6 inch photos + 18.4k run/walk in the bank

Over 700 fantastic photos at 6 inch 2010 Ive got 20 on my facebook page... Long run done this weekend, initial recovery from 6 inch PB, and Christmas done, its hopefully game on for 6 foot and track dreams!




Relief and elation with the finish in sight and a sub 6hour 6 foot qualifier and massive PB in my grasp!!!! One of the happiest moments of this year!


35km done, aid station 2 a welcome sight, and wondering if a sub 6 was still possible after a horror 62min stretch with too much walking and a toilet break from 30km to 35km, through the tough hills after Oakley Dam.




Taking a break to give Dennis a good photo about 27km into it. Still feeling ok at this stage, but in 3rd gear as opposed to 5th gear by this stage.




Early on I really worked hard with some attacking surges to get to 17km in 1.53 13 minutes quicker than ever before on this course and about 28min faster than last years split...Awesome to put the pedal to the metal and be runni9ng at about 4.50 pace or quicker at this stage, but I knew I wasn't fit enough to sustain this intensity all the way, especially as my nose was running like a tap, although I tried to go with Catherine for a bit about 19km into it(she did 4.54)...



The usual trailblazing start before I was confronted with Goldmine Hill, and the reality that I couldn't run all the way up it.



the crouch start returns




so you think you can dance...mock jostle for starting pozzie



Me, BK and BC before the race, all 3 of us back with some big ambitions after last years efforts. BK and BC joined the exclusive sub 4 club and I got my sub 6...


Sunday 26th December Boxing Day 18.4km run/walk. 2hrs 38min 10 secs. Splits; 68min/90min Started slowish, and pushed into a stiff easterly headwind. Some walk breaks, but a solid pace getting to 9.2km in 68minutes, on hilly roads for the first 3.5km, then limestone trails with some small hills Briefly on the way back I had a good tailwind and my hydration was ok. Started to hit a fast pace, but soon the heat started to kick in as the mercury hit 28- 30 degrees celsius, and the wind lessened, and I started to get severe sunburn. ran out of drinks and with about 6km to go was reduced to big walk breaks, and short slow jogging efforts, as dehydration and sunburn started to effect me. The run became a struggle to get home. Then the wind picked up on the hills in the last 3km, and I got very keen to find a tap, to refill my water bottle, which I did, and gulped down 600ml real quick. More plodding and walkingto finish, the last 9km taking me about 90min. So its done a 2 hour + run on Boxing Day, will help to consolidate the strength gains 7 days after 6 inch, and is another good one to bank with 6 foot just a few months away, but I am severely sunburnt, didn’t take enough drinks with me and was not very motivated today. Not an inspiring run, but hopefully will help me to be better positioned for some better more encouraging sessions in the coming weeks.
The way I was moving from 9km to 11km felt very fluid, and the best Ive felt while running for a long while, so thats one positive out of today. Post run some minor soreness in the left hammy again, not a good sign but hopefully will get through that one with a good nights rest tonight. Time to ramp up the training volume (a bit like mileage, but a better way of describing it), get some hills reps going and basically get into condition to race track well, and prepare for a good 6 foot debut….

Thursday 23rd December; 2.8km run/walk 17min 20 to bank ATM and a quick climb to the summit of my suburb and back before work at about 6am...

