Category Archives: Training

Operation 5,000m PB – Week 6

Posted on by
Reply

Well – 1st attempt at breaking my PB and I came close, but fell just short. I finished 9th in the Briggs Classic in 14.12 and to be honest, I never felt I would break my PB, despite coming close in the end. The race started slowly for the lead pack with a 2.53km and I stayed with the pack until about 2.5km where they started to gap me and I found myself leading round the 2nd pack (just like my last race – Zatopek 10km…!). I hit 3km in about 8.33 and so was still within PB touching distance (my PB is 8.30 pace though 3km) and while I tried to pick up the pace, I actually slowed a bit. I rallied reasonably well with a 63 last lap and held off the young bucks behind me (again like Zatopek 10k), but tweaked my hamstring in the final few metres.10924222_632180126909139_2458897362945397810_o

I had one of those moments where you see someone coming back to you (in this case Swede Mike Ekvall) and although sprinting hard already, wondered if I gave it EVERYTHING I could get past him, and indeed, if I really cared about giving it everything. I was coming 10th, and I knew I wasn’t going to get a PB, so what was the harm in cruising in 10th? I got angry with myself for thinking about it, so went all out for the final 30m, and then felt a little ping in my hamstring. That’ll teach me…. At least I beat him though.

1 Brett Robinson 91 VICTORIA 13:43.13
2 David McNeill 86 VICTORIA 13:45.56
3 Ben St Lawrence 81 NSWIS 13:52.51
4 Jack Rayner 95 VICTORIA 13:55.14
5 Mitchel Brown 88 VICTORIA 13:59.73
6 Brenton Rowe 87 AUSTRIA 14:02.50
7 Duer Yoa 89 VICTORIA 14:04.05
8 James Nipperess 90 NEW SOUTH WALES 14:10.10
9 Ben Moreau 81 GREAT BRITAIN 14:12.31
10 Mikke Ekvall 89 SWEDEN 14:12.73
11 Riley Cocks 95 SOUTH AUSTRALIA 14:13.88
12 Stewart McSweyn 95 VICTORIA 14:14.74
13 Nick Wightman 85 VICTORIA 14:15.53
14 Craig Appleby 84 VICTORIA 14:20.97
15 Ethan Heywood 92 WESTERN AUSTRALIA 14:22.66
16 Reilly Shaw 95 VICTORIA 14:24.43
17 Joshua Tedesco 91 WESTERN AUSTRALIA 14:32.93
18 Alan Craigie 83 ACT 14:34.75
19 Dylan Evans 92 NORTH LAUNCESTON 14:41.56
20 Toby Rayner 86 VICTORIA 14:45.29
21 Grant Page 82 NORTHERN SUBURBS 14:58.04
— Michael Marantelli 87 VICTORIA DNF

The training build up:

Monday – PM – 69 mins home from work at 6.45/mile and 132bpm/148max  (10)

Tuesday – AM – 40 mins easy at 7.19/mile at 125bpm/137max (5.5)

PM – Track session – 3 x 2k alternating laps at 64/74 (5.40 per rep if we get it dead on), off 5mins . Felt really comfortable and ended with a 60 and got told off. We shared the pace but reps were 5.48, 5.43, 5.39. 153bpm/188 max. (8.5)

Wednesday – PM – 73 mins very easy with Nipper at 7.21/mile. Nipper always does a good of making me run slow so I choose to run with him on race weeks! 126avr/145max (10)

Thursday – AM – 35 mins jog into work. 7.17/mile and 136bpm/163max (5)

PM – 45mins back home from work again! Put 7mins pick up in at about 5.34/mile and in the 150s HR. (7)

Friday  – 30 mins easy at 7.18/mile and 127bpm/136max (4)

PM – Flew to Hobart.

Saturday – PM – 25 mins easy and some strides. (3.5)

Sunday – 5,000m Briggs Classic – 9th in 14.12. (8)

61.5 miles

Operation 5,000m PB – Week 5

Posted on by
Reply

A good end to Falls Creek and then kept the end of the week steady as we returned to absorb the training load. A wise man called Ben St Lawrence warned against overdoing it when you get back down from Falls and ensure to allow the body to absorb the training. A wiser man called Ken Green already knew that and had given me my training accordingly!

Will taper a bit next week for attempt #1 at my 5k PB!

