Central Coast Half
Posted by sook54, Dec 6 2009, 02:05 PM in Sydney
Well let's get the big news out of the way first. "A hard day at the office" as rachinaus commented - I ended up with 1:54:32. This was actually a good 2 mins less than I wanted, mainly because I had to take a loo break halfway through and just couldn't seem to get my rhythm back afterwards. It became an increasing mental and physical struggle. Yes it was warm and very humid but I feel I should have done better. Deducting the 2min loo break from the time of 1:54:32 I was 2 secs outside last years' 1:52:30. I did win a trophy for winning age group but don't think the run really deserved it! Watch shows 20.98km in 1:54:37 avg pace 5:28 so the course was short again - I actually ran a bit more than most having to duck off the course to the loo!
Here's how the kms went:
1. 5:10
2. 5:14
3. 5:03
4. 5:11
5. 5:12
6. 5:07
7. 5:14
8. 5:22
9. 5:06 (hurrying to get to the loo)
10. 7:02 (loo break in here)
11. 5:21
12. 5:26
13. 5:25
14. 5:41 (walking drink station)
15. 5:30
16. 5:28
17. 5:44 (walking drink station)
18. 5:33
19. 5:48
20. 5:39
21. (982m) 5:27
As you can imagine I'm a bit disappointed with myself for that big positive split. I took a gel at 10km after loo but just kept getting slower once that wore off. I made the decision to walk the drink stations to try to rehydrate on the way back but I suppose that affected the rhythm as well. I felt like from about km 14 I had nothing at all left in the legs but I do think my training paid off as I was able to keep going even when doing it very tough. I have to confess the idea of walking became very attractive in km 19 but I managed to resist!
I did gentle 2km warmup before the race but had to go to loo again urgently afterwards and didn't do a cooldown.
I guess it was just one of those days when things didn't go to plan. I feel like my preparation was pretty good and have had some good successes along the way. I certainly feel like I'm a much stronger runner. I'd say I'm usually pretty mentally tough and focused but that side of things was a real struggle today. I actually felt quite dizzy when I woke up this morning (3:50am) and now have a sore throat so suspect I may be coming down with something.
---
Taper week - on Coach Sean's recommendation holding back on the pace
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5x1min (1 min recovery) on a lovely cool morning on the bay -
all up 8.23km in 48:01 avg pace 5:50
warmup 3.04 in 18:54 avg pace 6:14
Fastest interval 4:13, slowest 4:40 (recovery avg pace 5:36 to 6:01)
Wednesday: 6.56km in 43:03
The first 4km were at leisurely pace with husband 4.34km in 30:28 avg pace 7:01
intervals 2.22 km in 12:35 avg 5:40. Fastest 100m was 3:24, slowest 3:40 (recovery 6:05-6:44)
cooldown run home 890m in 5:27 avg pace 6:07
Thursday: 8x30s fast (30 sec jog recovery) - total 8.11km in 47:39 avg pace 5:53
warmup 3.07 in 19:14 avg pace 6:17. Fastest interval 4:22, slowest 4:40, average pace of 30s recoveries was a bit fast 5:13-5:52.
cooldown 3.43km in 20:24 avg pace 5:57
Friday: For once I didn't run as far as Mr Sook! I went down to the Bay with him and ran 2km with him as far as Timbrell Pk and then 2km home. No stats because I lent him my Garmin. Overall average about 6:40 pace I'd estimate.
Saturday: 3km early jog around Ashfield park a coupla times. Again 6:30 plus average.
Shock!
Posted by sook54, Nov 28 2009, 04:53 PM in Sydney
Shock 1: no blogging for 2 weeks! I've been superbusy at work and with other things including the ongoing virus problems on the Striders website (hopefully now in hand). So be warned, there's 2 weeks' worth of running in this here blog!
Shock 2: New 5k PB for me this morning! thanks to support from Vurt and AaronR, I managed 23:36 at the Sydney Coolrunning 5k this morning, even though the weather was warm and very humid and I struggled with my usual asthma problems in the 4th km (is it UTS rowers that does it? or just that I've well and truly overcooked by then?). More of that later.
Shock 3: I've run 1000km since I started back running at the end of July!
So here is what I've been doing since my last entry:
Sun 15/11 - long run plus 5x80m
22.01km in 2:12:47 avg pace 6:02
Did this around the Bay-Anzac Bridge-Glebe-Lilyfield loop, finishing up in Ashfield Park. My old injury in left ankle started feeling pretty tired from 13km on so I slowed noticeably from there. The 5x80m sprints in Ashfield Pk felt good barefoot after that: fastest 3:30 to slowest 3:55 pace.
