Hills, hills and more hills!
Friday 29/09/06:
Rest day as planned, however I did take a little drive in the evening to map out a suitable course for Saturdays long run - in between picking up dinner and stopping at the video shop of course!
Thought I'd have a nice early night in preparation, however I had no sooner got into bed and the neighbour cranked up his stereo, his guests arrived and they partied till 2am! Oh well... the music wouldn't have been too bad actually, if it had been in English!
Saturday 30/09/06:
I was out the door at 6.30am, complete with Skins on, radio attached and wearing my Fuelbelt loaded with Replace. Haven't used this in ages, but as I'm unsure whether to use it on the day, thought I'd better start using it again so I can decide. Also, the plan called for 90mins steady today and I didn't want to do this without any fuel.
It was a fabulous morning, 11 degrees C and rising rapidly, light breeze and just a few clouds about. I knew I had a long, hilly loop in front of me and intended to keep the pace steady thruout, approx 5min kms as usual.
For the first few kms my left lower leg felt a bit tight and weird, but I told myself I'd soon shake it and I did. Hit the first serious hill after 30mins, it was one I have not run in ages. This was closely followed by another and found them not too bad. After quite a long down hill section I hit the one I did last weekend, only this time I did not get to go down the other side, I turned left and had another longish, steady hill to conquer. My next turn took me onto a rural road - Point View Drive, which is about 5kms long and very hilly indeed. The last time I ran it my hamstring played up big time afterwards. It was back in June and I posted a photo taken from the top. This time I was running it in the opposite direction. I had finished one of my bottles of Replace by then, but found I was getting a bit of stitch just afterwards, each time I had some - I obviously need it to be watered down even further for use during a run.
Passed several other serious-looking runners on this road, all heading in the opposite direction, all friendly. The road seemed to stretch on forever, the hills just kept coming, but I was feeling good and loving being out there. The sun was well and truly out by then and I was very warm. Glad I had not bothered with any long-sleeved over-top, just my crop-top today. The Fuelbelt was feeling pretty comfortable most of the time and I sure was glad of a drink! The last hill or two were a real test, but I kept going and finally hit the last very steep, long, downhill stretch.
From there I knew it was a flat 4kms to home. My legs still felt good and I made sure I kept the pace up. Over the final km my legs did start to tire quite rapidly and my stomach was starting to rumble in hunger! I will definately be getting up even earlier to eat on the day, but I need a good hour for it to digest before I can run and this just was not going to happen today!
Brisk walk warmup: 5mins
Steady paced hilly run: 89.19mins (18.6kms)
Brisk walk cooldown: 5mins
I was very happy with this time considering the hills. Doing these has given me the confidence that I can handle the many hills on the day. However on the Auck Half/Marathon course they start almost immediately and continue for the first 14kms, till you reach the other side of the Harbour bridge, then its pretty much flat till the finish.
I did plenty of stretching afterwards and so far the hammy is fine, but I plan to do even more tonight and maybe even ice it as a precaution. Have washed the Skins so that I can sleep in them tonight if the legs are feeling fatigued. Tomorrow I plan to do a gentle off-road run. I know it would be better if my long runs were off-road, but this isn't always possible.
The other thing is - and I'm looking for advice here - I've found out that an event I've always wanted to enter is coming up. Its a 10km road race, virtually in my own backyard. Its a pretty serious event, run by the Pakuranga Athletics Club and all of the running clubs get involved, as the sponsors put up cash prizes and the like. There is also a fun-run and a relay. Thing is, its on Sun 15th Oct, exactly 2 weeks before the Auck Half. I won't even kid myself by saying I could do it as a "training run" cos with my competitive streak, that just would not happen on the day. Also, its got a couple of big hills in it... According to the plan for that weekend, the Sat is to be a rest day and that day is to be a shortish interval session, so I would not be sacrificing my long run if I was to do it. The question is, if I went out and gave it my all over the 10kms, would I be jeapordising my performance in the Half two weeks later? Entries close on 8th Oct, so I have to decide soon. It would be nice to have a go at a 10km PB while I'm feeling in form, although I don't know if it would even be possible on this course. If anyone can offer up any advice, I would appreciate it.
Rest day as planned, however I did take a little drive in the evening to map out a suitable course for Saturdays long run - in between picking up dinner and stopping at the video shop of course!
Thought I'd have a nice early night in preparation, however I had no sooner got into bed and the neighbour cranked up his stereo, his guests arrived and they partied till 2am! Oh well... the music wouldn't have been too bad actually, if it had been in English!
Saturday 30/09/06:
I was out the door at 6.30am, complete with Skins on, radio attached and wearing my Fuelbelt loaded with Replace. Haven't used this in ages, but as I'm unsure whether to use it on the day, thought I'd better start using it again so I can decide. Also, the plan called for 90mins steady today and I didn't want to do this without any fuel.
