28 August 2011

Good week

Mon (22 Aug):
9k easy, 4 strides (av 5.15)

Tue (23 Aug):
3k warm up, strides
Tempo Fartlek session
4000m @ 4.13, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.54, 2mins rec
3200m @ 4.08, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.57, 2mins rec
2400m @ 4.09, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.58. 2mins rec
1600m @ 4.04, 3mins rec, 800m @ 3.56
(total quality segments 14.4k averaging 4.07 min/km)
2k cool down
Total 22k in 1.41 (av 4.36)

PM 35mins arc trainer

The plan was to run the long intervals at approx 4.00-4.05 pace and the 800s at 3.50-3.55 pace, but that proved to be a wishful thinking given where I am at! Ended up averaging 4.09 min/km for the long intervals and 3.57 min/km for the 800s. So that's about 5-10 secs/km slower than what I was expecting. One mistake that I did was that I took my drinks a bit too late at about 40mins into the fartlek which made me dehydrated. Cadences were around 190-195 strides per minute for the fast segments, slowing into 180 for the recovery segments.

Wed (24 Aug)
AM weights
PM 13k easy run (av 5.15), mostly on grass

Thu (25 Aug)
7k easy (5.15)

Fri (26 Aug)
3k warm up
Deek Quarters
continuous 8* (400m fast, 200m float) + 200m fast
82 (50), 88 (52), 87 (54), 89 (54), 88 (54), 89 (54), 89 (54), 88 (53), 42
Total 5k continuous in 19:33
3k down

A short, hard session! Averaged 3.40 pace (88seconds) for the 400s, and 4.30 pace (53seconds) for the float 200s. HR was a bit low, average was 173 bpm and only reached a high of 95% Max. Leg turnover was 200 and 190 strides per minute for the 400s and 200s respectively. Good cadence but still think my stride length is still short !!

Sat (27 Aug)
Off (planned). Decided to rest so that I am more energized to do long run tomorrow. Did 20mins core strength session.

Sun (28 Aug)
33k Long Run in 2h37m (av 4.46) consisting of
First 12k in 59mins (av 4.55); home-Canal-Margaret Dr-6th Ave-B Timah Rd
Last 21k in 1h38m (av 4.40) ; Rifle Range Rd out & back plus above

Good weather for a change, humid but at least cooler than normal. Felt pretty good until 26k, then got tired. Running time excluded 10mins of stoppages for traffic lights, buy drinks at 7/11 etc

Total 95k for the week


First time since the injury that I managed to put in a decent training week. Speed hasn't returned yet as evidenced by Tuesday and Friday workouts, but that's the way it is right now. Also, happy to finally do a 30k+ run. Next weekend I am running my first race since Perth DNF, which is the Army Half Marathon. I have only done a couple of workouts post-injury, so I am not too sure what kind of shape that I am in. Since there are only 6 weeks left to Melbourne and the fact that my training has been lousy in recent weeks, I might just train as normal this week and treat the race as a workout.

21 August 2011

Short Week

Mon: off (busy)

Tue: 4k warm up to F1 track, 5*1k intervals (av 3.47) with 1.45 rec, 4*200m (av 40sec), 4k cool down (with last 2k @ marathon effort)

Wed: 8k recovery (av 5.40)

Thu: 8k easy (av 5.28)

Fri: 24k long run (av 5.15)

Sat-Sun: off (travel)

Total 55k for the week

A hectic week, so running became a second priority. Tuesday session was my first interval in about 4 months, and I was pretty pleased with the splits. Friday was supposed to be a 30+k run, but bailed out after 2 hours. I started runnign way too late at 7am and the sun was already burning by then. Running in my area on weekdays is also not conducive due to peak hour traffic. Got shore throat afterwards due to car fumes,

Sling Jr came down with fever again, his school was actually shut for almost a week due to ill students. I will just play it by the ear next week in terms of running.

