Looks Like Summer. Doesn't Feel Like Summer.

TUESDAY MORNING, 28/12/04- 16km

A brilliantly clear and sunny morning as Action and I did an extended lap of the Bay Run (after I ran to his place). However, it definitely wasn't hot and we weren't baking under the sun, thanks to a brisk south-westerly. It was only 13 degress at 6.30am.

Anyway, cut a long story short, Action didn't feel like doing speedwork so we clicked out 10km at 4.57 min/km. Feet felt pretty good- first time since C2K where omitting taping didn't result in old blisters opening up again. Have experienced some tightness in my left groin and right quad for the last few days however, but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse, so hopefully it'll go away....

The lack of speedwork in recent weeks definitely seems to be affecting my form now, but I'll probably resume intervals next week and things will improve. Gotta do some fast 10Ks in the next couple of months.....

5K Bay Run Challenge Take 2

MONDAY MORNING, 27/12/04- 17K

Being a public holiday, about 40 people fronted at the Bay Run for another 5K challenge.

We were all huddled under trees and whatever other shelter we could find as Huey turned his anger on us before the start, but once we got going the skies cleared. I had jogged to the start from my place (8km) and had seen the lightning cracking from some distance off.

Ray had a veritable harem around him- Gnscon, Spud, Russ, Superflake, a few others. First km was 3.48, then a 3.51, and Ray started urging us to ease off a bit. I was already doing so, but involuntarily- I was not feeling too hot at all and had no form whatsoever.

The last km was about 4.15 as quite a few people went past- Ross, Vat, Colin, Boof, etc and I crossed the line shoulder to shoulder with Ray in 19.59- a big thumbs up to him! That last km split indicates I'm still a bit fatigued from the big one two weeks ago. It was 12 seconds slower than last month's time.

We then warmed down by completing the lap of the Bay, chatting the whole way....

My right foot was somewhat painful the whole way, but nothing I couldn't put up with. Considering I haven't done speedwork in over three weeks and ran 236km in that period, a 19.59 is bloody pleasing. Painful though.....

Tourist Trot Star.

SUNDAY MORNING, 26/12/04- 20km

Surprisingly temperate 15 degrees at the Striders run this morning. I elected to go with the fast group at 6.20am, bang out a quick 10-15km, then jog back to the finish.

I turned off at 11km and ended up doing an even 20. Due to interference from the buildings (this run basically crisscrosses the CBD) we had some dispute about how fast we were running when I turned off, but probably about 4.50min/km. Form felt pretty good just up until I left the group, then I tired rapidly. Still not quite recovered.

Foot was painful the last couple of km.

TOTAL FOR THE WEEK- 79km. No real speedwork, it's too soon after Coast-Kosci. And I can definitely tell that I did something big two weeks ago. I usually find the second week after a major ultra is more sluggish than the first week.

Christmas is Sublime.

SATURDAY MORNING, 25/12/04- 14K

Not a good start to the running day. The evening before I'd removed some tape from my poor old right foot and pulled more skin off with it. However, more tape and two thick pairs of socks were deployed again this morning.... and the day got much better.

I was up the Blue Mountains and Mother Nature turned on one of those excellent mountains misty cool days that occasionally crop up to combat the summer heat, so I headed out at 8am for a 14km out and back run along the Grose Head South trail.

This trail drops to the floor of a valley and passes through a rare stand of temperate rainforest and an array of constant birdcalls greets those who pass through. The odd tendril of mist drifted through the treetops. I saw one runer and one walker, both coming back towards me- usually this trail is quite popular with MTBers and walkers but, it seems, not today.

After 5K a left hand turn took me up 160m vertically over the 1.2km long Bees Nest Hill and eventually to a little known lookout overlooking the junction of Springwood Creek and the Grose River, with the roar of water drifting 400m vertically up. The surrounding hills were all wreathed in fog. I was alone.

