Workout #2...Tempo Run

Every time I open Blogger now to transfer an image I live in fear of a reappearance of the frightening phenomenon that awaited me a few days ago.  I've asked God not to let it happen again because I want to live a little longer....no, a lot longer!  So, for another day......

 Program:
 2km warm-up
 6km @ LT pace (6:39m/k)
2km cool-down.

I jogged 2km from school to Renwick streets.
6km splits :  6:43;  6:46;  6:48;  6:56;  6:30;  6:31
2km cool-down + a few stretches.

I have a slight head cold and didn't think I'd feel like running an extra kilometre in the middle section, but after the fifth kilometre I felt fine and had no trouble doing one more, though I had to stop a couple of times for a nose blow and eye wipe.  Dull and overcast day but satisfied with the tempo section which included a couple of short hills.

6km Tempo Run

10km total

 

Cross-Training......

Owww!  My quads were stiff this morning after yesterday's track workout, so cross-training needed to be something easy today.......like short hills and not too many of them.  I'm always thinking of how I'm going to feel the day after an easy day which is tomorrow's tempo run.

I parked in Renwick right beside the same short hill I used a week or two ago and, although it's not really steep....as in practically vertical  - it does the job for me nicely.

10 min easy jog warm-up
6 x 20 second hill sprint
Walk down and walk around for a min or two
Repeat
5 min cool-down + 2 strides ...to flush out sluggish legs!

...and that's it for cross-training today, with a longer than usual tempo run tomorrow.

Workout #1.....Track

After a fitful sleep last night, I thanked God when I woke this morning that I didn't have nightmares of terrifying faces!

1600m course.

Today's track program:
10-20 min warm-up
3 x 1600m @ 6:16m/k... (1 min RI)
10 min cool-down.

Because I didn't want to become any more distressed than I was yesterday by the 'vision', I didn't race against Virtual Partner this morning and I very much doubted that I'd get in front of him, so I decided to just run each 1600m with as much effort as I could maintain for all three repeats;  I think it was the right decision  :  firstly I jogged a 1600m course for a track around the streets in Renwick and began :

2km warm-up + 4 strides.
10:05.1 (6:18m/k) AHR 87%;   9:56.9 (6:13m/k) AHR 79%;   9:36.6 (6:00m/k) AHR 159? 100%?
RI about 200m walk
1km cool-down walk.

I thought these were good results and certainly surprised me, especially as I usually try to stay ahead of VP and today I just ran by perceived effort for each 1600m.  The first 800m fairly flat, then at the turn 600m of gentle uphill  -  but uphill just the same!  -  and the last 200m fairly flat.


A good quality workout....even if I say so myself!

7.8km total
 

 

Nothing to do with Running......except

.....except it happened when I attempted to upload or download  - I don't know the difference between the two, so I should just say 'transfer'  -   when I attempted to transfer a photo to my blog this morning.

I clicked on the icon as I always do and there right in front of my eyes was one of the most terrifying sights anyone would wish not to see.  It was a face that would rival anything from a Boris Karloff horror movie, far more hideous than anything in 'Frankenstein' story or film!   I thought,  "What the ????.  What is happening here?"  With a troubled frown on my face, I moved in closer, only to see the face move at the same time and frown back at me; I smiled and the face returned what could only be described as a horrible grin; I removed my glasses in case I was seeing some disfigured spectre from another planet.  The 'monster' did the same!

And only then did I realize it was my face I was looking at!!!  It was a Blogger camera requesting a photo to keep on file!  File it?  Just how many people did they want to scare to death?  No one can ever, never ever, ever possibly imagine the unexpected shock it gave me! I was sick in a second!   It took a few more seconds of moving about, in and out, glasses on, off, again and again, before I fully realized what a garish eyesore was staring back at me!

""Holy ####," I said out loud, "do I really look that much like a grinning baboon with grey hair and wearing glasses?"  I tried making all sorts of faces but it only worsened the gruesome sight.  I clicked it off hoping I'd beaten Blogger to the trigger and then spontaneously did something completely stupid : I rushed into the bathroom and hurriedly slapped on some makeup and even eye shadow -  why on earth would I do that? Panic stricken! - but realizing too late that there was absolutely nothing that could be done to erase the sight other than radical facial surgery and that would just be for starters!

This was a seriously scary and painful awakening to facing the truth and worth reporting as much as does my earlier run.

Reminds me of the old movie "The Picture of Dorian Gray".  Eek!

