21km Run Attack

Saturday 27/5/06; Ran 21km in 1hr 59.26 HR-165. Tough...got a bit dehydrated and a little overheated as I only had one gatorade...Great to get this long fast distance type timetrialish session done. A toughy but a goodie...Used the 10.5km course which I ran last Sunday. Did 2 laps; 55.44/64.42 splits
Saturday 27/5/06 PM; 37min brisk walk from Lookout to railway tracks and back with my fiancee KL at Whiteman Park...

Sunday 28/5/06 Ran 3km in 17min51...a night run...exploring new course...

Run attack back!

Wednesday 24/5/06 Ran 2x2000m reps @ Gerry Archer with 7 minute rests in 8.22 (HR-180) and 8.48 (HR-186) after work. Splits; 4.01/4.21 and 4.16/4.32. Just easing back into reps as I have not done any since March...Been very busy settling into my new job and have had no access to the net, but that will hopefully improve in the next week or two. Achilles problem does not seem to have gone away properly, but it has improved a lot, and I really want the 2006 Perth Marathon, even if I fail on the sub 3.30 target (which I have not given up on), I still really want to do this race, and Freo Half Marathon. So plan to try and nurse achilles through these two, and then maybe take a much longer break from running.....if it does not clear up totally...thats worst case scenario...I hope...

Sunday 21/5/06 Ran 10.5km 66min 23 HR 132 Enjoyed a relaxed cruisy run mostly alongside Reid Hwy and on my Thorburn Park loop.
Saturday 20/5/06 Ran 10.25km in 52min 02. HR-180
Run attack on the Thorburn Park loop course, and golf course route. Split for first 1.75km was 7min 45.

Calf Raises n reffing

Tuesday 16/5/06; Calf Raises 4x30

Thursday 17/5/06; Calf Raises 3x30 Reffed 3 basketball games a lot of running.. Achilles a little tender afterwards but not two bad...don't think its 100% right yet but it has improved...Also walked up 4 flights of stairs pretty fast at work. Been real busy with adjusting to new job this week.

Week 4 Summary

WEEK 4 (8/05/06-14/05/06);

Volume;601min Sessions; 7 Best RHR;49 Sleep;48 *64
OD/LSD/LFD sessions; Cycled 48.5km (OD), Cycled 25.75km (LFD) Cycled 19km (LSD) Ran 10.25km (LSD)
Races/Time trials;Cycled 13.5km 42min.44
Reps sessions;NIL
Comments; A successful week, and volumewise my 2nd best week for 2006 so far. Great to crack the 10 hour mark. Two good high intensity rides also. Very happy with this week. Only thing I need now is reps, races, and lots more running. Hopefully I can keep the injuries at bay, improve the finances, and start making good progress towards my targets in the coming weeks...

19km Cycle ends in a puncture

Sunday 14/5/06; Cycled 19km in 67min 32 HR 147. A good solid ride. Headwind along West Swan Rd on the way out and tailwind on the way back resulted in a big negative split; 36.04/31.28. Did not really attack much but did not take it too easy either...A good ride to finish this week with.

Unfortunately one of those blasted thorns somehow managed to pierce my supposedly thornproof front tyre near the end, and in the last 2 minutes of the ride my front tyre was flat and I had some interesting moments riding at speed around corners with a flat tyre...NOT good timing as I do not have much available resources to fix it. Hopefully I can start doing some run sessions instead...

Testing 1..2..3 Ran 10.25km

Saturday 13/5/06 Ran 10.25km 59min 56 HR 162. First run for over a month...Got through this "fitness test" ok so far...Worked into it, got faster as I went. First 3.5km was 19.29 (9.12/10.17). Splits for the last 6.75km were 20.44/19.43...Did Thorburn park, and then my longer Golf course route No achilles problems while I was running and only very minor knee soreness...Right knee was rather stiff before hand but no problems after a good stretch and iced it afterwards...

My original target race of Bunbury Half Marathon looks like it won't happen. Mainly finance issues. However as long as I pull up ok from this and keep going well, and my new job is a success, the Albany Half Marathon or the Freo Half Marathon are my most likely next races...

PM; Calf Raises XI 4x30...hopefully will keep my achilles from flaring up again.

Whiteman Park ATTACK I

Wednesday 10/5/06 Cycled 25.75km in 80min 25 Heart Rate -162. (3min 07 per km on average.) RPE; 8 Took 1minute drink stops at 36min 23 and about 61minutes. Worked into this one really well, enjoyed the cool morning air, and was flying along with the slight easterly tailwind for much of it. Saw the large number of Kangaroos just north of the Margaret River Chocolate factory on West Swan Rd again...Was 9 minutes faster than my ride on this course on Monday...Tried and succeeded in avoiding overstressing the right knee, but still kept the intensity very high...

PM; 4x30 Calf Raises My tenth calf raises session.

Thursday 11/5/06; Reffed 2 basketball games, achilles seems to be almost good to go now. Pretty keen to try running a little in the next few days. Right knee is probably more of a concern at the moment...

Reid Hwy Attack I

Tuesday 9/5/06; Cycled 13.5km in 42min 44 HR 159 Splits; 21.25/21.19. Great negative split attack on this picturesque course that goes through some of the semi-rural Swan valley type areas...Benara Rd, West Swan Rd, turn at Reid Hwy. Really enjoyed this one, and no ill effects from previous day.

PM; Reffed a basketball game. Felt good...

Writing in PURPLE this week cos I'm really stoked about FREO winning the western derby last weekend! FREO way to go, hit em real hard take em down below give em the old heave ho Dock Dock DOCKERS! FREOOOOOO.
Also have been offered some new jobs with some lucrative packages on offer. If it all works out my finance issues should be sorted and back on track by June/July....Thanks GOD!...so nervous but looking forward to the new challenges....:-)

Exploding into a new week

Monday 8/5/06; Cycled 48.5km. Took 3hours 49min. HR 132.

