It’s been a couple of weeks since I signed up for the running clinic and things are going pretty well so far. I’ve been running three times a week, anywhere from 6-12km at a time, and the results are starting to show. My cruising pace is now about 5:20/km, which is a step up for me and should mean I have no problem breaking 50mins for the 10K. I’m going to try a run faster on a single run next week, maybe doing 2-3km at 5:00/km pace and see how that feels.

Speaking of racing, I’ve entered the Turkey Trot here in Vancouver, on October 8th, so I’ve 5 weeks left to train. Heading off to Montréal next weekend, for five days holiday with Jacqui and her Mum, will put a dent in the training plan. Maybe I should bring my running gear with me?

I’ve also managed to sort out my running issue which meant that I’d get really sore calves after each run. I’m landing a bit more flat-footed and not so much on my toes, and have stopped pushing off on each stride, instead trying to “peel” my foot off the ground. It’s working so far, even allowing my to run uphill without destroying my calves, though I’ll have to wait and see if it’s going to cause other problems instead. So far, so good anyway.

Last night I signed up for a 10K Running Clinic with The RunningRoom. It was a spur of the moment decision! Jamie, one of the guys in work, runs quite a bit and had recommended these guys, so, although I’d missed the first week, I decided to go for it.

The course costs $75, which is nothing when you consider what you get in return: a technical running shirt, 2 instructor-led runs per week and a weekly talk on a topic related to your training. The talk this week was on shoes, though nutrition and biomechanics will be covered in coming weeks, which I’m looking forward to.

Last night was my night, so I wandered down wondering what I was in store for. All the usual questions: how fast is the group, are they friendly, etc.? The talk on the different types of running shoes was pretty interesting and well presented, with Alex, the shop manager, exhibiting a pair of feet with absolutely zero arches! Talk about flat feet!

I was less than enthusiastic when I found out that the run on the agenda was a 4km time trial. Seeing as how this was the second week of the program, I was being thrown in at the deep end. The idea was to set a time so they could group us into our pace groups, so we were told to run as fast as we could without killing ourselves. We were taken down to the seawall where there are kilometre markers along the run route and one of the instructors was at the 2km mark to provide splits.

There’s about 20 in the group, none of whom I’d met before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We all started together and I hit the front early, a little bit worried that I was setting off too fast. I felt fine though, so just kept going, even though my HRM was telling me that my heart rate was about 20bpm more that it usually is when running – probably the chilli chicken and beer I’d had for lunch – not exactly ideal preparation!

The tentative plan was to stick to a fixed pace until the 3km mark and then pick it up towards the end if I hadn’t spewed in the meantime. I hit the halfway mark in 10:15 feeling a bit out of breath, but nothing serious. At the 3km I still felt OK, so I picked up the pace a little and managed to finish in 20:29, splitting 10:14 for the second half. Even better was that I had beaten everyone else by almost 2mins which was a bit of a surprise – we’ll see how I go once the distance increases though!

So, the journey has begun. Hopefully the fact that I’ve joined a group will force me to be a bit more disciplined in my approach to training. Time will tell…

I’m taking it a bit easier this week in the run up to the Budgie 100 and the Gong Ride this weekend. Did nothing on Monday as I had to bring the car in for a service, so no sysling commute. Ty was up from Canberra on Tuesday so I skipped my swim session and went for lunch with him instead. Cycled in and out yesterday and today, then went for a short run on the way to today’s swim session.

400 FS WU
5 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:22)
3 * 200 FS Pull + Paddles on 3:30 (2:53)
6 * 50 IM Order on 60 (47)
Cramps
Total: 1800m

Got cramps about 40mins into the session, which always seems to happen to me. Obviously not hydrated enough before starting, and the extremely salty water doesn’t help either.

S: 1.8km – B: 33.3km – R: 4km

A good effort this week. Forgot to write as I went along, so here’s a summary.

Bike: Mon AM around the park with Marc, Wed. AM around the park solo, Fri AM to work via La Perouse, again solo. Marc was supposed to come along but baby troubles intervened.

Swim: Tuesday lunch, Mark was in Tasmania and backup coach was a no-show, so did my own thing. Skipped Thurs lunch as was pretty tired.

Run: One run on the way to Tuesday’s swim. Uphill bits buggered my calves. Will have to avoid, or walk them next week.

400 Various WU
2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:23)
2 * 200 FS on 3:10 (2:52)
2 * 300 FS on 4:50 (4:34)
2 * 200 FS on 3:10 (2:55)
2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)
100 Easy
8 * 50 FS Pull w/ Paddles on 50 (42)
Total: 2700m

S: 2.7km – B: 157.6km – R: 4.5km

Got organised today and put last week’s plan in action. Ran to the pool, did the swim and attempted running back. Problem was the pool is so bloody salty that I was on the verge of cramping by the time the session finished, so I only got halfway back to work before having to stop for a stretch and walk the rest of the way! Still, running felt OK so might try and do some more of it.

The session was a good one. No messing about and constantly moving. Racked up a pretty comfortable 3000m with a few minutes to spare. Stroke felt good and 1:25 pace is no trouble, though I still tire rapidly once I pick the pace up beyond that.

500 Free
6 * 50 Free on 55 (40)
3 * 100 FS on 1:50 (1:25)
3 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:25)
3 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)
100 Fast (1:14)
100 Easy
3 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:27)
3 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:28)
3 * 100 FS on 1:50 (1:30)
100 Fast (1:25)
100 Easy
Total: 3000m

S: 3.0km – R: 1.5km

I’d started exercising again this week after yet another unforced layoff. Decided to alternate run and bike days for the forseeable future. Nothing hectic, just get out and do roughly 30mins a day and take it from there.

