Eye of the tiger stalks a 16km run in 84min and Cruisy 16k ride on MTB

Sunday 17th June PM; Ran about 16km in 84min 24 secs
Heart Rate; 165. (5min 16 per km average speed)
5.4km Splits; 26min.44/ 28min.38/ 29min.02. A time-trial session (not a slow (LSD or OD) long run and too short to be an LFD run).


Did a downhill/uphill out and back course from near Swan Rd (corner of Morrison Rd and Pechey Rd) to Balfour Rd (incorrectly signposted on the trail as Innamincka Rd) and back along the Railway Heritage Trail, which is a gravel walking track where the old railway went many decades ago. The spot where I started near Swan Rd still has a well preserved remains of "Swanview Station". Railway Tunnel is on other side of Morrison Rd. Unsure of the exact distance but after checking distances on the signposts I've decided to go with about 2.7km per section which makes it about 5.4km per lap and about 16.2km. Initially I thought from old measurements I had done on the map that it was 2.5km (5km), and therefore thought I had run 15km, but for now I think it was 16km. Might have to take the mountainbike up there and see what the cycle computer says....

As this weekend went on I realised my plans of doing a 32km long run, a 16km timetrial and a reps session were not going to happen, and the best I could do was to decide which were the most important sessions, and how much time I had to do them, and how I felt mentally and physically in taking them on. In the end I decided the timetrial was the one I most wanted to do this week. Better one good session this weekend than none. Figured the 32km was going to take too much continous time out of my day, and that I wasn't ready physically and mentally for reps today.

So instead of having a shower after my ride, I had a bit to eat, said goodbye to my wife as she went off to her "girls day out" stuff, and then decided to head up to the trails to Pechey Rd where the beautiful bush meets the trails. Put the heavy inserts in my shoes, and they were not too bad, maybe I should have run with them in the Freo Half...

I tried to get some lighter shoe sole inserts at Jim Kidds yesterday but the cheapest was $40, and that is half the price of a new shoe, so unless I can get some cheap from Kmart or something, I'm going to have to persist with the heavy sole inserts until I buy some new shoes, hopefully in 2 weeks when I get paid again...Cos I'll need to wear 'em in a little before the Perth Marathon in 3 weeks.

Going to Swan Rd brought back a few memories of good times Ive had in this location in the past, as I ran down the trail with powerade stashed at the start for use on lap 2. Beautiful views of the city down below the scarp in the distance, I guess thats why they call it Swanview. Downhill for the first 2.5 to 2.7km and I made it to Balfour/Innamincka Rd in 11min 49, which was the 3rd road I came to. A few walkers, mountainbikers, dogs, but pretty peaceful run most of the way, and a little softer than running on bitumen. Found it hard to go under 15 minutes on the uphill leg, and wasted a bit of time drinking and carrying powerade on the second lap, and it got rather hard as I expected on the 3rd lap, with a sub 14min for the downhill the best I could muster. Felt a bit sore afterwards, so I know I got the fast K's into the legs that I missed out on getting at the Freo Half (due to the blisters)...

If I can nail two more of these sort of runs I'll be a lot happier going into the Marathon. If I can get some reps done, I'll be able to run these sort of time trial runs much quicker. Ideally I'll be aiming to try and run around the 4.45-5.15 per km pace for a large part of the Marathon (42.2km) in 3 weeks time, which I need to!!, in order to nail that 3.29 to 3.49.

So a very satisfying session, which I hope keep things on track, and makes this week a half successful week instead of a pathetic week.

Sunday 17th June AM; Cycled 16km in 52min 47 on mountainbike Heart rate 141.
Splits; 26.55/25.52. 2 laps of Thorburn avenue,Lord St,Cuttler,Small,etc course...

Just trying to get into a better frame of mind mentally for the day. Not really going after anything substantial, been busy at home this weekend, with the wife 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow, its all go,go,go at the moment....Plus had a reasonably full-on week at work as usual, with not much sleep and 36.5 hours of meter reading this week, so needed a bit of r and r (rest and recovery) this weekend. Thinking of those comrades runners from the hills training group today See http://www.comrades.com/

WEEK 13 (11/06/07-17/06/07);

Volume; 151min + 36.5hrs MR. Sessions; 3 +MR Best RHR;49 bpm Sleep; 44hrs *53


OD/LSD/LFD sessions; NIL

Races/Time trials;
16km time trial 1hr 24 (84min 24) HR 165---17/6/07
Reps sessions; 3k ladder 11min.58.---12/6/07

Comments; Only 3 weeks to go now until the Perth Marathon...Managed to catch up on a bit of sleep this weekend, as by Friday night I was pretty frazzled after yet another week of less than 6 hours a night stuff...So this weekend it was all about sleeping in, and recovering from work, much to my frustration. Feel like my training is sliding again a bit like the Dockers last night in Darwin. Juggling demands of work, my heavily pregnant wife Kathryn (she is 35 weeks tomorrow), and various financial and emotional pressures was all becoming a bit too much this week again, so decided on Friday night, that I really needed to take it easy this weekend for at least 24 hours....cos there is too much responsibility on my shoulders, if I lose it emotionally or physically the consequences are significant, so I have learned from the past from when I was at Uni and other times there are times you just have to go into recovery mode.

I guess now is a good time to count the blessings God has given me, and reevaluate where I am at and where I would like to go from here, which is the process and the attitude I try to keep coming back to, so as to make the most of "the journey" (like Tommy Emmanuel song...), rather than get bogged down in the frustrations and disappointments.
Twelve Positives;
1-Did a 3k ladder this week, nothing incredible, but still a good little session to get done.
2-Paid my WAMC (marathon club) membership.
3-Nailed a pretty hardcoreish week at work.
4-Got the sleep counter above 42 hours (6 hours per night) for the week.
5-Managed to get another sub 50 resting heart rate week.
6-no new major injuries that I am aware of.
7-my worn out mountainbike is currently operational (although the top cog of the top 5 gears is non-operational)...which gives me a useful cross-training option.
8-Kathryn and baby are soldiering on into week 35 tomorrow, and no major problems (other than a lot of discomfort and back pain for her as the stomach stretches towards maximal size.)so far that we know of.
9-still have a pretty substantial endurance base in place from the last month or so especially.
10-I've had some useful hitouts in the Challenge 10k and Freo Half (21.1km), plus done some occasional reps in the last 2 months.
11-nailed a 16km timetrial run which gives me some more confidence in my chances of a PB this year, and something to build on for the next 2 weeks.
12-sub 4 hours and a P.B. still looking very likely.

Eight Challenges;
1-need a new watch
2-90% sure I need new shoes
3-both bikes are barely operational.
4-disappointed in my lack of reps sessions.
5-my race times have been mediocre/poor so far.
6-the whole baby,work,money,bills thing is proving to be tougher than expected, and hoping for things to just stabilise a bit more in that department in the coming weeks.....
7-I'd like to nail 2-3 more good timetrials over 10km-20km.
8-I'd like to get one more decent long run of at least 22-32km done before the marathon in 3 weeks.
9-I'd like to get the resting heart rate under 46 bpm.