sunshine after the rain

Daylight saving is gone hip,hip,hoorayyyy!!!, hopefully never to return if the people of WA get it right in the May referendum...VOTE NO! again pleeeeasseeee!...finally some
Sunshine after the rain
Tooooo flat out this week with work, did enter 40 miler and Bridges plus joined WAMC though, so now to try and get it right in the next 2 weeks...

Only 1 visit a week to chiropracter now,hoping to to make it none in a few weeks time, hammy maybe coming good with my daily to twice daily stretches of glutes and hammy (3 sets).
So hopefully we are going to turn the corner with that injury soon and get my long runs back, I refuse to accept that "the wheels have fallen off" just yet...although its been very frustrating being restricted to rides and short oval running...

Sunday 29th March PM; Cycled 60min, 33.17km, 552 Ca.
Exercise bike...

Wednesday 25th March;
Ran 16km 87min 17secs HR 150...(5min 27 per km)
splits 19min 39 (4km),40min 22 (8km) 63min 47 (12km), so 19.39/20.43/23.25/23.30...
Did 20! laps of 800m oval in the am warming up temperature, one powerade...hammy twinge at 80 min otherwise fine...

60km freeway bikehike done

Tri-events video of the better 60km riders is HERE on facebook (i was probably the slowest...)

Sunday 22/3/09; Cycled 60km in 3hrs 41min 32 secs from Kwinana to Joondalup along the Freeway, on my 16kg mountain bike, propelling overweight 81kg me (lack of long runs/rides, plus not enough metering work lately), with the cycle computer not working, a slightly flat back tyre (pumped it up about 15km into it), and a total inability to hit a good speed and maintain it. Even considering all these things, it was still a lot slower than I expected. Was expecting something around the 2hrs 30-3 hrs mark, but it ended up being a massive struggle to keep going from about 20km onwards...But I was determined to try and finish, so just took it 5km at a time until finally I got there...Minor hammy soreness in last 20km... I expect to be very sore in the next day or so. that was very tough. FANTASTIC VIEWS, awesome to experience this ride... and glad to accomplish the main goal...Just hope if I do it again I can go much faster...I reckon I may have been one of the last to finish, probably the last...
10km Splits; 30min/39min(some stops)/29min (pushing to get over narrows bridge and onto Mitchell freeway before 10am)/46min (stops)/40min/37min
30km splits; 98min/123min...So really struggled in second half...

A couple of short rides on the new bike earlier in the week, and

on Wednesday;
another 5x300m reps session at S. Park on grass track, which was a huge PB, smashed my previous best by about 6 seconds with 4min 52 secs total time.
300's times; 55!/60/57//59/58! HR's better this time 165,174,186,189,189...
Worked very hard last 3 reps, to avoid any dud times...
Hope to build on this in the next 2 weeks, and go into Bridges 10k in good nick, and if hammy comes good can try and get long runs/rides going again...

Not a great week, but more the sort of pattern I am looking for this time, just need to sort out the long run problem, and do more high quality stuff like the 300's...

almost a nothing week

Had some big sessions planned to follow up on these two warm-up sessions, but just never got to them worn out from the week at work, and two much social stuff going on this weekend...my birthday celebration ...I am turning 35 this month, and we made it to church on sunday night, (first time in a few months), and another family do half-way to mandurah, plus shopping, time with wife and kid...and I slept in big-time both mornings...Sunday morning went for walk with wife and kid instead...good, but no session for me...So frustrating...but my visits to the chiropracter were encouraging this week again, seem to be making good progress on hammy, so hoping to try long run again in 2 weeks time in a last-ditch attempt to get ready for 40 miler...lots of bills/money trouble to deal with at the moment also...Next weekend am doing 60km Freeway bikehike...

Thursday 12th March 2009 A.D. Ran 5x300m at S. Park track in 4min 59.
300m reps times; 59,60,57,66,55...Heartrates 162-192, but mostly around the 165-180 area, so not that intense really...although I really went for it on the last one, and to a lesser extent on the 3rd one (the 192 heart rate)...3 min rests...
Strong headwind in front straight was making it very hard work to maintain speed, was getting through first 100m in 16-18 seconds, last rep cranked up the leg speed to do first 100m in 15 seconds, but 20-24 seconds on the next two 100m's due to headwind...

