Wednesday - Knox Masters (5)
I decided to run down to Masters tonight so i took my
new very small backpack, fuel belt and cap and off i
went. It's around 2kms to the track so it works out
quite well as a warmup. When i got there i ran with
John who was there early and did another 2kms. The
first event was a 2000m so i entered that and tried to
pace myself evenly and not go too hard. Of course
in the last lap i had another runner in my sights
about 60m in front and decided to try and catch him
\which i did at the top of the home straight. It was
then a very hard hitout and i had a 200m event next.
Fortunately there was a short break as they ran a
100m next which i didn't run in. The 200m went
well and i ended up winning in 28:71 my best time
for a while. Then the 4km which didn't feel good to
begin with but i warmed to it eventually and by my
watch came in with a 19:50. Then there was coffee,
sandwiches and cake to be had followed by a 2km run
home with quite stiff legs. I forgot to mention the
2000m time was 8:27 which being the first one i've run
is a PB!

Tuesday Evening - Weekly Migraine??
This seems to happen with monotonous (spelling?)regularity!
Almost the same time every week - early afternoon on Tuesdays
but occasionally Wednesdays i can feel it come on until it
seems to reach a peak around 6pm or so. I think it's mostly
lack of sleep and a little dehydration but that's just an
educated guess.
After checking the results from Sunday's 10km at Willi i must
retract my (i thought it was!)sub 50 and now list it as 50:44
which is about 2mins off what my garmin said but others seem
to be near the mark with their times, so i'll just have to cop
it until next time. The time from under the start banner would
be about 50:25 i would think but never mind.
I'm hoping to run the Sri Chinmoy Como Landing 7km on the 25th
of June if possible. I should run a good 7km judging by recent
efforts i'm sure! I will be concentrating on doing as many 25k
Sunday runs as i can over the coming weeks so that i can stretch
my racing endurance out to 10kms and not capitulate near the end.
I intend to bring my 10km time down way further so Sunday's minor
glitch isn't going to worry me for long. I know now that i will
be capable of much faster so i'll be getting stuck into it so be
sure to WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Tuesday Morning - Medium Street Run (3.5)
Got out there early this morning so i could run the 13k
Felt a touch easier to run than it did yesterday as it
usually does for me on a Tuesday morning. I got the
job done in just under 81mins which is a nice cruisy
effort.

Monday Evening - Core Strength
6 rounds of boxing on the bags tonight with around
30 second breaks between each round. In addition
some work with the 3kg medicine ball on and off while
watching TV tonight.

Monday Morning - Medium Recovery Run (3)
I remembered to wear my gloves for the first time this
morning as it was quite cold. I wanted to make sure
of an easy pace today to recuperate from that hard 10
km race yesterday. Everything seems to be feeling ok
today in fact, during the day today my legs felt so good
that i wanted to immediately stop working and run!
Anyway back to this morning's run - 10km in a very
easy 58:57 and i will do 6 rounds on the bags this
evening.

Cato before the start - Williamstown 

When is my CR cap going to arrive?? 

Jaykay and Michelle 

Racing to the finish 

Post race debriefing 

Sri Chinmoy Williamstown 10km

Sunday Morning - 10km Race (5)
An extra 2kms or so for warmup and cooldown running
back and forth to the car etc. Sri Chinmoy 10km race
at Williamstown this morning in ideal cool conditions.
I passed the 5k, 6k and 7k all at around PB pace for
those distances and then started to struggle a little.
I Still managed to come in just under 50mins which
i should be happy with for my first 10km race.

Recap Of My Training Week - 68kms

With a 10km race coming up tomorrow at Williamstown
this was just about the ideal week's preparation in
my view -

1 x Long Run 22.5kms Easy
2 x Medium/Recovery Runs Total 20kms Easy
2 x Speed/Fartlek Total 12kms 80-85% Effort
1 x Race/TT 5kms(race)+ 4kms(wu/cd)Hard **(PB)**
2 x Core/Boxing Bags Total 50mins 80-85% Effort
1 x Loosen Up/Recovery Run 4kms Very Easy

YTD:1110kms

Saturday Morning - Very Easy Jog (3)
A very cold and foggy morning today. I just wanted to
roll the legs over a little this morning in preparation for
my 10km race at Williamstown tomorrow. A nice easy
pace for about 4kms in about 25mins.

