Shift in priorities

Oh yeah, something I'd spoken to people about, but not put up here...

I've had a bit of a rethink of my priorities over the next four months. More specifically, I realised that Gold Coast would have been my third marathon (including Six Foot) in a touch over 16 weeks, and remembering how well it panned out when I did three in 10 months, I thought it might be more prudent to change goals for the second half of the year rather than stuff myself properly for the second half of the year. More specifically, I want to nail City 2 Surf this year, and I don't think I can do it off the back of what I'd proposed doing.

So, no Gold Coast for 2005. I'll do Canberra, for a few reasons (great event that I'd like to support, social gathering, Strider Super Series points, etc), but after that, I'll be hunting 10k speed. I want that preferred start at City 2 Surf in August, and then I'm going after that damned Gold Coast marathon in 2006. I want a sub 2:50 at least there - actually, what I really want is a sub 4 min/k pace (thanks, Springer) marathon, but let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

That involves breaking 36 minutes for 10km, and finding a bit over a minute over 5km, and losing at least 6 kg, if not more. I'll be looking for coaching post-Canberra.

Can't wait.

The Dee Why STaR

... and so to Sunday morning, for the Dee Why STaR. After a difficult night's sleep, arose at 4:30 to get some food, some very strong coffee and to tape my feet up. Nice little error here - couldn't find my Kayanos, so took my slow Adidas Supernovas out - without any inner soles. Oops. Odd thing is, apart from a bit of seam on the inside of the right foot, I didn't notice until the finish, when I took them off, and thought "mmm, why can I see stitches?". Oh well.

It was revoltingly humid as I walked out the door and picked up Johnny Dark, and then Tesso who was down from Brisbane. We made our way north, and impressively I got there without referring to the map or getting lost. I let them go while I found a park, and once the Sube was put away I made my way to the Surf Club. There was a huge crowd here (Action estimated 120), and a frankly intimidatingly large group headed away in the 6am group.

Had a pretty solid run, although I certainly wilted over the last 7 or 8k (and I'm not Robinson Crusoe on this front). I was pretty pleased with my climbs - the Dee Why STaR is rated as a H4 - it gets better, next week's run at Berowra (scene of a recent disgrace) is rated as a H5, the week after the first 10k of the season at Lane Cove. There's a quite sustained ascent along Oxford Falls Road (according to the Garmin, around 130 metres over 2.85k) from the 9.2k point, and a nasty little 34m climb over 500 metres at 28.2km (who would put that in a course?!?). After some advice from Mister G, I've been trying to recruit my glutes and hamstrings when tackling these climbs, and it seems to work, although I've no doubt I look a bit like a duck waddling. I was running with Blue Dog approaching the last hill, and wasn't feeling fantastic. Once the hill we had to climb was apparent, I starting whinging, to which Blue Dog replied that he was wary of me when I started complaining, and that he loved hills. I, of course, left him behind on the hill. He got me again on the downhill, though.

Net result of the morning - 29.6km in 2:37:35, including stops. Pretty pleased with that effort, and of the whole weekend. Feet remain a bit of a concern, but are livable, and seem to be healing (although I have a fresh blister on my right arch).

Finished the morning off with a swim at Dee Why, including catching a pearler of wave whilst bodysurfing. I gave it away after that - I wasn't going to get another wave of that quality. Water was sensational after the run, really helped bring the body temperature down.

The weekend has proven somewhat of a catalyst. I made the comment to a few people that I was starting to get in a bit of a rut mentally, and I was probably pretty physically run down as well. It's the old story in running - if you don't take the week off when the body tells you too, it'll make you take it off, by illness or injury. I feel quite refreshed now - the little 4k at Centennial Park seems to have provided a bit of a mental turnaround, and I'm sure the positive attitude I carried from this event helped with my PB on Saturday, and my enjoying the run so much this morning.

This upcoming week - plans at this point are a recover 5 or 10 tomorrow, depending on how I feel, cycling to and from work, Lilyfield Road reps on Tuesday (running there from Drummoyne Rowers), probably the short 10k route to work, and then home on Wednesday, 1k repeats on Thursday, something very easy on Friday so I'm fresh for the opening Striders 10k at Lane Cove on Saturday, and then the Berowra STaR on Sunday. Pretty important STaR for Six Foot competitors, this one.

A decent result, and suddenly things are looking okay again

Got up at 6 this morning to tend to my blisters - quick spray of blister treatment, some elastoplast and some medical tape over them. Still painful to walk on - hmmmm....

