Big Weekend.
SATURDAY 28/1/06, 8AM, 28.5K (2.44, 5.45min/km), WEEK TO DATE 58.5K, 5 HOURS SLEEP
In my push to get fit quickly for Six Foot Track, I'm going to try bulking my weekends with back to back long runs where possible- an approach I've had success with before (notably the two months leading up to the 2003 Bogong- Hotham and before Glasshouse the same year). My problem is that my training mileage is limited by my health at the moment- normally I'm a high mile type when training hard but I have been advised I risk a breakdown if I try that, so more or less my 6FT buildup will consist of about four key workouts per week and not much more.
I got up at 6am on Saturday but wandered around the place in a half-awake daze for two hours before heading out the door on a hot and sunny morning- temps of about 28 degrees when I finished. I ran my old faithful "Bridges" route- home- Bay Run- Lilyfield Rd- Anzac Bridge- Pyrmont Bridge- Observatory Hill- Harbour Bridge- Alfred St North- Crows Nest- River Rd- Burns Bay Rd- Gladesville Bridge- Drummoyne- Bay Run- home.
This is a pretty hilly route, climbs including Lilyfield Rd, Anzac Bridge, High Steps and Agar Steps to Observatory Hill, Alfred St North (worst one on the course), River Rd to Greenwich Rd, River Rd to Kenneth St, River Rd to Tambourine Bay Rd, Burns Bay Rd to Church St, and Gladesville Bridge, with a couple of rollers in Drummoyne to finish you off.
I felt pretty lousy until coming off the Anzac Bridge, when things started to come together and I rolled fairly well though the city and up Alfred St North- where I had walked the week before. I got through the hills on River Rd slowly but steadily and Ross drove past on Burns Bay Rd and asked if I needed a lift- a few hundred metres from where Silverfox had asked the same thing the previous week. I declined, but the climb to Church St at Hunters Hill and then the Gladesville Bridge knocked me around and I was slowing down by the time I got back onto the flat at the Bay Run. I wheezed around the Bay at close to 6min/km and finished around 11am.
Used to be, when I was in good shape, I'd do this run over 20 minutes faster, but given I couldn't finish this route last week, I'm taking this as a sign of progress. Just worried I'll run out of time by the time 6FT comes round and I won't be in the shape I could be a month or two later.
SUNDAY 29/1/06, 6AM, 26.5K (2.17, 5.10min/km), WEEKLY TOTAL 85K, 5 HOURS SLEEP
To Kogarah for the Airport STaR. I haven't done a long run with the Striders since around April or May last year, but at this point I need long, solidly paced road runs, so back to the Striders I go. Steve Bodnar's run is a big loop, much of it on bike path, from Kogarah up to the airport, then return along the Botany Bay foreshore to Captain Cook Bridge over the Georges River, a loop through Sylvania, back across the Georges at Tom Ugly's Bridge and return to Kogarah through Carss Park. Pretty flat.
I arrived late. I wanted to go with the 6.10 group which usually includes old sparring partners like Barry Rutter and Darryl Chrisp, but instead I had to go with the 6.20 group, with such headbangers as Suzanne Kelly, Peter Cremen and Andrew Taylor. Felt a little stiff when warming up but was okay within a kilometre or two.
Got dropped pretty early on and carried on solo. Finally saw the slow 6am group ahead as I approached Captain Cook Bridge and caught them in Sylvania. I took a short cut here up Port Hacking Rd which took 3K off the course, in order to catch up with the 6.10 group. Just as I approached the Princes Highway and Tom Ugly's Bridge, they went past on the other side of the road and I hung on for a few kilometres, keeping them in sight but unable to reel them in. Pace dropped through Carss Park and I lost sight of them. Felt pretty poor when I finished, but fairly satisfied with the pace of the run considering it was pretty much solo.
I can tell I'm still not in great shape, and I particularly suffer on the hills, but I feel that I finally have some momentum in training.
