Just been looking through old posts here from when I first started exercising, back in 2003.

Back then it was just 6 years since I’d finished proper swim training and I was complaining about struggling to swim sub 1:30 pace in the pool. Currently, 1:40 is more like it when I get back in the pool and I appear to be quite one-dimensional as I only really have one pace, ± 5s.

As for running, I seem to be about the same. Back then I was aiming to keep my HR under 150 on runs and holding about 10km/h on longer runs, which seems fairly similar to now. Typically now though I aim to keep my HR much lower, typically under 135 or so. This morning’s 8km run averaged 9.3km/h at 125HR.

So swimming ability has definitely declined over the last 20 years, which isn’t surprising as I haven’t done any consistently.

Running is pretty similar. Again, I’ve done nothing, but back in 2003 I was starting from zero as well, never having done any running as a kid.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I signed up for the running clinic and things are going pretty well so far. I’ve been running three times a week, anywhere from 6-12km at a time, and the results are starting to show. My cruising pace is now about 5:20/km, which is a step up for me and should mean I have no problem breaking 50mins for the 10K. I’m going to try a run faster on a single run next week, maybe doing 2-3km at 5:00/km pace and see how that feels.

Speaking of racing, I’ve entered the Turkey Trot here in Vancouver, on October 8th, so I’ve 5 weeks left to train. Heading off to Montréal next weekend, for five days holiday with Jacqui and her Mum, will put a dent in the training plan. Maybe I should bring my running gear with me?

I’ve also managed to sort out my running issue which meant that I’d get really sore calves after each run. I’m landing a bit more flat-footed and not so much on my toes, and have stopped pushing off on each stride, instead trying to “peel” my foot off the ground. It’s working so far, even allowing my to run uphill without destroying my calves, though I’ll have to wait and see if it’s going to cause other problems instead. So far, so good anyway.

Last night I signed up for a 10K Running Clinic with The RunningRoom. It was a spur of the moment decision! Jamie, one of the guys in work, runs quite a bit and had recommended these guys, so, although I’d missed the first week, I decided to go for it.

The course costs $75, which is nothing when you consider what you get in return: a technical running shirt, 2 instructor-led runs per week and a weekly talk on a topic related to your training. The talk this week was on shoes, though nutrition and biomechanics will be covered in coming weeks, which I’m looking forward to.

Last night was my night, so I wandered down wondering what I was in store for. All the usual questions: how fast is the group, are they friendly, etc.? The talk on the different types of running shoes was pretty interesting and well presented, with Alex, the shop manager, exhibiting a pair of feet with absolutely zero arches! Talk about flat feet!

I was less than enthusiastic when I found out that the run on the agenda was a 4km time trial. Seeing as how this was the second week of the program, I was being thrown in at the deep end. The idea was to set a time so they could group us into our pace groups, so we were told to run as fast as we could without killing ourselves. We were taken down to the seawall where there are kilometre markers along the run route and one of the instructors was at the 2km mark to provide splits.

There’s about 20 in the group, none of whom I’d met before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We all started together and I hit the front early, a little bit worried that I was setting off too fast. I felt fine though, so just kept going, even though my HRM was telling me that my heart rate was about 20bpm more that it usually is when running – probably the chilli chicken and beer I’d had for lunch – not exactly ideal preparation!

The tentative plan was to stick to a fixed pace until the 3km mark and then pick it up towards the end if I hadn’t spewed in the meantime. I hit the halfway mark in 10:15 feeling a bit out of breath, but nothing serious. At the 3km I still felt OK, so I picked up the pace a little and managed to finish in 20:29, splitting 10:14 for the second half. Even better was that I had beaten everyone else by almost 2mins which was a bit of a surprise – we’ll see how I go once the distance increases though!

So, the journey has begun. Hopefully the fact that I’ve joined a group will force me to be a bit more disciplined in my approach to training. Time will tell…

I’m taking it a bit easier this week in the run up to the Budgie 100 and the Gong Ride this weekend. Did nothing on Monday as I had to bring the car in for a service, so no sysling commute. Ty was up from Canberra on Tuesday so I skipped my swim session and went for lunch with him instead. Cycled in and out yesterday and today, then went for a short run on the way to today’s swim session.

400 FS WU
5 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:22)
3 * 200 FS Pull + Paddles on 3:30 (2:53)
6 * 50 IM Order on 60 (47)
Cramps
Total: 1800m

Got cramps about 40mins into the session, which always seems to happen to me. Obviously not hydrated enough before starting, and the extremely salty water doesn’t help either.