Friday Morning - Treadmill Fartlek (3.5)
6 kms on the treadmill this morning with the middle
3 kms or so a fartlek run of a minute each at 14/10
14/10 etc. The other 3k a warmup and a cooldown.
To finish off a set of chairdips and pullups.

My boxing bag setup 

Thursday Evening - Boxing Bags 6 x 3min rounds
The usual bag routine this evening to help with
core strength and a bit of upper body toning etc.


Thursday Morning - Medium Recovery (3)
A nice easy 10km recovery run this morning to get the
legs rolling over. I made sure not to push the run at
all and just cruise along ironing out the kinks from last
night. Finished the run in just over 58:30 (5:51 pace).

23:53 A PB by over 2mins!!

Wednesday Evening - Knox Masters (5)
A very cold night tonight at the Masters but that's how
i like it so all was good! Being on duty tonight i had to
write down the finishers for each race so i sat out the
1500m and the relay. I had planned to do the 5km as
i wanted a guide for Sunday's 10km at Williamstown.
I went down early tonight so i could do a good session
of laps, strides and step drills before starting duty.
Warmup consisted of the above and totalled about
4.2km all up. Then the 5km which i had decided to
try and run in under 24:00. Success i made it in
23:53 which is actually a PB by over 2mins from
my time a month ago! This is great because it will
give me confidence for Sunday. To finish off tonight
i ran another slow lap to cooldown.

Tuesday Evening - Boxing Bags (Core Strength)
A good session on the boxing bags this evening.
6 x 3min rounds with less than a minute between each
round. I have a timer set to a minute but always start
the next one after 30-45secs. Also some med ball
work with the 3kg ball just tossing it from one hand to
the other while walking around the house. It seems to
work the core quite well doing this.

Tuesday Morning - Treadmill Fartlek (3.5)
I had the kids with me overnight so i had to stay home
and use the treadmill this morning.
Warmup 1.8kms slow jogging pace then around 3.2km
of fartlek running a minute at 14 and a minute at 10
repeated 7 times. This was followed by a cooldown
jog of around 1km followed by a set of chairdips and
pullups to finish.

Monday Morning - Medium Run Slow Recovery (3)
An easy 10kms this morning to loosen up after the
long run of yesterday. Purposely took it quite easy
and got around in about 62mins. Not reallly any aches
or pains leftover from yesterday so all is good so far
leading up to the Sri Chinmoy 10km this Sunday.
I'm on duty at Knox Masters this Wednesday night
but hopefully i will still be able to do a 5km TT so i
can get a gauge on where i'm at timewise.
EDIT: Tomorrow morning's run will now have to be changed
due to now having the kids overnight tonight at short
notice. It was to be a 13.5km street run but will now
have to be some sort of treadmill run which i will have
a think about before i go to bed (possibly a fartlek).

The ESRG this morning at Wandin 

Sunday Morning - ESRG Long Run - Wandin (5)
A very early start this morning for the ESRG long run.
7am in Wandin and about 0 degrees by the feel of it!
I could see today that the benefits of previous long runs
were coming into play. I was able to keep up the pace
a lot better than before and held a very solid pace for
a few kms coming up to Half M distance. I passed
that in around 1hr 58m which even though stopping
briefly a couple of times, was great running for me!
The last k or so i dropped off and used it as a bit of
a cooldown jog at about 6:30 pace. Overall the run
averaged 5:39 pace for 22.5kms which is very solid
for a training run. (maybe a little too solid!)

A Recap Of My Training Week

73kms broken up into various sessions over 7 days.
Summary -

1 x Long Run (26km) Road/Trail
3 x Medium Runs (10/13.5/10km) Road
2 x Speed/Fartlek (Treadmill - Total 10km)
1 x Very Easy Pace/Loosen Up (TM 3.5kms)
2 x Core Strength (Boxing Bags/Med Ball/Dbells)

Saturday Morning - Easy Pace Treadmill (2.5)
An easy session on the treadmill just to get the legs
rolling over for a little while this morning. 3.5kms of
easy pace with the middle 1km or so at a faster pace
and back to gently easy pace to finish off. A session
of chairdips and pullups to close.
(73kms to round off my running week)

Friday Morning - Treadmill Speedwork (4)
Warmup around 2kms of various jogging pace then
Various sprints working up to high speed then backing
off. these were done with a walk recovery of around
200m between each rep. This session would be the
equivalent of about 10 x 150m accelerating up to near
full speed at the 80m then backing off to cross the line
at about half pace. To finish off a cooldown jog of
about 800m and a set of chairdips and pullups.