My time included about 20-30minutes of drinks and checking my Bike maps, (which I got from Bikeforce and is produced by the Department for Planning and Infrastructure as part of the Perth Bicycle Network see www.dpi.wa.gov.au/cycling/1518.asp#bikemaps) plus I took it pretty easy and was exploring different routes a lot in the second part of the ride...Went hard for the first 26km or so on my Whiteman Park course which I completed in 89minutes which is about 10 minutes faster than last time I did this course. However I checked my map and then set out on some exploration of different ways to ride to the Swan River from where I was. Eventually got there and followed the River up past the Garratt Rd Bridge before turning back. Had to stop and check my bikepaths map a few times...The swampy area near Garratt Rd bridge is yuck...I remember running through there in 2002 on a lunch break from work once...I think its even more of a toxic waste dump now....A rather cruisy ride, but I really enjoyed going through Whiteman park again and finding out what the best ways to get to the Swan River is...Next time I will know where I am going and be a lot faster, if I go that way again...My longest time on the bike this year...and very important to get a longer ride done again...

Week 3 Summary

WEEK 3 (01/05/06-07/05/06);Volume;224min. Sessions;4 Best RHR;48 Sleep;46.25 *53 OD/LSD/LFD sessions;Reffed 3 games of basketball in a row (2hours worth)... Races/Time trials;Cycled 14.5km in 52min30 HR 150. Reps sessions;NIL
Comments; A mess of a week. Too busy with trying to land a good new job. Went well with that, but training fell by the wayside a bit...just too many unpredictable things happening to get my 3 hour+ ride in. However with what I have done the last 2 weeks, I am still hanging in there...Need to bounce back with a better training week next week. The achilles seems to be settling a lot, although I had some very bad right knee soreness since basketball reffing on Thursday night. Hopefully ice, rest and being very careful will allow me to avoid letting these injuries become significant obstacles...Still looking good... Great that Freo won the derby! WUHOO!

NightRider...

Saturday 6/5/06 Cycled 14.5k in 52min 30. Heart Rate-150.

Used my Reid Hwy course, but took a few wrong turns in the darkness on the way back. Its really easy at night to get navigation wrong all the suburban streets look the same...Pretty happy with that ride.

Sunday 7/5/06 A quick nite walk with my fiancee KL around the lake.

Calf Raises VIII & Basketball reffing

Thursday 4/5/06; Did 4x30 Calf Raises. Just keeping things ticking over...
PM; Refereed 3 games of basketball and managed to avoid any really hard running or push-offs on the injured achilles. Enjoyed reffing tonight. I think the achilles is improving a lot, and if I can keep the calf raises going I will try a test run soon, as I need to start doing long runs very soon, and also get some faster running going again hopefully by late May or early June. I'm running out of time (pun intended), but I think with the rides I have done in the last two weeks, and the training background I am coming from in recent months,years, my marathon plans for July 2006 are still very much intact if I can beat this achilles issue...Onward...

Ab crunches V for 2006

Wednesday 3/5/06; 200 Ab crunches. Trying to get this going again, 2 months since I did this last on 5th March. Only my 5th Ab crunches session for 2006 after just over 4 months, need to do a lot better with this!....

New week, new month...

Monday 01/05/06; Cycled 10.5km in 34.57 HR-132 (Splits-17.44/17.13) to Bassendean train station and back which is just over 2 minutes faster than what I did on this course on 15/4/06. Felt pretty relaxed physically. Was pretty happy with a relatively relaxed ride I really needed.

Was stressing out mentally a bit trying to figure out what to do about transport options today. Had silly idea of riding into city or to Gozzy (via the train), but that would have been way too time consuming, and I am glad I didn't, because it was a very tight schedule of a day, getting petrol and getting to a job interview which was very promising. I think I may have landed a new position. If so could be that the finances improve to a more realistic fully operational state by mid June. I really hope so, cos its getting all a bit too hard...Thanks God if so. Enjoyed the interview process as it sharpened me mentally a little which is good. need to get a few things on the employment front sorted in the first few days this week before I go after the training again. KL was sick again today, so that also complicated things further. However off to an ok start to the week in many ways despite the challenges.

Week 2 Summary, Quick ride & Calf Raises VII

WEEK 2 (24/04/06-30/04/06);

Volume;369min. Sessions; 5 Best RHR;49 Sleep;52 *57
OD/LSD/LFD sessions; Cycled 52.75km.
Races/Time trials;Cycled 14.5km 43.50
Reps sessions;NIL

Comments;
A better week. Improved volume significantly, and got a faster, higher intensity ride done. Long ride was slightly further in distance, but less in time. Have got calf raises program on track. Got through basketball reffing unscathed, so very pleased to have consolidated things a little this week. Aiming to ease back into running by the end of next week if all goes well, and hopefully continue progression based on the foundation of these first two weeks...A minimal but ok start to my Perth Marathon 2006 program.

Sunday 30/4/06 Cycled 6.25km 18.46 HR 150 Splits 9.08/9.38 Using the shorter version of the Altone Golf course route...Good mid range intensity, without going flat out...Was very busy doing various things with KL, but just managed to find time for this one.

Also did 4x30 Calf Raises this day to keep the achilles injury issues under control. I think I am ready to start easing back into running again soon. However I need to keep this calf raises program going, and ease back into the running very gradually, plus ice it to avoid inflammation.

Early evening ride...

Saturday 29/4/06; Cycled 10km 30.14.87 HR 144. Splits 15.02/15.12. Solid ride. Was feeling stressed out mentally, and had headache, but felt a bit better after this ride... Did 2 laps of the course me and KL walked last weekend.