Monthly Archives: October 2014

2014 Zatopek Week 4

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The good news this week is that the calf hasn’t been a problem and I got a full week of running in. I didn’t lose too much fitness with the 10 day calf issue but I still have work to do to get back to full fitness. Noosa Bolt 5k next week will give me a good idea of where I am…

Monday – 10 miles back from work at 6.20/mile. No pain in calf (10)

Tuesday – skipped AM run just to be cautious

PM – 2 x 6 x Dobroyd hills with group. Set 1 was 1.51-1.53. Set 2 was 1.51-1.54, but clearly switched off on the penultimate one with a 1.56. Didn’t sprint the last one too hard so as not to get on toes too much. (11)

Wednesday – Physio session in AM with some dry needling and 90 mins after work at 6.20/mile. That needling really made the calves sore but was fine when I was running (14)

Thursday – AM – 43mins easy. (6)

PM – 10miles home from work with 2 mile tempo (10)

Friday – Pilates in AM 40 mins easy (6)

Saturday – 3.1k loop, 6 x Long hills. Loop in 9.30, 5 mins recovery then hills in 97secs down to 91secs for last one. Was in the mix with the group for most of it. (11)

PM – 43mins easy in the Blue Mountains. Hot day! (6)

Sunday – 2hr15 on a very hot Sydney day. My longest run for about 3-4 months and chose the hottest day in ages for it…. I got it done but felt pretty awful afterwards. Average 6.19/mile and was under 6 min miling for last 8 miles or so (22)

96 miles. A good week, and no calf problems. Got a couple decent sessions in, as well as a good long run. Not sure how Noosa 5k will go next week – I’m definitely lacking in speed so I may well find it tough!

2014 Zatopek Week 3 with Trail Race debut!

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This week was largely about getting rid of this calf injury and building up the running again. I was pleased it healed very suddenly towards the end of the week and I could do the trail run on Sunday – albeit only the 20km, and not the 30km option I had initially intended to do. Hopefully now I can push on and train properly again!

Monday – 35 mins easy. Calf wasn’t too sore, but uncomfortable. Probably a 3-4/10 on the pain scale but was starting to get slightly worse towards the end.

Tuesday – REST. Gave the calf another day to recover.

Wednesday – 35 mins easy. A slight improvement on Monday. Didn’t get worse as run went on. 3/10 for pain.

Thursday – 35 mins easy to compare to yesterday. Exactly the same, so not getting worse.

Friday – 45mins easy. No pain! All of a sudden it seems to have pretty much disappeared. Could even run close to 6min miling towards the end feeling fine.

Saturday – 65mins steady. Zero pain again. Excellent!

Sunday – Botany Bay 20km. Amelia was running this race so I thought I’d do it as my Sunday run, which I was going to try 90mins for today anyway. Initially I would have done the 30km run, but with the calf issue I scaled it back. The run starts out and back along the beach and I let a few go as I eased into the run, and I ran at about 6min milling so wasn’t anything that would hurt the calf. After 8km or so I was at the front with one other guy, and we ascended onto the sandy narrow trails, and some slightly rocky sections on the coast. The running was quite slow

Running along the Sandy Trails of Botany Bay!

Running along the Sandy Trails of Botany Bay!

along here, as it was so narrow, and slightly uneven underfoot. There was a pretty tough section up a sand dune but after that it was pretty good going. I didn’t push the pace and just focussed on following the pink tape in the bushes, which wasn’t always easy to spot! I got a bit of a gap as the race went on, but lost almost all of it as I followed someone from the 30km race which started before me who had gone the wrong way right at the end of the loop and so I actually ran straight past the finish line! I think I did an extra 800m or so but managed to just finish in front, gaining $200 for a narrow 20 second victory. The calf gave me no problems at all which is the important thing and Amelia outsprinted an old man which was exciting to watch!

Weekly mileage: 55 miles. Time to crack on!

2014 Zatopek 10k Week 2

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Hi all,

Just a training update for last week, and annoyingly an injury update…. I seem to have tweaked my soleus and am having to have a few down days to let it recover. I was doing my usual run on Thursday, accelerated from 4min per k to a tempo pace and a few strides in it started to hurt. I thought it was fine to continue but when I tried to run the next day, it was pretty painful. Since then I have been resting it until it is largely pain free. Frustrating as I was starting to get close to fitness, but these things happen….

Anyway, this was my running

Monday – 10 miles steady home from work @ 6.25/mile (10)

Tuesday – AM – 38 mins easy at 7.20/mile (5.5)

PM – Dobroyd Park Hill Session. 2 x 6 sets. Averaged Ranged from 1.52-1.54 on 1st set and similar on 2nd set but with a 1.48 final rep. At my best I hover around 1.50-1.51 so not toooo far away. Nipper and Stapo destroyed me on 2nd set. (10)

Wednesday – 90 mins before work. Usually do this in the evening but had to get it done in the morning. (13)

Thursday – AM – 42 mins easy at 7.20/mile (6)

PM – 60 mins with 3k tempo (and a hurty calf…) in 9.37 around the Domain. 15 secs quicker than last week – but wasn’t hammering it. (9.5)

Friday – Physio, then 6 miles easy, and luckily it was only 40 mins as the pain was becoming too much to run on… (5.5)

Saturday – REST 😦 Knew as soon as I got up that I wasn’t running today….

Sunday – REST 😥 Turned up at the run, but while it felt better – it still hurt to run on…

59.5 miles. Annoying to pick up this calf tweak. Get better please stupid calf.

2014 Zatopek 10k Build-up week 1 (sort of….)

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Hello all,

So, I have been doing some running, but haven’t really documented it. Mainly as it’s been a road back to fitness and so it’s just been a case of building up week on week until I can train fully. Also it’s partly because my sessions have been poor and bordering embarrassing so the thought of committing them to paper hasn’t filled me with joy!

Anyway, the aim for the rest of 2014 is a strong run at the Zatopek 10,000m, the event I ran 28.40 at 2 years ago. Before that I will run the Noosa Bolt 5km on the road, and a 3,000m on the track.

I’m going to call this week 1, as it’s the first week I’ve put on the blog, and also because it’s my first ‘full’ week of training.

Monday – 10 miles steady – 65 mins

Tuesday – AM – 5.5 miles easy

PM – Track session: 6 x 800m off lap jog in 95secs. 2.14, 2.18, 2.20, 2.24, 2.27, 2.27. Hmmm. I felt ok at the start but then was having to make up ground on the lap jog and was just getting slower. Pretty poor. (9)

Wednesday – 90 mins steady at 6.20/mile (14)

Thursday – AM – 6 miles easy (7.20/mile)

PM – 10 miles with last 2 miles at tempo (5.10/mile) and 6 x 60m sprints

Friday – 6 miles easy (7.20/mile)

Saturday – AM – Figure of 8 loop in 9.36 (9.15 at 3k), 5 mins recovery, 6 x Long hill – 98, 96, 94, 93, 94, 91. Nipper was 30secs ahead on the loop, but just about hung on on the hills – mainly with Yugi for session. Hit some lactic on the last one. (10)

PM – 6 miles easy

Sunday – 2 hours long run at 6.20 miling. Felt pretty good. Am feeling quite good on the long runs but not so well on the sessions…. (19)

99.5 miles. Reasonable week but am still well behind on sessions. Hoping it will ‘click’ soon.