Race Pace Recovery

Today Total: 10k
Week Total: 10k
Month Total: 155k
Year Total: 417k

Hehe only 9 days to go :-)

I pulled up excessively sore after Sunday which surprised me a bit given it was only 16k over 2 and a smidge hours - but (and I've used this expression before) my calves felt like unripe grapefruits - all hard and bitter! My quads weren't much happier and over the last couple of days if I sat down for an hour or so I would get up and do the zimmer frame shuffle (without the frame) till I could loosen up enough to walk with just the broom stick in the fundamental orifice sashay.

The good news is that whilst I was still very tight - I didn't feel fatigued at all if that makes any sense - energy levels and the "system" have felt great. I suppose going flat stick up and down the stairs at Nellies wasn't the brightest move I could have made after a light week followed by a complete week off (? - or maybe - ?).

I really did need to run though so this arvo after I got home I minced my way inside and straight into a hot bath. After emerging from the bath I rubbed about a tube of Brauer Sports Ice Gel and headed out the door.

It kind of killed two birds with one stone - I seriously needed a recovery run but I also wanted some practice at race pace - which (rather uniquely) with Six Foot is slower than normal training pace. All up 10k in 63.12 @ 6.19 av.

I'm really glad I did it because despite the residual soreness I felt like I could run forever and I was tempted to keep it going - but discretion played the better part of valour and I restricted it to the 10k I initially set out to do. I had absolutely NO inclination to stride out - but apart from that the "system" felt fantastic.

Having read a number of posts/blogs where people feel frumpy during taper I inadvertantly think I might have stumbled on something that really works for me (though the acid test is still to come) - a couple of light weeks then a short but flat out session and then a gradual build up to race day - actually this isn't new for me - past experience in other disciplines has led me to believe that I perform best with a build up (from a rested position) rather than a taper from a tired one.

Still a bit sore - but it is a good hurt and deep in my gut I feel I have timed this one perfectly - bring it on baby :-)

Stairway To Heaven

Today Total:16k
Week Total:16k
Month Total: 145k
Year Total: 407k

Thankyou everyone for the good vibes and positivity.

I bet not too many people have a whole week off 3 weeks out from their goal event - but you know me - always willing to try something new :-)

Being sick has kind of thrown my plans out a bit - good thing the guy that writes my programs is flexible and he has come up with the "ease back into it and build up to race day" plan or the "reverse taper" as it's known these days :-)))

I'm really quite sanguine about this - I am ready for Six Foot.

So what to do today? No point going nuts 2 weeks out and having been crook - so I figured a lap of the stairs from Nellies to Megalong Road and return was going to give me the best bang for my running buck.

And as I was travelling back from Bathurst this arvo anyway - it fitted perfectly.

Headed off from
Explorers Tree in light rain and thick fog. Given that I bonked so badly last week I carried a bit more water than was strictly necessary and a Goretex jacket in case I had a drama.

On fresh legs I absolutely flew down the stairs hitting the Nellies sign in an 11.54 PB. The grip in wet conditions of the Asics Nimbus is brilliant.

Running conditions in the mist and light rain were near perfect. The fallen tree is still across the road just after the technical trail finishes but I barely broke stride as I hurdled the two forks of the trunk - I was full of confidence.

I was wearing 305 MkIII and I only thought I put on "auto lap" but instead I had enabled "distance alert" so it was a bit tricky to estimate my pace but I just figured if it felt good that was fast enough.

Arrived at Megalong Road and crossed the double yellows in 51.34 which is a few minutes faster than I want to do it on race day but as today was about a shorter quality hit out it was just about right.

As I arrived a chappie on a mtb arrived from Coxs and we had a natter while I sucked down a gu and refilled my handheld with Gatorade.

The run back was just sensational. Except for crossing the styles and the very steepest pinch not long before the technical trail recommences I ran all the way back to the trail.

I even ran some of the trail back towards the Nellies sign - from there I did the power walk thing and really gave it some up the stairs - my breathing was outrageous but I felt fantastic.

When I ran this course on the same weekend last year I set a training PB of 2.15.14 (and ran 6.03 for 6ft with a dodgy ITB) - today I stopped the clock in 2.05.31 - almost but not quite 10 minutes faster :-)

Happy 2P? - You betcha :-)

After today I'm thinking call me Mr Woolworths - fresh IS best!

I'm certainly not going to stress about low k's in the last 4 weeks.

La, la, la......