Mon 16/11
Drove to Canberra for a conference all week. Reception at US embassy in the evening was quite an experience!
Tue 17/11 - 2x15min intervals with 3min recovery, then 5min interval - 12kms all up
I did this session along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin- we were staying in the University so very close to the lake's edge. It was pretty warm once the sun came up even though it does cool down more overnight than Sydney does. After 2km warmup with Mr Sook, the first interval was 5:18 average pace (2.83km) and the second 2.89 average pace (2.89km). The 5min interval saw me at least get to the 1km mark in the 5mins. Cooldown was 2.5km or so at about 6:04 pace. This was quite a bit slower than I usually do at home (maybe the wine at the US embassy?). My feet and ankle continued quite ouchy.
Wed 18/11 - midweek long run 14.4km in 1:29:18 avg pace 6:12
I took coach's advice and headed up to Mt Ainslie - it turned out to be 5km by the time I got up to the trail, so only managed 4km up there before it was time to come back again, but it was lovely. Saw a kangaroo very closeup and heaps of birds as well as large numbers of rabbits. Runners weren't in plague proportions but there were a few (I had to go very early because ofthe conference).
Thu 19/11 - 7x1min intervals (30sec recovery) - 6.56km avg pace somewhere under 6:00
On the lakeshore again - I was feeling a bit seedy after a late night at the conference dinner.
7x1min (30 sec). I don't think I'd ever done this session before so no idea how it stacks up against where I'm supposed to be by now. I have noticed coach making recovery times shorter and increasing the number of intervals! Interval pace ranged from 4:23 to 4:41, most around 4:30 pace.
Fri 20/11 - 5.2km in 32:06 avg pace 6:10
This was a lovely easy run out to Black mountain peninsula and back. I had quite a bit of calf and ankle stiffness perhaps from the extra speed work. In the afternoon we drove back to Sydney.
Sat 21/11 - 4km easy plus 5x100m sprints - all up approx 6km
4km was done very easy through the back streets of Ashfield and Haberfield (avg pace 6:26) and the 100m intervals (again barefoot in the park) ranged in pace from 3:22 to 3:40 with one slow one at 4:16. I'm nearly running out of room in my usual spot when I stretch the sprints from 80m to 100m!
Sun 22/11 - long run 15.35km in 1:35:14 avg pace 6:12
I was originally supposed to do the Sri Chinmoy 7km at Centennial Park as a race, but with 41 degrees forecast I didn't think it was a good idea, so I did a longish run instead. My left heel and ankle were really feeling it after a big week - looking forward to Monday's rest day!
Mon 23/11
Took the day completely off and ate a lot. Not good for the weight loss log but must have been what I needed. I actually had a pretty poor week dietwise in Canberra too - managed to lose just 0.1kg that week despite watching what I ate.
Tue 24/11 - 12x1min intervals with 30 sec recovery (eek!). total 11.7km in 1:10:36 avg pace 6:02
Fortunately the weekend's heat had passed and I did the run in much pleasanter cool conditions, with a bit of gentle rain. The first few km were done with Mr Sook who was on a Bay Run, then I completed the intervals on grass at Brett Pk, then ran the 5km home. Basically the intervals were a similar pace to the 7x1min I did the previous week in Canberra, but the fastest was quite a bit faster (avg pace 4:17). the slowest was the last, at 4:41, you could really see the fatigue showing in my 30 sec recoveries which went from 5:31 pace to start all the way up to 7:00 pace when I had to walk a bit at the end).
Wed 25/11 - midweek long run plus 5x100m sprints - all up 16.2km avg pace about 6:03
Long run was 14.04 in 1:25:25 avg 6:05 (around the Bay). I felt a bit of a twinge in right hamstring about 10km in, but it was ok after I'd stopped and stretched and didn't give me any further trouble.
5x100m (barefoot on grass at Ashfield Pk) ranged from 3:29 to 3:53 pace.
Thu 26/11 - 5x5min intervals with 2min recovery - total session 12.46km in 1:14:41 avg pace 6:00
I did the session down at the Bay after running 3km with Mr Sook. The intervals ranged from 4:48 to 5:04 pace, gradually slowing over the 5 of them. This is another session I don't recall doing before.
