Last Day for 2004!

........and Sunday will be the end of week 15 training for Canberra. Today is a rest day and glad I am of it! Total kms from Dec. 6 - Dec. 31 = 220km. .......and a new year is dawning!

Mid-Week Run

Hated getting out of bed this morning... the weather has turned very cold! Deciduous trees are wondering if they should change colour for the second time this year! Anyhow, I got out at 8:30 a.m. and did the planned 16km run. I kept HR at 70-73% of Max., but was feeling fairly tired at the finish; ran on a dirt/gravel road, very quiet, no cars, no people, but hard to keep a steady pace when feeling so weary. Tomorrow's day off will be very easy to take!

Recovery Run

A very cool and very windy morning. A 6km run...HR 73%...ready for tomorrow's much longer mid-week run.

12km With Some Strides

Week 15 is here! Today was 12km including 10 x 100m accelerations; finished feeling that it was a fairly hard session but nothing too drastic; most times the stride-outs were up hills, so that could be taken as a hill session also I reckon!

Rest Day

Start of Week 15.......time is passing! Noting to report on today; just hung around, walked the dogs...

Sunday's Long Run

Cool morning; out early! 8:30 a.m.!! 22km today; took some walk breaks, but a good run & felt OK right to the end.....maybe a bit tired at the finish!

Total km for the week = 62km.

Recovery

A short, relaxed 6km run this Xmas morning.... cool & misty again; nothing like the usual hot one for this time of year; tempted to go on a bit further, but there's a long one coming up and as Scarlett O'Hara said : "Tomorrow is another day!"

Rest Day

.....and pleased I'm not out right now; there's an almighty electrical storm going on and poor Santa is on his way!

Mid-Week Longish Run

Couldn't see a 'foot' in front of me this morning! Everywhere shrouded in thick mist & fog. Even as I post this, the end of the street is invisible! However, a brilliant morning for a run on a soft dirt road with not a sound to be heard. Today was a comfortable 16km; Max. HR 73% ... Avg. 60%. Looking forward to tomorrow off, but will probably feel restless and wonder why I'm not running!!

6km of 8km Hard on Hills

Out late again....10:30 a.m. & already getting hot. Did 1km warm up, 3km of hills, turn around (hills still there!), 3km hills return, 1km cool down. I pushed the middle 6 km of hills hard, getting HR up to 90% (153) of max; 1km cool down, I practised the walking, bum-wriggle cha-cha; not easy & need lots more work! Singlet saturated with sweat by the time I got home, but felt it was a good session & that I was up to the challenge of pushing fairly hard on the hills. Actually, I think I'm feeling stronger each day now...hope it continues!

Wk. 16 Begins with 10km

Chose to run late morning, 11:00 a.m., when it's getting warmer : today 25 degrees, since that's the time of day & later that I'll be out in Canberra. An 'easy' 10km & passed the time listening to the rhythm of my feet on the gravel road, so stayed with it out & back; wonder if others listen to their feet! Enjoyed the run.....Avg. 70% of MHR

Rest Day

No running, so stayed in bed till 10:00 a.m. .... and Mr. LL brought me in a cup of tea which he always does unless I'm out very early!

The Long Run

Had I known it was going to be so hot, I'd have started out well before 8:00 a.m. Did 26km at jog/walk : 8/2. What I noticed this morning was how much stronger I felt compared with last Sunday's long run; even coming back up the 3km of winding hills on Macquarie Pass felt good, though I faded a bit over the last 5km going into a strong head wind all the way. Good thing about that was that it blew the rotten flies away! Anyhow, that complete's week 17 training. Running for 4 days this week, covering a total of 60kms.

12km @ "Pace"

I felt this was a very worthwhile session & pleased with it! "Pace" as I use it, is a session where I try to maintain the same pace that I hope to maintain on the day, i.e. race day, so Saturday is never an easy day. Today's average pace was 7:15 mins.per km. Not too bad for me! Didn't leave till 11:00a.m. (need sometimes to be out in the warmer part of the morning as will happen on race day); felt fresh & able to push along at around 85% of max. and a negative split of just over 2 mins. I put feeling so good down to having substituted a run on Thursday for an hour's deep water running, so with yesterday a rest day, I was really feeling so much fresher today. Will do this any other week when feeling tired or stiff, etc. .... next, Sunday long run.

