This week has been a bit of a mixed bag really. I made a miscalculation with my training and ended up with 83km in the first four days of this week. This normally is not much of an issue as I quite often hit 90km by the end of a Thursday. I had also planned to run 10km on Friday and another 45km this Saturday with a projected weekly total around 150km, again volume that I can ordinarily cope with. The problem is that Saturday would mark the two weeks to go milestone, a time when I should be tapering off the training and trying to freshen up for the race. I knew the dates and thought that I had planned correctly but heading out to meet my friend Sean on Thursday, I realised my error as I ran on tired legs at 4:30am.
To ensure that I wouldn't be standing on the start line feeling over-cooked I did the sensible thing and took Friday and Saturday off as rest days. Work has been very busy recently and the break from training helped me to overcome the general tiredness I was feeling.
I had good solid runs this week continuing on with some undulations and my final stretch up Mt Archer. I was not as fast as last week but still a solid effort. I will now reduce the volume even further and take extra rest days in the next two weeks to help with recovery.
I was originally going to travel to Cairns via train but after multiple warnings from lots of people I booked flights instead. The prospect of a 20 hour approx train trip each way was not too appealing I must admit. I'm really looking forward to the race and catching up with friends in the Far North that I have not seen for almost two years. I also learned that Mike Le Roux has entered the race which is awesome. Mike won the Glasshouse 100 mile trail run in September, he is a phenomenal athlete and is aiming to compete in the Badwater Ultramarathon next year. Mike finished the Glasshouse 100 in a course record 15hrs 38mins (161.7km) where I took 17hrs 36mins to complete 127.5km, so it will be great to have someone of his calibre in the race (he is a local too), not that I will see much of him!!
I ordered my second pair of Hoka One One shoes this week as I have logged quite a few kilometres in my current pair of Bondi B's. Hopefully they will arrive this week so that I can break them in for the race. I believe I was the first person in Rocky to wear these 'different' looking shoes but I love them and I know Jason is now hooked on them as well. Who knows, by the time TNF100 comes around next May there might be a few more converts in Rockhampton.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 22secs - undulating run
- 2.05km - 14mins 43secs - run with Holly & Ethan
Tue - 28.50km - 2hrs 31mins 08secs - hill run up Mt Archer
Wed - 15.10km - 1hr 18mins 27secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 23.14km - 2hrs 22mins 22secs - trail run with Sean in am
Fri - Rest day
Sat - Rest day
Sun - 16.80km - 1hr 26mins 04secs - mainly flat group run
Totals - 100.68km - 9hrs 11mins 09secs
Once I hand in my next law assignment I hope to put a bit more work into my next project, a guide that I am putting together to help my friends (and anyone else that is interested) in preparing for The North Face 100 next year. I have got the outline and most of the content sorted out and will start to put my ideas into written form shortly. If all goes well I hope to have it finished in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned and......
Keep running.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Getting out the door
In June I published a post about motivation and inspiration. This week I had to take a leaf out of my own book and practice what I preach. Sometimes it can be very difficult to view your own training objectively. If someone asks for some advice, generally, I can have a look at what they have been doing and what their goals are and come up with a pretty good suggestion or solution. But when it comes to looking at my own training I can and do make lots of silly mistakes and do things that contradict what I would normally advise someone else not to do. Since my two week break I have been logging some good volume with weeks of; 102km, 133km and 161km. With only two weeks of high volume before my race taper I intended to run around 160km each week.
This week started off strong and I continued making significant deposits into the running bank. On Monday I ran with my kids before a good undulating workout. On Tuesday I struggled with motivation and during the first couple of kilometres, considered turning around and going home. With a high volume of accumulated distance in my legs and lots of early starts at work I was getting quite tired and was struggling to find the motivation to keep pushing. I was still focused on my goal but in the back of my mind I was trying to find excuses not to run.
I find that getting out the door is the hardest part and generally feel much better afterwards. So on Tuesday, as I struggled through the early part of the run, I thought about how lucky I was to have my health and fitness and focused on trying to enjoy my run and not think about the 30km or so ahead of me. As is often the case I had a great run and managed to get a PB on my Mt Archer climb. I hit the bottom of the main climb having completed 8.78 km and as I took a drink and time check, a cyclist came past. GAME ON. At first he thought he was alone but after a quick look behind my competitive intent was exposed. I developed a good rhythm and got into the zone, focusing on my breathing and keeping the cyclist in view. He started with about a 100 metre advantage and as we climbed the distance between us would yo-yo depending on the gradient and whether he was seated or standing. I was still about 100m behind him, as we approached the saddle, when tragedy happened. He turned around and went back down the hill. D'oh, I thought I could catch and pass him by the summit. I briefly considered taking a breather but was still 'in the zone' so continued onwards and upwards. My kilometre splits were all low to mid six minute kilometre range and I made it to my 5km end marker (top lookout near the antenna's) in 31mins 45secs a PB by 1 minute 3 seconds. After a quick breather and admiring the magnificent vistas I ran around a few of the lookouts before heading down the hill again. On my way home I passed by the Central Queensland University grass running track. Quite a few of the Rocky Road Runners meet for their speed work sessions on a Tuesday so I thought I would say hi. I love the energy of running with a group and I couldn't resist running a couple of fast (too fast) 200's with them. I hadn't done any speed work since the Gold Coast Marathon and as a consequence felt a bit tight for the rest of the run home.
