No blogging for over a week reflects my lack of running. It has taken a lot more to shake what turned out to be a sinus & upper respiratory tract infection. I have definitely been missing covering the kilometres out on the trails. Finally on the me…
One of the many infective bugs attacking Melbourne has changed my plans on getting back into training over these two weeks. A ridiculous cough has interrupted most of my sleep and combine this with more than plenty of extra work hours, the time, energy…
After the false training start, I took a few more days off. Ate more food, drank plenty and finished off the last my non-training lifestyle. Even so, I still snuck in a couple of runs. I needed to get my head around what I wanted to achieve in training…
Nearing the end of two weeks downtime I decided I wanted to get back into training. So I picked last Monday to start on a more triathlon orientated program. The basic intent was to build some good conditioning using the different disciplines and intens…
Currently the training plan isn’t really one at all. I’m taking at least two weeks to catch up on other things. In that time I’ll only perform whatever exercise I feel like. So far I haven’t been for a run. Luckily I haven’t come away with any injury o…
Surprisingly there were no moments of stress or doubt over the final pre-race hours. Maybe being at work for the two days lead up provided enough of a distraction. Maybe getting out of bed at 04:30 meant I hadn’t really woken up until race start. My br…
Unofficial gun time.Enough said for now.
The last day before I get up ridiculously early to run a ridiculous distance. Yet I enjoy it. Enjoy it to such an extent that I have spent six months working towards it.I’ve run a good number of races from sprint to ironman distance triathlons, running…
The Melbourne Marathon is aiming to be international level event. They are offering some reasonable prize money, it is host to the National, State and University championships. They are even offering extra support for some athletes. However, I believe …
Unfortunately it doesn’t involve drinking beer.The Australian Institute of Sport provides a fact sheet that summarises the current scientific view and gives some useable examples. This is very similar to how I am approaching. The sample menu is almost …
As with the rest of training, there is an art and science behind a good taper. Interestingly the taper period causes lots of stress, discussion, self doubt and unrealistic expectations. With feelings of being unfit, heavy and flat alternated with some …
The athletics track was the perfect place for the last hard session. 6×1000m run in about 3:45, equivalent to 10km race pace, with 200m float recovery. The great thing about this run is it felt good. The intensity was up, the heart rate was around 90% …
There are only a few days between injury recovery and the official start of my taper. I need to fight the urge to prove myself with a few ridiculously hard training bouts. So instead of pushing my limits and trying to add that little bit of extra fitne…
The acute management has worked. The mixture of increasing training load, with a focus on recovery and remedial exercises in between has worked. I’ve now been predominantly pain free over the last few days of training. Yesterday I was able to complete …
Today was meant to another Coburg Harrier’s Fun Run. The same 12km course I raced last month. It was also meant to be my last race before the marathon. Unfortunately injury has changed those plans.The good news, is my foot is responding as it should to…
After the half marathon on Sunday I was feeling really good. A few general aches and pains, but nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Running felt good the next day except I wondered if there was a little bit of inflammation on the dorsum of my righ…
Sunday’s half marathon was a culmination of eight days worth of training and racing that if I can handle, should see me right for the marathon. Those eight days were a fine example of marathon multipace training.Last Sunday was the Grape Run, 13.2km at…
Apart from a couple of days of recovery for shin splints last week, every day has had a decent level of training. The consistent workload looks to be working. I’m having to keep a close watch on my right shin, as there is a bit of an ache every now and…
It’s a road I have cycled over many times. This will be the first time I’ve run it. There is something appealing about running a point to point course. Even more so when its from a pub to another pub. Leading in to the event it was unclear whether the …
A day after I get asked for some advice on shin splints, I end up having to deal with the problem myself. Really I’m not a fan of the term shin splints, but then the more medical sounding medial tibial stress syndrome doesn’t cut it either. After all, …
Secondary - Aerobic ConditioningI’m slightly confused at the aerobic conditioning runs being ’secondary’. You call these ‘in between’ runs. Are you not planning to have any easy days between the first four sessions (long run, marathon pace, V02, speed/…
This is it. The last chance to mould my mind and body for the marathon.Before I reach the taper I have five calendar weeks of Specific Phase training. These five weeks will be covered as 4 x 8-9 day cycles. Each cycle will consist of the following:Long…
I highly recommend the monthly fun runs put on by the Coburg Harriers each month. I have participated in their various events over all my years of running and they never disapoint. They have found a simple formula that works. Accurate, traffic free cou…
Thankfully this week was scheduled for recovery. After the last 3 cycles of threshold training followed by a big effort in the Sandy Point Half last Sunday, I’ve been wasted all week. The key ingredient for a recovery week is actually recovery. While i…
Any race that uses a picture of myself as promotion makes me think I should compete in it. Wouldn’t want to disappoint the masses.Last year my race slow and cold over the same course. A time of 1:30:20, was disappointing and a kick up the backside to g…
Sprinting is often considered a long way from marathon running. It’s still high class running.
It was meant to a 3 hours and 10 minutes worth of running. Yes it was, very cold. The weater site suggested it was 0.1 degrees Celcius, but the amount of ice on everything suggested it below zero. A few layers, double gloved, beanied up and I only last…
Last Sunday was a massive confidence boost. It’s still seems a little strange that a race where I held back by a lot showed I should be able to reach my marathon goals: Run sub 3:00:00 in the Melbourne Marathon 2009Keeping in mind my PR over the dista…
Keeping on track with my plan to run 60km on my 60th birthday, I considered it good preparation to cover at least 32km for my 32nd. So I headed down to Princes Park to run the Sri Chinmoy 30km and make up the extra kilometres with the warm up and cool …
Training for the this year’s tilt at the Melbourne Marathon officially started back on the 14th April. The last three and a bit months have been all base training. For me that isn’t as simple as covering lots of low intensity miles. I still go by the f…