Got out for a little jog around the block at 6:30 to warm up, promote certain bodily functions and to check the feet out. It was very ordinary for the first couple of hundred metres (as it always is when I haven't run for a day) but after a couple of minutes the blood started to move through the muscles and we were good to.

Turned up at about 7:05 to the usual crowd. Sticky, dullish morning. I decided to head out with the 18 minute group (Boof, Springer, Sportsman and Coaster) in the hopes they'd drag me through.

We took off pretty quickly and I knew it was going to hurt - but then it's always going to for these shorter runs. I made a point of not looking at my watch all throughout the run, but looking back at the splits we got through the first two km in 6:59. I dropped off the group a bit from about the 2km mark, but was sort of in touch. Boof scarpered off pretty well from the start.

Faded a bit over the last two km for 2 3:44kms to bring it home in 18m22s. Didn't check the time until I managed to get some semblance of breath back at the finish, and it came as a pleasant surprise.

Blisters were okay at pace, but quite sore when jogging the 5km back to the start. I think they're improving. I deliberately left the orthotics out today (I don't think they like my Series VIII DS Trainers) and will take a break from them again tomorrow. Once the blisters are back under control I'll put them back in - they've actually acheived the main aim of stopping the pain in my right foot, so I must be tracking better.

Nice to get a good result. I was kind of in the dumps a bit until the Centennial Park runs mid-week. Having been ill, and struggling in the last SMC event, things were looking gloomy, but I'm feeling a bit better about my running now.

Treadmill Thursday, and Friday Free

Felt a little stiff in the quads after Wednesday's efforts, and took myself down to the gym for 5k in 24:08. Ran at 12.5km with a slight incline, and felt I cruised along with a good rhythm.

Blisters were pretty sore

Woke up this morning with my feet killing me, and not just through the blisters. I've taken the orthotics out of my work shoes and put the quite flat inners in. I'm fine in bare feet, as there's no pressure on the arch, and I seem to be okay to wander around in flatter soles.

With my feet the way they are, a day off and perhaps a bath or something in the evening might be in order. Either way, it's a day off today.

Been a while

Oops, didn't realise it had been so long since I posted. Basically, I suspect at the SMC half I was carring a lurgy that had been going around the office, and I ended up taking the Tuesday and Wednesday off work, and could have taken Thursday as well, but couldn't be bothered getting a certificate.

So, from a running point of view, had the week off, and ran again on Tuesday 25 Jan in the rain (thanks for that) for a 9.45km effort around the Bay Run, from Drummoyne Rowers to Lilyfied Road, two hill reps, and back again. This was my first ever run with orthotics. Went pretty well.

26 Jan - ran the 8km and 4km races at Centennial Park. 31:45 for the 8, 16:19 for the 4, with half an hour between, and nearly missing the start of the 4. Bit disappointed with the 8, but enjoyed the 4 - I had no idea what to expect, so there wasn't any pressure. Actually felt reasonably comfortable at the pace. Good to catch up with the crew.

I had another visit on Monday Jan 24 to Mr Horne at the Care Clinic and got some orthotics. Wear them at work and while running - getting used to them, and they were fine to run in except I got some blisters from today's effort at the front of both arches. Might have been the shoes (Series VIII DS Trainers) with slim socks, but nastly nonetheless.

Nice to be back on the road. Time for tempo and speedwork to sharpen up.

Mid Weekend Update (again - sorry)

Been battling to get over Sunday's half. Did a 25 minute 5km recovery on the treadmill on Monday that went okay, but have been battling since.

Couldn't get out of bed on Tuesday for hill repeats, and I was stuffed after the ride home from work in the evening, so called it a rest day.

I packed on Tuesday night with the full intention of running long on Wednesday morning, but awoke at 5 feeling very groggy with a fairly strong headache. There is a lurgy aound at work at the moment which saw two fellow team members off crook yesterday, and I can't help thinking I have a touch of it. I'll monitor it during the day, but suspect I may be a touch run down and a few days off might be prudent.

Pre-Race Sunday morning

Sitting here at 5:20am Sunday morning, the sound of sporadic gentle rain wasn't what I was expecting. Quick check of the weather stations shows temps around 22-23, but probably more importantly humidity of around 85-97%, depending on which weather station you pick. Hmmm, that would explain the rain. Ick.