The One That Got Away

Today Total: 5.6k
Week Total: 25.6k
Month Total: 129k
Year Total: 391k

I've had better days - oh well ya get that on the big jobs and it wouldn't be a Six Foot campaign without a drama or two. I'd be concerned if it was all going too smoothly - so I'm glad everything is going to plan :-)

I've had a bit of a low grade virus thingee this last week - upset tum, headachey, general malaise and achey back and limbs blah, blah, blah.

Anyhoo took off on my run this morning through the trails around Crangan Bay with the intention of doing my favourite 26k loop through the Munmorah State Rec Park. Keeping it brief - started to sweat buckets - felt uncomfortable but kept pushing - got to about five and a half kms and became very light headed - felt sick - walked home.

That's about it really - felt awful on the walk home which took about an hour and twenty mins! I had the pre-vomit salivation number happening a couple of times but fortunately no carrots - got home had a shower and went back to bed.

Feel decidedly blah now and have a bit of a temperature - legs feel like they just climbed the stairs at Nellies.

Timing is good though - a few days to get over this then two and a half weeks to sharpen up for the big dance - perfect :-)

A Run Of Two Halves

Today Total: 12k
Week Total: 20k
Month Total: 123.4k
Year Total: 385.4k

Started out fairly conservatively today given my pledge to have a easier week and was pulling around 5.50 splits. With 6k in just under 35mins all I wanted to do was get the run over and done with - dunno I think I might have caught Miners motivation lapse...... so I stepped it up to around tempo pace to get it finished.

The second 6 k went by in about 30.30 to give me a total of 12k in 65.20 @ 5.27 av.

It's done.

I'm running one of my favourite runs up the lake on Sunday so if that doesn't cure me of the running blahs nothing will :-)

PS all the best to Steve and Scott running in the Tokoyo Marathon on Sunday.

8k Trot

Today Total: 8k
Week Total: 8k
Month Total: 111.4
Year Total: 373.4

Bit of a headache today so nothing flash - just a very gentle 8k in 47 minutes flat. Really even 6 min pace for first 6k then just stepped it up to 5.30 for the last 2k with no real increase in perceived effort.

Unfortunately the headache is still in attendance.

Now just some burbling - pulled up well after last Sunday but really footsore - I wore el-cheapo coolmax socks due to tearing my only pair of clean Thorlos getting ready and ended up with pretty reasonable friction burns on both feet - particularly on my heels.

It's a bit funny because on the day I kept thinking I had stones in my shoes and kept stopping to take my shoes off (and on 2 occasions my socks as well) to be a bit perplexed to find no stones. On one stop I even pulled out the inner-sole of my shoe so convinced was I that I had rocks in there - turns out the rocks were only in my head - for some reason my brain was interpreting burn for pressure???

Anyhoo bottom line is they are still fairly tender and I suspect I will lose some skin - I'm not too phased because I had already decided that this week would be an easier week before heading into two weeks of speedwork and hill reps before a final taper week.

Having run long hilly trail runs every weekend since mid November I'm pretty pleased with my endurance base. Most weeks (but not all) I've managed a speed workout of some description but this has been expendable and not realy very fast at all. Now I'm going to back off the length of the weekend run and commencing next week do one speed session and one hill rep session (pending finding a hill).

Being a fast twitch fibre kind of guy I respond very quickly to the faster stuff so even with only two weeks worth I think I will see some benefit - besides having generally run at a pace you could measure with a sun dial it will do me some good psychologically.

Anyway it's my plan and that's that :-)

Deviation Drama

Today Total: 38.4k
Week Total: 56.4k
Month Total: 103.4k
Year Total: 365.4k

LOL - well today was a day I won't forget in a hurry.

Turned up to Black Range to find Kai Li and Vurt already there. Inekuips and Funrunner's tent was there but no car so they were off doing the water drop - ok great.

It didn't take the IQ of a Mensa member to work out all was not as it should when Ine and FR came ambling UP out of the Deviation on foot...

Having been a tad geographically challenged the girls had mistaken the Deviation for Black Range but had literally gone past the point of no return in the Ford Mondeo and could neither proceed nor retreat.

Go Girl also arrived and together with her we lads walked in to have a go at it ourselves to no avail - oh well - we're here for a run let's sort it out later...

By this stage Horrie, Will and Milov had turned up and we got away by about 8.25 in foggy, misty conditions. Ine and I took up tail end charlie posi with the others disappearing wraith like into the mist.

We arrived at Pluvio in about 54 min where the others had already completed a water drop and were waiting for us to arrive. After making our own drops we were ready for the Pluvio plunge.