Thursday Morning - 10km Easy Run (3)
I didn't get to bed until a bit later than i planned so a
10km easy run it had to be this morning. Just cruised
along at a nice pace without overdoing it for 56:38
Tomorrow i will do another speed session which will
be 4 x 400m and i will try it with a 90sec walk recovery
between reps. I still won't be doing too much speed
but i thinks it's time for just a little more each week.

Wednesday Late Afternoon - Boxing Bags/Various
Just a quick session of a round on each of the 3
bags. I followed this up a little later with some
light dumbbell work and a session with the heavy
medicine ball.


Wednesday Morning - Treadmill Fartlek (3)
Warmup 1.2kms various jogging pace then
Fartlek running on the treadmill with 1min at 14
followed by 1min at 10 repeated 7 times. This
was followed by a cooldown jog of around 700m
and a set of chairdips and pullups to finish up.

Tuesday Morning - Medium Street Run (3)
A nice steady easy pace 13.5kms this morning with
the aim of it not becoming a stuggle today. It felt a
lot better than yesterday but i'm still very tired and i'm
not sleeping very well at all. Tomorrow as i'm not doing
Masters, i will be doing a Fartlek session on the TM.

Monday Evening - Boxing Bags 6 x 3m rnds
6 rounds on the boxing bags this evening to work on
some core strength. I also find that the effect of
moving around the bags on my legs helps with some
recovery from running.


Monday Morning - Medium Recovery run (4)
A slow 10kms of recovery this morning after that very
hard 26k yesterday. My legs are quite sore and the
effort this morning to get through it really made it more
than an easy recovery run. It took about an hour and
i felt every minute of it.

Ya wouldn't be dead for quids! - I love my Sunday mornings now. 

Gloomy but quite beautiful - this morning at the Dandy Creek Trail 

View from the DCT this morning 

Coming to the end of my run this morning 

Sunday Morning - Long Run DCT (5)
Most of the ESRG was otherwise occupied this morning
with the Mother's Day Classic so it was just me today.
A drizzly run this morning but that's the way i like it so
all is good! My goal this morning was to try and get
25kms done in under 2hrs 30min and i made it. In fact
my time was 2.29:36 when i got to 25k then i had a
short walk before slowly jogging another 1km as a sort
of cooldown. I'm very happy with that run as it's the
longest i've done and i ran it alone without any
music or radio. I decided to make an effort to say
hello to everyone i came across while running and
did just that. I ran across Bob from Knox Masters
and a coolrunner who we saw last time we did the
DCT (can't think of her name). I'll post a couple of
phonecam shots i took while i was having a quick
drink at about the 18km mark.

Weekly Kms Since This Thing Began!

This is taken from my CoolRunning.com log and
is my weekly kms since i gave up smoking until
now. You'll notice a few troughs there which
represent my efforts of short sprint training
attempts. I don't much like sprint training and
find that i get pain in my left knee from a bad
motorcycle accident i once had. It's really only
been the last couple of months that i have begun
to seriously train for long distance. I really
enjoy it and it makes me feel stronger and look
better.