On Wednesday I ran the same undulating course as Monday but felt a little tired, which is understandable I guess. After the run I enjoyed a little jog around with my kids which always lifts my spirits. Like me they were a little tired so we only did one lap around the block. By the time I got home from work on Thursday I had hit the wall and could not face going out for my planned 30km run. I briefly considered driving to run with the Thursday pack but couldn't even face that, the door remained shut. It can be a fine line between doing too much and not doing enough. I firmly believe that it is better to be slightly under-prepared than over-trained. There is always the possibility of pushing that little bit harder or longer in a race if you have slightly undertrained but there is little or no chance of coming back if you are over-cooked. I felt bad about abandoning my run and kept trying to justify my decision but I am glad that I stayed at home. With my big volume and consecutive early shifts I felt that I was always tired and not spending as much time with Mel or the kids as I wanted. As it turned out I had a great afternoon and evening at home with my family and got to spend some quality time with both of my wonderful children.
Friday was always going to be an easy 10km run but after I got home from taking the kids to school I took the opportunity to mow the lawn which usually takes 1.5 hours. I was very hungry and needed to eat before running but decided to abandon the run in favour of cleaning the car. I could've run in the afternoon but I wanted to save myself for Saturday's long run. I was so tired by the end of the day that I almost neglected to make up my drinks and prepare my gear for the run in the morning.
My alarm went off at 3:45am. I got up but then went back to bed. I lay there debating on the virtues of staying at home again. I was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, the only trouble was that I was awake and knew that I would be angry with myself if I missed three days of what is supposed to be a big week of training. It turned out that all I needed was two days off to refresh both mentally and physically because I managed to run a quickish long run to make it back-to-back weeks of 50km Saturdays. I did my own undulating 11km loop before joining the group. The pace remained quick for most of the run, especially when running for a short time alongside Marty at sub 4:00min/km pace. As the run progressed the group whittled down to Michael, Marty and myself. Thanks to M & M I managed to keep a good consistent pace with great company so that I only had to run another 7km or so by myself at the end. At the conclusion of the run I was tired but not shattered and began turning my mind to the 10km race on Sunday.
At about 7:00am on Sunday morning I stood on the start line of the Balance Podiatry Pink Ribbon 10km fun run. I knew that running a fast 10km race after running a quick 50km the day before would always be a challenge. Even as the starter's gun fired I did not really have a time or place goal. I honestly thought something like 45mins or at best around 42mins would be achievable and considering the huge turnout (around 250 people for the 5k, 10k & kids run) I was not worried about a place. I settled into a good fast rhythm and was surprised at how good I felt. I passed a few runners in the first couple of kilometres as the leaders pulled ahead and looked down at my watch to find that I was running at just under 4min/km pace. My legs were a little tired but not heavy which enabled me to push out with a longer, stronger, faster stride. I continued to pass a few runners so that I started the second 5km lap in 6th place with Marty just ahead. I ran a consistent race with close to even lap splits to finish in 39mins 39secs for 5th overall. The course was slightly short with my Garmin reading 9.8km but I was incredibly pleased with my surprising performance and was unofficially about 20-30 seconds away from Michael who took home third place. A huge thank you to Kelly, Leah and their volunteers who put on a great race. Well done to all the people who placed and who completed the run and in the triathlons / duathlons held at Yeppoon.
I would also like to acknowledge the truly remarkable achievement of my cousin Cameron Brown (no, not the triathlete), who last night became World Champion in both the singles and pairs at the Aerobics World Championships on the Gold Coast. Cameron has dedicated himself to his sport for many many years at the elite level. I'm so proud and happy for him to reach the pinnacle of his sport and being crowned World Champion is a testament to his dedication and drive. Well done cuz.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 2.07km - 15mins 39secs - run with Holly and Ethan
- 15.05km - 1hr 18mins 35secs - undulating run
Tue - 31.10km - 2hrs 43mins 55secs - hills incl' Mt Archer
Wed - 15.05km - 1hr 20mins 43secs - undulating run
- 1.12km - 8mins 57secs - run with Holly and Ethan
Thu - Rest day
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.25km - 4hrs 17mins 16secs - long run with group
Sun - 2.52km - 12mins 50secs - warm up for 10km race
- 9.80km - 39mins 39secs - 10km Pink Ribbon race
- 4.10km - 20mins 26secs - warm down
Totals - 131.06km - 11hrs 18mins 05secs
With only one more week of high volume and three weeks to go until race day I am getting very excited about the race. I've never been to Cairns or Port Douglas before so I am looking forward to what will be another exciting adventure.
Keep running.
This week started off strong and I continued making significant deposits into the running bank. On Monday I ran with my kids before a good undulating workout. On Tuesday I struggled with motivation and during the first couple of kilometres, considered turning around and going home. With a high volume of accumulated distance in my legs and lots of early starts at work I was getting quite tired and was struggling to find the motivation to keep pushing. I was still focused on my goal but in the back of my mind I was trying to find excuses not to run.
