Did three laps of Centennial Park with Greg and then another run along the cliffs. Am almost at 100km for the week.

B: 92km – R: 4.4km – S: 1000m

Got this week off to a good start. Did a couple of laps of Centennial Park as part of the commute home, then went for a run once I made it home. The run is along the cliffs, passing Australia’s first Lighthouse, and sure beats trudging through the streets of Canberra! Maybe that’s why the run felt reasonably good today, or it could have been the fact that my legs were well warmed up after the 21km cycle home.

I’ve just rung the Cook & Phillip Pool to see if they have lap swimming in the morning and they do, starting from 6am. If I can get up around 7, then I’ll cycle in and have a small swim. It’s about time I got back in the water.

B: 31km – R: 2.2km

Went for another run last night. Same as last time, 5min walk, 5min run, twice. It’s surprisingly taxing on my lungs. I was breathing quite heavily after the 5mins, whereas I was fine all during the 1hr 17min bike ride on Tuesday even though I was moving at a pretty quick pace. I also don’t remember being this out of breath while running on the treadmill before. Maybe it’s something to do with running outside. Maybe I’m running too fast since I’ve no way of guaging my speed. It feels like I’m just going fast enough to ‘run’ as distinct from ‘loping from side to side’.

B: 33.5km – R: 4.4km

Went for my first run in the real world (rather on a treadmill) tonight. 5mins walk, 5mins run, twice. It felt easy enough on my legs, but was still surprisingly tiring, given that I wasn’t exactly going fast. My legs felt a little sore afterwards, so it’s going to be a long road to get up to 3 30min runs a week. Still, it’s a start.

R: 2.2km

Regular readers (that’s probably just me ;-) will notice that there’s very little exercise being done this week, so let me explain. I’m working in Canberra this week, and since the office is a 10min walk from my hotel, there’s little opportunity to get a big cycle in. Secondly, I’m following a fairly simple training principle: give your body time to adapt. The principle is: do 3 weeks of training, then ease back for a week to let your body consolidate the gains made in those 3 weeks. That’s the best way to avoid injuries & overtraining.

Another injury-free tip is to increase your distance OR your speed by 10% per week, but not your distance AND your speed. So far I haven’t been sticking to this very well:

Jan 12-18: 32km

Jan 19-25: 60km

Jan 16- Feb 1: 85km

R: 3.2km – W: 2 sessions – Row: 1km

Weights: 1 * 12, 1 * 10

R: 5 * 3min @ 6, 10, 10.5, 11, 6kmh

S: 400, 200, 400

Managed a 5:35 for the second 400, which I was happy enough with. Running still feels a bit odd around the knees.

Row: 10min @ 21spm, 2445m

R: 5min @ 6kmh, 5min @ 10kmh

Knees weren’t up o much running tonight.

Last night…

R: 3 * 1km @ 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 8 * 100 on 2:00, Avg: 1.21, 200 easy

Felt good in the pool. Again, wasn’t too crowded so I didn’t have to stop every length. Run was easy enough too, though calves are still a little sore. Had intended getting up for the gym this morning, but I couldn’t get to sleep last night and was just too exhausted when I did wake up.

R: 9km – S: 3200m

Last night:

R: 3 * 1km @ 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 100 – 200 – 300 – 300 – 200 – 100m @ ~1.29 pace

Got a lane to myself in the pool which was a bonus. Didn’t have to slow down behind people or spend ages at the wall waiting for a gap that would allow me to swim more than a length without catching someone. Calves are a bit sore today after the run. Could have over-stretched them, so will probably just do weights tonight.

Back to the gym last night…

R: 3 * 1km @ 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 5 * 200m

Both felt good. The swimming felt a lot better and there might be the beginnings of ‘feel’ coming back.

Last night…

R: 3 * 1km at 10, 10.5 & 11kmh

S: 5 * 200m

Everything was easy enough. The pool was still a little crowded, but not as bad as Tuesday. Ankles and knees a little sore this morning, so will see how things are this arvo. Might skip the run and just do the swim.

R: 3 * 1km at 10, 10.5 & 11kmh.

S: 200m

Easy running this week to get back into the swing of things. Swim was a pain in the arse. Too many people in the pool, and no fast lane. Also too many people thinking they could swim in the “Medium” lane when they should have been nowhere near it. Ended up having to stop behind someone at least once per length, so called it quits. Might have to switch to swimming in the morning, but I’ll see what it’s like tonight first.

Had a bit of a disastrous session at the gym last night. The plan was to do some running, then a bit of a swim. Treadmills were full, so I started off on the elliptical cross trainer. My legs were knackered after 12 mins or so, presumably from weights last night, so switched to a now free treadmill. Ran at 11kmh for about 8mins, but then had to give up as I was too exhausted. Could be anything really, from not stretching enough after weights, to not having eaten/drank enough that day, to taking up smoking temporarily during my weeks holidays. Oh well…

R: 9.5min @ 11kmh, 1min @ 6kmh, 9.5min @ 11.5kmh

Row: 10min @ 2:03.5

S: 250m

I had intended to do more swimming, but was reminded how important it is to stretch properly after a weights session. My arms were still exhausted and very tight after yesterday, so I could hardly swim anywhere.

Up bright an early this morning for another easy half hour down the gym.

R: 3 * (9min @ 10kmh, 1min @ 6kmh) HR:145 Dist: 4.77km

YTD: R: 32.1km, S: 5000m, B: 9km

R: 4 * (9min @ 10.1kmh, 1min @ 6kmh) = 6.42km

S: 300 easy, 6 * 50m on 1:00 (avg: 38), 200 easy

Run felt quite good. I’ve been working on technique and seem to have eliminated the shin splints problem I normally had. Hope to go 5*(9/1) at the weekend.

YTD: R: 27.33km, S: 5000m, B: 9km

Run: 4 * (9min @ 10.1kmh, 1min @ 6kmh) HR: 150

Swim: 800m easy various.

Longest run I’ve done so far. Had to step down to 9mins continuous in order to get around the 30min restriction on the treadmill. However, stepped the pace up to 10.1kmh and didn’t really notice it. I plan on adding 0.1kmh per week, so hopefully by Christmas I’ll be running an hour at 12kmh. Swim was just a warm-down to loosen up after the weekend boarding.

YTD Totals:

Run: 20.91km

Swim: 2600m

Bike: 9km

Run: 2 * (1.75k @ 10kmh, 100m @ 6kmh) + 1.3k @ 10kmh

Swim: 14 * 50 on 1:00 Avg: 41 SPL: 33 → 35

The run was supposed to be 3 sets of 1.75/0.1, which I programmed into the treadmill, but the bloody thing stopped before the end of the last set. Bloody pain in the arse. It also decided that I really meant to run at 1kmh on the second and third 1.75k so I had to correct that as well. In future I’ll just have to do it by hand.

The swim was OK, though I’m still hopeless.

Hit the gym last night and all went well.

Run: 3*(1.5km @ 10kmh, 100m @ 6kmh)

Swim: 10 * 50m on 1:00 (Avg: ~40sec)

Run was OK. I can run for 30mins at 12kmh, but I want to build up to runs longer than 30mins, so I’m taking it pretty easy. It’s hard to hold back at times. As for the swim, that was a disaster. It’s so long since I’ve been swimming fit that it feels all wrong. My arms felt like lead on the last few 50s, and I wasn’t trying to swim fast. There’s a long way to go!