Sunday 27 September 2009

20/9/09 - 27/9/09: Weekly Summary

4 runs - 12.6 miles
- 2 easy runs
- 1 speed session
- 1 hill session

Plus one swim

Good week after half marathon last week.

Shoes - 189 miles

27/9/09: 4M @ 9m45 (39 mins)

Up early(ish) today for run as had lunch plans with a friend.

Good to be out and about before 10am, decided to go up to Military Road via Ben Boyd Road. Could have run further but as this is hilly route, and as this was post-race recovery week, decided best not to push it too much. Also thought useful to do as a benchmark time.

Out in 21 mins, back in 18 - reflection of the hills!

Strong wind which was pretty refreshing - was warm when the wind wasn't blowing.

Friday 25 September 2009

25/9/09: 3M Speed Session

1M warm up @ 10 min / mile ave
400M fast, walking recovery for ~ 1 min - twice
300M fast, walking recovery for ~ 1 min - twice
3/4M steady / cool down @ 10 min / mile ave

Total = 3 miles in 28m50s

Re-read speed training tips in my running book recently and realised I'd been overdoing it in my speed sessions over last month or two. Normally I 'recover' by jogging, but that inevitably means I get slower and slower with every fast bit. Basically I haven't been letting my body recover enough. So today I walked between sprints and it made a big difference - I felt I was just as strong by the end as at the beginning, and felt like I was building speed instead of just draining myself.

Went after work (Friday) which meant I felt nice and virtuous in the pub later!

Thursday 24 September 2009

24/9/09: 3.2 M @ 9m45s (31 mins)

Easyish run, still a little bit stiff after weekend's race. Over bridge and back. Couldn't really be bothered and almost talked myself out of going, but glad to have done it (as always!)

Stretched a bit after my shower, but really, really need to start doing longer sessions

Tuesday 22 September 2009

22/09/09: 2.4M @ 10 min (24 mins)

Although my legs were still pretty stiff today, I thought I'd try a gentle run. Took it very easy and only did a few miles, but good to get the legs moving again and although a bit sore to begin with, once I was warmed up, I felt fine.

Was p'ing with rain for the whole time, but after a hot day today, it was lovely to run in that.

Must stretch more...

21/09/09: Swim

30 lengths x 17m (510m) swim today. Took it quite easy.

Good to get muscles into water after half marathon - very sore and tight today but swim helped to ease off a bit

14/9/09 - 20/9/09: Weekly Summary

3.3 M plus Half Marathon (16.4 total)
Plus 1 swim

Shoes - 178 miles

Saturday 19 September 2009

20/9/09: Sydney Half Marathon, 1h49m22s


Up at 6am (yuck) for half marathon, thankfully the start line is only 5 mins from the flat! Didn't get as much sleep last night as I'd have liked (less than 6 hours) and only managed to grab a slice of melon & some water for breakfast, so not as well fuelled as I'd normally like to be before running 13 miles!

Still, the pale early morning sun gave the harbour a beautiful calm and pearly sheen and as I had Muse's new album on my iPod ready for a first listen, I was quite looking forward to the race.

Started ok as we headed over the harbour bridge and into the city. Felt I was going a little too quickly so tried to pull back a bit as the km's passed by. Despite the early start, it was still a warm morning and so I took advantage of every water station, taking on lots of water, sports drink when it was offered and a few cups of water over my head to keep me cool. Got to the 1/3 stage at 7km quite comfortably but the middle stretch was a bit less enjoyable. Started to feel hungry and slightly weak and my old left pelvis-hip injury started to twinge a bit at around 11km, which had me feeling like it was going to be a long run-in.

Thankfully the second half of the course is more downhill than up - not that there were any horror hills anywhere, but still, every little helps. Got to the 2/3 mark at 14km feeling like I was through the hardest bit, the pain in my left leg had eased off a little and I was just about managing to stay on track for my target time of 1h50m.

By the time the last 3 or 4kms came round, I was feeling pretty good and as the course reached its final few kms weaving round the harbour foreshore, I started to put my foot down a little bit, getting to the finish line in 1.49.22 - very pleased with that, especially as at 11km I'd pretty much told myself to forget my time goal!