I find that getting out the door is the hardest part and generally feel much better afterwards. So on Tuesday, as I struggled through the early part of the run, I thought about how lucky I was to have my health and fitness and focused on trying to enjoy my run and not think about the 30km or so ahead of me. As is often the case I had a great run and managed to get a PB on my Mt Archer climb. I hit the bottom of the main climb having completed 8.78 km and as I took a drink and time check, a cyclist came past. GAME ON. At first he thought he was alone but after a quick look behind my competitive intent was exposed. I developed a good rhythm and got into the zone, focusing on my breathing and keeping the cyclist in view. He started with about a 100 metre advantage and as we climbed the distance between us would yo-yo depending on the gradient and whether he was seated or standing. I was still about 100m behind him, as we approached the saddle, when tragedy happened. He turned around and went back down the hill. D'oh, I thought I could catch and pass him by the summit. I briefly considered taking a breather but was still 'in the zone' so continued onwards and upwards. My kilometre splits were all low to mid six minute kilometre range and I made it to my 5km end marker (top lookout near the antenna's) in 31mins 45secs a PB by 1 minute 3 seconds. After a quick breather and admiring the magnificent vistas I ran around a few of the lookouts before heading down the hill again. On my way home I passed by the Central Queensland University grass running track. Quite a few of the Rocky Road Runners meet for their speed work sessions on a Tuesday so I thought I would say hi. I love the energy of running with a group and I couldn't resist running a couple of fast (too fast) 200's with them. I hadn't done any speed work since the Gold Coast Marathon and as a consequence felt a bit tight for the rest of the run home.
On Wednesday I ran the same undulating course as Monday but felt a little tired, which is understandable I guess. After the run I enjoyed a little jog around with my kids which always lifts my spirits. Like me they were a little tired so we only did one lap around the block. By the time I got home from work on Thursday I had hit the wall and could not face going out for my planned 30km run. I briefly considered driving to run with the Thursday pack but couldn't even face that, the door remained shut. It can be a fine line between doing too much and not doing enough. I firmly believe that it is better to be slightly under-prepared than over-trained. There is always the possibility of pushing that little bit harder or longer in a race if you have slightly undertrained but there is little or no chance of coming back if you are over-cooked. I felt bad about abandoning my run and kept trying to justify my decision but I am glad that I stayed at home. With my big volume and consecutive early shifts I felt that I was always tired and not spending as much time with Mel or the kids as I wanted. As it turned out I had a great afternoon and evening at home with my family and got to spend some quality time with both of my wonderful children.
Friday was always going to be an easy 10km run but after I got home from taking the kids to school I took the opportunity to mow the lawn which usually takes 1.5 hours. I was very hungry and needed to eat before running but decided to abandon the run in favour of cleaning the car. I could've run in the afternoon but I wanted to save myself for Saturday's long run. I was so tired by the end of the day that I almost neglected to make up my drinks and prepare my gear for the run in the morning.
My alarm went off at 3:45am. I got up but then went back to bed. I lay there debating on the virtues of staying at home again. I was still tired and wanted to go back to sleep, the only trouble was that I was awake and knew that I would be angry with myself if I missed three days of what is supposed to be a big week of training. It turned out that all I needed was two days off to refresh both mentally and physically because I managed to run a quickish long run to make it back-to-back weeks of 50km Saturdays. I did my own undulating 11km loop before joining the group. The pace remained quick for most of the run, especially when running for a short time alongside Marty at sub 4:00min/km pace. As the run progressed the group whittled down to Michael, Marty and myself. Thanks to M & M I managed to keep a good consistent pace with great company so that I only had to run another 7km or so by myself at the end. At the conclusion of the run I was tired but not shattered and began turning my mind to the 10km race on Sunday.
At about 7:00am on Sunday morning I stood on the start line of the Balance Podiatry Pink Ribbon 10km fun run. I knew that running a fast 10km race after running a quick 50km the day before would always be a challenge. Even as the starter's gun fired I did not really have a time or place goal. I honestly thought something like 45mins or at best around 42mins would be achievable and considering the huge turnout (around 250 people for the 5k, 10k & kids run) I was not worried about a place. I settled into a good fast rhythm and was surprised at how good I felt. I passed a few runners in the first couple of kilometres as the leaders pulled ahead and looked down at my watch to find that I was running at just under 4min/km pace. My legs were a little tired but not heavy which enabled me to push out with a longer, stronger, faster stride. I continued to pass a few runners so that I started the second 5km lap in 6th place with Marty just ahead. I ran a consistent race with close to even lap splits to finish in 39mins 39secs for 5th overall. The course was slightly short with my Garmin reading 9.8km but I was incredibly pleased with my surprising performance and was unofficially about 20-30 seconds away from Michael who took home third place. A huge thank you to Kelly, Leah and their volunteers who put on a great race. Well done to all the people who placed and who completed the run and in the triathlons / duathlons held at Yeppoon.
I would also like to acknowledge the truly remarkable achievement of my cousin Cameron Brown (no, not the triathlete), who last night became World Champion in both the singles and pairs at the Aerobics World Championships on the Gold Coast. Cameron has dedicated himself to his sport for many many years at the elite level. I'm so proud and happy for him to reach the pinnacle of his sport and being crowned World Champion is a testament to his dedication and drive. Well done cuz.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 2.07km - 15mins 39secs - run with Holly and Ethan
- 15.05km - 1hr 18mins 35secs - undulating run
Tue - 31.10km - 2hrs 43mins 55secs - hills incl' Mt Archer
Wed - 15.05km - 1hr 20mins 43secs - undulating run
- 1.12km - 8mins 57secs - run with Holly and Ethan
Thu - Rest day
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.25km - 4hrs 17mins 16secs - long run with group
Sun - 2.52km - 12mins 50secs - warm up for 10km race
- 9.80km - 39mins 39secs - 10km Pink Ribbon race
- 4.10km - 20mins 26secs - warm down
Totals - 131.06km - 11hrs 18mins 05secs
With only one more week of high volume and three weeks to go until race day I am getting very excited about the race. I've never been to Cairns or Port Douglas before so I am looking forward to what will be another exciting adventure.