Sep 26, 2004 8
Oct 3, 2004 24.50
Oct 10, 2004 19.50
Oct 17, 2004 18.50
Oct 24, 2004 21
Oct 31, 2004 31
Nov 7, 2004 25.50
Nov 14, 2004 42.00
Nov 21, 2004 36.50
Nov 28, 2004 33.18
Dec 5, 2004 39.14
Dec 12, 2004 32.10
Dec 19, 2004 47.90
Dec 26, 2004 30
Jan 2, 2005 41.12
Jan 9, 2005 24.03
Jan 16, 2005 32.50
Jan 23, 2005 30
Jan 30, 2005 24.50
Feb 6, 2005 24
Feb 13, 2005 23.50
Feb 20, 2005 26.36
Feb 27, 2005 17
Mar 6, 2005 17.50
Mar 13, 2005 15
Mar 20, 2005 19.60
Mar 27, 2005 13.50
Apr 3, 2005 34.50
Apr 10, 2005 26.50
Apr 17, 2005 25
Apr 24, 2005 19.50
May 1, 2005 16.50
May 8, 2005 20
May 15, 2005 27.50
May 22, 2005 39
May 29, 2005 46.50
Jun 5, 2005 26.70
Jun 12, 2005 57.50
Jun 19, 2005 40.50
Jun 26, 2005 35.50
Jul 3, 2005 51.50
Jul 10, 2005 39.80
Jul 17, 2005 52.20
Jul 24, 2005 39
Jul 31, 2005 42
Aug 7, 2005 40.50
Aug 14, 2005 29.50
Aug 21, 2005 55.95
Aug 28, 2005 64
Sep 4, 2005 70.60
Sep 11, 2005 76.70
Sep 18, 2005 35.80
Sep 25, 2005 44
Oct 2, 2005 36.50
Oct 9, 2005 19.50
Oct 16, 2005 32.50
Oct 23, 2005 42.50
Oct 30, 2005 29
Nov 6, 2005 44.50
Nov 13, 2005 43
Nov 20, 2005 39.50
Nov 27, 2005 14
Dec 4, 2005 20.50
Dec 11, 2005 19.50
Dec 18, 2005 16.00
Dec 25, 2005 23
Jan 1, 2006 28.50
Jan 8, 2006 31.50
Jan 15, 2006 52.50
Jan 22, 2006 40.50
Jan 29, 2006 42
Feb 5, 2006 57.50
Feb 12, 2006 51
Feb 19, 2006 42
Feb 26, 2006 41
Mar 5, 2006 50
Mar 12, 2006 46.50
Mar 19, 2006 42.50
Mar 26, 2006 65
Apr 2, 2006 48
Apr 9, 2006 91.50
Apr 16, 2006 42.50
Apr 23, 2006 64.20
Apr 30, 2006 72
May 7, 2006 60.20

Jack about to kick 

Still Undefeated After 3 Games!

Warming up before the game Boronia 4 def Mooroolbark 0 

My Running Week Ends with 60kms

As Saturday is my rest day, my week has
finished with a total of 60kms and has
included the GTR from Sunday in the total.

Friday Morning - Treadmill Fartlek (3)
Warmup 1.2kms various jogging pace then
Fartlek running on the treadmill with a minute
of 13 followed by a minute at 10 repeated 7
times. A cooldown jog of 800m followed by a
set of chairdips and pullups to finish.
This session was a breeze to get through and
felt perhaps a little easy now! My fitness
might have moved up a level recently so i
will increase the speed of the faster minutes
to 14 next time.

Thursday Morning - Medium Recovery Run (3)
A nice easy 10kms this morning to recover the body
from a hard night at the Masters last night. I do feel
much better this morning and the run went well in
56.27 without pushing too much.

Wednesday Evening - Knox Masters (5)
Warmup 4laps jogging pace followed by 4 x 50 strides.
Another 2laps of jogging to finish the warmup.
1 x 1200m race (10th in 4.27 - hard run) followed soon
after by 1 x 300m (1st in 47.7 - felt gone at the 200!)
Almost felt sick after that race but kept on with my
plan to run in the 20minTT. The first lap or so felt like
crap but i gradually came good and felt quite strong
after about 6laps. I ended up with 4055m for the
20mins without really sprinting the last 200 which
i would normally do. So a new PB for 20mins and
i'm very pleased with it. A slow lap to cooldown
and end the evening's running.
17 Days to Willi 10km

Tuesday Evening - No Bags tonight!
I decided not to do a boxing bag session tonight.
I've been very tired all day and probably the big
run at the GTR on Sunday is catching up with me.
I've got Masters tomorrow night so a night off will
help me to freshen up a little before then.
Tomorrow's events for me will be 1200m/300m/20minTT


Tuesday Morning - Medium Street Run (4)
13.5kms of street running this morning trying not to
push but rolling along steadily. I ended up running the
distance about 2 or 3mins quicker than last week.
Again the last 15mins or so was quite difficult and that
was where i was tiring a bit. This course certainly has
plenty of undulations so i think i'll get a lot of benefit
doing these every week
18 Days to Willi Sub 50 attempt

Monday Evening - Boxing Bags 6 x 3min
6 x 3min rounds on the boxing bags this evening to
help with my toning and core strength. When i don't
do these for a while i do forget how beneficial they are.
Must try and at least do them twice to three times a
week.


Monday Morning - Medium Run Treadmill (3)
A very boring 10kms on the treadmill this morning as
i couldn't leave the house for my normal street run.
A very cold morning so i had a jumper on for about the
first 15mins until i really got warmed up. i played
around with the incline every few minutes to help
simulate a street run which broke it up a little.
I finished the session off with a set of chairdips
and pullups.

