Hard 5k

Today did 2.5k warm up followed by 5km hard then 2.5k cool down. Amazing weather today, best we have had in months. Warm up was really nice, saw a mate out for a ride. Then started the hard work. 4 laps of a 1.25km track that has a bit of a hill in it. Started off strong did the first lap in about 4mins. Then slowed down a bit as I hit that hill again. Kept pushing through the rest of the run and ended up with a time of 17:47. Happy enough, would've been better if a had someone helping me push, but pretty tired after. Really slow cool down, calves were a bt sore. About 10kms in all

3k Out and Back

Today did a 3km out and back which is when you run 3km out easy then 3km back hard. I meant to be doing 3km easy with a few mates, then pushing hard it on the way back by myself. I got to our meeting place, but nobody showed up. Ended up waiting half an hour in the rain before deciding just to do it by myself.  I chose a 3km loop so I just did the loop twice. The loop was actually 3.3km and it had 3 major hills so I was expecting the second loop to be quite difficult. On top of that it was pouring down with rain and it was incredibly windy. The first easy 3.3km time was 14:01. By the end of this loop I was completely drenched and feeling pretty irritated. I tried to push the second loop but it was a pain. I could barely see, it was slippy and hilly. I ended up doing the harder loop in 11:34. I was pretty disappointed with the time to be honest, but I think the conditions held me back. 9km in all including warm up and cool down.

Hard 300's

Today went to running club today and after a 2.5k warm up we did 16, 340m intervals with a 1 minute recovery. I was running with Duggie, Nick, Haftu, and Tom. I didn't eat enough after school so I was feeling a bit hungry to be honest, but it wasn't too bad. We were doing the reps cross country, not on a track, and the 340metres was up hill to make it harder. The first 10 were alright and I had taken the lead for a bit on the 3rd and 4th one. After that it was a bit of a struggle but I still kept up with the others, until the last rep where Haftu and Tom managed to run it in 46s. I pushed it hard as it was the last one and managed to do it in 51s. The slowest one was 57s and the fastest was 49s. Really tough session, but felt good afterwards. Did 1.25km warm down, about 9.1km in all.

10k

Today did a 10k with some mates. We are training for a very long distance race that I will talk about more in the near future. As we are just training for stamina we didn't push it really hard. It was Matt, Tim, Bryan, Karl, Jonno and I and it was a really good run. We did it in 49:31, under 50 minutes so everyone was happy. Great conditions for running getting a bit warmer down here so that is good. Feeling a bit sore behind the knee so I will ice that tonight, but other than that no worries.

1200's + 300's

Yesterday went to running club again. Started off with 2.5km warm up then stretches then we started the session. We did 3, 1200m reps with a 3 minute break in between each one. The first one felt really good. I was running with Nick, Haftu, Julian and Dean. Cheyne, the coach, had told us each to surge at a different point so that nobody knew when your time to surge was, and they had to try and keep up. Nick surged at about the 500m mark and  he just flew ahead. Haftu, Dean and I reeled him in after about 200m which was okay. I surged in the last 200m and broke about 5 metres ahead of the others. We finished that rep in 3:51. The next one was a bit faster and wasn't as comfortable at the start. Everyone surged on this one except Nick and I and we finished the rep in 3:48. The next rep was a bit slower coming at a time of 3:56.
After that we did 5, 300m sprints. It was only Dean, Nick and I doing the 300's, the others did 200's instead. We took it in turns for the lead and the reps were decent. They went in order from first to last- 50s, 51s, 49s, 48s, 46s. Good session for the evening, pretty tough, about 8.7km in all.              

Easy 14k

Today did an easy 14k with the parents. Went to a forest trail and ran through the forest which was nice. Great conditions for running, only a bit windy still though. Ran with the parents for the first 7k before breaking off going a bit faster. Did it in about 1hr 3mins. Really enjoyed the run, 54km for the week.

3k, 3k, 3k, 3k

Today did 4 3k's each with a different level of difficulty. The first one was the easiest, a bit like a warm up. The second was moderate, the third really hard and the fourth was easy to moderate. I chose a 3k route, starting and ending at my house. The first rep, the warm up, was good. Slow, but steady. Did it in 13:37. The second one, moderate one, was good. I did it in 11:30 and I was a bit sore after this one . The next one, the tough one, I did in 10:30. Pretty happy considering I had previously run 6km. The last one started off really slowly but sped up and I ended up with a time of 12:16. Tough run, but ended up with some solid times- 12km in all.     