Keep running.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Running Bank
All of our life experiences, whether positive or negative, affect us in a myriad of ways. The person we are today is a result of the accumulation of these experiences. The same can be said for training and racing. For me, my running is about the enjoyment of physical exercise and pushing at the boundaries of the preconceived limitations of what I thought was possible. Through challenging myself to go harder, go higher or go longer I can (to borrow a phrase) live a life less ordinary. Running is MY metaphor for living. So, considering all of the hours that we put into running / training for an event, what we achieve on race day is the accumulation of those experiences both physically and mentally.
To further this train of thought, think of your body (and by extension, your mind) as a bank. Every time you go out for a run you are making a deposit into the bank. Every time you run in the heat, humidity, rain, wind, up the hill, down the hill, on the sand, you are adding to your knowledge and experience balance. Every time you run with a partner or a group you debit your account with the wealth of the combined experience of others. Every time you read a book, read a magazine or even watch a sporting event on television or film you strengthen your fund. So why is this important?
Endurance running to me is about putting one foot in front of the other for as long as you can until you achieve your goal. This sounds simple enough but the longer we go, the more we need to draw upon our inner strength and resolve to meet the inevitable challenges along the way. Ultra marathons by their very nature and distance alone, are difficult enough, however, many events can be characterised by other significant variables such as extreme heat, terrain and altitude. The key to the successful completion of an ultra event is by managing all the difficulties and obstacles and this is where we may need to make sizeable withdrawals from our running banks. It is highly unlikely that any normal person (once again normal is purely subjective) undertaking an endurance event will not be faced with significant challenges in which they need to draw upon their experience to carry on. Having trained effectively and developed, our knowledge, skills and experience whilst physically preparing our bodies we are able use the experience we gain in training and apply them on race day.
As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, I am training for the Great Barrier Reef 74km trail run on the 12th November. Although run on trails with some good elevation gain, I believe the most challenging factors for this race will be the heat and humidity whilst running through the bush from Cairns to Port Douglas. To ensure that I achieve my goals I have begun specific run training to address these additional challenges. I have made some very good deposits into the running bank this week with some difficult runs in the hot part of the day.
On Monday I ran at 10:15am in 30+ degree heat on an undulating course for 15km, then on Tuesday I ran 25km in the early morning humidity through undulating to hilly trails before backing up again in the afternoon for a quick 7km in high humidity. Wednesday was a repeat of Monday's undulations with 15km starting at 10:30am and Thursday was some more hill work running for 28km in 30+ degrees including the 5km road climb to the summit of Mt Archer.
Saturday began with an earlier start of 4am and about 15km of road before hitting the undulating to hilly trails with Sean, Peter and Neville. What was interesting about Saturday's run was the high humidity. Running on muddy trails meant that my overall pace was slower which is a good thing when I was aiming to run 50km. I love running on the trails through the bush and was having a great time. The high humidity meant that I was drinking much more than I normally do and was sweating profusely. We ran through the trail known as 'first turkey' and took a left hand turn onto another trail. This branch lead us all the way through to the Rocky-Yeppoon Road where we re-filled our drink bottles at the go-cart track before heading back the same way we had come. We had a brief respite from the humidity when the rain came as part of a thunder and lightning storm.
Unfortunately the rain only lasted for a short time so that when the sun came out it supercharged the moisture in the air to produce a sauna like effect. It was at this time that I started thinking about the running bank and how running in these conditions would be very beneficial for my race in four weeks time. After we had re-traced our steps and returned to the beginning of the trail Peter and Neville peeled off and I ran with Sean to his place. Whilst running with Sean I was turning my mind towards the additional 12km I would need to run after he made it to his house. I refilled my water bottles again at Sean's (thanks mate, that cold water was magic) and continued towards the 40km mark of my run. It was at this point that I started to struggle, the charged energy I had felt as part of our positive group dynamic had left me and I was really feeling tired, sore and the heat and humidity had a physical blanket-like quality as if it was about to wrap me up. I sat down at the intersection of Yaamba Road and Farm Street and took stock of my situation. If I turned right and ran down Yaamba Road I could be home in about 20 minutes and run somewhere around 43km or if I continued down Farm Street I could run a route that would take me close to my pre-run target of 50km.
At this point I needed to make a small withdrawal from the running bank and draw upon my previous experiences of feeling sore, tired and overheated. I tested my commitment and again proved to myself that I am worthy, I got to my feet and began running down Farm Street. Like last week I was in survival mode, I was putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on moving forward. My pace had slowed considerably and I needed to re-fill my water bottles again. I had been having a few watch issues including forgetting to re-start it at a couple of water stops meaning that I had actually run a couple of kilometres extra than what my watch said. I eventually developed an efficient little shuffle-like run and managed to make it home in one piece. Despite running slowly in the increasingly hot and humid conditions I even ran past my place to do an extra loop so that my watch showed at least 50km.
After the run I felt a little sun and wind-burned but recovered reasonably well. I drank quite a bit, was a little stiff walking around and needed a nap but before long I was out and about with my family for the afternoon. As a result of Saturday's little adventure I was able to make a significant deposit into the running bank, and although I took a little loan from the bank to make it to the end, the overall experience I gained (both physically and mentally) meant that I was able to repay my small loan with interest and come the 12th November, I will be able to draw upon this run and others to help me achieve my goals.
