How Long Has This Been Going On?

Five days so far, that's how long! Last Friday was my last run before coming down with the worst cold I can remember, courtesy of Mr LL who, tired of having such a bad cold all to himself for a week, decided it was time to give it away ....to me! I can't remember when I last had a cold of any kind, but when I do get a cold I REALLY GET A BEAUTY!

For 5 days I've felt as sick as a dog: sneeze, blow, cough; sneeze, blow, cough; hardly any sleep. I feel like I'll never run again and City to Surf less than 3 weeks off. Plenty of time for Blackmores though; that's if I ever get the urge to run again...how quickly things just fall apart! Oh well, another day or two & maybe I'll feel the old desire return.

To be continued........

An Upper Aerobic Run...

....that became a 'lower aerobic' run!

Program : 12km @ AHR 82%.

I didn't have what's required in the legs to get heart rate up to 80%+ for any decent length of time in today's 12km run. It was a cold & windy mid-day when I started & my legs were still a bit weary ...from yesterday's strides work out I think. So....

12km @ AHR 70%; MHR 78%
Avg. pace 7:32; Best 4:46

I've just about got used to the recent change I made in running shoes...i.e. to the Newton Trainer; today was the longest continuous run in them. I very much like the feel of running lighter/faster (?) that they give but they take some getting used to, short distances first; then the longer stuff. So far no problems running with them over the past 2 weeks.

Track Session....

I did today's track at Renwick Soccer Field just up the road from home.....another facility I seem to have the exclusive use of. Cold, overcast day. Wore #3 Frees.

Program : 2km warm-up. A few drills.
16 x 100m strides with jog recoveries.
2km warm-down.

All went well I think, possibly a bit sluggish; times not as fast as when I did the same strides a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, just getting going again after Gold Coast!

Fastest 100m 28 seconds; slowest in 31 seconds.

Today's Distance = 6km

Cold, Windy Day

.....OK for a short run only.

Program : 6km @ 75% of MHR.

I did today's run up & down a stretch of road that gave some shelter from the wind.

Time 45:20
Avg. Pace 7:31; Max. 5:58
AHR 68%.....should have run harder!

Distance Today = 6km

Back To Work...

After a few days of easy jogging, today was the start of Week One of my Three Week Training Cycle.

Program : 12km @ 118 (75%) 'Lower Aerobic' Run.

I didn't start until around 12:30p.m & by then the day had turned cloudy, fairly cold & very windy. I enjoyed getting back to 'proper' running & the run went well, I think, in spite of the nasty headwind after the turn around point at 6km.

For the first time, I used "Garmin Connect" to download my run to the PC. Very soon that's what 'Motion Based' will be using exclusively, so I thought it a good idea to get used to it. Lots of new features & a 'new look' for Motion Based from what it is now.

6km out in 39:39
AHR 72%; MHR 80%.
Avg. Pace 6:59; Max. 5:34.

6km back in 44:09.....no negative split today!
AHR 76%; MHR 90%.
Avg. Pace 7:26; Max. 5:40.

Today's Distance = 12km







.

!st Run Post Gold Coast

Having walked each day for about 45 minutes since the Gold Coast half, I thought it about time to speed things up a bit before starting back on the full program next Monday.

6.5km very easy.

All body parts, bits & pieces seemed to hold together well! Lovely clear morning after a night of light rain. I'll do a couple more easy runs like this before resuming my 3 week training cycle on Monday.

Gold Coast Half Marathon, 2009

.......................from the 22nd floor.

My aim for each of this year's runs is to try to better the times for the same events of 2008....so far it's working!

I spent 6 days at the Gold Coast, staying at Main Beach, "Pacific Views" on the 22nd floor & right across the road from the beach! I didn't have far to go for a daily surf & found I hadn't forgotten how to swim since the years of swimming at Bronte & Clovelly beaches in Sydney.

I repeated the lead up to this half marathon exactly as I'd done for the SMH Half back in May : 2 days taper but with the wonderful ocean to surf in this time!

An early 6:20 a.m. start Sunday morning was cool & pitch dark making my way across to the where the races began at Southport and meant getting up at 4:30a.m....not my time of day at all, but good for this particular climate change. This year, I didn't lock myself in or have to break down doors & smash locks as I did last year! In fact, everything, including the half marathon, couldn't have gone better!

My time on this course last year was 2:27:02. On Sunday I ran 2:21:06! This gave me (at 79) 1st place in my age category (75-79); 2nd place was a Japanese runner who was somewhere around half an hour behind me!! Lucky I didn't know she was there until I saw the results in the paper next morning!

I felt great throughout the entire run; never uncomfortable & didn't need to stop at two of the drink stations; I just kept on flying past everything & everyone I could overtake! I think I can run faster than I did & will practise a 6:30 per km pace in training runs of 12-14km in the weeks ahead of any future half marathons....Bankstown probably being the next one.

Thank you to all who have left encouraging comments on my blog; you keep me motivated to keep running on into my 80th year which begins this September!

Last Longish Run....

......before Gold Coast Half Marathon next Sunday. I'll take tomorrow off, do a 'Hills" session Tuesday & fly out on Wednesday. Thursday, at the Gold Coast I'll do some 100m strides on the beach, go to the Expo on Friday ( no running) & rest up completely on Saturday.

Today's Program : 12 to 14km 'easy'. Push harder for the last 3km.

14km in 1 hour 48 minutes.

7k out in 56:31....very easy!
7k return in 51:43...the brakes were off & running into a strong head wind. However, a nice little negative split of 4 minutes 48 seconds feeling good all the way!

Distance for the week = 42km

And that's it from me for now.

Good night & good luck everyone!