Remembering and psyching up

nearly 5 months later this is still one inspirational finish to an incredible race...

nearly 5 months later this is still one inspirational finish to an incredible race...
Its worth remembering as I psyche up for 101010

the wave dream is still there to be ridden

no training or racing this week. still magaed to hold onto a RHR of 38 on my best day though...
To borrow a really cool concept from BBC's blog...If its not training it must be recovery...so I guess this ends up being an unplanned recovery week, and in the spirit of taper time thats not such a bad thing...
but still disappointing, anyhow I sorted out a stack of crucial financial issues, and work/family/bills related stuff, that needed to be dealt with, to reduce the chances of my dodgy financial setup negatively impacting my PB chances on 101010. So sometimes you have to take one step backwards to take 2 forwards. That said I still am sure that barring injury/illness, or major muckup on race day the PB is there for the taking still. want to keep riding the wave...It is taper time, but hope to put in some intense short sessions in the next 7-10 days, all the time looking after the hammy. noticed tonight that my local track is finally been marked again (its a footy oval with no track from April to mid September.), so its game on for some intervals work hopefully soon. The PB dreams wave is still there to be ridden. The resting heart rates are still in the 38-43 range all week, the weight is still hovering around 78kg, so no improvements this week, but have not really lost anything much either...borrowed more money towards my melbourne obsession this week, one of the biggies this week was a new pair of Reeboks same model as what I wore in MM 2009..., they are significantly lighter than my current Sauconys that I have done all my training and racing in since January this year, 2 road marathons, 42k of the 40 miler race, 6 hr track race, lots of trail running, and 8 months of running = worn shoes, that probably should be replaced by the end of the year, so going to try and wear in the new Reeboks in the next 10 days...although the Sauconys still runnable for a month or two yet especially with my low mileage...Onward!!!

3hrs 21min for 31km my final long run for 101010

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Saturday 18th September; Ran 31km in 3hrs 21min 45 seconds. (6.30 per K) HR 144 at the end.
Started strongly with the aim being to hit the first 7-10km at a good speed, and then take it easy for the last 20km.
Got to Mt Helena (6.75km) in 34.57 (5.11 per K), so a good pace on trails. Lost enthusiasm after that but still maintained ok pace to 10.5km at Stoneville Rd in 55min.25 (5.15 per K).

Then pulled out my two 750ml drinks from my hydration pak, put my powerbar sachet into one of them and set about trying to run at an ***easy*** but solid pace for the next 20km or so. Got to Mt Helena (14.25km) in 1hr 25, and then saw Saskia and David running back at their very fast paces... Carried on to where the trail hits Thomas Rd near Douglas Rd, (1hr 58min for 19.25km) then came back. Beautiful morning, perfect weather, lots of wildlife, occasional cyclists and dog walkers, but mostly just me and nice flat trail with a few gentle undulations, nothing major as far as hills goes. Perfect for my hammy, no major hills to upset it. Just love running this trail, would do it more often if it wasn't a 60min drive from my house these days. Coming back getting low of drinks, and pretty fatigued. Got to Mt Helena 24.25km in 2hrs 32min, so my last two 5km splits were about 33min and 34min, pretty even and just under 7 min per K...Not fast, but solid enough. Saw a 6km to Mundaring sign with my watch saying 2hrs 37min, some tenderness around the upper hammy area on some of the small hills, but overall much better than recent weeks, so the 4 days off training this week(unplanned) have probably helped it heal... Last 6k was pretty tough and chafing a bit (not enough body glide? in my keenness to get going at the start...), but hung in there well, and came across Steve and Sal with all their special gear doing some training for their attack on the Sahara Desert in just over a weeks time. Very surprised to see them, but nice to see some familiar faces.
Last 6km took me 44min so starting to get a little bit grinding and slipping over the 7min per K mark, but overall an excellent long run, and with 3 weeks and 1 day to go, that will probably be my final long run for the big race on 10/10/10. Its taper and sharpen up/speed work/reps time now for 2 more weeks, then rest week. Nothing hard over 16km from here will be the plan, as its time to freshen up the legs and try and peak for 10/10/10.