S: 1.8km – B: 33.3km – R: 4km

A good effort this week. Forgot to write as I went along, so here’s a summary.

Bike: Mon AM around the park with Marc, Wed. AM around the park solo, Fri AM to work via La Perouse, again solo. Marc was supposed to come along but baby troubles intervened.

Swim: Tuesday lunch, Mark was in Tasmania and backup coach was a no-show, so did my own thing. Skipped Thurs lunch as was pretty tired.

Run: One run on the way to Tuesday’s swim. Uphill bits buggered my calves. Will have to avoid, or walk them next week.

400 Various WU
2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:23)
2 * 200 FS on 3:10 (2:52)
2 * 300 FS on 4:50 (4:34)
2 * 200 FS on 3:10 (2:55)
2 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)
100 Easy
8 * 50 FS Pull w/ Paddles on 50 (42)
Total: 2700m

S: 2.7km – B: 157.6km – R: 4.5km

Got organised today and put last week’s plan in action. Ran to the pool, did the swim and attempted running back. Problem was the pool is so bloody salty that I was on the verge of cramping by the time the session finished, so I only got halfway back to work before having to stop for a stretch and walk the rest of the way! Still, running felt OK so might try and do some more of it.

The session was a good one. No messing about and constantly moving. Racked up a pretty comfortable 3000m with a few minutes to spare. Stroke felt good and 1:25 pace is no trouble, though I still tire rapidly once I pick the pace up beyond that.

500 Free
6 * 50 Free on 55 (40)
3 * 100 FS on 1:50 (1:25)
3 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:25)
3 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:25)
100 Fast (1:14)
100 Easy
3 * 100 FS on 1:40 (1:27)
3 * 100 FS on 1:45 (1:28)
3 * 100 FS on 1:50 (1:30)
100 Fast (1:25)
100 Easy
Total: 3000m

S: 3.0km – R: 1.5km

I’d started exercising again this week after yet another unforced layoff. Decided to alternate run and bike days for the forseeable future. Nothing hectic, just get out and do roughly 30mins a day and take it from there.

Went for a run in Centennial Park on Tuesday and it was great. The weather’s getting better as the days get longer, so it was a perfect 21C and great light as the sun started setting. All went well and I was quite enthusiatic about exercise again.

Wednesday saw me head out on the bike for a lap of a slightly hill course around the back streets of Vaucluse. Again, nice temperature and a bit of sun and all was well with the world.

I returned to Centennial yesterday for another run and now it’s all gone pear shaped. The weather was a bit colder due to wind chill, but I did my usual run without issue, only to find my right knee giving me all sorts of trouble last night. Any squat/lunge type of movement causes pain, as the tendon attaching to the lower front of my patella seems to be inflamed. I didn’t do anything stupid, or any obvious trip, so I’m at a loss to explain it.

No more running for a while though ;-(

B: 11.3km – R: 8km

After an abortive return to running the week before last, I finally got going again this week. The weather was crap all last week; rain stopped play as it were, or at least provided a convenient excuse for sitting on the couch eating all those Ferrero Rocher that Jacqui brought home! Couple that with distorted sleeping patterns brought on by World Cup fever and you have a recipe for lethargy.

however, I’ve an adventure race in two weeks so i figured I should really get going again. Went for a short run on Tuesday evening and another on last night, 3.1 and 4.2kms repsectively. Took it nice and easy, just to get back into the flow of things. Today’s a day off, then I’ll try and maintain a two days on, one day off ratio.

R: 7.3km

After a week off, I got back out for a run last night. Straight away it was immediately obvious that I should have done a lot more stretching after the race… ok, I should have done some stretching. I had planned to cruise around for 5km, but decided to call it a day at just under 4km. No need to rush back in to these things.

R: 3.7km

Race day dawned with a mild panic as I realised there were no buses from my place in to town at 6am, so I had to wake Jacqui and get her to give me a lift to North Bondi. I’d arranged to meet Kev in Martin Place at 6.30 before walking over to the start on Hickson Road. By the time we’d done the obligatory trip to the Portaloo, some stretching and dropped off our gear to be picked up after the race, it was almost time to get going and we only had to hang around for 5-10mins.