Monday – AM – 67 mins steady out and back at 6.41/mile. (10.5)

PM – 37 mins easy along Baby Aqueduct at 7.04/mile (5)

Tuesday – AM – 20mins tempo, 5 mins  steady, 10 mins tempo. Did it on the road. Felt so nice to be running on the road again!! Felt pretty good – 5.02/mile pace for 20mins and 4.52/mile for 10mins. (13)

PM – 37mins easy along Baby aqueduct at 6.59/mile (5)

Wednesday – AM – 90 mins and kept it pretty easy and pretty flat.6/43/mile. (13.5)

Thursday – AM – Quarters session. Again! Felt a bit better this week. 15.40 – still slower than week 1 though but have a lot of miles in the legs. (9)

PM – 37 mins along BabAq at 7.05/mile. Last run at Falls Creek! Has been a great block of training. (5)

Friday . PM – 47 mins easy at 7.11/mile. 133 bpm average 146 max – back to using the heart rate monitor. (6.5)

Saturday – AM – 69mins steady at 6.50/mile. 139bpm and 156max (10)

PM – 35mins at 6.40/mile and 131bpm/148max. (5.5)

Sunday – 2 hours steady around Centennial. Held back a bit to make sure I didn’t overdo it. 6.35/mile and 143bpm/165max (19)

103 miles.

Operation 5,000m PB – Week 4 (More Falls Creek)

Posted on by
Reply

Another really good week at Falls – this week is interesting because the sessions and structure don’t change week to week. So you can see if you’re adapting to the altitude, and also assess the effects of extra runs, on hilly terrain, and more intense sessions. We had an excursion to Bright on Friday to sample the delights of the Brewery which was a nice break. The Stubborn Russian Porter at 8.9% is one to try. Once.

I had a great Tuesday session, and a tired Thursday session, but did some beautiful runs along the peaks and also another really solid long run with Yugi, so a positive week. Despite a horrible blister that put a dampener on things….

Monday – AM – 70 mins steady out and back at 6.41/mile. Felt pretty good (10.5)

PM – 36 mins easy along Baby Aqueduct at 6.54/mile (5)

Tuesday – AM – Mona fartlek. 4.0 miles at 5.00/mile. Felt pretty good today – 145m further than last week, so some good altitude adaptation. About 70m behind Nipper. Then doe 5 mins of 60m hard/60m float. (11)

PM – 37mins easy along Baby aqueduct at 7.10/mile (5)

Wednesday – AM – 1hr41 up Mount Spion and back. 6.58/mile. This was a tough run. 530m of elevation and pretty rocky and uneven underfoot. Some amazing views though. Worth doing. Once. (14.5)

IMG_0733

We made it to the top!

Views from Spion - pretty!

Views from Spion – pretty!

Thursday – AM – Quarters session. And my first tired day! I was well overdue one so not overly worried. My resting Heart rate was 47bpm vs the 42 or so it’s been up here so I

More topless trail running!

More topless trail running!

was ready for it. I ran 15.44 – one of the few people who was slower than last week… The leaders ran 15.00, Josh was 15.30. Yugi just ahead, Carter just behind me.  (9)

PM – 37 mins along BabAq at 7.12/mile (5)

Friday – AM – 72mins water hut run. Felt much better today. resting HR back down to 42! (10.5)

Saturday – AM – Fitzy’s Hut. This was a bad idea. It had rained all night and the trails were full of puddles and the rocks were slippy. I was 2 mins slower than last week, mainly down to trying to keep my footing and get through it without injury. Kelly sprained an ankle and I tore my blister (inflicted by this run last week!) in a very painful way. I had to miss the pm run as a result.. (10.5)

Hurty blister

Hurty blister

Sunday – 2hours 15 on the same route as last week. Luc, Kelly and Ben St got moving at 4min ks and under pretty early on. My blister was AGONY on anything stony on a camber but I could run on it. We clipped along pretty well and I felt good. 6.10/mile. (22)

102 miles.

Operation 5,000m PB – Week 3 (Falls Creek)

Posted on by
Reply

Well this is the first full week up at Falls Creek, and the running is awesome. Beautiful trails, varied routes, and always a group of guys to run with. This gives it a good mix of social and competitive and also really helps distract you from the tough training! I’m really enjoying the extra recovery and the 9.30am leisurely starts and this is definitely helping me get some extra miles in. With this in mind, I’ve added in a few extra easy runs I wouldn’t normally do, to boost the mileage a bit.

Undoubtedly the running is pretty tough too. I’ve done 2 runs this week with ridiculously steep hills in and the terrain is always a little bit cross-country which works your core and feet as well as slowing you down on the faster sessions.

**If you want to read a non-runner’s perspective on Falls Creek, then you can read my wife’s blog here!**

Add in 1,500m of altitude and you have some tough training!

