Friday, March 30, 2007

109K Cycle.

Same route was Wednesday, more or less- Prestons- M7 cycleway- Deans Park- Prestons- M4- Glenbrook (home), then tacked on an extra 7K to Warrimoo and work. Average speed about 27km/h.

Clear day, not a cloud in the sky, low 20s.

Gradually feeling better about riding- knees aren't complaining as much, hands and wrists fine, lower back bothered me Wednesday but not today, although my neck ached a fair bit and my arse still hurts.

Including a 7K ride I did Tuesday to the restaurant, bike volume for the week is 306K. Want to keep it at this level or higher for a while- plus keeping the running kilometres ticking along. 35Ker tomorrow.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

9K Run.

We were in Maitland today. At midday I ran 5 laps around the 1.8K perimeter of Maitland Park playing fields, 9K on grass in 44 minutes, around 4.54min/km pace. Took a couple of Ks to warm up.

Uncomfortable conditions- 28 degrees.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

102K Ride.

Warm and sunny day.

Got dropped at Prestons and cycled as far as Deans Park along the M7 Cycleway, returned to Prestons, then back along the cycleway to the M4 and home, finishing with the ascent of Lapstone Hill. Around four hours total (forgot the Garmin).

Haven't ridden 100K before. In fact, before Monday my longest ever ride had been a 60K effort ten or eleven years ago. This will be a good bike week.

Felt better than Monday- right knee still a bit stiff, had some bouts of neck and lower back soreness, but we'd tweaked my bike position Tuesday and I didn't have any pain or numbness in the hands or wrists.

Easy run tomorrow, long bike Friday, long run Saturday.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Bike and Run.

MONDAY 26/3/07, 88K BIKE, 7.5K RUN, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Cool day, 20 degrees max, cloudy with light drizzle at times.

Mel dropped me at Prestons just before 9 so I could ride the M7 Cycleway.

The idea was to ride a full lap of the cycleway (Prestons- Glenwood- return) then back again to Rooty Hill and get a train home, which would have been just over 100K of riding.

However, just after crossing the M4 (21K) I was stopped by workmen re asphalting the path, so I returned to Prestons (42K), rode back to the M4 again (63K) and then all the way home along the M4, including a triumphant ascent of Lapstone Hill without walking (88K).

The Cycleway is a great asset for the active people of western Sydney- a round trip is close to 80K of traffic free commuting.

Very sore in a lot of places at the end of the ride and buggered from the ascent of Lapstone Hill.

A couple of hours later, ran into the restaurant at 5.15 pace. Felt a bit gumby-ish at first but moving well later.

Good, solid day.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Wow, It's Been Really Fucking Hot and Humid Lately....

Sorry Spud, just thought I'd play copycat.

Interesting days.

The stomach issue I've mentioned of late led me to a consulation on Friday which more or less told me what I already suspected- the return of some old Glandular Fever symptoms, to wit, depressed immune system (and resultant bacterial stomach infection) and liver function plus one or two other goodies. Had the sweats all week, shitty sleep, hot and humid conditions bother me (not good when working in a restaurant). I have three bottles of different jungles juices to help deal with the problem.... just the after effects of flogging myself at 6FT and probably some poor dietary choices in the days following.

Funny that it took over 50 marathons and ultras before I really came to appreciate just what sort of toll these events take on the body and mind. These days I read back over my training blog entries for the first seven or eight months of 2005 and wonder how the hell I did it and what was I thinking. Then again, in autumn 2004 when I was training for Leadville (alas, these were pre-blog days) I was really pushing some envelopes- there was a period of 2 or so months where I was doing 170K+ running per week (including 2 runs of 50K+) and 150K or so of cycling. Couldn't do that now, a few too many mental barriers....

Right now, rest from exercise is not really an option with WS three months away. So for the time being I'll be replacing some runs with a lot of cycling and bushwalking as it's less stressful on the body than long runs in hot humid weather- but still good conditioning.

Thursday and Friday nights we walked home from the restaurant- 7K each.

Friday morning I ran to the restaurant to collect the car, which was an 8K run. Today (Saturday) I ran at midday and ended up doing 7K of run/walk- the heat got the better of me, as expected.

Week so far- 73K....

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Another Humid 8K....

... same time of day as yesterday, same sort of conditions, although some light spats of rain helped. 25 degrees, 90% humidity!

Still, felt better than yesterday- actually felt strong on the hills for a change...

WEDNESDAY 21/3/07, 3PM, 8K, WEEK TO DATE 44K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Easy 8K.

TUESDAY 20/3/07, 3PM, 8K, WEEK TO DATE 36K, 6 HOURS SLEEP

... going into the restaurant this afternoon at 3pm.