It was a fabulous morning, 11 degrees C and rising rapidly, light breeze and just a few clouds about. I knew I had a long, hilly loop in front of me and intended to keep the pace steady thruout, approx 5min kms as usual.
For the first few kms my left lower leg felt a bit tight and weird, but I told myself I'd soon shake it and I did. Hit the first serious hill after 30mins, it was one I have not run in ages. This was closely followed by another and found them not too bad. After quite a long down hill section I hit the one I did last weekend, only this time I did not get to go down the other side, I turned left and had another longish, steady hill to conquer. My next turn took me onto a rural road - Point View Drive, which is about 5kms long and very hilly indeed. The last time I ran it my hamstring played up big time afterwards. It was back in June and I posted a photo taken from the top. This time I was running it in the opposite direction. I had finished one of my bottles of Replace by then, but found I was getting a bit of stitch just afterwards, each time I had some - I obviously need it to be watered down even further for use during a run.
Passed several other serious-looking runners on this road, all heading in the opposite direction, all friendly. The road seemed to stretch on forever, the hills just kept coming, but I was feeling good and loving being out there. The sun was well and truly out by then and I was very warm. Glad I had not bothered with any long-sleeved over-top, just my crop-top today. The Fuelbelt was feeling pretty comfortable most of the time and I sure was glad of a drink! The last hill or two were a real test, but I kept going and finally hit the last very steep, long, downhill stretch.
From there I knew it was a flat 4kms to home. My legs still felt good and I made sure I kept the pace up. Over the final km my legs did start to tire quite rapidly and my stomach was starting to rumble in hunger! I will definately be getting up even earlier to eat on the day, but I need a good hour for it to digest before I can run and this just was not going to happen today!
Brisk walk warmup: 5mins
Steady paced hilly run: 89.19mins (18.6kms)
Brisk walk cooldown: 5mins
I was very happy with this time considering the hills. Doing these has given me the confidence that I can handle the many hills on the day. However on the Auck Half/Marathon course they start almost immediately and continue for the first 14kms, till you reach the other side of the Harbour bridge, then its pretty much flat till the finish.
I did plenty of stretching afterwards and so far the hammy is fine, but I plan to do even more tonight and maybe even ice it as a precaution. Have washed the Skins so that I can sleep in them tonight if the legs are feeling fatigued. Tomorrow I plan to do a gentle off-road run. I know it would be better if my long runs were off-road, but this isn't always possible.
The other thing is - and I'm looking for advice here - I've found out that an event I've always wanted to enter is coming up. Its a 10km road race, virtually in my own backyard. Its a pretty serious event, run by the Pakuranga Athletics Club and all of the running clubs get involved, as the sponsors put up cash prizes and the like. There is also a fun-run and a relay. Thing is, its on Sun 15th Oct, exactly 2 weeks before the Auck Half. I won't even kid myself by saying I could do it as a "training run" cos with my competitive streak, that just would not happen on the day. Also, its got a couple of big hills in it... According to the plan for that weekend, the Sat is to be a rest day and that day is to be a shortish interval session, so I would not be sacrificing my long run if I was to do it. The question is, if I went out and gave it my all over the 10kms, would I be jeapordising my performance in the Half two weeks later? Entries close on 8th Oct, so I have to decide soon. It would be nice to have a go at a 10km PB while I'm feeling in form, although I don't know if it would even be possible on this course. If anyone can offer up any advice, I would appreciate it.
posted by Vicky @ 9/30/2006 03:48:00 pm
3 Comments:
At Sat Sept 30, 05:12:00 pm,
Em said…
Yikes, I won't offer any adive on the 10Km race, I am not really experienced enough.
I guess you could call it a tempo session, buuuuuuut, i get the feeling the more experienced guys will caution against it.
At Sat Sept 30, 09:40:00 pm,
Anonymous said…
I've been training for the upcoming Melbourne Marathon on 8 Oct. I didn't follow any training plans or make plans other than 'must get heaps of km in'. I went with the 'how I feel approach' to training runs. I know this is not scientific but I just hate schedules. As it turned out though I got in a mixture of speed, LSD, fartlek and tempo's.
From my perspective I would run the the 10 km and do it as hard as I could (and soak in the atmosphere).
With plans and especially 3 month running plans I really don't think missing or altering a run type will have any adverse effects.
Just my two cents worth.
At Mon Oct 02, 12:25:00 am,
Stu Mac said…
Two weeks out from the HM... you will not get any fitter and to be honest a good 10k hit out probably will not hurt you too much at all, BUT...I would look at the complete weeks schedule, this 10k race will now become the hardest run for the week, the rest should be fairly cruisy.
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