Monday – AM – 67 mins steady out and back at 6.39/mile. Felt pretty good (10)

PM – 37 mins easy along Baby Aqueduct at 7.18/mile (5)

Tuesday – AM – Mona fartlek. 3.9 miles at 5.07/mile. Behind Nipper and Josh but felt ok. Then did 1 mile of 50m hard/50m float. Sort of a baby Mona. (11)

PM – 36mins easy along Baby aqueduct at 7.05/mile (5)

Wednesday – AM – 90 mins at 6.44/mile. Really this was 7k hard up a mountain that got gradually steeper and steeper. I don’t think I’ve breathed this hard for ages as there is a bit of competition about getting to the top first and I really felt the altitude! I got to the top first though after 29.25 of pure uphill. Then we cruised back down. (13.5)

PM – 37 mins along BabAq at 7.06/mile (5)

Thursday – AM – Quarters session/race. I thought this would be chaos along a dual trail where you turn back every 600m but it worked out ok. There were a few casualties from New Years Eve which probably aided my finishing position of 4th – Nipper, Dave McNeill, Ben St Lawrence, then me. 15.37 for the 4.8km which apparently is solid. Nipper ran 15.03. (9)

10438942_10152554322668148_7499135191463235645_n

Quarters – trying not to fall down the ravine

PM – 37 mins along BabAq at 7.12/mile (5)

Friday – AM – Water hut run. This was a really pretty run and felt pretty good. Kept it relaxed at 6.47/mile (10)

Saturday – AM – Fitzy’s Hut. Jesus, this was hard. We ran steady for 30mins, then smacked it up a mile long hill (100m elevation in a mile), then you just carry on running hard along a rocky plateau, with wind in your face and uneven terrain. Then you fly down a hill and finish back along the road. We lost Kelly and Dave who went wrong immediate and

Fitzy’s Hut. We run around it.

added 5km down a HUGE hill before they realised what was going on. Again I was breathing like a suffocating trout at the top of the hill and had blurry vision. Ben St Lawrence took off and Brett and Yugi went past me also. I rallied a bit later on but was 1 min behind Ben and 20secs behind Brett and Yugi. 61.05 for the full 10.5 miles. The strava route is here. My feet were so tired from just trying to stay upright on the bumpy ground. (10.5)

PM – You guessed it – 37 mins along BabAq at 7.08/mile (5)

Sunday – Long run. Really ramped up the 2nd half as I felt quite good and wanted to catch Nipper who had got 1-2mins ahead, due to another ill-timed toilet stop (must underhydrate next time). Yugi then caught us both and I picked up the final 20mins a bit more as I thought I may as well make it a big effort while I was feeling good. Strava link here but last 10km was 35.30 ish. 6.14/mile (21.5)

111 miles.

Operation 5,000m PB – Week 2 (Christmas)

Posted on by
Reply

A slightly easier few days leading into Falls Creek. As per usual I hated life on the Dobroyd Hills sesson and Christmas with the Hanslows was, indulgent. However, I’ve now got 3 weeks of tough running at Falls Creek ahead of me and fell pretty good going into it. The Falls Creek Long run was awesome and I felt really good.

Monday – 66 mins steady home from work at 6.31/mile (10)

Tuesday – AM – 35 mins easy (5.5)

PM – Dobroyd Hills session – 2 x 6 sets of hills. Felt pretty crap. Ranged from 1.54-157 in 1st set and 1.53-1.58 in 2nd set. Was massively humid but I always just find this session a struggle! (10)

Wednesday – 90mins easy with Nipper in the morning. Kept it easy at 7.00/mile (13)

Thursday – AM – 78 mins in the Blue Mountains – Xmas Day run! 7.06/mile and prettttty hilly. (11)

Friday –  AM – 40 mins easy in the Blue Mountains at 6.54/mile (6)

PM – 40 mins easy at 6.47/mile (6)

Saturday – AM  – Travelled to Falls Creek

PM – 60 mins steady along the aqueduct at 6.42/mile (9)

Sunday – 2.15 long run at 6.24/mile. Really beautiful run in Falls Creek and felt really good. Nice doing a long run with no humidity! (21)

Pretty Valley at Falls creek – Long Run territory!

91.5 miles.

Operation 5,000m PB – Week 1

Posted on by
2

Well now that Zatopek is out of the way I’m trying to place what my next real focus is. I want to try and give my week’s training some context so you lot can tell what I’m building up to and see blocks of training that relate to something. With no marathons planned until the 2nd half of next year, I guess my next focus is trying to address my 5,000m PB in late Jan. Compared to my other PBs, it’s a bit soft at 14.09, and I’ve actually run a quarters session that would have been well inside it had I run any faster than a 41 last 200m, which I’m sure I could have done!

