Damn that run hurt

Last week's training was a marked improvement on the previous week's despite working 13 days straight. I managed two whole runs and they were both reasonably successful.

I covered the interval session already, so let me tell you about the long one yesterday.

That run was 29km at a pace of 8:11 minute per mile (5:04 per km), which was considerably faster than I have run all my other long runs previously. The other runs were around the 5:20 per km mark. So I was happy to smash myself up and down a hilly run to get a quicker time. I didn't feel that good and I probably didn't look pretty, but it felt good to push my body to the limit one last time before the marathon. That's not to say I won't be running more long runs before Melbourne, but they will be shorter and probably not as quick. I've learnt that I work best when I don't overdo it before the race.

The run itself was simple enough. I ran from Waverley south towards La Perouse for 5 miles, then turned back. On the return to home I felt a little "crook" and had to stop at the petrol station to sort myself out. Somehow when I started running I managed to go the wrong way and promptly got lost. I had a rough idea where I was and which direction I needed to run, but was just enjoying the unexpected as I tootled along the streets between Kingsford and Randwick. After what seemed like forever running uphill I came out at a junction near Randwick, (one I didn't expect to see) and realised where I was. A short run downhill and past my local Bunnings got me back home after 10.3 miles. From there I decided to nip down to Bondi beach and see if I could kill some miles not too far from home. Down at the beach you can do this loop which is fairly flat and uninterrupted by traffic lights, but it is about as boring as listening to Tony Abbott, so I chose the hard route instead. Running past Bondi beach I headed past the North Bondi RSL winding up and through the fancy apartments overlooking the sea and beach. Eventually I came back to the main road at North Bondi which heads up hill for ages. It is a right mother effer, but I thought "why not!" It's definitely a mile up hill if not more and by the end I was "rooted" (knackered/tired/shot for my English pals) and did not know how I was going to finish the run off. I told myself to run an out and back towards Watson Bay, which meant that when I was heading back I would finish the run with a reasonable distance under my belt. I knew at this point I was running way too fast to do more than 30km, I just didn't have it in the pins. So I distracted myself from the hurt in my lungs and heart and trudged onward, getting through the out and back to enjoy a mile downhill back to Bondi beach. From there I ran along the promenade and up the hill towards home. Part way up the hill I had to stop and have a rest overlooking the sea, I had only drunk 500ml in 2.5 hours and I had a little cramp setting in. If I had taken any money with me at this point I would've got a cold beer and kicked back. However I had no money on me and no bus pass to get home, so after a little stretch and breather I picked myself up and headed up Bondi road. I thought the rest would do me good, but it is another half a mile (easily) up hill from there and I felt worse as I struggled up the hill. At 18.25 miles I stopped and called it a day. I had nothing left to prove to myself and was happy with what I had achieved for the run.

Looking forwards there are only two long runs left before race day in Melbourne. The next one will probably be around the 25km mark and the week before I will run 15-20km. My focus for these last week's will be to get my training in during the week, doing tempo and interval sessions. These are the confidence and fitness boosters before the marathon distance. They rest the body and legs from the long distance, but keep you prepped for what's to come. I am fairly good at listening to my body and after all I am Tomthesloth, so I will never over do it!

This week will see me run tomorrow and Wednesday before a long one on the weekend. Fingers crossed I can get time to fit yoga and massage in over the next two weeks, otherwise I'll be running like a pencil on race day.

Happy training,

Tom ;)

Running man

I wish I could dance and that this post was about how well I could do the running man. Sadly it is not. In my mind I can do the running man really well, so I’ll hold onto that and update you on my training.

I would like to say that I have done a lot more training since I last tapped out an update, but frankly it has not been much better. I managed a couple of runs last week and so far this week I have only done my speed work session. Ultimately I can’t really be bothered to run at the moment unless it is with my friend Andrew, so I take my hat off to him for his commitment and thank him for keeping me motivated.

Although I didn’t do my tempo run last week I did manage a 33km run with Andrew on Saturday morning before going to work. We ran from Central through Darling Harbour to the ferry terminal, through the botanic gardens, up Oxford street to Bondi Junction and then down towards La Perouse. We then run back to through Randwick to finish in Waverley. Although my legs were feeling it at the end (missing two long runs in a row will do that) I did feel pretty good fitness wise and fairly strong up the hills. Andrew was certainly pushing the envelope at the end of the session when we had some hills and I can honestly say I don’t think I could’ve pushed much harder to keep going. This is all good though, because after this Saturday’s long run we will start a three week taper. This actually means that our long runs become slightly shorter, not that I stop training altogether as some of you may be thinking! Also our long runs have been moderately hilly, so despite not hitting lightning quick times we are getting in some great leg strengthening work on the hills, which is amazing for the flatter terrain of the Melbourne marathon. That’s one good thing about training in Sydney, you are never too far from a good hill.