Puffing Billy GTR the 25th one. 

before the race 

GTR finish 

Sunday Morning - Puffing Billy GTR (5)
A very cold windy and rainy GTR and i was really
soaked even before the start. A great time for me of
72mins when i really thought that i would be lucky to
do 85. I guess the occasion and being kinda swept
along not wanting to stop and walk or slow down too
much really helps. Only missed beating the second
train by about a minute so if i do this again next
year i would expect to be closer to the first train.
I must say i really wasn't happy with the post race
transport situation as they only had a couple of buses
and a train leaving about every hour. Next year i will
have a different plan.
EDIT: - It seems that the second train came in at around
76mins which means that (if this is correct??), i actually
beat the second train which i guess is a minor victory
isn't it? I'm pretty sure that if i do this race next
year, i will be aiming for sub 60.

Boronia Eagles 4 def Doncaster 1 

Saturday - Rest Day
Took Jack to play soccer this morning. It was their
first official game of the season and a nice 4-1 win
over Doncaster who they lost to last year. Good one!
I'm resting up today for the GTR tomorrow morning.
Looks like it will be a very cold one. That doesn't
bother me while i'm running but i think i'll be very
cold afterwards. Still thinking about what i should
take.

My Running Week Ends with 72kms

Friday Morning - Gently Easy Recovery (3)
A very very easy 2.5kms of easy pace on the treadmill
this morning. The plan was for a 5k fartlek but my legs
and body were telling me that i have had enough this
week. I was starting to feel good and loose at the end
of it but decided that i would finish it there and rest up
for the GTR on Sunday. A quick set of chairdips and
pullups to finish off.
Quite probably the sudden inclusion of 3 boxing bag
sessions this week after not having done them for some
time has tired me out on top of another big mileage week!

Thursday Evening - Boxing Bags
Usual boxing bags routine this evening 6 x 3min
rounds - 2 with each bag type. Must be a little tired
as these sessions this week are not easy.


Thursday Morning - Recovery Run (4) 10kms
An easy pace recovery run for 10kms this morning.
I did struggle a little but got through it ok for a rating
of (4) out of 5 for effort today.

Wednesday Evening - Knox Masters (5)
This afternoon i didn't feel well. I seem to get a bad
headache quite often on Tuesday afternoons for some strange
reason and this week it came today instead. I almost didn't
go to Masters but i really hate to miss it so off i went.
I put my name down for 3 events tonight the 800m/200m/4km
and i thought i'd see how i felt after each one before
deciding on the next.
A little rainy tonight but not too bad for running.
My warmup consisted of 4 laps of easy pace to
begin followed by 4 x 50m strides. Then another
slow lap and a couple of 30m fast feet runs etc.
1 x 800m in which i ran a solid first 500 and then
pulled up onto the inside feeling like it was all a
bit of a struggle. Some nights if just doesn't work!
I then ran a slow lap before running in the 200m
race (2nd in 29.0). Another slow lap to loosen up
and then into the 4km which i managed to do and
miss a lap! My time for the 3600m was 17:50
which i was pleased with as i wanted to beat 20
for the 4km and i was inside my 3k PB time along
the way. 3 more slow laps to cooldown and finish
for the evening.

Tuesday Evening - Boxing Bags (4)
Boxing Bags 6 x 3min rounds again tonight. This time
i was able to use the speedball as i was able to pump
it up to it's proper air pressure. So 2 rounds each on
the speedball/floor to ceiling ball/heavy bag.


Tuesday Morning - Medium Street Run (4)
13.5kms at easy pace again around the local streets
near home. All went well until about the last 20mins
again when it noticably became a struggle. It might
take a little while to get used to the extra distance of
these. About 86mins today - similar to yesterday.
That was the last run before Masters on Wednesday night.

Monday Evening - Boxing Bags 6 x 3min rounds
It's been some time since i trained with the
bags and i really should spend the time with
them as i feel they really help with core strength.
Good session tonight but lack of recent bag
sessions did show up.


Monday Morning - Medium Street Run (4)
Easy pace running this morning around the local
streets with an extra 3.5k's this morning. It was
a bit of a struggle the last 20mins or so but i got
through it ok. 13.5kms in a rather slow 1.27ish.