September 2016
You know the email ‘call to arms’. 10K easy, recovering from <insert race> or <big week last week> etc.. With my lunchtime running buddies I receive these emails all the time, promising nice relaxing runs all about recovery and the ambience of like minded individual doing what they enjoy. Don’t be fooled, somewhere in the group there will be someone who has not read the email and then it’s on.. Today our 10k easy ended up with a 4:16min/k average, just under 43 minutes. Easy for Mo Farrah maybe, not me.! It was a glorious day and we had a tail wind before the hills but seriously…
I run with a group called the “St. Georges Terrace Running Club” as we are all based on, you guessed it, St. Georges Terrace in Perth. We’ve even had some tops made, pretty serious.
Attached is a shot of the usual suspects on one of our many pre-marathon ‘pb runs’ as we call them…
In August this year I ran my 8th Perth City to Surf marathon. After my 2:47 at Perth earlier in the year I put in a massive training block of about 8 weeks to get ready for this one, including a record 620k cumulative month. It all came together on the day with a 1:19 half and a finish time of 2:41:41, just 30 seconds outside my PB. Maybe the sub 2:40 dream is back on at 50 years old; 50 is the new 20 apparently.
On the back of this I have changed my training to extra distance and more double-up days. Still some speed work but more 80% -20% between distance and speed. Lots of racing in-between marathons has also helped.
It must have been the pressure of now being a ‘running blogger’ but in-between blogging and getting to grips with wordpress, themes, widgets, categories and all things blogging, I managed to run 14 times and clock up 166.6k.
All tracked on Strava. Remember one of my golden rules. Track everything, time distance, pace, heart rate, elevation, cadence. It’s all valuable ammunition which you can draw upon as you improve. Stave is life, the rest is details.
Not rocket science really but always nice to have your ideas confirmed, if only by the Sunday Times in Perth. May inspire me to go for a run once in a while……
Right here they are, the rules I abide to and will help you achieve your goal when it comes to running marathons, or any distance really. I’ll spend time on each in more detail but for the moment I’ve set them out in a list below.
- Run Further. Add distance, not speed.
- Run Faster. This is about adding pace after you have got your foundation after rule 1.
- Don’t get injured. This is the hardest rule to obey as you always want to do more of rule 1 and 2 which can result in an injury. (I even hate typing the word!)
- Nutrition, nutrition and nutrition… Did I mention nutrition. It’s all about the proper fuel.
- Weight. So important, use to believe because I ran 100k+ a week I could eat what I wanted. Not true.
- Baseline, document and evaluate everything. If it isn’t on www.strava.com it didn’t happen. Once you set a goal you have to be able to know how far you have come to achieving this, small steps but constant feedback. So buy a Garmin and start recording , everything !!!
- Sleep. So underestimated but the bodies way of refuelling and preparing for the next day of running. Common sense but so often ignored.
- Consistency. No point running 100k one week and then nothing. Marathon fitness is built up over time and this works hand in hand with rule number 1.
- It’s all in the mind. After 32k a marathon is down to mental strength and the ability to persuade your body you can still perform at your desired pace without falling to fatigue, which is the minds way of protecting itself. Never underestimate the power of the mind in long distance racing.
Feel I should be able to find 1 more rule. It’s always 10 rules right ? I wonder what happened over the years to all good rules number 11 which never made the cut.
Easy 12k this morning , making just over 154k for the week and the opportunity to break my all time distance record if I can fit in one more run this afternoon. Also for the first time I’ll have run twice a day every day for a week, 14 runs.. It’s going to happen. For the moment this was just a run to reflect on the achievements for the week and what to plan for next week. This was the second week after the Perth City to Surf marathon so it’s all about recovery and distance, no speed. The speed will be reintroduced next week. Until then it’s plodding along…
This was my 12th Perth Marathon and I was coming into some form so was hoping for 2:45 – 2:50 and went through halfway dead on target. Last year I was injured before Perth , after some quality training, and this had played on my mind and I blew up to a 2:49. At halfway I was even contemplating dropping out as it’s an out and back twice course so you have the option to step of the course at halfway and just go home! I’ve never not finished a race and that kept me going, anyway that was last year.
This year at halfway I feel great and this spurred me on to a good second half and a 2:47 and change finish. 6th place, just outside the prizes for top5 (for the second year ) Managed to grab an age group win so all-in-all a good day and a springboard for the City to Surf marathon in August.
First post on the World Masters in Perth October/November 2016. I’ve entered for the 5000m and the Marathon (you’d be mad not to really!) . I ran the Perth City to Surf marathon end of August so have 6 weeks of solid 150k a week training ahead of me. Ran a 100k recovery week last week and on for 160k this week so so far all going to plan.
The 5000m is a bit of fun really as it’s on the track and I only run track normally once a year max. The marathon is a different matter and I’m determined to try and place in my age group. This is made all the more difficult by being 49 and 10 months in a 45-50 age group ! If only they held it next February my task would have been so much easier. No worries, if you haven’t got to work for it, it ain’t worth working for.
I’ll use this category to track progress towards October 29th for the 5k and November 6th for the marathon.
A relaxing 10k racing the sunset after the 23k this morning. Double up days are the way forward if your body can take the extra load. No need for speed on the second run, just distance. I actually enjoy a good ‘slow’ second run as much as a tempo or threshold run. I know the second run is doing so much good without the need to jump into the pain box as it required for the thresholds and tempos. 6 days this week, 12 runs. Upton 144k for the week. Need 16k tomorrow for a 100mile week. All about numbers, you bet !! No hiding no we all have Garmins and Strava. http://www.strava.com It’s been a busy week.
I love concrete, Garmin Watches, splits and racing. Once or twice a year I do venture outside the City limits into the hills for the 6 Inch ultra marathon. Last Sunday before Christmas Day. 4am start as in Perth it’s the middle of Summer , and we get a hot summer ! Anyway , love this shot taken by my mate Dennis Tan, sums up the event. 
Notice two Garmins as one records distance and pace the other holds the course. Still managed to get lost in 2 of my 7 finishes !
