Strength

Amazing weather for the strength session today after Ferny. Got me feeling good although the planks were still tough. 

Ferny creek

Long run with Will and Sam this morning after driving Will up. A lot faster than normal, but I felt really strong. 19.2km in 1:31:28. 75.8km for the week. 

The buzz

Hills yesterday morning. Perfect weather for it, rocked up feeling good after Friday's rest day. Ran solidly, pretty happy with the session. Nice chat with the guys on the cool down and at the ending point. 

Times: 1:10, 1:09, 1:09, 1:09, 1:11, 1:13, 1:13, 1:11

All up time was 22:50, not too shabby, looking for some faster reps in weeks to come. 12.1km all up.

That was weird as

Ran with Jasper tonight at DMK and surrounding parks. Got to 10km, told him I was gonna do a bit extra, but all of a sudden felt like I was going to be sick. Stopped 200m and just got a hot flush like I was gonna munt, but took a few deep breaths, walked back to the rooms and was fine. Real wierd. 

Following that was another hard strength session with Anna. 45s 1 legged bridge holds tonight. 10.2km all up. Pissed that I missed out on that extra km for nothing. 

400's again

Feeling great last night as I rocked up to training, although the watch is playing up quite a bit which I'm worried about. Won't let me charge it or unlock it so I might have to take it into the shop. 

Session was 10 X 400m on the track again. I was training with Jasper and Liam, Sam and Will were ahead. Started off slower than usual which was nice, but I was a bit keen leading the second. Jasper dropped off a touch in the middle few but came back for the last couple. I think I've just got to work on my finish, although it was way quicker than last week. 

Times went: 70, 67, 68, 68, 69, 69, 69, 70, 69, 66

3 laps cool down with Liam and Jasp for 11.2km all up. Calves are tight now, I'll stretch out tonight. 

Way better

Stressful day at uni today and I was feeling pretty awful when I got home. Got out for a jog though and felt so much better. 12.3km in 56:58, a few extra km to make up for yesterday. Then a few quick strides on the road before stretching off. Feeling awesome now. 

Oh yep

Worst conditions I've ever done a session in tonight. Was looking up a bit at the start, although the wind was an absolute joke. So strong we did the strides with it behind us and ran faster than ever. 

Back 400m had the wind straight in our face, absolutely awful and dropped the times a lot is would've said. I was doing 6 X 1km with 400m jog recovery. 3rd rep the rain started and only became heavier throughout the session. Sheets of it just blasted you in the face and side for 800m of each rep. It got to the point I wasn't really breathing just attempting to get the water out of my mouth. Then started hailing too, it was tough going. 

The 6th one I just repped 1200m back to the clubhouse to get out of the weather. Didn't get a time as I forgot to split the watch at the start. 

First 5 weren't great, suffering because of the wind I reckon. 3:16, 3:21, 3:21, 3:18, 3:20, ?. 

Frustrated because of the wind, irratated that I didn't do a cool down because there was just too much rain, and pissed that I was completely drenched. Goddd you know you're a runner when your angry that the weather is getting in the way of training. First day back at uni tomorrow ffs. At least we got garlic bread tonight. 

19th plus long run plus strength

19th party last night which went great, I had a ripper time playing some high quality beer pong and dancing a lot. Probably why my calves are so sore now. Was in a pretty bad state when I went to bed so I should've woken up much more hungover but I was okay. 

Cleaned up the house before getting it for a long run solo. Actually felt really strong the first half, but the night before kicked in during the second. Ended up being a pretty good in actually.

 Covered 20.3km in 1:32:00, I'm used to the hills of Ferny keeping my pace down so the flat along the beach must've helped me a touch. Strength in the arvo was tough, didn't give it 100% just felt too tired. Stretching out helped me though. 75.1km for the week.

Pic from yesterday 

Hills

Yesterday morning was a hill session which is always good. Thought it was going to be muddy as because of rain the night before but it turned out okay. Wasn't my best session, wasn't my worst, but on the bottom end of average I'd say. 

Times went: 1:10, 1:12, 1:13, 1:12, 1:13, 1:14, 1:14, 1:11

23:08 for the session all up and 12.1km for the day. 

J cubed

Myself, JB and Jasper for tonight's run. 10km in 50 minutes, really easy after last night's session. 3 strides on the grass immediately following, then a strength session for the next hour. Characteristically tough, 40s 1 legged bridges right at the end had me on the ground for a good 5 mins afterwards. 

10 X 400m

We're back on track baby. Awesome conditions to work with, warm up felt really good and the strides were fast. Got changed after some confusion as to whether we actually were going to train on the track, myself, Declan, JB and Sam plus a few of the girls decided to have a go. 

Trained with Declan basically, but had Sammy and JB just ahead the entire session. It was honestly brutal, I haven't hurt that much in a session in a very long time. 

