Berlin, WAAS, MM TV stars and 5x1400m at 4.18 per K

I dreamed earlier this week I was running in the Berlin Marathon, only to wake up at 0430 and discover I'd fallen asleep on the couch after a hard day at work the day before and the TV was still on and the Berlin Marathon was on TV! hahahaha.


Had a look at the WA Athletics stuff on the web, and Ive decided I will try and get there and start running some 5000m, 3000m and 1500m races this summer, be the first time since 2003/2004 Ive have been back to the track, but it should be fun and I am no stranger to there this will be about my 12th season of competing on the track at this level since it all began in 1989...
See my Runtrack page ii for the last time I dabbled with a track season...or Runtrack i for the time before that...


Enjoyed watching the Melbourne Marathon replay on channel 9 today, and go to see some good footage of Big Kev and Geoffa leading the Melbourne Marathon and doing Western Australia proud...:-)


Resting heart rate 36 on Sunday (about 13 weeks now its been 40 or less!), weight dropped 1kg back to 80.0kg on Saturday, after about my worst reading for the year last week.
Small progress, but certainly some forward momentum this weekend...


Sunday PM session In Detail
PM; 13.75km easy long run in 1 hr 35min 48secs. HR 120.
HR 120 at the end. Splits 43.28/52.20 Felt good early on, and was hitting sub 6 min per K without pushing all that much on this hilly roads/limestone trails mix course. The first 3.5km and the last 3.5km is roads, and the other 6.75km is mostly limestone trails. I much prefer the trails. using a slightly different route than earlier in the year (i.e. more running on steep HILLY bitumen roads, to avoid the magpie trouble spots mostly in the park section I was doing earlier in the year)…Got to the half way mark on same long run course as last week in 41 minutes instead of the 48 min last week, and figured with how relaxed I was I’d have to extend the distance to make sure I went for more than my target time of at least 90 minutes of running…So extended it 250m which gave me an extra 500m distance, and I still came home more than 30 seconds faster than last week despite increasing the distance, and making a big effort to go low intensity on the way back, look after injuries. On the way back took it very easy, walked a bit, and just enjoyed the run running towards the sunset over the Indian Ocean on limestone trail, I’m thinking “it doesn’t get much better than this”…Also keen to look after the calf muscles and the achilles, and avoid a repeat episode of the achilles problem I got towards the end of this course last week. this time it was all good, so Praise God for that. Nice minimalistic time long run again, and with it being 3 weeks since Melbourne marathon, I am hoping that I can manage the injuries enough to start cranking up the training and racing from here onwards, even if it means some physio visits in the coming weeks/months…


Sunday AM;
6km easy recovery run in 32.01 (5.20 per K) HR 144.
Heart rate 144 afterwards, some small hills along the way, about 18-20 degrees, easy recovery run exploring a new “street circuit”, and trying to shake out any stiffness from intervals yesterday. Calf ok. Wore calf guards for protection. Hammy dodgy before, but no issue during. A bit slow and didn’t really feel like attacking after the first 2km or so. Some easterly winds. Solid relaxed run…



Saturday AM; In Brief;
5x1400m in 30min 09.
5.34/5.50/6.28/6.07/6.08 = 6.01 average = 4.18 per KM average.
180/180/165/174/183 the heart rates after each rep.
5 min rests.
The 5.34 is 3min 58 per K pace, and a whole lot quicker than Ive been very often for a few years for a 1400m rep, other than the 1500m race in 5.34 at the Australian Masters Championships this year and the 2000m in 7.55 at Masters this year. Most importantly the calf survived and seems to be healing, didn't give me any pain while running, so the calf guards and 2-3 weeks rest seems to have worked. So a mini-breakthrough session this one.

Saturday AM session In Detail
5×1400m total time= 7km in 30min 09 secs. @ 4.18 per Km.
Average time for 1400m = 6.01.87 Rest between intervals 5 min.

Interval times, 2×700m splits and heart rates afterwards;
1. 5.34.03 (2.42/2.52) HR 180.
2. 5.50.43 (2.57/2.53) HR 180.
3. 6.28.42 (3.13/3.15) HR 165.
(Deliberate attempt for this rep/interval to take it easy and also nervous about 2 greyhounds running free on the oval)
4. 6.07.83 (3.03/3.04) HR 174
5. 6.08.63 (3.06/3.02) HR 183
Strong easterly winds, so was finding the first 200m or so of each rep harder, and from about 350m to 550m was getting a boost from a significant tailwind.
Grass surface pretty good only a slight uphill in one section almost dead flat 700m course.
Excellent conditions to run in only problems were a few dogs running off leads as per usual, and a bit of niggle in right calf and left hammy, but overall a very pleasing session, PB for this session, and feels like we are starting to break a little new ground, although its only a small improvement from where I was at the start of October 2010, and the heart rates were mostly a lot higher.
Calf remains the major injury concern, but the very good news is the achilles was not a problem at all. Calf guards allowing me to run pain free though, mostly just pain later in the day when I took the calf guards off…but a few twinges here and there, I’m guessing its healed significantly since I injured it half way through the Melbourne Marathon on 10/10/10, but not fully healed yet, and will be very suspect for the hilly 6 inch 46km off-road if still in the current state, but I am able to train relatively pain free today, so some shorter races should be ok.
nothing earth-shattering and the heart rates need to come down, but this session gives me hope I can make progress rather than just try to maintain, hold onto some of the leftover fitness from Melbourne.
Positive session, bit of a breakthrough with the 5.34 first rep and then holding onto sub 6 for the second rep but plenty of work to be done to get where I want to. Some good gains there today, and Calf, so far so good….very glad the achilles was good this time, so looking good again maybe…


I bit of a weekend warrior effort this week, but 3 solid sessions with the 4.18 per K 5×1400m a highlight. The achilles seems to have fixed itself, thanks God!, and the calf and hammy concerns/niggles seem manageable this weekend, so maybe can get on with it from here…

So The positive momentum is alive, the injuries, seem possibly beatable today although the calf and the hammy? (or whatever it is) are ongoing issues..., and its hopefully game on for John Gilmour 10k this Friday if my calf continues to survive/behanve enough to allow me to race at close to full capacity. That said I am being very careful to accelerate gradually, and so far the calf guards are playing their part. So far so good...Onward!!! Must get a copy of John Gilmour book this Friday too...