Easy 8k

Today did an easy 8k with some mates who are just starting to get into running. Started with a 2k warm up really slow, then did the 8k. We did it in 32 minutes (4:00k's) with 2, 2 minute breaks. A nice easy run. Good fun since it was with mates, rest day tomorrow feeling quite sore in the calves. 10km in all today.

Yesterday, I played futsal for the school all day. We played four 20 minute games in all so at the end of the day, I was pretty tired. I still had running club to go to though so I didn't think that I would go too well. We started with 2.5k warm up then did 4, 1km intervals, and the times were 3:16, 3:02, 3:06 and 3:08. I ran with Haftu as most of the other people were away. It was very windy and very cold so the first one was a bit slower on purpose. The other 3, I was happy with although I was definitely struggling in the last 100 metres on the last rep. We then did 3, 300 metre sprints. With the track season coming up, we are doing a bit more work on the track. The times for the 300's were 48s,49s and 46s. Felt pretty good for the 300's as I managed to beat everyone on the first 2, then Haftu came flying past me in the last one and beat me by about 2 seconds. Really good session considering I had been playing soccer all day. Definitely feeling sore now. About 9km in all.

Kenyan Fartlek + 200's

Yesterday went for a run with the club. Started of with the familiar 2.5k warm up then did 4x2minutes with a 2 minute jog in between each rep. Then we did the same again ,but with 1 minutes instead of 2. We started off as a group of 7, but we dropped 3 people by the end of the 4th 2 minute. I was running with Haftu, Dean, and Duggie and we took it in turns to lead each rep. We then did the same for the 1 minutes. After that part of the run we took a 4 minute break before heading onto the athletics track for 200m floats. Floats just mean that you jog around the track for 200 metres as your recovery before you start  the next rep. This was a new experience as I had never done 200's before and it was good. I kept with Haftu and Dean again and the times were 31s, 32s, 30s, 28s. Really good training, did something new 10.9km in all.

Long Run

Today did 13.25k with Dad. Got up at 8 and we were out the door by quarter past. We ran down to the beach then along the beach for a bit before coming back inland. Didn't push it too hard as it was a long run and I was still sore from yesterday. We did it in 60:28 (4:30km pace). Still very windy and I'm hoping it will calm down soon, because it is a pain training in the wind. About 55km for the week all up.

20 minute out and back

Today being a Saturday I had a bit of a slow morning and I left for the run at about 9:45. I was doing a 20 minute out and back, which is where you take it easy for 20 minutes and then step it up on the way home. The way out was nice and easy and I did 5.65km in the first 20 minutes. Then pushed it back on the way home and did the same distance in 17:28. Pretty happy, however it was very windy so I think I might have been able to go a bit faster had the conditions been better. Having said that this is the best weather we have had in Melbourne in a week. 11.3km in all, good Saturday run.

10km Run

Today feeling pretty good so after school I ate 2 croissants before going on a 10k. I said to myself beforehand I was going to run 4:15 km pace, but about 1km into it I was feeling good so I thought, might as well and pushed on a bit. At around 5km still feeling good running at about 3:55 km pace and kept that up until 1.5km to go when I stepped up the pace to 3:50. Finished with a time of 36:52, really happy as I still felt I had something left in the tank.

3k, 2k, 1k

Yesterday went to running club after school again. Did the normal 2.5km warm up followed by some drills and a last minute shit. It was Chris, Haftu, Tom and I doing a session, then Duggie and some others doing an easier session. We were a doing a 3k, 2k then a 1k all pretty speedy. We started the 3k and Chris took the lead. I suggested a peloton style running thing where each of us took the lead for a couple of minutes as it was really windy and that's what we did for the first 2km. Then Chris took the lead for the last 1k and we finished in a time of 10:03. Pretty happy with that. Next was the 2k and Haftu lead the first 800 ,then I took over for the next 400 and again Chris finished us off. We ended up with a 6:43 for the 2k. Finally it was the dreaded 1km rep and we started off with Tom out the front. I just behind him, but then he surged and I couldn't stay with him. Haftu and I stayed together until the end and ran a 3:11. Good session, pretty tough, but I enjoyed it. About 9.7km in all.