At lunchtime I went to see the podiatrist at Uni sports clinic about my continuing calf/ankle problems. I've been wearing calf guards for the last 2 weeks and I think they are definitely helping but I thought I should go back to see him now that the Uni doctor had reassured me there wasn't anything serious wrong. It was really good to talk to him. He got me to run on the treadmill and said that I'm striking the ground quite hard even though I'm not heel striking (basically forefoot strike with a brief heel touch afterwards, during which there is very short rapid pronation). He is worried about the longterm prospects of my forefoot with my bunion problem (even though I think my bunions have improved since I've been running). He thought the heel pain sounded more nervy than plantar fasciitis, which would be consistent with the doctor's observations that I still have some fluid on the tib post tendon. The forefoot strike means I'm loading my calves more which is also pulling on the heel. We discussed various options and I eventually decided that I should go ahead and get custom orthotics (I've been making do up till now with off the shelf foam ones). He thinks that will help to manage any deterioration of the forefoot while controlling the very quick rapid pronation I'm getting when the heel strikes. Rather than doing moulds he had a computerised system with some sort of laser thing that creates an image of the foot (I had to wear a special stripey sock for this bit). The orthotics will be ready in a couple of weeks.
The other thing is that my Nike Vomeros were completely shot! Not surprising since I figured out I'd actually run 1000km in them since August. The forefoot where I strike was almost completely worn out! This is probably a major factor in why my feet and ankles have been so sore lately. Podiatrist insisted I had to get another pair to run the CC half in, so I went past Running Science on the way home from work and bought another pair (plus another pair of the Zoot calf compression sox, which I like quite a bit more than the 2xu calf guards I've decided).
Fri 27/11 - 5km in 31:15 avg pace 6:15
This was another leisurely affair through the back streets of Haberfield, Summer Hill and Ashfield, testing out my new shoes. No wucking furries!
Sat 28/11 - 10km including CR5k
I managed a new 5km PB of 23:36 this morning (17 secs under my previous PB), which I'm pretty pleased with even though I feel I could have run better. It was quite warm and humid this morning, and this in combination with running a bit too hard for the first 3km saw me really struggling with incipient asthma and generally feeling crap in the 4th km. I slowed down a bit till the asthma eased off and then managed to summon a bit of a sprint to finish. My watch decided to go into pause mode just as I started (grr) and I didn't get it started again for about 100m so I didn't actually measure the whole course, the time comes from AaronR, one of the other runners who kindly accompanied me (the other was Vurt). My watch showed:
4.89km in 23:11
1. 4:46
2. 4:40
3. 4:41
4. 4:49
5. (895m in 4:15 avg pace 4:45)
Today my weight was down to 60.2kg - a 0.7kg loss for the week and getting close to my sub-60 goal for next week's CC half. Surely I can manage 0.2kg in a week?!
The Week That Was
Posted by sook54, Nov 14 2009, 09:29 AM in Sydney
I am rather surprised to see I haven't blogged for a week - what has come over me?! Overall it's been a pretty good week, sticking to the plan pretty closely. Over 75kms since I last blogged.
Sunday 8/11: long run at Lady Carrington Drive, the first 7.5km with Mr Sook (who did his longest long run ever!). 20.01km in 2:10:57 avg pace 6:33
It was gorgeous early in the morning, just a little bit of misty rain. We had a lovely time chatting at Mr Sook's easy conversational speed of 7:30+ per km, and from there I picked up the speed in the second half, mostly under the 6min/km mark. It was pretty muddy and slippery in parts so I decided to slow down a bit after I nearly rolled over on my ankle on one of the downhills. My feet were fairly mashed up by the end from the stony surface. My quads were also fairly tight after all the hill running over the weekend, though overall I was pretty pleased with how my legs stood up to Saturday's race - they weren't sore at all on Sat. arvo. I think the deep tissue calf massage the previous Thursday really helped. I also decided to check in with the sports doc regarding continuing ankle/heel niggles, just in case there was anything needing to be nipped in the bud.
Monday 9/11: recovery jog with Mr Sook 5.01km in 35:24 avg pace 7:04
Tuesday 10/11: 15min hard (3min jog) 15min hard (3min jog) 5min hard, which I did down by the Bay along more or less the same course I've run in the past - a slight uphill for the first 15 min, 3min jog on grass at Brett Pk, slight downhill for the second 15mins over the same territory (finishing near the Timbrell Pk bridge), then 3min jog on grass and the 5mins pretty much dead flat but slightly zigzagging along Henley Marine Drive near the edge of Timbrell Pk. With 2km warmup/cooldown it worked out at 11.35km in 1:03:55 avg pace 5:38
15min x2
1. 2.94km avg pace 5:07 (this was uphill and also involved a certain amount of swerving around walkers with dogs etc) - I felt really strong especially in the last 1km
(recovery 447m avg pace 6:42)
2. 3.00km avg pace 5:00 (slightly downhill) (recovery 462m avg pace 6:29)
5min
3. 1.01km avg pace 4:56
I also went to see the sports docabout some soreness around my left ankle joint uncovered in last week's deep tissue massage. She said she thought it was me still adjusting to the orthotics I've been using since the injury. She said that I still had some slight excess fluid on the ankle tendons and that it would probably take a while for it to recover fully. She seemed pretty happy with the general progression of my recovery and commented that my calves and arches were a lot stronger. She warned that I needed to be careful not to step up training too quickly but I reassured her that I was taking it carefully and sticking to the training plan closely.