After lingering about 10 minutes I retraced my steps. The last kilometre was on fairly flat sealed road, so I cranked it up and did it in about 4.05. Total time about 1.20 after subtracting my loitering at the Lookout. Foot felt fairly good.

Excellent run. Road running in the city is all well and good, but runs like today's are the ones that perk me up for the rest of the day.

In Step With the Herrmannator.

FRIDAY 24/12/04, LUNCHTIME- 12.5K

Day off today so slept in till 10.30 then headed up to the office anyway for a run in LCNP again.

Unpleasantly humid- 26 C and mid 70s% humidity, so I wasn't feeling too sharp even before the fatigue from Coast-Kosci took hold.

Bumped into the Herrmannator on his own lunchtime run so I elected to run with him for a while, which added about 2km to the run. Got around in just over an hour and not feeling decidedly sharp either.

Still Slow.

THURSDAY MORNING, 23/12/04- 6K

Had a pretty rough night's sleep so slept through my alarm. Therefore I wasn't able to come into work early to run in LCNP, so I had to run to work from West Ryde again.

Yesterday evening I was noticeably limping from the blisters I'd re opened on my right foot, so this morning I applied lots of tape and two thick pairs of socks and the pain was bearable.

Physically I didn't feel as bad as yesterday but still not going anywhere on the hills, so still suffering from this bout of endocrinal depletion. It will pass.

As you may have gathered by now, I am not a fan of "complete rest" days. When I was training for Western States I usually did >50K on Sundays and had hills on Tuesdays, so I experimented with my Monday regime to see what gave the best recovery. A complete day off on Monday meant I still felt rough on Tuesdays and had a bad hill session. A longish run (>16K) or two runs on Monday produced the same result. If I did one short run (5-10K) on Monday I'd feel sluggish during that run, but would usually result in me being fresh on Tuesdays and having a good hill session. So I definitely prefer active recovery, in monderation, to having days completely off.

Another uncomfortably humid but not particularly hot day- 20 C and 88% humidity.

The Fatigue We Had to Have.

WEDNESDAY MORNING, 22/12/04- 10.5K

Got up early and went directly to work so I could run from the office over the Striders Lane Cove 10K course. After discussing things with Action and Vat a bit more recently I think this is the way to go rather than run to work as the latter just does not simulate the running one does in a 10K or marathon. It means I get about an hour's less sleep but I'll manage.

Anyway I felt pretty poor from the start of the run. No form, and my usual marker of endocrinal fatigue- battling on uphills with unusually accelerated heart and breathing rate. Struggled to get around in a bit under an hour on what was a very humid morning- 19 C and 87% humidity at 8am. Thought I might see Spud or MPHaz on their midweek long runs, or Boof on his bike going to work, but missed them all.

This is anticipated. I've written several times on Coolrunning that I usually have a second wave of endocrinal fatigue hit me about 10-14 days after a big ultra and it lasts a few days- apparently this is not unuusal. I've noted it after my Bogong-Hotham finish in 2003 and after my last two Glasshoue runs. So I wasn't surprised at how badly I went and I know it will pass.

Essentially, my recovery from Coast-Kosci is going just as anticipated.

I made the mistake this morning of running in just a single pair of socks, and a couple of blisters on my right foot have opened up again. Tomorrow it'll be two layers of socks again and some strategic taping.....

With Wombatface's help I've added a table on the right side of this page where I'll record my weekly kms. For the first few months of next year I'll be focussing on the 10K so these numbers won't be impressive, but after that they should go up again....

The Bay Run at Dawn....

TUESDAY MORNING, 21/12/04

Wasn't up for hills this morning so just went over to Action's and ran a lap of the Bay Run. The Great Man himself elected to cruise along with me for about 5K before heading off to do his own thing, so we had a good old natter- quite an easy pace indeed.

So that was 7K, plus another 3K running over to Action's. Didn't time it, deliberately. Good conditions- 18 C and relatively low humidity (mid 50s) for a Sydney summer morning.

C2K Aftermath, including SMC.

No running for a few days to let my poor feet begin mending.