A good session that I gained something from, and is designed to help me attack my next 5k ladder session with more intensity...Did it inj a big rush on way home from work straight after 5hours of slogging it out trying to finish a metering round, and then rushed off to callcentre for the night...

Wednesday 11th March Ran 4km in 19min 10 HR-162...night run, 5 laps of oval after work...solid run to de-stress, after not feeling good at work...Twinge in hammy and ankle at the start, but they settled straightaway...No problems rest of run...Solid, but too dark to really push the pace, and not in the mood to attack...feeling yuck, but a good one to do.

2 hours on ex bike and 8km run as I try to get better adjusted.

Sunday 8th March 2009 A.D.;
2030hrs; Ran 8km in 42min 55 secs with 10 laps of grass Oval. HR 162. (4km Splits 21.29/21.26)
Took it easyish, sort of a recovery run after ride, and a test to see how Hammy is going.
Slight negative split, mostly in darkness so couldnt see to well, but used light on watch to check my progress every 800m...Hammy ok during it, so a good sign. See how it feels tomorrow...

Cycled for 120min (2 hours) on exercise bike, allegedly covering 64.92km, Heart rate 108, and 1082 Calories used. Solid but pretty relaxed ride while I watched video of Ben Cousins comeback game, and then the Sydney Athletics Classic on TV.

The sydney meet included; about 1 second footage of Beijing 50km walk silver medallist Jarrad Tallent finishing 5km walk in a new Australian record of 18min 41 (shaving 4 seconds off Nathan Deakes'old mark), beaten by mexican Sanchez by 1 second. Also a 15.54? for Sarah Jamieson in the womens 5000m. At least they showed all of the mens 1500m, which was pretty fast race with the first 4 under 3.39 I think, Ryan Gregson talk of the town at the moment was 3rd in 3.37 which broke Mike Hillardts 22 (or 32) year old junior record or something...Pacemaker took 3 Kenyans through the first 300m in 40 seconds, and the first 800m in 1.58?...Roth and Birmingham up there, but Kenyan Kamel came again at the finish to steal the win. Also Hookers 5.95 m clearance and Sally Mclellan, Tamsyn Lewis, notable winners, and good to see John Steffenson out there again with Asafa Powell running a 400m! in 45.94, but Wroe won it.
Full results of Sydney Track Classic are HERE

My 2 hour ride is designed to get me ready for the 60km Freeway Bikehike in 2 weeks time, have been busy trying to get work on a better more stable keel, plus get more sleep, and have some good family time, which we did last night going to free Shannon Noll concert...

Saturday 7th March 300 Ab Crunches...

Hammy sorenees improved as the week went on and the Chiro treatment on Thursday! and Saturday seemed to help a lot! I think its working...my range of motion for hammys has improved massively thanks to my Chiropracter, so I think she has done an excellent job! Am now trying to get into new regime of 3x 30secs stretches on both legs for hammys and also gluteal stretches preferably twice a day, or at least once daily...Will also try to ease back into running next week, (start with track intervals sessions on grass and maybe 4-12km on grass) but try to avoid any long runs or hard surfaces for at least 1 week, maybe 2-3 weeks...Plus maybe some swimming, and hopefully lots oif cycling...If I get it right my 40 miler plans (13th April) and Bridges 10k (5th April) plans may still be there for the taking, perhaps even the Kep 75km, but I am now not too fussed, mainly focused now on doing better at work (both jobs), and getting this injury fully cleared up in the next 2 weeks hopefully, and then trying to avoid a re-occurrence...

Then there is the Perth Half in June, and maybe the Perth Marathon in July.
Melbourne Marathon is still the only must do race for me this year, although it would be nice to at least keep my Bridges and Perth Marathon streaks going, and I'd like to explore the City to Surf Marathon in late August...