I need 421 min in the last week of this year to beat my training volume total in minutes from last year, which from memory is about 149 hours. So from a training volume point of view its been a similiar year to last year, The 6 inch 26min PB of 5.49 is probably my best race for the year, although Melbourne Marathon in 4.05 (and Half in 1.46) despite calf injury, Busselton Half in 1.52, City to Surf Marathon in 4.15, Australian Masters 1500m in 5.34, Freo 10k fun run in 46.53, John Gilmour 10k track in 47.36, some Masters 5k races in 22.06, 2k race in 7.55 800m in 2.46 and 100m in 14.6 are the other good ones for the year. I'll never forget the Moneghetti camp, or Mottram visiting Perth, and overall I know I've made some significant gains this year, although with the possible exceptions of the 22.06 5k races, the 5.34 1500m, and the 5.49 6 inch big PB, I don't think my race results have really confirmed this, and as such I feel there are more breakthrough runs like 6 inch ahead if I can get it right in some races soon. Its been an injury plagued year, although most of the injuries have been niggly minor ones I have been able to get through quickly, they have been enough to muck up my big races. Financially and job wise still yet to get anywhere and we are struggling more than ever before to make ends meet right now as a family. In addition I have lost my car, and 2 months later am still chasing compensation from the person who ran into the back of me, and wondering if I'll ever get the couple of thousand bucks I am owed. However I have started a new job, and am still hoping this is the beginning of a new era in my life, my families life, and my running performance and training. The next few weeks/months will show if this venture works or not, or if my messy life becomes one great big spiralling nightmare. I'm hoping that God willing, just as He blessed me with the 6 inch PB that the latter will not eventuate. Right now its hard to see the way forward though. However I am going after the new job, and hopefully I might earn enough to get ahead of the bills a bit. The plan is to go after track racing in the next 2-3 months in tandem with long runs, hill reps, and basically 6 foot preparation in the hope I will get upgraded from the wait list to the confirmed starters list.
Hopefully along the way finances will pick up, and the new job will be enough for our needs.

In the short term its recovery from 6 inch, and gradually easing back into things, plus having a go at the mileage challenge for 6 foot, as just another way to try and push me to run more often just as strands.com and blogger does....Hoping for continued but accelerated progress from here...God willing...

5.49 a 26min PB in my 5th 6inch despite illness

Results
5 people!!! went under existing course records. Bernadettes 4.15 outstanding! Gerry won in 3.25. Nathan Doig took out inaugural King of the Mountain, AND finished in 4.06. 79 finishers. a lot of highlights. I did a 26min PB with a 5hour 49min effort.

Hit 17k at Del Park Rd in 1.53 which is 28min quicker than last years 17k split and 13 minutes quicker than my previous fastest first 17k at 6 inch (in 2008 when my ankle blew up in the last 15km.)...Worked hard through Whittakers, and then had another couple of surges with Scrooge Steve about 12k to 15k, before backing off a bit after reaching my target split of a sub 2 hour effort in the first 17km. Awesome encouragement from people like Aaron (he was everywhere!), Rob, and Claire, lots more officials/helpers out there on course this year...

After Del Park Rd, I walked a bit on the climb up to Scarp Rd, and then tried to settle into ma solid, but not as attacking rhythm as in the first 17km, right on cue, Catherine Ross (who went on to do 4.54) caught me about here, and we chatted for awhile, told her she was 3rd woman, and she told me about her experiences doing the Maroondah Dam run, if I remember correctly. Tried to stay with her for awhile, but was finding the pace a bit too hard, so decided to let her get on with it, and get back to some solitude, which in some ways is better, although a bit of both is good.
About 23kmish I asked some helpers how far to aid station, and they said about 7km, although in my tired state I may have misheard them.

Got to 24km (first aid station) in 2.21, then struggled with legs going very heavy/lactical after all the hard attacking surging I did in the first 17k, plus taking on hydration pack with 3.5 litres of drinks in it...Got to Oakley Dam in 3.12 (compared to 3.37 and 3.28 the last 2 years), and at this stage although I could feel I was struggling, had made it through two big hills, and still felt 5.30-6.00 was possible.

Did not handle Oakley dam hills very well as per usual, but managed to hang in there while getting passed by a lot of people with a toilet stop, a lot! of walking up steep hills/difficult terrain with my 3kg pack, and some occasional jogs when i could find the energy to slowly edge through a tortourous 5km in 62minutes, to reach second aid station in 4hr 14minutes still well ahead of the 4.32 and 4.49 of the last 2 years. I knew the last 11km didnt have a lot of uphill, and with some encouraging and wise words from one of the helpers (Claire) in my mind, and a Hammer Gel (from the smorgasboard of about 6 different flavours and scores available...) ensuring I was getting some stronger concentrated Carbs into my system, I gave myself a a good chance of a PB and a very small outside chance of going sub 6 hours.
Steep downhill was very hard to get through but got some good rhythm going on the flat sections, and although Sarah passed me on a hill, I knew I was still going well. When I got to Marrinup just a handful of minutes over the 5 hour mark with about 5km to go I knew that all I had to do was keep about 8-9 min K's ticking over with some solid jogging, and a sub 6 was mine. As I started to get closer and made it to 45km in 5.42 I revised my target to 5.50, and managed to just sneak under the 5.50 by 3 seconds.