A special thanks to the Muse boys for both the new album (first two listens = thumbs up) but also for old classic Plug In Baby which gave me a real energy boost at the end!

All in all, not the most comfortable race I've ever done and I think a few more long runs in training and more strength / core training sessions would have helped, especially with the pelvic injury - my whole left leg is hurting quite badly now! But still, not bad to come in 429th of 2811 female racers!

Splits:

1km: 5m46
2km: 4m58
3km: 4m43
4km: 5m09
5km: 5m19
6km: 5m00
7km: 5m24
8km: 5m16
9km: 6m13
10km: 4m59
11km: 5m06
12km: 6m09
13km: 5m00
14km: 5m20
15km: 5m02
16km: 5m03
17km: 5m17
18km: 5m00
19km: 4m48
20km: 4m27
21km: 4m57
0.1km: 0m19s

Average pace per km: 5m12s (= 8m25s per mile)

18/09/09: Swim

45 lengths @ 18m lengths

Enjoyable Friday afternoon swim after busy week at work and before heading to the pub for cocktails!

16/9/09: 3.3M @ 9min/mile (30 mins)

Hot day today, and still v warm / humid when went out this evening. Tried to take it fairly easy as just a holding run before half marathon on Sunday.

Monday 14 September 2009

7/9/09 - 13/9/09: Weekly Summary

13.25 miles inc last long run before half marathon
Plus one gym & swim session

Muscles feeling a bit sore, esp lower back and bum - need to do more stretching & strengthening.

Shoes - 161 miles

Saturday 12 September 2009

12/09/09: 9.25M @ 9m45s (90mins)

Only mad dogs, Englishmen and runners who need to get a long run done go out in heat like today. Must have been close to 30 degrees and I had to do my run in the middle of the day. Not pleasant.

First half was ok, but by the end I was seriously struggling and desperate to finish!

Still, it's done now and I can rest up a bit before next week's Sydney half marathon

Friday 11 September 2009

9/9/09: Gym & swim

No run this time as wanted to do a bit more weights and want to save legs for a long run at the weekend.

20 mins in the gym, mostly upper body, then 15 mins swimming. Enjoyed the swim, very relaxing and I can feel my form getting a lot better now that I'm swimming regularly again.

Tuesday 8 September 2009

8/9/09: 4M @ 8m20s (33m20)

Didn't mean to go quite so quickly on this run, in fact was quite surprised to get to my turn point at entrance to Botanics in 16min20. Took it a bit easier on return split (17 min) but it was still fast.

Needed a good stretch afterwards. Good feeling now!

Sunday 6 September 2009

31/8/09 - 6/9/09: Summary

12.75 miles including long run
1 gym / swim session

Less than planned but not bad given amount of travelling done this week. Would have done another run when in Melbourne but forgot to take my running vest! Irritating as I'd dragged my shoes and so on with me.

Shoes - 148 miles

2 weeks to go till Sydney Half M

6/9/09: 7.75 miles @ 9m40s (74 mins)

Long overdue long run!

Harbour Bridge - Botanics - Kings Cross & back. Weather good - cool breeze - ran just before sunset - beautiful views especially of sunset on way back over bridge. Run was fine - took it v easy and kept steady pace. Bit of lower back / glute stiffness now, tried to stretch it out, but think just because of lack of running this week / lack of recent long runs.

2/9/09: Run / gym / swim

15 mins run, 5 mins warm up, 6 mins sprint intervals, 4 mins warm down, 2.6km total
10 mins upper body / core exercises
40 lengths @ pool - 680m - 20mins or so

Tuesday 1 September 2009

31/8/09: 3.5M @ 8m30s (35mins)

Neutral Bay Hills and back, really tough run, had to drag myself out the door in the first place as LONG day at work and really just wanted to collapse in a heap on the couch. Ran faster than I meant to but that seems to happen when I'm in need of destressing from work!

Glad to have done it, especially after skipping long run yesterday. Also know this week is going to be tricky to fit things in as got lots of travel on, so good to get at least one run under the belt!