Nil running until today! That's a full week & probably the longest break ever..... just took the doggies for their long walk each afternoon.
Today : an easy 6km lower aerobic run. Felt really rested; a cool/cold morning...perfect for a comeback.
AHR = 64%; MHR = 85%.
I'm thinking of Fishers Ghost run on November 9, but might cut back this year from the 10km to 5km...thinking! I might even wear the running skirt I've ordered from the States....another thought!
Why Me? Unwanted & unexpected near-death experiences follow me to every race! It's true!
This time, having finished the Melbourne Half Marathon (more of that later), showered & with an hour or so before leaving the apartment, I sood in front of the bathroom mirror (but not for too long!), when I heard a roaring, rushing sound of wind and/or fire in the apartment; ran out into the main room, nothing to be seen but still a thundering roar surrounding me. Terrified at what I thought might be happening (the place on fire?), I ran back to the bathroom & then hurtling down right beside me came the cover of the man-hole, missing my head by inches & cracking the floor tiles!!
I flew to the phone & screamed for help with what breath I had left! The 'Duty Manager' duly arrived & said "Oh dear! How awful! So sorry!", picked up the slab & staggered out with it. Later, after Jim phoned through a complaint from Sydney that no one had checked to see if I had died from a heart attack, Duty Manager arrived with apologies & a bottle of red wine as compensation, adding that a report would be sent to Mantra Head Office. I'll follow that up for sure!
The roaring, rushing sound I'd heard had been a huge blast of wind travelling up through vents to the 8th floor & exiting into my bathroom by blowing the man-hole out! When I thought about it later, I'd had a lucky escape.
Now I know how Chicken Little felt when the sky fell down!
The Half Marathon ...... I had another "goof" one! Everything, simply everything, worked out brilliantly...if that can still be said at 79! After a slow walk to the starting mats & as soon as the crowd spread out, I was once more on a mission.....to run under 2.5 hours!
I thought the course & weather were great. Cloud cover the entire time, the course flat & scenic, an abundance of water, sports drinks, great volunteers & enthusiastic crowds along the course.
I started out very slowly......in retrospect, I think too slowly because I felt very comfortable from the start running around 6:30 to 6:45 pace, but stayed with 7mpk as planned for the first half. Always a conundrum, but better to play it safe & have plenty left towards the finish...and I did!
I made it to the finish in 2:29:51....still feeling great.....which is why I think I could have gone out faster, earlier, but who's to know for sure?
First half in 1:19:10; second half in 1:11:37. Very happy!
or something with a more feminine touch of pink like this...my funny little dunny with a lid on the top. No need to say more about Blackmores Half Marathon, 2008! What cruel torture!
6; 5:44.
Track tomorrow .........!!!!!!
...from railway bridge, Aylmerton
....the road back.....
14km @ AHR 79%. Negative split this - easy first half, harder second half.
7km out from Mittagong to Aylmerton...time 59 minutes.
AHR = 71%; MHR = 73%.
7km return...time 54 minutes....negative split = 5 minutes!
AHR = 71%; MHR = 83%.
To hurry things along for the 7km back because I was getting tired - Aylmerton was all uphill - I decided to alternate fast strides with slow jogging from each of the white posts (pic above) along the side of the road! At a guess, they are placed roughly every 100m or so, some longer, some shorter & that's how I got the negative split for sure!
This session finishes Week I, which has the highest mileage (of a 3 week plan) that I repeat over & over!
Distance for the week = 62km
Light rain! But what the heck...just get out there & do what you have to do.....I said to myself as I lay in my warm bed at 9:00 a.m.!!!
The hilarious debacle with locking myself in the apartment prior to the start makes me believe that the little guy at the right is trying to tell me something!
I had a great run on Sunday, not fast of course, but I enjoyed every single minute of it, especially getting to hurtle down Hunter Street soon after the start and, for the first time I had no struggle with running up the hills...just kept on hopping along in what unexpectedly turned out to be a brilliant morning for running.
This would be the only race I can remember in a long while where I felt totally relaxed & strong & confident that I was going to run a good race and enjoy it at the same time....and so I did & not at all like an 'ancient'!
