Monday, January 31, 2011

Week in review

Only 40 miles (planned 50), 1 decent enough race, 1 solid workout, 2 days off!

Ready to hit it hard tomorrow.....

Winter Flight 8k

Apologies for the late update on how this went. Lisa went to see her Mom for the weekend after the race leaving me in control of the whirling dervishes till Sunday bedtime so I didn't have much time to myself this weekend!

The race went well, pretty much to plan, although I would have liked to have been able to stay with Ben a little longer than I did and pushed him more for third place. 26:54 is where I am right now, not bad for a rust buster and plenty of motivation to build on this over the next few weeks. For the splits and a summary of how the race panned out check my log....

Had a great weekend with the kids after that. The weather was amazing, especially on Sunday and we did plenty of outdoor stuff to take advantage. I was meant to run when Lisa got back last night but by the time we'd put the kids to bed it was after 9 and I was tired so the run wasn't going to happen. I got 8 hours of sleep instead and feel great today because of it- must do that more often! The plan was then to run those 12 miles this morning instead (as I had Monday as an off day originally) and carry on with the rest of my week as planned but when I woke up this morning I decided that if I did that it would mean a 75 plus mile week, which I'm not ready for right now.

So two days off in a row and only 40 miles last week! What a slacker! Luckily I'm doubling tomorrow and my legs get an extra day to recover from the race so I'm hoping I made the right choice. The next 4 weeks see me hitting 65,65,70,75 and some tough workouts mixed in there. I'm ready for this!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tired but happy

Well my cutback week has started with no reduction in intensity so far! The downside of this is that I'm feeling pretty tired right now and the legs definitely feel like they need a rest. The upside? Well that's pretty obvious! I DO get to rest now for the remainder of the week heading into Saturday's race!

My decision to do this week's workout on Monday ahead of my usual Tuesday or Wednesday date with the track was proven to be overly cautious in relation to the weather we are actually going to receive. By Monday the weekend's forecast of ice storms and general armageddon heading our way Tuesday through Wednesday had changed to "some neighborhoods may get up to half an inch of rain"! Got to love the accuracy of the weather forecasting around here!

At the point when I heard this rather dramatic change in forecast the decision had already been made to head to the track after work yesterday, so it was with tired legs but a grim determination that I started my warm up last night. Luckily I was able to sneak out of work a bit before 5 so it was still relatively light for the first half of my workout.

The workout was 5*1600 with just a 200m jog recovery, followed by a 3 minute rest and then 4 400s with a 1:30 rest in between each. The aim was to hit 5:25s for the miles and 74s for the 400s. In the end I hit 5:20,24,23,24,24 and then 72,71,72,72 so I was very pleased with this and it provided me with a bit of the confidence booster I had alluded to in Sunday's post. If I can hit those mile splits on Saturday without the 200m jog in between each one I will be satisfied. Coach may disagree (we haven't discussed this) but I think anything under 27 minutes on Saturday should be considered satisfactory, especially on what is apparently a pretty challenging course. With at least three 'horses' (as Aaron would put it) confirmed to line up in John Compton, Ryan Woods and Ben Hovis the pace should be honest from the start if nothing else!

This morning my legs were stiff and tired as I headed out the door for my recovery run but luckily I was meeting up with the 'Miners' (including a welcome return from Jay!!) so I was able to grind out just over 7 miles with less discomfort than would have been the case had I been solo and leave myself with tomorrow off, 9 on Thursday and 4 on Friday on the schedule.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Week in review

65.4 miles, 1 long run, 2 workouts. 4th successive 65 mile week, cutting back to 50 next week and then after that I will hopefully start hitting 70 plus again. Right upper leg is still a bit sore and giving me a few concerns, could do with a confidence boosting race and/or workout this week.

Speaking of workouts it looks like I am going to get this week's second 'stressor' (the first being the race) out of the way tomorrow as the weather forecast looks grim for Tuesday and I don't really want to leave it until after then to do it as it looks like a beast on paper (5*mile plus 4*400)

Today's run was two loops of a 4 mile route I had mapped out while Sophie was off birthday partying at the Y

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Tempo and speed

I'm going to take advantage of some rare weekend peace to update this thing promptly. Lisa is out getting her haircut and the girls have gone swimming with friends so it's just me and my sofa and the Fox Soccer Channel!

This morning I met up with Steve at Old Bell for a workout that was going to involve a 6 mile tempo run at AT pace followed by a 0.5 mile jog to Charlotte Christian track and a mile followed by 400 jog, finishing with a kilometer. I was supposed hit around 35:30 for the AT and 5:10 and 3:03 for the mile and k.