I lingered in mid-pack, away from the front as I was realistically hoping for a time around 1:55 to 2:00 so there was no point getting in everyone’s way. Kev had moved up closer to the front as he was aiming for a time around the 1:35 mark. The gun went, the crowd surged forward and I was off on the longest run of my life. It felt like I was going backwards as wave after wave of people passed me by, but I knew roughly what pace I should be running at and had resolved to be fairly conservative for the first half of the race. My aim was first to run the whole distance, and second to break the 2 hour mark.

Within the first two kms I was ruing the fact that I hadn’t gone for a quick piss before the start, so I had to hold it until the 5km mark. The first time up the hill at Hunter St. wasn’t too bad, then it was down to Mrs. Macquarie’s chair and a much needed pit-stop. All was well then and I could relax and get on with the race. People were still going past me, but I stuck to my plan. The second hill on the course was up Argyle St. which was easier than Hunter. The 9km marker was at the top, which was great as I knew that it was flat, or slightly downhill, until the finish.

I went through the 10km mark in 55:16 which was right on target. If I hadn’t had a toilet stop it would have been around 53:40 which would have been the fastest 10K I’d ever run. I was still feeling good at this stage so it was time to pick up the pace a little bit. At the 12km mark Kev shouted to me. His hip problem had cropped up again and he was out of the race, but cheered me on as I went past. Niall was out on the course a couple of kms later and I had a quick chat to him as I went up Hunter St. for the last time.

By the time I got to the 15km mark my knees and my right hip flexor were starting to twinge a little bit, but it was nothing serious. I’d less than 6km to go, so I resolved to pick things up again and hold a constant pace until the top of the Argyle St. hill, at which point I’d 2.1km to go and it was all downhill or flat at least. Kev was there to cheer me up Argyle St., and once at the top I knuckled down to finish strongly. By this time I was passing a lot of people who had passed me at the start of the race which helped a lot mentally.

I was feeling pretty tired by this stage, but I still felt way better than I had for the 10km run at the end of the Canberra triathlon so I knew I could push myself harder still. I continued winding up the pace, corssing the line at what felt liek a sprint, but what was probably nowhere naer it. Final time on my watch: 1:52:00.2, or almost three minutes faster than I had hoped to do, so I was pretty happy. I’ll have to wait a couple of days for the official results, so hopefully I get rounded down to 1:51:59 ;-)

I met up with Kev, then headed back to Bondi for breakfast with John, Tom & the guys who’d all been out watching Munster win the European Cup last night, then it was home for a wash, a beer, then in to the Opera Bar to help Malachi celebrate her birthday. My legs are slowly seizing up, but it’s nothing serious and they’ll be back to normal in a day or two. All in all, I’m happy with a good result.

R: 25.1km

I’ve a couple of runs I haven’t written up lately. The first dates back to May 2nd. I went to run in to work and had to stop halfway because my left foot was hurting. I had a bit of a feel to see if it was anything serious, and noticed that it was a pain around the knuckle beside my little toe. I had noticed twinges in it before, and had thought nothing of it, but it flared up a lot that morning so I decided I’d better take some time off and let it clear up. It was probably a result of me doing too much mileage too soon.

I took a week off, then got back into it a little last week. Went for two runs on Wednesday, 3km in the morning and 4.5km that afternoon, then followed that up with 6.3km on Thursday. I had planned to get another longer run in at the weekend, but a poker night with beers on Friday, followed by more beers to watch the FA Cup on Saturday put paid to that. However, given that I won $80 on Friday, and Liverpool won on Saturday I’m pretty happy anyway.

Was down in Canberra this week, but didn’t bring the MTB as it’s now dark by 5.30 and I don’t have a good enough set of lights. It’s also bloody cold down there now. After the massage on Monday I decided to make this a recovery week after building up the run distances over the last three weeks.

Did nothing while in Canberra, but got up on Saturday and went for a 14km run which was reasonably hilly. I abandoned the 150 HR limit and pushed it a little harder, finishing up in 1:19:30 (AvHR 157) which was decent enough.

This morning I clambered out of bed and headed off to La Perouse on the bike, via Centennial Park. Did a few quick laps of the Oil Refinery circuit, then back to La Perouse, and home via CP again. All up, 69.7km.

B: 69.7km – R: 14km

Well I got up early and headed out on my long run without issue, leaving the house at 7.05. Not bad for a Saturday morning. I’d run a semi-hilly 14.6km last week, so the plan for this week was to avoid all hills and see if I could get up around 18km. My legs are starting to feel the cumulative effects of lots of mileage (for me anyway) so I was a bit unsure of how they’d cope with yet another “longest run I’ve ever done”.

