This Week ~~~~~ Christmas Week!

Now that there's no school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, I hope to do some extra easy running.  Troubled though by a painful left hamstring ...who'd believe it, just when I have the time available!  Anyhow, so far ~~~~~

Monday : an easy 5km along Diamond Fields Road; few strides at finish.

Tuesday: Chev. track: 6 x 400m (400mRI) in 2:40 ..... my times 3:03; 2:42; 2:56; 2:53; 2:40; TE minor!!

Wednesday: Magill Drills/Strides  (school soccer field)  +  6 x 12 sec. short hill repeats ( Bong Bong Rd), 1 min RI.  Hamstring taped!  So far, so good!

Thursday:  Easy 5km from school to Diamond Fields Road and back. Lovely misty rain helped on this hilly course.  Took 45 min.  AHR 66-78%;  TE 2.5 Maintaining!

Friday, Christmas Day ~~~~~  OFF!

Boxing Day/Bowral Parkrun ~~~~
 Disaster!  Running downhill at the start, left leg hamstring gave way!  Struggled for a while on the cycle path but forced by extreme pain to turn back!   A sad and sorry sight I was climbing back up the hill for a Parkrun DNF! No idea how long this is going to take to heal but, for now, it's Goodbye to running!  Damn!!  And Hello to volunteering!!

....   and that's it for Christmas 2015!

 

Bowral Parkrun ~~~~~

Oh dear me!  I wasn't expecting it to be this bad, but it was.... and worse!  The slowest park run ever!  It was very hot, but given that heat always slows me down, I still wasn't expecting this result :


Time 40:34
AHR 79-88%


7:34;  7:47;  7:55;  8:11,  9:05


TE 4.1 Highly Improving!   WHAT?!!


And to add insult to injury, I've slipped in the age graded percentage to 79.13.... first time below 80+ in over 12 months!


Looking for something to blame : weight of Christmas tinsel and reindeer horns!

Chev Track ~~~~~

Returned to Chevalier College track instead of parkrun hills and probably achieved little in doing so!  It was simply too hot!


Instead of 6x 800m I did 3  (5:52;  6:00;  6:01) ....... quite a bit slower than VP!
400m RI

 No lanes marked so ran just inside oval fence which is a bit more than 400m.

Long Run ~~~~

With Leah, 10km .... hilly Diamond Fields Road.

Bowral Parkrun ~~~~~

Time 35:16 ......   Age graded 90.68%..Phew! Just made it into the 90%!!  Lost a few seconds by falling over near the finish!


Avg. 7:07m/k
AHR 83-92% of max.
6:51;   6:55;  6:59;  7:07;  7:22 .......steady decline!
TE 4.5 = Highly Improving ... well, that's encouraging!




Always enjoy park run days!

Tempo Run ~~~ Thursday

Parkrun course, Bowral.
8k
TE 2.6 .....Maintaining.

Hills @ Bowral Parkrun ~~~~~

Drove across to our park run course for some hill repeats :

Warm-up + few drills
6 x 300m uphill reps.
Jog down
Stretches.

Far from being an easy session but I was glad to be back into the swing of things again!  Few raindrops falling on my head to finish with!

 

Starting back ~~~~

A full week+ off with nasty, re-occurring Post Shingles Neuralgia!


Today:
10km easy with Leah out and back on Diamond Fields Road.  Forgot to start Garmin!

Tempo Run ~~~~~

An unpleasantly hot and windy morning on Bowral Parkrun course!  A poor run by me, two walk breaks (but not up the grassy hill!); found the heat and especially the awful wind just too much.


5km in 36:13
TE 2.6 .... maintaining.

Hill Reps at Briars Country Inn & Historic Lodge ~~~~~

1. 
   

Start....

Finish at distant hedge....

4 x 280m hill. Jog down RI.

Tempo Run ~~~~~

6.5km on Bowral Parkrun course in overcast but steamy conditions. Seem to have lost Garmin data, I think due to internet outage for past 24 hours; can't find it anywhere and auto deletes after transfer. I know I was well ahead if VP!

Hill Repeats ~~~~

Same as last Tuesday : Bowral Parkrun Course : Steepest section on grassy hill!


10 min warm-up + body looseners
10 x 200m approx. uphill
Jog down RI
Stretches.


Warm to hot morning; not too bad with slight breeze but I hear it's going to get much hotter as the week progresses.


Increased the number of reps by 2; next week I think I'll do fewer reps but increase the distance, so that instead of stopping at the top of the hill, I'll keep running through to the arch where we finish on a Saturday.  That's the plan anyway!  Thank goodness there's no one around to see my madness!!