I think a number of the Hills Group people are doing 6 foot next weekend be interesting to see how they go...I still would like to have a go at this race some day, just not the right timing (financially and goals, logistics wise now to make that big trip, and my injury run since Melbourne last year has been way too horrendous too...

So hopefully next week will be a lot better trainingwise...this week has been a bit of a non-event...

5k reps, 193min run...now thats more like it...maybe...

Now thats more like it... This has been a much better training week, have nailed some good key sessions and kept things ticking over well on most of the other days, so feel like I made some good progress this week. It was easier to do this week, because I took two days off work to try and rest up my hammy, so I could have a 5 day break from meter reading, which I hope will help me heal up this annoying injury, at the same time I wanted to try and get some key sessions done without hurting the hammy too much...Although the risk is that I may not make the most of the healing opportunities with the 5 day break, at the same time, some activity helps in the healing process...If it doesnt work I may have to take even more time off work AND ban myself from running again...but I am trying not to go more than 3-4 weeks without a long run, and this weekend it was 3 weeks since my last long run the 200min nocturnal run with Dave...
My Chiropracter says my hamstring range of motion has improved to 90 degrees as of Friday 27th February, which is a massive improvement, so that should start to help a lot, and suggests her work with me is paying off...My general guess is that the injury has healed up a bit in the last week or so, but I still have maybe another 2 weeks or so before it comes good, or maybe longer...I'm hoping its only 2 weeks, and not 4 weeks or more...
Soooo...what did I get done this week;

Sunday 1st March AM; 90minute ride on exercise bike allegedly covering 45.6km, using 752 calories. Heart rate only 102 at the end as I was taking it easy while posting on cool running...

Saturday 28th February AM; Ran 26km in 3hrs 13 min HR 126.
On 40 miler course with B and RD... Went through first slight downhill 7km in 39min 09 which is well under 6min per km, and felt very comfortable, no injury issues at all. We saw those speedsters D,N & M flashing past on their 50km run also...

The next 7km was a slight uphill, and as B forged ahead I decided to sit back with RD for a bit, but started to get a slight twinge in the hammy at times so backed off the pace a lot, as I figured the uphill might be a problem for my hammy strain...Jogged through 14km in 87minutes ( a 7km uphill split of 48minutes, so nearly 7 minutes per km but I did take a toilet break which cost me a few minutes...)...still feeling very relaxed, and no major soreness...

My hammy felt a bit tight on the slight uphill bit near sawyers RD to get around the pipeline, but settled down again on the flat trail...Only had 2 gatorades with me, and about this time, I started to get concerned about having enough fluids to get through my 32km target distance, especially with my slow pace...Started to mfeel the effects of no long run for 3 weeks, i.e. a little muscle fatigued...got to Chidlow 20km point in 2 hrs 15min, (6km split of 48min so very slow pace...walked some bits) which is still well under 7 min per km, and with a heart rate of 132 still a very relaxed pace...Beautiful views and was awesome to be out there again, so thanks to B and RD for organising this run...as otherwise its very hard to get motivated to get out there on ones own...Just before 20km I saw D,N and M again...

Unfortunately the hammy was starting to ache a bit by 20km, and I was wondering if I should turn around, but was keen to make it to the Ash Rd turnaround 3 km away, so pushed on at slow pace, and started throwing in some major walk breaks...The consistent slight uphill incline seemed to be upsetting my hammy, and I started to worry about things...Got jogging again and saw B & RD heading the other way about this time at good pace...Finally struggled to Ash Rd 23km turnaround in 2hrs 43 minutes! (A 3km split of 28min! too much walking), which is still about a 7min per km average, and suddenly felt like I needed to goto toilet..
Probably the chips I ate at work a few hours before arrgh!...(I finished work at callcentre 0200, grabbed 2 hours sleep and then drove to Mt Helena about 0600ish, and managed to locate B & RD about 0640...) Anyway I finished the last of my gatorade soon after this as I jogged back to Chidlow on the downhill the hammy was tormenting me a lot by now, and I started thinking about bailing out. Saw a toilet block at Chidlow (26km), and the watch said 3hrs 13min (3km split of 30min!!!), so I decided then and there that I would probably end the run there. Heart rate was about 120-126...

