Track and VP is the winner! ~~~~~

I know it's Melbourne Cup day but I don't watch it or any other horse race;  I think it's a cruel sport but I did go to the Bowral Parkrun cycle track for today's run. 

1.5k warm-up jog
3 x 1600m in 11:30 (7:11 m/k)
400m RI (walked)
5 min cool-down walk.

3 x 1600m : 12:11;    12:29;    12:47!!!

VP won easily!  I couldn't run any faster and the last repeat included running up the grassy hill... any excuse will do!

My lovely "Amy" & a ball of wool to play with!

Yesterday & Today ~~~~~

Yesterday, Bowral Parkrun ~~~~~ 39:29! The less said, the better!

Today :Very slow, long run

10k
Highlands School, Diamond Fields Road & back.

98 minutes!

And that's that!!

Catching Up~~~

Missed Bowral parkrun last Saturday.

Tuesday: track session on cycle path
5 x 1000m in 6:57 :  7:12;   7:36;  7:34;  7:14;  5th rep 1.32km + uphill in 8:18
VP won that session!

Thursday :Tempo Run on cycle path
3km @ ST pace
1.5k easy
1.5k @ ST pace ..... skipped this; short of time.
1.5k easy, skipped this too.
3km @ ST pace

VP had no trouble staying ahead of me this morning!

3km in 22:55
AHR77-84% of max.
TE 2.0 ~~ Maintaining!

2.26k in 18:30

AHR 82-86% of max.

TE  2.2 ~~ Maintaining!

Saturday's parkrun is next!

Track on Parkrun Course ~~~

Drove across to Chev to use their track only to find the oval was being used for archery! Not wanting to be a target for any stray arrows I made a quick about turn and over to Briars to use the cycle path for today's track which was :

Warm-up..... jog down the hill and 1km on the path

4 x 1200m in 8:25 (based on 36min for 5km..not 37 like last week!)

400m RI

1km cool down ..... jog cycle path and up grassy hill.

I wouldn't say it anywhere else other than on my blog but .... Gosh!  I was pleased with myself this morning!  I thought I was fabulous!  I ran well and felt really good for all 4 repeats.  The 400m intervals helped, of course, but I still think I did a good session!

1.    8:34.    AHR 81-88% of max;  Avg. Cadence 174spm;  TE 2.0 Improving!

2.    8:15.    AHR 82-89% of max;  Avg. Cadence 174spm;   TE 1.8 Minor.

3.    8:25     AHR 83-89% of max;  Avg. Cadence 173spm;   TE  2.0 Improving!

4.    8:27     AHR 84-90% of max;  Avg. Cadence 174spm;   TE  1.9 Minor.

Long Run 11Km ~~~~~

Another glorious morning just like yesterday and hopefully for the week ahead.  So good to be running and doing a long run on such a beautiful day.  I started and finished at the Highlands School, down Bong Bong Road and then followed one of my favourite runs .. Diamond Fields Road. adding an extra hill to get the distance I wanted.  Ran all the hills, couple of short walk breaks before the hills.

The road was a bit of a mess with potholes and stones awaiting a misstep which I managed to avoid.  One of my most loved and scenic runs!

11km
1 hr 40min
AHR 75-86% of max.
TE  2.2  = Maintaining

 

Bowral Parkun ~~~~

Oh what a beautiful morning!  The weather was perfect and.... I ran below 37 minutes! I was so excited when I saw the time of my Garmin and I've stayed excited all bloomin' day!!  Long way, I know, from PB of 33:34 but I've been stuck on 37+ for so long now I'd almost given up hope of running any faster.  I felt so good while running, the weather was absolutely perfect.. sunny with a cool breeze.

Today we returned too our 'A' Course for the first time in weeks, it now being dry all the way through.  Strange thing about this original course:  I always run well (or better!) there!  All my PBs have been on this course, never on the flat 'B' course.  This morning, I felt great from start to finish, no gagging, no stopping or slowing down, same cadence all the way and not tired afterwards for the rest of the day as has been the case for some weeks.  I know my time is slow compared to the other runners, but I couldn't care less ..... I finished under 37 minutes and I'm over the moon!!

5km in 37:40

Avg. pace 7:21k/m;  Best pace 6:34m/k

Age Graded 91.50% ...... back in the 90s ... thrilled with that too!

Avg. Cadence 170spm 

TE   2.7 = Maintaining

Splits   7:08;    7:16;    7:20;    7:15;    7:37

Tempo Run Parkrun Course ~~~~

Program for today:
1km warm-up
3km @ ST pace
1.5k easy
3km @ ST pace
1km cool-down

Warm-up jog: 1km incl. down grass hill & cycle path.

