September 2016
Legs are feeling ‘goosed’ and I know I’m now walking the tightrope of injury and distance benefit gain. Due to No3Daughter deciding we should swap beds at 1am last night it made deciding to get up and go for a run all that more difficult. As I discussed yesterday the conditions were calm but cold so once I put on the skins and wind-cheater I was off in the dark. Best part about an early morning run is you get to see a sunrise and that alone makes the effort of getting out of bed worth it. No matter how many times you see a sunrise or sunset they are all special. Maybe it’s because as I near 50 I realise that my days of viewing these are limited. Hell, I could be over half way to the finish and this is one race where I will not be increasing my pace.
Skins were yet again useful for keeping the legs warm initially but also helping in taking some of the fatigue out of the legs which , in my view, is certainly helping keep calf knots or strains away. We’ll see….
I must admit to wearing my Skins on my second runs in the evenings. I find they just help keep my legs ‘tight’, if that’s the right word. I went through a stage when I first got them (in 2010) of wearing them for all long runs and even in races. I even wore them in a 10k once, what was I thinking ? I remember starting a few debates on cool running back in the day on how much of an advantage I thought they gave you in a marathon. ( http://www.coolrunning.com.au ) My 4-5 minutes was met with much debate at the time. I suppose what made me stop wearing them was no professional athlete ever worn them. After that they became my ‘recovery’ apparel and the odd long run when it was cold.
Now in their sixth year there are holes in all sort of places, which is why I always wear shorts over them. (and I believe this is a must at all times!!) but they still server to protect tired legs and I stand by my statement that they are worth a few minutes in a marathon, in a similar way a light pair of trainers can make a big difference if you can get away with wearing them.
The calf socks seem to be very ‘in’ currently in the triathlon world, must have something to do with the extra strain those athletes put on their legs because of the cycling and swimming ? Not sure but they certainly seem to be a ‘go-to’ piece of apparel for the triathletes. I have a pair and again if I do feel a calf knot coming on these socks seem to keep injuries at bay. All good then.
The one final comment regarding skins (or any compression tights) is they must never, ever be white. There was the time my good friend Dr. Geoff Reynolds embarrassed a state when he ran for WA in the Melbourne Marathon, beside me, in WA colours wearing white skins. This is akin to bowling underarm and Athletics WA has never really recovered. Worse, we both made the Marathon Booklet for that year; I’m surprised we were let back in WA airspace.
I’ve found a photo of the start. Please remember what is seen cannot be unseen. Me and Geoffa are wearing the WA State Colours as in 2010 the Melbourne Marathon was the State Championships. The only time I was so close to the African winners, the first 10m.!
Lunchtime run and we’re faced with a headwind straight from hell. After a brief discussion we all decide to run away into Kings Park and hide on some trails out of the wind. Makes me wonder how I’d clock the K’s in a climate not so ‘runner friendly’. I’ve mentioned a few times that I consider Perth to have the friendliest runner climate globally. Three seasons of the year it’s perfect all day, while in Summer you get to get up nice and early and still get great temperatures while hiding from the heat for the rest of the day.
We’re also blessed with great trails, hundreds of kilometres of great shared bike paths (though cyclists can sometimes get confused with the ‘shared’ bit of that quote), great parks built for running and lots and lots of space. All makes for some great running.
Could I run twice a day in a British Winter ? I suppose with the right protection, clothing wise, it would still be just as satisfying. An excuse for a whole new wardrobe of running attire, but for the moment I’ll stick with my singlet, shorts and suntan cream.
After another 100 mile week I am now faced with the prospect of going for a three-peat or having a ‘down week’ to let my body recover. But does my body need time to recover or has it adapted to the new mileage and has this then become the norm. ? This links to the top 3 Golden Rules I abide to regarding distance , pace and not getting injured. Juggling these three is a fine balancing act and get it wrong you’ll be spending time on the sidelines watching all your fitness drain away, a runners worst nightmare.
I’m a big ‘listen to your body’ believer and also adding distance is possible if you have easy runs and avoid two hard sessions in a row. Raf Baugh, the Running Centre owner, ( http://therunningcentre.com.au )is a big advocate of big distance and doesn’t consider any mileage to be ‘junk miles’. As far as he is concerned they are all good, even the slow recovery ones. Taking this onboard I have made my second run of the day (how did this become the norm?) a slow one and must admit to enjoying the freedom of just running on heart rate rather than chasing pace and being constrained by the 1k Garmin splits. To this end I have managed a massive block of training since June but understand I am on a tightrope. This is sustainable for the moment as I train for the Perth Masters in October/November this year but must admit to looking forward to a month or two of ‘normal’ 100k a week running later in the year. (and maybe even a glass of red for Christmas)
This tightrope of distance, pace and avoiding injury is one all runners must walk and I know so many who have trained so hard for events and at the last minute been struck down with injury. Truth be told I don’t even like typing the word injury. !! Damn that’s twice I’ve typed it in one paragraph but it needs to be discussed. Every runner, in my opinion, has a distance where they can safely operate in, be this 40k, 100k or more. This is limited by their running gait, general genetics, weight, surface they train on, shoes etc. the list really is endless. Spend too much time outside the ‘safe zone’ and eventually its time to pay the piper.
