I love to run

I really enjoyed my running this week and it got me to thinking about what motivates other people to run. People run for a variety of reasons; to lose weight, to become healthier, to achieve a personal goal, as a social activity, training for another sport or purely because they love to run. As it inevitably does when I'm around, many conversations turn to running and I have noticed that most people fall into one of two categories;

1. Those that love running
2. Those that hate running

As each person is different, some people fall outside these definitions into what I think of as undecided sub-categories. Some people may run to improve their fitness or because their sport requires it, but if given the choice they would most likely do something else, such as a football or netball player. Then there are those that don't mind running but due to a variety of factors such as weather, time availability, work and their current level of fitness, they find it more difficult and therefore do not enjoy it as much. I myself have had long breaks from running and exercise and found the weeks or months getting my fitness back extremely difficult and on many occasions I have not enjoyed running. However, when I am fit I find it easy to motivate myself to get outside and run, even if the conditions are difficult or if I am tired from work, it is my enjoyment and love of running that drives me to get outside and just put one foot in front of the other.

I had some really good sessions this week and mixed them up quite a bit. I strongly believe in the benefits of doing double runs in a day when trying to build volume. Although it is important to build up the time spent on your feet in a single session there are huge gains to be made by splitting the sessions into a morning and afternoon session on the same day. I also increased my hill work this week summiting Mt Archer four times during the week instead of my usual one. On Tuesday morning Sean and I ran from his place to the summit and back. It was such a great run thanks to the rain and mist, it felt otherworldly reaching the top in a white haze, just us and the hill. Wednesday's run was my tough undulating run at 10am in high heat and humidity again. This is a good run but has five short but testing climbs including Benny's Boulevard, which is a short but steep rough track up to a water tower. Thursday was Australia Day so what better way to celebrate the day than running a triple Mt Archer.

I met Sean and Rodney (who had a very impressive Ultra debut at the Hares & Hounds) at 4:30am at the bottom of the main climb. We ran together for most of the climb at a comfortable easyish pace. The climb is about 5km from the stone sign at the bottom to the highest lookout point where the antennas are. After descending to the bottom and refilling our supplies we began our second summit. By the time we started, darkness had been replaced by an overcast sky with high humidity again. However this did not deter us in our mission or those of the other people we saw cycling, running or walking up the hill. I was feeling pretty good so after a kilometre or two together I ran off at my own pace and stopped to wait at the saddle, the gap and at the summit. Rodney who had his arm in a cast, as a result of a recent cycling crash, called it a day after two as his arm was becoming sore from all the jarring of running downhill. Sean and I made it to the top for the third time just as it was starting to get a bit warmer. To assist in our claim for a triple summit we saw quite a few of our running and triathlete friends on the hill with Mel and Rachael heading up as we were coming down from our first summit and again when we met at the top after our second, and with Scotty, Spotty and Jason riding up when we were on our way down from our third. All in all a great day out on the mountain and another sizable deposit in the running bank. In fact I felt so good later that day I had to convince myself not to overdo it and go for a run in the afternoon.

After a rest day on Friday to re-charge I left home at 3:30am on Saturday as part of my long run. I ran solo for about 16.5km before meeting the group in what turned out to be another extremely humid day. The temperature was mid to late 20's but the humidity was oppressive. My lovely wife later told me that when she checked the weather on the internet at 8:00am the humidity was at 93%. I ran at a reasonably comfortable pace on Saturday and just enjoyed the run despite the conditions. I followed my nutrition and hydration plan and tried to drink more water than usual to compensate for the higher than normal sweat-rate. I popped at about 41km running through the marathon point in 3hrs 47mins. I guess that the heat & humidity go to me and I'm pleased that I managed to last as long as I did. I walked up a short but nastily steep hill before grabbing some lovely cold water at the CQ Uni with Michael, Pete and Crowie. They left me to head back to their cars and after a short rest to re-gather my composure I ran off to finish my 50.10km in a little over four and a half hours. Not fast for a mainly flat road run but another great training session completed.

I must be doing something right because after a protein drink and a little nap I joined Mel, Holly and Ethan for a dance competition on their Wii game 'Just Dance 3' coming in a close second to Mel after a round-robin competition. I felt that I could have gone for another run but once again common sense prevailed and I saved myself for Sunday.

My local club, the 'Rockhampton Road Runners' were having an informal race on Sunday morning and I was undecided if I would run or not until I woke up early on Sunday morning. Because I felt good and because I love to run I again mixed up my training by entering the longer of the two events, the 6km race. There was a pretty good turn-out despite the extreme humidity (yes again with the extreme humidity). I lined up near the front after a couple of kilometres warming up and was surprised to find myself in the lead at the first turn. I couldn't maintain the early pace and after a 3min 55sec first kilometre I just tried to hang on to the lead group of seven. The course is pretty much flat with a couple of very slight rises. I worked on keeping a long strong stride and managed to go through the first lap in 3rd place. Which is where I stayed. I lost contact with the top two runners including Michael who led for pretty much the entire race, but also managed to put quite a bit of distance on the others behind me to take the last podium spot by a comfortable margin. I am pretty pleased with my race considering my week of high volume, increased hill work and long run the day before. To top off the week and to ensure another 100 mile week (161km) I ran with the group on Sunday afternoon. The humidy was still as thick as soup but thankfully it rained to make it somewhat easier.

Week 4 Summary:

Mon am - 10.10km - 54mins 35secs - easy recovery run
Mon pm - 8.15km - 42mins 56secs - easy run
Tue am - 21.15km - 2hrs 06mins 03secs - Mt Archer triple treat hill run
Tue pm - 10.11km - 50mins 30secs - flat to undulating
Wed - 15.25km - 1hr 22mins 57secs - undulating run in hot weather
Thu - 31.12km - 3hrs 19mins 34secs - triple summit of Mt Archer
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 50.10km - 4hrs 33mins 23secs - long run in very very humid weather
Sun am - 2.44km - 13mins 06secs - easy flat warm-up
Sun Race - 6.41km - 26mins 32secs - 3rd place in very humid weather
Sun pm - 12.10km - 58mins 44secs - tempo run with group

Week 4 total: 167.03km - 15hrs 28mins 24secs
Monthly total: 538.92km - 50hrs 34mins 03secs
YTD total: 538.92km - 50hrs 34mins 03secs

I start my two week taper tomorrow in preparation for the Caboolture 12hr Dusk to Dawn track race which I'm really looking forward to. I will need to reduce my volume to help with recovery and to ensure that I am relatively fresh for the race. It will be a very good test to see where I am at and if my nutrition and hydration strategies work. I hope that everyone is happy and healthy and remember to...........

Keep running.