I’d like to go sub 14, and there are a few PBs in our group around the 13.55-13.58 mark that would be good to take down. I’ll need to move up another notch but if I can get some good weeks in now I believe I can do it. So that’s my focus for the next 6 weeks.

1653642_780932431935442_112604765_n

A rare track foray – but something I need more of.

Monday – 90 mins brisk at 6.21/mile with Dave Byrne. As per usual recently, straight after a race I feel a lot better! (14)

Tuesday – AM – 35 mins easy (5.5)

PM – 80 mins easier than yesterday at 6.40/mile (12)

Wednesday – 90mins steady at 6.26/mile (14)

Thursday – AM – 45 mins easy at 6.55/mile (6.5)

PM – 66 mins steady at 6.36/mile (10)

Friday – 35 mins easy (5.5)

Saturday – AM – Mona fartlek around Centennial Park. 4.10 miles (4.53/mile average). Felt pretty good and was about 50m behind Nipper and just behind Josh. (9)

PM – 44 mins easy (6.5)

Sunday – 2.15 long run at 6.25/mile. Pretty humid day again but felt pretty good. Was up the front of the group with Nipper. (21)

104 miles. Threw in a few longer runs seeing as there weren’t many sessions this week. Felt pretty good and my Mona fartlek at the end of the week was much better. Especially considering the work Xmas party the night before (I bailed early though).

Zatopek Week 10 – week before race

Posted on by
Reply

Not much to say about this week – one hard session and easy running around it. Feeling pretty good for the race next week, but I’m not in PB shape I think.

Monday – 65 mins home from work at 6.29/mile (10)

Tuesday – AM – 38 mins easy (5.5)

PM – Quarters Track session – 14.04. Decent effort. Went out a bit hard in 65s and paid for it but still an improvement – was VERY humid. (9)

Wednesday – 79 mins steady at 7.11/mile. Kept it very easy. (11)

Thursday – AM – 38 mins easy (5.5)

PM – 64 mins steady with 7 mins pick-up at 3.20/km or so. (9.5)

Friday – 34 mins easy at 7.03/mile (5)

Saturday – AM – 71 mins easy at 6.59/mile and 133bpm average (10)

PM – 36 mins easy at 7.11/mile and 132bpm average (5)

Sunday – 91 mins easy/steady at 6.51/mile. Held back and ran easy with Zatopek next week. (13.5)

83.5 miles. Feeling pretty good going into Zatopek next week.

Zatopek 2014 – Race Report

Posted on by
1

Firstly, I’m sorry about the tardiness of this blog. It’s been a very hectic few weeks that I haven’t had the time. It’s at times like this I realise what benefits being a professional athlete would give me: time to blog. I guess another contributing factor was that my race was a bit ‘meh’. I mean it wasn’t awful – and signs of improvements were there – but it’s impossible not to compare it to the same event 2 years prior where I ran 50 seconds faster.

Anyway, the race. I was prepared to be caught in two minds early on in this race. Mind 1 was to go out with the lead group, and perhaps suffer the harsh pace I wasn’t in the shape to go with. Mind 2 was sit in the 2nd group, and feel like I was being a bit soft, but probably a better reflection of my form. So as I expected, I got caught between the 2 for the first 3k. The pace of the lead group quickly felt a bit uncomfortable and so I was basically waiting for group 2 to catch me up so I wasn’t too exposed.

2 laps in

2 laps in

The pace shouldn’t have felt too hot at the front though – I went through 3k in about 8.50 and at that stage didn’t think I’d even break 30mins. I didn’t feel good at all. When the 2nd group caught me I let training partner Brad Milosevic lead for a few laps so I could sit in and regroup. We hit 5k in about 14.50 and I felt a bit better, but the pace was slowing. I shared a few laps, and then Brad also did. No-one else in the group showed any inclination to do any work at all. You know who you are…

I felt bad for Brad doing the pacing – and he had more chance of a PB than me so I took to the front with 7 laps to go and tried to push things on a bit. I was actually starting to feel a bit better and the pace picked up from 71/72s to 69-70s. With 2k to go I was starting to get a gap on the group behind me and had a couple casualties from the lead group to chase. My 24th lap was a 66, but still had about 3 guys within a few secs of me, including Steve Dineen who I had just overtaken. A 64 last lap held them off and I finished in 8th in 29.30.

Given how I felt at 5k, this wasn’t a bad result. I was hoping for 29.15ish so I wasn’t too far away, so I guess I’m happyish with the race, just not too happy with my general shape at the moment.

It was great to see another training partner James Nipperess execute on his good training form and pop out a 28.54.