Fishers Ghost 5km ~~~~

Cool weather for a change at Campbelltown's Fishers Ghost fun runs (5 & 10kms) and it made all the difference on this hilly course!


My run : 5km
Time: Official 35:51;   Net 35:28

1st place in 70+ age category!!  About 3 minutes faster than last year!!

Splits : 7:23;   7:02;   6:53;   7:23;   6:14
Avg.7:05 m/k

Won lucky draw (first ever!) Mizuno 'Wave Rider 19' shoes!!

Tempo Run ~~~~

Garmin shut down for maintenance!  Will post results asap!

Tempo Run:
1.5km @ ST pace (7:10m/k)
1.5km easy
1.5km @ ST pace
1.5km easy
1.5km @ ST pace

To be continued....

Here we go:
1.5km @ ST pace in 10:34 (avg. pace 7:07m/k)
1.5km @ ST pace in 10:36 (avg. pace 7:07m/k)
1.5km @ ST pace in 10:17 (avg. pace 6:51m/k)..... this incl. running up grassy hill!

Finished with few stretches. Liked the session with the easy running between harder pace!
 

New path from the Bowral Parkrun course being constructed

Track ~~~~ with a difference!

Left turn at top and keep running!

The difference being ..... instead of Chev. track I substituted the track of the monster hill on our Bowral Parkrun course!

10 min warm-up on cycle path
8 x 200m  ..... that being the steepest section of the hill!
Jog down RI
5 min cool-down + stretches.

I didn't time repeats, just ran same distance each time as hard as I could ....... keeping good form!!  Tough session, but I enjoyed it, probably because it was something I hadn't done before and in the hope that, with practice, this hill will become a little easier on Saturdays!

 

Catching Up Again ~~~~

1. Saturday....Bowral Parkrun : 34:10 .. 16 seconds better than last week.  TE 4.2 ...Highly Improving!!


2. Sunday ....Long Run Today : 10.5km (with Leah);  Diamond Fields Road.  TE 2.4 ...Maintaining!

Tempo Run ~~~~~

Yesterday's run :  On Bowral Parkrun course ~~~~~ where another pathway is being constructed ...somewhere new to explore, but underwater today: 



5km @ 7:10m/k

8:08;   7:35;   7:43;   7:14;   6:17 ... up the grassy hill the fastest!!

Weather bad : windy and wet.
TE 2.6 =  Maintaining

Track at Chev. ~~~~~

Very overcast, grey day.  Grass on 'my lane' needs cutting!

10-20 min warm-up ....... did 10 min+couple strides
4 x 1000m in 6:45
400m RI

I was way too slow but the best I could do without having to stop mid reps.

7:09;     7:14;     7:07;     6:58

Opposite the oval ....Way, way up there is a man lopping branches! 

Catch Up ~~~~~

Saturday:  Bowral Parkrun #57
34:26
TE 4.3 ~~~ Highly Improving!
6.53;  6:50;   6:53;   6:44;  and up the hill 7:31!


Sunday:  Long Run
10km in 1 hour 20min.
TE 2.0 ~~~~~ Maintaining!
AHR 70%;  MHR 82%
Hilly Diamond Fields Road.
Garmin says I need 24 hours recovery; just so happens Monday is always a rest day!

Easy Run ~~~~

Should have been a faster run, but the morning was so beautiful I ran easily and enjoyed the scenery!

8km
TE 2.4 .... Improving!

Track at Chev. ~~~~~

Very cool, almost wintery, in Bowral this morning.


 My Program:
10-20 min warmup ..... did 16 min + few drills/strides
400m (2:39);  600m (4:00);   800m (5:22);   800m;   600m;   400m
Cool-down.


Times :
2:37;     4:11;     5:16 .......  5:17;     4:00;     2:34


Stretches to finish. Not easy but an OK session!

Parkrun #56 ~~~~~

Took it easy this morning to make sure I finished in better shape than last Saturday. Took Bruce's and Ewen's advice and had a slice of toast and honey 2 hours prior to run.  I didn't have any dry heaving at all, unlike last Saturday when I heaved nearly all the way back to the start, so I'd say it was a combination of food in the stomach together with not pushing hard at any stage during the 5km.


Time : 36:16

An Easy Run~~~~~

Instead of the usual tempo run on Thursdays, I did an easy run on our Bowral Parkrun course and to the end of the cycle path. Very cool with light misty rain.  Didn't use Garmin.


