countdown to bogong...

last few weeks have been consistent (except last week but i’ll get to that shortly). the typical weekly routine has looked like the following (optimum week shown but generally only 90% compliance with not all runs completed)…

monday: 2 easy runs (1 road with strides, 1 trail)
tuesday: hill session (up & down for about 7-8km worth); easy run (pm)
wednesday: longer run of about 1h40 to 2 hours on the trail if possible (pm); easy run (am)
thursday: long intervals (30mins total). easy run (am or pm)
friday: recovery run
saturday: tempo/hill session; easy run
sunday: long run 2-4.5 hours easy

total weekly volume at a guess would be in the 135-180km range.


now on to last week (post-christmas)…

on boxing day (well technically it was the following day as i didn’t start the run until 12:30am) i drove up to wentworth falls to run a couple of laps of the BMMC hosted 12hr kedumba mountain run. after catching up with mister g just after starting out i discovered that only luis was on the trail so i pushed it with what vision i had (it was foggy at the top) making it to the bottom in 34 minutes which felt relatively easy but pushing it on the way back up to catch luis (just over 50 minutes) i twisted my ankle a little. it didn’t hurt at the time but over the next few days it began to worry me to the point that i had to shorten the furber steps run (wednesday) after the second climb. i also skipped to quality sessions on thursday and saturday to be on the safe side.

easy runs on thursday and friday left me feeling incredibly tired, sore and fatigued and i was worrying that the drive down to victoria wasn't worth the expense but after a good weekend of running (4.5 hours of training) things have begun to look up again.

my fitness and condition is not where i hoped it would be when i started my build for bogong a couple of months ago but at least it should give me a good platform to train for some early 2010 races.

now just have to get through this taper without doing something stupid...

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a month to go...

so far i've managed to get in all sessions scheduled for the week and it feels like my fitness is taking over where the fatigue has left off...

the week:

monday: am) the usual 10k run to work in around 43mins.
pm) 10k run home in the heat while considering death. Took it easy going up the hills to save myself for the hill session in the morrow.

tuesday: pm) hill session: ran 10 repeats which included 250m (gradient avg 10%) of climbing and finished up the session running 6x200m in around 36" to remove some of the tightness which was heavy in my quads.

wednesday: pm) 1h55min run touring the penrith lowlands. legs felt surprisingly good which caused me to go out a little fast which caused me some problems 90mins in. forced my legs to work a little harder over the last 5km running 200m fast every 2mins on the way back.

thursday: am) finally made it to a bmmc training run and completed the standard 10k loop which includes for me the most unpleasant of climbs on tired legs. need to do it more often and start toughening up.

pm) 1h05 run with 31mins of intervals (covering about 8+km). felt like i had a good workout.

the next 3 days...

friday: short recovery run

saturday: am) 10km tempo run

sunday: am) the big run - last and first a month out from bogong. will make sure that i'm stocked up with all the goodies that i'm likely to consume on race day.

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christmas came early

these arrived in the mail this week. can't wait to try them out on some local trails this weekend... hopefully i'll find the spirit of anton. maybe i'll even grow the beard back....

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Stress and Soreness...

last weeks training didn’t go to schedule. due to my attendance at a two day conference in sydney followed up with a day’s training i sacrificed the easier runs which make up a large part of my training and also allow my legs to recover between the quality sessions. i did however manage to get in most of quality sessions as planned but at the expense that all sessions were tackled during the late afternoon heat.

 the heat and quality of the week has added to a lot of stress and by the end of the weekend after two 10km runs on saturday sandwiching my first weight session (squats and lunges) followed up on sunday afternoon with a 2+ hour excursion with (the) sleep train, dr phil and the welsh exchange student into the grose valley which included a short dip in the river has left me very sore and tired. the climb both up and down was made even more challenging due my poor footwear selection. the climb out completely fried my calves as i was trying to find some traction on the loose leaves with my toes and the two steps up one slide back added to my quad fatigue. arriving at the top was a welcomed relief as i was able to start running again but halfway back to the car my quads tightened up further and i could feel the tell-tale signs of cramping coming on. to avoid the unpleasantness of cramping i backed off and enjoyed the fading light as i soaked in my first foray out to faulconbridge point. think i might make this route a regular part of my training…

looking back…

monday: a quick loop of the river on the way back from sydney @ 4:08 /km pace

tuesday: am hilly loop 11 repeats in the alloted time

wednesday: lunch 8.5km steady run, pm 85min trail run up to the oaks gate and back down the singletrack. hot day which ended in the creek.

thursday: pm 95min run with intervals (about 20min worth) followed up with 30+ minutes of climbing (10-15% grade) @ 75% maxhr. again the heat killed me and i had to cut short the hard running.

friday: 35min easy

saturday: am 10km steady, lunch – weights (legs), pm 10k easy

sunday: pm 2h run out to faulconbridge point and down into the grose valley for a swim.

