Taper Session

So because of the race on Saturday we did a taper tonight. 1km, 600m and 300m all as fast as you can. Started off quick in the warm up with me running behind Haftu, Nick, Ryan and Chris. Chris dropped off after about 400m because of a cramp, but we still pushed on. 200m to go kicked a bit, but that died out quickly because of the previous efforts. Came in with a time of 2:49 so stoked with that. A Pb over 1km for me. Next was the 600m, wasn't ready for the start, but managed to get up behind Haftu. Pushed hard throughout the rep and managed 1:32 which I am really happy with. 300 was in 43s and managed to overtake Haftu on the final 100m. The little taper gave me a lot of confidence for the race on Saturday, hope it doesn't get cancelled from the heat.

Easy again

Same run as Monday an easy 5km in 22:23. Hot and windy today again, hope it calms down for tomorrow.

Kenyan Fartlek

So Kenyan Fartlek yesterday, Cheyne's favourite session as he heard David Rudisha tell the world this type of training at a running conference. It was Jasper, Nick, Ryan, Ciara and I at running club yesterday. Jasper and I were the only ones who did the Fartlek as others were doing 400's. So really hot with a hairdryer wind yesterday morning. We did 6 x 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy jogging then 6 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy jogging. Started off well, running at 3:04 pace for the first few. Jasper who has been on holiday, dropped off after 3 reps.  I kept going strong, feeling good. I was running at around 3:07, 3:08 pace now when I finished the 2's. 5 minute break before getting into the ones and we stepped up the pace. Sticking around the 3 minute km pace mark so really happy with that. I felt like I trained really well and looking forward to my race on Saturday. 8.9km all up for the session.

Easy 5km

Really hot today so just easy 5km. 24:59 was the time. No worries there. Running club tomorrow morning for some Kenyan Fartlek.

Sunday Long Run

Long run this morning. It was meant to be 12km but turned out to be only 11.17. Time was 54:31. Did some strides afterwards as well for a bit of quicker stuff. Back to school on Wednesday, so a bit of a pain, looking forward to training this week.

Pb sesh

Today there was a Pb session up at running club which means each person chooses a single rep to do, then they try and run a Pb in it. So 2.5km warm up then we started. I chose 1km to do and my Pb was 2:52. Really windy today so a tough one to run a Pb. I was running with Haftu and Jasper, I led the 400m with Haftu right behind, he took the lead then and pushed hard. I kept up until 200 to go when the wind hit. Such a struggle that last 200. Haftu ran a Pb of 2:51 and I pulled a 2:53 which I was really happy about. Cheyne, our coach, also known as "The Doctor" reckons it would've been sub 2:50 without the hurricane we were facing today.

Some major races coming up soon, so looking forward to these.
Next Saturday- Shield 3000m- hoping to run a Pb in this.
Saturday after- Shield 2000m steeplechase
Saturday after that- 2014 Victoria Junior Championships

Also, got some new shoes today, some normal training shoes and some longer distance track spikes. So happy with these. The spikes are rival D and the shoes are nike flynits.

Speeeeeeed

Bit of a strange session up at running club tonight. Started off by warming up, then did 2 x 1200m. Was told to go easy on the first rep so we ran 4:09. Next one we had to step it up so that one came in at 3:48 (3:10 pace). Feeling good at this point, then we switched to 200's. This was my first proper speed session in quite a long time, so it was good for me. We started off doing 4 x 200's with 30s recovery in 30s seconds each. The low recovery time made it really difficult. Reps went 31s, 31s, 30s, 30s. We had more recovery then in before 2 reps as fast as possible. I was training with Haftu tonight and it is an extremely rare occasion that I manage to beat him in anything as he is a superb athlete. I managed it tonight though on that second last rep, I ran 27s, stoked with that. Last one was 28s so really happy I managed them. 7.3km all up for a tough session, sore at the moment.

Bit of a recovery

Sore from yesterdays session today so met up with Chris for an easy run. 9km in 51:28. No worries nice and easy, good to get the km's up. Off to the beach tomorrow with some mates then back for a hard session with the group. Looking forward to it.

Killing it

Today at running club did hills with the group. Have been looking forward to this session for a long time as I did so many hills in France. We use a 350m straight which starts off flat but then gradually gets steeper. We use the downhill as a rep also so we go faster downhill. It was Declan, Chris, Nick, Haftu, Ryan and I training this afternoon. Started off with the slowest rep coming in at 1:15. We then sped up over the next 12 averaging 1:09 for up the hill and 1:07 down the hill. After 12 reps we had a 5 minute break before continuing. I wanted to push myself this session so I stayed up front and led many of the reps. We stepped up the pace the next 8 averaging 1:08 up the hill and 1:06 down. We then became even quicker for the last 4. The times were 1:07(up), 1:01(down), 1:04(up), 55s(down). Extremely happy with the session, I feel I have recovered from jet lag and am back up to full fitness. Nick ran an incredible 49s on the final rep. Very impressive. 10.9km all up.

So my next big goal is in 2 weeks. A 3000m and I hope to run a Pb. Going to put in the hard yards before the race so hopefully I am able to do that.

Easy again

Another easy run today. 5km in 22:02. Tomorrow doing a much harder session at running club. Hills I think. I hope the hill training I did in France helps...

Longer stuff

Today woke up early and went for an easy 10km in 45:13. Still feel a bit weird from the jet lag, but should be over it soon.

Easy Saturday

Today rode up to DMK, which is where running club is held, to do an easy run while my sister and mother did 1km reps. I was doing my run untimed for the first time in a long time. After 5km I did 2 reps with my sister for a bit of change in pace. Then did another lap by myself after that. 8.2km all up, the cool change has come in after a week of above 40, should sleep better tonight.