17/9/10; Friday night quick speed drill;
3x300m; 61secs/59 secs/66secs. 90 seconds rests.
felt good, at about 3.20 per K pace the hammy felt ok, so thats very good news.

hammy hassles 46.51 10k and RHR 37= hanging in there

Best RHR this week is 37, weight on Sunday is 78.8kg, so not really good stats, but hanging in there, holding onto a lot of the momentum of recent weeks at this stage. Didn't get to long run, but 10k race easyish target achieved (sub 48.39 the minimum target, sub 47.30 the main target, sub 46.40 and sub 45.00 not achieved today.)...The other 2 target sessions not achieved this week. Very disappointed not to go on Stirling Ridge walk, but just too difficult with my hammy, and especially my finances in a desperate struggle to survive at the moment...
Numero Uno priority next week will be to get a big long run in, my last major one before 10/10/10. Then the main challenges will be 1. getting flights and accomodation done, 2. keeping the hammy operational, 3. cranking up some speed work if the hammy allows. However I know Ive done enough already to be a very good chance to PB without the speedwork, so I intend being very cautious in that area, as its more important now to get to the start line ready to go, than to find another 5-10-20 minutes of marathon time fitness.
Based on the 10k race this week and a few other sessions, it feels like 4.45-5.15's is going to be my race pace early on maybe even 4.30's, and if I can stay sub 5min per K (2.22 for 28k)or at least 5.20 per K (which I did for the first 21km of the city to surf marathon) for 28K (2.30) (did 2.38 for 28k in the city to surf marathon 2 weeks ago, but that included some very hilly bits in Kings Park) the PB should be very much a chance if I can get past the likely northerly headwind, glycogen depletion, any merging issues, and the small hill in the Tan during the last 14km...i.e need to hit at least sub 6min per K for last 14km, although if I can stay sub 5min per K in the first 28k then I can get away with 6min 30 per K in the last 14k... Hopefully my third sub 4 hour marathon and hopefully well under 3.55.02! (5min 34 per K).

12th September; Fremantle Fun run 10k race report;
46.51 = 4.41 per K HR 180 at end
22.40/24.11 5k splits.
1k splits; 4.07/4.35ish/4.35ish/4.45/4.38
4.57/4.53ish/4.53ish/5.05/4.24.

46.51 is a Seasons Best for me today, (22.40/24.11 5k splits) pretty happy with that, before hand I was thinking if I can go under 47.30 I'd be confident that my Melbourne plans are still on track despite all the hammy niggles Ive had in the last 2 weeks. Reserve target was to make sure I beat the 48.39 from the Bridges earlier this year. Sub 45 and a return to B-grade land would be nice, but with the hammy problems and feeling a little unwell the last few days, I figured that would be slightly out of reach today...which proved to be correct.

Saw Gone2thepacks hat a few people in front of me at the start.
I wondered if it was worth showing up today, with my hammy problems, lack of training the last 2 weeks (even with some allowance for recovery from city to surf marathon 2 weeks ago) and feeling unwell the last few days, but very glad I did.

Clouds looked pretty ominous driving in so figured we might get a bit wet, and that winds would be a factor...Tried to get there early to get a decent parking spot despite my 3 year old getting up at 0530, and managed to arrive before 0730. I looked at the WAMC programme calender link this morning like an idiot and saw the 0800 start time (although I can see now its 0730 on this thread, and on other places on the web), so at 0725 I was thinking gee they are pretty organised for an 0800 start..

then I heard Evan say on the mike lets start moving towards the start line, and realised heck its an 0730 start, fortunately I was able to get there in time, but due to my lateness unable to get a good starting position and had to jog the first 200m or so, but still managed to cruise up to the first 1km mark in 4.07 1K split despite the hordes. The slowish start probably helped my race to be more even and get a good time, and was also probably very nice for my dodgy hammy not to accelerate too much too soon... running out to the lighthouse could feel some strongish winds, which were hard to run through in the last 5k...but my marathoning strength from city to surf 2 weeks ago helped me to knife through it well...