Battled a runny nose the whole way (Have had that for 3 days), and my training while good enough could have been a lot better especially on short stuff, but the 8km tempo runs in recent weeks and the 5k race helped me to attack in the first 17km...
A 5 hour long run in hindsight would have been helpful, although I think my long runs were some the best 4 week blocs of long runs I have put together.

A sub 6 hour 6 inch is a 6 foot qualifer, so very pleasing to get that.
Heaps!!!!!!!!!!! of highlights see link at top of this post.
Photos coming soon. There is lots of facebook already....

Friday;
Ran 8km in 43min 20secs. HR 159 at end. @ 5min 25 per Km average pace.
4km splits 21.54 / 21.26 (a negative split so sort of a cross between a tempo and an easy run).
1km splits; 5.22/5.50’s x 2 / 4.52/ 4.47/5.35’s x 2 /5.28.
Felt pretty unwell in the last 24 hours (runny nose/sneezing), and RHR very nhigh today at 48, after 40-43 earlier in the week, so this run was an attempt to try and sweat out some of the yucky stuff, and/or just get me feeling better in general. As such started out jogging very slowly, and then trying to build into some rhythm on the easy downhill in the first 1km. Pretty slow at 5.22 compared to the 4.28 and 4.33 first 1k splits on my first 2 attempts at this hilly street circuit last month. Started to feel better about 3k into it, which coincided nicely with the flat section, and resulted in a 4.52 and a 4.47 (but not really at the same level as the 4.10-4.46 stuff I did the last 2 times)…Not feeling well, and no desire to attack hard today for various reasons, so coasted through the rest of it at about 5.30 per KM, and the lack of attack on the last uphill Km shows with the very low finishing heart rate of 159. felt better for a few hours after that, before feeling sick again in the afternoon. Need to shake this out of my system with Gods help if I am to race 6 inch well, in fact today, I have doubts about even starting the race, but at this stage I am still going to go for it, and the fact I can run under 5.30 per K at such low intensity oin a hilly course is a good sign…
So what do I take out of this. A good solid easy run, that should help me get to the start line in good condition if I am not too sick…we shall see…If nothing else a good conditioning maintenance run…

Thats 54km for this week, (including the 46km trails race so equivalent to about a 60km-65km week of road running?) or a better measure; 393 minutes of running.

When I can shake this sickness (God willing) I have something to build my 6 foot prep off, and start my track racing this summer in earnest I hope. Extremely happy with the big 6 inch PB in trying circumstances, Car insurance hassles still ongoing almost 2 months later, demanding but much better new job. Kathryn my wife did a good job of looking after the kids while I was running 6 inch. So a lot of positives to work with...

On waitlist and 32 second 200m in 22.43 5000m race

I missed out on confirmed entry to 6 foot (45km in the Blue Mountains) in the 5 minute window of opportunity by 1-4 minutes, but am on the waitlist, so hopefully will get a start.

Ran 5000m in 22.43 @ 4.32 per Km HR 180 at end.
2.5k splits; 11.12 / 11.32
Full results should be HERE soon.
Hit the front at 200m with a 32 second first 200m, which is my fastest 200m I think for a long time, but this is a fast track, and I had a lot!!!! of nervous adrenalin racing against the best of the best, plus we had a tailwind in the front straight, which of course meant a stiff headwind in the back straight every lap. Was not really feeling ready to race, but keen to get a hitout on the board as my last chance for a 5k race this year, and wanted a base marker race to try and improve off in 2011…
600m-2.10 1km 4.00 2k 8.38? 3k 13.32? 4k 18.22?
so 1k splits;4.00/ 4.38 /4.54 /4.50 /4.22
Struggled with the headwind and running wide into lane 2/3 a lot to let these 14-17 minute speedsters (although Nathan Doig decided not to race) get a free run on the inside. In my last 1km I was able to use the slower 18-19 minute runners (only 2 of those I think where are the C and D graders!???, guess I was the only one…) to feed off for some pace surges, to help me get under the 23 minute barrier and finish off the last 1k in a solid 4.22, a bit better than the pathetic efforts from 2k to 4k…So overall a good run, a solid hitout, mission accomplished.