FRIDAY 17/12/04, Afternoon

Did 40 minutes in Lane Cove National Park at lunch. Felt reasonable. A bit tired. Feet not too bad.

SATURDAY 18/12/04, Morning

Did 70 minutes on the Shaws Ridge Firetrail. Sublime. This used to be one of my usual routes when I was training for my first Six Foot Track- I'd run this hilly loop several times. Haven't run it for about four years. Nostalgic- it goes through a rare stand of temperate rainforest including Blue Gum trees, then climbs steeply to the top of a ridge and loops back to the start. Felt a little tired but okay.

SUNDAY 19/12/04, Morning

SMC 10K.

In the car this morning I joked to JD and Vat that I'd be rapt if I ran under 50 minutes for the 10K. I'd gotten out for a 40 minute shuffle at lunch on Friday and did 70 minutes on a hilly (and sublime) Blue Mountains firetrail on Saturday and felt reasonable. I wanted to run the SMC to guage my recovery and also for a bit of social interaction with the usual CR/Strider mafia.

From the start I settled into low 4.20s min/km and just clicked along under the harsh sunlight swapping encouragement and friendly abuse with fellow CRs and Striders. Just before the turnaround Uncle Dave came back the other way with Action and Vespa not far behind. I gave them the thumbs up, and Vespa looked like she was cruising as she gave me a smile and a cheery wave; Action was baring his teeth and looked like he was either about to run through a brick wall or curl up and die, or perhaps both. I made the turnaround in about 21.55.

On the way back I tried to up the pace a few times without much success- the main reminder that I'd done something big the previous weekend was that I seemed to lack an "extra gear" to shift into and hence was just locked into low 4.20s. About a mile from the end I realised the CR-cap-wearing Strider about four runners ahead was O Runner; again I tried to shift gears and catch him but it wasn't there. He was gradually coming back towards me but in frustration I realised I was going to run out of room, and finished 3 seconds behind. Pity it wasn't an 11km race.

Still I was pretty happy under the circumstances. I seemed to have pretty good form the whole way. Had a good long chat to Ray at the finish line about marathon training (the first of many such chats I suspect) then went for a shower, then hung around for a while longer, still chatting, before Vat, JD and I headed on our way.

MONDAY 20/12/04

Ran to work- 6km, so slowly I was travelling backwards in time. But recovery is coming along nicely.

Armageddon.

TUESDAY 7/12/04

Ran to work, 6km. No time for anything else before the big one.

FRIDAY 10/12/04- SUNDAY 12/12/04

COAST-KOSCIUSZKO 236KM

... in 60 hours 44 minutes. Full details in my still-to-be-typed report, but this destroyed me for a few days afterwards, not surprisingly. The toughest thing I've ever done I think.

Day Off. No, I'm Serious.

MONDAY 6/12/04

Thought I'd better get some rest in light of what's coming up at the end of the week. I think this will be my first say without a run in about six weeks. Not a bad streak- counting my hike up Mt Taylor the day before the Two Peaks race as a "run", and it certainly had some resemblance to training....

Central Coast Half Marathon.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON, 4/12/04

No time for anything fancy and was feeling a little tired on yesterday's run, so with the Half on Sunday in mind I just did 6km at around 5min/km, with backpack.

SUNDAY MORNING, 5/12/04

The Central Coast Half is an out and back on bike paths by the water's edge at The Entrance.

Vat had offered to tow me through in under 90 minutes, which my 5K last weekend had suggested was vaguely possible.

We duly got to about 7k or so right on the pace, but I was breathing pretty hard and started to gradually drop off. Got to 10K in about 43 flat (fourth or fifth quickest 10K ever) but I was already wheezing to a stop, and in the last 5K completely folded and came in with a 97.

