moonlight 26km rhr 36! sb and 1.41 20km=B+

57km of running this week = 367min of training volume for the week = a B-grade training volume target achieved for this week.

Sunday PM (just after midday);
Ran/walked 6km in 50min 29secs...with 3 year old, 16kg, Jacob in the pram. (NOT a running pram) Fun and a good easy!!! recovery run/walk after the 3 hours on the trail last night...

Saturday PM;
Ran 26km in 3hrs 12min 45secs. HR 138 at end but probably a lot lower during some of it...

long RUN/walk…started very slow with a walk with my wife and kids for the first 5 minutes, then got a slow jog going, got onto some good trails and started to click into 6-7 minutes per K pace, maybe a bit faster, got onto the main trail and started to find some good K splits around about the 5.40 per K stuff, which is ok on this tricky trail…which also has a few undulations and some difficult terrain. Was carryin a heavily loaded hydration pack. A chance to work through some of the streeses of the election day, and finally get a long run on the board to ensure this is a successful training week. Had to divert at one point to soft sand to avoid a dog running free… Walked for a bit as I downed my powerbar drink…Did the bit from 9km to 13km in 21minutes, which is about 5.20 per K…that got me to halfway turnaround in 1hr 30min 48 secs. Then started to get a few patches of drizzly rain. It was getting dark as I made it to 17km on a nice smooth (but hilly in places) trail section in 1hr 57 min meaning that this 4km section took me about 26 minutes, so a lot slower at around 6.30 per K…Saw one kangaroo cross the trail here…almost full moon snuck out from the clouds every now and then giving me better visibility. Had a handheld LED light that started to get used in some of the darker parts of the trail, especially where the trail gets tough terrainwise. Just before the last tunnel got hit by a heavy burst of rain. I’d already put my phone in a plastic bag, so wasnt too worried, but when I came out the other side of the tunnel, The rain had petered out again, although there was puddles for about the next 3km as a result. Tried to avoid too much walking, and hit some decent pace at times as I splashed along in the darkness of the trail, which at times had pretty good night vision visibility due to the moonlight periodically making an appearance. Then the trail area got pretty dark as I heard a few calls from the very nocturnal bats near one of the lakes. Could also hear a lot of frogs there enjoying the light rain n o doubt, so kept a keenm eye out for any tiuger snakes or dugites that might be around hunting the frogs maybe. Heard a big movement in the bushes by the trail at one point, that had me on super alert, but no definite sightings. Then it was through the parks section, where I had hassles from dogs off the lead twice, and my heart rate cranked up a lot to 138 beats per minute as I had just climbed the steep hill to home. A slowish run with some good surges especially from 9km to 13km, and a few walk breaks, a nocuturnal moonlight section for more than an hour to finish, a fair bit of mostly light rain, but otherwise good conditions. A good long run, which puts my training well and truly on track. Keen to avoid the nocturnal componment in future if possible, but its all good fun so far…

Thursday PM;
Ran 5000m in 22min 06.0 secs HR 189 at end (Mostly due to the 40 secs last 200m kick)
4.25 per K average....
3.48/ 4.35/ 4.42/ 4.40 / 4.21 for 1km splits this week.
3.44/ 4.24/ 5.02/ 4.24 / 4.34 for 1km splits on 22/7/10...
Main difference from the 22.06.6 I did on July 22nd last month, is that my middle KM was a lot faster this time, and my 2nd and 4th K splits were a bit slower this time, but I kicked well for home in a desperate attempt to land the SB which I did. So not the perfect race by a long way, but nice to get the SB and hopefully next one will be a big breakthrough, feel I am close to hitting a much better level of performance...

first 200 36 secs last 200 40 secs.
first 400 82secs last 400 101 secs.
first 800m 3.00.
Lead the field for the first mile or so. First 400m too fast, no sub 20 minute people there, so found it hard to get the pace right early. leg weary from work (only finished work 45min before,, and the 20km the day before), but still managed to season best by half a second. Not that happy with my time or pacing, but happy with my effort level and a solid kick for home in the last 200m. Hopefully next time a big jump in time…

Wednesday AM;
Ran 20km in 1.41.53 HR 168 at end. 5.05 per K.
its a course PB by more than 4 minutes!! on what I did 1st June 2010. 10km splits 49.32/52.21…very pleased with this run,ecstatic with the time, a few more like this and it will be celebration time in Melbourne! the first 4km and the last 4km is extremely hilly, but the middle 12km is very flat and the freeway bikepath section is excellent to run on… trialed the powerbar drink for the first time ion training, reckon I’m onto a good thing… heart rate at end same as last time, so a lot lower than last year…attacked really hard on the flatter sections, and carried 2 drinks for most of the way… southerly headwind but conditions pretty perfect...


Week 3;

Volume; 367min . Sessions;4 Best RHR;36 Sleep;44.25 (6.32 av) *5
1. OD/LSD/LFD;26km long run done.Target achieved. yay.

2a. REPS;Long reps; NIL

2b. REPS;short reps; NIL

3. MEDIUM run (tempoish or TT); Ran 20km in 1.41 PB!Target achieved. yay.

4. SHORT run (tempoish/or TimeTrial); NIL

5. RACE; 5000m in 22.06.0 @ 4.25 at Masters, a SB by 0.6 of a second.

IN SUMMARY;

A more than satisfactory week. Totally ecstatic extremely happy with another PB resting heart rate...Just need Tony to take on governing the country and I will be very happy...So I give myself at least a B grade for this week. Especially since I hit my target B for training volume this week which is 360minutes. (target C is 240minutes, and Target A is 600 minutes. Been using Target A, B and C for a few years now but rarely hitting those sort of weeks. Last year when preparing for Melbourne Marathon 2009, I had 4 weeks in a row where I was hitting Target B or C in training volume. I will be trying to replicate or preferably exceed that effort especially in the next 4 weeks...Its do or die time...A big positive step in the right direction. Its an easy week, so only had 2 key sessions to hit which were the long run and the 20km, if anything I ran a bit further than I targeted and also raced a solid 5k, so a great weeks training, just need to step up a gear in the next 4 weeks, and everything will be on track...