Today:
8.3km

After a Short Break ~~~~~

A break brought about by a disastrous parkrun last Saturday ... say no more!


Today:
10 min walk/jog/drills
8x80m hill sprints
Full recoveries
10 min jog/walk.


Good to be back!

Tempo Run ~~~~~

Not a total disaster but as near as I'd want to get!  Bowral Parkrun course.  Started out too late at 11:00am when it was already very hot:

1.5km warm-up .... ran down, up and down the grassy hill.
5km @ ST pace (7:08m/k) ..  in 39:13

And the slow splits, getting slower and slower .....
6:50;   7:02;   7:23;   8:11;   9:45!! ... last 2km mostly walking; legs just too tired and refused to even jog!

TE 2.5 Maintaining.  Phew!!

Rest tomorrow ahead of Parkrun on Saturday.

Always a pretty course, even on tired legs! 

A Few Hill Strides ~~~~~

Usual place for this short session.


10 min warm-up
4 x 90 seconds hill sprints
10 min walk cool-down.

At Chev. Track ~~~~

It was back to winter this morning : cold, overcast and light mist!  In spite of these cooler conditions and "my" track being especially mowed yesterday, I didn't do too well which seems to be the way with track lately.  I'm using a 34 minute 5km finish time to gauge paces for each of the weeks' 3 key sessions.  For today:

15 min warm-up  +  few drills/strides

 5 x 800m in 5:12 (6:30m/k) ....  I did 3 x 800m each progressively slower ...

3 x 800m :  5:17;     5:25;     5:38 .... that was the best I could do!
 

 

Long Run ~~~~~

10km this morning ends Week 1 of my 5km program.  Diamond Fields Road with Leah; warm morning but nice breeze.  Finished with a few hill strides.
  TE 2.1  ...  Maintaining!

Bowral Parkrun # 54~~~~~

Missed a new PB by 11 seconds this morning!


Avg. Pace 6:47m/k (6:43m/k would have got me there!)


5km in 33:45


Avg HR 81-88% of Max.


6:47;  6:39;  6:40;  6:27;  7:11 (lost time running up the grassy hill and dry retching at the same time!)


TE 3.8 = Improving!!

Tempo Run ~~~~~

I ran on our Bowral Parkrun course which is finally clear of any water and muddy patches.  A cool and windy morning, but such a great place for a run!


Tempo Run:
1.5km easy .... I ran down the grassy hill, up the grassy hill and down the grassy hill, making exactly 1.5km!


5km @ ST pace (7:10m/k based on 35 min 5km time)
6:56;   7:04;    7:10;    6:46;    6:37
Avg. 6:55m/k
Avg. HR 76-81%
TE 3.4 = Improving!


Run up grassy hill, down grassy hill and up grassy hill for cool-down!


Total : 8km today.

A Few Uphill Strides~~~~~

I didn't run at all over the past few days when temperatures reached more than 30 degrees every day. It knocks me around too much. Today, with temperature dropped a whopping 18 degrees, down to 13, I took the opportunity to stretch the legs before tomorrow's tempo run.  I used the same incline as I did a few weeks back.




Jog 15 min warm-up
Run fairly hard uphill for 60 seconds ....(this distance for other reps but not timed).
6 x incline
Walk down recoveries
15 min cool-down.


That should get me started again!

Bowral Parkrun #53 and Annual Awards ~~~~~

The Awards were fabulous but my run was far, far less than ordinary!  I had that dreadful dry heaving while attempting to run up the hill at the finish and forced to walk, the only way I know of to stop the "heaves".  Walked a couple of times on the cycle path as well.  Surprised to hear later that the temperature was only 20 degrees; it felt like 40 on the course and I was decidedly off colour for the rest of the day.  I might have to volunteer all summer if I don't stop "heaving" on the course!!



Ordinary first :  5km in 37:xx ... my slowest in 12 months!
Splits  7:11;   7:08;   7:22;   7:29;   8:27!!.. going from worse to worst!
TE 3.8 = Improving!  What? That's a lie!



Now for the Good News:

 

TWO MEDALS!  

Tempo Run ~~~~~ Bowral Parkrun Course .....

Very, very warm when I started at 10:00am on our alternate course starting and finishing at Cecil Hoskins Reserve, Moss Vale.  Warmer still by the time I finished!

1.5km warm-up
3.0km @ ST pace (7:10m/k)
1.5km easy
3.0km @ pace
1.5km easy.

1st 3km in 21:12 (6:48; 7:10; 7:11).  TE 3.0 = Improving!