Saw some of the legends of WA like Roberto, Todd Ingraham and DJC in the front bunches, and coming back spotted TR's Cool running hat, and got heaps of encourgaement from various people out there I know, its like going to a school reunion every time I race now, which is great just makes racing so much more fun, and frankly thats the way it should be for all coolrunners, so come on WA people get yourself a Cool running hat or shirt etc and lets make our races fun and interactional just like they are in the east, maybe not for everyone but It gives many of us a mental boost.....afterwards caught up with a few legends at little creatures...this event is fast becoming a race of good fun good times season bests and good memories for me, the last 2 years especially...

Managed to hold 4.35-4.45s as planned pretty solidly to hit 5k in 22.40, which was a touch faster than expected (I was aiming for 23.00), and knew from then that all I had to do was hold sub 5 min K's to the finish and a 47.40ish seasons best was mine. So switched off the rockets a little, and cruised through the last 5k, looked after the hammy, and as expected found the going from 6k to 10k a bit tougher, and 4.50's were the pace that felt achievable. Put the accelerator down a bit in the last 1k especially the last 200m, all the time trying to look after the hammy which praise God didn't blow up on me, last 1k split was 4.24 which while not really fast, was pleasing to dip under 4.30 for my second fastest 1k split at the end, as is my habit in short races. Heart rate 180 at the end, so the last 200m was pretty decent kick, without really going for broke (protecting the hammy with gradual acceleration and not pushing the limits too much).

One happy Trailblazer here, as Seasons Best in the bag, best 10k time since a 44.40 in 2005 for me (so best 10k time in the last 6 years have to be happy with that), which confirms my Melbourne Marathon PB plans are well and truly on track/intact, so despite a terrible last 2 weeks, the low heart rates in recent weeks, and the City to surf 4.15 marathon momentum has persisted, Just need to 1. find the money to get over there, and get new shoes 2. keep the hammy from blowing up, and 3. keep the training momentum ticking over in the right direction...

Wednesday 8th September;
5km intervals 22.26 total time. (4.29 per K)
Aborted session half way through after severe hammy problems in two reps.

Hamstring Strains and Preventing Recurrence

Hamstring Strains and Preventing Recurrence

The timing is terrible just as I am about to ramp up my intervals work, but I have to get this sorted out or no 10/10/10 success for me...

best RHR 37 10.5k reps in 48.59 and hammy soreness

Best RHR 37 this week, have struggled to recover from City to Surf marathon, been busy with work stuff, had a lot of soreness from hammy towards the end of the week, and feeling unwell on sunday with headache, blocked up head, and so on. Decided I needed to concentrate on work stuff a lot this week.
Rant time;
Had general soreness especially quads and calves from the city to surf marathon for 2-3 days, which is to be expected given the fact that 4.15 was a solid hitout for me, and the hills were a lot tougher than what I've run for awhile. The hammy and hip soreness although minor at this stage, and didn't stop me from doing intervals session on Saturday, has been a big concern the last few days. Hopefully its just a minor niggle I can get past, but its come at a critical time in my training program for Melbourne, when I want to maintain mileage around the 50-70km per week mark at least if not increase it, and also pick up the intensity with lots of short high intensity work in the next few weeks time. Still have a week or so to get it right, but I am very reluctant to risk the epic Stirling Ridge hike unless it improves a lot, and I think its time I saw a chiropractic or physiotherapist professional. So will be trying to raise enough money for that, plus my wife is struggling with knee pain also.
Have a few important things to catch up on, and as usual finding everything a bit daunting to deal with. Money is tight and bills yet to be cleared and still havent finished my tax return, although a lot closer than I was a week ago... The hammy/hip thing is scaring me, and I hope it doesnt rule me out of Melbourne. Also have the big dilemma of whether to do this 7-10 hour hike with friends on the glorious but extremely tough alpine Stirling Ridge walk on Saturday (1000km drive to get there and back, so a tough day, and more than a tank full of petrol), and/or back up for a 10km race the next day at the Fremantle fun run. Not sure, one part of me says;
POSITIVES; adventure opportunity of a lifetime, and go for it, be careful and make the most of an incredible alpine opportunity, that will help my general fitness with some altitude advantage, and put some good exciting variety into my training and general interactions, and achieve one of the goals I have wanted to do for many, many years...
NEGATIVES;
Other part of me says I will probably struggle to be well prepared for it financially and logistically, the demands of family life with a 3 year old and a ***3 MONTH OLD*** with very limited resources a tricky one to get right here too, and the risk of tearing my hammy and destroying any racing chances just as I am possibly approaching PB form with best ever resting heart rates (by 4-7 beats)...Plus the fact that this a dangerous hike with a lot of potential risks along the way and I think my friends overestimate their abilities, underestimate the dangers and time likely for it to take to do it, plus underestimate how hard it will be for others. One of the toughest decisions I have ever been faced with this one....Just not sure what to do, the easiest thing is to just say too hard too dangerous, I'm too injured, too broke, and family to look after, plus I have Melbourne to focus on, so give it a miss and try again some other time.
But I know I will be kicking myself mentally for a week or so for not taking this incredible opportunity if I do that, plus it will be another no-show, which I really hate doing. Plus maybe the hammy would be ok, and the training, social and fun benefits would be incredibly good. Maybe I should just give it a go, and take it very easy if hammy plays up. Thing is if I get severely injured its a very difficult and dangerous nightmare of a place to try and exit from...so should I take the risk or not...oh the dilemma...I felt similiar about whether to do city to surf, and that was awesome experience..I think I have avoided major injury with that one...maybe I should take the risk with the stirlings too...???? Or maybe the C2S has flared my hammy up badly, and the ridgewalk would destroy it....just not sure, maybe see chiro/physio see what they think then decide what is the way to go...
I'm leaning towards giving the ridgewalk a miss though (with great regret, and hopes to have a go another day)...
rant done I think...