Wed 11/11: 1:30 midweek long run plus 5x80m sprints - total for the day 16.05km in 1:40:54 avg pace 6:18. I have to say that my legs were really feeling it by about the 13km mark after the previous night's hard session. That was a lot of running within 12 hours or so but I know it's doing me good in the long term. I did the first 7km with Mr Sook round the Bay on a beautiful still morning. He was going a bit faster than usual and except for the congested km crossing the bridge managed about 6:30 kms. Then I did a few extra kms on the shady Leichhardt/Rozelle side of the bay (at a slightly faster pace) before heading back to Ashfield Park for the 5x80. Total for the long run 14.05km in 1:28:14 avg pace 6:17.
5x80m (1min) done barefoot on grass at Ashfield Park. The 80m sprints ranged from 3:36 to 3:52. total for interval session 2.00km in 12:40 avg pace 6:20
Thur 12/11: Another tough sprint session, consisting of 3 sets of the sequence 3min hard, 2min 'float', 2min hard, 1 min 'float', 1 min hard, 1 min 'float'. This was pretty full on for me, my feet and legs were still feeling it from the previous couple of days and I was generally feeling pretty tired. All up 10.18km in 58:51 avg pace 5:47. I did the session around the Bay then Timbrell Pk - it was already starting to get pretty warm in the sun by 6.30am. I'd never done this session before and I wasn't too sure what pace to do the 'float' parts at. I also misjudged the pace of the first 3min - it was pretty crowded at that point with heaps of dogwalkers, and walking groups 4 abreast on the path, hence I decided to do the rest on the path round Timbrell Pk, where I also encountered the group of Striders who do intervals there (they went whizzing past me at various points - group included CRs grandpa and langswm).
3min (2min float)
1. 574m avg pace 5:14 (361m avg pace 5:32)
2. 615m avg pace 4:53 (373m avg pace 5:22)
3. 648m avg pace 4:38 (330m avg pace 6:04)
2min (1min float)
1. 390m avg pace 5:08 (182m avg pace 5:30)
2. 424m avg pace 4:43 (181m avg pace 5:31)
3. 410m avg pace 4:53 (164m avg pace 6:05)
1min (1 min float)
1. 201m avg pace 4:59 (168m avg pace 5:56)
2. 216m avg pace 4:38 (164m avg pace 6:06)
3. 206m avg pace 4:51 (150m avg pace 6:40)
In the afternoon I had a deep tissue massage on my tight calves - only half an hour but it had a great effect. When she released some of the trigger points I could feel the soles of my feet relaxing straight away, hence I'm now sure this is part of my heel problem. Afterwards I was pretty tender in the lower legs for a couple of days. I also ordered a massage stick and I'm hoping if I use it regularly that will help maintain the calves between massages (coach recommends 5 mins per calf per day).
Friday 13/11: In deference to sore calves I decided to run an easy 5k in the morning rather than race 5k with the Sydney Summer Twilight group at the Bay - I also had a dinner booking with some visiting American friends so just toddled along to help Superflake out in the evening by standing at the 2.5km mark near the huge paperbark. The morning's run (around Ashfield/Summer Hill back streets) was taken at a very easy pace: 5.12km in 32:37 avg pace 6:22.
Saturday 14/11: Another slow 5k this morning (a different route through Haberfield this time) followed by 5x80m sprints barefoot in Ashfield Pk. My calves were feeling pretty good and relaxed this morning and I felt like something had released in my ankle, much looser (in a good way). The sprints included my fastest ever 80m (15.92m avg pace 3:19). It was just gorgeous, sunny and cool, and I really enjoyed the run.
I have managed to drop another 600g this week, down to 61.0kg this morning. That's more or less on track for getting sub-60 by the time of the CC half. Talking of which there's been a lot of talk on CR of it being a short course (looking back I see my Garmin only measured 20.99km) - hence I can't really count the PB of 1:52:30. It will be interesting to see how I perform there in 3 weeks. In some ways the training is going well, but on the other hand I feel I'm still not quite up there with my endurance yet. Hopefully tomorrow's long run will help with that. Not sure where I'll do it - probably will include the Bay since Mr Sook is due for 11km home bay loop.
