Sarah Jamieson Brekkie inspires 5km Ladder I

Saturday 24th March 2007; Ran 5km ladder @ Noranda in 20min 04.
Average speed 4min 00.83 per km. Heart rates; 174-195.

My first reps session for 9 months, didnt realise it was that long!

Gee the time has rushed by. Pretty happy with my effort considering its been so long since I have done any high intensity sessions. Was about just over a minute slower than what I did on 28th March 2006 for the same session, which reflects my loss of speed and to a lesser extent fitness. See the following link to my post about this session in March 2006;
http://runmara2005blog.blogspot.com/2006/03/5km-ladder-ii-breaks-through.html

I reduced the rest times slightly this time for the longer reps, so it was a slightly tougher session from a recovery point of view, with a total of 2 minutes less recovery time at 40 minutes of recovery instead of the 42 minutes I had on 28th March 2006. While I have never been a big fan of reducing recovery time in reps, (Ive read about Jane Saville ?doing 3km reps and progressively reducing her recovery time over several weeks of doing the same session), on this occasion I decided to go with a slightly reduced recovery time. I'd rather increase distances and target times than reduce recovery time. My objective is to get faster and fitter not see how close to throwing up or passing out I can get, although my last rep got me to a HR of 195 which is a tad high especially at my age of 33. Well outside the Karvonen Max for heart rates which for me now which I think would be 187.

Was several seconds slower in my 200m reps so that shows my loss of speed. Managed to nail one of the 600m reps in 2.18, which was 1 second better than what I did 28th March 2006, so I think maybe that shows if I can get a good regime going I should start to enter PB territory soon in the fitness department, even though I struggled in the second half of the session a lot. Probably also its just that I am not used to running 24 and 25 second hundreds, as most of my running and cycling in recent times , has been a lot slower, so once the brain/body gets used to that again I should go significantly better. All those things considered, not that far adrift of where I was and where I want to be, so thats pleasing. Decided not to do the boring 4x1km reps I normally do as a first up reps session, as I wanted something a bit more challenging, as I want rapid improvement, want to get into a more attacking frame of mind about my training and racing this year. Want to try and get back to the sort of attitude that I had when I set state 10km walk records.

I have been meaning to do some reps for a long time, but I can't do 'em well unless (1) I am in the right attacking frame of mind, (2) I have an open-ended timeslot of 1-2 hours, (3) feel fit enough to cope with the physical demands, (4) the weather conditions are reasonably conducive (45 degree heat doesn't work too well, and neither does pitch darkness either, both of which we seem to have had a lot of lately due to daylight saving and global warming?/unusually hot/bad weather. Strong winds doesnt work too well either.)
,(5)needed access to a track that was close enough to home and is well enough marked to do 'em on, and (6) need to be motivated enough.
In recent months with getting married and adjusting to my new job both occurring in October 2006, and money being very tight, its been very hard to get all these 6 factors right, so I guess thats why I haven't done any reps for so long.

Meter reading this week only did 29 hours again, but been very busy with various things outside work plus had to drive up to far north of Perth metro for 3 of 'em.
Ridgewood was a tough total mess of a round,too many new places. Still working significantly harder and faster, so i think maybe the 22km run and the Red baron ride in the Freeway Bikehike, swim session, have helped me find a better level at work which is cool! Thanks God.

