good luck sleep train

monday:

i've forgotten whether i got out in the morning before work for a run. maybe i did and if so i'm thinking it might have been for about 15-16km from home up to warrimoo and back down the highway to glenbrook and then home via the lagoon.

i do remember getting out at lunch though for an easy workout consisting of 1 x 3000m (3:59), 1 x 2000m (3:50), 1 x 1000m (3:43) with 1000m steady (4:40) between. i kept the pace moderate to make sure that i got the workout in as planned. over the last few weeks i've gone out with the intentions of smashing myself and discovered my limits in fitness. i thought getting in some consistent workouts would help build my fitness and confidence.

tuesday:

a sunny, windless morning greeted the bmmc crew (many runners with names i'm not sure of - animal, fat kiwi, scam, sleep, etc) as we met up for the weekly tuesday morning loop departing from sleep trains house (check out the loop here). i'd been meaning to catch up and run this loop for some time but hadn't. this morning though was our last opportunity to run with sleep and wish him well before he embarked on his trip to austria to run in the world long distance mountain champs. he looked ready to go and knowing what he has been doing in training i expect him to bring home the win.

the run started out at an easy pace but i could feel the previous days tempo run in my legs and by the time we reached the first of the solid climbs i was troubled with my lack of energy and power in my legs. thankfully running with a bunch of triathlon/multisport athletes has it's advantages as i discovered that every climb was followed up with a brief stop to stretch and take care of whatever else needs to be taken care of. after a couple of extra stops the run was definitely feeling very social.

between my morning run and lunch i decided that i needed to try something new in my training and instead of going with the hard/easy, long/short daily option i have decided to try laying down some quality every day and see where that takes my fitness. so with that in mind and a small window of time at lunch i headed out to run a workout. i ended up going with 4 x 800m (200m recovery), 5 x 400m (200m rec), 4x200m. i wasn't planning on killing myself in this session and made the decision early to hold back on the pace enough to be able to get through this workout feeling good. mission accomplished....

workout:
warmup - 3.2km (15mins)
4 x 800m - 2:51, 2:51, 2:49, 2:49
5 x 400m - 1:24, 1:22, 1:22, 1:21, 1:19
4 x 200m - :35.6, :34.6, :32.7, :32.1
recovery 200m (50m walk/150m jog)

a solid session and i was excited to finally feel some bounce in my stride. i was on a high right through to bed time...


wednesday:
i woke up feeling good this morning which was a little surprising considering yesterday's workout. i was waiting for my legs to feel it on my run to work but they felt nice and relaxed.


i decided to make this a three run day with a run at lunch where i managed to get out and run 15 minutes easy, 10 minutes at marathon pace and finished up with 6 x 300m fast with 30 seconds recovery jog on the end. felt smashed but loaded up on the fruit and water intake in preparation for the run home (up mitchells pass) on a few short hours away.


sitting in the changeroom at work thinking about the run to come i was unsure how i was going to feel making the 5km climb from emu plains to home. i need not have worried. ran the first 5km at what felt an easy pace still making the start of the climb in 21 minutes. at the start of the climb i made a deal with myself that i wouldn't walk until i reached the bridge (top of the climb) where i was free to walk if i needed. twelve minutes later i was at the top and surprised how good i was feeling. no need for a break and finished with a solid 2km up to home.


wednesday training:
am - 10km in 0:44
noon - 15' easy (4:40), 10' steady (4:00-4:10), 6 x 300m (60" down to 56") with 30" jog
pm - 10km in 0:46 (climb from emu to bridge in 12'30")


thursday:
got out early for another session. thought for sure that the 30+km of running yesterday would make it difficult to get through the workout but ended up having a great workout. pre-planned to run the session around 10km pace and not try and push it much faster. session was 2 x (5min-4min-3min) with 2min steady (about 4:40/km) between. another session nailed for the week and finally starting to feel like i'm making some progress.


workout: 2 x (5min-4min-3min) with 2min steady

warmup: 3.2km in 15mins
5min - 1310m (3:49)
4min - 1048m (3:49)
3min - 800m (3:45)


5min - 1322m (3:47)
4min - 1076m (3:43)
3min - 820m (3:40)


cooldown - 5-10mins





now that my garmin has died and gone to technology heaven i thought i had better start posting my training here more often before i forget all that i have done...

last week's training (or was it the week before?) - actually it was the week before. i've lost last weeks training to the recesses of my mind. i think i might have had a good week totalling about 130-140km.


monday: pm - 15.5k easy (1:10) hilly run up singletrack to mitchells pass finishing with 5 x 150m strides on the flat. great day for a run. planned to head out after work but didn't.

tuesday: am - 14.3k with hill workout (1:20) solid hill session running 26x100-110m. ran moderately for the first 20 repeats running them in around 28sec and then pushed it running the remainder in around 20-21secs. finished feeling great!

wednesday: pm - 10k easy (0:45) easy out and back run around the river.

thursday: pm - intervals 9k (0:42). shortened interval session due to the heat (33 celsius and windy). Ran 1x2k and 2x500m averaging around 3:30/km pace.

friday: am - 6k easy (0:30) with 6x200m fast. legs felt tired at the start but loosened up during the strides.

saturday: busy day and missed my planned run. turned out to be a mistake before trying to run hard the following day as me legs felt completely dead - which is normal following a no exercise day.

sunday: 40k of running including two races a half marathon race and a 9k'er. drove into sydney with my wife to take part in the sydney running festival. the plan was that i would run the half marathon and then find my way back to the starting area to run the 9k race with my wife. as i was only planning on running the race as a substitute for a long run my goal was to complete the half running at marathon pace and for most of the run that's what happened. went through the first 10k right in 4:15/k pace sitting on around 80% maxHR but then things got tough over the next 7k. Pace dropped to around 4:30/k and my legs started aching - not good. after getting back into the city things improved and i managed to finish up running the last few kilometres at around 3:50/k and i was excited that it felt easy. with 10 minutes of running and another 10 minutes commuting on the train i made it back over the bridge for the start of the 9k race. thankfully i found my wife near the front of the runners and waited just past the start and timing mats for the race to start before jumping in. had the most enjoyable run pushing my wife along to a great finishing time. an hour of walking back to the car to complete the morning... does it get any better?