Sunday's run was a good back up from Saturday. I still felt a bit sore in the morning but had a crusiy day at home so that by the afternoon I was ready to run. I set off at about 4:15pm and it was still about 32 degrees. I felt pretty good and ran some undulations before meeting the group after running for 8.5km. I wasn't sure how much I was going to run and was playing it by ear. I felt good so joined the group and had fun knocking out a 20km run to bring my weekly total to 100 miles.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 21mins 18secs - undulating run in heat
Tue - am - 25.10km - 2hrs 26mins 35secs - hills & undulations in humidity
- pm - 7.25km - 35mins 10secs - quick run in humidity
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 20mins 13secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 28.05km - 2hrs 31mins 39secs - hill run incl Mt Archer in heat
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.05km - 5hrs 03mins 53secs - trail & road, undulating in humidity
Sun - 20.39km - 1hr 45mins 05secs - undulations & group run
Totals: 161.19km - 15hrs 03mins 55secs
With only four weeks to go, I have two more big weeks of training and two weeks of taper. The two weeks off have not limited me too much and I have been able to continually build on my consistent base. Consistency has been the key for my running development and is a significant improvement on the months leading up to my run at The North Face 100 this year. Stay safe, have fun and.......
Keep running.
To further this train of thought, think of your body (and by extension, your mind) as a bank. Every time you go out for a run you are making a deposit into the bank. Every time you run in the heat, humidity, rain, wind, up the hill, down the hill, on the sand, you are adding to your knowledge and experience balance. Every time you run with a partner or a group you debit your account with the wealth of the combined experience of others. Every time you read a book, read a magazine or even watch a sporting event on television or film you strengthen your fund. So why is this important?
Endurance running to me is about putting one foot in front of the other for as long as you can until you achieve your goal. This sounds simple enough but the longer we go, the more we need to draw upon our inner strength and resolve to meet the inevitable challenges along the way. Ultra marathons by their very nature and distance alone, are difficult enough, however, many events can be characterised by other significant variables such as extreme heat, terrain and altitude. The key to the successful completion of an ultra event is by managing all the difficulties and obstacles and this is where we may need to make sizeable withdrawals from our running banks. It is highly unlikely that any normal person (once again normal is purely subjective) undertaking an endurance event will not be faced with significant challenges in which they need to draw upon their experience to carry on. Having trained effectively and developed, our knowledge, skills and experience whilst physically preparing our bodies we are able use the experience we gain in training and apply them on race day.
As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, I am training for the Great Barrier Reef 74km trail run on the 12th November. Although run on trails with some good elevation gain, I believe the most challenging factors for this race will be the heat and humidity whilst running through the bush from Cairns to Port Douglas. To ensure that I achieve my goals I have begun specific run training to address these additional challenges. I have made some very good deposits into the running bank this week with some difficult runs in the hot part of the day.
On Monday I ran at 10:15am in 30+ degree heat on an undulating course for 15km, then on Tuesday I ran 25km in the early morning humidity through undulating to hilly trails before backing up again in the afternoon for a quick 7km in high humidity. Wednesday was a repeat of Monday's undulations with 15km starting at 10:30am and Thursday was some more hill work running for 28km in 30+ degrees including the 5km road climb to the summit of Mt Archer.
Saturday began with an earlier start of 4am and about 15km of road before hitting the undulating to hilly trails with Sean, Peter and Neville. What was interesting about Saturday's run was the high humidity. Running on muddy trails meant that my overall pace was slower which is a good thing when I was aiming to run 50km. I love running on the trails through the bush and was having a great time. The high humidity meant that I was drinking much more than I normally do and was sweating profusely. We ran through the trail known as 'first turkey' and took a left hand turn onto another trail. This branch lead us all the way through to the Rocky-Yeppoon Road where we re-filled our drink bottles at the go-cart track before heading back the same way we had come. We had a brief respite from the humidity when the rain came as part of a thunder and lightning storm.
Unfortunately the rain only lasted for a short time so that when the sun came out it supercharged the moisture in the air to produce a sauna like effect. It was at this time that I started thinking about the running bank and how running in these conditions would be very beneficial for my race in four weeks time. After we had re-traced our steps and returned to the beginning of the trail Peter and Neville peeled off and I ran with Sean to his place. Whilst running with Sean I was turning my mind towards the additional 12km I would need to run after he made it to his house. I refilled my water bottles again at Sean's (thanks mate, that cold water was magic) and continued towards the 40km mark of my run. It was at this point that I started to struggle, the charged energy I had felt as part of our positive group dynamic had left me and I was really feeling tired, sore and the heat and humidity had a physical blanket-like quality as if it was about to wrap me up. I sat down at the intersection of Yaamba Road and Farm Street and took stock of my situation. If I turned right and ran down Yaamba Road I could be home in about 20 minutes and run somewhere around 43km or if I continued down Farm Street I could run a route that would take me close to my pre-run target of 50km.
At this point I needed to make a small withdrawal from the running bank and draw upon my previous experiences of feeling sore, tired and overheated. I tested my commitment and again proved to myself that I am worthy, I got to my feet and began running down Farm Street. Like last week I was in survival mode, I was putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on moving forward. My pace had slowed considerably and I needed to re-fill my water bottles again. I had been having a few watch issues including forgetting to re-start it at a couple of water stops meaning that I had actually run a couple of kilometres extra than what my watch said. I eventually developed an efficient little shuffle-like run and managed to make it home in one piece. Despite running slowly in the increasingly hot and humid conditions I even ran past my place to do an extra loop so that my watch showed at least 50km.
