left right, hills ferny

Hills were solid yesterday. 7/8 reps were strong and that's the main thing for sure. Another thing that's for sure is that I've done this hill session way too many times. Looking forward to racing soon. Really cross country based these next couple. 

1:10, 1:09, 1:10, 1:11, 1:12, 1:11, 1:11, 1:16

Absolutely lost the plot on the last one just had nothing left. Wish I got it 4s faster would've looked much better. 23:17 for the session.

Ferny creek Sunday morning was one of the best runs I've been on in ages. Got the big loop plus the extra done for 19.5km in 1:38:00. Loved every second of it perfect temperature. 71.2km for the week. Extremely solid off only 5 days running. 85km on the bike as well, all of it hard kms. 

Thursday and Friday

10km solo in 45:00 yesterday morning. Everything was working and nice and smooth felt strong, but pretty tired from the 4's the night before. Was planning on doubling up with a ride, but the weather was filthy so stayed in. 

Got out Friday morning instead. On Dad's bike though as I still haven't fixed the inner tubes. The 30km felt quick, but I don't know the speed because he doesn't have a computer on his bike. The fam got a new car as well, same car different colour those are some adventurous parents.

Flat

Cold, wet and rainy Wednesday so took a while to warm up. Kept the trackies on in the warm up first time this year it had to happen soon. Heard it was 10 x 400m on the outside for me so kept the top on over the singlet it was that cold. I love cotton.

Trained with Will, Chris and Jasper while the rest of the squad stayed on the track. Had a great session despite a slow start. Really worked hard to keep the reps fast especially in the back half. 400m jog recovery was pretty generous but I think Lesley wanted them fast. 

1:15, 1:18, 1:08, 1:13, 1:14, 1:07, 1:11, 1:11, 1:05, 1:11

That second one was as average as it gets but there was a few bodies in the way as I recall. We came up with more than our fair share of excuses for that one, pretty happy with our efforts up the hill as well kept them nice and strong. 

15.2km for the night. Was dreading the ride home in the wet but got a blessing and a curse, puncture as I was just around the corner, so jumped in with JB for the drive home. Tried to change tires but turns out my spare inner tube also had a hole so pretty glad I found that out sooner rather than later. 

Doubling up

2 rides yesterday. Pretty fatigued after the session the night before, but got 41km done solo. Pretty miserable weather in the morning and wasn't much better that night. Got pretty wet, but rolling along nicely averaging 31 for the 41 and 32 for the 16 . Hard to get your average speed up with all the traffic lights, I've heard good things about the pace of crits but I feel like I'd be stronger in a non-draft race. Definitely on for a triathlon next year.

6 x 800m

Real humid Monday night, but I rated it to be honest. Was rocking the Singh beer singlet so it had to be a good run. Trained with Jasp, JB and Beau great little squad and we got around in some decent times. 400m jog recovery was perfect I reckon, really happy with how I'm travelling at the moment. Legitimately loving every session.

2:35, 2:35, 2:34, 2:36, 2:32, 2:30

Reckon I could've closed a lot faster on the last one, but got a stitch at the top of the hill which genuinely stunned me I haven't had a stitch in years. Ran through it and was fine 400m in but JB and Jasper had already gapped me. Was gaining throughout the last 200, 200 more and I reckon I was in with a shot.

14.4km all up.

Jells Park Relays 2017

Realised yesterday that cross country is 100% my favourite season of the 2. Vic milers is great, but shield genuinely sucks compared to the atmosphere at XCR races. Had a great time racing and talking to everyone.

Rocked up real early to grab my number for the season and get sorted. I was put on the Div 3 men's side, first year not running as a junior so some of the individual distances are gonna be quite a handful.

It was Beau, Eamonn, myself, Daniel Heath and Matt Heislers running in that order. 6km legs made up of 2 laps, just like normal. I was pretty unsure how I was gonna go due to not feeling 100% the two days prior. Eamonn finished the second leg in 9th place for Div 3, handed it over to me and I got going. Decided to go out steady, I know all too well about the hills and its better to feel good half way than to be a one lap hero.