10 X 400m with 60s standing recovery between each. I don't think any of us were ready for 10, Lesley saw how much we were hurting and gave us 30s extra recovery after the 8th rep. I might not have finished without that. 

Started out at 68 and after two I was unsure if we were going to be able to hold it, but we managed okay.

Think I put some yards on Declan during the middle reps, but he got me on the last one as he does have a speedy finish. Really stoked with that one, bit of a go to session for the squad so looking forward to seeing it improve as we get further into track season. 

Times went: 68, 68, 68, 68, 69, 68, 71, 68, 69, 70

Was hoping I could hit another 68 for the last, but I just had nothing left. 3 laps of the outside cool down with Eamonn for 11.2km all up. Sore and tired now, looking after mum who just had surgery on her Achilles so hopefully she can run without pain again. 

Another easy

Feeling awesome today, up at Caulfield with Jasper, Sam, Liam and Deckers. 10.8km in 49:28. Felt so strong at that pace and looking forward to training hard tomorrow night. Running on grass was good too, just in an all round good mood. 

Rossi and Sharon goodbye

We had a seeing off dinner for Sharon and Rossi today who are heading back to the Solomon Islands. 

Really sore after yesterday, glutes were seriously tight. Just ran easy for 10.7km with Sam and Liam plus a few quick strides. Exciting to be training again after that taper week. 

Albert Park 10km 2016

Bit of a disaster from the start. Set my alarm for 6:30 but must've fallen back asleep, regained conciousness at 7:10 and had to get ready in 5 minutes. Somehow pulled it off without forgetting something. 

Arrived and warmed up with most of the squad. Just a 2km jog before putting on flats and heading over to the start line. Gun went and it was pretty packed, stuck with JB weaving myself through the crowd. Didn't feel warmed up enough to be honest and a touch uncomfortable with the pace. First km split only a 3:26 but I was feeling okay all of a sudden. Continued to move up past the keen starters but JB got away from me. 

Around the turning point still in a pack straight into the headwind, didn't feel it too much on the first lap as I had some shelter. Started hurting at about 6km. Just dropped off slowly but not too many people went by. Back into the headwind and my pace struggled badly. Couldn't get going and felt a good run slipping away. Last km just hurt so much until I managed to wheeze my way across the line. 

Time was 35:48 so not ideal to be honest. A whole minute slower than last year so I'm fairly frustrated and disappointed especially as I did a bit of a taper. I've decided to just enjoy the training, keep it consistent and let the times come. Ran well last week so I think I just had an off day. It happens, so really looking forward to start training again now with an eye on track season. 

Day before

Easy 4km plus some quick strides. Feeling really good, but really nervous.

Last run 18 ay

Out tonight with Dad for an easy 8km. Stuck on the grass as much as possible, felt smooth and easy. Couple of quick strides afterwards to get that turnover happening. Spent the day at state schools cross country watching McKinnon cashing in on some quality positions. Enjoyed it, day of birth tomorrow, I'm just looking forward to the cake fam.

100 on 100 off

Easier session tonight, 3.6km worth of 100m fast, 100m easy. Went on the outside tan track solo because I was scared I'd get sore if I ventured onto the track. 8.4km all up. 

That genuinely sucked

Radar gave us the all clear, but it poured anyway. Freezing cold and an icy wind didn't help matters. Coldest it's been here in a long time. Looking forward to a change in season, I've run in the rain too many times these last few weeks, it's actually pretty demoralising. 

9.3km in 44 mins with Declan and Sam. Sam went ahead so Declan and I rotated the lead into the headwind. Hopefully the weather improves for Sunday. Here's what we were facing:

Through the motions

Sore after a pretty large weekend so decided to take tonight's session a bit easier, looking for that taper as well for the weekend. Massive session though so it was hard to judge. 

Distance Monas so 2 X 600m, 4 X 400m, 4 X 200m, 4 X 100m with the same distance jog recovery between each rep.

Started out with JB on the 6s and 4s before he moved up to catch Sam and Will. I ended up feeling really strong running with JB with both the 600s in 1:58 and the 4s ranging from 1:14 to 1:19. Then the stomach started playing up so felt pretty shocking coming into the last sections. Ended up getting through it feeling easy, but not too fast either so can't say it was what I was looking for. 

Just the 1 lap cool down with JB, Will, Declan and Sam. Calves are pretty sore from racing on the road. I'll roll a lot tonight and try and make sure my pace is real easy during tomorrow's run. 12.4km all up. 

Post race long run

Dark when I got up this morning, but drove Will and Soph up to Ferny. Ran pretty much the whole way with Sam, JB, Will and Eamonn. Quads were tender but tried to continue running after the hills as I seem to struggle getting over them on race day. 

19.2km in 1:36:32. 77.1km for the week.