On Friday morning before work in Kinross!, I put on the very nice Puma watch that my brother Tim and his American wife Jen gave me for Christmas, and went to the Sarah Jamieson Breakfast organised by Perth triathlete Kelly Exeter See;
http://www.newyork.swishdesign.com.au./events.htm#sarah
http://www.sarahjamieson.com
Kelly hopes to run sub 3 hours in the New York Marathon this year. She has already done 3.17 in the Sydney Marathon which was her first marathon I think she said.
Really enjoyed chatting with people at my table, plus I had the honour of being at the same table as Sarah Jamieson. Alright she was at the other end next to Stinger, and I probably got ther cos everyone else was too scared to sit there, but hey it was cool! I could hear some of what she was saying. For anyone who doesnt know she is/was ranked 5th in the world for the 1500m in 2006, and recently broke the Australian record which is now 4min.00 in Stockholm, Sweden, and she has won 4 nationals, and got pipped on the line at the Brisbane nationals this month, but plans to really peak for the European season later this year, which is the one that matters at international level. Her goal is to be the first Australian woman to break 4min for the 1500m. She is arguably one of the best Australians track and field athletes in the world right now, in the same league as people like Mottram Saville, and Deakes. My wife and I got to watch her take a silver medal in the 1500m and later run a creditable 5th in the 5000m (her first attempt at that event internationally I think) from the stands of the MCG, at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games last year. Her story is an inspiring one which is why i went as I was very keen to hear her talk about how she got to that level. I remember her from one of the state teams I was on as a racewalker in the early 1990's I think when she was racing for WA then. At the breakfast which was at a very nice venue (good choice by Kelly!), I learnt a bit more about her road to international stardom. She decided like many other smart WA athletes, after a discussion with other athletes in a cafe in Subiaco, that one of the best ways to succeed at international level was to move to a location where access to better training groups and competition than you can get in WA would be available. Its a move I thought about doing many times in the 90's when I was racing Nationals as a racewalker. I was never keen to take the financial risk though, especially with my limited resources in that department, plus it would mean leaving behind support of family and friends. One of my training group in Graham Watt did do it and enjoyed improvement in his 20km time and became a centurion as a result, both of which he was unlikely to do if he stayed in WA. John Steffensons current rise as a 400m runner has a lot to do with his move to train and race in USA. There are many examples of the wisdom of this. But I digress.
Sarah also had significant leg injury problems, and had surgery at least 5 times to try and fix these things. She said that many told her to retire and accept that her time as an athlete was over, but she dared to hold onto her dream of representing Australia, had the surgery, struggled financially, spent time in a wheelchair and after many difficult years finally broke through I think she said in 1998. It must have been a long hard journey as I remember her as a very good state rep for WA around 1989-1993, the same time as I went to a lot of Nationals as a racewalker.

To be a force at international level she trains twice a day for about 49 weeks a year, and has Physiotherapy once a week. She runs around 140km a week which is typical of top level runners, and trains with about 15 blokes, some of which are her training partners for the year. In Melbourne she was able to find the right sort of training group after learning the right stuff as Lyn Foremans first athlete in the early 1990's in WA. Her fiancee supports her financially in her quest as an international runner and she seemed to be saying that she owes him a lot!
Like Mottram, Deakes,Saville, Cathy Freeman, and many others she spends a significant part of her year based in the UK in order to train and race on the highly competitive European track and field Circuit.

After the breakfast I managed to get Sarahs autograph and chat briefly with her, just as I did on the plane on the way back from Nationals in the early 90's I think. It was an incredible morning, reminded me of team meetings with the state team back in the early 90's. It was very hard to leave there and then drive off to work in Kinross, as it felt like leaving a very special morning behind. However I knew If I didn't get away quick I would be tempted to linger too long and jeopoardise my chances of getting my work done for the day. So got out quick and headed to the hills of Kinross for 5 hours of meter reading.
It was an inspiring morning for me, and just the kick up the backside/emotional spur I needed to get out on the track tonight and make the most of perfect conditions to do the 5km ladder. There was even floodlights on at the track which made the last two reps easier as it started to get dark about 7.30pm.
Hope to use this ladder session as a springboard towards a serious attack on my PB's this year God willing, but we shall see if that eventuates or not in the adventure and gift of life that God has given me. Will also be following results of Sarah, Kelly, Lauren, and Stephen "Stinger" (800m finalist at nationals a few years back) who were all at this Breakfast and at the same table as me, as the years unfold....

This is also week 1 of my 16 week plan for the Perth Marathon in July 2007, this weeks data is as follows;

WEEK 1 (19/03/07-25/03/07);

Volume;90min + 29hrs MR. Sessions; 2 +MR Best RHR;48 bpm Sleep; 46hrs *59

OD/LSD sessions; NIL

Races/Time trials;NIL

Reps sessions;5km Ladder 20min 04.

Comments;
Well I finally managed to get a reps session on the board inspired by the Sarah Jamieson Brekkie I went to the day before...Other than that my endurance held together only by my 29 hours of meter reading work this week. No other training.Resting Heart rate is under 50 so that is a good starting point, and sleep is ok at 46 hours or just over 6.5 hours per night. Have a long way to go if I am to get anywhere near PB's and so on from here...But the 22km run in the hills and Freeway Bikehike 30km both this month (March) plus some other long rides have ensured I am not relying soley on my work for endurance base springboard in 2007.