Friday
Woke at 5am on Friday with a fairly sore right foot. I had intended to do some 1k intervals, but with still being tired from Wednesday's effort and the foot thing, elected not to. Had my appointment with Martin Horne at 6:30, and copped some acupuncture needles in my hip and foot for my trouble, plus a bit of manipulation. Got an immediate improvement, but will see Martin Monday week for a double consultation over the foot/hip and orthotics.

The fundamental issue is the muscle connecting my right hip and lower back (at a guess, the Gluteus Medius (guess courtesy of ExRx), which I seem to 'redo' whenever I sneeze or bend unusually - example, gave it a tweak on Wednesday ducking under a tree. We've got to get that muscle to release. The hip's not an issue when I run, but it's causing the right foot to mistrack.

I had half a mind to go for a jog Friday night, but the lure of a few drinks in the afternoon put paid to that. It had, frankly, been a bitch of a week (at both a personal and work level), so it was good to let off a little steam in the afternoon.

Saturday
Awoke with what I guess could be referred to as a slight hangover. Eventually got down to the Bay Run a bit before 8, and ran an 8km 'tempo' run in just over 37 mins, having a bit of a push on the 4 and 6th kilometres. Felt quite junky the first few km, as I always do when I haven't run for a day or two, but once warmed up wasn't too bad. I did struggle to generate pace, though, and I've a sneaking suspicion that the Adidas Supernovas are the culprits here - everytime I run in them I feel slow, with the feeling of little energy return through the shoe.

I was a bit sore through the afternoon, but seem to have woken up okay.

Sunday (today)
I'm taking a punt on my light DS Trainer VIII's which I ran my half PB in at Lane Cove a few months back. It'll be interesting to see how much of Wednesday's effort I'm still carrying.

Also having a little experiment with some toast two hours before the start. I traditionally get up three hours beforehand and have creamed rice, but want to make sure I have a back-up plan in case I don't get up then before an important race, plus the experience of having something in the stomach is going to be helpful for refuelling for Six Foot.

If you see someone in a Striders' singlet chucking their guts out at the 4km mark at the SMC today, it was probably me...

A Day of Rest

Needed the sleep this morning, so whilst my partner met the 5:40 alarm, I maintained a bed-bound vigil until the 6:20 alarm.

Felt fairly stiff in the legs, although nothing serious (feet were a little beaten up), but given how I felt and the heat (yeah, and the lure of the 20/20 game), called it a day off.

Early start tomorrow, though - up at 5 to sneak some 1k intervals in before a 6:30 appointment with Mr Horne...

The slog home

It all got a bit grim on the way home - took forever to get a GPS signal in St Leonards (I think I was in Crows Nest before it actually got a decent one). It was pretty ugly to start with, as I ground my way through Crows Nest, St Leonards Park, and down to the Harbour Bridge (saw exposay again!), through the city and over the bridge at Darling Harbour. Most of the way through the city I seriously considered stopping and getting the bus - problem was, it involved going to an ATM and then standing with what would no doubt be unimpressed fellow travellers. Path of least resistance - keep going.

Finally stopped at Rozelle and had some water and a gel, and slogged my way home. Managed 16.9k in 1h29m7s. Yeah, it was slow, but nice to defeat the old demons telling you to stop.

Tomorrow will be pretty easy. Combined with this morning's effort I covered a marathon distance today over difficult terrain. Suspect it might be 5k in the morning to get the legs moving, and a little visit to the pool. Thank goodness I've got the car.

"Bush" Variation

Decided to do something a bit different for my Wednesday long this morning, tackling the Great North Walk from Boronia Park for as long as I could before I had to turn around and head to back to work at St Leonards.

Left at about 5:15 to start the short jog from home to join up with the GNW, hooking in just across the road from Joeys on Ryde Rd. One small problem at that time of the morning – it’s still quite dark. This made the descent to the Lane Cove River a fairly slow and careful one, with a couple of smacks in the face from low branches for my trouble.

Made my way along through fairly difficult terrain – the path isn’t particularly good quality, making my way through Boronia Park and up along the Lane Cove River to Epping Road. I took the wrong subway here and had to cross the bridge over the river on the road against traffic – just a quick sprint (amazing what motivation does).

Worked my way through the next section through Fairylands, and across Fuller’s Bridge and into Lane Cove National Park. Made a bit of a navigational cock-up and took the tarmac road along the river from the conference centre instead of following the road through the carpark and rejoining the GNW at the top of the hill.

