anton inspired...

i re-read an article about anton krupicka last night and am feeling inspired to run as many miles as time allows for this week... at least 200 kilometres. should be doable.

i am also hoping to get out on the course once or twice this week with the plan to cover at least 75% of the course over two runs. maybe i can round up one or two other runners to provide for some camaraderie but it will be unlikely as most don't appreciate the early morning wake ups. but i will need to be on the trails by 4am to allow me to get to work.

before i forget - so far this week...

saturday: 15 km - 1:12 - knapsack stairs loop
shoes: nike pegasus sleep: about 3 hours broken

ended up being a long day before heading out for a run. turned the alarm off to try and get a bit more sleep before heading out for soccer. after soccer drove over to tahmoor and worked on house renovations for about 6 hours before heading home. my wife jacki convinced me that a run would be good. i was feeling a little upset in the tummy and lethargic but headed out anyway. pushed it a little trying to beat the failing light and ended up running the loop six minutes quicker than last week. felt good immediately after run.

sunday: 32.5 km - 2:38 - oaks fire trail (woodford to glenbrook plus home)
shoes: nike pegasus pre-run fodder: sticky thai black rice and waffles

spent the day with the family up the mountains (katoomba and leura). went to the cafe where my step-son and his girlfriend work and had a good lunch. on the way home jacki dropped me off at woodford so that i could get a run in. carried a headlamp, mobile phone and a water bottle the nathan pack to see me through. running from the drop off point to the woodford station and i felt like i was breathing much harder than the effort required and i was concerned that it was going to be a long night in the bush. i needed to have not worried as i took it easy and ran well down the trail and up to the rangers station at glenbrook. on the hills i felt strong on the ups and on the downs i concentrated on trying to minimise the impact on my quads to avoid smashing myself up. gate to gate in under two hours.

monday: 15.2 km - 1:13 - hilly trail run

after work parked the car at the rangers hut (glenbrook) and headed off for a loop through the bush. an old favourite - oaks-bennetts ridge fire trail-euroka. ran easy on the flats but pushed the hills.

tuesday: 10 km - 0:43 - short tempo

squeezed in a run with about 4 kilometres of running sub 4min/km pace. with all the long runs and hilly trail work of late i didn't think i would be able to get my legs turning over faster than the easy pace i have settled into. i even threw in a couple of surges over the final 3k around 3:30-3:40 pace and my legs started loosening up. hill work still to come this afternoon. long run tomorrow.

second run: 15 km - 1:17 - penrith to blaxland

with the rain falling i left work with the intentions of running up home via knapsack stairs. felt good heading up mitchells pass and headed down to the gully and started up the stairs to find that a tree had fallen down across the track. back tracked and headed up the stairs on the other side heading towards glenbrook. had a great run along the single track in the rain with streams falling from the cutting and along the track. got soaked and had fun.

wednesday: ~ 8 km - 0:36 - running in the rain

resting hr: 38 :: shoes: nike pegasus

monty the dog needed a run and with all the rain it seemed i was the only volunteer. but boy did it bucket down. only a short one today as we had some house guests.

thursday: 20 km - 1:25 - tempo (10 km out in 45 mins/ 10 km back in sub 40)

shoes: asics flats :: feeling: lethargic

wow what a run. i started out in the pouring rain and i was thinking "what an idiot" but i had no thoughts of bagging the run. not today it had to be done. running down along the path which parallels the river and i felt like a big kid. no one else was out so i had some fun jumping puddles and running through torrents of water as it flowed into the nepean river. i don't remember ever being so wet.

i was struggling to find any rhythm so decided to take it to the hills running a couple of loops up and down the back streets of leonay. fourty minutes into the run the rain stopped and i started feeling a little tired so i started running back to work. five minutes later and i was running quicker than i have in months and it felt effortless. perhaps all this aerobic running has some merit. a good day...