An edit to add :  A final thought and then I'm going to put this behind me as if it had been a horrible running experience.  Why, oh why, did I send recent photos last night to a friend in Noosa!  She could be undergoing emergency heart surgery for all I know and it will be all my fault!

Cross-Training Easy Running

All's well again!  I took a rest day yesterday, following the advice given on Sunday, although it would have been a far better day to run long than it was on Saturday.

I thought it wise to stay away from Diamond Fields Road today and give the people living there time to forget the unhinged woman they might have caught sight of staggering past on Saturday!

Cross-training:
5km easy running
37:25
Avg. Pace : 7:28 m/k
1km splits... 7:24;  7:28;  7:31;  7:37;  7:19

I began with 2x100m strides to wake up lazy legs and finished with 2x100m strides to flush out sluggish legs!

5km easy running.

Long Run....Workout #3

Bloody hell, that was awful!  And that's all I can say till I recover!

From Diamond Fields Road looking up to Range Road at the top of the photo....how would it be up there today!

A chocolate Energize, a hot shower, two bowls of pea and ham soup, a short nap and now at 6:00pm a bowl of pasta with sauce -all in that order - and I'm beginning to feel some physical sensitivity return after a terrifying night with fierce winds thumping the windows and today's long run in the worst conditions I can recall.  Curiously, after such a freezing and windy run, I've had a thirst for cold water for the rest of the day; more than in the heat...I was surprised by this.

I thought the weather sounded less fierce by 10:30am until I was on the way to Diamond Fields Road where I expected there would be more shelter....there wasn't and it became almost a fight for survival! Apart from the hurricane, I was also concerned about branches - not raindrops! - falling on my head....the road was strewn with debris that had fallen during the night.

The Program :
15km 

I ran 15km on Diamond Fields Road
Time:   2hours 2 minutes
Avg. pace 8:10m/k
5km splits....40:39;    40:15;    41:36. 

Over some years I've come to know all the property owners on Diamond Fields Road.  There are only about five or six as most properties are over 100 acres for grazing cattle. I can call in to any of them if I want a drink of water, a cup of coffee - I've taken advantage of both - and even a lift home if I need it; so far I haven't had to do that, but the offer stands.......a comforting thought when running alone;  good people!

I was one weary kilometre from finishing when a familiar truck and driver going in the opposite direction, pulled up beside me.  My friend, the driver, rolled down the window and shouted, "What are you doing out in this weather? Go home and stay inside!"  Not much I could argue with about that advice but, as he was about to drive off, he summed it all up neatly by adding, "The older you're getting, the sillier you're getting!"

Now ain't that the truth, I thought!  Couldn't argue with it either;  but I did finish that last kilometre laughing to myself all the way back to the start!

For the week :  32km - counting only the three major workouts, not 3 days of cross-training.

 

Cross-Training....Against the Wind!

Cold as well as windy today, so cross-training consisted of a very brisk thirty minute walk from home and back; then almost without stopping, put Amy and Oscar in the car, drove to usual paddock, let them out for a run while I less briskly followed them and Oliver set off on a wild chase following the scent of rabbits!

Oscar loves scenting out rabbits but should one happen to turn and look at him he races back in fright!  One day it was very funny to see him and a rabbit mistakenly racing towards each other and passing one another at full speed without so much as a 'how do you do'!

Tomorrow is long run day and the forecast is for a windy 4-11 degrees, same temperatures as today but more cold wind.......all in a day's running I suppose...unless I change to a sunny Sunday.

Waiting for someone to catch up!

"Tally-ho!"  Oscar in hot pursuit!

Workout #2......Tempo Run

What a change in the weather here today!  At 10:30am as I left home, the sun disappeared and was quickly replaced with a  threatening grey sky.    I finished the session just before the rain started and a cold wet afternoon set in.  I think it's the first rain we've had this month so it'll be good for the dry gardens and paddocks.

Program:
1.5k warm-up
5km @ ST pace (6:16-6:23m/k)
1.5k cool-down.

1.5k from school to Renwick
 5km in 32:05.....I was pleased with this time!
1km splits......6:19;   6:23;   6:30;   6:22;   6:30  
Avg 6:25m/k
1.5k back to school.

5km @  ST Pace

I ran entirely within Renwick....up and down the slopes; side to side; all over the place and any which way until I'd finished 5km.  I was satisfied with the results today and relieved that I felt comfortable while running.....Amen!

Total 8km.

Easy Cross-Training......