Went for a run in Centennial Park on Tuesday and it was great. The weather’s getting better as the days get longer, so it was a perfect 21C and great light as the sun started setting. All went well and I was quite enthusiatic about exercise again.

Wednesday saw me head out on the bike for a lap of a slightly hill course around the back streets of Vaucluse. Again, nice temperature and a bit of sun and all was well with the world.

I returned to Centennial yesterday for another run and now it’s all gone pear shaped. The weather was a bit colder due to wind chill, but I did my usual run without issue, only to find my right knee giving me all sorts of trouble last night. Any squat/lunge type of movement causes pain, as the tendon attaching to the lower front of my patella seems to be inflamed. I didn’t do anything stupid, or any obvious trip, so I’m at a loss to explain it.

No more running for a while though ;-(

B: 11.3km – R: 8km

After an abortive return to running the week before last, I finally got going again this week. The weather was crap all last week; rain stopped play as it were, or at least provided a convenient excuse for sitting on the couch eating all those Ferrero Rocher that Jacqui brought home! Couple that with distorted sleeping patterns brought on by World Cup fever and you have a recipe for lethargy.

however, I’ve an adventure race in two weeks so i figured I should really get going again. Went for a short run on Tuesday evening and another on last night, 3.1 and 4.2kms repsectively. Took it nice and easy, just to get back into the flow of things. Today’s a day off, then I’ll try and maintain a two days on, one day off ratio.

R: 7.3km

After a week off, I got back out for a run last night. Straight away it was immediately obvious that I should have done a lot more stretching after the race… ok, I should have done some stretching. I had planned to cruise around for 5km, but decided to call it a day at just under 4km. No need to rush back in to these things.

R: 3.7km

Race day dawned with a mild panic as I realised there were no buses from my place in to town at 6am, so I had to wake Jacqui and get her to give me a lift to North Bondi. I’d arranged to meet Kev in Martin Place at 6.30 before walking over to the start on Hickson Road. By the time we’d done the obligatory trip to the Portaloo, some stretching and dropped off our gear to be picked up after the race, it was almost time to get going and we only had to hang around for 5-10mins.

I lingered in mid-pack, away from the front as I was realistically hoping for a time around 1:55 to 2:00 so there was no point getting in everyone’s way. Kev had moved up closer to the front as he was aiming for a time around the 1:35 mark. The gun went, the crowd surged forward and I was off on the longest run of my life. It felt like I was going backwards as wave after wave of people passed me by, but I knew roughly what pace I should be running at and had resolved to be fairly conservative for the first half of the race. My aim was first to run the whole distance, and second to break the 2 hour mark.

Within the first two kms I was ruing the fact that I hadn’t gone for a quick piss before the start, so I had to hold it until the 5km mark. The first time up the hill at Hunter St. wasn’t too bad, then it was down to Mrs. Macquarie’s chair and a much needed pit-stop. All was well then and I could relax and get on with the race. People were still going past me, but I stuck to my plan. The second hill on the course was up Argyle St. which was easier than Hunter. The 9km marker was at the top, which was great as I knew that it was flat, or slightly downhill, until the finish.

I went through the 10km mark in 55:16 which was right on target. If I hadn’t had a toilet stop it would have been around 53:40 which would have been the fastest 10K I’d ever run. I was still feeling good at this stage so it was time to pick up the pace a little bit. At the 12km mark Kev shouted to me. His hip problem had cropped up again and he was out of the race, but cheered me on as I went past. Niall was out on the course a couple of kms later and I had a quick chat to him as I went up Hunter St. for the last time.

By the time I got to the 15km mark my knees and my right hip flexor were starting to twinge a little bit, but it was nothing serious. I’d less than 6km to go, so I resolved to pick things up again and hold a constant pace until the top of the Argyle St. hill, at which point I’d 2.1km to go and it was all downhill or flat at least. Kev was there to cheer me up Argyle St., and once at the top I knuckled down to finish strongly. By this time I was passing a lot of people who had passed me at the start of the race which helped a lot mentally.

I was feeling pretty tired by this stage, but I still felt way better than I had for the 10km run at the end of the Canberra triathlon so I knew I could push myself harder still. I continued winding up the pace, corssing the line at what felt liek a sprint, but what was probably nowhere naer it. Final time on my watch: 1:52:00.2, or almost three minutes faster than I had hoped to do, so I was pretty happy. I’ll have to wait a couple of days for the official results, so hopefully I get rounded down to 1:51:59 ;-)

I met up with Kev, then headed back to Bondi for breakfast with John, Tom & the guys who’d all been out watching Munster win the European Cup last night, then it was home for a wash, a beer, then in to the Opera Bar to help Malachi celebrate her birthday. My legs are slowly seizing up, but it’s nothing serious and they’ll be back to normal in a day or two. All in all, I’m happy with a good result.

R: 25.1km

I’ve a couple of runs I haven’t written up lately. The first dates back to May 2nd. I went to run in to work and had to stop halfway because my left foot was hurting. I had a bit of a feel to see if it was anything serious, and noticed that it was a pain around the knuckle beside my little toe. I had noticed twinges in it before, and had thought nothing of it, but it flared up a lot that morning so I decided I’d better take some time off and let it clear up. It was probably a result of me doing too much mileage too soon.

I took a week off, then got back into it a little last week. Went for two runs on Wednesday, 3km in the morning and 4.5km that afternoon, then followed that up with 6.3km on Thursday. I had planned to get another longer run in at the weekend, but a poker night with beers on Friday, followed by more beers to watch the FA Cup on Saturday put paid to that. However, given that I won $80 on Friday, and Liverpool won on Saturday I’m pretty happy anyway.