Long Run ~~~

What a freezing, cold day it's been...still is now at 4:30p.m. and an even colder night ahead...but I won't be out in that!  Plenty of sunshine about but the wind must be straight off the snow fields.  I waited until 11:00a.m before setting off in the hope of it warming up, but not so!

Program :  90min or 15km

 

From Highlands School/Diamond Fields Road and back.

Higdon's program uses 'time on feet' for long runs but being a slow runner, I prefer 'distance' and so I returned to the F.I.R.S.T. training program I'd been using prior to switching to Hal Higdon's.  I just wouldn't get far enough in 90 minutes as Higdon imagines!

15km 
2 hours 2 minutes
5km splits  ~~  41:10;    41:58;    38:55 ....
Walk breaks
Stretches 

I ran the first and last kilometres around the school.  I chose Diamond Fields Road for a change to the lovely bush scenery as well as for its hills...of which there are plenty!  Going out was fine but when I turned around at the end of DF Road, I was hit by a blast of cold wind that stayed with me all the way back to the school...nasty!  But DF Road is such a pretty bush setting with open fields all around, it was worth the unpleasant conditions.

I have to admit to being all tuckered out at the finish; felt dreadfully tired, so in quick succession I did the following :  drove home, showered, cup of tea and an Anzac biscuit, flopped on the bed and slept for 2 hours!  I always feel worse after sleeping during the day, so I moaned and groaned about that until I had a cup of hot pumpkin soup which I drank greedily and now, sitting down to bring my blog up to date, I feel almost human, but not quite!

Today....15km

For the Week....39km

At "Pace" Run ~~~

Higdon's "Pace" runs are meant to be run at the pace you wish to run the half marathon; in other words 'race pace'.  To finish in 2:20 - and I'd like to do better than that  - I'd need to run 6:36m/k.  Easy?  Not today!!
Big improvement in the weather : strong winds lessened to cold but not so strong as for the past few days this week.

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
― Albert Camus

~~~ Lovely old maple in school grounds ~~~

I started at the Highlands School, to Bong Bong Road and Renwick streets where I chose to run back and forth on all the hilly streets just to make it more difficult!  Running in one direction down hills I had the wind behind me; returning uphill not so good into the cold wind and this gave V.P. the lead which he never lost, returning to the school more than 100m ahead of me!  Still....there's time for me to improve!

......through the branches ~~

Program:
5km at 'Pace'

 

5km @ Pace

Few drills
5km in 34:10
6:38;  7:00;  6:43;  6:59;  6:49
Stretches
Avg. pace 6:50
AHR 82%

Today ~~~ 5km

The Day Off ~~~

Friday is the one rest day during the week on the Higdon program I'm following, and pleased I am not to be out on another horribly windy day!  Tomorrow, no matter what the weather, I have to be out for a 5km run @ Pace and Sunday, a long run... hopefully with fewer gales blowing across the Southern Highlands than there have been lately.





 

Tempo Run ~~~

I hope this is true!!

Shocker of a day here :  not just windy, gales blowing; not just cold, but freezing!  I was no match for the force of the wind this morning and hated just about every minute of the session!  I took some walk breaks when it was too hard to run and stopped altogether when it was too difficult to walk.

Program  :
45 min Tempo Run

5 freezing kilometres

2km warm-up
5km in 36:21
Avg. Pace 7:16
AHR 77%;  MHR 96%?
7:07;  7:07;  6:55;  7:30;  7:41
1km walk to school.

Easy Day ~~

Just a 5km brisk walk today; legs a bit stiff from yesterday's track, so decided on a brisk walk instead of an easy run.  Weather very cold and very windy....very unpleasant.  I didn't bother with Garmin, just walked the same route I usually run for 5km.

Tomorrow tempo run.   Less cold and wind I hope!

Not such a bad idea!!

Chev. Track ~~~

Ages since I've done a track session, so I was more than a little chuffed this morning that I ran faster than the pace my program had set!  Since the Higdon program I'm following doesn't have a specific pace for track sessions, I'm using paces from the F.I.R.S.T. program for this and tempo runs, both based on my recent 5km time (MDC, Canberra) of 33 minutes.

Program :
10-20 min warm-up 
7 x 400m in 2:29
90 sec. RI
10 min cool-down

 

~My 400m reps at Chevalier College~

2km warm-up
Drills + Strides + 7x400m
2:20;  2:21;  2:21;  2:22;  2:22;  2:18;  2:22
1km cool-down
Usual stretching.

A cold, windy morning in Bowral; 206m lane just barely visible so I used it. I ran fairly hard for each repeat but pleased it was still possible to do so especially in the wind and cold! Like I said above.....I was quite chuffed with myself this morning!

Today 5.8km

Week 2 ~~ Easy Running

I think I felt better running today than I did yesterday at the MDC in Canberra!  Slower, but then it 's supposed to be an easy day.  I thought I'd be slower than I was and that I might be tired after putting heart, soul and body into yesterday's 5km!  Big change in weather  ....grey skies, cool to cold and rain on the way.  Anyhow, a good start to the second week of twelve leading up to the ACTVAC Half Marathon.

Program : Easy 5km

5.5km

I started in Renwick, ran easily for 5km and then walked 0.5 to the car...and I'm counting that in the day's total. Forgot HR monitor, remembered Garmin; tomorrow, should have it all together!

5km in 35:03 

For Today 5.5km

Mothers' Day Classic....Canberra ~~~

I drove to Canberra this morning to run the MDC 5km Run.  Leaving Mittagong at 6:00am, I drove almost the entire 2 hours in heavy fog and darkness!  The Lake was completely hidden on arrival and didn't show itself until well after the sun broke through.  From thereon it was a brilliant day with over 7,000 runners and walkers taking part in the various events and hundreds more cheering spectators.

5k Around the Lake

I met Ewen before the run and Ruth and Margaret after.  I could hear these two shouting my name and cheering as I approached the finish!  A brief chat and they were off to Mothers' Day at home, while Ewen and I headed to the War Memorial cafe for brunch.....scrambled eggs, toast and bacon, plus two mugs of coffee for me.  The second coffee was 'on the house' because my meal took a while to be served. That's what I call service!  We sat and talked till around 1:00pm before I set off for the drive back to Mittagong.  A most pleasant day!

The Run:  1 lap around the Basin crossing 2 bridges.
About 2km warm-up + strides
5km in 33:43...official time.

 I forgot to bring my Garmin!!  A hundred curses!!!  I didn't even have a watch, so I had no idea of how I was running.  I had set VP to run 6:36/k to finish in 33 minutes and I ran 33:45 without his or any other help!  I think that's the first time I've run with nothing other than my own two legs!  I was quite satisfied with that time, which was 3 minutes faster than Ginninderra Park Run a couple of months back and with only 1 full week of training after several weeks off.

The MDC is a wonderful event.... lots of fun, music and fancy costume on what turned out to be a fabulous day!

For today.....7km