Rest Day

Just as the heading says : a rest!

Pool Running

The pool won over the road & rested the legs a little. Session of : 10mins. kickboard followed by (from Pfitzinger's 9 Week Deep Water Running Programme), intervals of 1min hard 1min slow; 2mins hard 1min slow; 3/1; 4/1; 3/1; 2/1 & slow cool down; 10 mins in hot spa with jets of water pummelling legs & back...love-er-ly! A good change form the road but still a worthwhile workout. Booked accommodation at Rydges, Capital Hill, for Saturday & Sunday nights, marathon weekend, 2005. They're filling up quickly too.

Intervals Today

Off to the gym for today's intervals; the treadmill stops me from slackening off half way! Did the same as last week, i.e. 3km warm up followed by 3 x 1km reps. with 2 mins. intervals. 1st rep. 6:22, 2nd rep. 6:20, 3rd rep. 6:00 ....not fast by most standards but a pretty hard session for me! Might do pool running tomorrow; will see how the legs feel.

A 'Comfortable' 12km

Week 17 begins today : First 3km of 12km was more of a shuffle than run; terribly stiff & stopped at 6km to do a bit of stretching to loosen up more. Cool, windy morning; kept HR around 70% of max., so that's a 'comfortable' zone I suppose. Ran mostly on a soft, almost muddy dirt road after all the recent rain. PS : If anyone happens upon these jottings of mine & you can see the "error of my ways" or where to improve, please do comment.

Monday

A Rest Day! No running but some upper body work at home; no need for the gym to do this.

Sunday, December 12

Beautiful morning here : light cloud cover, cool breeze, green fields and corn (if there'd been any, which there wasn't) as "high as an elephant's eye". The 20km extended to 22km : run/walk, 5/2 (run 5mins. walk 2mins.); last 3kms no stopping; time on feet 3hrs10mins. Took sports drink & 1 gel; water available from tanks along the way. Breakfast consisted of a banana & a cup of strong coffee. I decided that since there'll be walk breaks on the day, I'd better practise them now. The 'walk' is not just any old walk...Oh No! It's like those 'real' walkers do it....straight forward leg, arms pumping like pistons across chest...haven't got the bum wriggle right yet but, with lots of practice, it should be in full swing by next year!. The 'look' is fantastically hideous, but has an added advantage of scaring drivers into a wide detour onto the other side of the road! Back home & had a Snickers marathon bar (multi-grain one...yum!) & a chocolate protein drink. And now for a bit of a kip (like 2 hours), followed by a pasta evening meal & 1 (maybe 2) glasses of red. Pleased that 3 hours 'on the feet' was quite comfortable.....60km for the week. Week 17 coming up!

Saturday, December 11

This morning's 10km not quite according to plan, but good enough for first week. The plan was to try to keep to a 7 min. km for a 10km run; however, there were 'orrible 'ills everywhere & lots of 'em! So the splits were : 8:08, 7:33, 7:39, 7:02, 8:12, 8:06, 7:02,7:16, 8:10, 7:02. Felt a lot better than the other 10kms earlier this week; still very humid & didn't get out till 10:30 a.m. Pleased that I didn't have to take any walk breaks. Now for tomorrow's long one!

The Road to Canberra in 18 Weeks

Began training this week for another 50km ultra marathon, Canberra , 2005. The following is a brief summary of Week 18 : Dec. 6 - 12 Monday : Rest Tuesday : 10km run...a hard effort required after 2 weeks off. Wednesday Used the gym treadmill for 3 x 1km reps. with 3mins. intervals + 2km warm up & cool down. Thursday : 10km run....another hard one; humid weather, legs like lead; some walking. Friday : Rest day before a bigger effort this weekend. Saturday : 10km run @ pace I hope to run for the 50km; wll try 7:00min.per km, but probably won't be able to maintain it at this stage! Sunday : 20km Long Run...keeping HR around 70% of max. Will report later on how Saturday & Sunday go!