I had a rush of blood to the head and charged off fanging it in slippy, slidey wet conditions all the way to the bottom of the first drop where we all kind of came together(ish) again through Allum Ck and Little River and then on the climb to Mini Mini - with the uphill merchants - namely Kai Li, Go Girl and FR showing their skill by running.

Plunge time again and we pretty much all gave it a nudge to get down to the Coxs (19.2k) in 1.56 from the start. All made it within a few seconds of each other except for poor Will who had been bailed up by a black snake that the rest of us had somehow missed!?!

A quick stop for a munch and water resup and we were off again. Ine and I very quickly falling into last posi bringing up the rear. We walked all of the ups - only running down from Mini Mini and the flat through the creek area.

We probably bludged a bit taking 1.59 to reach the top of Pluvio but we were very comfortable and we were soon running along Black Range. We ran strongly on the downs, flats and gentle ups and walked the steeper ups keeping a steady 7.33 per km pace to give us a sprint finish back to the campground in a final split of 68 minutes and a total time of 5 hours and 3 minutes for the 38.4k.

I was well pleased with this given the awful week I've had - given I was tired to start, have been fighting off a cold and had full loads in the camelbak - today has left me confident of going sub 6 hours on race day - the question is by how much?

Now for the drama.....

The others had enlisted the assistance of "Ranger Bob" to winch FR's car out. FR was not overly confident of driving and asked me if I'd mind - of course I didn't - so I saddled up with Ranger Bob and headed into the Deviation.

When we arrived at the car Ranger Bob took a look and suggested we drive out through the Deviation - ahem - I suggested that I wasn't so sure (as any Six Footer will know) as the second hill (alias the cliff) - not to put too fine a point on it - is a tad steep.

But Ranger Bob wasn't having a bar of it - he had the 4WD and the winch and it was his way or the highway - after all he "had been through it a couple of weeks ago and it was fine". Thinking - "oh well maybe it was graded or something since I was here in January" I agreed.

I should have stuck my digs.

Sure enough a third of the way up the "cliff" the Mondeo had enough and there was no way I was going to reverse back down that sucker. So nothing for it but to winch onwards and upwards - on our 3rd winch leg Murphy lent a hand and the winch jammed - great! With much stuffing around and lacerations from steel wire rope (ok so I exaggerated a bit - 1 laceration to my thumb) we freed the winch and recommenced operations.

I can't begin to describe the anxiety one feels sitting in the drivers seat of a Mondeo being hauled up the "cliff" trying hard not to look over the edge or think about snapping steel wire ropes - ahem, ahem.

Anyhoo we finally got out and I drove back to the girls - drama over? - not on your Nellie - just prior to arriving back at the campground Murphy once again put his hand up and dealt out a flat tyre - bloody hell!

I opted to just creep the last 400m on the flat and Ine and I changed the tyre there and I was eventually able to bid the girls farewell.

What a top day :-)

Tempo

Today Total: 10k
Week Total: 18k
Month Total: 65k
Year Total: 327k

I didn't want to completely give up on doing some speedwork this week so I ran 5k at tempo(ish) pace in 26.25 @ 5.17 av

Dawdled home feeling pretty awful - will rest up tomorrow to try and freshen up for a big run on Sunday.

I've had better weeks.

Having lunch tomorrow with Miners_Run who is visiting the big smoke - so that might brighten me up :-)

Grey Nudie Run

Today Total: 8k
Week Total: 8k
Month Total: 55k
Year Total: 317k

With no Garmin it was back to runnin semi-nekid with an old fashion wristwatch -hehehe of course anyone who knows my fetish for gadgets knows that even my "old fashion wristwatch" would be no such thing :-)

Still it was a bit weird not having instant pacing info to hand - never mind - much to my surprise my legs aren't symbiotically connected to the Garmin as I suspected and can actually function without it - I mean who'da thunked it?

I've had an rare attack of the blahs (not to be confused with my rare attack of the grumps a couple of weeks back) this week and todays run was semi-blahish - still it's done and I think I'm just about out of the blahs - so that's good :-)

A bit of a grey run really 8k in 43.30 @ 5.26 av.

Last Of The Mohicans

Well Blogger has finally caught up with me. I've managed to avoid the move to new Blogger by posting via email but unfortunately now if I want to do anything to my template I have to move.

I take some pride I've managed to hold out this long - what can I say - I hate change :-)

So if you haven't heard from me for a few days on bloglines you might want to manually re-subscribe me - or not :-)

See you all on the other side...........

Third Time Lucky?