155k for the week, 6 short of a 100 mile week, never not going to run the final few k’s needed. Ran 8k for a big 38k day but more importantly a second 100 mile week. Of course this was shared with the Strava community. How did runners survive without Strava ? As I said before if it ain’t on Stava did it happen? The old tree falling in a forest type statement.
What did we do before GPS watches and the internet? How could we share our running exploits with the world? Write a letter or ten to keep everybody informed of your training highlights? Like the good old days of going out for a meal and not taking photos of the tukka and sharing with the world.
These days there are two types of runners , those who Strava and those who run for the love of running, with no watch or GPS devices and no Internet connection. I’m a Strava-addict and admit it. Probably explains my four Garmin watches!! Last time I ran with no GPS watch I hated it, a sad affair really but that’s the way it is.
Remember Strava is life, the rest is details. Is my watch charged….?
Sunday morning is long runs with the gang. Anything from a few runners to unto 10 depending on who’s training for what. Always a 6am start, which means some running in the dark in Winter, but overall the best part of the day. This morning my mate Dean who is training for Chicago in 3 weeks wanted a 30k at a good effort. After my 5k park run yesterday I wasn’t that keen but kept him honest for the distance. Finished in just over 2 hours at 4:05min/k average. Probably pushed harder that I would have liked but the 2hrs on my feet was more important. Leaves me marooned on 155k for the week, 6k short of the magical 100 mile week. I’ll try and find time tonight to put that right. Took some shots of the pancakes and the lads relaxing at the end of a great run. As always Perth put on perfect conditions.
This long run was probably too fast but normally it’s all about time on feet. Getting your body use to the extra time needed to run and race a marathon. It can be an enjoyable experience if you’re after time and distance rather than pace. Today, thanks to Dean, it was all three. Nice when you finish but the last 10k is challenging. Overall though you know it’s doing you some good and it’s all about paying your dues now rather than on the big day.
My Wife takes No 3 Daughter to a party, no 2 Daughter fancies a power nap and no 1 Daughter is relaxing with her laptop. Oh well, might as well sneak out for a relaxing 10k. One of the benefits of the girls growing up is Karen and I are getting our lives back which means more running for me. Actually it’s probably just me getting my life back as Karen still seems to be busy as. So the lesson here is if you can find 45 minutes you can get out there….
After my double-up streak was ended by a pizza night out with the family last night I was ready for a good 5k hit out. 5k is a good distance to get you high into the VO2 / Threshold heart rate zones while being short enough that you can recover quickly. The Park Run organisation puts on free times 5k runs every Saturday at 8am. This is a world wide epidemic (a good one for a change) that is such a great idea. Go online, get a free barcode, run a 5k event and then your time is recorded and emailed to you normally before you finish your coffee and muffin afterwards.
Carine Park run, where I run normally, has a downhill start and this encourages speed and normally too much. I always go out way too fast (rookie error) and then ‘pay the piper’ later. Normally I can limit damage if the legs are fresh but today I ran my quickest first kilometre (3:05min/k) and knew the piper was calling for payback.. I managed to work hard for the last k and finished in 16:43; only 3 seconds outside my PB set a few weeks ago. Very happy with that and it was time for a coffee and muffin to celebrate at the best cafe in Perth , Yelo in Trigg.
http://www.yelocornerstore.com.au
Right , was a nutrition piece. Not sure advocating coffee and muffins is the right thing on a running blog but as long as you put in the hard yards I’m a big believer in the odd treat.
Day number 12 of two runs a day and for the first time I felt fatigued on a recovery run with Mike and Steve. Had this feeling a few times over the years and it feels like the legs are made of lead and you just want to stop and walk. Ran through it of course and the last 5k was slightly better , finishing with a progressive type pace for the 10k.
Ran through Elizabeth Quay which is relatively new to Perth, less than a year old. Nice bridge to run over and great views of the city. Will see if I can manage another run after work.
I run a lot and have for many years. This has resulted in improvement in all distances but a lot has to do with just improvement over time, over distance. i.e. keep running and building on your foundation fitness and you’ll keep improving…. until…you reach a tipping point where either age beats you or your training stagnates and your times stop improving. This happened to me in 2014 after a stella 2013 where everything went right.
I decided in 2015 to talk to Raf Baugh, the owner of The Running Centre (TRC) in Perth and he gave me a program, my first training program and coach, at 48 ! It was a shock to the system but I feel his work laid the foundation for the great year I’m having in 2016. Raf is infectious and in his eyes age really is just a number. He opened my eyes to all sorts of different terms and running pace, tempo, threshold, VO2max, recovery; etc. Before I was just running, no real goal, just running. This new approach has set me up for another tilt at the sub 2:40 dream. Thanks Raf, you really are a legend.
So the reason behind the post, if you feel you have plateaued go jog down to your local running shop and ask about a coach or group runs. It’ll be the best thing you ever did, period.