As a result, I rejoined the wide bark trail at the soil depot and then, on spotting a GNW sign, proceeded to follow the trail in what turned out to be the wrong direction, coming out at the conference centre carpark, where I should have joined from Lady Game Drive. Oh well.

Ran to Redbank Oval, and a combination of an unclear path and time pressure saw me turn around here. I followed the path back to the park soil depot, then took the paved road to Fullers Bridge, and fast-walked the steep section Fullers Road, before running to the Pacific Highway at Chatswood. From there, I ran to St Leonards, with a little loop through Artarmon to make distance up to 25km.

Total distance 25.28km in 2:37:44. Slow, but the terrain wasn’t really conducive to fast times. Really enjoyed the run, I must admit – good clear air, birds waking and chirping, you could be just about anywhere. It was sorely tempting to keep going from Redbank Oval, and one day I might sneak a day off and see how far I can push up the GNW.

I’ll see how I feel this afternoon, and how it is, before making the call on running home. Looks like at this point – I feel fine, although the feet feel like they’ve had a good going over.

Backing up off the bike

Rolled in from work, put on some running shoes and shorts, and popped out for a recovery paced 6km this evening - want to do a bit more of this 'twice in a day' stuff. It was pretty slow, with quads hit with hill repeats and 20k of hilly cycling through the course of the day completely uninterested. It was very slow initially, but I picked up a bit through the 3k mark and cruised home reasonably comfortably. Slow, but worth it.

Lilyfield Road repeats

Beautiful, still, clear and cool morning at the Bay Run. Bit of a crew this morning, with many CR's making appearances this morning.

Ran 10 repeats, of 1:15, 1:13, 1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:14, 1:14, 1:15, 1:16 and 1:14. Good session, although went a bit off the boil on reps 8 and 9.

Might try to get out tonight for a gentle 5 to 10km.

Cross training into a new week

Managed a 5:45am start for a slow 6k recovery in 31 minutes- little stiff around the hips, but otherwise fine. Then back on to the bike for the resumption of my commuting to and from St Leonards (9.5km trip there, 9.5km back).

For something a little different, had a little swim of about 500 metres before going to work. I know a couple of people swear by it for recovery, so I might try to build that into the routine a couple of times a week.

Goodness, am I that far behind?

Sunday, January 9 - is it really near a week since I've completed this? Oops....

Tuesday
Back to work - bah! Declared a rest day after failing to arise. Recovery day.

Wednesday
Couple of grabs of the alarm saw me at St Leonards a bit later that I planned. Ran from St Leonards to Balmoral Beach return, plus Artamon to make 16k in a bit over 1h 21m. It was, frankly, horrible.

Thursday
Another failed attempt to arise, plus a busy day, equals another rest day.

Friday
After a bit of stuffing around, managed 5 x 1km repeats at Timbrell Park with Mr G (and Action mit towrope). Ran 3:37, 3:31, 3:35, 3:37 and 3:43 . Got a little ugly at the end, but a good session.

Saturday
Tried some tempo work at the Bay Run, but still a bit smashed up. Ran 8k in 32m47s and blew up, so ran another 4k in 21m27 as recovery. Saw MPHaz and Freerunner.

Sunday
Ran the Striders Pymble Pushover - good hilly hit out, over 28.9km in 2h28m40s. Battled from about the half way point, but managed to fight it out, and actually enjoyed the bush sections. Pretty pleased with the hitout, although it would have nice to managed more than 72km for the week. Well, back to work next week...

Summary
The Fat Ass run on January 1 took more out of me than I realised, but I learnt a lot. It was tough during the week, not helped by the NY break. Should be back on track this week, but there is an SMC half on Sunday....

A Run in the Park

Just a nice easy 10k along the Striders' Lane Cove 10k course this morning, in 50:42. Felt a little stiff, but was happy enough to lope along at recovery pace. Nice morning, although I wouldn't want to have run much later.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2005.

Been busy with a few other things on, like fooling around in GIMP to produce this, so the blog's a touch behind.

Saturday - New Year's Day, no less!

Being lazy, I've combined Action's description of the first half of the Berowra Fat Ass run, the map of which I gave a link to above. Here goes:

Action: "7:08 departure with Sparkie and little Louis waving us off. Vat and I discussed lawn mowers, and we then did the “good morning Dawn” call as we ran past Kev Tillers place a km or so into the run. Into the bush and Vat, Kanangra, AimHigh and I chatted and told golf jokes until we had to put in a sprint to just miss the ferry. Damn. 11:38 lost and the pack partially reformed.