Sunday; slept in, but managed to combine social visit with a minimal long run.
Jogged about 16-17km in 2hrs 14min (HR 120) from Wel to War Train stations, plus a bit of exploration of a salt lake near the end. Very low key, some tough hilly terrain, and some hard work on a very sandy dirt trail, a bit like running on soft sand at the beach. Carried hydration pack, and intended going for 26k, but the first 12.5k or so took much longer than expected (1.45) and as I didnt start til about 1515, wasn't keen on running through difficult hilly trail at night, in tiger snake infested area...especially as my hammy was tender throughout...
Found that running on the soft but firm surface of the salt lake felt pretty good though. A lot of stops, walk breaks and generally taking it easy, and felt heaps better afterwards. Decided to catch train back instead of running back in the dark. So not the long run I was supposed to do, but better than nothing, and I was due an easy week after the City to Surf Marathon, so thats a resonable recovery week.

Saturday;
Ran 10.5km of long intervals in 48.59. (4.39.9 per K average or 46.39 10k pace).
Heartrates at end of intervals 174-183. A 14 second, (session PB) improvement on last time....
Pleased with it, felt like I was holding onto my speed a little bit longer although the last rep was very hard to hold together. Hammy was pretty tender in warmup, but I held back a little on acceleration, and my fastest 700m split of 2.41 was 4 seconds slower than last time as a result, but I made up the 14 seconds by running a lot more evenly and holding pace in the first 7km of intervals, with the last 3.5km being a lot slower and a real dogs breakfast of go hard, then slow up stuff, but I already was about 40 seconds ahead of last times effort, so was able to minimise the slide in the last 3.5km so as to hold onto a 14 second advantage. A breakthrough session, but a hard one, and I think with some shorter intervals to finetune things I can improve greatly on this... Very good to get this one done. Hammy very tender before and after this session, but hopefully it pulls through ok, and comes good in the coming days/weeks...
Week 5 (of 10);

Volume; 203min . Sessions;2 Best RHR;37 Sleep;44.5 *4
1. OD/LSD/LFD;About 17K in 2hrs 14min. Target not achieved, too slow, too short, and most of all not out there long enough. hammy misbehaving.

2a. REPS;Long reps; 10.5K @ 4.39 per K.Target achieved. yay.

2b. REPS;short reps; NIL

3. MEDIUM run (tempoish or TT); FAIL
4. SHORT run (tempoish/or TimeTrial); NIL.
5. RACE; NIL.

In summary;
I needed a chance to recover from Perth City to Surf Marathon as that was a bit of a last-minute alteration to things last weekend, but I am hoping that will help rather than hinder me...
From a periodisation point of view, after two hard weeks, (especially last week with the marathon making the week a whole lot harder than I originally planned)I was due for an easy week this week (week 5), or next week, and so an easy week or even 2 easy weeks, is not necessarily a bad thing. Could be a blessing in disguise from the Most High. I hope so.