Except it's not friggin' an "easy" 8K when it's 28 degrees and 80% humidity. Within 3K the sweat was dripping constantly from my face, fingers and elbows and at the end I was squelching in my socks with each step. Gah.

Had a mild stomach bug the last few days- seems to have brought back a little fever. I didn't stop sweating till 8 or 9 tonight.

Rotten night's sleep too.

The hike had a definite training effect from yesterday- pulled up quite sore in the glutes and lower back. There will be more long hard bushwalks between now and WS.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Hike.

MONDAY 19/3/07, 9AM, 28K, 6.5 HOURS SLEEP

Was going to run long today (home- Woodford- return, 58K) but still felt a bit off in the stomach, so elected to do a long bushwalk instead. Wasn't unhappy with this course of action, as my hill walking was way off at 6FT and the likes of Phibes and Max Bogenhuber advocate walking as part of a 100 mile training program.

So I walked Glenbrook- Duckhole- St Helena- Lost World Lookout- Bunyans Lookout- Martins Lookout- Valley Heights- Sun Valley- Warrimoo in around 6 hours. Tried to plot it in Gmaps but not all the trails are marked or visible on satellite, so it wouldn't be accurate. Basically a tour of old, overgrown fire trails in the lower mountains, with some sublimeviews from Lost World and Bunyans, excellent stuff.

Relatively cool day, gave the new Roman Hinchinbrook pack a test.

Lower legs and glutes stiff tonight. Decent training effect I think.

Covering off Post 6FT Recovery Week...

Easy 8K runs Thursday and Friday.

Did 12K Saturday morning but had some sort of food poisoningg- was originally going to do 25 but was wasted and cut it short.

48K for the week.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Recovery Begins...

... two easy 8K runs on Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Quads quite sore at the start of Monday's run; just a bit stiff on Tuesday. Felt mechanically good, my heartrate and breathing were a little elevated though.

Ewen, I still definitely hover around the 88-90kg mark. The lightest I recall being in my adult life was around 86kg in late 2003, when I set my still-standing 100 mile PB.

If I piece together my best splits for different sections of the 6FT (start- Pluvi 2.48 in 2005, Pluvi- Deviation 48min in 2002, Deviation- end 58 in 2007) that makes a 4.34 Six Foot Track... doable in 2008...?

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Finish Line Photo...


... courtesy of UCB...

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Six Foot Track 2007.

Another year where I never felt good but somehow produced a performance I was quite happy with and met my goals, a satisfying tenth Six Foot Track.

Overview of recent years....

2002- 4.50 (PB, stoked)
2003- 5.44 (flu)
2004- 5.06 (cramped on Insult Hill)
2005- 4.51 (so close)
2006- 5.41 (glandular fever)

Recent training had been hot and cold- some good weeks and long runs, but also some weeks where work got in the way and I did bugger all. With this sporadic base, I aimed for a sub 5 hour finish. 4.59.59 would have been fine by me.

On race morning I got a lift to the start with regular training partner Shogun, who was making his debut but is a strong bugger and I was certain would do well.

I had a good start- there were the usual elbows and jostling as people rushed to beat the logjam on the stairs- I found myself descending with Spud and Sub50 right behind me. We hit the Nellies Glen sign in 12.18 (about eual to my best) and at around this point the Garmin completely died. From here on I pretty much relied on getting the time from runners around me.

Spud and Sub50 went on ahead just after the stairs and I cruised on more or less by myself for a few Ks before others began to come by- fast runners from later waves or people freed from the queue of the stairs. Coaster and Shogun went by just before Megalong Rd crossing, which i reached in 44 minutes- I suspect a PB for myself.

The run down to the river went well- I was with John Van Yzendoorn pretty much all the way and we reached there in 1.25, spot on target for a 4.50 or so. However, once I started walking up Mini Mini, everyone started going past (including John) as I really battled to get any sort of pace or strength going on the big ups.

I reached Alum Creek aid station in 2.17, with 2.08- 2.10 being the bracket for a 4.50. I'd lost 90 seconds a kilometre on that hill and started contemplating 5.20 or worse as a final finishing time. Going up Pluvi I felt no better but only lost another minute or two against the splits, reaching the top in 2.59 and there still being some sort of chance for a sub 5, although it felt marginal at the time.

For the first kilometre or so along Black Range I felt fairly rotten and barely ran at all, but then tried jogging up some of the inclines and surprisingly felt fairly good. I began setting myself small goals of reeling in a particular runner or running to a particular landmark without walking. By the time I emerged into the Pine Forest and approached Deviation I started to wonder if sub 5 was still on- I figured I had to be a couple of minutes under 4.00 at Deviation for this to be possible.