Sandown Relays 2016

After a bit of a detour back home when I forgot my watch, got to Sandown with half an hour to spare before the race. I was first leg, with Declan and Luke in the U20 team. 

Again, tried to start out conservative as I hate blowing up in the second lap. Sandown is always a good course, it's 6.2km and normally used as a car racetrack so it's all road, with a few slow slopes up and down, but nothing too drastic. 

Lots of people went out quick steaming ahead on the first lap, feeling really strong  2.5km in, I upped the ante a touch and split 10:25 for the first lap. Jasper helped out here calling out that there was only one lap to go. How good is sarcasm. 

Pushed on still feeling okay but after 4km I was really working hard. Surged here up the hill taking a nice line around some bends and managed to catch the next bloke in my age group. I think his name is Michael McGuire (??). Went by down the quick fast so no one could latch on. 

Before the last bend a group of 4 tried to pass, but I felt the competitiveness kicking in and managed to stay with them until the line. A women shouted a split of 20:35 to a runner beside me urging them to go sub 21. I thought it was a good chance for my build as well, but the straight was decievingly long. 

 Touched Declan's hand and collapsed on the fence with a time of 21:13, 11s faster than last year so that's all I could ask for really. Stoked with the run. Jogged a few km solo before running into Will and Jasp cooling down so did an extra lap with them. Their team managed a sturdy first place in the U18 with some pretty sporty times. 13.3km all up.

Cheered Sammy and JB round with them. A good 4 cups of tea at the GHY area made me forget about sore calves. Great hit out. Now getting ready for the big 10km next weekend. 

Nice run

10.2 in 48:47 with JB and Sam tonight. Great run felt awesome, while we heard about JB's new efforts at Pokemon Go. 

Strength afterwards was tough, a touch nervous for Saturday, I'll probably spend all of tomorrow stretching.

Outta nowhere

Rocked up to training tonight, pouring with rain, myself and JB worked out it has rained everyday for the last 2 weeks in a row. Expecting some easy 100 on , 100 off due to Sandown relays this Saturday, but instead after the warm up was told it was 10 X 400m with 60s passive recovery. 

Godd. Started hurting after the third one, head wasn't in the right place, trained really averagely. Wasn't expecting it to be so hard. Ended up breaking away on the middle reps, but lost the last one to some people who I probably shouldn't have lost to, but there you go. 

Training on the outside tan track too so pretty muddy and wet as the rain came down the whole session. Also involved a hill which wasn't ideal. Got real jealous of pretty much everyone else who was on the track, their times were huge compared to mine so next track session I'll get involved, as I reckon I could stack up pretty well against them. 

3 laps cool down to make up for my pretty pitiful performance. 11.6km all up. 

Times went: 1:14, 1:08, 1:11, 1:14, 1:09, 1:13, 1:16, 1:10, 1:13, 1:16

Looking forward to Sandown, I think I'm first leg which is good news.

Caulfield

Back at Caulfield this arvo with Sam and Declan. Ride up there in the rain which wasn't ideal, but it stopped as soon as we started running. Ended up with 10.6km in 50:19. Nothing too sporty, but the strides were pretty quick today. Soaked by the team I got home, but a good run nonetheless.

6 X 800m

Didn't think the session would be as hard as it was, pretty stoked with my performance though. No core tonight as Anna was away and the warm up felt like a proper effort. 

Few strides later and we're on the start line. Got out strong with Jasper right behind me, Will and JB just ahead. With the first 200m uphill and the last 200 downhill, it's a pretty wierd rep as you feel pretty good in the middle, but it's tough to keep it strong on the last bit because you're so tired. Recoveries definitely struggled more than usual, but they were long reps.

Times went: 2:30, 2:36, 2:33, 2:37, 2:35, 2:34

Jasper kicked past on the last one, but I took it out harder earlier so wasn't too suprised. Great to have him come by though, definitely helped me run faster. Some quick strides on the grass afterwards. 13.2km all up plus lots of strides. 

Muddy

Pretty slippy all over at Ferny this morning. Jasper took a hefty tumble on a downhill section. Not too fast, Potato patch was tough today. 19.2 in 1:37. 

Back at hills

First hill session for a long time because of races and the like. Really rough to be honest, struggled but unsuprised to be honest. Stoked to get it done though, felt great afterwards. Turned into a lovely day on the cool down which was great, despite the chill at the start. 

Times went: 1:09, 1:10, 1:10, 1:13, 1:13, 1:15, 1:17, 1:16

23:47 all up.

Bit of a distaster towards the back end unfortunately. Bit congrats who Uncle Tom who blew 32 mins out of the water today at the Gold Coast. 12.1km all up. 

Strength

Easy run with JB yesterday. 10.6km in off and on rain. Nothing too speedy although the watch thought we were flying. Strength with Anna afterwards. Haven't done that in a long time, thought I was near death on those 1 legged bridges. Really sore now, especially around the calves.