3km in 22:37....  7:32;   7:41;   7:24
Avg. Cadence 167spm
TE 3.2= IMPROVING!!  WooHoo!

1.5km easy

3km in 22:33 ...   7:25;   7:30;   7:37
Avg. Cadence 163spm
TE 2.1 =  Maintaining.

Cool down jog:  1km incl. cycle path & up grass hill.

Managed to stay ahead of VP for the 2x3km @ ST pace and that's all that mattered!  I ran out and back on the cycle path with a tail wind going out, a head wind returning and a light, misty fall of rain to finish!

Total:  9.5km

Road Repeats ...on cyclepath ~~~~

Drove past Chev as I expected the oval to be unusable, but on the way back had a better look and it seems to have been mowed etc, so could be ok for next Tuesday's track.

Further on to Briars to use the cycle path.

Program for today:

Warm-up

6 x 800m (5:41 for me based on 37 min 5km time)

90 sec RI

Cool-down

Warm-up jog down the grass hill to cycle path:

5:41;   5:30;   5:32;   5:33;   5:45;   5:41

Cool-down jog up the grass hill!

Satisfied with the repeats because I was ahead of VP for each of the six!  On the cycle path, a little breezy in some sections but altogether very pleasant for a change!  Did the repeats by continuing around the path with 90 secs walking RI between each one. 

Dry Retching Again! ~~~~~ Sick of this!

A waist of time this morning and again this awful dry retching starting around 3km and then having to walk 3km back to the Briars.  Every run this week same thing so parkrun is not going to happen until I can get a week clear without dry heaving half way through; won't risk it happening there and having to turn back.  Right now though, I'm not too sure of what to do about it! 

6km ... from Briars > cycle path > Briars!

Easy Distance Run ~~~~~

It was far from easy!  Another cold windy day  ... so strong was the wind I had to walk the last 2km into the headwind ... got the dry heaves again; was it the wind? dehydrated?  Don't know, but it's an awful, sick feeling!  Plan was to do an easy 6-8km so as not to be tired for tomorrow's tempo run; because of the weather, it was anything but easy.  Tomorrow will tell! Certainly felt all done in back home!

Started from the school > Diamond Fields Road > Buckmans Lane > back to school.  Buchmans Lane was the only part where there was shelter from the wind.

7.5km
TE  1.5 = Minor!

...Buchmans Lane

A Few Road Intervals ~~~~~

Hardly slept a wink last night with the wind pummelling the windows and the door to the power box banging as well!  I went outside at around 3am and slammed it shut and, no sooner had I got back into bed, it came unstuck and continued banging till the wind dropped slightly; no way was I going out a second time in my PJs into that ghastly wind!

This morning was my first run since last Thursday when I was blown to pieces on our Bowral Parkrun course and I missed parkrun on Saturday feeling too exhausted emotionally as well as physically even to turn up! 

This morning I did half of the 5km program I'm following; again the wind was bad but what I did do went well and I want to get out again tomorrow for some easy distance running; I finished feeling I could have done more ... if someone forced me!

Program:  Ran on Scarlett Street.
Warm-up
8 x 400m (  I did 4) ...2:49 based on my present, getting slower 5km time of 37 mins.!
Cool down.

2:34;    2:33;   2:36;   2:44

Tempo Run ~~~~~

Terrible conditions on the Bowral Parkrun course this morning!  Light rain but a ferocious wind like no other!  Did what I could given the sort of weather.

Program:
Warm-up
1.5km @ ST (6:55m/k based on 35min 5km time)
1.5k easy
1.5k @ ST
1.5k easy
1,5k @ ST
1.5k easy

Start from Briars ... After the muddy downhill...to 1st course C turnaround ... cycle path to Oxley end ... back  along cycle path and up muddy hill to Briars!  Needless to say VP was way ahead for all 3x1.5k.  Completely exhausted after this one!

 3  x 1.5km  ~~~~~  7:33m/k;   7:35m/k;   7:57m/k

Total 8.67km

Road Intervals ~~~~~

Until Chev track recovers from the rain, I'll be using the road for Tuesday's training session.

Program:

10-20 min warm-up

1600m, 1200m,  800m,  400m (Expected paces :11:39;  8:38; 5:41;  2:49... based on a 37min 5km time...for now!).

400m RI

Cool-down.

Results:

2km warm-up

11:14;  7:50;  5:27;  2:30 ... finished each rep ahead of VP!!

1km cool-down

Scarlett Street was a bit of a wind tunnel today but as long as I can stay ahead of VP I'm happy!