I simply loved the whole event & felt full of energy & enthusiasm & really ready to draw on anything & everything (& everybody if necessary!) to finish knowing I had run my best.
In fact, I felt so good during the first 10km that, when I found I was running a faster pace than planned, I slowed down for fear of a nightmare in the second loop. Looking back now, I think I could have kept up the pace & finished faster than I did....who knows? I'll just have to wait & see 'how the wind blows' at the Gold Coast. It's a hard call to make knowing whether to run faster when you feel you can or hold back for later in the race. I think I'll 'let it all out' at the GC!
Gun Time 2:33:25; Net Time 2:32:28. About 30 seconds better than last year's SMH Half & 5 minutes faster than the Central Coast Half in December.
A final certainty.....I must have had a goof coach somewhere in my lifetime!
....and just as well that they do. After last Friday's miserable effort, I went to Chev track today ready to shoot or die!
As it turned out I didn't have to do either because I reckon I did a really, really good session!
After 1.5km warm-up & a couple of drills:
6 x 150m ....fast, but with good form in case Ewen's spies were lurking nearby! Recovery walk back to the start after each one.
Then the "piece de resistance"** that I so messed up last Friday: 4 - 5km 'upper aerobic' & this time I worked the old heart rate up to where it should be i.e. 132 (86%). I stopped at 4km because I didn't want to run a bad 5th kilometre! Next session I'll make it 5k just to see what my 5km time is.
1km laps were 6:10; 6:13; 6:19; 6:07 giving an average pace of 6:10 & that's pretty good for an "ancient"!!
**I don't know how to put the French accents on!
.....nothing would have helped today!
Meaningful? Yes, but I don't know what!
Unexpected? You bet!
Exciting? Not!
A suggestion from Ewen found me on the track at Chevalier all ready to run 6 to 7km 'upper aerobic' with heart rate 80-85% & after that 5 to 8 X 120m sprints. You'd think I'd know by now, but anyhow I'd asked for tips for the last 2 weeks before SMH Half Marathon, Sunday week.
Try as I might, I couldn't get a heart rate reading anywhere near that high, averaging only 62%! I stopped in disgust at 5.5km & moved on to the sprints. Thankfully, this was a better session though I hope there were no "spies" nearby checking my 'technique'!
Worse was yet to come!
After downloading this rubbish to Motion Based, the Garmin "died" & no wonder! Not a single expression on its face, not even a farewell smile! However, one more e-mail & I was re-directed to a thread on the CR message board where the answer lay....press Mode & Lap simultaneously and behold, the 305 started to breathe again & is now well enough to be taken off life-support altogether!
Who would have thought it!
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Very briefly then....
I was pleased with the run, the weather, the cheer squad (bless 'em all!), other runners and even pleased with my time - 5:34:06....not my fastest but not my slowest either. In fact, my time was just 5 minutes slower than the last time I ran Canberra marathon 2 years ago, so I count that as mild deterioration only! I know I would not have been anywhere near as comfortable as I was (in the early stages), nor would I have run even close to a time from 2 years back, had it not been for the day-to-day coaching over many months from Ewen. Thank you, Master W!
Seems like only yesterday that training for Canberra Marathon 2008 began! In fact though, it's 23 weeks that has come to an end today : the weekly e-mails from Ewen with training prgrams; the daily e-mails reporting back; the return e-mails telling me if I'd "stuffed up" or 'did goof'; text messages & phone calls galore.....all coming to an end today..jpg)
Back to Bowral cycle paths for today's session.
Program : 7km
4k easy warm-up + 3km @ 7:25 pace. Optional few extra kms afterwards as warm-down.
Don't look at Garmin at all during 3km!
I stuffed up, of course! Afraid to find out later I'd run slower than 7:25 pace, I ran all the faster!
4km warm-up in 30:56. Pace = 7:50
3km in 21:31. Pace 7:08....that's the 'stuff up'! Laps 7:10; 7:06; 7:12. AHR = 112 (75%).
2km warm-down included some strides & a few drills.
I should have done strides before starting. I felt more 'awake' & energetic after doing them than I did during the entire earlier session!
Today's distance = 9km
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This time next week...it'll be all over!
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