I opted to run laps of the golf course as it’s a known distance (4.25km) and fairly flat, and after the usual 15-20 minutes of grumbling, the legs settled down and it was plain sailing. I stopped down at the Rose Bay ferry for a quick slurp of water every lap to keep myself hydrated, and I’d brought along an energy gel left over from my last triathlon which I took on the third lap to give me a bit of a boost.

I was feeling good, so the idea of keeping going and aiming for a half marathon (21.1km) cropped up and I decided to go for it. I had to think a bit and try and figure out how to add on enough to make up the distance without leaving me further from home, so I elected to run down, then back up, Newcastle Street, finishing with a time of 1:57:10 which I was happy enough with, especially as I’d been restricting my HR to a max. of 150, and had averaged 146.

My legs were bloody exhausted, so I did my usual post-long run thing of stopping off at the garage for some coke & Gatorade to get some sugar in to me then began the walk home. Once back at the ranch, I fired up Google Earth to measure how far I’d really run (isn’t technology great!), to discover it was only 20.75km! Damn!

Oh well, even if I didn’t knock off the 21.1km it’s still 6km further than I’ve run before, and at least I now know that I’ll have no problem finishing the race in a couple of weeks.

Thankfully I’ve booked a massage for Monday. I reckon my legs will need it!

B: 33.7km – R: 48.8km

This week is shaping up to be a huge run week for me. Went for a 5.8km run last night just to loosen out after the longer commute run on Wednesday, then just did another cruisy 5km this evening. I’m doing all my running keeping my HR under 150, and despite this I’m running as fast as I was 6 weeks ago when my HR would top out around 165, so I’m slowly getting fitter.

I’ve racked up 28km so far this week, and with my long run still to come tomorrow morning, I should top 40km for the week. Up until the beginning of April I’d never run more than 20km in a week, so I’ll be pretty happy if I reach 40. The aim will be to run around that distance that consistently, week in, week out.

Didn’t get much cycling in this week though. Just cycled in and out of work today, with a few laps of the park thrown in for good measure.

Update: Just noticed that coincidentally, by completing my 5km run tonight, I’ve equalled the total distance I ran for the whole of last year… 218km.

B: 33.7km – R: 28km

After having a few days off, and getting on the beers over Easter, it was time to get back out for a run last night. I’d intended aiming for around 6km, but mis-counted my laps and ended up running 7.3km (41:07). Felt pretty good, though when I got home I noticed that my left shin was a little tender. My first thought was ‘stress fracture’, but then it had been fine during the run so that couldn’t be it. I figured it must be down to only doing a brief stretching session before heading out and decided to see how it was this morning.

Woke up and it felt fine. Did a proper stretching routine, got my stuff together and headed out the door for the run to work. I decided against going the New South Head Road way like last week as it was too hilly, so I headed for Bondi Junction. The hill up Birriga Road was always going to be the toughest part of the run as it was the only real uphill, so I just got stuck in to it and saw my HR rise to 168. After that it was relatively plain sailing for the rest of the way in to town, via Moore Park Road and Oxford St., for a total of ~10.3km in 58:51. I’ll have to measure the route on the bike tomorrow to be sure.

The shin issue I’d noticed last night showed up a lot fainter than last night, despite it being a longer run, so presumably it’s not serious. I’m not going for another run until tomorrow evening at the earliest, so that should be enough rest to clear it up. Running’s going well at the moment, and if all goes to plan I should crack 40km this week.

R: 17.6km

Went out for another long run this morning. I usually do them on Saturdays, but given that we’re off to Graeme’s for a BBQ and there’s likely to be a few beers had, I figured I should get the run out of the way today. I ran 13.25km last weekend, so I decided to aim for 15km today. Looking around for a route to run, I settled on the Vaucluse Variation (large GIF), one of the Sydney Striders’ routes.

As it turned out it was a bit too much. I decide to run it in reverse, and all went well until around the 10km mark, by which stage I was almost at Neilsens Park. I’d run up Heartbreak Hill which was a killer on the legs, and from then on it was slightly uphill, then slightly downhill, which never gave my legs a chance to rest. I hadn’t brought a map of the route with me, so after Neilsens I couldn’t remember exactly where to go. I ended up improvising, and chose to run up Villare Lower Road which is bloody steep. Just what the legs didn’t need! A quick detour down to the lighthouse and back to finish up at the shops for a much needed bottle of coke. I now understand what they meant when their ads claimed “Can’t beat the feeling”… there’s nothing like an ice cold coke at the end of a long run!

