for the week - my longest week ever. I did the sessions as per the program (planned 126k) with just a few extra km here and there to make that bigger distance.

I know it's probably flirting with danger a bit to increase the mileage that much, but I'm flying to the US early Wed am for a quick one week trip, so I'll have an enforced lower km week to recover.

Increasing the mileage was less of a big change in my week than I'd envisaged, and I'm far more confident than a week ago that i can 'go the distance' with the training plan

Ready to Roll

Last week before the proper training program starts

106k run

Mon 10k @ 4:38 recovery

Tues am 16.4k @ 4:37 - trying to introduce some medium long

Tues pm 8k @ 4:45 treadmill

Wed pm 14.3k@4:09

tried a variation on the marius bakken treadmill workout moving around different paces. I did 1k intervals, no rest - 3:50/4:10/3:40/4:10/4:00/4:10/3:50/4:10/3:40/4:00/4:00 - finishing a continuous 11k in 43:30, warmup and cooldown either side of this without a rest. Session felt pretty comfortable

Thurs am 9k@4:44 recovery

Friday - no run. Indulged in a last round of morning golf before hitting full training

Sat am 18k@ 4:16.

Had intended this just to be a medium long run but one km in I was passed by DB finishing his progression tempo session (10min each 4:00/3:50/3:40 continuous), so I ran 6min at 3:40 pace with him, then slowed again. I was feeling so fresh after a day off that I increased up to MP soon thereafter, and decided to do some more faster stuff - next 4k@3:36 (approx 10k pace), then went back to normal pace to round out 18k

Sun am 30k@4:35

out with JKs Cott group, was run at a very easy pace for much of the run, but DB and Chris letts picked it up a bit from 20-26k gradually from 4:15s-4:05. I kept on for another 4k alone to round out 30k.

I didnt work Saturday this week so I jumped on the treadmill and used the Ipad to video my running. As i have noted before, I stopped wearing orthotics in April last year after having worn them ( and heavy shoes) religiously for the previous 7 years.

The outcome was that I pronate significantly in all shoes, but not that much less in DS trainers and orthotics than in Kinvaras. Some of the others aren't great

LunaRacers - not pretty

Kinvara - better


Hattori
DS Trainer with orthotics
au naturale
DS Racer

think I'll stop doing my treadmill runs in the LunaRacers.

next weekend I'll try from a different angle - perhaps see if the pelvic tilt that the physio berated me about a couple of years ago is any better.

The Invisible Man

I seem to have become the Invisible man of the WAMC. After not appearing on the results sheet for the marathon last year, once again my name wasn't on the sheet for point Walter last week.

On the plus side, Stephen Jones in the M50 category (who happens to have a very similar number to mine), is likely to be very pleased with his run of the same time as mine, after it appears not running for some years.

This week saw the second prep week before starting my full training in earnest.

Monday am 13k @ 4:31

Tuesday am 10k@ 4:38

Tuesday pm 13k incl 10k@4:00 - overcooked this one in the heat, around Herdsman and walked home

Wednesday pm 10k@ 4:45 treadmill - ensuring recovery after Tues pm

Thursday am 13k@4:37

Friday am 11k@4:35

Saturday am 11k@4:35

Sunday am 30k@4:43 - long run, solo initially but came across Laurie & Paul and ran with them from 7-20k, then back home Hale Rd hill alone

111k for the week, all going well. As I hit 24k this morning it hit me that this would be the distance for one of my midweek medium runs pretty soon.

I enjoyed watching B'Man's race videos this week, and then the Sydney Track Classic. I haven't been a great fan of Collis Birmingham in the past - he doesn't seem to have the X Factor that guys like Mottram and Gregson have - but he does look in incredible shape at the moment. Meanwhile John Steffensen - you need to be running a lot faster than 45:61 to get away with talking such crap after the race.

Target: Perth Marathon 2012

This week marked the first 'pre-training week' for Perth 2012

With a goal of sub 2:50, I realised I needed to change something after 2 years of stagnation in marathon progress despite shorter race times improving.

To that end I decided to get some help, and enlisted the assistance of a runner who's training approach and results I admire greatly. For the sake of anonymity we'll call him CookieGuy.

I have 3 weeks before the program begins in earnest - time to get the body accustomed to running 100km a week.

This week was not quite that far - 96k. A fairly insipid Mona on tues pm in 30+ degrees was about the only quality.

Sunday morning I ran the point Walter 16k with Clown in 4:13s. We eased into it then gradually wound up the pace - his hammy seemed to cope pretty well with some time out. i realised this was about as far as I want to run in the Saucony A4s. (4k splits - 17:14/17:03/16:37/16:09)

Hopefully I'll post weekly over the next 4 months.

Monday 10.06k 0:45:21 4:30 Bold Park

Tuesday 20.19k 1:28:42 4:24

5:35 PM Evening 2.58 0:11:53 4:37

5:11 PM Afternoon 5.26 0:20:01 3:48 Mona fartlek

5:00 PM Afternoon 2.26 0:10:23 4:35

6:18 AM Morning 10.08 0:46:25 4:36 Bold Park

Wednesday 11.20 0:50:00 4:28 treadmill

Thursday 10.91 0:50:03 4:35 Bold park

Friday 13.12 0:59:30 4:32 Bold Park

Saturday 11.35 0:51:20 4:31 Incl 6k barefoot

Sunday 20.00 1:27:40 4:23

8:14 AM Morning 3.98 0:20:14 5:05

7:00 AM Morning 16.02 1:07:26 4:13 'race'

This Week 96.83 7:12:36 4:28

Matilda Bay 10k 2012

It's been 'lite-n-easy' for me since 6 inch - first couple of weeks planned recovery and third week thanks to stepping on a bee.

2 weeks back of 70k each, and on to Matilda bay this morning.
I found the weather fairly oppressive - 25 and humid, even wearing my lightest mesh type singlet there was no evaporation.

Started out fairly fast - sitting 20m behind DB - 3:26/3:36/3:37. Things were quite congested, but the 4k runners turned off and it spread out.

At this point I started to feel the heat, and slowed down 3:46/3:50/3:51, gradually slipping further back from DB. Was passed and held onto the guy for a little while but started to blow up a bit with 3:56/3:53. During this section I was passed by another runner.

Turned at 8.4k and saw I had about 150m on the next guy behind me, and had a bit of a second wind finishing with 3:47/3:40.

Crossed in 37:30 (18:13/19:17) in about 10th spot.

I'm happy enough with this. it's interesting looking at pace adjustment charts for heat/humidity - most made by people in the US not too accustomed to heat, they tend to allow too much - one giving me a minute per mile for this temp!. I suspect I could have run between 5 and 10 sec/k faster today in perfect conditions, which fits with where I feel I should be.

DB ended up about 45 sec ahead of me, Roberto won, Gerry Hill second. I did beat big Kev, but i see on Coolrunning he ran a long run yesterday so I wont take much away from that.

Good to see the medical community running - Paul, Laurie and Tim all putting in solid performances.