Today Total: 31k
Week Total: 59k
Month Total: 47k
Year Total: 309k

I had Halfpenny commitments in Bathurst this weekend so I wasn't going to be able to make it to The Track for Mega Megalong Fat Ass - but as luck would have it the HP had all day Eisteddfod training from 10AM so it was still going to be possible to get a decent run in.

I managed to get away from Explorers Tree at about five to twelve and headed down into the valley. Being on my own today I was running heavy - lots of safety gear plus a full 3L's in the camelbak, a 750ml bottle to drop at Megalong Road and a 600ml hand bottle of Gatorade.

Really fanged it down the stairs going through the Nellies sign in 12.05 which is the fastest I've ever done it - I kept the pace going to the fire trail but once I hit there I backed off - I thought it prudent given the heat of the day and the weight I was carrying.

Made it to Megalong Road in 53 minutes where there were lots of CR's recovering from the Fat Ass and waiting for the stragglers to come in. I stopped to socialise, drop my bottle, take a gu and nick some of Inekuips watermelon (ta Ine).

Off and away I passed 7 or 8 stragglers till I came across Kevin Tiller and one other who were the back markers. After making sure they were good for water I again trotted off. Dunno what got into me but I was running hard which was kind of dumb given the heat.

When I went past the swing bridge I realised I was getting overheated and decided to pretty much walk the last k and a bit to the river. Even with the walk I'd made it in smack on 1.45 - happy with the time but I should have run it more evenly.

Had a good swim in the river to cool down before heading up to the tank for a re-supply of H2O. I again lingered in the water on the way back to make sure my body temp was down - CJ you will be happy to know it was a foot lower than last week :-)

On the way back Garmy Mkii died - bloody hell! Anyhoo I ran reasonably well on the flatter bits and the downs - switching back to the power walk on the ups - I was deliberately being conservative till I hit Megalong Rd as given the time of day it was unlikely I would see anyone else if I had a drama.

Once I hit Megalong Road I picked up the pace and pretty much ran all but the steepest bits to the trail before the base of the stairs. Went up the stairs nice and strongly and even managed to run up the last 57 (I counted) but my breathing was outrageous by the time I got to the hugging post.

Drank down the last of my Gatorade and ran most of the hill back to the car - very happy to have finished so strongly - no idea of the final time but I'm guessing my running time would have been around 4.15 - maybe a bit quicker.

Got home just in time with enough daylight left to do a mow-the-lawn recovery session and a quick dip in the pool.

Having done this run 3 weeks running now I will try something different for my last long run next week - maybe Deviation to Mini Mini or Coxs.

BTW got a call from the HP to say she got the lead role in this years Eisteddfod - she's pretty chuffed because she is only in Year 10. Proud and tired 2P tonight :-)

Slow Six

Today Total: 6k
Week Total: 28k
Month Total: 16k
Year Total: 278k

The gastric bug that has been doing the rounds of the extended family and my work colleagues finally paid me a visit through last night and this morning.

I rested most of the day and had an early afternoon nanna nap. I didn't feel too bad this arvo and as I won't get another chance to run until late on Sunday I decided to go for a trot.

Took the pace out very conservatively and didn't feel too bad for the first 4k - started to feel a bit dodgy by 5k and decidely yuck by the time I got home.

Feeling a bit brighter now I've had a rest, a drink and a dip in the pool so I'm glad I went. All up 6k in 35.50 @ 5.58 av

PS - I'll let him tell the story but huge congratulation to Ewen who won our bet on who would be the first back under 23 mins for 5K - well done mate.

There Must Be Some Mistake

Today Total: 10k
Week Total: 22k
Month Total: 10k
Year Total: 272k

The same bloke that writes Superflakes program has also been doing mine and today he had written in an 8k recovery run after yesterdays faster run and pulling up with slightly sore adductors on both legs.

So after work I doddled off out the door to do a 4k out and back around the foreshore - when I looked down at Garmy after about 400m I discovered I was running at about 4.55 pace - I tapped Garmy hard and rattled it around because I figured it must be broken :-)

Sure enough when I went through my first k the pace stayed pretty constant so Garmy must be working - what tha? - anyhoo I kept it going for 4k in 19.32 @ 4.53av then made a decision to back right off and still try to get the recovery my adductors were after.

I also decided to extend the run by 2k to give myself a fair chance at working out any lactic that might have built up from the fast start and finished with 6k at a more pedestrian 5.43 pace in 34.15.

Frankly I was a bit surprised by today - I seem to have passed through some kind of threshold lately and taken a leap forward - I'm not getting too excited - I've been around long enough to know that the natural order of things is that I will probably now plateau for a bit till the next leap - but it is kinda nice :-)