Bowral Parkrun 2nd Birthday (with cake!) 24/9/16

.....and a treasured medal!

Road Intervals ~~~~~ 1000m

Yesterday, Monday, I was tired after the 9kBridge Run on Sunday and I wasn't holding out much hope getting back with a track on road session this morning.  Surprisingly, I felt really good and was ahead of VP for all the repeats!

2km warm-up ... walked 1km, jogged 1km.

4 x 1000m @ 6:57m/k .... I did 3 that I was happy with and left it at that!

6:36;      7:00;      6:44

400m RI

1km cool down walking. 

Plenty of water in paddocks

1km stretch of road

1km road repeats here.

I didn't expect to run as well as I did and feel good at the same time!  Maybe I need a 'Bridge Run' more often to get the sparks flying!

Sydney Running Festival ~~~~~

9km Bridge Run:

1:05:17
TE 3.0 ~~ Improving!

Splits:

7:12;  7:06:  6:50;  7:46;  7:11;  7:21;  7:31;  8:00;  6:15

Had a good run; 2 minutes faster than same event last year!  Age category W80+ : 1st place!!

Easy Run ~~~~

Over to Bowral Parkrun course as usual on Thursdays where the vilest wind imaginable was blowing!An easy 5km before Blackmores 9km Bridge run on Sunday, leaving Saturday for Sydney's Amora Hotel, Jamison Street.

5km in 37:47
AHR 77-86% of Max.
TE  2.0 ..  Maintaining.

Bridge Run, here I come again!!

Chev Track ~~~~

Chev paddock is more correct .. no lanes and damp clumps of grass!  I kept to the fence inside the oval and did the best I could.

Program:
10-20 min warm-up

5 x 400m in 2:44 (6:50m/k)

400m RI

2:52;    2:38;    2:29;    2:32;    2:36

One more run on Thursday before Blackmores 5km Bridge Run, Sunday.

A Slow Tempo Run ~~~~~

Parkrun course this morning; cycle path clear of water; grass hill some muddy sections.

Had a horrible run!  Felt a bit sick on the tummy!

Bowral Parkrun 'C' Course

Just Drills ~~~~

In the school soccer field:

1 Set Pete Magill drills with alternating strides.
Backwards running between each drill to start!!

Track that didn't happen! ~~~~~~

Just kept running out of breath and having to stop this morning.  Too much birthday party last night!

Should have run:
5x800m ..... started one but couldn't keep running without having to stop to get breath.

Tried:
3 x 400m ....  got through that but took stops when out of breath!

Finally:
Short cool-down jog & home!

Probably would have been of more use to have just gone for an easy run!  Who knows?  I have a rest day tomorrow, but might do a set of Magill drills after leaving school at 10:30am.

Long Run ~~~~~ Diamond Fields Road.

Program today: 10km

Ran along Diamond Fields  Road starting at the Highlands School and back to school 5km out &  5km back.

After yesterday's really tough Bowral Parkrun in awful conditions, I started to feel tired at around 7km but jogged on to finish the 10km on my program.  Not long now till Blackmores 9km Bridge Run on September, 18!

Bowral Parkrun ~~~~~

#64 for me and one of my slowest!  Conditions here, as just about everywhere this weekend, pretty dreadful.  It was so windy, so wet and so muddy from start to finish! 

5km in 38:13!!
Age grade  83.99%!    

Another Easy Distance Run ~~~~~

Much the same as yesterday.  Bowral Parkrun course.  Big difference in my legs today as opposed to Tuesday surprisingly!  Meaning they had little or no energy this morning!  Lots of walk breaks as a result, but picked up the pace for about the last 10 minutes.  Beautiful warm start to Spring!

Program:
50-75 min easy running

I did 40 minutes!

Long Easy Distace Run ~~~~

Program:
50 -75 min easy run

Started at Briars Inn - to Moss Vale end of cycle path - to Oxley end - back up grassy hill to Briars.  Lovely run in  serene surroundings!

I did 78 minutes ... TE 2.0 .Maintaining

Long Run ~~~~~

From Highlands School, Diamond Fields Road and back to school.  Shocking cold wind!  Haven't had dry retching when running in ages, but I did this morning .... such an awful sick feeling - forced to walk the last 3km while Leah went ahead to complete her run in preparation for her half marathon at Blackmores Sydney Running Festival, Sept. 18.  Just as well I'm only running the 9km Bridge Run!

14km in 2:08:35
TE 2.3  -  Maintaining!

Road Intervals ~~~~~

Parked in Renwick and set off from there to surrounding roads.