After the run I felt a little sun and wind-burned but recovered reasonably well. I drank quite a bit, was a little stiff walking around and needed a nap but before long I was out and about with my family for the afternoon. As a result of Saturday's little adventure I was able to make a significant deposit into the running bank, and although I took a little loan from the bank to make it to the end, the overall experience I gained (both physically and mentally) meant that I was able to repay my small loan with interest and come the 12th November, I will be able to draw upon this run and others to help me achieve my goals.
Sunday's run was a good back up from Saturday. I still felt a bit sore in the morning but had a crusiy day at home so that by the afternoon I was ready to run. I set off at about 4:15pm and it was still about 32 degrees. I felt pretty good and ran some undulations before meeting the group after running for 8.5km. I wasn't sure how much I was going to run and was playing it by ear. I felt good so joined the group and had fun knocking out a 20km run to bring my weekly total to 100 miles.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 15.10km - 1hr 21mins 18secs - undulating run in heat
Tue - am - 25.10km - 2hrs 26mins 35secs - hills & undulations in humidity
- pm - 7.25km - 35mins 10secs - quick run in humidity
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 20mins 13secs - undulating run in heat
Thu - 28.05km - 2hrs 31mins 39secs - hill run incl Mt Archer in heat
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.05km - 5hrs 03mins 53secs - trail & road, undulating in humidity
Sun - 20.39km - 1hr 45mins 05secs - undulations & group run
Totals: 161.19km - 15hrs 03mins 55secs
With only four weeks to go, I have two more big weeks of training and two weeks of taper. The two weeks off have not limited me too much and I have been able to continually build on my consistent base. Consistency has been the key for my running development and is a significant improvement on the months leading up to my run at The North Face 100 this year. Stay safe, have fun and.......
Keep running.
2011 Glasshouse 100 - Photos
Running early on in the race with Josh Cooper
Running from Checkpoint 8 to Checkpoint 7
Monday, October 10, 2011
Next Ultramarathon
After a brief two week hiatus from running I have managed to log two triple figure training weeks in the build-up to my next Ultra.
I have entered the Great Barrier Reef Ultra which is a 74km trail run from Cairns to Port Douglas on the 12th November. This will be my 5th Ultra this year and although it is shorter than my last race, it will present me with the new challenge of running in the tropical far north of Queensland where I will have to battle high temperatures and high humidity, as if running 74km was not enough.
My first week back was a bit of a shock to start. As soon as I started my first run on the Monday, I was limping and had pains in my upper legs and groin. I wondered if I should stop in case I injured myself. I decided to carry on and limped on for a few hundred metres until I started to loosen up and could run freely. I guess it was my body's way of saying, that will teach you to rest!! I took this week pretty easy with nothing too strenuous or long to ease my way back into full training.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 10.10km - 51mins 17secs - flat to undulating
Tue - 18.25km - 1hr 30mins - mainly flat
Wed - 10.10km - 50mins 13secs - flat to undulating
Thu - 19.10km - 1hr 52mins 20secs - run up Turkey trail with Sean + road
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 35.10km - 3hrs 06mins 52secs - long run with group + extra
Sun - 10.10km - 52mins 50secs - run with friends dog, flat to undulating
Totals - 102.70km - 9hrs 03mins 33secs
I am very happy with logging over 100km for my first week back and it shows that I have not lost too much endurance. I feel that I did lose some conditioning but not enough to worry about and every run I felt stronger.
I have been busy with work recently and have been putting quite a bit of time into my assignments. In order to get a promotion at work I am required to do quite a bit of study and submit some essays. I should have done these last year and have missed out on many supervisor opportunities and more pay simply because I couldn't find the time. So after Glasshouse I decided to make time. It means that I have more commitments and need to juggle my time around but it will be worth it in the end.
My children Holly and Ethan have decided that they want to do some running as well. At 10 and 5 years old respectively, I have let them come to this decision on their own. I don't want to be one of those parents who continually push their children so they can live out their own dreams through the achievements of their children. After a couple of weeks of asking to go for a run I took them down to the uni grass running track. We did some 100m run, 100m walk intervals as an introduction. They loved it. We ended up running for about 2km all up plus walking. We now run loops around the block from home which is about 1.13km. I keep a little log of their runs so they can be like dad. So far they run a full lap without walking then I take Holly on a lap by herself and then take Ethan out for another 750m or so. I bought them some proper Asics running shoes as their school ones were a bit heavy. It is early days at the moment but I look forward to the day where the three of us can go out on a decent training run together.
Last week I increased my mileage a little bit more and aimed to bring back my hill runs on Tuesday and my 45km long runs on Saturday. I ran with a mates dog on Monday but rolled my left ankle as I tried to avoid being tripped up. The dog is quite a large German Sheppard and nearly succeeded in his quest to knock me over a couple of times. I didn't want to exhaust the dog too much so dropped him off at home after 6km or so and added some extra distance. My left ankle was a little sore but did not swell up too much and I could still run on it.
On Tuesday I headed out to hit my usual Mt Archer hill session. Sean and Jason (HRE directors) had gone out earlier that morning and set the times to beat. I ran an undulating 5km before passing the stone sign that marks the beginning of the 5km climb up the road to the summit. I had last run this course a couple of weeks before Glasshouse in a personal best time and I was interested in how I would go. It was getting quite hot by the time I started climbing and couldn't walk even if I wanted to (Sean and Jason didn't). I managed to keep all my kilometre splits below 7 minutes and got to the top lookout (where the antenna's are) in 32mins 51secs, just 3 seconds outside my PB.