The outcome of today's training was to be prepared for tomorrow's workout!  The writing is already on the wall for a tempo run if I start out tired, so today was nice and easy...but making good use of the time.

At the soccer field: 
Drills, leg strengthening exercises and strides
35 minutes total.

I often lose my balance in some of these exercises (eg. one-legged squats) and wobble all over the place!  Oops!!  Try again.

A New Track.....

..this is it!  New track on Renwick roads.

Blustery winds didn't help at all today, though I was pleased to find a block of streets to run long intervals instead of going up and down Radio Road dozens of times.

.......approx. 630m track

 Program :
 10-20 min warm-up
5 x 1000m @ 5:55-6:00m/k
400m RI
10 min cool-down. 

2km from school to track...incl. 4 strides & finding a track!
1km repeats    :   6:27;   6:21;   6:13;   6:22;   6:22
200m approx.  walk between each
2km cool-down from track to school.


I don't like these long repeats and I definitely don't like running into gusts of cold wind! However,  I did the best I could and I thought mapping out a new track was quite smart!!


9km today.


 
 

Cross-training...an Easy Day!

Nerves have settled since almost being beaten to a frazzle during yesterday's long, perilous run!  In any case, today has to be very easy after taking a look at tomorrow's track workout.

So today, other than taking Amy and Oscar for their run through the paddocks, I did the strength exercises recommended in the RLRF book and a few drills......all of which could done safely in the backyard at home!  About 25 minutes.

Recovery Mode!

Long Run.....Workout #3

Next time I run on Range Road I'm changing from Saturday to a Sunday when there's less danger of being killed by cars speeding around the long winding road.  There's not a continuous stream of traffic like on a city road; instead, every five to ten minutes four to five cars, each within inches of the other, fly like cannon balls around the bends, up and down the narrow road, and God help anyone and anything in  their way.  If anything happened to just one of the cars, you don't have to be an expert to know that everyone of them would be wiped out in a second.  I can't understand it at all, especially when we see graphic images of so many horrific accidents on TV every night of the week.  I truly cannot understand it!

What this has to do with my long run on Range Road is pretty obvious.  I have to be ready at any second to jump from the road onto the gravel beside the road.  This is stressful enough but when there's nothing to jump onto other than taking a nose dive into a ditch,  the run very soon becomes a toss up between how quickly can I get out of the way and do I really want to die this way? As soon as I had an opportunity to do so, I turned off Range Road and into Jack Emery Lane, a chance to relax and feel safe for a kilometre or two.

Jack Emery Lane

J.E Lane

Now, that's a real hill! J.E Lane.

I know Sundays used be very quiet and one of the reasons I loved to run there.  Today, I'd planned on 17km run;  however, by the time I returned to where I started at the Highlands School, I was so stressed that I continued on into the silent streets of Renwick for another 2km to give myself time to settle down, relax....and allow the blood pressure to drop!  This is definitely not what running, long or short, should be about.     Now for my long, dangerous run/jump/walk.....

I ran/walked 19km (instead of 17k on my program)
Time 2:29:45....walking lots of the hills today.
Pace?  I didn't even think about it......staying alive was my only concern!
5km splits :  48:32;  41:32;  40::57;  4k 32:28

For the week :  44km

Cross Training With a Difference....

The Walk Home

I knew the car had to go in for service and registration check this morning, so last night I worked out a plan to fit in some sort of cross-training and it worked out quite well.  After leaving the car, it was only a stone's throw, 500m to be exact, to Iron Mines Oval which I've often used for training but hadn't been there for some time.

The cross-training had to be very easy because of tomorrow's long, hard run on Range Road.

500m walk from garage to oval

10 min warm-up jog
20 min drills with a stride between each
2.53km walk from the oval to home
2km walk from home to pick up the car.

I thought that was good thinking!

20 minute drills + 5.00km brisk walk for the day.

The History

The Drills Parade!

Part of the oval that contains 2 football fields.

Workout #2....Tempo Run

Beautiful morning for any sort of run; overly warm in fact especially when I have to run to outstrip the wind!  There wasn't any wind at all really; maybe I would have done better if there had been.  It was the best I could do today and I purposely included some hilly sections through Renwick.

The Program:  Tempo run....8km
2km warm-up
5km @ 6:25m/k
1km cool-down.


5km in 33:12
1km splits.....  6:39;   6:27;   6:35;   6:43;   6:44
Avg. pace 6:38m/k
AHR 81%

When I think of Saturday's long run over Range Road, it might be a good idea to make tomorrow's cross-training very, very easy.