15 min warm-up (not on map)
10-20 x 30 secs. @ 6:15m/k
RI 1 min jog.
No cool-down!

I've no idea how many repeats I did; lost count after 10!  I don't know why I enjoyed this session so much!  Maybe it was too easy, but I felt really good when I'd finished ... better after a session than I have felt in a while .... quite perked up and alive for a change!!

Road Intervals

Wake up lazy legs! ~~~~~

After a horribly slow Bowral Parkrun on Saturday (37:03!!), the good half hamstring on my left leg was aching on Sunday, so no long run that day either.  Any time I run on concrete always leaves my entire left leg in some pain and all but about 500m of grassy hill is concrete.

To get my legs moving again, after school this morning, I did 1 set Magill drills with alternating strides after a warm-up jog and finished with a short cool-down walk.  On road in Scarlet Street.

Fatal accident on Moss Vale Road this morning.  I had to detour back along Eridge Park Road, then drove via Osborne Street to the Oxley College end of our Bowral parkrun course.  5km and through a flooded section of pathway to check on the grass hill being dry enough to use this Saturday.  I think it is.

The accident was an horrific sight and had huge police and rescue units in place all clearly visible from the cycle path.  Later news told of a 69 year old man killed and a 49 year old man seriously injured and airlifted to hospital.  Stark reminder of how quickly a life can end on the roads.

I had to do 6 x 90 seconds hill repeats and I did those on the grassy hill after inspecting it for water, mud etc. After that, and watching the helicopters take off, another 5km including the large puddle again, back to where I began at Oxley end of the cycle path.  That meant a total of 10km, 5k more than I'd intended for today!

Chev Track ~~~~~

Not a good workout; oval boggy from rain and made worse from footballers!  All reps were too slow, but I tied and couldn't run any faster; as it was, it was damn hard!

Warm-up + couple strides
6 - 12 x 400m ...in 2:24...I did 6!
90 sec RI
Stretches to finish.

2:40;   2:41;   2:40;   2:44;   2:47;   2:53

Easy Long Distance ~~~~~

Program:

2 - 2.5 hrs easy running. 
I did the minimum .... 2 hours 2minutes 10 seconds!

Started at school, Diamond Fields Road to where it ends and back to school.  Stunning morning!  As usual on D.F. Road, the surface was rough and strewn with rocks and stones so the aim was to do the time on feet without face-planting!  Long time since I've run anything over 10km but felt really good, only a couple of walk breaks, ran all hills, and there were plenty of them, except for part of a really long one which I walked.  Finished feeling 14k was about as far as my hammie was happy to run!

14km in 2:02:10
8:43m/k
AHR 80-92% of max.
Avg. Cadence 165 spm
TE ~~  2.8 = Maintaining!

...... this morning's run on Diamond Fields Road .....

On Bowral Parkrun Course ~~~~

While checking out the improvement or otherwise of the grassy hill this morning, I then ran along the cycle path to do today's 'sort of' extra track session:

Warm-up
12x 200m @ 6:15m/k...with RI
Cool-down

I did 2km warm-up out along cycle path

Too much distraction trying to see every 200m on Garmin.  Ran what I thought would be 200m with easy jogging RI keeping an eye on VP and pace for the 200s instead of distance.  Ahead of VP for each but not sure of how many I ran!

Our grassy hill still has a couple of wet sections, so guessing it's back to Course B again this Saturday.

Cruise Intervals ~~~~~

Warm, sunny morning; ran on Scarlet St instead of Chev. track.  Quiet street, bitumen surface, fairly flat.  Better than the rough grass on Chev track oval.  Repeat of last Tuesday's track with better results!

Program:
1k warm-up
4-8 x 1000m  VP @ 7m/k.   .... I did 4!
1min approx. RI walking around
1k cool-down.

Scarlet Street

7:05 (TE 1.9);  6:46 (TE 1.9);  6:55 (TE 2.1);  6:48 (TE 2.6)

What a Mess! ~~~~

It was raining lightly and cold at Chev track this morning.  The oval was like a ploughed paddock, not just from the rain but adding to that, the football games being played on it.  My attempt at running was just as messy! It turned out to be a very disappointing session with all repeats much slower than the pace in program and I only got the distance right in the last one!

Program: 
Warm-up; couple drills
4 - 6 times 1000m  ... I did 4!
7:15.. based on Parkrun 5km time of 36 minutes

Results as follows:

7:30;   7:47;  7:21;   8:13

I never know if anything at all is achieved on this sort of day, in this kind of weather on a soggy, uneven surface, but I hate quitting before trying and I did the best I could.

The 4th and Last 1000m Repeat