Did just that and split halfway in 10:32, pretty wet down the hill but I had spikes so it was all good. Started to hurt at about 4km, kept the fifth strong but gahd that last one was tough. Ended up with a time of 21:16 so quicker than last year which I'm stoked about. Got us from 9th to 4th in my leg and we ended up coming third overall. Somehow I was the fastest Div 3 and ran faster than half the Div 2 guys so I reckon I'm on for a Div 2 run at Sandown and the individual races.

3 weeks time is Wandin Park and I've got 8km now as open. That course is so hilly it's not even funny so we'll see how it goes.

Got down to Ferny creek for a longer run this morning. Still knackered from yesterday so had 1:25 for the 16.5km, hills were tough as like nomral, but most of everything else wasn't too bad.

Update

Wednesday night was 8 x 400m with 200 jog. Most people were on the track but I was pretty keen to hang on the outside with Chris Winter, Trained together the whole way round which was great. Recoveries were loads fast than usual so the reps suffered a bit, but it was a good based building effort. 

Reps were between 72 and 77, but with a hill in the middle of every first rep, it looks a lot worse on paper. 

Thursday and Friday felt like I was coming down with something, but my body still felt good. Just rested up for the race on Saturday, didn't even ride and I'll write about that in the next post.

Battling

Got out on the bike yesterday, but couldn't be bothered with 50km so did the 30.5km Charman rd loop in 55:22, my best yet I think, before coming home got my running stuff on and did a 5km threshold thing. Wasn't planning on making it faster, but felt pretty strong while I was out there. ON the sidewalk as well so I was pretty stoked to be honest, never felt out of my comfort zone. 19:15 for the 5k. 

Next morning now and thought I was coming down with a cold last night. Woke up feeling shit, but now I'm okay aside from being a touch stuffy. Reckon I cycled through a bunch of cut grass yesterday though so I'm hoping it just hayfever for the time being. 

6 x 3 mins

Felt way better Monday night than Saturday morning. Ran with Jasper, Will, Liam and young Beau for most of the way round with the younger guys doing a few less reps. Really hard work off only one minute recovery its so aerobic.

Covered just over 6.2km in the session, about normal, satisfied with that. Jasper and Will escaped me on the last couple though. 13.4km all up.

Walking Woes

Walking Dead session Friday night had me not falling asleep until the early hours of the morning Saturday, and got through the warm up at hills before it all caught up with me. Just felt like I had no power and the quads felt knackered because of the fast cycling on both the two days prior.

Managed to get through 8, although I might've been better doing 6 and making them faster. Started off strong, but won't be doing hills for a couple of weeks probably because it's the first race of the cross country season coming up next weekend.

1:09, 1:08, 1:10, 1:14, 1:13, 1:14, 1:15 1:16

23:23 for the session, felt a lot better on the cool down having got it out of the way. Then proceeded to go out Saturday night creating one of the largest sleep debts of my life, ending with me riding a bike home from Clayton at 7 in the morning. Classic. Safe to say didn't do much on Sunday other than get through a work shift in the evening and probably had my least healthy food day in about 3 years as chocolate was in high supply everywhere. So feeling pretty average right now, looking forward to training hard tonight and getting it out of my system. Will definitely try to go out slow, I'm not trying to blow up again like Saturday.  

Mid

Wednesday night was a classic case of distance Monas, just wanted to get through it last time, but with myself, Jasper and Will training together, it was definitely set to be faster. Had a great session. Jasper was a few seconds ahead on the longer reps, but I was so happy with my 400s as they normally lag into the high 70s when I'm solo.

600s - 1:55, 1:59
400s - 1:14, 1:11, 1:13 (uphill so happy with that). 1:12
200s - 31, 32, 31, 32
Didn't time the 100s

Cooled down with Will for 14.8km all up.

Yesterday got out on the bike for the sunset. Got myself out to Mordialloc and back with the intention to go to the strength session straight afterwards, but got home and dinner looked way better than calf raises so called it a day at 47km. Definitely rocking and rolling along beach road these days.