Yesterday morning Andrew came over to Bondi to run intervals. We had 10x400m to do and gave ourselves 300m recoveries. We walked 200m and jogged the last 100m of the recovery to allow some respite, but prevent the legs getting too relaxed between intervals. Andrew wasn’t feeling too hot as he felt like he had no power in his legs and I felt like my lungs were on fire. So all in all it was a great session! If anything we can say that we got progressively faster on our intervals and were pushing to the limit, that’s all I can ever ask of myself, so I’m happy.

Tomorrow I am going to smash out a tempo run at sparrow’s fart, before I head into work at 7am at Apple. No doubt the day will feel long and tiring, but I seem to be more upbeat after a good training session than not doing anything. I have no clue what distance I am supposed to run, but hope that it is less than 10km, so I can have longer in bed!

Saturday Andrew and I are meeting at Central at 6am to head off for our last long run. I am not entirely sure where we will go, but I thought Central to Darling Harbour, through the CBD and The Rocks, past the ferry terminal and The Opera House, through the botanic gardens, all the way down Anzac Parade to La Perouse and then back up to finish at Waverley again. This will leave me enough time to shower, eat a large breakfast and stretch before i head straight to work for an 11am start. There is something satisfying about getting that done before work and then having a couple of cold ones at the day’s end. Roll on Saturday night!

Righty-O! That is about if from me at the moment. I have not had much time or inclination to get to the gym or do anything else training wise. As it is I am trying to get in two yoga sessions a week to keep things in check, but it hasn’t been happening. After all we all need some down time and to have a life.

I’ll let you know how it all goes when I have my day off on Sunday.

Happy training!

T :)

Lazy Tom

As you can imagine from the title of this post I have been a little lazy since my last update. Despite missing a couple of long runs (I'll admit I couldn't be arsed) I still got my tempo session in last week, which was a 16km run at 4:45 per km, or roughly 7:30 per mile. It's naturally not a great idea to miss long runs when you train for a marathon, but for those that know me I've trained less in the past and suffered well. I definitely don't advise anyone do this for a marathon though, so read on.

This week I started with a bang. Normally I wouldn't try and play catch up, but I genuinely love speed work, so I did last week's session yesterday. This consisted of 1000m in 3:47, 2000m in 7:56 and two more 1000m intervals as the first. Recovery between each was 400m, which because I am Tom the Sloth was a 300m walk and a 100m jog. To keep it simple and not bore you I've outlined the results below.

1. 1000m, target: 3:47. Actual time: 3:57. I was trying not to look at my watch for this and go on how I felt. Unfortunately I thought I was going off to fast, so I reined it in and finished slower. Balls.
2. 2000m, target: 7:56. Actual time: 7:40. After the first interval I thought I'd go conservative and then smash the second half. This highly evolved tactic seemed to work. Note to self, do this more often.
3. 1000m, target 3:47. Actual time: 3:58. Not it may appear as though I was tiring at this point, but no! I was running around Centennial Park and there is a point where it's 1000m up hill. It's not a bad hill, but when you are running fast it smashes you. Taking that into account I was happy with this one.
4. 1000m, target 3:47. Actual time: 3:41. I told myself to give it a 100% for this last interval and that I would smash it. Sometimes that level of confidence and self belief pays off. However when I started running this last one I felt like I had no energy in my legs and was running the slowest of the day. But what do I know eh?!

 Tomorrow I am running this week's intervals with my mate Andrew. We are going back to Centennial Park to run 3x1600m in 6:17 per interval with a 400m recovery. I can tell you now that these ones are absolute mother f*ckers, so I imagine the times could be all over the shop.

On Friday I have another 16km tempo run to do at the same pace as above. Although I have today, tomorrow and Friday off I am working for my mate Steve laying a path and then back to Apple on Saturday. Technically my week starts on Saturday, so I will be squeezing in my 32km long run on Sunday.

If I'm still able to move after the long run I will update you.

Until then ladies and gents,

Happy training :)