More 1kers

Today went to running club. The session started at 8:30 this morning to try and avoid the heat. It was me, Haftu, Declan, Nick and Ryan training and it was hot. It was only Haftu and I doing the 1kers, while everyone else did 400's and 200's. I just wanted to get through the session to be honest. Still tired from the plane and jet lag. I did the first rep in 3:12 so pretty solid. Next was 1:12 again. We were having 3 minutes recovery at this point. Next one I pushed harder and pulled 3:08. Because of the heat, Cheyne, the coach, said to have 5 minutes recovery so not to overheat. Next rep after that was 3:11. I was staying consistent. After a 4 minute recovery we did in the last rep in which I broke. 3:23 was the time. Overall very happy with the training, got some solid times and stayed relatively consistent. Hopefully when we next do this session I will be back under 3:10 for all the reps.

Easy 5km

Today was incredibly hot so got up early to go running. Still so hot but I did the easy 5km in 25:55. Felt pretty bad, fatigued from the plane I guess.

Tabata + 600's

Today got down to running club to go for my first run with the club in 6 weeks. It was me, Declan, Haftu and Chris training this morning. The plane trip was pretty tough as they always are so feeling really jet lagged and tired this morning. Only slept 6 hours last night and 6 hours on the plane so not much sleep at all the past 3 days. Started off with the 2.5km warm up and felt alright. Tabata is 20s hard, 10s easy and we started off with 2 laps of that. Felt solid again, but I started hurting more on the 600's. The first one was up a hill so that was difficult and finished it in 2:02, but so did everyone. Next one the pace went up to 1:52, then a bit slower back to 1:56. I kept with everyone up until now, but they dropped me on the last rep. I came in at 1:50 so alright. A solid session considering my lack of sleep and 2 weeks of missed training in France. Hopefully I'll be over the Jet lag soon and back up to full fitness in a few weeks. In for a rough session Thursday, 7.3km all up today.

Last run in France

So I'm back in Australia now, had my last run in France the Saturday morning before I left. Just an easy 5km to get the legs going before the flight. Did the run with my French correspondent so that was good. Time was around 24 mins, no worries there.

1km reps

So training hasn't been posted on the groups facebook page recently so I am making it up as I go now. Really wanted to be getting back my fitness so I did something harder today. 1km reps on a hilly stretch of road with only 2 min recovery. Normally we have 3 mins so I thought it would make it tougher. The first rep was good much better than I expected coming in at 3:07. A solid time considering there was large hill right at the finish. The next rep had a really big hill in the middle of he km and that slowed me down a lot. I finished in 3:16, but not too bad as I though my first rep would be this pace as well. Again next rep I got the tine back up to 3:06, but on the last one the big hill broke me. 3:26 the time was. Session was tough, about 8km all up, pretty happy.

Mecredi Moyen

Today had to go shopping in Nice in the morning to buy presents for people for when I get back to Aus. Had lunch afterwards and then went for a run about half an hour later. Felt heavy while I was doing the warm up, but it got a bit better while I was doing the actual session. I did hills again. I want to try and use the enormous number off hills here while I can to try and improving my climbing and maybe my kick. Only did 6 of the 300m, 15% gradient hill today, but managed to post much quicker times than the previous hill session. Felt very average during the middle of the session, but pushed to keep the times up.

1:12, 1:16, 1:14, 1:14, 1:14, 1:15

Pretty happy as I think the hill idea is working. I can also feel I am gaining fitness after running for  number of days in a row now. It feels good to be back on track. 7.6km in all including warm up and cool down.

Today and Yesterday

So, I am wanting to build up fitness before I return to Australia so I decided to run after school yesterday in the dark. Just an easy 3km was completed in 13:35. My route took me up the big hill that I run hills on and I pushed it up that. Good to run after snowboarding on Sunday, trying now to not miss 2 days of exercise in a row.

Today wanted to push it a bit more. Got home from school at 5:30 and it was already dark. Used an ipod today to try and make the repeating 2.5km laps less boring. Did 8km at a medium pace. Cruising on the flat and downhill and really sprinting up the numerous large hills. Time was 32:59. Today my run took me up the massive hill again. It is right next the house so I really killed it on the last bit up the hill managing 1:07 for the tough 300m.

Hills

Getting back into the tough stuff now. Serious training before I return to Aus. Started off with a 2km warm up in the rain, its been raining for about 3 days n a row now. The hill I chose was the same one as the session I did a few weeks back. 300m long, 15% gradient, twisty and now slippery. So started off well. Because of not running for the past 2 weeks before yesterday I though I would've lost loads of fitness but it seems I'm alright. I kept doing sit-ups and things like that everyday in the break period so I guess it helped. My times went as follows

1:15, 1:17, 1:17, 1:16, 1:22, 1:20, 1:19, 1:18, 1:18, 1:20, 1:22, 1:17

Very happy to be honest, some solid times and in the wet. 9.2km all up.

Update

So haven't been able to run for few weeks and I just started again yesterday. I'm still in France, 1 week left and I'm really enjoying it. As I said, I ran yesterday, an easy 5.4km just to get back into it. At the start, knees were sore, but that was to be expected. Eased into it and ended up doing 28minutes. Afterwards, I was a bit sore which was strange.

Today, did 7.5km with hills everywhere. Felt good so pushed it up the hills and cruised fast on the flat. Felt good to get some tougher stuff in. Also, I was lucky enough to get a proper running watch for Christmas, one of those which connects to satellites. Really stoked to be honest. Get some solid training in with that.