This morning woke up for a bit of a double despite it being a Friday. Jogged for 10 mins and got about 2.2km then got the bike out for 16km with Dad. Not before falling off though due to not being able to get my cleat out fast enough. Pretty knackered now and about to do a major stretch and roll to hopefully feel a touch more sprightly for hills tomorrow. Both ankles feeling great.

Also forgot to mention I grabbed some new shoes on Tuesday. Nike structures. Nike never gave me troubles back in the day so I reckon I'll stick with them for a while now, they feel really sturdy which I rate despite being lighter than my NBs.

Jog and bike

Went to training last night a bit unsure about how my ankle was going to pull up. Went really well though and jogged the warm up, did some strides before doing a few km with Dale who is doing Boston next week. Not sure how many kms I ended up with as I didn't time it but I reckon it would've been about 12. 

Jumped on the bike this morning for 50km solo. Headwind was on the way out which is much better than the alternative so really got moving on the way home. Keen to do the session tomorrow night.  

Hills and spin

Hills yesterday was alright. Nice weather but missed the warm up so pumped it out with JB to get there before the session started. Probably went out a bit quick, definitely hurting by the end, but was running solo for the last couple so it's always tough to push yourself.

1:06, 1:11, 1:12, 1:10, 1:11, 1:11, 1:13, 1:13

12.1km all up and 22:52 for the session so the recoveries were pretty quick.

Was going to ride to ferny and back with Mahoney but the weather was disgraceful. Jumped on the spin bike and did 60 x 8s on, 12s off. Lots of stop and start, but I don't think I worked as hard as I could've. Done a lot of exercise this week to be fair.

Now I'm feeling a bit weird. Got a pinching pain on the inside of my ankle which occurs sometimes when I take a step. Never felt it before but noticed it yesterday. Really unsure about what it could be. Doesn't hurt when I run but walking I feel it sometimes. Might just do the session tomorrow and see how it pulls up. If it pulls up worse, this is the last straw and I'm going to the physio and taking a few weeks off just so my body can mend itself fully. These niggles have taken it out of me. I don't even care about being fast or slow anymore, I just want to be able to run and get some endorphins

2nd half plus Fridee

After the ride in the morning yesterday, saw the physio. Just confirmed that I stepped it up a bit quick. Back down to 3 runs this week before, 4 the following week. Just gotta be carful.

Got up to Caulfield last night for just 7km easy plus 5 strides. Felt easy as and the strides were great. Definitely feel like I'm responding really well to quality over quantity at the moment. Feel really fit and fast despite not doing nearly as many kilometers.

This morning just got up and got on the bike straight away. Didn't want to hang around thinking about it. Really windy today as well so the return home was brutal. Just under 38km. Good workout although tiredest I've ever been on a friday.

Double struggle

Ankle pulled up at but sore after the Monday session. Shin feels fine but the tendons around the ankle just felt a bit inflamed. I think I stepped up to 5 days a week too fast.

Haven't run since but got in some really good work on the bike. Tuesday was 50km, then Wednesday got up early for 30km in the morning, then 30km in the afternoon. Great rides although traffic picked up at the end of both of them dropping the average speed down.

Just did 16km on the bike this morning and am about to go and see the physio for a catch up. Ankle isn't inflamed or sore anymore which is great. Think I'll probably double up again today and go for an extremely gentle run in the evening. Just did too much running too soon I think, but all good, I'll take it slower this time around.

1200s

Ferny Creek yesterday was okay, definitely feeling hills the day before. Great weather for it two days in a row. Did the large loop and called it there in 1:20:30ish. Really tired afterwards.

Monday was an early start so felt tired and weird all day. First time Will was back at training for ages so everyone was up and about. I trained pretty well although pissed off at the last two reps. 1200's again but 5 this time. Don't think I'll go much more than that. I'd rather run faster times than do a lot of slower ones. JB hit out 8 which was messed, although he definitely wasn't jogging.

3:58, 3:58, 3:54, 4:01, 4:01

Next time I might try sneak under 4 for all of them. Because of daylight savings, training in the dark was weird as. Gotta get used to it again. 13.6km all up. On the bike for the next few days. Don't want to do anything silly now and I do enjoy the ride.