Busy Week, And Striders 10km
Posted by sook54, Nov 7 2009, 10:19 AM in Sydney
Had an extra busy week this week, with work and also dealing with continuing fallout from a "gumblar zombie" attack on the Striders website, which I administer. I am SO SICK of these stupid web viruses, it's just ruining the experience for a lot of people, all this obsession with security etc just means that more power goes into the hands of the big companies who take the opportunity to mix it all up with digital rights management etc. OK /rant.
Runningwise it hasn't been the greatest of weeks, but I am sticking to the plan and trying to do all the running sessions. Then this morning at the Striders 10k at Lane Cove, a very hilly course when I haven't been doing hills lately, I surprised myself with a close to PB (or maybe even 1-sec PB, I'll know when the results get posted later in the weekend) 51'57" or so.
I'm also trying to watch my diet to shed another couple of kgs before the CC half (hopefully) - weighed in at 61.6 this morning first thing (cfr 62.1 last Sunday). If I keep that up I'll be at about 60kg by the time of the run, getting closer to my ideal racing weight of 59.
Anyway here are the runs this week:
Mon: day off running, really struggled with the 1200 cals allowed! scraped in at 1166 and went to bed hungry.
Tue: 7x1min (1min jog). Total 9.53km in 58:36. Did the first 3 km with Mr Sook who continued on round the Bay while I headed up Hawthorne Canal. I was attacked by a dog in the middle of my intervals I was stupid enough to do down by the dog park. Just a little terrier so not too scary but enough to put me off my stride.
Wed: 5k + 5x80m (1min jog). The 5k was done at easy 6:28/km avg pace, then the 5x80m on grass were pretty unimpressive, fastest 17.88s avg pace 3:43.
Thu: 6x30s hard (30sec jog) with 3km warmup/cooldown. All up 8.07km in 47:08 avg pace 5:50. I was pretty happy with this run considering the sub-6min average pace of the pretty hilly 3km from my place to/from the oval where the Woodstock runners have their Thursday night training. The 6x30s sprints were nothing to write home about though - fastest was 3:32 avg pace but I'm pretty sure that was a Garmin error, the rest were between 4:02 and 4:37.
Fri: Jog with Mr Sook around the back streets of Ashfield. 5.12km in 35:49 avg pace 7:00.
Which brings me to today's Striders 10km. Not having done many hills lately, I wasn't expecting much more than getting under 55 and preferably under 53. Even this seemed totally out the window when my Garmin started showing me splits of 5:40 and 6:00 for some kms. Eventually I figured out that the Garmin had gone seriously skewiff (battery dying maybe?) so just ran on feel. It ended up showing only 9.57km for the 10k so the km splits don't mean very much.
I took coach's advice and just concentrated on staying relaxed and not pushing on the hills in the first half until I got to the cottage about 500m from the turnaround (passed a few others on that hill) - I felt reasonably strong on the downhill from there but lost focus in the 8th km and was definitely tiring. Nevertheless I was overtaking people gradually for most of the 2nd half, including a couple of other older runners in the last 100m (sorry Manfred!). My watch showed 52:02 but I pressed it a few secs after the finish and saw the clock at about 51:57 when I crossed the line. My previous 10km PB of 51:58 was on this same course in April.
Tomorrow's 2hr long run will be done at leisurely pace with Mr Sook for the first half, round the Bay I suppose. I may venture over to Hen and Chicken Bay for a change on the second lap.
Not-so-long Slow Long Run
Posted by sook54, Nov 1 2009, 08:33 AM in Sydney
I did manage about 7 hours' sleep last night (hooray!) but still feeling very weary so decided to take it very easy indeed on today's 90-minute long run. Not only did I puddle along at 6:15-6:45 pace, I also stopped several times for water, loo break, catch up with friends getting ready for the Balmain Fun Run at King George V oval, saying hi and chatting to CR Rags, etc. I think I'm going to fit in a snooze today in the hope that will get me back in shape for the very busy work week ahead.
14.4km in 1:33:34 avg pace 6:30
I weighed in this morning pre-run at 62.1kg. Counting calories from here on in.
Lotta Running, Not Much Sleep
Posted by sook54, Oct 31 2009, 08:56 PM in Sydney
I am having a terrible time with sleep since I got back from OS - I calculate I've only had 15 hours' sleep since Tuesday. Usually I sleep like a babe for 7 hours, but none of my techniques seem to be working. Nevertheless I've been soldiering on with the running.
Thursday pm (my first run back on Australian soil) was 8x30sec hard (30 sec recovery).