Zatopek 2014 Results

Zatopek Week 9 – Good Sessions, some Theatre, busy work week

Posted on by
Reply

The last full week before Zatopek and it’s starting to come together a bit. Sessions were decent again. Had a pretty tough work week also with 2 days of all day training, which meant some early starts but no real problems.

Cyrano De Bergerac

Other highlights this week were 2 trips to the theatre to see Switzerland and Cyrano de Bergerac. This makes me sound very cultured so I am writing about it so you get that perception of me. The backstory is that myself and Amelia get a season ticket to the Sydney Theatre Company each year which includes 6 plays and we had 2 this week. You sort it at the start of every year then just go to the plays when they come round. Most of the ones we’ve seen have been good, although Waiting for Godot tested my patience…

Anyway, here’s the running I did this week:

Monday – 66 mins home from work at 6.37/mile. Felt reasonable (10)

Tuesday – AM – 38 mins easy at 7.01/mile and 136 bpm (5.5)

PM – 3 x (4 laps @ 72s, lap in 1.45, 2 laps hard) off 5mins. 4.45, 2.09; 4.48, 2.08; 4.46, 2.05. I was pleased I could do each final 800 faster each time – didn’t think I had much more after the first one. Shared efforts with Yugi – Nipper a few secs ahead on the 800s.  (10)

Wednesday – 91 mins easy/steady. Had to do in the morning again as has an all day work training programme with ‘bonding’ drinks afterwards. 7.07/mile (13)

Thursday – AM – 39 mins easy into work at 7.11/mile (5.5)

PM – 10 miler home from work with 10min pick-up (5.25/mile) around the Domain.  143bpm and 6.14/mile (10)

Friday – AM – Pilates.

PM – 42 mins easy at 6.58/mile and 132bpm – (6)

Saturday – AM – 6 x Long Hill/Short Hill. Didn’t time the hills but 25.53 for full 6 sets with jogs. Was better than a few weeks ago – just behind Nipper (10)

PM- 46 mins easy at 7.21/mile. Had a nap and felt veeeery sluggish when I woke up! (6.5)

Sunday – 1.48 long run at 6.42/mile and 142bpm average. Glad it was only a shorter one – felt a bit battered by hills! (16)

92.5 miles. Decent sessions again – I should be at least coming into Zatopek on the up!

Zatopek Week 8 – Sessions of the Greats will make me Great. Maybe

Posted on by
Reply

Gammoudi beating “Pre”

This week was a tough one – 3 hard sessions crammed in and two which mimicked legends of the past – one is Mohammed Gammoudi who won the Gold in the 5000m at the ’68 Olympics. He would apparently do sessions where he started quite slow and ramped up and up through a rep of 3k or so. The session is tough as trying to run fast off about 10k pace, in a long rep, is pretty challenging, but great race simulation.

Steve with hair

The other was the classic Mona fartlek – a staple of Steve Moneghetti – an Australian marathon icon. For anyone that doesn’t know this session, it’s a 20 minute continuous effort with subtle pace changes over shortening time periods starting at 90secs on/off and ending at 30sec on/off efforts. It simulates surging mid race and pushes up your aerobic threshold as you practise a slight surge and then settling into a pace that is still pretty quick. This session is as hard as you make it really, so a good one in a hard week.

A tiring week but more progress.

Monday – 66 mins home from work at 6.33/mile. Felt pretty good (10)

Tuesday – AM – 36 mins easy at 7.05/mile (5.5)

PM – “Gammoudi’ session. This is 3 sets of 6 laps of the track at 80,80,70,70,2 laps fast. 5 mins between sets. I’d never done this before and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. 7.12 (2.12), 7.12 (2.09), 7.10 (2.09). A decent session again. (10)

Wednesday – AM – 87 mins easy/steady. Another AM Wednesday – these are supposed to be evenings really but circumstance dictated an early start. 6.52/mile. Felt pretty dead. (13)

Thursday – AM – 37 mins easy into work. (5.5)

PM – Dobroyd Hills – 2 x 6 x hill off 5mins. This felt awful. I don’t know if it was Tuesday in my legs, or the shock of 2 sessions in 3 days or what, but I knew from rep 1 this was going to be a struggle. Ranged 1.53-1.57, which reflects this! A few others also struggled. (11)

Friday – AM – Pilates.

PM – 56 mins easy at 7.14/mile – (8)

Saturday – AM – Mona fartlek – 4.03 miles in 20mins. Yugi and Nipper got away in 2nd half but a decent session at the end of a tired week. (9.5)

Sunday – 2.15 long run. Started early to try and beat the heat but it still bit! Last 30 mins was a struggle. 6.25/mile. (21)

93.5 miles. Another solid week and an improvement bar the tiredness!