My legs felt fine the entire time and afterwards they weren't stiff or sore at all. I held form to the end- I was "stepping over my ankle" all the way, just wasn't moving very fast. This tells me that legspeed and strength were okay but I was lacking the high-end aerobic work required- the heart and lungs just weren't up to sub 90 pace. I suspect that if I'd spend the last 7 or 8 Tuesdays doing something like 3 x 2K or 2 x 3K reps rather than hills, we'd have had a different outcome today.

Oh well, c'est la vie. I know what I need to do, and my focus for the last couple of months has been improving my form and legspeed, which has definitely worked- not training for a Half.

Hit the pool afterwards for recovery- swam 1km in about 25 minutes.

That "Average Pace" Thing....

FRIDAY MORNING, 3/12/04

As I mentioned the other day, Action and Vat have been advising me to lift the pace on my "non specific" runs. Or as Action phrased it (I think this is right) "anything slower than 75% of race pace is wasting your time. Go hard or go home!"

So today I ran in from W. Ryde (6km) on a cool, drizzly morning and averaged 4.41 min/km with backpack. This session, too, is getting quicker- previous two attempts were 4.49 min/km and 4.46 min/km. Pretty solid workout, but not as tough as intervals, etc.

Off to the gym at lunch, then the big brew up this evening...

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, 3/12/04

Did 104xxm on the rower in my usual 40 minutes, 100 situps.

Missed My True Calling III.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON, 2/12/04

Smashed my PB for rowing 40 minutes in the gym by just under 60 metres- 10607m. Funnily I felt awful for the first 5-6 minutes, then settled in. Rather than bashing the last three or four minutes (which usually leaves me hardly able to sit upright once finished) I gradually picked up the pace over the last 10 minutes and only bashed it in the last minute, when it was already obvious I'd nailed it.

Cooled off with 100 situps with a 10kg weight held to my chest.

Almost a Stretcher Session.

THURSDAY MORNING 2/12/04

Well after the ridiculous heat of the last two days, today was cloudy, humid and about 18 degrees, with drizzle falling as we finished our session- the usual 8 x 400s at Rotary Field with Vat, and this time DJL as well.

After three laps warming up, the first rep felt smooth- I was gliding along only a couple of metres behind Vat feeling in very good form. Coming into the last straight I remembered that he normally runs 76 or so for his reps and perhaps I should ease off a bit in case I wanted to complete the session without blowing out, so I eased off and finished the rep in 78- having not broken 81 before. Vat commented that he could see me in his peripheral vision and he was wondering what I was doing there.

Subsequent reps were tougher and on the last three my form was dropping off noticeably. Coming round the back curve on the last rep my legs and arms were everywhere and I was thinking I was going to run something stupid like an 86, so I just put the head down and windmilled down the last straight, then had to lie down on the grass for a few minutes after finishing.

This is easily my toughest session of the week. Even fast hills aren't this bad.

My times-

78
81
80
81
80
82
82
82

Three laps warming down with the boys, then jogged to work in the drizzle.

Put the Mocker on Myself.

WEDNESDAY MORNING, 1/12/04

What was I saying last week about the great weather? This morning it was 33 degrees at 9am! Bloody hot for my run to work.

Again, on the advice of Vat and Action, I took the shortest route to work (6km) and tried to do it fast. It's not a course for fast running, even without the backpack- after a flat first 200m it starts climbing, steeper and steeper, up Anzac Ave, surely the steepest hill in Sydney west of the Lane Cove River. 1km is right at the top of the hill. Then it's flattish through backstreets, a park, a bike path then uphill again for the last km along Waterloo and Talavera Rds.

I got to the top of Anzac Ave in 5.40 or so (usually 6.30 or more) and did the whole run averaging 4.46min/km vs 4.49min/km for last Friday's run, but in the heat (and given I went up the big hill too fast) I was ready to curl up and pass out.

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger, and all that. Damned summer.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, 1/12/04

At lunch I did 100 situps in the gym with a 10kg weight held to my chest, then did 10240-odd metres on the rower in the usual 40 minutes. Felt very uninspired for the first 10 minutes or so, then worked into it and was moving fairly well by the end.