I actually hit 34:44,5:15,3:14. Yes I probably did run the tempo too hard and this probably impacted on my track repeats but to be honest I did feel pretty easy for the tempo and was actually holding myself back on the sixth mile. I think the poor mile and k times were more to do with the fact that I have little speed endurance at the moment and also it was bloody cold! The good news was that until I warmed down I could barely feel the knee/groin aching at all, it was only as I jogged back to the house that I felt anything whatsoever.

Tomorrow I get to lie-in and run in the afternoon over by the Harris Y while I drop Sophie off at a Birthday party. Then it will be time for my first 'cutback' week in a while culminating with my 2011 rust buster at the Winter Flight 8k

Friday, January 21, 2011

A testament to hard work

Just found out that a friend of mine Cody, who emigrated from Charlotte to Perth a couple of years ago, ran 15:11 on the track last night. Seriously impressive. Just before he left Charlotte he had brought his time down to sub 16 but a year before that he was typically in the 17s. The guy trains HARD from what I can gather and has a great work ethic. Definitely gives you inspiration when someone you regularly used to beat can pull off a performance like that. Nice one Cody!

As for me, well today’s run went a lot better than most of my recent runs until the last couple of miles when the right knee/groin started to feel a bit tight again. Definitely something I am trying to keep on top of. Temps are back into the 20s over the weekend so time to get the tights back out for my workout tomorrow. Take it from me you won’t hear me complaining in the summer when it is 90 degrees and ‘miserable’ outside, I am done with this winter already!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Early long run

Got 15 miles in this morning. I promised the kids that this weekend I wouldn't be on a run when they woke up on Saturday or Sunday so now I don't have to worry about getting up at 4 to do my long run this weekend- with the added bonus that today I had the company of Caitlin, Aaron and Kevin and 40 degree temps whereas on Sunday it would have been solo and 20 degrees!

It's been a mixed week of running so far this week. I have been experiencing just general soreness and tightness in my upper legs which means they never seem to feel great or recovered from my workouts. I'm still getting all my runs and workouts in fine but the legs are just not feeling it right now, it's hard to explain really!

Monday I took advantage of the Holiday to get an afternoon run in with a stellar crew at a mud ridden Mcalpine, Tuesday it was off to the track to do the first workout of my Richmond training plan and again had great company. Wednesday was a shitty solo recovery run where I felt like crap and today I felt a lot better until the last 5 miles or so when the knee started acting up a bit.

I don't go into any more detail about my runs on here because if you are that interested you can click on the Captains Log r2w link at the top right of this page which will take you to my training log.

Cheers!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Week in review

66 miles including 2 treadmill runs, one day off, one midnight run, 2 workouts and a long run.

Another solid week in the books in spite of the adverse weather conditions faced and it is with a spring in my step that I leap into the next training block.

A long run, a workout and THE Plan

I had a solid weekend of training as the temps started to return to 'normal' levels. I ended up doing my long run Saturday morning. Billy was unable to make it due to a poorly cat and I didn't fancy doing 2 hours solo so made contingency plans to join in a workout with Jordan, Ben, John and Rocky (a stellar cast if ever you saw one!) if noone else turned up at the advertized 6:30 start of the long run. Will and Yousuf were there ready and raring to go though so the workout was put off until today and off on the 16 mile loop I had mapped out we headed. Yousuf turned round after 6 but I had a good run and chat with Will. Despite both feeling the cold after rather ambitious decisions to don shorts again, we managed to complete the run at a 7:10 clip even though it felt a lot slower.

Mention should be made here of injured buddy Jay's ongoing recuperation from his stress fracture. Today he completed a triathlon of sorts- mile swim, hour on the bike, pool running workout, back to back. With dedication (madness?) like that he deserves to get back up to speed quickly once he returns to training in the next couple of weeks!

Saturday evening I headed to Jay's house to catch the Packers trouncing of the Falcons. Suitably carbed up the morning after with the truck load of nachos consumed during the game I proceeded to knock out a solid enough workout at Charlotte Christian track. Logging on to my computer upon my return I came across the email I had been waiting for the past couple of weeks. Entitled "Let's do this", the email from Coach contained the schedules for my path to Spring 5k/10k success. I am pumped to be starting out tomorrow!

Happy MLK day all!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Waiting for the thaw

This is definitely the coldest winter I have experienced in Charlotte since I moved over. I've never stayed away from Mcalpine so long and although all the main roads are now clear, sidewalks and neighborhood roads remain precarious. The weekend forecast is good though so it should be full steam ahead as I eagerly await the next training block from Tim.