During my run on Wednesday I noticed that I was feeling some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in my quads from the downhill the day before. I ran to and from the group run on Thursday and had Friday off to help with recovery. On Saturday I had to get up at 4:45am to start work. It was my 4th early start in a row and my 6th of 7 shifts in a row last week. That meant that I started my long run at 3pm feeling very tired with the mercury reading 33.8 degrees. Thankfully the humidity was relatively low (22% or so) as I strode off to begin my 45km. I probably ran too quickly to start with as the high temperature and high winds meant that I was using more energy to cool my body and propel myself forward than usual at the same pace. I kept to my tried and tested fuelling schedule but by the time I got to about 25km my legs and body were very tired and I needed to stop to stretch out and rest my legs for a bit. I was feeling very sore in the legs and feet in particular and it reminded me of how I felt in the later part of the Glasshouse 100. I had a little debate with myself again, ala Glasshouse, about whether I was doing too much too early and if I should head home instead. I thought about my DNF and decided that this would be a true test of my mental strength, to keep going when all I wanted to do was stop. I kept on running but had to make a few more stops to ease my sore legs and feet. I managed to knock out the 45km but it was a difficult challenge and one which I thought I would not face again until the upcoming 74km race. I recovered quite well and strangely enough ran really strong and fast with the group on Sunday knocking out 12km at an average pace of 4:52min/km.
Weekly totals
Mon - 12.63km - 1hr 02mins 31secs - flattish run
Tue - 25.25km - 2hrs 10mins 07secs - hills with Mt Archer
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 02mins 56secs - flat to undulating run
Thu - 25.55km - 2hrs 09mins 32secs - run with RRR group + to & from
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 45.10km - 3hrs 55mins 26secs - long run, mainly flat with undulations
Sun - 12.05km - 58mins 34secs - flat group run
Totals - 133.14km - 11hrs 19mins 09secs
The next couple of weeks will be about building up my strength by doing more hill work throughout the week and adding in extra distance to each run. I'm not sure if should run on Friday or have a rest day so I will play it by ear and see how I feel. I am also trying to run during the hotter times of the day to try and get used to running in the heat and humidity in preparation for the Port Douglas race. At this stage I plan on taking the train up to Cairns as it is over 1000km away and I can at least sleep and walk around on the train.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my friends that raced over the weekend in various races. Marty had an outstanding race at the Golden Hills trail marathon in San Francisco taking 2nd place overall and winning his age-group. Marty, you are in awesome form and I know you will do very well at The North Face 100 next May. At the Hawaiian Ironman, Deano knocked out an impressive 9:45 and Margo easily went under 12 hours for her first outing in Kona, well done on your awesome performances (looking at the coverage and hearing the stories bring back strong memories for me of the 2000 Hawaiian Ironman, which still rates as one of my greatest accomplishments). Graeme (Crowie), Leigh, David and Melissa all went down to Melbourne and ran in the full and half marathons in what was not the easiest of days by all accounts, well done to you all and I hope you are proud of another great achievement and enjoyed yourselves in the process.
I will try and be a bit more regular with my posts and put one up each week but with one more assignment to go I won't be promising anything. I have put up a few posts prior to this one, with links to the Garmin Connect pages for my long run on Saturday and the file for my run at the Glasshouse 100, enjoy.
Keep running.
P.S. Go the All Blacks!!
I have entered the Great Barrier Reef Ultra which is a 74km trail run from Cairns to Port Douglas on the 12th November. This will be my 5th Ultra this year and although it is shorter than my last race, it will present me with the new challenge of running in the tropical far north of Queensland where I will have to battle high temperatures and high humidity, as if running 74km was not enough.
My first week back was a bit of a shock to start. As soon as I started my first run on the Monday, I was limping and had pains in my upper legs and groin. I wondered if I should stop in case I injured myself. I decided to carry on and limped on for a few hundred metres until I started to loosen up and could run freely. I guess it was my body's way of saying, that will teach you to rest!! I took this week pretty easy with nothing too strenuous or long to ease my way back into full training.
Weekly totals:
Mon - 10.10km - 51mins 17secs - flat to undulating
Tue - 18.25km - 1hr 30mins - mainly flat
Wed - 10.10km - 50mins 13secs - flat to undulating
Thu - 19.10km - 1hr 52mins 20secs - run up Turkey trail with Sean + road
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 35.10km - 3hrs 06mins 52secs - long run with group + extra
Sun - 10.10km - 52mins 50secs - run with friends dog, flat to undulating
Totals - 102.70km - 9hrs 03mins 33secs
I am very happy with logging over 100km for my first week back and it shows that I have not lost too much endurance. I feel that I did lose some conditioning but not enough to worry about and every run I felt stronger.
I have been busy with work recently and have been putting quite a bit of time into my assignments. In order to get a promotion at work I am required to do quite a bit of study and submit some essays. I should have done these last year and have missed out on many supervisor opportunities and more pay simply because I couldn't find the time. So after Glasshouse I decided to make time. It means that I have more commitments and need to juggle my time around but it will be worth it in the end.
My children Holly and Ethan have decided that they want to do some running as well. At 10 and 5 years old respectively, I have let them come to this decision on their own. I don't want to be one of those parents who continually push their children so they can live out their own dreams through the achievements of their children. After a couple of weeks of asking to go for a run I took them down to the uni grass running track. We did some 100m run, 100m walk intervals as an introduction. They loved it. We ended up running for about 2km all up plus walking. We now run loops around the block from home which is about 1.13km. I keep a little log of their runs so they can be like dad. So far they run a full lap without walking then I take Holly on a lap by herself and then take Ethan out for another 750m or so. I bought them some proper Asics running shoes as their school ones were a bit heavy. It is early days at the moment but I look forward to the day where the three of us can go out on a decent training run together.