2nd 3km in 21:01(7:04; 6:53; 7:02).  TE 4.3 = Highly Improving!!

Total for today  10.5km

Quaint Bridge!

  

Easy Day on Bowral Parkrun Course ~~~~~

Old Man River .....

..he just keeps rollin' along!

I'd drive a million miles to run this beautiful course but more than pleased it's not that far!  Today, 8km (4k out and 4k back) jog/walk included some strides/drills several times on the return 4km and a charge up the grassy hill to finish! 

5km program begins next week.

Bowral Parkrun 1st Birthday With Cake!

Before .......

...and after!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Our first birthday tomorrow and so far it's been raining almost all day!  This morning I did an easy 5km jog/walk/drills on our course and, apart from one small muddy puddle, both grassy hill and cycle path were all good to go in the morning.  Now, I wouldn't like to bet on either a dry morning or a dry cycle path.. The grassy hill could very likely be a soggy mess in some sections. Oh well, there's the thought of birthday cake to look forward to afterwards!

Stretching the Legs~~~~~

Over to Bowral Parkrun course this morning for an easy 5km to get the legs moving again after Sunday's Bridge Run. Quads a little stiff. Always enjoy running here .. so quiet, scenic and mostly flat, though I did run back up the hill to finish. Only one small puddle to negotiate.  Did a few drills and strides along the way.  Rain for the remainder of the day.

Sydney Running Festival ~~~~

Blackmores 9.23km Bridge Run ~~~~~~~~

A great weekend in Sydney!  Stayed at the Menzies Hotel Saturday night, right opposite Wynyard Station, so only a one stop/3min train hop to the start at Milson's Point.  Pre-race meal with friends at the Hart pub at the Rocks : delicious steak and mushroom sandwich with the best chips I've tasted in a while, all washed down with a cold beer.
The start was at 9:00am but it was 9:25 before we slowly walked to the starting mats ... such was the enormous crowd. Then we were off and away on what was for me, the most fun and enjoyable run of this size I can recall in quite some time! Running across the Harbour Bridge, the views, the crowds, overhead helicopters....something not to miss! 
It's quite some time too, that I've felt so good for an entire run; not the easiest course especially that long uphill climb from Lady Macquarie's Chair, but I didn't walk anywhere and, joy of all joys .... I was not only running with many others, but passing some along the way!!  An advantage gained, I'm sure, by including regular short hill sprints in weekly training. A light drizzle of rain did nothing to daunt my enthusiasm and I positively 'flew' ...hmm... the last few hundred metres to the finish!!



Blackmores 9.23km Bridge Run, 2015.

Results: 9.23km Bridge Run .....
Time : 1:07:26
Avg.Pace 7:12m/k.  Heart Rate 81-89% of Max.
Splits : 7:41; 7:25;   6:44; 7:29;   6:58;  7:04;  7:26; 7:22; 7:11 +(1:30 for 0.23)
TE ... 5.0 ...Overreaching!  TE must have been having a heart attack!!

Results Age Category 85-89.....
1st Place ( in both women and MEN categories!  WOOHOO!!!).  I just can't help feeling a little smug!

Summary Blackmores Bridge Run 80+ Female Country Name / Bib#:

Norma WALLETT  #39935

Status - Finished

Gender: Female Division: 80+

Team:

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OFFICIAL TIME 01:07:26

Overall Rank Category Rank Gender Rank 8045 from 11465 finishers 1 from 4 finishers 4670 from 7162 finishers   SHOW SPLITS SPLIT ACCUMMULATIVE LOCATION TIME DISTANCE SPEED/PACE RACE TIME OVERALL DIVISION GENDER 3.5k 00:27:05 3.5km 7.75 / 7:44 00:27:05 10225 2 6248 9.23k 00:40:21 5.7km 8.52 / 7:03 01:07:26 9383 1 5651

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5km Easy ~~~~

No warm-up; no cool-down.  5km easy on Bowral Parkrun course.  Only one puddle to negotiate!


5km in 36:19
Splits : 7:48;   7:16;   7:12;   7:08;   6:54 .... faster running uphill than down!


TE 3.5 = Improving!

a Few Strides etc. ~~~~~

At the same incline as a week or so ago :  first, a few drills followed by 6 x 80m uphill strides.  Perfect Spring day; hard to see that the weekend is to be wet for Sydney Running Festival.




These drills Part 1 and Part 2 :
https://youtu.be/KLcafa-wHLw
https://youtu.be/DNm2E6lueF8




I'd have made short work of that child!!

Track ~~~~~

Chev. College track.  Groundsman had just mowed a narrow 400m lane for me!  Windy conditions.