Another week’s long run finished without incident, in this case 14.6km (1:24:55). Fractionally short of the 15km I was aiming for, but it was a lot hillier than I expected, and it’s still further than I’ve ever run before, so I’m happy.

B: 74km – R: 28.5km

I ran in to work this morning.

Back when I started doing more exercise, I had to think about how I was going to fit it all in. The logical way was to make the daily commute part of my exercise program, so that’s largely what I did, cycling in to work where possible. I’d thought about one day running in to work as well, but it always seemed to be off in the distant future as running was never my strong point. However, after my long run on Saturday I realised that I’d have no trouble doing the run commute, so I resolved to give it a go this morning.

As usual, the first few kilometres weren’t great, with my lower legs doing their normal complaining while they warmed up. Although it doesn’t happen on every run, I’m used it now and can tell if it reaches the point where it warrants cutting the run short, which it rarely does. I ran down Old South Head, then Dover Rd., along the harbour-front by Rose Bay, then through the back streets of Double Bay to Edgecliff, then through Kings X, down William Street and finished up with a stretch in Hyde Park. All up it was around 9.3km in 51:28.

It was a tough run on the legs, as it’s basically all hills. I ran them all apart from the top 100m of the one from Double Bay up to Edgecliff and the final 150m into the X, as my legs were pretty tired from the hill cycling session I did on the way home yesterday. I plan on doing a run commute once per week, though I think next week I’ll try running via Bondi Junction and Oxford St. as it’s much flatter… well apart from that bit on Old South Head Road which I may walk to play it safe.

B: 74km – R: 13.9km

Cycled in and out of work yesterday, then went for a run. My calves are still a little sore after Saturday’s long run, but I still managed to get 4.6km in before it became clear that it wasn’t going to go away once I’d warmed up properly. I cycled in again this morning, but I won’t bother running this evening to give my legs more time to recover.

B: 42.4km – R: 4.6km

Well, I got up for my long run this morning, setting off at 8am. Headed down Military Road to Bondi, then up Curlewis, down Newcastle to Rose Bay, along the promenade then back up O’Sullivan, down Newcastle again and up Albermarle. I decided to keep my HR under 150 and just see how things went and basically just run until I felt that characteristic tightness in my knees which signifies that I should stop soon or it will take a few days to recover. All up it was 13.25km in just under 1:19 which I was pretty happy with.

I had hoped for 10km or so, which would have given me just enough time to build up for the half marathon, so 13km+ was great and I now know that, barring injury, I’ll have no worries finishing the race. On the other hand, my original, somewhat fanciful, notion of running a 1:45 has been shown to be just that: fanciful. Realistically, I’ll be aiming for a sub-2hr finish time.

My legs feel fine now, but tomorrow will reveal how tough the run really was. This run also put me over 30km for the week, which is the first time I’ve run over 30km in a week. Actually, it’s the first time I’ve run over 20km in a week!

B: 92.5km – R: 30.6km

Apart from Tuesday, when I took the day off as I had stuff to collect my car from Tom’s, I’ve been cycling in every day and doing two laps of Centennial Park on the way in. Yesterday I cycled home via New South Head Road (NSHR), instead of the usual Oxford St., and while it’s shorter, it’s quite a bit hillier. I rode up NSHR to Vaucluse as well which I hadn’t done before as I always figured it was really steep. Turns out that it’s not too bad, and has the advantage of being a reasonably consistent slope, so I could settle in to a rhythm. It certainly feels easier than riding up Old South Head Road (OSHR) in the morning, though that could be a morning/evening thing rather than any significant difference between the grades.

Went for a run last night when I got home. 7.3km in 42:47 with an average HR of 149, right where I wanted it. After the usual 15mins of feeling weird until my legs warm-up, things settled down and it was a pretty easy run, with me having to force myself to slow down and keep my HR under 150. While my legs were pretty tired this morning, there’s nothing actually sore, so I plan on going for a short run this evening, taking tomorrow off, then getting up for a longer run of around 10-11km on Saturday. The race is in 6 weeks, so I really need to start building my long run up. If I can do 10km this weekend without too much issue, and then add 2km per week, then I should be fine.

B: 81km – R: 13.8km