A Blogging Break

Until the New Year there's not much happening that's worth blogging about - just the usual training - so I'll give blogging a break untill 2006 arrives!

To all those who have supported me here so faithfully in 2005 - thank you sincerely! I wish you a wonderful Christmas & hope that 2006 will be a year that fulfills all your dreams. My thoughts & feelings for each of you can be best expressed in the words of the song : "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II/Music Richard Rodgers, "Carousel", 1945). We could change "walk" to "run"!!

"When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark,
At the end of the storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never walk alone! "


.......from Chickybabe!

Medium Long Run

12km at "whatever" pace. Hilly Range Road again; very overcast... good! Spent most of the time thrashing around in my mind as to whether I should/ should not do the Central Coast Classic 12 Hour track, just 5 days after Berowra Fat Ass 33km. Haven't been able to reach a decision yet!

A Bad Day at the Track!

The session was supposed to be:-

Warm-up 14 minutes (incl. 4x100m strides & Stretching).
1 x 400m......Hard!
Rest + Stretch 12 minutes.
1 x 800m Hard! Try for 4:30.
Warm-down.

I completely messed up what I'd expected to be a fairly easy & successful session! And it should have been...what a dope! I am so cross with myself I could kick myself if I could!

Warm-up...OK

1 x 400m....started out so hard that, with around 100m to go, my legs went 100% lactic! Full Stop! Dead End! Walked to the finish; forgot to click the 'stop' button! I don't want to know the time anyhow! I've asked myself a dozen times : how can anyone mess up 1 (just one!) 400m like that?

On to the 1 x 800m & try for 4:30 minutes!

Slower start! Lap 1.... 2:33.5; Lap 2 ....2:23.7 giving a GRAND SLOW total of 4:57.2!

Warm-down = walk to car & drive home disappointed with myself, but learning something new every track session & I WILL do better than this in the future!

This does not bode well for the Report Card later tonight!

Edit : As well as the Report card, I was given some excellent advice; here it is:-

"You ran the first 400 probably like a 200m race. That's why you came to a stop. If you ran it like a 400m race you would get very lactic with about 50 metres to go. This is still too fast. You should have run 'hard' which is starting a fair bit slower than you did. It should have been about 2:08 or so.

After that sort of effort you would need about 45 minutes of recovery before attempting the 800m!! That's why the 800 was slow - you were still suffering from the 400m."

Report Card

1) Preparation - 8/10 - good but perhaps too much mental preparation.
2) Neatness - 3/10 - a scrawl so bad I could hardly read the page. Started ugly and got worse.
3) Comprehension - 6/10 - forgot to stop watch.
4) Interpretation - 4/10 - didn't realise early enough it was all going wrong.
5) Initiative - 5/10 - should have realised more recovery would be needed before attempting the 800.
6) Learning - 9.5/10 - a very good lesson was learned... Don't start a session at the wrong pace!

w

I was expecting far worse than this as I'd already given myself 0/10 for the entire session!

Short & Easy

Purposely left at 11:30 a.m. for 6km short, easy run to become more used to running in the hotter part of the day...& it was hot! I focused on just staying relaxed the whole time. It was quite enjoyable in spite of the heat. Early start tomorrow for Track Session!!

Long Run

24 km this morning on what I still call a very hilly course, though it's in perspective now after 6ft track, which brought out the worst & best in that order : giving in, throwing up & then keeping on going up!

A very pleasant start at 8:00a.m. : mist first, then cloud cover, some sun & a cool breeze out & back. I took the 2 litre Camelbak (very comfortable) to get used to using it again for "Beyond the Black Stump - a bloody good bush run" on New Year's Day. Since I drank all but a couple of mouthfuls, I'll need to refill and/or carry extra on the day; also used 1 gel.

I fast walked up most of the hills & took a 1 minute walk break after each km mark (excuse if I need one: it's only 2 weeks since 6ft track & still a bit tired in the legs!); this meant 'time on feet' was a solid 3 hours 35 minutes!