*Warmup 3.21km in 19:06 avg pace 5:57
*8x30s
1. 109m avg pace 4:34 (recovery 89m avg pace 5:37)
2. 117m avg pace 4:17 (recovery 83m avg pace 5:59)
3. 117m avg pace 4:17 (recovery 83m avg pace 5:59)
4. 122m avg pace 4:06 (recovery 75m avg pace 6:41)
5. 125m avg pace 4:01 (recovery 77m avg pace 6:29)
6. 121m avg pace 4:08 (recovery 73m avg pace 6:52)
7. 113m avg pace 4:25 (recovery 67m avg pace 7:29)
8. 118m avg pace 4:14 (recovery 70m avg pace 7:09)
*cooldown 3.41km in 20:08 avg pace 5:54
I was pretty pleased with the (uphill) cooldown run, my endurance seems pretty good if not my speed.
Friday - again in the pm (5 hrs sleep overnight and a full day at work)
I was only supposed to do 5km easy, but got sucked into doing a bit more, and a bit faster pace, having a catchup chat with rachinaus and aDrain. In view of this I decided to walk the last km home so as to not be too wrecked for the 5km time trial the following morning.
total 9.92km in 1:00:57 avg pace 6:09
1. 6:11
2. 6:03
3. 6:01
4. 5:37
5. 5:25
6. 5:18
7. 5:26
8. 5:33
9. 6:20
10. (920m, walking) avg pace 9:55
Saturday am - Sydney CR5k challenge
3 hours' sleep last night, and the fatigue showed. The run never felt easy
and by the 4th km I was gone, but hung on because I could see I'd get
under 25 at least.
1. 4:55
2. 4:48
3. 4:55
4. 5:03
5. 5:01
measured 5.02 in 24:45, avg pace 4:56.
I didn't measure the warmup or the run back (about 6min kms I'd
estimate). All up about 11.5km I suppose.
I shouldn't be disappointed I suppose, because it was still well under the 25min goal I'd set myself. Next month, all being well, I'm hoping to get closer to my 5km PB of 23'54" - I think I am getting close to top form again if only I could get some sleep! Losing a bit of weight would probably help too - I've put on a couple of kgs over the last couple of months (up to 62.5kg) so will be making sure I eat a bit more healthily now I'm home and can get back into a routine. Rach and I have decided to do a bit of a blitz together. Tomorrow morning I'll do an official weighin and report back here weekly.
Back In Oz
Posted by sook54, Oct 29 2009, 01:39 PM in Europe
Here I am with that peculiar cottonwool feeling that goes along with jetlag, wondering where to start with the running of the last week or two, which included more Cambridge, London, Oxford and Jersey.
Mon 19/10: run Cambridge-Grantchester with Mr Sook
Grantchester is made famous by Rupert Brooke (for those of us old enough to remember our WWI British poets) but we skipped the cream tea and settled for a recovery jog along the river upstream from Cambridge. We met quite a few very fit looking rugby teams out for group runs, as well as quite a few dogwalkers and the odd brown cow. It was pretty cold and I started out the run in about 5 layers, but soon shed the jacket, hat and gloves.
6.8km in 47:54 avg pace 7:03
Tue 20/10: 3km easy around Cambridge (down to Jesus Green and return). Not much to report on this one.
3.24km in 19:16 avg pace 5:57
The weather warmed up considerably once we got to London.
Wed 21/10: Ran from where we were staying (near Russell Square) up to the end of Regents Park and back. This was a bit of a blast from the past run, since it was more or less the route I took when I first started jog-walking back in November 2005 or so. Needless to say I covered the distance a lot faster!
6.28km in 38:44 avg pace 6:10
Thu 22/10: long intervals in Oxford, in Horspath Athletics fields near where I was staying in Cowley. It was in longish grass and it had been raining so the ground was a bit soft. The last part was done in pouring rain.
Interval session (9.87km in 54:51 avg pace 5:33)
2x15min
1. 2.9km avg pace 5:11 (recovery 3min 483m avg pace 6:13)
2. 2.85km avg pace 5:15 (recovery 3min 474m avg pace 6:20) (starting to rain)
1x5min
963m avg pace 5:12 (in pouring rain)
Total for the day 12.31km. I tried to think of Roger Bannister when it was starting to hurt at the end of the 15min intervals!
Fri 23/10: travel to Jersey, no running
Sat 24/10: very wet morning in Jersey. I meant to run but the long walk we did in the afternoon (abt 10km) ended up getting too late.
Sun 25/10: 23km long run.