I managed to stay away from the mill in the end the last couple of days, one enforced when I went down at lunch time at work to use the only machine in our gym only to be thwarted by a WALKER. Now if running on a treadmill is mind-numbing, what must walking on one feel like? I was heading out straight after work on Thursday so a big fat zero in the books and plans to come in to the office Friday morning early (no walkers on the mill then surely!) and add a few miles to my Friday run to make up. Luckily I got an email from Aaron Thursday night and we met up for some road miles instead. It was nice to be back outside again.

All of which means that the week so far hasn't been too bad in terms of running. Saturday and Sunday will see a long run and a workout just not sure in what order yet as I'm waiting to hear from a couple of people about meeting up.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Treading the mill

After the snow, the ice, and with it the frustrating "How am I going to get my run in?" question. Tuesday I was supposed to meet up with the Hovi and a couple of other loyal miners for a run but I couldn't even get off my front yard without almost breaking my neck so headed back into the safety of my warm den.

The office was closed so I was working from home again. As I cussed and hissed and tried to pretend I was doing some work and wasn't pissed off that I wasn't going to be able to get my run in, Lisa casually slipped into the conversation that our next door neighbours had a treadmill! Eureka! So I've had a couple of runs on their treadmill this week and kept myself sane. I even managed to spice it up a little and do a workout of sorts on the belt today.

While the roads have cleared up, the sidewalks are still treacherous and refreeze every night and Mcalpine is no doubt a mess so I may be confined to the mill at work the next couple of days. Hopefully by the time Saturday's long run comes around everything will have thawed as I certainly won't be doing 90 minutes on the hamster wheel!

Monday, January 10, 2011

24 in 24



Well the promised snow came with a vengeance overnight. I awoke at 6:30 to see a blanket of white outside and my decision to get 8 miles in before bed had been vindicated. I felt pretty awful on this run but there were no surprises there! Of course I couldn't get straight to sleep after the run and was up past 2 so am knackered today.

Of course the schools and my office were closed so it was going to be another day at home. I had some work I could get done so I did that and the girls went on a play date next door so at lunch time I took the opportunity to head out into Mcalpine for some slow snowy miles- 8 more for my third 8 mile run in 24 hours. I really enjoyed this run and Mcalpine was looking pristine!



I saw 3 nordic skiers out there which was new one for me at Mcalpine! After lunch and a bit more work I played with the kids in the snow and it was getting noticeably colder as darkness approached- this place is going to be a mess for the next few days with temperatures not expected to get out of the 30s until later in the week. So it will be a case of grabbing miles when I can this week and not much chance of a workout until the weekend. Speaking of which I'm assuming work will be off again tomorrow and am meeting the Hovi at 8:30 at Old Bell if anyone else wants to run on the ice!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Week in review

65 miles, 2 workouts, 6 runs including a long run

A pleasing week, especially off of 6 days, with my legs certainly feeling better than last week- testament hopefully to the stretching and exercises i have been incorporating into my schedule. Just hoping the bad weather we are expecting doesn't put too much of a spanner in the works next week.

A good weekend of running and it's not over yet

Saturday at Mcmullen was a highly enjoyable run as expected. A large group of us turned up at 7am to be confronted by very chilly and icy conditions. Mike K subsequently led us all on a short road loop that kept us out of the park before we looped back to meet the 7:30 latecomers. After a quick game of Frogger on Highway 51 we picked the other guys up and headed into the park and slipped and slid for a few miles. At the 3.5 mile mark Meagan decided it was time to start her marathon pace workout that Brian and I had volunteered to assist with. We headed back towards the parking lot at a pretty solid 6:25 pace considering the conditions underfoot. Luckily the last mile of the trail was in pretty good condition so Meagan was able to complete her workout by turning round every mile! I had to be done by 8:30 so I headed home after a good 11 mile run.

Sunday dawned even colder and it was Lisa's lie in morning so I was going to head out the door at 8am to do a workout in Mcalpine. As it was, Man U were taking on Liverpool in the FA Cup at 8:30 and I obviously couldn't miss that. We were solid if unspectacular (story of our season so far) in our 1-0 victory. I had now missed my workout window and I hate days like that when I just procrastinate trying to decide when it would be best to head out but I did get myself out before lunch and I did an 8*half mile workout that could best be described as being comparable to Man U's performance. I was pleased with this workout.