After an extended toilet break I started thinking about the 6km back to my car in Mt Helena, should I try and hitchhike back, walk all the way, or try and get running again...I tried to get running but hammy was very sore, and I could see no point in hurting it further... Also my lack of fluids meant I was starting to dehydrate, as the mercury climbed and 10am ticked over, I started thinking about hitchhiking, but in the end my heart wasn't in that idea, so I resolved to walk back...Took 90minutes in warm conditions, and with me dehydrating significantly, a lot of the time not much fun walking down the beautiful trail...Then I spotted a water fountain in the Mt Helena Aquatic Centre with 1.5km to go, and got permission to rehydrate there where I guzzled down some much needed water...Felt pretty demoralised,discouraged, but eventually got back to MT Helena...But hey a 26km run is better than no long run like the last few weeks, so trying to see the big picture, count my blessings look for ways to move forward be patient, not waste too much time on lamenting how far away I am from where I want to be...Although some big question marks still there over my ability to get enough long runs on the board in time for the 40 miler race on 13th April, with this hammy problem lurking around...but if it doesnt heal quick I will have to can the 40miler and Kep plans for the year, so the next few weeks will be crucial...So huge positive to get this 193min run on the board...

FRiday 27th February; AM; HAMMY very SORE! in AM, went to CHIRO visit, by Arvo/PM hammy was pretty much ok again, but had to goto callcentre for an 1800-0200 shift...so no training...

Thursday 26th February early PM; Ran 5km ladder in 19min 53secs! HR's 174-192...So solid effort. My 4th best time on this session of all time, and slightly better than what I did in 2008 for this hard intervals track session, so very encouraging...Have to be in the right frame of mind physically and mentally to take on the 5km ladder as it takes a lot of determined strong focus mentally and physically to get it right. At S Park on the lovely well manicured grass surface there...Held back a little to look after the hammy but bascially tried to go flat out. Worked the up the ladder part very hard resulting in 192 (beats per minute) heart rates at the end of the first 400m and 600m reps...Wanted to get a few seconds in the bank, so I'd have a chance of beating the 19min 56 I did on 3rd August 2008. A solid 1km rep of 4min 18, and then struggled hard to hold it together (without hurting the hammy too much) down the ladder. Much slower reps, but still did enough to come in 3secs faster than what I did August 2008, with a 3min 58 per km average speed...Longish rests...

Hammy a bit sore in the last 2 reps, and VERY!,VERY! sore the following morning, but settled down after Chiro treatment Friday morning.

Reps times;
Going up the ladder; 200m-34.25/400m-1.22.65/600m-2.16.47/800m-3.23.43/1km-4min 18.13
Going down ladder;...200m-36.78/400m-1.28.04/600m-2.25.15/800m-3.28.35
Total time for 5000m= 19min 53.25 seconds = 3min 58.65 secs per km average...

By the last couple of reps, I was pretty close to throwing up zone, so very pleased with a great effort...

Wednesday 25th February 250 Ab crunches.

Tuesday 24th February Ran approx. 4km at B oval in 18min 31.43 seconds HR 165 at end...Five laps of large 800m? oval while Kathryn and Jacob played in the middle...
800m? splits; 3.30/3.32/3.54/4.06/3.29
Solid effort, probably effectively a tempo run in intensity...

Monday 23rd February Cycled 25.88km on exercise bike in 45minutes HR 114, 431 calories used...
Solid but not flat out...

Hoping to learn how to do better hamstring and gluteal? stretches that might help with avoiding recurring of this injury...

So overall a great weeks training, hammy still a big concern, but the 60km (or 30km) freeway bikehike is looking a good option for 22nd March, and if the hammy comes good, and If training progresses heaps, maybe another shot at the 40miler on 13th April again, plus the Bridges 10km race...hanging in there.hoping things will continue on from the big positives I have been blessed with by God this week...