The route was gorgeous - and weather quite warm (for the UK). I did 23km, the first 9 with MR Sook so slowly. The route follows a disused railway track and was quite lovely once it got into the hills. The bit along the esplanade had great views but was a bit glary coming home.
22.94km in 2:22:21 avg pace 6:12
1. 7:20
2. 7:04
3. 7:01
4. 7:00
5. 7:05
6. 7:19 (uphill)
7. 7:39 (uphill)
8. 6:45 (uphill)
9. 6:15 (left husband)
10. 5:49
11. 5:52
12. 6:03
13. 6:06
14. 5:43
15. 5:26
16 5:11
17. 5:16
18. 5:45
19. 5:36
20. 5:31
21. 5:27
22. 5:33
23. 5:54
My feet were feeling rather sore again after that.
Mon 26/10: 5km recovery run
5.13 in 31:12 avg pace 6:05.
1. 6:48
2. 6:14
3. 5:53
4. 5:49
5. 5:39
6. (6:19)
Progressively loosening up through the run. By the esplanade on a
pleasant morning, about 13 degrees.
Tue 27/10: 11.13km in 1:08:41 around Gatwick airport. Despite the concierge at the hotel assuring me that it was impossible to run in the airport vicinity, there turned out to be a public footpath that went from just outside the hotel carpark through some woods (following the West Sussex Border Path) and along the length of the River Mole, to the north of the airport - it was pretty rough going in spots, and was about 4km to the end of the path. I tacked on another 3 by following another path that led along the road to the village of Charlwood, thus bringing up the prescribed 11. There were a few sub-6min kms when I was on the road - otherwise about 6-6.15min kms when ploughing through the muddy rough stuff. It felt great and put me in a much better mood before my 24-hour flight.
Wed 28/10: in the air
Thur (today): planning to head out shortly!
Runz Wiv Dukz
Posted by sook54, Oct 18 2009, 07:35 PM
For today's long run I went along by the Cam river (staying in Cambridge for a few days) and was pleasantly surprised how many waterbirds I saw. Plenty of ducks and geese, some sort of waterhens and various swans, and even a large grey heron. It was a lovely still overcast morning, about 5-8 degrees, a beautiful safe well made path, other runners and rowers to greet, perfect really except that I hadn't taken any water with me and there just didn't seem to be any available. Eventually I begged some from some canal boaters who were stopped at a lock, and took a gel as well. I was wearing multiple layers and still felt pretty cool especially the last few km, not sure whether it was actually getting colder or whether cooling down for a few minutes while waiting for the water just dropped my body temp below the comfort threshold. Next time I'll make sure I wear my gloves.
So the week has not seen too much running, because of travelling (again). Here's the rundown:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 5.01km with Mr Sook in 36:03 avg pace 7:12 (back streets in Ashfield), followed by 5x80m in the churchyard opposite my house - not a great venue because had to dodge commuters walking to station.
1.18km in 7:47 avg pace 6:35 (fastest rep 4:10, slowest 5:05 - very very slow!)
Flight to UK overnight Tuesday-Wednesday, had a couple of hours' sleep then went out for an exploratory jog with Mr Sook around the back roads of Essex near Stansted airport
Wednesday afternoon (Thursday 12.49am according to my watch!)
12.15km in 1:30 avg pace 7:27
This was slow not just because I was accompanying husband, but also because the roads were very narrow and lined with hedgerows, so whenever a car came past you had to more or less throw yourself into the hedge. Fortunately a lot weren't very busy. We did a few km along a public bridlepath through woods and fields, which was just magic!
Thursday and Friday unable to run - very early commuter flight to Germany then bus to Holland, in a conference all day and too cold to run on the Thursday night (minus something, and I only had thin longsleeve running top with me). On Friday morning I did a brisk 45min walk from the hotel to the conference venue, then travelled back to UK, arriving here in Cambridge at 10.15pm after various adventures with Ryanair and British Rail.
Saturday: another leisurely 5km with Mr Sook along the canal towpath in Cambridge. It was coolish (8 degrees or so) so lovely weather for it.
5.23km in 36:35, avg pace 7:00, then 5x80m, which I did barefoot on the rugby oval in Jesus college, where I was staying - all up 1.5km in 8:39 avg pace 5:45 (fastest rep 3:30, slowest 3:44, much more respectable than Tuesday!)
Sunday: long run 20.05km in 1:59:24, average pace 5:49
The last couple of km coming back into Cambridge I got mixed up with a big fun run 10km, and got directed by marshals into running with them for a few hundred metres, which was fun!
To respond to Rel's comment on my last blog entry, I'm now thinking my first marathon will be Macleay River Valley one in June - flattish, not too crowded, and late enough in the year that I won't be in full training in the heat of late summer. I had been thinking Canberra but I'll be away for work that month.