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chillin out at barrington

spent last weekend at Barrington Tops just chillin out with my wife...


friday walked with my wife for an hour up the steep driveway (10%+ grade) and back for an hour. after a marathon sleep my wife and i went for a 20km/4.5 hour walk in the national park which left us both feeling quite fatigued. sunday morning was our last bit of peace before picking up the kids and the photo above shows how i spent some of it. lying on the grass with my legs up looking at the sky... took the dog out for a run when i got home to show him some love...


back to the hill...


17/11/09 tuesday (total 24 km)

short hills (am)

a 5.30am start saw me heading down to glenbrook for some hill work. it was quite warm and humid and the session felt tougher than expected but happy to complete the 3km of climbing finishing faster as the session progressed. run at lunch still to come...

recovery run (pm): 8.55 km (42:14) - 4:56 pace

felt a little stiff and sore through the first two kilometres but loosened up and wanted to run quicker. i didn't give in though and kept the effort controlled.


18/11/09 wednesday (total 19.5 km)

steady run: 19.5 km (1:30) - 4:38 pace

during the start of the run my legs were feeling quite sore from yesterday's hill workout which made me happy that i pushed myself hard enough yesterday. unfortunately my legs didn't get any better or worse and with the heat it made for a tough run.

19/11/09 thursday

workout: 1min hard/30sec float

ran a tough session in the heat (41 degrees) but surprised myself running the hard segments at 3:30 down to 3:20 pace with the floats starting out at 4:20 pace but slipping to 4:40 pace over the final three repeats. legs felt amazing after...

20/11/09 friday

steady run: 7.2 km (29:45) - 4:08 pace + 5 x strides

i'm not sure if this was supposed to be a recovery session or not but it felt short (time) and my legs felt happier running at a slightly faster pace on the grass this morning. finished with my lower back feeling a little sore...

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The weekly report...

with some upcoming ultras i've decided that i need to get back onto more trails and start focusing on hitting as many hills as i can in order to regain some of the strength i have lost over the last few years. i've decided to start focusing on ultra and trail races next year and for this i've decided that it's going to take plenty of work on the trails and up and down hills.


i think my focus will be to run the hills till i'm drop dead tired and then run some more until the body adapts to all this vertical gain that i throw at it.


my biggest weak leading into North Face this year was a 17 hour/200km week and my plan is to hit that a few months out and build on it - a 20 hour week sounds about right. not sure how i'm going to do that with a 40 hour work week and my desire to spend as much time with my wife and kids as i can but i'll work something out. thankfully they are very supportive but it'll be an interesting period of time management juggling. what usually goes first is sleep and i seem to be able to cope with that loss better than most.


ok enough of the blab and on to what was last week...


2/11/09 - 90min trail run workout: 4 x 6min hard (3min easy)


1h30' run in the National Park starting at the rangers station and heading up the oaks fire trail put in some quality with 4 x 6min efforts at around half marathon effort. Tough work but felt strong on the climb in and out. Hot day!


3/11/09 - easy trail run


a very hot day and when i got out after work it was a nice 38C. parked the car in Glenbrook and headed up onto the knapsack trails where i met up with fellow BMMC runner scam bullant. tough run and felt like i was breathing with a mask on in front of the oven.


4/11/09 - SANDWICH DAY (3 runs - 10k easy run (am), hill session totalling 14k (lunch), 10k steady home (pm))


i'm thinking that 3 run session days might become a big part of my training. it will essentially invoves the 10k run commute to and from work with a hard lunchtime workout sandwiched in the middle. today it involved 6 x The Sanctuary (Drive) hill repeats (12-15% slope) which were tough. the climb home up mitchells pass though was not as tough as expected and i was stoked to make it home feeling so strong. that feeling ended quickly when i took monty (the dog) for 3km of walking and jogging through the neighbourhood. i was done...


5/11/09 - hilly run


back into the hills during lunch and for the first 10 minutes things weren't looking good. my body was feeling a little ragged but what felt like 5min pace was actually 4:30 pace when i looked at the watch and by the time i reached the start of the trail up to lapstone station i was feeling good to go again. the climb was tough but i down shifted into low gear and motored up and by the time i reached glenbrook and headed back down the old highway onto mitchells pass i was feeling ready to roll through 15 minutes of tempo on my way back to work. the wheels fell off about 10 minutes out and i backed off to make sure that the legs are not too shattered for tomorrow morning's long journey to work.


6/11/09 - flat easy run


got in another run which included some vertical gain but mainly flat to give the legs a little break. the legs were feeling the previous runs as they barked at me to take it slow for the first few kilometres and i listened. after loosening up though they felt good and the pace easily settled into something a little slower than marathon pace...