3.58 was the split at Deviation and from here I used my 90kg weight to full effect on every downhill, charging along the slope at full speed, then really slogging the uphills with no real "oomph" at all. By now I was starting to pass a few people who had left me behind on the big hills and we had a loose "sub 5" bus happening, including Brian from Bathurst and Shelley from Striders.

Just before Binda Cabins I passed SoLucky and also caught John again; I asked him the time, did some quick maths and ran away from him muttering about missing the target and doing 5.01.

Into the last 3K I still figured I was a minute or two too slow and would just miss the sub 5, but once the big downhill started I put all my weight into it and flew down, passing Hamburglar, Coaster and a few others. Hit the paved path and passed Uncle Dave and Amjan, then Moh, and right on the steps at the end, passed Blue Dog (complete surprise) and, with a fist pump, sprinted under the banner in 4.56.40.

Target attained!

From Pluvi to the end took me 1.57- when I ran 4.50 the split was 1.59 and when I did 4.51 the split was 2.03.

I washed off in the lake and Shogun (4.43 on debut!) and I thumbed a lift back to Katoomba to collect the car, then back home.

Some very good runs on the day from Fats, MPH, Spud and others. Not sure what to make of my own run, still feels odd to meet your goal but feel so lousy in the process of doing so.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Easy 4K.

Last run before 6FT- I was going to circle the grass of Warrimoo Oval for 20 minutes, but recent rain left the surface a quagmire. Instead I parked at the bottom of Rickard Road and ran on the firetrail out to "Finch Lookout", where I ran with my broken toe a few weeks ago and saw a finch washing in a puddle. Out to the lookout and back was pretty much spot on 4K in a bit under 22 minutes.

Felt a little tired but okay. Bring it on. Six Foot Track number ten.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

37K Cycle.

Wanted a low impact aerobic workout today, so cycled from home to Springwood and along Hawkesbury Rd to Hawkesbury Heights, then return to Springwood and finish at Warrimoo to pick up the car. 37K in 92 minutes, 25km/h.

Fairly hilly- climbs from 200m at the start to 399m at the top of Golf Course Hill on Hawkesbury Rd, then down to 260m at the turnaround. Not big hills, just rolls a lot.

Short run tomorrow, then the big dance on Saturday.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Starting to Think About the Big Dance....

FRIDAY 2/3- 8.25K run to work, moving well.

SUNDAY 4/3- hilly 10K loop (mix of dirt and bitumen) from work down Long Angle Trail, to Sun Valley, then up the formidable hill of Sun Valley Rd and back to work. Map here.

This part of Long Angle is good for running- soft earth underfoot, very pleasant.

Weekly Total= A big 33K. Plus 72K of riding.

MONDAY 5/3- My 5K Lucasville loop. Felt tired, battled a bit on the hills.

WEDNESDAY 7/3- 19K with Shogun, easy over our Mt Portal course with a deviation down to Euroka and back for extra vertical. Walked the big hills- partly as practice for 6FT, partly because we were buggered. When we finished I got the road bike out and trundled to Springwood and back- about 18K.

Not long till 6FT now.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

55K Cycle.

Shogun has started riding to and from his digs at Warrimoo to his work down near Liverpool a few times a week. Arranged to meet him at the top of Mitchells Pass this morning so I could tag along on the ride for part of the way.

However, in the pre dawn darkness at 5.50am, an impenetrable fog had descended, so much that I was creeping along to Mitchells at such a slow rate that I figured he must surely have left without me.

No... there he was. We descended down Mitchells, onto Russell St, and then onto the M4 with the visibility improving gradually.

I neglected to start my Garmin until I began the return trip, but on the way out I was able to keep up with Shogun no problems- but crossing the on and off ramps of the motorway gave me the heebie-jeebies. A bit bloody hard to glance over your shoulder and distinguish between cars going straight ahead and cars turning left onto the ramp, especially as most don't indicate...

I turned around and left Shogun at Wallgrove Rd, not long after turning onto the M7, and began the return trip, which was a shorter route. We didn't go down Lapstone Hill as, eastbound, there is no verge most of the way- hence we used Mitchells Pass instead. The westbound verge of Lapstone Hill is better though, and shorter.

On the way back my neck, wrists and arse really started to ache, to the point where I WELCOMED the arrival of an off ramp as it gave me a chance to stop for traffic and have a stretch....

Had to walk the bike part of the way up Lapstone Hill- my quads just aren't adapted to road bike gearing yet. Averaged a tick over 30km/h for the 21K stretch from Wallgrove Rd to Russell St though, according to Mr Garmin.

Got home just after 8am with 55K of riding in the legs. Legs felt fine, wrists and neck still sore some hours later.

Route is here.