13 August 2011

Feelin' Better

Mon (8 Aug):
7.5k easy run @ treadmill (av 5.22) - started at 6.00 pace, ended at 4.50 pace

Tue (9Aug):
2k warm up, strides
14k Tempo run in 60mins (4.18)
3k cool down jog
Total 19k (av 4.38)

Today is public holiday and streets were empty, hence I decided to do a long tempo on the roads. The route started/ended at the doorstep of my condo and has some undulations here and there. Completed '1/3 marathon' (14k) in about an hour, excluding 2 very brief stops (less than 1min) at 9k for drinks and at 12k where I struggled to climb the slopes from Elber Rd to Oxley Rise due to fatique. Av pace was 4.18 m in/km but heart rates were on the high side - akin to Threshold effort, further evidenced by a high 186 bpm reached in the last k.



Wed (10 Aug)
7.5k recovery run @ Keppel Island (av 5.26) - light drills

Thu (11 Aug)
13k easy (5.02)
A couple of ks slow along the river, 10 easy laps of Padang grass field with 6 x 25secs strides, last 3k at  moderate pace (4.37) back home .

Fri (12 Aug)
5k easy (5.45) @ treadmill in Mulia Hotel Jakarta

Sat (6 Aug)
28k long run in 2h12m (4.43)

Ran from/to home + 3 loops of Botanic loop which is roughly about 7k (Nassem Rd, Evans Rd, Bukit Timah Rd, Cluny, Holland Rd). Did a wave-style run by alternating easy effort and harder effort.

15mins @ 5.20, 15mins @ 4.15
10mins @ 5.05, 10mins  @ 4.12
5mins @ 5.13, 5mins @ 4.03
15mins @ 5.12, 15mins @ 4.17
10mins @ 5.18, 10mins  @ 4.16
5mins @ 5.13, 5mins @ 3.58
10mins ez

Total 80k for the week

Summary:
Overall, a much better week. It seems my aging body enjoys the new structure of 2 workouts a week. This means that I have 3-4 easy days between workouts for recovery and I think that's exactly what my body needs. I felt much fresher and more energized now. The extra recovery enabled me to make my hard days harder by putting more quality into the two sessions (long tempo + fartlek long run). Plan to do similar structure next week - probably a 90mins midweek session (intervals) and a 2hr+ weekend fartlek long run. Rest of the week will be short slow runs.

My strides rates during Tuesday's tempo was 192 strides per minute (Garmin footpod), Really needs to work on the stride length and midfoot striking (to avoid the braking action of heel strike) to get myself faster.
Only 8 weeks left....

07 August 2011

Doldrum

Mon (1 Aug):
AM 9k easy with strides (av 5.30)
PM 6k (av 5.05) incl 5 x (60secs + 20secs hill repeats)

Tue (2 Aug):
6k easy treadmill (av 5.44)

Wed (3 Aug)
9k (4.50) including 3k tempo @ 4.03

Thu (4 Aug)
12k easy (5.20)

Fri (5 Aug)
6k easy (5.20)

Sat (6 Aug)
26k long run (5.02)

Total 74k for the week

Felt very lethargic for the whole week. For some reasons, my body is rejecting anything faster than easy pace. Tried to do a LT session on Wednesday, but only lasted 3k since I found the effort was too rough for a 'tempo' (couldn't believe that I was runing 40min+ 10k for continuous tempo not long ago). Paces for my easy runs also slowed to mid 5.00s as the body refused to run faster. I am not enjoying my running much at the moment.

The tendon injury is still there and I could feel the aching but it's not painful nor causing me any grief. However, I could feel new niggles here and there, such as in the glutes, groin, and hamstring. It seems my body has 'aged' rapidly in the last year or so. However, unlike a fine red wine, my body is getting worse and weaker with age.

If my training doesn't improve in the next couple of weeks, most likely I will abandon my plan to run Melbourne marathon and maybe just do a 1/2 instead. It is just so scary that I just recovered from injury, and then realized there is only 9 weeks before a marathon !!!! I don't think I will be able to give sufficient time for my body to absorb and to benefit from training in such a short time frame.

In the meantime, I need to continue to keep my head down and tough it out. Let's hope I can shake out the doldrum and have a better luck next week.