8km for today.

5km @ MT Pace

Cross-training and Backyards......

There is a connection as well as the usual things to be seen when walking ....

Cross-training today :  5km walk

An easy day after yesterday's not so good track session and before tomorrow's as yet unknown tempo run!

It's interesting while walking looking at houses and yards :  such an array from the well-kept to total disaster!  When Jim and I used take the train to Sydney, I often read and always sat at a window seat.  After leaving the countryside, the view from thereon into the city and on the return home was backyards of houses and I used be fascinated by what some of these contained!  Mostly, ordinary things like who had washing out to dry; items hanging out of windows or over balconies;  lawns well kept and those that never were; pets waiting for family to return home; swimming pools, vege patches, aviaries, sometimes chooks and frequently all sorts of junk spilling over everywhere. I just about knew anything that had been changed since our previous trip to the city!  It got so that I used feel concern if washing wasn't out on the usual day; a "For Sale' sign had me wondering why; or the dog sitting at the back door wasn't there!  People and their backyards........I got to know all the backyards;  hardly ever saw people though.

During today's 5km walk I saw many front and back yards!  One I particularly like - a paddock more than a backyard -  has a range of animals : cows, goats, a couple of horses and sheep, dogs and ducks, garbage for the animals and enough junk to sink a ship!

A Trail of Destruction Left on the Track!

That says it all about most of today's Workout #1 :  Track Session.

I stayed on Radio Road alongside the school because, even though the sun was shining, there was a chill in the wind and here I had some shelter from it.

This is what my program asked for......

10-20 min warm-up
1200m in 7:04 (5:53m/k); 1000m in 5:49;  800m in 4:39 (5:48m/k); 600m in 3:28 (5:46m/k); 400m in 2:17 (5:42m/k);  200m in 28sec.
10 min cool down.

I did...

1.5km warm-up
1200m in 7:36 (6:19m/k);  1000m in 6:16;  800m in 4:41 (5:59m/k);  600m in 3:40 (5:58m/k);  400m in 2:18 (5:36m/k);  200m in 1:05
1km cool-down. 


Not my best track session;  I just couldn't run any faster today!  I also think that a longer warm-up might not go amiss especially on these very chilly mornings.

6.7km

 

Looking For A Little Hill.....

The Little Hill!

That's what had to find this morning.......a short, steep hill for some cross-training, and I didn't have to look far.  Hills are everywhere but finding exactly the right hill for a particular training session can sometimes be difficult.  However, in the new Renwick housing development, Landcom have conveniently set out some long and short hills.......just what I needed today and enough distance from the school where I park for a warm-up.

Today I was looking for something short and steep, and there it was right in the way of an icy, arctic wind.....Cold enough for frostbite.....Eek!!

.

"They tell me it's cold outside!"

Cross-training : Magill short hill repeats.
 10 seconds run up at 90-95% effort 
Walk back, walk around and then run up again and again....8 times!

I was keen to finish and get out of the wind asap!   Fifteen minutes jog before and after the hills....about 40 minutes cross-training to start another week.
 

 

Sunday......

A Day Off!

Workout #3....Long Run

Except for the last part of this morning's long run, I was feeling pleased with the way I was running and  confident that I would get an average pace close to what I'd set for myself. This was a shorter distance and  easier course than last Saturday's long run on Range Road, so it was a bit disappointing when I looked at the figures on Garmin Connect and found I didn't run as well as I'd thought. At the time, I felt as if I was scorching the very ground beneath my feet! Oh well......whoop-de-doo!  Here goes......

Program:  16km @ 6:50m/km.

16km in 1:59:06
Avg. Pace 7:26m/km......Humph!!
5km splits -  39:31 (7:54m/k);   36:55 ((7:23m/k);   35:51 (7:10m/k) + 1k in 6:45

Back to Range Road for next week's longer run!

Week's Total  46.8kms

 

Cross-Training Today....

I found time for Pete Magill today, in the form of a session of his drills.  Another beauty of a morning at the school's soccer field......and no shoes or socks on cool, thick grass.

10 min warm-up
4 strides
Over 50m:  1 set of drills  :  skipping, high skipping, flat foot marching, high knees, bounding, fast feet shuffle, butt kicks, carioca.
1 stride between each.

Bizarre as all these may appear to others, and no doubt it would be extremely funny if seen by anyone, I always enjoy these 20 minutes of drills when I get the chance to fit it into the week's training.  I didn't want anything too herculean before tomorrow's long run!

About 30 minutes.