A little more than the usual tired at the end!

Medium Long Run

An 'easy' paced 12km. Dirt road for 8km with a few long inclines & several steep hills - flat compared with 6ft track! Super morning, good breeze, shaded road for most of the time.....fairly slow pace, but enjoyed the run. 49 minutes Out; 47 minutes Return; negative split 2 minutes!!

Core Strengthening Might Also Help?

On Rest Days ......a bit of this ...............>

...................................................................... ..........and this>

..................................................................and even this!


Edit: Just realised that today was not a rest day!

I should have done a short, easy 5km...well, too late now! 9:45 p.m.

2 Report Cards!

The first Report Card is for today's 1500m Time Trial.

The second Report Card is for "Six Foot Track - The Slower Version"!!

Report Card:

1) Motivation - 9/10 - good for such a hot, humid day.
2) Comprehension - 9/10 - knew well what was to be attempted.
3) Accuracy - 7/10 - is able to do better, but not today!
4) Feedback - 10/10 - provided excellent feedback including all splits.
5) Neatness - 9.5/10 - the whole session was completed (but during a hot part of the day).

w

Report Card for SFTSV:

1) Planning - 10/10 - planning was done to perfection.
2) Forecasting - 9.5/10 - almost perfect weather.
3) Digestion - 4/10 - digestion is a bit ordinary - needs work.
4) Neatness - 9/10 - only fell down once.
5) Determination - 11/10 - yes, marks higher than 10 are possible.
6) Significance - 10/10 - a very significant day that will be long remembered.
7) Success - 10/10 - 100% successful in all ways.

w

1500m Time Trial

Not good! Very late start (11:00a.m.), very hot (28+ degrees), very windy, very slow!


Aim for around 8:15
17 minutes warm up + 4x100m strides... felt like finishing there!

1500m = 3x400m + 300m

Time = 2:20; 2:17; 2:34(!!!); and 1:57 = 9:08!!

I think this will not deserve a good Report Card! Oh dear!

......on a beautiful, sunny summer's day!......

Training for Canberra 50km, April 9th 2006.

Week December 5 - 11

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 7Km - medium easy.
Wednesday - TRACK : TIME TRIAL 15oom.
Thursday - 5Km - short easy jog.
Friday - 12km - Medium Long Run.
Saturday - Rest/Walk Dogs!
Sunday - LONG RUN - 20 km (or a bit more).

Medium Long Run

16km was just right... (8 down & out - 8 up & back). Any further & I'd have been feeling the effects of 6ft last Saturday week! Very windy, but wonderfully clear 360 degress to the horizon. Fast walked what I used to call steep hills until I saw the real thing on the 6ft track! I think fast walking up hill is a good thing to practise & might be needed for Jan. 1st "bloody good bush run"! I also think everybody ought to have a goal!

<.............................and..............................>

Thank You!

The biggest ever "Thank You" to everyone for your comments about 6Ft Track - the Slower Version! FlashDuck & Ewen have more details in their blogs...great reads!

All going to plan ....next up for Chickybabe: "Beyond the Black Stump......a bloody good bush run" : (according to the website!) http://www.coolrunning.com.au/fatass/blackstump/

January 1st, 2006!!!!!!!

Track in the Mud!

I sloshed around in a quagmire of mud & water...good excuse for being slow! Shoes soaked & the back of my legs covered with thick mud right up to the knees. I liked doing the session just the same.

Programme : 15 minutes warm up...did some stretches (but no strides!).

2 Sets : 4x360m reps. with same distance interval between each;
10 minutes between Sets.

Cool down under a tap washing thick mud from shoes, socks & legs!

Results : Set 1. 2:36.8; 2:26.7; 2:21.1; 2:26.4
Set 2. 2:03.9; 2:01.1; 1:53.2; 1:47.3

This will probably be marked as an erratic session & it was...a bit all over the place & some of the timing was not completely accurate, but that's OK ......with me anyhow!

............!!