As the ferry pulled out a few more arrived – and missed it - we cheerfully waved back at them… off the other side and 4k of up with AimHigh and Kanangra pushing the pace. Vat and I were close in attendance, as was Rabbit who had caught us at the ferry and kept surging as well. A quick right and a few hundred metres revealed the most magnificent Kev supplied drink garbage bin. It was here that AimHigh, Kanangra and I realised that Vat and Rabbit had dropped off a tad up the hill."

Me: "As per Action's comments until after the ferry, the group then proceeded to bash it up the hill. I elected to grind along at my own pace, figuring I had no idea what the terrain was like and that it was still early. I realised I had no map, so needed to keep the group at least in sight until the turn-off to the path.

Got to the castle in good shape to be joined by Jan. Had a bit of a look around for 5 mins or so, then headed back. Left Jan (who caught me at the drink bin) and saw most of the field heading the other way through here. Ran solidly down the hill and just missed the ferry with the group of runners Action had left. Jan and MPHaz caught up here.

Jan went to fill his water after telling us the path was easy to follow, 'just don' turn left', while MPHaz and I headed over to the climb. It was during the climb things went pear-shaped. My heart rate started to really run high (would have been interesting to see a HRM) and I started to feel, not quite dizzy, but 'vague', with some degree of breathlessness. I let MPHaz go and continued to climb, with a little break partway up

After managing the climb, things got really weird and I lost the path on several occasions. Just looking at the Garmin, I did one complete circle in the midst of my wanderings. I was getting a little scared (bashed up, cramped, not feeling great, lost) and sat down to have some cashews I'd packed.

Once I regained my faculties (such as they are) and had a bit of a think I used the Find Location (I had marked the start as a Navigation point) to regain the Great North Walk (in the wrong direction - d'oh!).

If I hadn't had the Forerunner, I suspect there might have been some SES search and rescue action when everyone got back to the car park and realised the super Sube was still there with no Vat.

Having finally regained the path I did successfully negotiate where the GNW diverts left, and Kev's bonus bin was a glorious sight. I did briefly consider getting in it, but settled for some ice under my hat.

I had one wrong turn left in me, though, and I managed a right turn down Alston Drive (what the hell was that about!?!?) that cost me another kilometre and ten minutes. Suspect this was when Action was cruising around.

Having regained the route AGAIN, I caught sight of Gasher. He'd had a few cramps, and since I'd perked up at the sight of my beloved tarmac (it would appear I am indeed a road runner) I passed him to finish in around 4:26 and change.

I'm sure I'd have been under 4 hours if not for the getting lost business. Own fault for leaving the map at the start.

Given the big climb seemed to trigger the nonsense that went on, I suspect my cold knocked the edge off my endurance today, along with a fairly fatty meal last night, plus a lack of sleep. I'm fairly knocked around at the moment - had a few cramps this afternoon - although not particularly sore. I think I can rule myself out of the STaR tomorrow - a nice cruise around the Bay Run after a sleep-in looks far more civilised than smashing myself up again around Cherrybrook."

Great way to start the new year, even taking into account the mishaps. Yeah, I'd have probably ended up taking a nap in the afternoon if I had been out on the turps the night before, but there is a certain smug satisfaction in knowing it was because you'd been out bush-bashing in the morning.

...and one thing's for certain. I'd have never seen that castle or appreciated that little tid-bit of history if I hadn't gone for the run. That's pretty cool.

Sunday

I had vague aspirations of making the STaR, but one thing increased mileage has taught me is that sufficient sleep is critical to recovery. I didn't set the alarm, and eventually arose at around 8am. We did the usual stuff, breakfast, washing, shopping, etc...

I managed to drag myself down to the Bay Run a bit before 2pm for an out-&-back cruise of the CR 5k course in 45m45s. I lost interest after about the 8km mark (headwind didn't help) but ran it out anyway. Wasn't really keeping an eye on the watch, just trying to maintain comfortable pace and good form

Pleasing to get out - soreness wasn't too bad, but I suspect if I'd run somewhere hilly it might have been a bit different. I have a bad track record when it comes to running on weekend days like this - if I don't go out first thing I often don't end up getting out at all, and considering I could have pleaded "I'm sore!" I got out anyway.

...and so to the new year. Managed 2879km last year, with some remarkable highs and lows. 2005 proves to be interesting.