In my push to get fit quickly for Six Foot Track, I'm going to try bulking my weekends with back to back long runs where possible- an approach I've had success with before (notably the two months leading up to the 2003 Bogong- Hotham and before Glasshouse the same year). My problem is that my training mileage is limited by my health at the moment- normally I'm a high mile type when training hard but I have been advised I risk a breakdown if I try that, so more or less my 6FT buildup will consist of about four key workouts per week and not much more.
I got up at 6am on Saturday but wandered around the place in a half-awake daze for two hours before heading out the door on a hot and sunny morning- temps of about 28 degrees when I finished. I ran my old faithful "Bridges" route- home- Bay Run- Lilyfield Rd- Anzac Bridge- Pyrmont Bridge- Observatory Hill- Harbour Bridge- Alfred St North- Crows Nest- River Rd- Burns Bay Rd- Gladesville Bridge- Drummoyne- Bay Run- home.
This is a pretty hilly route, climbs including Lilyfield Rd, Anzac Bridge, High Steps and Agar Steps to Observatory Hill, Alfred St North (worst one on the course), River Rd to Greenwich Rd, River Rd to Kenneth St, River Rd to Tambourine Bay Rd, Burns Bay Rd to Church St, and Gladesville Bridge, with a couple of rollers in Drummoyne to finish you off.
I felt pretty lousy until coming off the Anzac Bridge, when things started to come together and I rolled fairly well though the city and up Alfred St North- where I had walked the week before. I got through the hills on River Rd slowly but steadily and Ross drove past on Burns Bay Rd and asked if I needed a lift- a few hundred metres from where Silverfox had asked the same thing the previous week. I declined, but the climb to Church St at Hunters Hill and then the Gladesville Bridge knocked me around and I was slowing down by the time I got back onto the flat at the Bay Run. I wheezed around the Bay at close to 6min/km and finished around 11am.
Used to be, when I was in good shape, I'd do this run over 20 minutes faster, but given I couldn't finish this route last week, I'm taking this as a sign of progress. Just worried I'll run out of time by the time 6FT comes round and I won't be in the shape I could be a month or two later.
SUNDAY 29/1/06, 6AM, 26.5K (2.17, 5.10min/km), WEEKLY TOTAL 85K, 5 HOURS SLEEP
To Kogarah for the Airport STaR. I haven't done a long run with the Striders since around April or May last year, but at this point I need long, solidly paced road runs, so back to the Striders I go. Steve Bodnar's run is a big loop, much of it on bike path, from Kogarah up to the airport, then return along the Botany Bay foreshore to Captain Cook Bridge over the Georges River, a loop through Sylvania, back across the Georges at Tom Ugly's Bridge and return to Kogarah through Carss Park. Pretty flat.
I arrived late. I wanted to go with the 6.10 group which usually includes old sparring partners like Barry Rutter and Darryl Chrisp, but instead I had to go with the 6.20 group, with such headbangers as Suzanne Kelly, Peter Cremen and Andrew Taylor. Felt a little stiff when warming up but was okay within a kilometre or two.
Got dropped pretty early on and carried on solo. Finally saw the slow 6am group ahead as I approached Captain Cook Bridge and caught them in Sylvania. I took a short cut here up Port Hacking Rd which took 3K off the course, in order to catch up with the 6.10 group. Just as I approached the Princes Highway and Tom Ugly's Bridge, they went past on the other side of the road and I hung on for a few kilometres, keeping them in sight but unable to reel them in. Pace dropped through Carss Park and I lost sight of them. Felt pretty poor when I finished, but fairly satisfied with the pace of the run considering it was pretty much solo.
I can tell I'm still not in great shape, and I particularly suffer on the hills, but I feel that I finally have some momentum in training.
posted by Mister G at 10:01 am
2 Comments:
Glad to hear it MrG ;-)
Of course you wouldn't consider missing a year of 6Ft???
I know that this is a thought that you probably will not think about.
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