However; I am keen to snap back into it either in week 6 or at the latest by week 7, because week 10 and to a lesser extent week 9 are taper time, so Hammy as I feared has been very touchy since, and its not psychosomatic. Whether the hammy/hip soreness (hip still tender but not as bad as it was last week) is caused by city to surf marathon, or other things maybe my metering work ramp-up,safe shoes in mosman park etc etc, I am not sure, but I know I had pain issues before the city to surf marathon, so could be either way. Its a problem.

Its halfway in the program, 5 weeks to go, I am in a good position, best I've EVER been in arguably, the question is, am I about to step it up for the final 3-4 week training charge, and head towards a glorious PB in Melbourne, or will my injury and money worries destroy my chances...the next 2-3 weeks will be crucial...so I can see 3 options at the moment;
1. Time to strap in, and go hard!!!! or if the hammy doesnt come good to consider
2. how I can get to Melbourne on a reduced program with some cross-training to try and get the injury to heal, or
3. to pull out of the Melbourne plans altogether.
I'm hoping its option 1 or 2 and I won't consider option 3 unless several medicos expressly advise me that option 3 is required, and i agree with them. Because I am confident that sub 3.55 is there as long as I can maintain my current level of fitness. City 2 Surf Marathon in 4.15 carrying my own drinks and hydration pack, on a very tough course with a sprintish start, and a fair bit left in the tank at the end, confirmed to me that a PB should be possible in Melbourne.

If it is option 3 I will be bitterly disappointed, and not sure where that would leave my running future. If 12 marathons and a few short ultras is the end of the road, I can't be too disappointed with that. Its been fun and while timewise I haven't got to where I wanted yet, I have a tried very hard for 7 years, and my life and others lives has been enriched along the way. Plenty of people have had the opportunity to consider where they are at with God and be challenged or encouraged. Thats the ultimate goal of my life, so thats a job well done in my book. Sure I'd love to obliterate the PB's and maybe make an Australian team, but I should not forget they are secondary goals to the primary purpose which is to honour our Triune Creator, and encourage others to do the same.

So hopefully its option 1; and hopefully I can ramp up the intervals, and maybe 2 more weeks of the medium runs, which I failed to do this week, but figured I deserved the rest from after the City to surf marathon hitout, where I ran the first 21.1km in 1.53 while carrying 4 drinks!...and holding something in reserve for the second half...I think its go ! go! GO! time!!! Just hope my hammy can make it...God willing things will go well...

If its option 2 well its time to start crosstraining, and saving/putting aside money for Physios and Chiros, to try and ensure I get to the start line in as good a health as possible even with non-specific, non-running based preparation like the swimming based training my friend Jeannie did for some of her 4 marathons in the last 2 years...

Hope to fire it up in the coming weeks like the Dockers did in style on saturday with a rocking demolition of the Hawks!!!!

City to Surf - Perth 2010

Race report for my 4.15.59 (half in 1.53) CITY 2 SURF Marathon in 2010 is HERE....
Scroll down past the video for photos of me from the 2010 C2S Marathon...


Pause this video at 46-47 seconds and you can see me running with the front bunch of Kenyans and Mark Tucker on the weekend, with white strands shirt, gold cool running hat on backwards, I am on the far right of picture...If you have trouble getting it to load, run your mouse over the bottom right hand corner and click on the youtube icon to open the video in a new window directly on youtube...

2009 VIDEO: City to Surf for Activ 2009

VIDEO: City to Surf for Activ 2009
The 2009 one I was on camera for a fleeting moment, but it appears perthnow in their greatness have disabled the video...oh well I have better things to do than try and get on TV, although it would be nice to get my coverage online. Might have to contact channel 9 to get the coverage of me at the start of the 2009 and 2010 city to surf marathons with the front bunch and also of my 2 year old walking the 2009 Melbourne 5k onto the MCG one day. I'd like to buy all of those grabs to show the grandkids. But one of these days I might get a bit more famous maybe, or maybe not...would be nice but its not a massive priority...

City to Surf | Nine News | Monday August 30, 2010

Perth 2010 City to Surf youtube clip...