Hard Session

Yesterday went to running club after school for a tough session. We did 2.5k warm up really slow then stretches. We then did Pyramid training. That is 1 minute 3:15 km pace and then 1 minute slow jogging. Then 2 minutes hard, 1 minute slow, 3 minutes hard, 1 minute slow, 4 minutes hard, 1 minute slow and then back down again. There was a big group of people last night so the atmosphere was really good. We all started the session together, all 9 of us and by the end of the 1st 2 minute hard rep we had dropped 3 people. It was Chris, Haftu, Tom, Dean and I up the front. We took it in turns to lead for each of the hard reps. I pulled the short straw and was given a 4 minute interval to lead. I pushed quite hard because I was nervous of going to slow, that probably didn't help. Kept up with the others until the 2nd 2 minute rep and was about 5 metres behind when the clock stopped. On the last 1 minute rep we pushed really hard they dropped me again and ended up about 15 metres behind with Dean. Very hard session as the recovery wasn't very long, but it was good. It was about 10.8km in all.

In the Forest

Yesterday, went up to the Dandenongs (mountains) with the running club to go on a long run with lots of hills in it. We were running through the forest on a small muddy track. There was rocks everywhere so a couple of us took a fall. We went slowly the whole way around and ended up doing 10.6km in 48 minutes (4:52 km pace). There was however, one hill which was so incredibly steep that nobody was going faster than 10 minute km pace up it. That hill took a lot out of you as it stretched on in all for about 400m. The run however was actually quite enjoyable as the forest was all around us and we weren't pushing it that hard.

Update

Thursday- On Thursday I was feeling sore after Athletics Day so I did an easy 5k. Felt sore throughout the whole run- calves felt especially tight.

Friday- Didn't do anything on Friday as I had to get up at 3 in the morning to catch the bus with the school to a Mount Buller for a snowboarding camp. I was snowboard for the first time and it was incredible. I was pretty awful at the start, and only really picked it up at the end of the day. Went quite fast and took some pretty rough falls, but I really enjoyed it and hope to do it again soon.

Saturday- As a result from the rough falls on Mount Buller, I was feeling very sore. I woke up and could barely move my neck. Quads were very tight and my knees and back were coved in bruises. I decided not to run as I could hardly walk.

School Athletics Day

So school athletics day so just a fun day not very serious races. The first race I did was the 1500m, so of course there was the kids who decided to sprint for the first 200 metres for a laugh and that's exactly what happened. I stayed in about 7th while the sprinters went off, then they got tired and I overtook them all by the 400 mark. From there I continued at the same pace slowly getting further and further away from the second and third runners. I finished the race with a time of 4:48 and first place and a bit disappointed to be honest. I didn't surge at all so I think that took a toll on the time and there was no one running leading with me to help push the speed.
The next race was 800 metres in which I placed 2nd with a time of 2:15. Harry, the leader went out and stayed about 5 seconds ahead of me throughout the entire race. Again, a bit disappointed at the time, but happy at the position.
Next race was 400 metres. I placed second, losing to Harry again. I ran 1:01 so I was happy with that time.
The final race was the 4 x 100m relay. Harry, was on our team so I was feeling pretty confident. I started off the race keeping up with the fastest runner on the opposition team. Handed the baton onto Chappo who ran another solid leg, but then there was a bad baton change so we lost about 2 seconds. Connor ran the third leg before handing the baton to Harry, who was 15 metres behind the leader but still managed to bring home the victory.
Really happy with the day over all, it was a bit of fun. My first real track races and I think I prefer longer distances, but I still enjoyed it.

Rest Day

Just a rest day before a couple of races tomorrow. The school athletics so it should be a bit of fun. Thinking about doing a 1500m a 400m and maybe an 800m if I am feeling good. I'll post about the races tomorrow.

First Post

This is the first post to my running blog which will just be about the runs that I do for those who are interested. It will be like a running diary so I can track my improvements over time.
Today was a light session because of an upcoming race on Wednesday. We did a 1 km, 600 metres and a 300 metres.

 Times: 2:57(1km), 1:33(600m) and 42 seconds(300m)

It was very windy today so that affected the times a bit. Was about 5 seconds behind Haftu and about 7 seconds behind Nick in all of them. On the 300m I was particularly happy as I managed to beat Haftu (an extremely rare occurrence). Bought some new shoes yesterday, switched from Nike Freeruns to New Balance Minimus. Seemed ok for the time being, the Minimus are a bit more like track spikes than the freeruns.