Is 37 seconds off my seasons best of 22.06 (track PB is 21.49 and road PB is 21.04 (although I splitted 19.32 in 1998 on my way to the 41.01 10k PB, and I think I ran under 20 minutes in a 5k school crosscountry in the 1980’s but not sure on that one) but I just wasnt ready to attack that this time after a tough 2 weeks trying to adjust to new job, and struggling to pay bills with not much income coming in for a few weeks until the 23rd December when I get my first pay in the new job. If I can get the payout on my old car this week, will be ok, but until I can finally get the insurance company to cough up its a nervous tricky time again financially…

Was an awesome night hanging out with Dave, BBC, Adam, Graeme etc, and even saying hello to some of the big guns, the legends like Cody and Todd (good to see this superstar marathoner is still there amongst the best about 20 years later), plus saw Wayne and Kylie there too, who I remember well from many years ago. Afterwards did a few warm down laps of this scintillating precinct, this athletes super stadium mecca, with Dave and BBC , we even did a few laps barefoot, the grass surface is in such good condition there…I didnt run in spikes but I might get them out if I line up for a 1500m…So an awesome night, just have a lot! of work to do on my time to be competitive enough to avoid being last place by several minutes…Got lapped 3-4 times as expected. May rock up for the 1500m next week, but its probably better I spend a few weeks going after the track training before hopefully better times in January, but first there is a 6 inch 46km offroad to deal with on December 19th, and hopefully a successful negotiation of the 6 foot wait-list to confirmed entrant status. So a reasonably good run, but a long way from where I want to be, and a bit outside my seasons best on a wonderful night…

105 second 12k course PB is reassurance

Its been exactly one year since I did this 12k course. To beat my PB time from that by 1min 45 seconds is reassurance to me that I am on the right track and its still game on for a 6 inch PB in 2 weeks. November has been my equal best month for long runs along with August this year which is another indicator things are on track. Also my weight dipped down to 78.2kg on Saturday and the resting heart rate is still hitting sub 40bpm. All of this suggests my 6 inch PB plans are intact. some worrying left hip soreness in the last few days, but hopefully just a minor niggle that will disappear soon. so its go,go, go!!!

Sunday 5th December;
Ran/jogged/walked 15.25km of roads, trails and 2 laps of local oval in 2hours 6min01secs. HR about 120.
Probably one of the slowest “long runs” Ive ever done, due mainly to the number of walk breaks I took, and also the very low intensity jogging instead of fast running. Had specific purposes in mind for this session; 1. time on my feet, wanted to get another 2 hours on the board to consolidate the long run strength I have from the last month or two, with out too much intensity so as to ensure my taper for 6 inch is not compromised by too much high intensity longer runs too close to raceday. 2. a bit of heat acclimitisation (spelling) for the last few hours of 6 inch, with long sleeve top on over shirt was able to get a bit of a sweat up at some parts of this run. (not very successful as temperature only 23 degrees and humidity 30-50%, so maybe try again next weekend with some forecast of 33-35 degrees, taking only one drink simulated that dehydrated feeling you get though…) 3. weight loss via increased mileage, hoping this run will help me to get the weight back into the 77kg zone…4. training volume targets…I am 40 minutes behind my 2009 training volume at the same time last year so on track to overtake that in the next few weeks hopefully. 5. just get another decent run in this week.

So a slow!!! one, but I think mission accomplished for today, and that puts this weeks training into the satisfactory mode…....just...so am happy.

Saturday 4th December;
Ran 12km in 57min 30secs. HR 180 at end. Splits 27.13 / 30.17.
weight 78.2kg before, 78.0kg afterwards (i’d drunk 600ml of staminade and about a litre of water by the time I weighed myself, did not take any drinks on this run, as keen to attack hard and not get distracted by carrying drinks.)