World Masters Queues
Posted by sook54, Oct 11 2009, 10:04 AM in Sydney
Spent 5 hours yesterday getting accredited and then queuing again for race number and chip (they'd accidentally wiped me from the database), consequently I didn't get in the planned 5km. There were some pretty annoyed people in the queues, it really didn't give a good impression to the overseas visitors. Fortunately I had some good company with rachinaus, Johnny Dark, Tesso, Chunderbolt and later moondust, and of course we got chatting to others in the queues. One thing I will say for the Olympic park venue, there were plenty of toilets so that made everything a bit quicker than at some other venues.
After that experience, I decided not to entrust them with my bag this morning, so I parked down near Concord West station and left my bag there and jogged the 2km up to the startline. Just as well it was a bit warmer than yesterday, so just a tshirt was bearable. Met up with rachinaus and we did some more warmups together on the track, also practicing our victory waves. It turned out that there weren't that many women running in the 10km, maybe they were put off by the queues etc. No idea how many other women there were in my age category - I passed one or two but no doubt there were a few fast people I didn't see for dust.
This morning's 10k was 52.26 by my watch, which measured the course a little bit long at 10.15 (so average pace 5:10). I also did 2km each way warmup and cooldown jogging to/from my car which was parked down near Concord West station.
Afterwards I was chatting to CR Action who said they had rung him yesterday to ask him to certify the course (!) - he declined, so not sure how accurate the distance was, he said it was definitely over 10k but not much, but the km markers were quite noticeably wrong. I think he said he is going to run it again to see whether he can certify it for them.
For what it's worth here are the kms from my Garmin:
1. 5:01
2. 5:12
3. 5:08
4. 5:24 (uphill)
5. 5:12
6. 5:13
7. 5:08
8. 5:12
9. 5:13
10. 5:05
11. (152m in 38s, avg pace 4:11)
It was fun finishing in the stadium, that track surface gives you a lot of spring. Overall I was pretty happy with the run. Over today's 10k I have a 6-second negative split which is heading in the right direction. I think it was actually a bit quicker pacewise than the Striders 10k last week even though the total time is 14 seconds slower. Comparing the first 10km on my watch with last week's Striders run it worked out at 22 seconds faster.
I have no idea how I went in the field and don't expect I will anytime soon, with the lack of organisation we've seen over the last few days at the WMG. They did have chips so hopefully there will be some way of finding out. We were apparently supposed to queue in order after we'd finished to register our race number (mine was 20002) but they abandoned that when there were too many finishers coming in at once to manage the queue. There didn't seem to be that many 55-59 year-olds running (there were supposed to be 32 according to the list on the WMG website, but I'm sure it was nowhere near that!). Since I've been deleted from the database I can't see anything online, grr.
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Here are the stats on the other runs this week:
5-Oct-09 Monday 8.45km (with Mr Sook round the Bay)
6-Oct-09 Tuesday 15min hard (3min jog) 15min hard (3min jog) 5min hard total 12.43km
7-Oct-09 Wednesday 1hr30min run with rachinaus 14.34km
8-Oct-09 Thursday 14x300m intervals with the Woodstockers, about 7km
9-Oct-09 Friday (with Mr Sook round the Bay) 7km
10-Oct-09 Saturday did not run due to queues
11-Oct-09 Sunday 10km plus the 2km odd each way 14.76km
WEEKLY TOTAL 63.98km... oh heck, let's just call it 64!
Htfu Ya Sook!
Posted by sook54, Oct 4 2009, 11:27 AM
Having decided against the Brighton beachside dash this morning due to the weather, I decided to head out for 20km this morning - done mostly in the pouring rain, but that was the good bit!
My legs still felt tired from yesterday for the first 5km or so, had a brief and not very convincing revival in the middle of the run (fastest km was 6:03), then headed back into ouch territory for the last 5km. I just never felt like I got into an easy rhythm. This week I had my radio and the heels taped so bang go those theories aired in last week's whinge.
The route was from my place, around the Drummoyne side of the Bay, then up Victoria Rd, over Anzac Bridge and all the way around Blackwattle Bay foreshore in Glebe, back over the Victoria Rd overpass, then along Lilyfield Rd back to the Bay and home via Parramatta Rd overpass. Relatively hilly for the inner west but really nothing to justify the slow time.
20k in 2:10:09 avg pace 6:30.
Coach is telling me to HTFU and I suppose I agree with him. Tuesday's programme includes scary 15-min intervals but I daresay I'll survive. I gotta get back into the gym!
on Central Coast Half