Last week I increased my mileage a little bit more and aimed to bring back my hill runs on Tuesday and my 45km long runs on Saturday. I ran with a mates dog on Monday but rolled my left ankle as I tried to avoid being tripped up. The dog is quite a large German Sheppard and nearly succeeded in his quest to knock me over a couple of times. I didn't want to exhaust the dog too much so dropped him off at home after 6km or so and added some extra distance. My left ankle was a little sore but did not swell up too much and I could still run on it.
On Tuesday I headed out to hit my usual Mt Archer hill session. Sean and Jason (HRE directors) had gone out earlier that morning and set the times to beat. I ran an undulating 5km before passing the stone sign that marks the beginning of the 5km climb up the road to the summit. I had last run this course a couple of weeks before Glasshouse in a personal best time and I was interested in how I would go. It was getting quite hot by the time I started climbing and couldn't walk even if I wanted to (Sean and Jason didn't). I managed to keep all my kilometre splits below 7 minutes and got to the top lookout (where the antenna's are) in 32mins 51secs, just 3 seconds outside my PB.
During my run on Wednesday I noticed that I was feeling some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in my quads from the downhill the day before. I ran to and from the group run on Thursday and had Friday off to help with recovery. On Saturday I had to get up at 4:45am to start work. It was my 4th early start in a row and my 6th of 7 shifts in a row last week. That meant that I started my long run at 3pm feeling very tired with the mercury reading 33.8 degrees. Thankfully the humidity was relatively low (22% or so) as I strode off to begin my 45km. I probably ran too quickly to start with as the high temperature and high winds meant that I was using more energy to cool my body and propel myself forward than usual at the same pace. I kept to my tried and tested fuelling schedule but by the time I got to about 25km my legs and body were very tired and I needed to stop to stretch out and rest my legs for a bit. I was feeling very sore in the legs and feet in particular and it reminded me of how I felt in the later part of the Glasshouse 100. I had a little debate with myself again, ala Glasshouse, about whether I was doing too much too early and if I should head home instead. I thought about my DNF and decided that this would be a true test of my mental strength, to keep going when all I wanted to do was stop. I kept on running but had to make a few more stops to ease my sore legs and feet. I managed to knock out the 45km but it was a difficult challenge and one which I thought I would not face again until the upcoming 74km race. I recovered quite well and strangely enough ran really strong and fast with the group on Sunday knocking out 12km at an average pace of 4:52min/km.
Weekly totals
Mon - 12.63km - 1hr 02mins 31secs - flattish run
Tue - 25.25km - 2hrs 10mins 07secs - hills with Mt Archer
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 02mins 56secs - flat to undulating run
Thu - 25.55km - 2hrs 09mins 32secs - run with RRR group + to & from
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 45.10km - 3hrs 55mins 26secs - long run, mainly flat with undulations
Sun - 12.05km - 58mins 34secs - flat group run
Totals - 133.14km - 11hrs 19mins 09secs
The next couple of weeks will be about building up my strength by doing more hill work throughout the week and adding in extra distance to each run. I'm not sure if should run on Friday or have a rest day so I will play it by ear and see how I feel. I am also trying to run during the hotter times of the day to try and get used to running in the heat and humidity in preparation for the Port Douglas race. At this stage I plan on taking the train up to Cairns as it is over 1000km away and I can at least sleep and walk around on the train.
I would also like to say a huge congratulations to my friends that raced over the weekend in various races. Marty had an outstanding race at the Golden Hills trail marathon in San Francisco taking 2nd place overall and winning his age-group. Marty, you are in awesome form and I know you will do very well at The North Face 100 next May. At the Hawaiian Ironman, Deano knocked out an impressive 9:45 and Margo easily went under 12 hours for her first outing in Kona, well done on your awesome performances (looking at the coverage and hearing the stories bring back strong memories for me of the 2000 Hawaiian Ironman, which still rates as one of my greatest accomplishments). Graeme (Crowie), Leigh, David and Melissa all went down to Melbourne and ran in the full and half marathons in what was not the easiest of days by all accounts, well done to you all and I hope you are proud of another great achievement and enjoyed yourselves in the process.
I will try and be a bit more regular with my posts and put one up each week but with one more assignment to go I won't be promising anything. I have put up a few posts prior to this one, with links to the Garmin Connect pages for my long run on Saturday and the file for my run at the Glasshouse 100, enjoy.
Keep running.
P.S. Go the All Blacks!!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
2011 Glasshouse 100 mile by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Here is the Garmin GPS file for my run at the 2011 Glasshouse 100 mile race in September. Please note that I was having some battery issues so only part of the run was recorded. I officially ran 127.5km and the watch shows 124.27km. I guess that is the problem with having an 8hr battery for a race that took me over 17 hours.
Enjoy.
2011 Glasshouse 100 mile by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Enjoy.
2011 Glasshouse 100 mile by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Long run - Saturday 8th October 2011 by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
I am currently playing around with how I record and store information on my Garmin GPS watch. I have downloaded my long run from yesterday, simply click on the link below to review my run.
Long run - Saturday 8th October 2011 by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
Long run - Saturday 8th October 2011 by bencornelius at Garmin Connect - Details
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