15 min warm-up +  strides/drills

6 x 400m 2:39

2:32;  2:42;  2:42;  2:33;  2:31;  2:28

Cool-down/stretches 

Tempo Run ~~~~

Over to Bowral Parkrun course again for today's run.

XXXL puddle blocking cycle path!

5km easy
Time 36:01
TE =3.0 = Improving!!

Really beautiful day for such an easy scenic run!

Track at Chev. ~~~~~

My narrow grass lane was muddy in parts; windy on the oval.  Not such good results!


10-20 min warm-up ....I did 10 min.
3 x 1600m (400m RI)
10 min cool-down ....I did 5min.

3 x 1600m :  11:37;   11:22;   11:12 ... VP did each rep. in 11 minutes!!

Bowral Parkrun #49 ~~~~~

A lovely morning; no gloves, no thermals and back to short sleeves!  You'd think I'd run well with those conditions, but I struggled the entire 5km; one of those days that I can happily do without;  felt bad, took several, short walk breaks and just didn't have it together in spite of a warm-up etc. and thinking I had a chance for a new PB.  Oh well, maybe next week!

5km in 34:36 (Age Grade 92.69%)
Avg. Pace 6:58m/k
6:37;    7:00;    6:59;    7:12;    6:46
Avg. HR 80-86% of max.
TE   3.9 ~~~ Improving!

Tempo Run - Bowral Parkrun Course ~~~~

In order to check out the course for Saturday, I started at our alternate course guessing the initial one would still be under water in parts .... and it was! Splashed through a large puddle ankle deep in water.  I included a run up the grassy hill and then down to see what it was like ... not much better!  The alternate course looks likely again for this Saturday.

10.5km Bowral Parkrun Course.

Quaint little bridge still standing....

Today's Tempo Run:
3.0km @ ST pace (7:10m/k) ...... for me 22:45; TE 2.0 Maintaining!
1.5km easy
1.5km @ ST pace .... 10:58; TE 2.1
1.5km easy
3.0km @ ST pace .... 23:12;  TE 2.9

Total :  10.5km

Some Strides ~~~~~

Jog/walk about 10 minutes from car to usual incline.
6 x 100m strides up; walk down for complete recovery
Jog/walk back to car.


Warm spring day; nice short session!

Track at Chev. ~~~~

This morning I changed from Half Marathon program to my 5km since I've also changed from Blackmores Half Marathon to the Bridge 9km run... all as a result of pulling up badly after the ACTVAC Half Marathon 2 weeks ago. 




I didn't do too well this morning either; all reps, bar one, slower than they should have been.




20 mins warm-up incl. drills and strides
5 x 1000m @ 6:45m/k
10 min cool-down and stretches.


5 x 1000m :    7:04;    6:43;    7:14;    7:10;    7:14
Approx. 300m RI between each.


Surprisingly cold wind blowing across the oval, but at least I had my own little lane to run in! Lots of improvement I hope in the coming weeks... months!

Southern Highlands Challenge, 2015.

6km

6km event started at 11:00am this year; last year it was 8:00am.... so there was time for a nice sleep-in before Leah picked me up for the hour drive to Wingello State Forest where we followed directions to a far off fire trail for parking.  A real god-send this year was a shuttle bus to the start which was several kilometres away!  A much bigger event this year; seemed to be endless fire trails filled with cars and hundreds of people milling around the stalls, BBQ, donkey rides...tempted!; animal farm and lots more.
I haven't seen such superb organization of cars, people, runners of all different distances from ultra down to 4km, SES and volunteer fire fighters at every one of the hundreds of crossings through the forest and they were there from dawn and, I guess, to almost dark! 


Trails were in excellent condition especially after the recent heavy rain throughout the Highlands. Weather, the best.  The hills, and there were plenty of them, I walked!  Chatted with some Bowral parkrun runners and had a good run through some really spectacular forest scenery.


6km in 43:39
Avg. Pace 7:36m/k
Splits:   7:55;   7:47;   7:50;   7:15;   7:31;   5:18!!!  downhill!


..... and best of all results :  TE 4.3   Highly Improving!

Just Strides ~~~~~

Today:
10 minutes easy jog
5 x 100m on incline
10 minutes easy jog.

In an effort to awaken my dead legs, I drove through Renwick, parked the car and jogged to the same incline I used last time I did this session.  I hope that helps for tomorrow's park run and then the Southern Highlands Challenge on Sunday where I'm doing just the 6km fire trail run.

Parkrun Course under flood!