7/11/09 - easy run


managed to slip in an easy run...


8/11/09 - long easy run (trails)


the day almost flew on by with kid's swimming lessons and house work but managed to slip out just before lunch for some trail love...


managed 2h13' of trail time for about 28km which included running some aid for a lady who had slipped on some wet rocks. her family were with her but she wasn't moving or making any noise which was quite scary. ran to get help so that they could assess her condition. i felt completely wiped out mentally and physically after that ordeal and struggled for the final 10km.


with aching legs i quickly showered and jumped in the car for a BMMC barbie at MrGs. recovery nutrition was enjoyed which included a lentil burger and roasted veggies all washed down with carbon-neutral beer (first beer in months... thinking back the last beer consumed was with Blue Dog on a post-morning NF recon run).


the numbers: running 135km, 10:43 total time, avg pace 4:45/km

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week two - running and diet thoughts...

the title suggests that i am currently training towards some goal. not sure what that is yet....

thought i would also post a few random days of food consumption here and there for those that have asked about it. i've started eating more cooked food than usual but as the days get warmer i'll probably move closer to eating at least 60% of my daily food consumption in fresh fruit. i've noticed more and more vegan ultra-endurance athletes popping up or perhaps i am just becoming more aware...

my eating is largely based on eastern nutritional philosophy and healing my body through plant-based nutrition and is influenced by books such as healing with whole foods, the china study, nutrition and athletic performance, and i'm waiting for brendan brazier's thrive book to arrive.

TRAINING


monday: 14.53 km (1:04) - 4:25 pace // yoga session - core & back
a steady run out to the lakes. the last 5k was challenging with the wind blowing in my face but finished strongly running the last kilometres in 3:36. finished up the day with a yoga session with my wife before bed. a great way to unwind...


tuesday: hills - 12 loops (560m) - total time 1:18 (14.5 km)
a tough session with short recovery. averaged the same as last time i did this workout but this week i added two repeats and shortened the recovery by 30 seconds.


splits - 2:08, 2:05, 2:02, 2:03, 2:00, 2:04, 2:05, 2:07, 2:08, 2:08, 2:03 - average 2:04.9 (3:43 / km)

food highlights:-
immediately post-run: beet, apple, orange, romaine smoothie
breakfast: oats w/ almond milk, raisins
snack: fresh dates
lunch: lentil & tomato dhal w/ brown rice
dinner: quinoa pudding (actually ended up more like a yummy dessert than a dinner - cooked with fried banana, coconut oil, milk & meat, raisins and carrot)

wednesday: 10 km (0:45) - 4:30/km
easy run to work. legs felt a little tired from yesterday but happy to get there and enjoy last nights leftovers.

pm run: 18 km (1:26) - hilly run
ran home and made sure i included all the hills i could including the sanctuary drive in leonay, mitchells pass and hare street glenbrook. felt spent when i crawled through the gate. loving it!!

thursday: 16.1 km (1:10) - 4:26/km easy run
went out with no plans for the run and ended up running around the river and up mitchells pass before looping back to work running the last 15 minutes around threshold. pushed the climb from emu plains up mitchells and felt good.

food:-
breakfast: large bowl of rockmelon, blueberries, raisins, almonds
snack: dates, almonds (pre-run)
post-run: 2l of water, fresh dates, pumpkin seeds (high in iron), almonds
lunch (late): lentil & tomato dhal w/ brown rice, green tea
dinner: black bean chilli w/ grilled veggies & avocado


friday: 12 km (0:56) - run workout
at home with the kids today so booked them into the gym and jumped on the treadmill. got bored within five minutes so upped the pace every 500m starting at 4:40 pace and ending at 3:40 pace for the last kilometre. added to the fun setting the incline to 12.5% were i held the pace with my heartrate settling on 83% of max till it was time to grab the kids (18 minutes total climbing ~400m over 3.7km). rounded out the session with some 200m repeats at maximum warp speed. still had some energy left in the tank which was disappointing. need to think of a harder strategy to crush myself next time.


saturday & sunday: family time...
wife out of town...


summary:
mileage was not as high as i would like but overall not bad considering my wife has been away for four days. managed to put in two solid workouts and a couple of strong runs which made me feel like my fitness is improving.


the workouts need to be made harder and with more volume if i'm going to continue to build fitness but built over time and not rushed to avoid burnout, overtraining or worse, injury. of course that means i need to give consideration to my easy days both before and after my sessions to allow my body to recuperate and take on the full benefits of the workout. easy days are my weakness. i know that i should include them in my weekly schedule but i always feel weak and stale the day following... perhaps a change of scenery and more time spent on the trails will help relax the effort.


can't wait for next week...

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