Got a good 400 in during my lunch-time swim session today: 4:53 with paddles at a reasonably decent effort, but not killing myself. Pretty happy with that, though the rest of the session was pretty easy. I think I’ll have to start swimming at a faster overall pace and doing one longer session (4-5km) per week in order to drop my average pace down a bit more.

400 WU as 200 FS, 200 Choice
2 * {
    4 * 50 FS w/ hard kick, 20s rest (36)
    200 FS easy, 20s rest (2:50) }
600 FS Easy on 9:30
400 FS Hard Padddles on 6:15 (4:53)
200 FS Easy
4 * 50 FS Hypoxic 3/5/7, 15s rest
400 Swim Down as 100 BR, 100 BC, 200 FS
Total: 3000m

S: 5800m – R: 6.55km

Got another run in last night, this time a shorter 3 laps of the park rather than 4. Legs still feel good this morning so it looks like I’ll be able to pull off the 4 runs/week. Today’s a day off then I’ll get runs in on Thursday and Friday too. The weather seems to be improving so hopefully I’ll get out on the bike tomorrow.

S: 2800m – R: 6.55km

“‘They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us,’ Howe said. When he tried to drift away from the group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back. He then saw why. A three-metre long great white shark was cruising toward the group about two metres below the surface.”,1),
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Yahoo Story

Got a long run in fairly blustery conditions in this evening. 4 laps of the local park, then a bit fo stretching to finish off. Took it nice and easy with an average HR of 143 or so.

S: 2800m – R: 3.75km

Well another attempt at a big week starts today. I’m going to try for 150+ aerobic points and try and maintain that level week-in week-out, unlike the last time where I topped 200pts only to be exhausted the following week. I’m also going to try an get 4 runs in this week instead of three.

400 FS
3 * {
    100 K on 2:00 (1:48)
    150 Drag/50 FS on 3:30 (2:59) }
2 * 200 ???
3 * 200 IM on 3:30 (3:02)
2 * 200 Form on 4:00
100 Easy
Total: 2800

S: 2800m

Went out MTBing last night with the lads from work and had a brilliant time. Mount Majura is just outside Canberra (10min ride) and has a pine plantation on one side. This plantation, Majura Pines, is littered with singletrack and you can quite easily spend hours in there riding around in and out of trees, up & down dips and even a couple of jumps (which we didn’t do ;-)

This is definitely the way forward – so much more fun than just cruising along a fire trail. So much so, that myself and Tommy were even thinking we might come down to Canberra on a non-work trip at some stage. Something like leave Sydney Saturday morning, drive to Kangaroo Valley and do a run there, then continue on to Can-burr-I-A. Stay in a hotel, visit to debacle for some gourmet pizza/belgian beer, then up the next morning and spend a few hours riding around Mt. Majura with maybe a side trip over to Mt. Stomlo (need to find out more about that area). Then drive back to Sydney that night.

All in all, a great way to spend a few hours!

B: 40km – R: 7.5km

Another run on the treadmill last night. Again it was nice and easy so things are progressing nicely. I’ll try and get another run on tomorrow morning before work and that will give me my three runs for this week.

B: 20km – R: 7.5km

Went out for a mountain bike here in Canberra last night with the guys from work. We rented bikes as we could get our bikes down in the car, but wouldn’t be able to get them back to Sydney as John was using the car to move out of his place. It was an easy ride, with two short rocky hills providing the only effort. Saw loads of kangaroos and a couple of rabbits as well. Looks like we’re going again on Thursday as well.

B: 20km – R: 3.75km

“The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere, incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows." – T.E. Lawrence, The Sunday Times, August 1920

Fallujah is apparently a symbol of revolution since at least 1920 when the British got took heavy casualties there. Hardly surprising then that it’s now the hotbed of the fight to get America out of Iraq. Here’s a history lesson from In These Times.

In other news, the U.S. are claiming that there are no civilians in Fallujah, which is why they refuse to let the Red Crescent in with humanitarian supplies.

Right! Last week was a bit of a waste, so training has recommenced once again. I’m in Canberra again, so it will still be a relatively quiet week, though we have a couple of MTB rides planned. Hit the gym last night for a treadmill run and a distance increase. After two weeks without any issues doing 3 * 5R/1W I’ve upped it to 4 repetitions for a total distance per run of 3.75km. After two weeks of this, I’ll increase again.

5min warm up
4 * {
    5min @ 10kmh
    1min @ 6kmh }
5min cool down

R: 3.75km