Big course PB by 1min 45 secs on what I did exactly 12 months ago. Completely smashed myself in this timetrial. Went out very hard, and I could see from my early splits I was well on track to obliterate the 59.15 PB from last year on this hard tough course which starts with 3km of steep long uphills and downhills and finishes with the same. Almost 2 minutes ahead of my 29.09 split last year at the 6km mark with my 27.13, so even with the hilly section in the first 3km was holding onto about 4.30 per K or quicker in the first 6km…, (which I’d guess is equivalent to about 4.15-4.25 per K on the flat for 6km)…so by the time I got to about 8km I was in desperate want of a drink, and was finding it very hard not to drop to a jog, and in fact even took a 20 second walk break on the first of 4 big steep hills in the last 3-4km, (75m of ascent and descent ranging from 1% to 5% steepness according to mapmyrun.com) to try and get back some intensity. Really struggled to hold it together in the last 3-4km, and about 5min 10 per Km was about all I could find on these hills. Heart rate was only 180 beats per minute at the end, simply because the legs were sooo gone I had nothing left to kick with on the last steep hill at the finish.
Overall a good effort, very pleased I was able to not just achieve my target of smashing the 59.15 course PB from last year (4th December 2009), but do it by almost 2 minutes. This run gives me some confidence that my conditioning is hanging in there well enough for me to PB at 6 inch again this year, and maybe even shatter the 6 hour barrier. Still time to work some hill reps, and trackwork, plus try and up the training volume in the next 10 days or so, but no more big 3-4 hour long runs now, as I’m tapering for the 6 inch 46km trails race on December 19th. Thanks God for a very good hitout. On with the show, and maybe a return to the track in the 5000m on Friday night the 10th December hopefully.

Friday 3rd December;
PM;
Ran 6.18km (according to my mapmyrun.com measuring efforts) in 40min 15 Hr 126! at end.
Easy recovery run after 4 tough days adjusting to new job, and the 3.5k tempoish run in the AnteMeridian (AM is latin for “before midday”)…
Just exploring the hilly roads and trails around our suburb, trying to destress a bit after driving 230km like a maniac all over the Perth metro during the day which is my new modus operandi now as a courier driver. Some left hip lateral soreness and right calf soreness beforehand, but not bothering me while running…A good recovery run, which had me ready to go hard again the next day…
AM;
Ran 3.5km in 17min 09secs on oval. HR 168 slowish Tempo run.
700m splits; 3.24/ 3.35/ 3.23/ 3.36/ 3.11
Trying to get back on track after a tough week settling into an exciting, exhilerating but demanding new job which I am very much enjoying, but is a lot harder than my previous work, in terms of hours per day, and constant pressure throughout the day....but thast what I wanted, wasn't getting enough work to do in my old job... Pleasing to kick home ok with the 3.11 on the last lap more than 10 seconds quicker than the other 4 laps. Not feeling very well, and didn’t feel like running at all, but glad I forced myself out there…A bit pathetically slow, but sometimes you have to do these rubbishy runs to keep the momentum ticking over so you can do the good runs better. Had trouble with sprinklers to dodge on the first 3 laps, and also a dog decided he wanted to chase and say hello…which stopped me briefly on one lap…dogs don’t always understand you want to keep running…

So overall a pretty solid 37km or so in the last 3 days of the week spread over 4 sessions gives me 240min+ for the week which means I hit my satisfactory training volume (a more sophisticated way of doing things than just tracking mileage, and also a far more powerful training tool in my opinion) target of 240minutes this week. Have not had too many 360min weeks yet this year (the next target in my training volume system, and the extremely good target of 600minutes for the week, has been well out of my reach for many years except when I do an ultra race, but hopefully thats about to change as I attempt to ramp up training volume significantly this summer...The 12k run a mini-breakthrough session for me. The other sessions were so-so but achieved the purposes of keeping the momentum forward instead of backwards despite a very tough week settling into new job....Game on for 6 inch now!!!, and hopefully that track 5000m race at WA athletics stadium this Friday! 6 foot entry on wednesday to negotiate, and be interesting to see how Roberto Busi goes in the Zatopek 10k this Thursday! (he broke the record at the John Gilmour 10k with a 30.22 last month)...GO GO GO!!!!