The "it's not over yet" part of the blog title is in reference to the fact that I will more than likely head out later tonight to get Monday's run in early. We've got snow and ice storms heading towards us and I want to get one up on my rivals and get some miles in as over the next few days opportunities for a decent run may be limited....

Friday, January 7, 2011

TGIF

Hi all. I know you’ve been missing my exciting posts about my daily runs but I’ve actually been pretty busy at work and stuff so breaks have been at a premium and the blog has suffered. Fear not though, here is the rundown since last weekend.

Monday was a no run day. I got up with the intention of running but only had an easy 30-45 minutes on the schedule and it was frigid and I was starving so I decided to do what any sensible person would do. I hadn’t had a day off for two full weeks anyway so I felt less guilty upon discovering this.

Tuesday was the normal Miners Run. I got 11 in to make up for some of the previous day’s missed mileage.

Wednesday was workout time. Still flying solo until coach Budic hits me up with my new schedules next week I heard that Billy had an 8 mile tempo on his Plan. I graciously invited him down to the Lansdowne Loop and he, Spada and I put a solid effort in. I completed the 8 miles at about 5:50 pace and felt pretty decent for it being 6am. Billy and Steve were not far behind and dare I say it Billy looks well on the way to breaking that 2:40 barrier at Myrtle Beach.

Thursday was interesting. Of course I did the Dowd run but there were some new faces present including some very speedy ladies. The group split into two at a red light after half a mile or so and one of those speedy ladies, Heidi from NYAC, pulled along the group I found myself in at a nice sub 7 minute pace clip. The run was fun until I crossed the road at Euclid and Morehead and ran straight into a big thick wire cable that was helping hold up one of the street lights. Luckily it was the fleshy part of my thigh/hip that bore the brunt of the impact. It is still really sore but didn’t hinder my run today too much. The morning got even better when I got to work in my running gear and realized I had left my civilian clothes at home. A desperate call to Lisa was followed by an hour sat at my desk in my fleece and shorts waiting for delivery of my clothes. I gave the ladies a sneaky peek at my legs every so often but didn’t want to affect the productivity of the office too much so kept the flashes to a minimum.

That left me with 30 miles, a long run and a workout left to completed this week. This morning I decided to knock off half of those miles by doing a 15 mile long run with Billy. Billy was going long at 5am from Old Bell so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have someone to run with so early. It was a fun run and the best my legs had felt all week. I actually wore my flats for the run, maybe that’s the key!

Happy Friday! Tomorrow CRC are running in Mc Mullen at 7am. Should be a good group. Come join!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Week in review

67 miles, 1 and a half workouts, 1 double, 1 long run

This week I generally felt pretty crappy on my runs, having come down with a chesty cough and cold and my glutes and hamstrings feeling pretty sore for much of the week. Having said that, it was my biggest mileage week since the marathon and hopefully a launch pad for better things to come in the New Year.

New Year New Layout

Miles 12
Time 1:23

Do you like the new blog layout? Took me all of five minutes of playing with all the templates available to come up with this. I liked the map in the background which ties in with the tenuous "Captain's Log" pun in the blog title.

Today's run saw me hit a welcome road loop away from the slop of Mcalpine with Aaron, Will, Mike K and Ben, 12 miles run at an honest lick throughout and with the last two with Aaron and Ben in 12:14 which to be honest felt harder than it should have. A pretty decent start to the New Year though.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

CRC hangover run

Miles 7
Time 42:06

January 1st saw the running of the first of what will hopefully be many New Years Day CRC hangover 5k races. It was a 5k with a difference in that no watches were allowed and the winner was the person who came closest to predicting their time and was held on the hallowed 5k course at Mcalpine. Having generally felt blah all week and a bit low on confidence after a couple of bad runs I sandbagged a little, predicting a 17:00 effort. In the end I ran an encouraging 16:33, never going too deep into the well and following closely behind the steps of John Compton. It was a fun event and it was good to meet members I had only seen the names of before. Hopefully this year the CRC will continue to blossom and contribute to the further flourishing of the Charlotte running community.

With the event being held a warm up run away from my house and starting at the earthly hour of 10:30, Lisa and the kids were able to attend which was cool, I'm aiming to spend more time with the kids at weekends this year, one of my 'resolutions', along with not going on the computer before the kids are in bed at the weekend, stopping biting my nails (this will last till next week at the latest), eating less 'processed' foods and drinking less soda, getting new 5 and 10k PRs, improving my flexibility and staying on top of my stretching and probably the hardest one of all, getting someone to comment on one of my posts!